Chapter 56: Development

Back in his room, Roland removed the exoskeleton helmet from his head and narrowed his eyes slightly. Getting exposed this time had caught him off guard—he hadn't planned to take on the Maelstrom gang head-on at all.

“Lissandra, did you notice anything off during the operation?”

“An AI appeared in your operation, but it vanished almost immediately. It seemed concerned about cyber-surveillance.”

Her words sent a jolt through Roland. An AI? A rogue AI? Impossible. If it was a rogue AI, how did it cross the Blackwall and get into this part of the Net…?

His expression hardened. He needed to start developing technology related to networks and security—and that just happened to be PROJECT’s specialty.

With that in mind, he pulled up his current balance.

【Remaining Blue Essence: 217,624】
【Remaining Orange Essence: 15,649】

Enough to buy another full PROJECT template… Orange Essence had been steadily coming in lately, probably due to the impact of taking out Fiers.

Roland pondered which template to purchase next. At the moment, he could leave assassination-type tasks to Jhin and only take action himself when necessary. What he needed now was to get the company’s development on track—otherwise, when the Unification War started, he might not even have a place at the table.

“Let’s choose another strong template… I did promise Kiwi, after all…”

If possible, he would have bought Charm Spirit outright, but it was simply too expensive. Its raw combat strength wasn’t the highest, but its abilities were top-tier. He also wanted to directly purchase Lissandra, but he didn’t have anywhere near the balance required.

“Kiwi, come to my office.”

Kiwi froze for a moment when she heard Roland’s sudden summons. He hadn’t contacted her at all since that incident, which made her curious about what this was for.

“Yi should’ve told you already—about the Cyberware.”

Kiwi nodded.

“So I called you here to install your cybernetic body. It’s the same combat-type cyberbody Yi has. From now on, you’ll be in charge of leading the combat robots we’ll be bringing in.”

“What about Yi?”

Kiwi couldn’t help but ask. Roland paused and looked at her.

“Yi has his own mission. He won’t be partnering with you for now. If new recruits come in later, they’ll join your squad. Oh—and the squad’s name will be PROJECT, representing the company’s top combat force.”

“I… understand.”

Kiwi wanted to say more, but she simply nodded. Several medical-type robots then entered the room, leaving her momentarily stunned.

She hadn’t expected things to move this fast, and she’d never seen this type of robot before.

Roland confirmed her thoughts—these medical robots hadn’t been introduced to the public yet. They were far too likely to offend a whole lot of people. Securing internal security came first.

“Please relax, Miss Kiwi.”

Hearing that, Kiwi slowly closed her eyes and lay down on the medical bed prepared for her. A steel door in Roland’s office slid open as an anesthetic was injected into her bloodstream.

Before long, her consciousness sank into darkness.

Seeing this, Roland walked in while preparing the Purification Template.

“System, what’s next?”

“I will convert the template into a chip. Host, you only need to insert the chip into the slot. It will dissolve and merge into the target’s body.”

“Alright.”

A stream of data appeared in Roland’s hand, condensing into a chip that glowed with purple light. Without hesitation, he placed it into Kiwi’s slot.

“System, the template’s host won’t rebel, right? I’d rather not become PROJECT incarnate.””

“No need to worry, Host. You may retrieve the template at any time, or directly stop the Compatible Host’s functions.”

Hearing that, Roland relaxed and continued watching Kiwi’s body being reconstructed. Soon, a figure wearing a sleek, futuristic black helmet was lying on the operating table.

“Let me know when he wakes up.”

Seeing that everything was proceeding smoothly, Roland gave Lissandra a final instruction and left.

He needed to strike back at Biotechnica, check in on another contact, and make some preparations.

This time, he intended to use up every drop of Blue Essence to strengthen Lissandra’s factory—both its capabilities and its security.

...

Bang!

Meanwhile, Fuda was in a foul mood after receiving the news.

“Is the Maelstrom gang completely useless?! They couldn’t even handle this? The other side only had a few people!!”

Fuda glared at his subordinate, who kept his head down, too afraid to speak.

“…Go. Inform PR about the situation and have them get ready.”

Fuda took a long breath and waved his hand irritably before collapsing into his chair. He knew either he or the security department would have to take the blame.

Unfortunately, the security department had backing—he didn’t. So the odds were high that he’d be the one carrying the black pot. The most infuriating part? They had no intel on the attackers at all.

The only person who’d fought them only knew that the enemy had a Sandevistan.

...

【Campbell Type II Defense Robot Blueprint】×1
【Mallot Intelligent Manufacturing Instrument Blueprint】×1
【Imperial Guard Robot Blueprint】×1
【Night Owl Security Robot Blueprint】×1
【Alpha Smart Home Robot Blueprint】×1
…

After forwarding everything about the All Foods factory to Kuroda, Roland began a massive purchasing spree in the Essence Mall.

“Lissandra, you can split off sub-intelligences, right?”

“Yes, if you require it.”

“Then split one off to manage this factory. It will focus on producing high-tech equipment and security forces. And if possible, embed your program into every smart home robot.”

“Understood.”

Roland’s plan was to first solidify the company’s combat strength through mass-produced security robots. The Night Owl units would support Kiwi in future operations. The smart home robots were a new product line following the C-type therapeutic agent.

The intelligent manufacturing instruments and other devices were production tools. He also bought a large batch of blueprints for smart weapons and Power Weapon, aiming to enter both the high-end and low-end markets.

“Oh, and Lissandra—those rats inside the company are being monitored, right?”

“Yes. Please rest assured. I’ll notify you if anything happens.”

“Good.”