MTLNOVEL Chapter 252
Chapter 252. Seven Ancient Gods (6)
I stared at Ganymede. Ganymede spread its feathers and growled as if trying to intimidate me, but it wasn’t scary.
Still, Ganymede’s gaze and posture were that of a frightened prey. It looked weak.
The word “robot” was first used in the play “R.U.R.” (Rossum’s Universal Robots).
In Czech, it means “forced labor.” That’s the origin of the word “robot.” Robots are our tools, and even the god of tools, if it finds the right master—
It’s just a well-behaved dog.
It’s just a matter of whose commands it listens to.
“Now. Go back to your place.”
I crossed my arms and stood at an angle, looking down at Ganymede. It wasn’t easy to look down at a monster the size of a bus.
Ganymede eventually bowed its head.
“Very well.”
[Only this time.]
With those words, Ganymede returned to the center of the containment zone and plopped down. Like a lonely dog returning to its kennel.
“Administrator!”
Hearing the sound of Ganymede moving, the facility staff came running. Hasti carried me out of the containment zone.
“No problem.”
Hasti is different from me. Both of us are scholars with considerable physical strength, but Hasti lacks the ability to lead others.
What does that mean?
“Ah, I thought I was going to die this time!”
“It’s fine. Put me down.”
It all happened in an instant.
Hasti was still awkwardly holding me. I stared at Hasti, and Hasti carefully put me down.
I brushed off my clothes.
“What happened?”
“Ganymede got annoyed and attacked me. I managed to calm it down, though.”
“How?”
It’s a bit complicated.
“Ganymede… is ultimately a tool. So, it’s natural that the god of tools, Ganymede, couldn’t defeat me.”
“That’s not a very clear explanation.”
I started walking out of the building. Hasti followed closely behind. It wasn’t something that could be explained in a few words.
What Ganymede is, why it got angry earlier, and how I managed to subdue it with just a few words.
How I could look down at Ganymede, even though it was staring at me from the height of a five-story building.
I looked down at Hasti. Hasti was shorter than me, so it was easier.
“Simply put, Ganymede knew. It knew who rules the world and whose commands to follow.”
“Hmm.”
“In conclusion, it’s natural for the god of machines to be the most ideal machine, right? A mechanical device that perfectly carries out orders.”
Well, let’s wrap it up here. No need to keep holding onto Ganymede.
“A bird in a cage.”
Hasti looked back with a strange expression.
We returned to the Foundation’s Seoul Branch.
The journey was long and tiring, but the process of meeting the gods was coming to an end. Three remained.
Jörmungandr, Cernunnos, and…
The main body of Project Blue Rose, unseen since Acacia’s aircraft carrier was subdued.
Blue Rose-0.
The cause of the dramatic increase in supernatural phenomena on the Korean Peninsula. The entity that subdued Administrator Acacia’s carrier. The one the Foundation managed to subdue after gathering fleets from 40 nations.
What a headache.
Let’s tackle the easier problems first.
The fifth god. Jörmungandr.
Surprisingly easy to meet. The Foundation’s Poi Station Underground Bunker was nearing completion.
To meet Jörmungandr, all we had to do was take the elevator deep, very deep, into the lowest level of the Poi Station Underground Bunker.
Enter a magical passage deep underground. And just like that, we could enter Jörmungandr’s space in just a few minutes.
The Hero looked at the cave outside the elevator.
“Now I get it.”
“Get what?”
“That primal fear I feel when I see Dr. Kim.”
It’s not that primal, is it? I looked at the Hero, but the Hero just sat there blankly. Am I that scary?
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
Presence is important.
Now I understand.
Why Quasar jammed the entire Seoul Branch and came in that monstrous vertical takeoff and landing hypersonic transport.
In the end, presence is what matters.
Just showing your face can reassure people that the problem will be solved, and opening the door to the command center can demonstrate the power to bend space. That’s what it takes to be an Administrator.
