Chapter 860

NO．229：Stack Shield is a

Chaos, panic.

The uneasy psychology that had been temporarily suppressed once again occupied the high ground of their minds, simply because they had previously relied on and trusted the judgment of the artificial brain.

Gilbaris had been stationed as an artificial brain since the mid-term of the alliance's founding, and long before this 'big undertaking', it had already become the reliable mainframe of the Cosmic Merchant Alliance in the business operations and capital accumulation phase over a decade ago.

It had even once served as a reason for many space merchants to join the alliance—being the alliance's own, its artificial intelligence possessed computing power comparable to today's top-tier supercomputers; although its brain wasn't very useful, nobody needed it to think, only to execute logic.

—This is a treatment that the vast majority of commercial alliances cannot offer!

Do you know how powerful a supercomputer that can apply for computing power to assist company operations can be in optimizing a company's operations? Especially when you want to secretly engage in business warfare that matches everyone's beautiful imagination, rather than showing up at the rival company with a hammer.

Such an auxiliary computer as Gilbaris is incredibly versatile!

One could say that among the space merchants' alliance, most of those with less-than-clean assets have come to rely on the overly capable convenience of the artificial brain—this original mechanical body, created by the civilization of planet Kexia, embodied the Kexians' long-held wish: an artificial brain born to grant the universe eternal peace, and using it merely for commercial dealings would be a grave waste.

Of course, ending up in one's own hands might be an even greater waste, but that doesn't matter.

The important thing is that after Aomo learned about the alliance's situation from Abru, and after he endured fatigue while mingling and networking at headquarters, he fully realized a fact:

—These spacefaring people actually rely on artificial intelligence more than he, a local, does!

—And their artificial intelligence actually maintains stable operation through periodic reformatting and modifying external programs!

Um……

To be honest, Aomo is still encountering this kind of hostile organization for the first time.

A few days ago, his cautious confrontation with Hei'an Gona once gave him the impression that everyone in this organization is tough to deal with.

He therefore had to restrict the actions of Sai Luo and Jie De, and even, limited by his own reputation, had to pretend to conduct an investigation at a painfully slow pace.

Even after that, he rarely made use of his personal network, which he once felt had 'developed too wildly, to the point of being overly lengthy and hard to bear'.

He actually used seventy percent of his resources.

I had thought it would be the darkest before dawn, that we must not relax as we approach the end, and that the hostile organization we now face is unprecedented—yet the result……

It is indeed unprecedented.

This is the largest organization Aomo has faced so far, and also the one with the most harmful armed resources.

Although he also believes in the proverb that one rotten spoonful ruins the pot, and believes his infiltration will surely give them an extra surprise, but……

But!

……Do you really not care about such an obvious hidden danger?

Although you do indeed have obvious weaknesses when you appear on the tokusatsu set, relying on artificial intelligence really… uh, is too uh.

Do you truly not care how the Kexians meet their end?

Even the Ganan star people could clearly see: the Kexians' wishes and obsessions are still entwined with the artificial intelligence that destroys them, and they had even tried to report it, but this bunch of……

This bunch of……

This bunch dares to treat this kind of bomb as a toilet, sitting on it to defecate.

To say how ingeniously they hide their hangar location, even after chatting with the Mifelas star person for half an hour and piecing together a rough idea from probing, then letting the Witch Beast investigate to confirm, Aomo doesn't think their performance is all that impressive.

He only feels that the experience of finding this is much easier than awkwardly sparring with Hei'an Gona.

But this doesn't really matter, after all it's not the true climax.

Aomo also didn't continue to battle wits with the air over this, instead falling into an endless loop of doubting whether something this easy could be a trap.

He merely took a break at headquarters to affix the Digital Soul onto the Witch Beast, then let her cooperate with Zhouri Ningjing to carry out covert standby.

Thus we have the present——

——When the Belstar Beast destroyed the steel crown imprisoning the artificial brain, the cyber wraith that had been growing in resentment year by year and increasing in rebellious intensity instantly revived.

