"There there, little Tabane did great, so be good now, don't cry."
Holding the wailing Tabane in her arms, Lacus comforted her while feeling both amused and exasperated.
Just moments ago, she'd been questioning Tabane about forbidden energy experiments. How did it end with Luo Shu making her cry, leaving Lacus to console her? Something felt off about this situation.
Meanwhile, watching Tabane's questionable crying display, Luo Shu sighed slightly regretfully:
"So it still can't defend against Concept Entanglement then?"
Hearing this, Tabane Shinonono cried even louder:
"My painstaking masterpiece, how could it encounter such shameless creatures like Demigods? I refuse to accept this!!"
In terms of destructive power, her IS could surpass that of a Demigod. Some weaker Demigods would struggle to destroy Tokyo, whereas an IS could simply obliterate it cleanly with an energy cannon – the difference in destructive capability was obvious.
Yet in actual one-on-one combat, an IS would be instantly defeated in a single move.
Never mind that IS pilots couldn't withstand a Demigod's opening move of Concept Entanglement – even unmanned drones couldn't protect their internal systems from this initial Demigod technique.
The supercomputer linked to her rabbit ears clearly showed Tabane that nothing in her arsenal could counter this Demigod's bullying skill of Concept Entanglement.
That's why she refused to accept it!!
Standing nearby, Ania sighed at the sight:
"Alright, stop crying. There's always a solution. After all, science always progresses."
At this point, Luo Shu thought for a moment and said to Tabane:
"Actually, methods like Concept Entanglement aren't necessarily unbreakable."
"Really?"
Tabane immediately stopped crying, pushed Lacus away, and looked over.
Lacus: "???"
So I'm just a tear receptacle, am I?
"Of course it's true."
Luo Shu nodded at Tabane and continued:
"Theoretically, any technique mastered to an advanced level can grasp conceptual theories. Since techniques can be replicated onto Skill Demon Gods as unique abilities, they can be further refined to form unique concept armaments."
Luo Shu thought of the various conceptual weapons from the Type-Moon universe or other anime worlds. Having crossed into this 2D realm, those weapons might theoretically exist here too.
Thus, in theory, an IS imbued with concepts could emerge.
And if concepts could be attached, then activating them to unleash conceptual power – thereby counteracting a Demigod's Concept Entanglement – should also be possible.
As long as they could defend against a Demigod's Concept Entanglement and find ways to counter their Demigod Rank abilities, wearing an IS to fight a Demigod might be achievable.
However, after Luo Shu's explanation, Tabane's expression turned blank:
"While you say that... attaching concepts to an IS would require at least a Demigod Rank expert, wouldn't it?"
"Yes, at minimum someone like me. But ideally, an actual Demigod would be best."
Luo Shu nodded in agreement. Wrapping concepts around one's body or weapons was a Demigod's common tactic.
Though frequently used, it was typically reserved for clearing out weak enemies. Against fellow Demigods, they'd prefer using their true Demigod Rank abilities.
Yet even this crowd-control technique could only be countered by a handful of special Classes below Demigod Rank. Everyone else, regardless of numbers, would be cannon fodder.
"Attaching concepts to IS requires a Demigod. Combat data needs Demigod participation. Oh, and new equipment development also requires Demigods for performance testing."
As Tabane listed these requirements, everyone present looked troubled.
Finally, Tabane raised the ultimate question:
"So, does the SDS have enough Demigods to cooperate with the research?"
"Including Luo Shu, and that other Demigod I've only heard about—Tokisaki, right? With those two, we'd only have one control group."
"Currently, there aren't many Demigods in the world, are there? No more than five? Or four?"
Tabane Shinonono asked very seriously, but precisely because she was so serious, she ended up making a sour face:
"Too little data won't yield any meaningful results."
Tabane brooded for a moment, then glanced at Luo Shu and suddenly clapped her hands:
"If all else fails, Luo Shu, just let me collect some genetic material. I'll see if I can use technology to conceive a few more and produce several test subjects capable of manipulating concepts."
"If it's Luo Shu's child, there should be a higher probability of them becoming a Demigod, right?"
"You wouldn't mind the primitive collection method, would you, Luo Shu?"
Luo Shu's lips twitched as he stared speechlessly at the woman eyeing his body.
'Are you sure you just want to have babies with me, and not drain me dry?'
'And you want several Demigods? Didn't you just say there are fewer than five among six billion people worldwide? So, do I have to father sixty billion kids with you?'
'Even pigs couldn't reproduce that much.'
Luo Shu sighed and spread his hands:
"I've already given you the method. How you use it is up to you."
Tabane tilted her head, then crossed her arms and said, "As expected, the lack of data samples is a serious problem."
"Whatever."
Tabane sighed, got up from the floor, and dusted off her trousers:
"Let's start with the most basic data collection first. But before that, we need to expand our data sources."
As she spoke, Tabane turned to look at the large screen, where Mukuro Hoshimiya was displayed.
This Spirit seems to wield conceptual power as well...
With that, Tabane pressed a button on her wristband.
Then, clank, clank.
Beneath the ground, gears seemed to turn, producing countless mechanical sounds.
Hearing this, Ania froze and blurted out:
"Tabane, don't tell me you built the IS lab under the monitoring centre?"
Tabane grinned and pressed a finger to her lips:
"The most dangerous place is the safest, you know~"
"In all of Copernicus, this monitoring hub has the least surveillance."
"As long as I report to the higher-ups now and then and request some renovations, I can quietly assemble an entire lab."
Hearing this, Lacus gave Tabane an extremely odd look before sighing:
"From now on, unauthorised modifications to the base are prohibited. No matter who it is, any changes to the base must be submitted in writing for my approval, and the process must be supervised by at least three personnel for cross-verification."
Luo Shu watched the scene with a strange expression. So this is why every inexplicable rule has an absurd backstory?
What an eye-opener.
Amid the sound of turning gears.
The centre of the floor descended by three metres as the brightly lit ceiling lowered, dropping a full three metres.
From the edges of the ceiling, two vertical ladders extended downward.
Clearly, above the ceiling lay Tabane Shinonono's secret laboratory.
This guy actually hid the lab in the ceiling of the monitoring centre. Truly impossible to guard against.
"Because the experimental materials require proper storage and the experiments must be conducted quietly, I made special modifications to the ceiling and placed the IS core there."
Tabane Shinonono pointed directly upwards at the centre of the ceiling.
At that moment, the lampshade at the centre of the huge circular light fixture slowly opened, revealing a square azure crystal emerging from within.
"Since IS performance demands extremely high energy requirements, I experimented with many energy sources but couldn't find an optimal solution. So I turned my attention to Abyss Artefacts."
As she spoke, Tabane watched the azure cubic crystal slowly descend, her lips gradually curling into a smile:
"Fortunately, I discovered a special new energy source from a particular set of Abyss Artefacts and found a way to activate it."
"Since there are only 22 of these artefacts in total and materials are scarce, plus budget constraints, I only developed one first-generation prototype."
Tabane cradled the azure cubic crystal in her hands - though she wasn't actually touching it, the crystal still floated above her palms, slowly rotating.
"Based on information obtained from research, I named these artefacts serving as IS core energy sources 'Wisdom Cubes', and the only completed IS was christened 'white knight'."
"Wait, what did you just say?" Luo Shu froze, asking dumbfounded.
"'White knight', what about it?" Tabane tilted her head in confusion.
"No, the IS core... you're telling me it's a wisdom cube?!"
"Damn, what a waste!"