“What’s the plan this time?”
“We’ll feed it.”
Jörmungandr was severely injured in the Great Lakes Naval Battle. A sea serpent that could encircle Midgard, but it was no match for the U.S. military.
Jörmungandr fought the U.S. Air Force.
Actually, it wasn’t much of a fight. Jörmungandr was just getting beaten up by the U.S. Air Force. It quickly became incapacitated.
“We’re almost there.”
We stepped into Jörmungandr’s cave. I looked around.
It had changed a lot from what I remembered. The cave was filled with the smell of blood, and something massive was groaning in pain.
“It seems to be in a lot of pain.”
“Really?”
I nodded. I needed to see how Jörmungandr was injured and how much it had recovered. Is it dead? That would be problematic.
The god is in pain.
Providence is wounded. Thinking that Jörmungandr is injured, I started to see patterns in the changed surroundings.
The cave was decaying.
Cracks ran through the walls, the interior was overgrown with messy vegetation, and the abandoned ships scattered around Jörmungandr’s cave had rusted further. Plants grew inside them.
“Fascinating.”
“It seems Jörmungandr has lost some control over this space. That’s why there’s so much more life inside.”
Good thing I came fully equipped.
I spread my Clockwork Wings and flew to a nearby abandoned ship, then put on my helmet and surveyed the area. A swarm of firefly-like insects flew overhead.
I connected the radio.
Jörmungandr seems to have lost some control over this space, and it’s different from what we had anticipated. We’ll need to conduct a search operation now. Should’ve brought more people.
“Hero. Let’s find Jörmungandr.”
The Hero nodded from afar. I took out a flare gun from my bag and tossed it to the Hero. The Hero caught it.
“It’s a flare gun. If you find something, shoot it. I’ll come to you immediately.”
“Shoot if I find something?”
“Yes.”
The Hero nodded seriously.
Ahn Yuri walked forward. Dr. Kim was probably looking around from atop an abandoned ship. Probably holding a big gun.
You need to know what you’re looking for to find it, though.
I thought I could hear Jörmungandr’s heartbeat, or maybe it was just my imagination. The Hero turned sharply at the sound of footsteps behind.
It sounded like human footsteps.
Hiding might be easy for Dr. Kim, but sneaking around in full plate armor with a glowing sword isn’t easy.
Clank, clank.
That’s why Dr. Kim isn’t here.
“Who’s there?”
The Hero cautiously held the flare gun and ran forward. Multiple pairs of footsteps were chasing the Hero from behind. Like hunting prey.
There you are.
The Hero found the person tracking them.
Bang!
A flare gun is still a bullet. It hurts when hit, and if hit at close range, it can cause terrible burns or even death.
The person hit by the flare gun collapsed. Orange flames spewed from their head for a while. Blood and smoke splattered everywhere.
“That idiot.”
I looked at the glowing trail of the flare gun from the Hero’s direction. A body was burning from the flare’s flames.
I knew the Hero was dumb, but flare guns aren’t meant to shoot people.
Maybe they didn’t know what a flare gun was… That’s why the Foundation staff don’t trust the Hero or Hasti. They’re just dumb.
Our dumb Hero.
Guess I’ll have to save them.
I turned on the scope of the Gauss Musket and scanned the Hero’s surroundings. Multiple armed people. But why are they chasing the Hero?
That wasn’t the only problem. Why are there people wandering around Jörmungandr’s space?
Bang!
People moving toward the Hero started falling one by one. I moved to the next abandoned ship and looked down from the high ground.
Jörmungandr’s space is surrounded by warships. The people chasing the Hero were heavily armed. Rifles, grenade launchers, submachine guns.
They didn’t seem to realize I was hiding on the high ground. But. Why are there so many people? Dozens are visible.
‘Ah. The police station.’
During the Yulje-myeon incident, we saw it. In areas with high supernatural activity and low reality density, monsters that mimic people grow…
Mimics?