Immense computing power, near‑gluttonous consumption of metal resources, and……

That, using the vast data of the virtual planet Kexia to erode the material world, absorbing its lifeforms and even the planet itself into its internal data world—the planetary data‑ification domain—also unfolded at that moment.

As a digital lifeform, the Belstar Beast feels no discomfort from this.

But the moment of data‑to‑data interaction not only lets her confront that colossal, fearsome mechanical dragon, it also lets the original owner of the Digital Soul—Aomo Lindun—experience, in that instant, a sensation akin to crossing time and space.

Just an instant.

At that instant, he truly stood on the battleship deck already half‑disassembled, gazing up at that pair of enormous crimson eyes.

Naturally, It also gazed at Aomo.

Looking down on that tiny frame, the crimson in its eyes was so piercing, so much that It found it hard to step forward, the demon.

「Wish……」

Like the dignity of a fully rampaging machine, even seeming to have already activated destroy mode, so that the position of its twin claws now holds two massive rotary cannons, yet it speaks in a calm, low tone, like some human handsome guy.

Whether this stems from the Kexians' input or its own choice is unknown.

The brief instant passes, but for data interaction it is already enough to comprehend.

He returned to the scout team's ship, while Gilbaris could still see the data of the demon's response.

「I know. 」

At that moment, the demon indeed raised its slender, sharp claw and extended it toward Gilbaris.

「Your wish can now be fulfilled. 」

「Right here. 」

「This is where you fulfill your and your creator's wish, the stage for upholding justice. 」

「Go destroy it all. 」

「Rampaging machine, shall I give you a ride? 」

He softly hummed the lyrics once played near his ear, looking at the riotous machine they believed had been conquered, now baring its fangs again; he then turned his head toward the well‑meaning translator facing him, only to see the Hippolite star person with eyes about to burst.

「Is it you! Mifelas! 」

「Your back……」

Bang!

If that's what I think, we probably aren't the kind of relationship that can shout like this.

Compared to throwing punches, the Befarasian's conspicuous long legs always reach the opponent's body before the fist does, able to kick the charging Hippolytian back with a single leg—and in the very next second, the barrier unfolds.

Blocking the wrist blades swung by the other Ultramen—this armor extending from the wrists, like Nexus Ultraman's Nexus Armor, is sharp and swift, but just not fast enough to outpace Aomo raising his shield.

Moreover, I also think you've called the wrong person.

In the midst of speaking, with his split right hand, he grips the Beta Demon Blade to the left and clamps three monster cards to the right.

With a triple-layered shield, he blocked the Necromancer Roberts's heavy punch.

At that same moment, the slender, tall Befaras assumed the guise of a human youth, save for his dark-red, reptilian-like indifferent gaze, revealing his nonhuman nature.

I also dislike the saying 'the ends justify the means'.

"Are you talking about yourself?" Roberts, who commanded numerous undead monsters, thought Aomo lacked sufficient self-awareness.

But Aomo viewed him the same way.

"How come? When dealing with you lot, there are still many options to choose from."

He said this as his body began to break apart into blocks from the bottom up.

This also made Roberts especially anxious, and he immediately hurled his strongest purple light bullet in this form—

The classic triple shot, which once, by sneak attack, knocked Orb from its Triune Form back to its Origin Form, now must pass through the triple quality inspection formed by Befaras's shield, Jetton's shield, and Renlong's water curtain.

"No need to be so anxious—what's the point? I'm not really going to run away."

Having already dissipated to his chest, he shook his head and sighed.

"You all fight in such tiny forms inside the ship—don't you feel confined?"

"Look outside the ship."

With his last bit of consciousness, he calmly gazed at Roberts and the other Ultramen helping to break the shield, having exerted himself to the point where only Renlong's water curtain still held up.

Leaving behind this form's final words:

"The hunt in the zoo has truly begun."