Chapter 213 Preparations Part II

Dream Rise House.

Inside the living room, the lights in the ceiling lit up the room. The room has an airy feel to it thanks to the furnis.h.i.+ng and the opening to the waterfall at the end.

The mist from the waterfall rejuvenated the room with a mesmerizing fragrance.

~splash~

The only sound in the room was from the waterfall.

In the center, across a dining table, Agatha was peacefully sleeping on a chair. While at the corner, two droids were standing.

[[What"s going on?]]

Claudia was startled by the turn of events. As soon as the strange voice appeared out of nowhere, she felt her orders to the droids overwritten.

From the time she was created, this was the first time she has faced such a situation. Not even Kiba could overwrite her commands directly since she was the main artificial intelligence in the villa and the underground facilities.

As Claudia contemplated the strange happenings, the sensors in the room detected a high concentration of energy.

Between the entrance of the room and the fireplace, hundreds of small dark spheres materialized in thin air. The spheres fused together to converge into Cosmic Emperor.

[[Who are you?]] Claudia didn"t dare trust the readings her sensors were reporting to her.

Cosmic Emperor didn"t answer and stepped forward. He looked around the room for a few seconds before shaking his head.

"Haah," Cosmic Emperor released a low sigh. "Everything returns to dust."

He raised his right hand in the air to make a gentle grasping motion towards Agatha.

The dining table made a screeching sound as it moved ahead. At the same time, Agatha flew out of the chair.

[[Stop.]]

The walls opened up to reveal advanced laser guns. From a sofa, drones shot out towards Cosmic Emperor.

"You are the one who should stop," Cosmic Emperor said in a nonchalant manner.

Claudia felt her commands once again being overwritten. The drones returned back while the walls closed up.

Claudia looked on through the cameras as Agatha flew in his arms. His one hand was on the back of her head while the other was on her thigs.

He carried her in his arms and walked towards the fireplace.

"Bring out the elevator," Cosmic Emperor said.

[[What?]] Before Claudia could even enquire fully, the fireplace shook and the fire faded.

The mantel pushed towards the ceiling while the legs moved sidewards. The firebox opening expanded to the size of a door.

Slowly, a metallic door appeared at the end of the fireplace.

Cosmic Emperor stepped towards the door as it opened up to reveal an advanced elevator. On the virtual control panel, the line diagram of the various underground sections appeared.

Without any touch, the option of the "Floor: -1" was selected, and the elevator moved down.

Meanwhile, on the second underground floor.

This floor didn"t have any lab or any other facilities, yet hundreds of drones and droids were on constant watch. The walls and the ceilings were made of adamantine to provide the ultimate defense of a bunker.

The drones moved in between thousands of high-level processing units which were joined to a data cord. The cord, in turn, was connected to a metallic floating orb.

The orb has a radius of around ten meters. There were green electronic inscriptions on the surface, resembling circuits.

If the orb was seen by any scientist, then a global war would start.

The reason? The orb was made of Divine Particles - the same particles which created the current age of evolution!

Whether it was government or revolutionaries, everyone would launch an a.s.sault to capture the orb.

Of course, Kiba wouldn"t allow it to happen even if it means facing the wrath of the entire world. It wasn"t due to the Divine Particles but rather the significance the orb has for him.

This...o...b..was the core of Claudia! It wouldn"t be wrong to say the orb was her mind and soul!

So how can Kiba allow it to be captured by others? As preparation for a worst case scenario, he has provided her with further security - a golden force field which surrounded the core.

The force field has an uncanny resemblance to the golden lightning which appears in the sky when Kiba goes all out!

Currently, hundreds of digital screens appeared on the floor, all of them focused on the activities of Cosmic Emperor and Agatha who was in his arms.

[[Just what is going on here?]]

Claudia sent orders to activate the other security features in the villa, and just then, the green inscriptions on the orb flashed.

[[My core framework!]]

She has the intelligence and personality of a human female, but ultimately, she was artificial intelligence: An advanced set of codes.

Now, her codes were being influenced. The codes which gave her authority to mobilize the forces in the villa were locked by a new command line in her core!

She could still feel her connection to the defense and offense mechanism but no matter how she tried, she couldn"t use them.

[[Not even master could change my framework so easily.]]

If Kiba wanted to make changes in her, he would need weeks, if not months. After all, she was an advanced AI with her own thought process.

Any mistake would result in irrevocable damage.

But now, not only her codes were temporarily changed, she wasn"t affected otherwise. She was still the same except for her ability to attack.

At the same time, on the floor above.

The elevator reached the floor and the door slowly opened up at the end of the corridor.

Cosmic Emperor stepped out with Agatha in his arms. He walked past the Section I and continued to walk forward.

[[Where is he going?]] Claudia couldn"t make a sense of things. She was surprised about him being aware of the underground facilities, and so she initially believed he has plans to use the lab.

But the lab was in Section I. He hasn"t even stopped at its entrance, much less try to step in.

[[No!]] Claudia shouted out through the speakers as she determined his destination.

Section IV.

He was standing in front of the red force field which enveloped the door of Section IV. The thick metallic door was white upon which "IV" was written in black.

"Open the door," Cosmic Emperor spoke out.

[[I refuse.]]

Only she could open the entrance, and she did her best to not let her framework changed. If earlier she was hesitant, now she was determined. She did this to not only protect Agatha but also others.

Yet her actions proved futile as she felt a new command line written in her codes to open the entrance.

[[Why are you doing this? If you open it without preparations, you will kill everyone in the city.]]

"Does the existence of ants matter?" Cosmic Emperor coldly asked.

[[You...]]

Claudia, having no choice, made the arrangements. She didn"t want to see the city and every one her master cared about being killed.

She couldn"t rely on anyone else, including her master given how she couldn"t even contact him due to the lack of signals in the forest. Not to mention, the time it would require for him to return even if she was able to contact him. As for others in the city, just what could they do against a being like Cosmic Emperor?

Claudia was worried about Agatha and her child, but now she was helpless. She didn"t have the power to chose so she decided to save those whom she could.

Zzzz.

The lights in the villa dimmed before disappearing. Every single gadget stopped functioning as the electricity from the villa moved down.

Similarly, the electricity from the second underground floor was severed and transferred to the above floor.

The drones, meanwhile, moved to the sockets on the walls to meet energy demands and supply power whenever needed.

At the same time, the force field from Section IV slowly faded while the electricity transformed into a high-density white force field covering the other sections to prevent the damage from reaching outside.

Creek.

The doors slowly retraced inside the walls.

Shua.

Powerful violet energy waves boomed out of the thin opening.

If Kiba was here, even he would have a difficult time standing in front of the energy waves. It has to be known during Kiba"s fight with Akshobhya, he has to form a barrier around him to protect himself from the energy in Section IV.

Yet Cosmic Emperor stood there as if the energy waves in front of him was just a gentle breeze...