Author's Notes (19 APR 2019): Apologies for the late update. This should have been posted four days ago but now that Volume 7 is about to end, I'm getting a bit edgy and checks the update for inconsistency before posting every time I finish a chapter. When I read Chapter 174's completed draft, although I wasn't able to notice what was wrong at first, I actually felt it and knew the uncomfortable feeling of something not fitting correctly was there. And true enough, when I wrote the complete draft for Chapter 175, the inconsistency and small clarifying detail I should have written and wasn't able to notice at first, resurfaced as an entire chapter's worth of inconsistency. It took me four days to investigate where I went wrong and rewrite the whole five chapters for this update (Chapter 171-175) and correct the inconsistency to our details that I've seen. So far, this is good enough for me but please do inform me of what you noticed.

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Chapter 141: Lies Over More Lies

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The Green Tide enveloped the tiny circle; what's left representing the Blue Tide, the protector of the Echelon Network according to Goldwyn's own hypothesis of its origin.

And just now, they've just confirmed...

...this Blue Tide was actually the representation of Rex Kingsley's [software ability]. It's hard to even imagine just how he was able to convert his own thoughts into data-compatible command protocols.

After all, he was a real person and wasn't a copied soul through the [SCAN] Device they'd used eight years prior to this date.

Helping to stabilize itself from its earlier struggle and almost inevitable defeat, the Green Tide made a protective shell that counterattacked whenever the Red Tide slammed it with a violent strike.

The Blue Tide took this chance to recover and bit by bit, became larger, recovering from the damage it received from the earlier assault.

It didn't have to take a smart person to explain this entire phenomenon as the visual representation of the entre event was being showed to Goldwyn on a real-time basis.

He narrowed his eyes.

This struggle wasn't part of the plan. [Database] is the strongest aggressive-type Battle-AI and the father of all Battle-AI designs. He should have the power over any other Battle-AIs that runs on the same system as it, and yet, this Green Tide, this [AI], was actually fighting against it without limits.

The Blue Tide was one thing as it was actually the representation of a real person's [ability] but with the Green Tide, it was... mind-boggling.

If Rex had this kind of ability that could contend to up to 15% of [Database], then there's no telling of what he could do if he was able to control all of the NanoMechs in his body. He felt threatened. It had the chance to jeopardize their plans.

Right now, the old gangster felt both regretful as well as thankful; regret at the fact that he had let his complacency on their technology to let all of this happen; and thankful that before it could even get out of control, they've discovered it this earlier on. So right now, in order to resolve this variable, he had to straighten the curves and then flatten all the wrinkles on their slate.

"Destroy that intruder." He coldly uttered. "Show it the power of a God."

[Yes, My Liege.]

*****

[The pressure came back. Lily's protection won't last long now.]

If Lily had been just a moment late, Cortana would have been forced to shut the system down to avoid losing all potentially sensitive data from the scouring.

'How long do we have?'

But that was the worse-case situation. If she did that, the house's security systems will also shut down and while it does protect all of the sensitive information regarding Rex's future projects as well as their Company Secrets, it still includes shutting down the life-support systems that maintained the bio-clone's development state in his secret facility.

[The enemy's eroding her Firewall. At the current pace, it would take three to six minutes for her to fold and return the processors before they melt from going overdrive. Right now, she was using all of it almost only to help us buy more time.]

In other words, this [Database] is really a monster.

That's one of the biggest reasons why Rex does not want to resort to it and so fought on to endure the extreme headache brought by Cortana using more tolerance resources than the limit.

He looked around him, the Cortana-only display is showing all the enemies hiding in plain sight. They were preparing to attack.

—six more to go... six more to go...

Rex was feeling the backlash of the pain and the exhaustion of constant movements. Although he can see the enemies in his vision as red figures hiding on spots he shouldn't be seeing, the fact still remains that he was alone and he was pinned down from both sides.

The way their "tappings" worked on the Office is that it only displays what Chronos was seeing. The video feeds were sent to the Office via another private server as is. Chronos could manipulate the interface through his local console panel but that, in itself, as well, was from another private server and so he had limited control over the contents of the materials being sent.

In other words, the Office was nothing more than a hub where everything was gathered from many different sources and then reviewed but never to be manipulated accordingly. At best, if he wanted to change something or implement a change in the environment where the "event" was taking place, he could only give the order but not directly make it happen from the Office.

