Chapter 113
Still Nothing
“The drive structure is interesting. Instead of binary, it uses ternary logic. It’s a thod people don’t really use these days.”
“Ternary logic?”
When Ga-on asked, Noah raised her index finger.
“You know that the smallest unit of data that records two types of information, 0 and 1, is called a bit, right? But what’s used here is a trit.”
“Is there a difference?”
“The number of possible cases increases. Even at the sa size, it can hold more information. Simply put, bits are squared, while trits are cubed.”
“Then……”
“Don’t ask why people don’t use it then. For sothing to beco mainstream, everything from the manufacturing process to facilities and public perception has to improve. Efficiency isn’t everything.”
Though before that could happen, artificial intelligence was born and the whole thing faded away anyway― Noah finished speaking like that.
Did she have a triangle lodged in her chest or sothing? She was unusually sharp today.
“I’ll run an interpretation program, but it won’t finish quickly. They probably adopted ternary logic to circulate more information as dummy data. This is a case where ti matters more than capability.”
The way she spoke so clearly without even needing ti to think made her look every bit the expert.
No, maybe she really was an expert.
Ga-on, who had almost let out a pointless remark, rely nodded instead.
“When do you think it’ll be done?”
“One, two―”
Counting on her fingers while estimating the ti, Noah eventually held up three fingers.
“To be safe, about 4 sols.”
“Then I’ll leave it to you.”
No reply ca back.
She rely waved her hand as if seeing him off.
Like she was shooing away a street peddler.
Thinking that it suited her perfectly, Ga-on answered with a faint chuckle.
***
Ready Cure Store, an electronics retailer located in District 2.
Outwardly, it presented itself as an ordinary shop, but in truth, it was one of the secret bases owned by the Ergency Disaster Response Unit.
At that mont, a man wearing an eyepatch over his right eye entered the place.
His striped face was filled with irritation, and in the half-palm gloves exposing the backs of his hands, he held an electronic cigarette.
“Hoo.”
Almost simultaneously with the man exhaling pale smoke, a beauty with a short bob haircut, Irai, appeared.
Spotting the man, Irai gestured.
“This way, please.”
“It’s been a while. Has it been four years since graduation?”
“To be precise, six years.”
“Ah, right. The ones who dropped out midway don’t even count as classmates anymore. You and Jin Geon were that sort.”
“Here, he is Team Leader. Please be mindful of your form of address from now on.”
“Ah, sure.”
Even at the sharp warning, the man let it go in one ear and out the other.
And he didn’t move until the liquid in his electronic cigarette ran out.
Even though the appointed ti was approaching, the man stubbornly kept smoking, and even Irai could only grow tired of his persistence.
“You’re still the sa. A heavy smoker.”
“There’s no way I could keep doing this job without at least so kind of enjoynt. Speaking of which, want one too?”
“I’ll decline.”
“You’re so stiff.”
Hoo—
Several minutes later, after drawing in even the last bit of smoke to his heart’s content, the man finally turned around.
Following Irai into the reception room, the man’s gaze landed on a narrow-eyed man.
A forr classmate who had shared hardships with him until six years ago.
Jin Geon.
“That face has beco even more irritating since the last ti I saw you.”
And even to this day, he remained the man the eyepatched man had never been able to surpass.
***
The man grabbed his electronic cigarette the mont he sat down.
Before anyone realized it, the smoke filling the room had turned into a dense fog that tickled the eyelids, but Jin Geon continued staring at him without losing his smile.
Mars Defense Force Captain, Nick Peters.
Belonging to the 02nd Inspection Battalion under the Special Staff Headquarters, he was currently one of the few people Jin Geon could contact without burden.
After all, no matter what anyone said, he was still a mber of the Ergency Disaster Response Unit.
“So Yang Hu might be in the Mars Defense Force…….”
Nick had grasped the situation after hearing the explanation from Jin Geon, yet his expression remained unchanged from the start.
The Mars Defense Force was an organization created to protect the fate of Mars.
Military authority belonged to the municipal governnt, but personnel authority belonged to the gacorps.
Perhaps because it was an organization imbued with the pragmatism unique to corporations, the Mars Defense Force exploited even criminals without hesitation.
The Mars Defense Force treated the Ergency Disaster Response Unit the sa way.
At best, they viewed them as business partners, never as part of a superior-subordinate relationship.
If anything, there was even a sense of rejection toward them.
Voices of concern were rising everywhere that they were using ta-humans as an excuse to interfere in military affairs. That was the current reality.
“There are a few units that co to mind, but I don’t think it’d be right for to ntion them without confirmation. I’ll say this in advance though—whether it’s a traitor deserving death or a small business owner, they all look about the sa in our eyes.”
From Jin Geon’s perspective, Yang Hu was a great evil capable of destroying humanity’s future, but to the Mars Defense Force, he was hardly worth their attention.
They had elite troops ard with cutting-edge technology everywhere.
Even if the worst-case scenario occurred, they only needed to incinerate it.
“But why exactly do I have to sit here spilling all this to you in detail?”
“Handling the infected and contributing to humanity’s prosperity—that’s our mission, isn’t it?”
Maybe so.
But this was still ultimately an extension of social life.
People obsessed over achievents that affected promotions and lost themselves in factional struggles without realizing the axe handle was rotting away in their hands.
“Even if we’re both part of the Ergency Disaster Response Unit, our divisions are different. I don’t care even if you’re the son of the Unit Chief.”
“I fail to see why my father is being brought into this.”
“The reason Team 3 was ford separately was because of that man’s obsession, wasn’t it?”
Originally, killing Yang Hu had been his mission.
However, before accomplishing the goal, he had been promoted to the position of Unit Chief.
One red mark scratched across a long and distinguished career.
