Absolute Dweller-Chapter 235

Man's enemy of a thousand.

There could be no better way to express Lee Joon-hyuk's feats after his limit breakthrough.

The naval force Lee Joon-hyuk had just wiped out could easily have destroyed a country, and still had enough power left.

He had single-handedly destroyed such a naval fleet.

This meant that Lee Joon-hyuk alone was capable of destroying an entire country.

‘It would have to be in the conditions of being on the sea, though.’

At least, no one would be able to stand against him on the sea.

Especially not with guns or cannons, they wouldn’t even be able to leave a scratch on Lee Joon-hyuk’s body.

There had been no attacks that could even get past the water barrier surrounding him, and even if one directly hit him, it wouldn’t have caused any damage.

‘Even a gunshot wouldn’t work if you’re level 30.’

With just the buffs that ordinary citizens receive, a level 30 person wouldn't be injured by a bullet.

Even if shot at close range with a rifle, it would only leave a bruise.

It was surprisingly common for people to get shot during monster suppression or rescue operations, which is why only those over level 30 are sent to dangerous areas.

Even ordinary citizens at level 30 would be fine, so what about Lee Joon-hyuk, who was a retainer and had successfully broken the limit to reach level 63?

Even if he were shot with a high-caliber sniper rifle from the front, he wouldn't even get a bruise.

‘The rescue of the people was clean too.’

The rescue of the brainwashed people was handled by Avatar.

With the use of clairvoyance and telekinesis, he removed the chips lodged in their necks and brought them aboard the USS John F. Kennedy safely.

The number of people onboard was already over 5,000, but thanks to the vast space, it was more than enough to accommodate them.

Even if the number exceeded the capacity, it was no problem.

The Four Great Gates would solve it.

As soon as Lee Joon-hyuk returned after destroying the naval fleet:

Ziiiing—

The outpost was activated, and a protective barrier was formed.

At the same time:

[A being has been found that meets the conditions to be accepted as a citizen.]

[Do you wish to grant citizenship?]

‘Grant it.’

As soon as he granted citizenship, the wound on the back of their neck began to heal rapidly.

Maximizing the regeneration ability was one of the many privileges that citizens in the safe zone enjoyed.

Then.

Kuuuuuuung—

The sea that had swallowed the naval fleet erupted with a massive explosion.

A giant water column shot up from the center of the explosion, forming a hemisphere before quickly turning into a mushroom shape.

Right after:

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa—

The mushroom-shaped water splash fell to the ground, creating tsunamis in all directions.

Directly in its path was the USS John F. Kennedy, carrying over 5,000 people.

‘Enhance.’

Lee Joon-hyuk immediately enhanced himself, and a pair of black wings sprouted from his back.

As he extended his hand forward:

Swaaa—

The tsunami split in half and swept past the ship.

The entire sea began to surge wildly, and waves uncontrolled by Lee Joon-hyuk crashed against the ship, but they didn't cause any significant damage.

This was because, as soon as Lee Joon-hyuk returned, the outpost had activated, and the transparent barrier surrounded the entire aircraft carrier.

Splash!

The transparent barrier was blocking all the fierce waves.

Moreover, the surrounding sea’s turbulence was swallowed by Lee Joon-hyuk's influence, and stability was rapidly restored.

Swaaaaaaaaa—

By the time the radioactive rain began to fall from the clouds created by the explosion’s aftermath, the situation had completely ended.

[...Well done.]

"No, what about the situation inside?"

[Thanks to you, Joon-hyuk, everyone is safe.]

"That's a relief."

By then, Lee Joon-hyuk's halo above his head had disappeared.

"Haah."

He wobbled slightly, and they asked him:

[Are you okay?]

"I can manage. I think I've gotten the hang of it now."

Using both "Enhance" and "Awakening" at the same time.

The effects were certainly noticeable, but the backlash was considerable.

Thinking back to when he passed out for almost a week the first time he unlocked this power, it was even more so.

‘Enhance’ was a technique that forcibly awakened higher concepts, so it was a rather burdensome power.

But it wasn't a big problem.

‘Unless it's a situation like just now, I don't need to use it recklessly.’

As long as he didn’t use "Enhance," everything could be handled normally.

It was thanks to Lee Joon-hyuk’s own power that the naval fleet was destroyed.

[I will handle the internal situation. Joon-hyuk, please continue sailing with the US military.]

"Understood."

The only downside of an aircraft carrier was its speed.

Lee Joon-hyuk was directly controlling the surrounding sea to increase its speed, but due to the huge size of the ship, it wasn’t going fast enough.

They hadn’t even made it halfway to Japan yet.

‘It’s no coincidence we ran into them in the middle of the Pacific.’

Lee Joon-hyuk wasn’t exactly sure what was happening with the American side.

The US personnel aboard the aircraft carrier knew nothing for sure except about their own situation.

However, thinking about their situation and what had taken control of the aircraft carrier, it was easy to guess what the enemy might be.

‘Artificial Intelligence.’

