The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

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“Hoh? You wield a sword? I don’t know which school you learned from, but how about a little spar—?”

Passing by a formidable swordsman.

“Up to here… you shall not pass any further! Ugh—my head…”

Getting past a mighty superpowered being.

[You are currently trespassing on private property. This is clearly a criminal act—.]

Getting past an android from the corporation.

Digging through countless obstacles and moving forward, Eight eventually arrived at the heart of the secret laboratory, letting out a hollow laugh as he surveyed the interior.

“Indeed—no wonder you’d want to keep this hidden at all costs.”

In the depths of the secret laboratory, dozens, perhaps hundreds, of containers filled with formalin lined the area. Inside, many newborns, looking as if they had just escaped prenatal stages, were fast asleep.

Just looking at this made it clear what kind of experiments were being conducted here. Human cloning experiments, far worse than murder on Earth. It seemed they were not just creating humans but were using them as materials.

If the federal investigators saw this, it would be an act that should be expunged from history. Without saying a word, Eight simply waved his hand. As if waiting for this cue, Hani and Meister, his two aides, immediately began smashing the test tubes.

“Those pathetic wretches with no human decency…”

After wrecking the laboratory, Eight flipped through the hidden documents, realizing this was not the lab he was looking for. But it didn’t matter.

There were plenty of secret laboratories to visit, and the night was long.

“—Destroy everything and locate the exit.”

After giving this command, Eight silently stepped into the elevator to return to the surface. Just as his aides exited the lab behind him, the area began to collapse.

Leaving behind the collapsing ruins, dust swirling around, Eight climbed into a vehicle made by Evilus Corporation and leisurely departed.

—

“Damn it—!”

Bang—! The boss, kicking a chair, destroyed a piece of furniture but still couldn’t vent all her frustration and began smashing things around her.

From a glance, it looked as though she was enjoying the sight of her secretary flinching from the chaos. In reality, she didn’t stop destroying until her limbs began to ache.

“Is this even possible? What kind of era are we in? And you bring me this news only now?!”

“T-that’s because… for some reason, the information was controlled…”

“Is it that damn artificial intelligence of that guy’s doing again?!”

The secretary lowered her head as if she had nothing to say. The boss, taking a deep breath to calm herself, repeated the unbelievable information she just received. Even upon reevaluation, it was hard to believe…

“The secret laboratory was completely raided! Not just one or two, but completely! And to make matters worse, we only learned of it days later—do you think that makes any sense?!”

“Y-yes… um, it’s a rule not to contact unless it’s urgent…”

“If this isn’t urgent, then what is?!”

“It seems the intruders were exceptionally skilled.”

“Damn it—! How much money have we poured into this? Just because the enemies are competent, does that mean we have to become incompetent?!”

The secretary stayed silent, sensing she had nothing to say in response. Did she even realize how much that only fueled the boss’s anger?

The boss, alternating between rubbing her forehead and the back of her neck while exhaling roughly, had a sudden idea and tried to reach out to the bosses of other cities. Shortly after the call connected, she cut straight to the chase.

“Hello? Say, have you also been hit?”

[…Hit? What on earth do you mean suddenly?]

“Ah, so you haven’t heard? Find out and get back to me.”

Click—Before five minutes passed after hanging up, the boss received a reply.

The other party started with a rude question.

[Was it your doing?]

“Not a chance. If I had done it, would I be saying this to you?”

[Do you know who the culprit is?]

“Seriously—if I knew, I wouldn’t be asking.”

[Hmm… Let’s see how much damage was done.]

“Ah, likewise here.”

The two immediately started contacting acquaintances across each city. It wasn’t like they had means to reach all rulers, but that didn’t matter. One link leads to another. This was how all rulers were interconnected.

After just a little while of contacting, the boss managed to form a sort of victims’ council. They could check which cities had been quietly attacked this time and, in turn, identify the culprits.

“Hmmm… you’ve suffered this much?”

[Yes, indeed. A total of 17 groups were hit.]

“…Does that mean the culprit is among the remaining 9 groups?”

