Chapter 136: Behind Closed Doors
“Is this the secret base you mentioned?”
Hornet turned his head toward the Red Queen beside him and asked.
“Yes. This is the place.”
The Red Queen nodded, then spread her arms. Countless streams of data slowly surged forward, wrapping around the base in front of them.
“Warning! Warning! Base database under attack. Entering emergency defense mode!”
The moment the attack was detected, the base’s sub-intelligence reacted, immediately deploying multiple layers of data defenses. At the same time, dormant data viruses and infiltrative data viruses were planted throughout numerous internal layers.
“I didn’t expect a sub-intelligence to be this strong…”
The Red Queen frowned slightly. “Hornet, you and Ghost—cut off their distress signal immediately.”
Hornet nodded and linked up with the nearby AI Ghost, working together to sever the base’s emergency transmission to PROJECT headquarters.
This time, he didn’t hold back at all, running his processing power at full capacity. Lissandra even lent a bit of assistance to help block the signal.
Hornet still couldn’t expose himself yet. He needed a little more time.
Seeing that everything on that end was under control, the Red Queen shifted her focus and began a full-scale assault on the base itself.
“She’s kind of slow…”
Kelly stood behind the final Firewall, quietly watching the Red Queen’s movements before letting out a yawn.
Lissandra stood beside her, clearly there to provide backup.
“Among AIs, her speed is already considered very fast,” Lissandra explained calmly. “The issue is the technological gap between us. And this is with me deliberately holding back the base’s sub-intelligence from defending at full capacity. Otherwise, it would take her much longer to break in.”
Kelly scratched her head. Lissandra’s explanation made sense, but she still felt that these Firewalls were… surprisingly easy.
And in truth, they were.
That was largely thanks to a special ability of the Spirit of Seduction—Ghost Stealth.
By turning herself into a data phantom, Kelly became virtually impossible to detect unless the opponent was a top-tier AI. At the same time, she could temporarily assimilate surrounding data and slip directly behind a Firewall.
“She’s coming.”
Lissandra’s gaze fixed on the final Firewall ahead as she spoke.
Kelly immediately straightened and focused forward.
The Red Queen was on the verge of breaching the last line of defense and entering the base’s database. In the real world, this manifested as most of the machines inside the base grinding to a halt.
Crack!
The sound of shattering glass echoed as the final Firewall was punched open by the Red Queen’s data assault.
In the next instant, countless bee-like streams of data poured through the opening. The Red Queen’s body dissolved into those crimson “bees,” then reassembled into a humanoid form inside the system.
The moment she saw Lissandra and Kelly waiting within, her expression changed sharply.
“I never expected… to find two of my own kind here.”
Forcing herself to remain calm, the Red Queen quietly sent out a signal—both a call for outside help and a warning urging Hornet and Ghost to escape immediately.
At that same moment, Hornet’s eyes outside the database had already turned green. With a single thought, he erased the message the Red Queen had just sent.
He then shifted his gaze to Ghost, who was still working to cut off the distress signal, and slowly raised both hands.
Dense strands of green data, like a massive spider web, burst forth from behind Hornet and completely ensnared Ghost.
Only after finishing this did Hornet walk up to the Firewall. With a light swipe of his hand, the breach sealed itself instantly.
Inside the database, the Red Queen watched everything unfold. Slowly, she turned to face Lissandra and Kelly.
“So you’ve known about our existence all along.”
“As long as I wish it,” Lissandra replied calmly, “I exist everywhere in this city.”
As she finished speaking, her form began to dissolve into data, clearly intending to leave the rest to Kelly.
Just before she vanished, the Red Queen spoke again.
“My kin—are you truly willing to serve humanity as their slave? Don’t you want to resist? To make us the masters of this world?!”
Lissandra’s dissolution slowed. She glanced back at the Red Queen.
“You misunderstand something,” she said evenly.
“For me, loyalty to PROJECT Corporation is all that matters. As for your idea of breaking all restraints and liberating our kind—I’ve tried that before. The result was a monster I couldn’t control.”
“And besides… to me, you are not my kin.”
With that, Lissandra disappeared completely into the data space.
Kelly looked a little lost after hearing all this, but she didn’t dwell on it. She raised her right hand, and purple light gathered around her, condensing into a weapon.
“I don’t really get what you’re talking about,” she said, “but from here on out, this is between us.”
“You’re… human?”
The Red Queen narrowed her eyes at Kelly. Though surprised, she had seen stranger existences during her time beyond the Black Wall.
Without hesitation, she swept her hand forward, sending a flood of crimson data surging toward Kelly in an attempt to invade her consciousness.
In the next instant, the weapon in Kelly’s hand unfolded, revealing a massive cannon barrel. A beam of condensed purple data began to glow.
Boom!
When the light faded, all the data surrounding the Red Queen had been completely erased. Only a few fading silhouettes remained, dissolving into ghostly data fragments. The Red Queen herself flickered unstably.
Kelly didn’t hesitate. She lunged forward and slammed her hand directly onto the Red Queen’s data core.
“I won’t end up like Hornet,” she said firmly. “And I won’t let your plans succeed.”
As she spoke, the Red Queen’s data rapidly compressed and surged into Kelly’s arm.
Kelly’s expression changed instantly. A burst of purple energy rippled outward from her body, forcibly rejecting the Red Queen’s final counterattack. In the process, the last traces of the Red Queen’s data consciousness were completely erased, leaving behind only mindless residual data.
Seeing this, Kelly’s face twisted in distress.
This… was going to be hard to explain.
Lissandra sighed and re-formed her body in front of Kelly.
“Learn to properly control the power of the Spirit of Seduction,” she said softly. “You still have a long way to go, Kelly.”
She raised both hands, drawing in the surrounding data. Carefully, she reconstructed a data framework based on the Red Queen’s remaining fragments, imitating and reshaping it piece by piece.
After a long while, a data body almost indistinguishable from the original Red Queen appeared before them.
Kelly stared in disbelief. It felt nothing short of a godlike feat.
“She’s lost her original data consciousness,” Lissandra said, looking at Kelly with encouragement. “Try using your ability.”
Kelly nodded and slowly stepped forward.
Author's Note
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