Considering they controlled humans with chips implanted in their necks, conquering machines wouldn’t have been a challenge.

That would explain their absurd search abilities as well.

‘They must have even taken control of the satellites.’

Otherwise, there was no way they could accurately track a massive aircraft carrier roaming the Pacific Ocean.

The fact that they had found them so precisely in the vast Pacific meant they had likely taken control of American satellites.

No, perhaps they had taken control of all artificial intelligence on Earth.

And.

‘I definitely felt it in this battle.’

There was a faint sense of divinity in them.

Thanks to that, he was certain that the AI at the top held some form of divinity.

‘And it definitely has real-time communication capabilities.’

When the naval fleet first appeared, Lee Joon-hyuk had been thinking they could capture another aircraft carrier.

But the enemy had learned from their past mistakes.

Now, there were two robots attached to the aircraft carrier's core, the reactor.

If one was destroyed, the other could respond, so instead of focusing on eliminating the enemy, they had to prioritize saving the people.

In the end, the enemy hadn’t given up another aircraft carrier.

‘What a waste.’

The price of an aircraft carrier listed in the shop was a staggering 13 trillion.

Even though it was used, it still cost this much.

It hadn’t been recovered.

Even in used condition, it was still worth considering. There was no point in spending nearly 200 trillion to make a new one when the purchase price would just skyrocket.

‘Ugh. The advantage of being able to enhance it if bought from the shop...’

Typically, the cost to enhance something to +10 would be over 100 times more, meaning it would require about 2,000 trillion to upgrade an aircraft carrier to +10.

‘…It feels a bit wasteful to spend that much.’

Though he had the capacity to invest several thousand trillion, that money would be far better spent leveling up all the retainers to level 60.

Hadn’t he seen with his own eyes the feats that Lee Joon-hyuk, at level 63, displayed?

Even if they brought 20 aircraft carriers, there would be no way to defeat Lee Joon-hyuk.

‘And they must have realized that as well.’

They had learned from the data gathered in the previous battle and had made improvements by placing two heads on the reactor.

After this fight, they would have concluded that they could never win at sea.

‘…An enemy that provides real-time feedback.’

Moreover, the feedback was practically effective.

Though they had suffered a crushing defeat, they hadn’t lost an aircraft carrier this time.

‘…They will become a troublesome enemy.’

For now, it seemed unlikely that battles would occur at sea.

The enemy probably realized that it was futile.

‘First, I’ll need to clean up.’

The new citizens who had gained their citizenship were taken to Busan using the Great Gates and handed over to the administration.

Once they adapted to the system, they would certainly be able to contribute as individuals.

After all, they were highly trained U.S. military personnel.

‘But there were still no awakened ones.’

With a population of over 5,000, there should have been a few awakened individuals among them, but it was strange that not a single one had appeared.

‘Why is that?’

***

Sector 51 Center.

Wiiing—

The heat in the server room rapidly increased, and the mechanical noise from the cooling devices grew louder.

[1,419,392nd simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.000%]

[The goal level is being lowered.]

Similar messages kept repeating, with only the numbers changing.

[5,665,393rd simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.000%]

[The goal level is being lowered.]

This was no simple simulation.

It was analyzing not only the recent naval battle and the battle data of awakened humans active in Japan, but also the conversations gathered by drones the size of a Parisian building.

The scenarios were diverse.

A large force ambushing the enemy's main base, humans being raised through special methods, threatening with the lives of humans, gradually expanding influence to tighten the enemy from all sides, nuclear war, and more.

But in every scenario:

[10,231,211th simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.000%]

[The goal level is being lowered.]

Results of 0% probability continued to appear.

The large-scale ambush could not even break through the enemy's defensive walls, and no matter how much effort was put into raising the human awakened ones, their growth rate was slower than that of the enemy forces.

Furthermore, the chance of growing as much as the man who had shown his abilities in the naval battle approached 0%.

Even if the lives of humans were used as leverage, the inevitable outcome was destruction, and even expanding influence would eventually lead to being devoured.

The same was true for nuclear war.

Data about the transparent barrier that could withstand explosions equivalent to nuclear weapons blocked any possibility.

[17,400,293rd simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.000%]

[The goal level is being lowered.]

In the end, the goal level could only continue to be lowered.

Then, at some point, a new scenario emerged.

[331,230,023rd simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.003%]

The probability, which had been 0%, had changed.

This was a significant change.

0% and 0.003% had completely different meanings.

From that moment, there were no further goal level reductions.

[381,433,011th simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 0.122%]

With each iteration, the probability fluctuated.

[997,451,129th simulation result.]

[Goal not achieved—]

[Probability 1.001%]

Eventually, it surpassed 1%.

***

A while after the naval battle.

One drone arrived at the outpost in Osaka.

It was speaking in such a peculiar way that I had no choice but to go directly there.

I spoke to the drone floating in the air, manipulating the propellers.

"Say that again."

[Please allow me to become your loyal dog. Woof.]

"......"

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It was the AI's envoy that had come to find me personally.