Chapter 162

Chapter 162. The Perfect Escape Route (2)

“How do you know that?”

Yukgap asked in surprise.

Had information about them already leaked somehow?

Doctor Mozg calmly explained.

[The amount of information moving across the world right now is being distorted in an abnormal way.]

[An enormous amount of traffic and data is being searched.]

[And nearly all of it is based on Abraxas’s server network.]

Apparently, she had also detected the chaos Alpha had caused while searching for them.

Doctor Mozg continued.

[Most of the data being searched across those networks concerns traces of your movements.]

[Even an idiot could look at that and figure out Abraxas is tracking you.]

Victoria stared in surprise.

“You can tell all of that in real time?”

[My brain is connected to internet servers right now.]

Doctor Mozg answered as though it were nothing.

Yukgap muttered a curse.

“Damn it.”

“Does that mean this place is dangerous too?”

Doctor Mozg calmly reassured him.

[You don’t need to worry about that.]

[The Crescent Moon Auction was built through the power of transcendent beings even I fear.]

[Even if I use servers connected to the outside internet, I cannot completely control this place.]

Just as Seryun had expected, this place did not seem to fall under Alpha’s domain.

Victoria quickly got to the point.

“Anyway, Doctor Mozg, help us.”

“Abraxas is hunting us right now.”

“We need somewhere to hide.”

[What is the payment?]

Doctor Mozg asked in an ice-cold, businesslike tone.

[As you know, I am an information broker.]

[I do not give away information for free.]

[You must either pay appropriate compensation or provide information of equal value.]

[Just as I told you the location of the Philosopher’s Stone last time.]

A camera suddenly emerged beside the flask and pointed directly at Victoria’s chest.

Yukgap asked sarcastically,

“So you already knew where the Philosopher’s Stone was back then, didn’t you?”

[I have worked as an information broker for quite a long time.]

[I can recognize that much.]

[So, what are you offering in return?]

At the probing question, Yukgap fell into thought.

They did not have any assets that could satisfy Doctor Mozg.

That left only information.

What kind of information would be valuable enough to interest her?

As he thought, an idea suddenly came to him.

“Doctor Mozg.”

“Are you curious about Abraxas’s Archons?”

Yukgap asked directly.

As expected, Doctor Mozg immediately showed interest.

[Hmm?]

Yukgap’s expression turned serious.

“From this moment on, I’ll give you everything I know about Abraxas’s Archons.”

[Remarkable.]

Doctor Mozg spoke with an unusual amount of excitement.

[If what you’re saying is true, this is practically opening a new chapter in biological cloning.]

[Not only recreating the body, but reproducing and manipulating memories stored in the brain as well...]

Yukgap told Doctor Mozg everything he had learned.

How the Archon Project had begun.

How the Archons had been created.

Why he had deserted and ended up meeting Victoria.

He also explained Alpha’s abilities that had made all of it possible, as well as everything that had happened leading up to their escape.

“Nothing I’ve told you is a lie.”

“If you want, I can show you evidence.”

Yukgap spoke firmly.

Doctor Mozg immediately reassured him.

[That won’t be necessary.]

[I can tell you aren’t lying.]

[More importantly, you are not the kind of person who would lie while invoking your family.]

[This is sufficient.]

Fortunately, Doctor Mozg seemed pleased with what Yukgap had revealed.

Yukgap cautiously asked,

“This is valuable information.”

“Is it enough for a deal?”

Several of the wires connected to Doctor Mozg flashed rapidly.

Apparently, she was storing everything he had told her.

Before long, she answered readily.

[Good.]

[Information about Abraxas is scarce.]

[Information about the Archon Project is even scarcer.]

[You have given me information from its very core.]

[The transaction is accepted.]

Yukgap finally relaxed.

If Doctor Mozg had not been interested in the information, they would have had no idea what to do next.

[If you follow what is written here, you should be able to shake off Abraxas’s pursuit temporarily.]

A nearby printer began beeping as a sheet of paper came out.

Doctor Mozg added a warning.

[But do not forget.]

[You are facing something extraordinary.]

[Especially in an age like this, where the internet is so advanced, this being called Alpha is practically a ‘god.’]

[There will be limits to how long you can keep running.]

Her words settled heavily over everyone.

[There is nowhere in the world one can escape the eyes of a god.]

Victoria muttered bitterly,

“A god...”

“Alpha was just an ordinary kid who liked to play.”

A girl who watched animation with her.

Who dressed up in princess gowns and loved games.

Everyone feared Alpha.

Sometimes they even worshiped her abilities.

