Chapter 173. Escape, or Charge Forward (1)
“So how exactly does the defense system on that bag work?”
“Explain it in as much detail as possible.”
Yukgap asked while staring at the money bag.
Victoria quickly explained.
“First, it has an automatic target-detection system. It identifies and attacks anything that approaches.”
“Unless I authenticate myself with my fingerprint, it’ll keep attacking everything around it!”
“You really went all out making that thing.”
While they were talking, the mechanical legs attached beneath the money bag suddenly moved.
Then the bag turned toward Yukgap.
A red light flashed, followed by an ominous warning tone.
Beep-beep-beep-beep!
Nova recoiled.
“What do we do?”
“I think it’s identified us as enemies.”
At this rate, the money bag would definitely open fire on them.
Yukgap finally stepped forward.
“Wait here.”
“I’ll take care of it.”
“What are you going to do?”
Victoria asked nervously.
Yukgap answered lightly,
“No matter how fast that thing is, it’s still just a machine.”
Nova quickly warned him,
“The villagers are watching.”
“Don’t worry.”
“I can control myself that much.”
Yukgap quickly scanned the surroundings.
Because of the sudden commotion, villagers had gathered everywhere.
If he transformed into his Archon form now, it would cause absolute chaos.
Of course, that was hardly enough to intimidate Yukgap.
“All right.”
“Here I go!”
Yukgap roared and charged straight toward the money bag.
As expected, gun barrels sprang from it and began firing wildly.
Screams erupted naturally from the spectators.
“Too slow!”
Yukgap dodged the bullets flying toward him at high speed.
He rapidly closed the distance with the wildly moving bag, jumped into the air, and kicked it with all his strength.
“Victoria!”
“Catch it!”
Victoria immediately stretched out both arms.
The money bag flew through the air in an arc and landed safely in her hands.
“Got it!”
The moment she caught it, Victoria pressed her thumb against the handle.
The red lights flashing across the bag immediately went dark.
A calm mechanical voice followed.
[Biometric identification complete.]
[Confirmed as property of the supreme genius beauty, Lady Victoria.]
[Automatic defense system deactivated.]
The gun barrels and mechanical legs attached to the money bag smoothly retracted inside.
Now it looked like an ordinary bag again.
Victoria wiped the sweat from her forehead.
“Phew.”
“That was close.”
“Please, I’m begging you.”
“Make something normal for once.”
Yukgap sighed after resolving the situation.
Victoria ignored his complaint and spoke brightly.
“But we got our escape money back.”
“Think positively.”
Considering they had been so broke that they were digging for shellfish just to eat, recovering their funds was definitely fortunate.
Then Nova cautiously spoke.
“Victoria.”
“What?”
“Look around.”
Nova gave her a meaningful look.
Only then did Victoria notice the villagers whispering among themselves after witnessing the bizarre spectacle.
Apparently, they had drawn far too much attention.
Realizing this, Victoria gave everyone an awkward smile.
“Uh... well...”
“My treat.”
“How about everyone has a nice cold drink?”
“Cheers!”
Victoria raised a bowl of makgeolli and shouted happily.
She tightly hugged the recovered money bag to herself.
“As expected, I’m lucky.”
“I even got the money back.”
“And that somehow means drinking in the middle of the day?”
Yukgap replied flatly.
The area around them was now crowded with villagers who had unexpectedly been treated to drinks by Victoria.
Whatever else had happened, they all seemed happy to be getting free alcohol.
Victoria grinned at the sight.
“What’s wrong with that?”
“This is what alcohol is for.”
“Besides, drinking something good while looking at the sea makes it taste even better.”
Nova grumbled from beside her.
There was only a soft drink in front of her.
“I’m not even drinking alcohol.”
“Wait until you’re twenty, Nova.”
Victoria answered firmly.
Then she lifted the money bag and spoke confidently.
“Anyway, now that we have our escape money again, let’s calmly come up with a plan to keep running from Abraxas and strike back.”
“Yeah.”
“Let’s do that.”
Yukgap agreed.
Whatever else happened, getting their money back was a relief.
They could hardly spend the rest of their lives digging for shellfish.
“Hm?”
While the two were talking, Nova suddenly made a serious expression.
Victoria immediately sensed something was wrong.
“What is it?”
“Th-This!”
Nova pointed toward a stack of newspapers in the corner of the tavern.
One of them showed a face they knew all too well.
A bald head.
A belly sticking out like an egg.
A right leg bent inward.
And the steel cane he always carried.
“That’s No. 11!”
Yukgap shouted in surprise.
They hurriedly opened the newspaper.
A huge headline dominated the page.
