Chapter 12: PROJECT · Ascension!

“You... why…?”

“Why did I save you? Simple. Because I need something from you.”

Roland smiled as he looked at the woman in front of him.

“Something you need? No, I don’t understand. I’m just a bar owner.”

Elizabeth gave a faint, bitter smile, confusion flickering in her eyes.

“No, no—you just haven’t realized your own value yet. By tomorrow, you’ll understand. For now, just rest.”

Roland shook his head lightly and closed his eyes. Elizabeth still had questions, but seeing that he clearly wasn’t going to answer, she swallowed her doubts and turned her gaze toward the window.

Moments ago, she’d been the owner of a bustling bar, surrounded by her girls. Now, she was the only one left.

...

Roland, eyes closed, wasn’t resting at all. His consciousness had already entered the System, browsing through the list of purchasable items.

He quickly discovered something interesting—the PROJECT Keys were priced at roughly half the cost of their corresponding templates. Meaning... he’d need at least fifteen thousand Orange Essence to purchase the full cybernetic set for PROJECT · Ascension—assuming he hadn’t drawn the key earlier.

Looking at it now... maybe that draw was a massive win after all.

The realization put Roland in a surprisingly good mood.

“Well then... let’s see just how expensive these Ascension components are…”

After checking the prices, Roland narrowed his eyes. He had several options: the leg components were the cheapest, followed by the arms, then the torso. The most expensive parts were the weapon system and the head.

He could afford a torso and two legs, or one arm and a torso, or a weapon and one arm—or he could just splurge on a head.

Hmm... why does this feel like I’m buying parts from a Scavenger chop shop?

[PROJECT · Ascension: Torso – 2000 Orange Essence; Arm – 1000 Orange Essence x1; Leg – 500 Orange Essence x1; Head – 3000 Orange Essence; Whisper – 2000 Orange Essence]

Alright then. Let’s go with you.

...

Inside one of PROJECT Corporation’s warehouses, several PROJECT Intelligent Security Robots stood motionless in standby mode.

Suddenly, a flash of red light darted through the shadows. A spider-like rhombic robot scurried across the floor at high speed and leapt onto one of the security units.

It tore open the machine’s head with a metallic shriek, the grinding of metal and crackling of damaged circuits echoing through the room. The PROJECT robot dropped to its knees with a heavy clang.

Its head was replaced with a rhombic device covered by a black glass visor.

Zzzzt—

A pulse of electricity flickered, and a red glow lit up the new faceplate.

“This will be... a masterpiece…”

“Hiss~ my head’s a little fuzzy…”

Roland reached up and touched his chin, feeling cold metal beneath his fingers. He looked around, confirming he was still inside his company’s warehouse, and let out a small sigh of relief.

He was lucky—getting the Ascension Template had paid off.

Unlike other templates, Ascension didn’t require a host; it could act autonomously while under his remote control. Still, having two separate perspectives at once felt... disorienting.

When he’d purchased Ascension, the System had revealed another detail: PROJECT templates could be applied to others, though their power depended on compatibility.

They could also be summoned anywhere within his sphere of influence. That’s why he’d called Ascension into the warehouse. Once manifested, however, it couldn’t be stored back in the System’s inventory.

And now it was clear why the System had mentioned needing a key. With a key, he would only experience the template as an observer—gaining the template’s skills afterward. Without it... it was uncertain who would be in control.

Even with the key, Roland could feel the faint influence of the template on his thoughts while piloting Ascension.

Mainly… an overwhelming urge to create “art.”

He figured Ascension needed an outlet to vent—something to stabilize its adaptation.

And what better targets than the Scavengers? None.

But before that, Roland had to properly arm it. The PROJECT security robot body was functional but too rigid—less flexible than high-grade Cyberware and lacking weapon storage capacity.

“Lissandra, contact Trauma Team Hospital. I want a shipment of high-end Cyberware—Gorilla Arms, Mantis Blades, Monowire, Sandevistan, and the like.”

“Understood. Arranging it now.”

The mention of Sandevistan brought a grin to Roland’s face. He could already imagine how terrifying an Ascension equipped with it would be.

Though Ascension’s base body had built-in counters against high-speed movement, Roland hadn’t personally installed them—this would patch some of its weaknesses.

As for the rest... honestly, Ascension had no “capacity limit.” If something was compatible, he could just keep stacking upgrades indefinitely.

A moment later, Roland’s account balance dropped sharply, making the corner of his eye twitch.

No denying it—top-tier Cyberware cost a fortune. In the blink of an eye, a million eddies were gone.

As for Roland’s own body, his augmentations were modest. He’d installed only the essentials: ICE protection and some basic enhancements. Everything else could wait until his PROJECT frame arrived.

As for Ascension itself... its modification level was monstrous. He doubted there’d be two ounces of organic material left inside if someone tried to take it apart.

A neural link? Unnecessary. Its neural core already functioned as a top-tier infiltration module.

Before long, Roland brought Elizabeth back to his apartment. After settling her in, he went to his room to rest.

Meanwhile, back in the PROJECT warehouse, a grim scene unfolded—robots were being torn apart piece by piece.

A humanoid figure with glowing red eyes was dismantling one machine after another, grafting their parts onto its own body.

“Now then… it’s time for my performance.”