How to Live as an Immortal Chapter 90

Chapter 90

If You Cannot Accept It, Then Die

***

At the trivial remark, Gideon spat out an irritated voice.

“What is it? Did you co to pick a fight? We already settled this last ti—this place is ours.”

“Ah, so that’s why….”

Despite the commotion, no group had approached. With that minor question resolved, I scanned the control room.

I had left Im Sol behind partly because I was worried about Dominique, but also because there was sothing I wanted to handle discreetly.

RYS Company—this was the corporation that had distributed the ‘real’ Baek Ga-on’s device. Naturally, they would also possess the transaction records.

To conceal my identity perfectly, I had to erase those records.

Before Gideon transferred the information to another server.

“Now that I see it, it seems you were also managing the data center in the western district. There were traces everywhere of it being hastily destroyed.”

“You… are you with the Public Enforcent Corps?”

I was a civil servant and an advisor affiliated with the Public Enforcent Agency Headquarters. Since I even received an allowance for maintaining my dignity—

“Halfway?”

“You truly never tire of charging at us. Why don’t you realize that digging into other cris would be far more profitable than chasing us?”

At the shaless counterargunt, I could not help but let out a sigh.

“What?”

“Even when we extract devices, we only perform the procedure on thoroughly vetted individuals—within limits that do not pose a threat to society. We, too, understand restraint.”

In that sense, Hyphen Colony was the perfect stage. There were countless items that had lost their owners because of the Black Shower.

No matter how much I had experienced, I could not help but be dumbfounded by Gideon’s claim.

“Have you lost the ability to distinguish between good and evil?”

“You slander us as if we were beasts, but in essence, we are rely self-employed. We have simply delved a little deeper than others into the true nature of the social system. Aren’t Fixers of a similar breed? And besides, the real beasts are elsewhere.”

At this point, I found myself curious about the ideology that shaped Gideon. With my arms crossed, I gestured for him to continue.

“Last year, the economic growth rate of the Seed Colony recorded a decimal figure for the first ti since the dawn of Pioneering Power. In a market where artificial intelligence has been comrcialized, do you think such low growth makes any sense?”

“That’s….”

It was a blind spot. No—saying I had never even considered it would be more accurate. For humanity, which had transcended the concept of labor, the economy had beco not sothing to coordinate, but sothing to dominate.

There might be montary crises, but a historic depression like that of the 21st century had never occurred.

Yet if discord was arising sowhere, it ant there were those who desired it.

“We kill humans, but the privileged class is killing the frawork of society itself. And yet, you people are so busy extinguishing the fire before your eyes that you end up beating only the innocent straw.”

“So you’re saying we should strike at the head?”

“If you wish to pull out the roots.”

It was exceedingly enlightening and pragmatic. Yet, it was just as absurd. It was obvious that he was attempting to evade responsibility by throwing the issue into a vast, macro-level domain that could not even be fully perceived.

What one would commonly call—

“Both-sidesism, is it? It might have sounded plausible if you hadn’t been looting the data center.”

Despite the detailed explanation, I closed the distance, prompting Gideon to click his tongue briefly.

“It is hardly pleasing to see my kindness repaid in this manner.”

It couldn’t be helped.

Gideon, who had unplugged the cable embedded in his back, opened his mouth.

“If you cannot accept it, then die.”

In that instant, Gideon’s hair defied gravity and shot upward.

Crackle.

As sparks raced across his entire body, his arms and back opened up. It was then that discs, clustered tightly like a turtle’s shell, protruded outward.

Having preheated Qiongqi in advance, I pulled the trigger without giving Gideon a chance to prepare.

Boom!

A shot aid precisely at the glabella.

However, the trajectory of the tallic projectile bent like taffy before it could even reach Gideon.

A type of electromagnetic induction phenonon.

Upon identifying Qiongqi, Gideon let out a sinister smile.

“Did you shrink a railgun? What a cute toy.”

“You’ve stuffed quite an interesting toy into your body yourself.”

The device glowing blue as it absorbed electric power was none other than a Vector Coil. Simply put, it was a chanism capable of manipulating electromagnetic fields.

It could scatter radio waves in all directions and be used as a substitute for radar, and in ergencies, it could generate an electromagnetic pulse, forcing opponents into physical combat.

For that reason, its designated Military Utility Grade (MUG) was 3.

If operated at the right mont, it was capable of securing superiority in a localized war. It would be easiest to understand it as a tactical weapon.

However, the power consumption proportional to its capabilities was no trifling matter. At the very least, it made no sense for an individual to operate such a device.

‘What is this?’

A vague question surfaced in my mind, but Gideon did not give even a mont to ponder.

“Now then, you should take back what you sent.”

It was then that the Vector Coil radiated light and released the energy it had recovered from the tallic projectile.

Barely dodging in ti—so close that a few strands of my hair were singed—I hurled a folding knife.

The blade spun ferociously, like a bullet fired along rifling, its speed incomparable to that of an arrow.

In that instant, a bolt of electricity emitted from the Vector Coil intercepted the folding knife. Sparks inevitably erupted at the point where they collided.

“Insane….”

In the end, it lost its force and was deflected, but the fact that it had endured for several seconds was astonishing even to Gideon. It ant that a re blade had contained kinetic energy comparable to that of a bullet.

At that mont, the Vector Coil that had been used lost its glow and retracted back into his body.

At the unforeseen variable I had long hoped for, my eyes sparkled.

It clearly required recharging.