These were the entire [] of his Office Server; it was meant to be a protection in case his own personal server's location was compromised so as to avoid assassinations.

After all, the enemies in the dark are all geniuses of unimaginable levels as well.

But thanks to Cortana being on the same level as Goldwyn's [Database] in terms of their complexity and hacking capabilities (although could only use 15% of its entirety), Rex was able to tap into the information available in the Office Server since the server itself was "independent" from everything it was meant to receive.

This reminded him of his own [Central Station] and is also the reason why he was joyful to receive the Office (copy) and couldn't wait to use it in Terroa.

'Cortana, how long until you can recover at least the last defense firewall of the Echelon?'

[I need at least 30 seconds, sir!]

—Cheh! This is impossible! The enemy won't give me that chance to recover everything else!

'Can't you use the same processors as Lily?'

[Negative, sir. Lily has the same data-processes as me but her anti-cracking abilities are more unique than mine as it was based on the growth process and encoding algorithms that Maki had developed by himself as he evolved on in-game Earth. Using the same hardware as her will only overload the processors and it would lead to the collapse of the stalemate she bought for us just now.]

Rex clicked his tongue again.

He looked at the direction of the enemies: four in front, two behind. The latter was from the group he had first made contact with. He was running out of ammo since this group wasn't any pushover troops unlike the rest that were eliminated much earlier. These were elites worthy of consideration.

—I guess I had no choice.

He told himself and tapped on the device on his ear as the call connected.

The annoyed Squad Leader voiced out.

"Drop on my location. Six hostiles. Eliminate them and you get the points."

"You're not wrong. I am indeed running out of ammo. Though I can still deal with them with a little more effort I also still have my mission. And that mission included 30 candidates getting a passing grade. So, do you want to do this or not?"

The Squad Leader was speechless. This guy... is beyond just shamelessness. It's like he had a face made of Titanium and no amount of shame could be reflected on it as it was painted in a dull black ragged color, cancelling all that hits its surface.

—He actually admitted to it with an honest tone!

Rex, of course, when it comes to his benefits, had selective memories. Sometimes, he forgets what it means if he realized it was a useless thing to do.

He would even sometimes forget names when it's a person or a place with no benefits to him.

But that was on another chapter———

"Thirty seconds. If you're not here by then, then I will forget about supporting you all."

The line was cut.

Rex heaved a sigh when he heard the roar of the jet engine in the distance heading at his direction.

'Cortana.'

[25 seconds, sir.]

The enemies were smart. They realized that Rex only had handguns for himself and so they began to maintain their distance of at least 120m from his general location to minimize the deadliness of his shots, especially his left hand.

Still, that didn't mean that it was easy. In the last three minutes alone, Rex managed to reduce their numbers into six.

—this feels like the longest 30 seconds of my life.

*****

Back in Goldwyn's simulated dark room, Goldwyn sipped the wine on his glass as he narrowed his eyes towards the slowly eroding Green Tide that protected the Echelon Network.

"What would happen to you if I destroy this?" he asked himself as he pondered. "Use 80% of your processes. Crush that intruder and if you can, you can also capture it and feed on it to grow."

[Yes, My Liege.]

*****

In the Office, Goldwyn became silent. He sipped his wine and narrowed his eyes on the screen that displayed the ongoing hacking battle while giving a sinister command.

Chronos knew that the old man was serious this time because this Battle-AI wasn't something that's created from the [Database] and this was a threat.

What more, Rex was also recovering, as seen in the rendering display. The Blue Tide was slowly getting larger and this means that he's rebuilding the Echelon Network's broken defense line while in battle against the candidates all these time.

He smiled, "Truly miraculous. His tenacious spirit is just beautiful to watch. A variable like this was a true apex of our ultimate technology!"

The monologue of flags was met with an irritated squall from the old gangster.

Chronos scoffed, "Don't be frantic, you old bones, I'm merely enjoying the discovery of this miracle, is all. I am still focused on our plan."

"Well, enjoy your game..." Chronos shrugged and looked at the fight in the mountain side, grinning.

*****

[Master, the pressure increased!]

"Thorn, is there a way to hasten the last facility?"

"No, thank you. This is still help. How long, then?"

She understood Thorn's worry. These were truly "weapons" in the modern world and when paired to use by a Battle-AI with a sufficient growth level, then these facilities will become lethal weapons that could deal damage to the World Market and even possibly destroy the world.

