ALL NOVEL Chapter 34: Third One(1)
Soon, Leon reached the supposed location of the third AI, but he looked displeased. The reason was simple: there was nothing around but the ocean. No floating islands, no regular islands—just endless water.
"You're trying to prank me, right?" Leon asked, glaring at Luxion and Cleare.
Both AIs immediately denied the accusation.
"We are your loyal servants," Cleare said, though there was a hint of mockery in her voice. "We would never deceive you."
Luxion simply added:
"The signal is coming from here. It's in stealth mode."
"Ahhh," Leon drawled, starting to understand. "Like your main body?"
"Something like that. But this AI is much stronger and more powerful than I am," Luxion explained, moving his sphere back and forth as he began searching for the AI.
"That's right," Cleare continued. "It must be one of the elite AIs."
"Elite?" Leon asked, curious.
"Yes. Their capabilities far surpass ours—that's already obvious. This AI was probably always on the frontlines. We don't yet know its exact class, but we'll find out soon enough."
As if responding to this conversation, Luxion said:
"I've found it."
Hearing this, Leon asked with interest:
"And where is it? In the air, perhaps?"
"No, underwater," Luxion replied, looking downward. "And quite deep."
"Underwater, huh?" Leon repeated, gazing down. "So how do we get there?"
"With Arroganz. It's equipped for underwater operations," Luxion said, his voice tinged with a certain pride.
"I see," Leon said. "Well, then let's get started," he added, heading toward the mech before beginning his descent into the water.
As he plunged deeper into the ocean's dark waters, Leon felt Arroganz slicing through the depths with ease, despite the steadily increasing pressure. Inside the mech, it was silent, broken only by Luxion's voice.
"Master, I've detected an anomaly," Luxion said, his tone slightly tense. "The hydrostatic pressure has significantly increased compared to the data recorded during the age of the old humans. At our current depth, it's not critical yet, but the deeper we go, the harder it will get."
"What do you mean?" Leon asked, curiously eyeing the AI.
"If we descend to a depth of 80–100 meters, it may start causing problems, even for Arroganz. At this depth, the pressure is far greater than it used to be," Luxion explained. "My prediction: at 80 meters, the strain will become noticeable, and at 100 meters, it could pose a serious issue for the mech."
At that moment, Cleare, the second AI handling navigation, joined the conversation.
"I confirm this information," she said. "The pressure is rising faster than expected. We're still far from the limit, but it's something to keep in mind."
Leon nodded, processing their input.
"Alright, let's proceed carefully," he said. "Just keep me updated as new data comes in."
"Understood," Luxion said. "I'll monitor the pressure changes and notify you if anything shifts."
Fortunately, their target was only 40 meters deep.
As they neared their destination, both AIs suddenly announced:
"We've reached the target location."
"Huh? And where is it?" Leon asked, waiting for the other AI's stealth mode to deactivate.
"It seems, unlike Cleare, this AI is essentially powered down and incapable of even disabling its own stealth mode. Just extend your hand forward," Luxion instructed, adding: "This AI isn't responding to our attempts to connect with it, so something might have happened to it."
"I see…" Leon muttered, extending the mech's hand until it touched something invisible.
The moment contact was made, the stealth mode deactivated, and Leon's widened eyes beheld an enormous underwater hangar.
"Holy crap," muttered Leon's inner voice, staring at the scene before him.
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Hey, everyone! So, I'm back. I've finalized some of the details in the story. I spent a lot of time thinking about certain aspects, and now they're ready. What can I say? For the next month or even two, chapter releases won't stop (as long as circumstances allow). This week, I plan to release around 10–14 chapters. The next chapter will be out in four hours.