Seventeen out of twenty-six cities’ companies had been attacked at their secret laboratories. However, that didn’t guarantee that one of the other nine cities was responsible.

Even if they hadn’t suffered any damage, there was the possibility they were lying. Perhaps they had even deliberately raided some unnecessary lab to avoid suspicion.

Of course, there were some places he had his suspicions about.

[Strangely enough, City E is missing from the list of casualties?]

Evilus Corporation.

That guy’s Evilus.

The one responsible for this mess in the world, crushing other corporations to rise as the number one mega-corp.

The fact that Evilus Corporation had not been affected by the incident raised suspicions that they might be behind this whole affair.

Of course, this was baseless speculation with no concrete evidence, a nonsensical thought so clouded with jealousy and envy that one might think it is blind rage—but…

No evidence is needed for people to hate each other.

[Evilus Corporation is the culprit.]

At that moment, the ruler of City S spoke up. Her tone as confident as could be. Others wondered if she had any evidence to back that up, but her response was absurdly ridiculous.

[My divine spirit has told me—the one behind this is indeed them!]

“…Liu Boss. Please spare me from that divine spirit nonsense. There’s no way we could attack Evilus based on that.”

[On the contrary, I wonder. Now that the existence of the soul has been scientifically proven, isn’t the existence of the divine spirit equally validated?]

At her words, the rulers fell silent. They seemed to have lost the power to reply. Then Liu Boss declared that even if no one would help, she would retaliate against this situation alone.

To be honest, the whole idea of divine spirits was quite suspect, but most rulers were supportive of Liu Boss’s path.

If she succeeded, it would be a jackpot, and even if she failed, it wouldn’t cause a massive problem.

[Alright then. Let it be known that everyone agrees… Regardless of what happens in City E, don’t bother too much about it.]

With those words, Liu cut off the communication. The rulers, knowing full well the Evilus artificial intelligence was eavesdropping in real time, were left in awe of her boldness.

—

“Those foolish old fools.”

After terminating the call, Liu Spirit rose from her seat and carefully approached a corner of her executive office where an altar stood. The altar where the divine spirit she served resided.

After offering a simple snack as a sacrifice, she began the ceremony. A ritual to awaken the divine spirit. Sure enough, it wasn’t long before the spirit directly entered her consciousness.

—What is the matter?

“I greet you, divine spirit.”

—Do not make me speak twice… Is it that Evilus or whatever, those pests from earlier?

“Yes, as you said…”

—What is it you desire from me?

At the divine spirit’s inquiry, Liu smiled broadly as she replied.

“I wish for them to be bestowed with despair.”

—Very well. Offer your sacrifices. One, two, three… About ten should suffice.

“Understood.”

Hearing the spirit’s command to offer sacrifices, Liu immediately ordered her subordinates to bring “that” to her. Moments later, her aides arrived, dragging ten containers filled with liquid toward the altar.

Months ago, a scientist completed the proof relating to souls. This breakthrough had granted Liu the technology to create living sacrifices imbued with souls.

Not mere living sacrifices, but ones that would satisfy even the divine spirit.

Since acquiring this technology, Liu began to use the divine spirit’s powers abundantly, which she had been unable to utilize before due to the difficulties of saving people. It was akin to discovering a cheat code for money in a game.

As the divine spirit devoured the sacrifices her subordinates had brought, it smiled cheerfully and spoke.

—It has been accomplished.

At those words, the corners of Liu’s mouth lifted into a grin that soared to the skies.

—

“Ugh…”

“Scientist? Is something the matter?”

At Regalia’s question, I waved my hand, as if dismissing it as nothing serious.

“I think I ate something wrong this morning; my stomach is a bit upset…”

“Hm—do be careful… though, I suppose it’s not my place to say.”

“Anything happen with you?”

“Me? This morning, I accidentally dropped the hamburger the maid brought on the floor. After that, I ran out of ingredients and couldn’t have any hamburgers before heading to school…!”

“Well, that really sucks for you.”

I tilted my head slightly.

The boss, who’s usually the luckiest, runs into such trouble?

It must be quite the day indeed.

‘I should be careful.’