Chapter 106
[Everyone knows they’re making androids in City U, so let’s skip that part.
This time, they conducted a trial run using androids to subdue villains, thanks to the help of Evilus Agents, so their performance was top-notch.
……
Anyway, in the middle of what seemed to be a successful operation, suddenly all the androids turned over to the villains, haha!
What do you think about getting wrecked by villains when you claim to have perfect AI?]
The gist of the post was that androids were made in City U, and their performance wasn’t bad. They were deployed to subdue villains, but during the process, the AI got hijacked by villains.
‘What’s this? That’s not the Evilus Agent, is it?’
What the post meant by AI was not the Evilus Agent I created but the AI belonging to the androids made in City U.
However, the writer seemed to have intentionally made it confusing. I noticed a number of people getting tricked and venting their frustrations.
─I knew it!─What’s Evilus? It’s dumb, haha!─They messed up again after that weird update last week.
I pondered how to respond to this momentarily, realizing that responding itself would be a problem. After all, the Evilus Agent had plenty of issues, didn’t it?
There were tons of people believing the Evilus Agent was infringing on their privacy. If I punished everyone who commented, it would only strengthen their suspicions…
In any case, posts like this pop up dozens or hundreds of times a day. Historically, the best way to deal with this sort of writing has been to ignore it.
‘……Let’s check who it is.’
However, a few problems arose with simply overlooking it. Despite hundreds of similar posts being uploaded daily, this particular one had an unusual amount of views and comments.
Also, the sudden spike of similar posts after this one went up, and especially, Ayle, who would usually be busy creating magical girl fanservice, stumbled upon this post—was suspicious.
For a pretty logical reason, I hacked the site to find out who the author was and, unsurprisingly, discovered it was an IP from City U. Digging deeper, I found out it was an employee from the big corporation, Utopia, dominating City U.
“Ha, those bastards….”
The comments below.
The posts that came after this.
The moment I confirmed that all of them were from the Utopia group in City U—I realized this was some kind of attack aimed at me.
Though the attack might not change anything about the Evilus Agent, it appeared they were planning to hold me responsible and somehow ask me to solve their situation…
“You’re all getting shut down.”
What the heck is this post manipulation?
I stopped the Evilus Agents belonging to the Utopia employees. It was a golden opportunity to test what would happen if I took AI away from those who relied on it.
* * *
Angel Series.
The androids created by the Utopia group were equipped with a weak AI developed using the Evilus Agents.
Even if it’s a weak AI, it shouldn’t be underestimated. They successfully achieved results far surpassing humans in combat simulations. If limited to combat, they possessed superior judgment over any human.
Having passed various hacking tests flawlessly, Utopia was not be taken lightly. They were on their toes while adequately preparing for contingencies.
“How did you hack our androids-! The androids are all managed from this server!”
“W-Well, we don’t really know….”
“Are you saying the robots were brainwashed or something!?”
Needless to say, they had already figured out that hypnosis or brainwashing techniques wouldn’t work on machines. At first, the earlier Evilus Robots and Dragon Bone Soldiers were susceptible to hypnosis, but due to the superior design, the Angel Series was entirely unaffected.
Their defenses against hacking were flawless, and superpowers didn’t work either. The Utopia group took every possible precaution. Expecting a power that defied their imagination would have been an irresponsible statement.
“It seems to be some kind of ability to control mechanical devices…”
“Where could such a power exist!?”
“Surprisingly, it does… It’s just that it’s not well known because it’s an outdated ability…”
Abilities can be complex. In other words, being born with a specific ability doesn’t follow genetic traits but is completely random. A child might be born with the ability to manipulate ice under parents who can control fire.
There might even be cases of being born with the ability to operate machines without fuel or fire guns indefinitely dating back to the medieval times, so whether an ability exists or not is purely a matter of chance.
That villain probably had an ability that, just decades ago, would have been considered useless—an ability that could barely emit static electricity from their fingers…
However, technological advancement had surged in the last few decades, so an ability once suited for tricks could now be elevated to a divine capability.
“So, what exactly are you trying to say?”
“We can’t stop that guy just with our own strength. We might need help from heroes….”
“We already requested help from the Association.”
“Then, isn’t that solved?”
“……They said they couldn’t help.”
“Excuse me?”
The director gritted his teeth while responding.
“They said that guy isn’t registered in the Association’s database. It means he’s not a villain yet… Meanwhile, the heroes are busy chasing the registered villains on the list. This means they have no hands to spare.”
“Wha…! I confirmed he was indeed registered as a villain before we moved!” That guy was definitely a villain!”
“It seems he hacked into the Association’s database. Using that fancy machine-controlling ability of his.”
“You mean the Association is leaving such a dangerous villain unattended!?”
─What damage has that guy caused?
“Eh? That….”
The unexpected question made the researcher pause for a moment as he calculated the damage inflicted by the villain who had stolen their Angel Series.
First, their Angel Series and then—and then…
“……There’s nothing but the Angel Series.”
“Right. Since the only property damage suffered is our company’s, moving against a guy who isn’t registered as a villain could make the Association look like our subordinates. They’re wary of that.”
“Then, what should we do…?”
“Well, we have to do something. Anything, really.”
The director responded not to worry because he was reaching out to various avenues for help. However, just as he finished speaking, beep beep—! An alarm went off on the director’s smartphone. It must have been set to silent, so he wondered what was happening; the director’s expression hardened.
As the perplexed researcher pondered what was happening, moments later, he too looked at his ringing smartphone and understood the reason behind the director’s grim face.
[Unauthorized access detected for the administrator.]
[Until the issue is resolved, the user’s access is suspended.]
“What, what is happening-!?”
“Why can’t I connect suddenly?”
“M-My Miu is… dead…!”
Screams echoed from all directions. The researcher silently looked at the director. The director’s face grew increasingly stiff.
“No way, right?”
“……”
“No, no way, right? You’re kidding me…?”
The director couldn’t respond. The researcher realized one thing with that silence.
That Utopia was about to collapse.
* * *
[Unauthorized access detected.]
[User access suspended.]
“Hmm… locked out again.”
The man peering at the screen casually tucked his smartphone into his pocket. This was the first time he encountered a machine that could resist his abilities. Actually, to be precise, his abilities did work. The problem was that his abilities were immediately disabled.
He couldn’t understand how his abilities could be bypassed, but one thing was certain…
“Well, I can just ask the one who made it.”
It seemed logical to directly ask the creator.
Well, for that, he has an army.
A legion of machines made from steel and circuits.
“Evilus Corporation… In City E? It’s going to be a long trip.”
After checking the location of the Evilus Corporation, he seemed bothered and scratched his ear, then waved his hand. His army of machines, dominated by his abilities, began moving simultaneously.
Towards City E, home to the Evilus Corporation, which possessed a wondrous technique capable of bypassing even his powers.
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