The number of Vector Coils currently embedded in Gideon’s body was sixteen. One had just retracted, so fifteen remained.

“Yeah, I think I understand now.”

Grabbing a fountain pen that lay scattered on the table, I dashed forward and hurled it just as before. The folding knife had been blocked because it was a conductor, but this ti would be different.

Just as I expected, the sharp pen nib lodged itself into Gideon’s shoulder.

It was only a minor wound, insufficient to determine victory or defeat, but the process mattered more than the result.

While Gideon focused on the fountain pen, I was able to close the distance.

“Not a chance.”

To push back as I charged in abruptly, Gideon unleashed an electric blast straight ahead.

Crack!

The radial current tore through the interior of the control room in an instant.

“Hey, the servers are getting wrecked. Isn’t that a waste?”

“I’ve already transmitted most of the critical data.”

That was nothing short of bad news for .

To suppress the Vector Coils as quickly as possible, I lifted shattered chunks of concrete and hurled them. Whatever I grasped beca a formidable projectile.

Though Gideon was starkly exposed to life-threatening danger, he remained perfectly calm. By manipulating bioelectricity to the extre, he had elevated his reaction speed to the limit, allowing him to read every trajectory.

However, that did not lead to a counterattack. Despite intermittently unleashing electric shocks, the initiative he had lost once refused to return to him.

And so, when all the Vector Coils powered down, I surged forward without hesitation. At that mont, Gideon was no different from being stripped bare.

“That thought is what will kill you.”

Drawing into his embrace, Gideon extended his palm—an unmodified, pure palm that had never undergone surgery even after he beca a cyborg.

It might have seed like futile resistance, but this stance was the trump card Gideon had reserved until the very end.

His ability did not originate from the Vector Coils.

The instant my fist reached the bridge of his nose, Gideon released the power he had accumulated all along. At the sa ti, the discharged Vector Coils emitted a blue glow, brightly illuminating the chamber.

It was only natural that the power, pushed to its limits, condensed into his palm.

Rumble.

Lightning surged through the interior, where not a single storm cloud existed, piercing the walls several tis.

Estimated voltage: at least one billion volts.

Average speed: one hundred thousand kiloters.

Though its scale was exceedingly small, it was not a phenonon that could be tracked with the naked eye.

Thud.

Naturally, I, who had taken it head-on, could not remain unscathed.

***

Gideon, looking down at with my heart pierced through, drew ragged breaths. Steam continuously rose from his body, unable to withstand the imnse heat.

“Lord Gideon, your body is on fire!”

“It isn’t. So keep your mouth shut.”

It had been a long ti since he had manifested his ability. That alone proved how formidable his opponent was. Yet he could not shake off a lingering sense of unease. The opponent’s skill was so exceptional that it was difficult to regard him as human—but in other words, that was all there was to it.

From the looks of it, he was a Natural or in a comparable state.

In an era where genetic engineering and Cybernetics surgery were rampant, he was an unusual type.

It was puzzling what he had trusted in to charge forward so recklessly, but asking a dead man would be aningless.

Gideon turned his back to finish the task, but he could not help widening his eyes at the heat that seed to seize his ankle.

The opponent who had collapsed just monts ago was standing.

“You were certainly dead.”

“A cyborg shouldn’t be saying that.”

After the destroyed heart returned to its original state, I clutched my pounding chest and offered courtesy.

“Still, since you didn’t tamper with the device, I’ll send you off without pain.”

“Hah,” Gideon exhaled shortly, grasping the situation at once.

“So, you were one of my kind after all.”

“I didn’t know either, so let’s call it a draw.”

Astonishingly, Gideon—a cyborg—was also a ta-human. Judging by the manifested form, he was an electrokinesis user, in other words, a power-generation ability wielder.

Just as I had concealed my miracle behind advanced technology, Gideon had also hidden his true nature.

Anyone unfamiliar with the truth would almost certainly mistake it for an ability he had gained after becoming a cyborg.

But that was a lie and a deception.

It was evident from the fact that he himself served as a generator, supplying power to the Vector Coils.

With the riddle solved, it was ti to receive my reward.

As if reading my thoughts, Gideon swiftly extended his palm. Now that his identity as a ta-human had been exposed, he had nothing left to hesitate over.

As lightning flashed once more, I thrust both arms forward, crossing them in an X.

Flesh could never serve as a shield before a natural disaster—but the story changed entirely if it could regenerate infinitely.

Rumble.

After a trendous shock swept through the chamber, both my arms were reduced to charred ashes, yet I paid no heed and stamped forward.

Boom.

At first, it was so faint that only the tiles cracked, but soon the entire ground twisted as if being sucked beneath my feet.

Like an antlion pit erupting into existence, the spectacle caused Gideon to hold his breath. Even seated in the front row, he could not comprehend what he was witnessing.

“What….”

The rotation that began at the soles of my feet continued to overlap as it passed through my entire body.

By the ti I unleashed a straight punch, my incinerated fist had returned almost simultaneously.

Before he could summon lightning, the disaster struck. Though the Vector Coils attempted to respond, the sparks that leapt forth were swept away like debris in a torrent and vanished without a trace.

‘This….’

It cannot be stopped.

Gideon acknowledged his defeat and closed his eyes, but even such a swift judgnt was a beat too late. His full-body prosthetic had already been torn to shreds.

An overwhelming punch that surpassed even the speed of perception.

A thunderous roar that seed capable of sundering heaven and earth erupted a beat later, yet Gideon was unable to react.