But to Victoria, Alpha had looked like nothing more than an ordinary child.

[Doctor Frankenstein, you understand nothing.]

[Children are the beings closest to gods.]

[They are innocent.]

[Honest about their desires.]

[And capable of becoming infinitely cruel.]

[Especially since I hear you told Alpha you wouldn’t play with her anymore.]

Victoria trailed off.

“Well... yes, but...”

[If I may offer one piece of advice, Alpha is probably extremely upset right now.]

Victoria quickly protested.

“That’s because Alpha sent Archons to attack the Herrington Convent!”

“She said she’d kill everyone around me!”

“If she’s my friend, she shouldn’t do things like that!”

[Do you really think a child can reason through something that complicated?]

The wires attached to Doctor Mozg’s brain beeped and shifted.

It almost seemed as though she were sighing.

[Judging from everything you’ve told me, Alpha is nothing more than a child possessing the power of a god.]

[No matter how powerful her predictive calculations are, she never had the opportunity to mature as a person.]

It was difficult to deny.

Alpha had been born a genius.

She had grown up without even a single ordinary friend.

Then, because of an experiment gone wrong, her brain had been removed and placed inside a cylinder.

She had Archons who obeyed her every word, but they were less like equals and more like intelligent dolls she played with.

Abraxas itself had tried to control and use her as a tool.

Perhaps Alpha’s emotional growth had stopped the moment her brain was removed from her body.

[Girls that age treasure their friends more than anything.]

[They can become jealous just because their best friend spends time with someone else.]

[And you said to that kind of child’s face, ‘I’m not playing with you anymore.’]

“...”

[Alpha’s sense of rejection has probably exploded.]

[And she will almost certainly use her computational abilities and the Archons to act on those feelings.]

Doctor Mozg’s tone was unusually serious.

Victoria looked surprised.

“You understand her pretty well.”

[I was once a dreamy young girl myself.]

[Naturally.]

Apparently, Doctor Mozg had gone through something similar when she was young.

She then spoke calmly.

[Now leave.]

[The night of the new moon is short.]

[Once morning comes, the Crescent Moon Auction will close.]

[You will all be expelled back through the entrances you used to come here.]

Yukgap snatched the printed information and gave a casual word of thanks.

“Thanks, Doctor Mozg.”

[If you’re really grateful, leave that shriveled husk behind next time.]

Seryun, who had been silent until then, immediately snapped.

“Shriveled husk?”

“Are you talking about me?”

Doctor Mozg fired back without hesitation.

[Who else would I be talking about?]

Seryun shouted angrily,

“And you think you’re so impressive?”

“You’re nothing but a disgusting goldfish floating in a fish tank!”

[Who are you calling a goldfish?!]

[Do you have any idea how much information I’m storing right now?]

“You noisy, irritating, unbearable woman!”

[Trash! Husk! Zombie!]

The two continued hurling childish insults at each other without pause.

It was almost impressive how they managed to start the same ridiculous fight every time they met.

“Let’s go.”

“Like Doctor Mozg said, we don’t have much time.”

Ignoring the two of them, Yukgap urged Victoria and Nova onward.

Victoria answered quietly, her expression complicated.

“Yeah.”

“We should go.”

Apparently, Doctor Mozg’s earlier words were still bothering her.

Just as everyone was about to leave the tent, Doctor Mozg called out.

[One more thing, Doctor Nova.]

Nova, who had been about to step outside, tilted her head.

“What?”

The wires connected to Doctor Mozg blinked.

Then she asked Nova an inexplicable question.

[Is your brain all right?]

Nova froze.

Then her eyes widened as she stared at Doctor Mozg.

“What are you trying to say?”

Doctor Mozg responded with a sinister chuckle, as though she had been waiting for the question.

[If you ever feel like you can no longer endure it, come find me.]

[I’ll make things comfortable for you.]

[Hehehehe.]

Nova’s eyes moved toward the countless brains connected to Doctor Mozg.

It was obvious what Doctor Mozg intended.

She wanted to turn Nova into something just like them.

A brain floating by itself.

Reduced to nothing more than a tool for storing information and knowledge.

Nova answered firmly.

“That will never happen.”

“My brain belongs to me and no one else.”

[Such a shame.]

[That brain of yours is among the finest of the finest.]

Doctor Mozg still sounded reluctant to let the idea go.

Nova turned away and hurried out of the tent.

A headache kept stabbing at the back of her skull.

But she did her best to remain composed.

At the very least, she refused to show weakness in front of people who coveted her brain.

That was the last bit of pride she had left.