That was likely the Unit Chief’s only stain.
And the undeniable proof was the fact that his son, Jin Geon, had inherited the task.
“You people have always had a talent for recklessly charging ahead without any plans.”
Unlike Jin Geon or Irai, Nick was born on Mars.
Originally, it had been a place safe from the threat of ta-humans, but the situation completely changed when ta-humans who could no longer endure the municipal governnt’s oppression risked their lives to migrate there.
That was how the streets beca plagued by endless incidents and accidents like today.
Nick himself was one of the victims.
“I just accessed the database and checked. To begin with, the one you claim is X has records of being active before too.”
During the Black Shower that occurred sixteen years ago.
Twenty-eight years ago as well.
And thirty-nine years ago too.
What did that imply?
“You an he might’ve had close ties with the Mars Defense Force all the way back on Earth?”
“You have to consider every possibility. With Actors, you never know who’s controlling them until you see it firsthand. Hell, maybe they even staged an entire play just to deceive you.”
“A play?”
“I’m suspicious of that guy nad Ga-on whom you decided to withhold judgnt on. It’s all far too convenient. Enough that I wouldn’t feel at ease unless I stomped him down first.”
“A reckless approach is dangerous.”
Though he lacked a title, Ga-on’s skill in disposing of X was more than enough to call him first-rate.
His talent was extraordinary as well, aning caution was necessary.
“Why not stop hesitating and just kill him? If he cos back to life afterward, then he’s Yang Hu. And if he doesn’t, then he’s not.”
Could anything be more simple and clear than this? Nick praised himself inwardly.
Realizing that the flow of the conversation was turning strange, Jin Geon’s eyes narrowed even further.
“What exactly are you trying to say?”
“If soone dares to end up on the Ergency Disaster Response Unit’s watchlist and interfere with an investigation, then that alone makes them deserving of death. As you said, handling the infected contributes to humanity’s prosperity, so I’m sure he’d understand.”
A personality that would not hesitate to commit revenge killings.
And a nature that rationalized it by tying it to so grand cause.
“Yeah, right. Don’t tell you actually think I’d lose.”
“More than that, I’m worried about the repercussions it would cause.”
“As expected, the young master really is different. Are you assuming that if you can’t do it, then no one else can either? Just sit quietly and wait. I’ll solve your concern before you do.”
Nick rose from his seat and disappeared, trailing smoke behind him like a tail.
It should have been a place for exchanging information to eventually kill Yang Hu.
But all that remained was the lingering scent of a beast.
“I may have made a mistake.”
It seed that, while they had not seen each other, the man nad Nick had beco a ferocious beast intoxicated with power.
***
“Have there been a lot of people targeting you lately? Normally, nobody reinforces a device to this extent.”
The old man’s voice struck Ga-on’s ears as he stepped down from the unit chair.
Though it sounded irritable, a trace of concern was mixed within it.
“I’m just preparing in advance. The back of the neck is a vital point after all. And if necessary, I can use it as a shield too.”
As he answered, Ga-on savored the feel of the newly reborn device.
The housing, processed from carbon fiber reinforced plastic, CFRP, guaranteed operational capability equivalent to MUG―2 to the point where even a direct hit from a rifle round would not damage the internals.
Ga-on’s status had beco important after unwillingly joining Baekdu.
Since he had a guarantor in Baek Seol, reissuing the device would probably be possible, but that had to remain a last resort.
“Your choices are hard to understand sotis. If you want to make it big as a fixer, shouldn’t physical enhancent co first?”
“You an slots.”
Behind the old man, a massive storage cabinet briefly ca into view.
Several chanical devices were displayed beneath it as well.
Perhaps because they had been modified separately, there were even a few items that did not follow comrcially distributed designs.
“At the current mont, I can offer you a special price. Skeletal and muscular systems don’t show externally, so how about reinforcing your fra first?”
“I’ll pass.”
It wasn’t that he wasn’t tempted.
No matter how much of a man from the old era he was, it wasn’t as though he had forgotten the convenience provided by technology.
However, Ga-on still carried the realization taught to him by the old monk.
In the end, the one who had to beco strong was the human himself.
Therefore—
“It’s not the awl that pierces stone. In the end, it’s the dripping water.”
***
After leaving the unlicensed clinic, Ga-on headed straight for Columbus.
Even though he had beco Baek Seol’s one and only family, his lifestyle had not changed.
Nobody looked at him differently either.
It was probably thanks to Damian, the chairman of B&B, pulling so strings.
“Welco, Master. I’ve been waiting for your visit?”
Entering while receiving Juicy’s usual warm welco, Ga-on spotted Fernandez sitting at the bar counter, his pupils moving busily in deep concentration.
Fernandez did not even react until Ga-on sat down, but Ga-on paid it no mind.
Most likely, soone had dumped another difficult assignnt on him again.
Sure enough, Fernandez discovered Ga-on a beat later and awkwardly scratched his chin.
“About what you ntioned before…….”
“You an a sword surpassing a monomolecular blade. Still couldn’t find one?”
“You do know monomolecular blades themselves are made with cutting-edge technology, right? They’re military-grade to begin with, military-grade. But then you ask whether there’s sothing incorporating technologies like monomolecular structures or Hexagondice on top of that? Who in their right mind would process patent assets worth hundreds of billions—no, trillions—into a blade? What about the miniaturization problem? And even if you bought one, would that solve everything? Maintenance and repairs would be mandatory, so where would you even find a place that guarantees all of that?”
Having accepted an impossible request, Fernandez seed to have built up a lot of frustration, pouring out complaint after complaint in a single breath—
“So there really isn’t one.”
Ga-on rely accepted it and ordered a vodka martini.
“ too, too, let join in.”
That was when an uninvited shadow suddenly popped out.
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