Of course, it was only Thorn who knew that Lily is using three of them at the same time. In the world, nobody will say "yes" to anyone who would use at least two of them, let alone three at the same time.

"Rex's company secrets are in trouble. I have to do something to help him! The attack is coming for the company's data servers!" She answered. Even she herself didn't understand the entire meaning of the words she just said. She was just following the plot scenario Lily and Cortana created as their cover for the true [secrets] in the house.

Amanda bit her lip and looked at Rex who she only now noticed were actually covered in sweat. She felt for his back and discovered it wet. The clothes of his inner garment were soaked in sweat. She then pulled out her handkerchief to dry a bit of it.

Many people saw her do this and they couldn't help feel envious of the man. Many of them even wanted to go there and kick his sofa then pretend that it was an accident.

Almost all of them hadn't realized that sweating as you use NLD was actually a strange phenomenon as everything that happens when using NLDs are nothing more than a "dream event" in reality.

There shouldn't be anything that reflects back in the real world like what's happening to him.

Cassiopeia and the girls noticed the crowd of men look at Amanda's direction and they saw her wear a look of worry while tending over Rex.

She, Agatha, and Niobe exchanged looks. They wanted to go there and help her touch hi—tend to him but they recalled their "cover" and held in their desire with a good effort. Of course, they still felt worried so they tapped on their party channel for the conference call to question her.

"I..." Amanda hesitated to reply. Although most of them knew about Cortana, only Volt knew that Rex had actually installed a Nanotech in his head. She didn't dare to tell them this secret since this might bring them calamity instead. "Rex's NLD wasn't a normal NLD... and so he experiences some stress on everything that's happening to him inside the simulation. At least that's what Lily told me."

The excuse she said was based on what Lily told her about the nature of Rex's situation when the NanoMechs in his body were slowly synched by Cortana and used to "enhance" his body.

Also, since Loni was included in the party channel, she had to put in some lie to avoid alienating her.

So, as expected, the girls gasped in surprise. Even the usually antagonistic Coralline felt that this was something abnormally scary for Rex. After all, the "event" was full of gun fires and such.

Now, everyone in the party knew and they talked with concern about Rex's situation, including the men who demonstrated surprise and worry. They all had the same question: why are they doing this to Rex Kingsley?

Have they discovered his antagonistic deportment against the World Government?

"No." Answered Amanda, "This is all because Rex was part of [Mitra]... and the World Nobles may be testing him to reveal their members. I don't know if it's the case though. It's just my hunch."

Following the agreed scenario before they left the hotel, Amanda stated the "facts" to their friends.

Although they knew the kidnapping incident was resolved with Rex's help, what they knew about all the actual facts told to them... were very different from what had actually transpired.

What they knew of the matter is that Rex was the one who asked for help from this [Mitra] because he was part of it. And so, with their help, Amanda was rescued from the kidnapping and the planned sabotaging of a Duke House for the sake of the throne of Christiana Monarchy was resolved.

This is also the information consistent with what Rex told Chronos —which was given to Lily who instructed Amanda on what to say.

Even learning that Amanda is actually a royalty had taken them an entire night to accept. Good thing, the Conclave was one whole day before the end of the kidnapping event and so the issue was then resolved before it escalated into something else.

Of course, that didn't mean that the Asgardians are all strong-minded individuals. Even now, they were still in shock that Amanda was kidnapped but since "Rex had resolved it", then there's no more reason to dwell on the news and instead move on.

After all, he is Siva and he was Rex Kingsley—

——he was a bringer of miracle and destruction on two worlds at the same time!

The question made Amanda silent. For the next few moments, she didn't know the answer until it was answered by Lily.

[Don't worry everyone. Mitra's people are in place to protect you all. This entire country is under the jurisdiction of Mitra and you are safe and sound.]

[No.] said Lily, shutting the chaotic voices of the Asgardians in the party channel. [You're not some form of terrorists or anything like that. You're just a group of strong-minded youths. That is all. It just so happens that the Boss is special so he receives special attention from the World Nobles. Officially, in fact, you're all shareholders of the Black Label Company. You all can use that identity if you want and the people protecting you are your assigned bodyguards so you don't need to worry about it.]

"..." Amanda didn't say anything. Although she's worried about the safety of her friends, this white lie was necessary to not alert Loni's background.

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