전생검신 93권 6화

파앗

I instantly teleported to the peak of the Sacred Altar Tree. Normally, I couldn’t do this because the Sacred Altar Tree has the unique property of negating the World Tree’s divine power, but it seemed possible this time because I had previously broken through the barrier with my eye-destroying beam. There was a time when the Eight Parts of the Divine attacked, and when I broke the barrier, the World Tree’s functionality was somewhat nullified.

When I arrived at the peak of the Sacred Altar Tree, Mangnyang spoke.

“You came here risking your life just as Extreme Tiger and Bright Dragon did in your past life. They couldn’t figure out what was up and got blocked by the Twelve Joules… Do you want to find out what they couldn’t?”

I nodded.

“The damn secret that Twelve Joules is desperately hiding must be here. If I uncover that, I won’t have to get involved with that jerk anymore.”

“Hehe. You really despise the Twelve Joules.”

“Isn’t that obvious? That sneaky guy has messed things up so many times…”

Just thinking about it made me frown in annoyance. I hadn’t directly opposed the Twelve Joules all that many times, but dealing with someone that tricky, as if he had a thousand snakes coiled inside him, made things extremely complicated. Zhuge Sa even went so far as to sacrifice all of his companions just to expose Twelve Joules’ secrets.

Mangnyang calmly said, “According to Extreme Tiger’s memory, there’s a long cylindrical structure somewhere around here. It’s about twenty times the size of a human… Let’s find it.”

“Got it.”

I searched the vast peak of the Sacred Altar Tree with my companions. After quite a while of searching, it seemed Asura had found something.

“Here it is!”

As I went over to where Asura was, I could see the cylindrical structure that perfectly matched the memory of Extreme Tiger I had obtained through memory transmission. I approached and examined the structure closely.

‘Sure enough. The strange mechanical button at the top facing the ground is exactly the same.’

Mangnyang was looking at the structure carefully when he said, “I think I understand from your memory. This is a missile launching device.”

“……?”

I was taken aback by his unexpected words and asked, “A missile launching device? Are you saying this is some future tech?”

“Yes indeed. Your memories contained information about the technology of the Great Bear Empire era. This must have been preserved by the Great Bear Empire people in preparation for such situations. After receiving your memories, I studied science steadily, and this seems nearly identical to future technology missile launchers.”

If Mangnyang was saying that, it had to be true. I was astonished as I said, “Missiles… if I recall correctly, are war tools that shoot bombs over long distances, right? They’re something way more powerful than thunderbolt bombs…”

“Exactly. And if you interpret the symbols written here… it seems there are over 250,000 missiles.”

“Two hundred fifty thousand…”

“Isn’t that one of the trump cards possessed by the Twelve Joules? If what is resting here turns out to be missiles, their power won’t be ordinary at all. It should be enough to disrupt the world.”

“Disrupt the world…?”

I muttered at Mangnyang’s words when suddenly something hit me, and I exclaimed, “C-Can it be that the Twelve Joules…?”

“It seems you’ve caught on.”

With a bitter expression, Mangnyang looked at the missile launching device and said, “This is… probably a nuclear weapon. Maybe even more than that.”

“……!”

“The era of the Twelve Joules had scientific advancements even beyond the Great Bear Empire, so its power would definitely be much stronger than that of the Great Bear Empire.”

Nuclear weapons!

Having experienced the nuclear power during the futuristic era of the Great Bear Empire, I had an idea of just how devastating it could be. I had barely survived by tossing it away with the Technique of All Things, unable to face the nuclear explosion from the Light Country. And thinking about the neutron lance used by Faust’s giant machine, the power of nuclear weapons was something that couldn’t even compare to the thunderbolt bombs of the Ming Dynasty. It was at least hundreds of thousands of times more powerful.

I swallowed hard and said, “Even a small nuclear weapon could wipe out a radius of several miles. With 250,000 of them…”

“Maybe the Twelve Joules prepared this secret weapon to wipe out human civilization once. Even if that’s not the case, this nuclear thing would be incredibly useful. Unless someone is a ridiculously transcendent being, they would likely be obliterated if hit directly.”

