The crystal-clear blue sky met the calm sea at the horizon. A high-speed motorboat cut through the azure water. At a glance, the person sitting on the boat looked like some wealthy young man out on a vacation.
But upon closer inspection, one would realize it was a figure encrusted in armor and a helmet from head to toe, like a futuristic law enforcer.
Lin continuously scanned for nearby signals on the swaying boat. This scene was not much different from when he searched for the Deep End, except that the place he was looking for now was hidden even deeper, and he no longer had the coordinates provided by Vil-V.
The "KY-00" project, which was linked to the Fusion Warrior project, was a mystery. From the clues Mobius had gathered, it was highly likely another dark secret of the Fire Moth high command—and its true form might be a building.
Its purpose, coordinates, and builder were all unknown. It had taken Lin a long time to find even a trace of evidence.
When converting the headquarters base into an aerial fortress, Fire Moth had manufactured two ultra-large anti-gravity devices. One was for the base's main engine, while the other was a spare for emergencies. However, Lin discovered minute discrepancies in the quantity of materials used for the devices; there were signs of manual tampering.
These traces were buried within an unimaginably large total count. Even with AI calculations, the deviation did not exceed 0.3%, making it look more like a coincidence.
Lin decided to gamble. Even if it was just his overactive imagination, there was nothing to lose. After verifying the material counts, he began tracking the whereabouts of the "scraps" from the aerial fortress construction. If the material count for the anti-gravity devices was off, the person tampering with the numbers likely intended to build another aerial structure using the same materials as the headquarters.
Although the amount of red-herring information was enough to fill an entire hard drive, Lin eventually used his information-processing skills to narrow down several possible general locations.
Lin stopped in a patch of empty sea. Over the past few days, he had checked all other possible locations; this was the last one. If it wasn't here, then he must have been wrong.
Lin looked up at the boundless sky. The headquarters base used light-refraction technology to hide the entire base above the clouds; the KY-00 building was likely the same.
His color-blind vision, different from ordinary people, made him unable to distinguish most colors, but it also allowed him to notice details that wouldn't be masked by color.
The sun rose in the east and set in the west. For nine full hours, Lin simply stood on the rocking boat, listening to the crashing waves and watching the sky.
He couldn't be certain if he was being watched by "eyes" in the sky. Perhaps Fire Moth had equipped the secret building with devices to monitor all images of the surrounding area and the sea. The randomness of it all was too high; in the end, Lin only had his "gamble."
Finally, just before the sunset was swallowed by darkness, Lin saw a hint of an anomaly. He looked down at the surface of the sea.
The sunset, the sky, and the passing migratory birds—the three overlapped, and the image reflected on the sea surface showed a displacement that lasted less than a second.
Lin took a deep breath, closed his eyes to consider for a moment, and then, at the instant the sun disappeared below the horizon, he opened his sharp eyes and checked his equipment.
How to enter KY-00 was also a problem. Lin had reason to believe that anything even slightly large approaching would be immediately detected by reconnaissance devices.
But... that might not actually be the biggest issue.
...
"A flying object is detected approaching. This size... is it a bird? Should I pull up the monitor?"
"It's just a bird, who cares? Leave it alone, it'll fly off on its own."
...
Using an anti-gravity flight device, Lin flew to within ten meters of KY-00 before he finally saw the aerial structure beneath the light refraction.
At a rough glance, it appeared as a semi-toroidal sphere. The entire upper portion of the building was encased in a protective shield similar to that of the headquarters, through which one could clearly see the internal architecture, which wasn't particularly large.
Fortunately, breaking through the shield didn't require much brainpower from Lin.
He pulled a long, cylindrical device covered in energy circuits from the weapon case behind him, aimed one end at the shield, and pressed the switch.
Sssss...
A person-sized section of the hexagonal structure on the shield collapsed instantly, allowing Lin to pass through easily.
This was a breach device designed by Vil-V based on the headquarters' shield. According to her, if she were to design the shield herself, the toughness generated by the energy cycle would be twice as high as it was now. Mei was indeed a scientific genius, but she wasn't omnipotent—at least in terms of energy recycling, her understanding wasn't as deep as Vil-V.
Lin entered before the shield could reclose. He landed on the roof of one of the buildings, crouched calmly, and observed the surroundings.
There were drones patrolling the air, and mechanical soldiers of models Lin had never seen before were wandering on the ground. There were also many surveillance cameras. The design style and the technology used here were things that hadn't even appeared at the headquarters base.
Lin frowned, looking for a space to slip in. But aside from the rooftops, there were almost no gaps to exploit, and even the rooftops weren't safe. These drones rotated every thirty seconds; he had to constantly change his hiding spot.
It seemed there was no opportunity—he would have to create one.
He drew a Soul Steel longblade from his weapon case, scanned the data of the nearby mechanical soldiers, and watched for the right moment. At the instant two soldiers crossed paths, he leaped down from the roof—
...
"Hm? Two soldiers have malfunctioned."
"What the... is it parts aging or a misfire?"
"Let's be cautious. Send CM-236 and the others to check the situation. If there's no problem, have the logistics units send them to the disposal plant."
...
Lin sheathed his longblade, looking coldly at the two humanoid machines at his feet, both pierced through by a single strike. Then he turned his gaze elsewhere.
Someone would definitely come to check the situation soon. He needed to do something in this brief window of safety.
Speaking of which, these soldiers were equipped with very sophisticated weapons, and their design seemed to be a continuation of the autonomous Titans. He had just seen a large soldier, three people tall and equipped with a mechanical greatsword, which was likely an elite model.
But how were these designs created without Mei's involvement?
A possibility occurred to Lin.
Starfire and the Previous Era.
Part of Starfire's scientific technology had been accepted by Fire Moth, while the technology of the Previous Era had been fully handed over to Fire Moth through the Herrscher of Reason's core. The rapid progress over this past year was inseparable from the help of these two.
After a brief thought, he immediately left the area. Other units would come to check on these two soldiers; he could use this opening to enter the nearest building.