[Aiden Maxwell Launches Aeon Project... 1,500 Applicants... Could Your Child Become a Gifted Genius? A New Educational Path Through Brain Enhancement! The Revolution in Neuroscience Begins!]
“Enhancing children’s brains to make them geniuses?”
“This is just the Sophia Project under a different name!”
Victoria and Yukgap stared at the article in horror.
It was dressed up in phrases like brain enhancement and a revolution in neuroscience, but the contents looked identical to the Sophia Project.
“No.”
Nova’s face went deathly pale as she gripped the newspaper.
She trembled and cried out in shock.
“Those children are all going to die horribly in unbearable pain, just like me!”
“The media campaign is already complete.”
“Most newspapers and news programs should cover the Aeon Project.”
No. 8 explained the current situation.
“As expected, spending money was worth it.”
“The media is the same in every country.”
No. 11 smiled in satisfaction.
No. 8 cautiously asked,
“Are you really sure this is all right?”
No. 11 calmly reasoned through it.
“Victoria Frankenstein will come to stop me one way or another.”
“She has a habit of involving herself in other people’s problems.”
“And Nova, a former Sophia Project test subject, is with her.”
“They certainly won’t ignore the Aeon Project.”
No. 8 immediately understood what he meant.
“You set out bait.”
“We cannot rely forever on Alpha’s prophecies.”
No. 11 openly showed his displeasure.
“Ever since Alpha met Victoria Frankenstein, she stopped being a god in the shape of a girl.”
“She became a girl with the power of a god.”
“At this rate, I will never achieve my grand dream.”
The Alpha he knew had been transcendent yet innocent, a being almost divine.
But after becoming interested in Victoria, she began getting angry, throwing tantrums, and behaving emotionally like a girl whose friend had been taken away.
That was not the god No. 11 wanted.
“I apologize to Alpha, but as long as Victoria Frankenstein exists, she will only continue to have a negative influence.”
Apparently, No. 11 was planning to eliminate Victoria.
No. 8 warned him with concern.
“Your ability cannot harm Victoria Frankenstein.”
“That is why I summoned all of the Archons.”
“She will pay for insulting the new humanity.”
“Do you really think they’ll appear?”
“Perhaps not everyone.”
“But Nova Hanson will.”
“She is the only surviving test subject of the Sophia Project and has already opposed Abraxas multiple times.”
Having said that, No. 11 looked into empty space and quietly muttered to no one in particular,
“Now then.”
“Come bite the bait prepared especially for you.”
“I gathered every newspaper article I could find on the Aeon Project.”
“They’ve been promoting this thing heavily, so there’s more information than I expected.”
Yukgap had searched through every newspaper in the area and collected all the articles related to the Aeon Project.
They were avoiding the internet in case Alpha detected them, so for now they had no choice but to rely on analog information.
Fortunately, No. 11 had advertised the project extensively, leaving plenty of details in print.
“It’s the same as the Sophia Project.”
“They inject drugs into the cerebral cortex and force artificial development.”
Nova quickly analyzed the articles as she read.
Victoria looked confused.
“But Abraxas officially admitted the Sophia Project was a failure.”
“Why would they deliberately do the same thing again?”
The Sophia Project, which had attempted to create artificial geniuses, had been considered a failure because most of its test subjects died young or committed suicide.
Abraxas itself had acknowledged that.
So why repeat the same experiment now?
No matter how much they thought about it, it made no sense.
“Sophia means the Wisdom of God.”
“Archon means the Body of God.”
Nova stared at the newspaper as she muttered something difficult to understand.
Victoria also fell into thought before continuing,
“And Demiurge is an imperfect god.”
“Abrasax is the supreme god.”
Nova stared at the words Aeon Project in the article.
“Then what does Aeon mean?”
“An eternal being.”
“The eternal gods.”
“Many beings that are also one god.”
Victoria answered from memory.
In Gnosticism, Aeon certainly carried a meaning like that.
There had to be a reason Abraxas had chosen that name for this new project.
What was it?
Victoria and Nova put their heads together, thinking deeply.
Then an idea flashed through both their minds almost simultaneously.
“Don’t tell me...”
“They’re trying to use the children’s brains to create something enormous?”
Victoria and Nova seemed to reach the same conclusion at once.
Nova nodded.
“That has to be it.”
“Otherwise, there’d be no reason to gather this many participants.”
“Whatever it is, there’s no way it’s normal.”
No. 11 had already carried out large-scale bacterial attacks and attempted all kinds of illegal experiments in Korea.
If he was stepping forward personally this time, there was no doubt some kind of catastrophe was being prepared.