That’s probably true. If they were beings that reached the agent level, a nuclear weapon wouldn’t do anything to them, no matter how many they took. But if it were the Demon King or an Apostle, it could definitely deal significant damage. Of course, hitting them was a whole different issue because of the mighty defensive barriers and magic equipped by the Demon King and Apostles, but if I could hit them, then this weapon could be effective against aliens or transcendent beings.

‘But the Twelve Joules really was insane!’

A chill ran down my spine. If the Twelve Joules had used a nuclear weapon during that epic battle at the World Tree, human civilization might have been obliterated right then and there. Wouldn’t the Eight Parts of the Divine also suffer cataclysmic damage?

At the same time, I sensed something strange and said, “But the Twelve Joules has never used this even once in his past lives. Not only that, he didn’t even show any signs of having it. Why has he restrained himself so much?”

“The Twelve Joules was conscious of Nyarlathotep,” Mangnyang replied.

“Nyarlathotep?”

Mangnyang nodded and said, “The evil god possessing the extreme of all schemes and conspiracies. Having experienced his world being destroyed because of that being, how cautious do you think he would be? The Twelve Joules is the type to doubt even in seemingly certain situations and will thoroughly check all bridges before crossing.”

“……”

“As a result, he managed to keep secrets from you, the Reborn Person, for a whopping 30 rounds, so we can say he has incredible patience. If not for someone like the Twelve Joules, this secret would have surfaced a long time ago.”

“T-That’s true…”

I was at a loss for words. If it were me, I would have recklessly launched nukes at the whole world by now, yet the Twelve Joules’ patience left me in awe. In the future, knowing that rival nations would also possess nukes would keep anyone from doing that carelessly. But in the Ming Dynasty, there wasn’t any country that had nuclear weapons, so his level of restraint is even more remarkable.

Mangnyang kept staring at the contraption as he continued, “But it seems this device is not just for nuclear missiles.”

“Not just missiles? Are you saying there’s more?”

Mangnyang nodded, “The primary controls for this device are the three buttons—red, yellow, and green. And as you can see, the green light is currently glowing and the nuclear missile panel is raised.”

“What do you mean?”

“In future scientific worlds, they often use red, yellow, and green to represent levels of danger. Red being the most dangerous, yellow being moderate, and green being the safest.”

Hearing this, my face stiffened.

“Wait… are you saying the green missile launching device is the safest option?”

“Exactly.”

“……”

So the 250,000 nuclear missiles are the safest option, and there are two more dangerous weapons?!

Just this alone could wipe out civilization and then some!

While I was dumbfounded, Mangnyang said, “Just hold on a moment. If I analyze the symbols of this device well, it seems I can switch to the yellow or red panels.”

“Understood.”

For a bit over a short moment, Mangnyang was hard at work, jotting down something that looked like a ton of math and physics formulas on the ground. There were many languages written there, referred to as ‘English’ in the future. After a while of researching, Mangnyang finally said, “I think I got it. Why did the Twelve Joules make the millennium problem the password for the panel transition?”

“……?”

“Let’s try switching it to yellow according to the code I deciphered.”

Tap tap tap

Mangnyang manipulated various complex devices about ten times. Soon after, with a sound like “whoosh,” the entire launching device flipped over with the ground, and a new cylindrical device began to rise from the earth.

Gugugu

The yellow panel—it gave off a strangely ominous aura compared to before. It was shining in a more distinct silver than before, resembling the bizarre metallic material seen in Atlantis. Mangnyang, who was diligently inspecting the structure near the yellow panel, exclaimed.

“Oh my gosh… it seems the yellow panel summons ships.”

“Ships? What are you saying?”

“A picture is worth a thousand words. Let’s summon one and see.”

Beeep

When Mangnyang pressed a large button, suddenly a loud vibration resonated throughout the World Tree.

Kurrurrr

At the same moment, Asura and Seimei’s expressions changed. They looked up at the sky and said, “The dimensions are splitting!”

Crack

A dark rift tore open in time and space! From that rift, something was appearing slowly, and as I gazed in amazement, I stammered, “T-That’s the Advanced Ship?!”

Isn’t that a spaceship?

As I stared in shock, Mangnyang shook his head.

“Take a closer look. It looks similar, but it’s different. Especially look at the name engraved on the left side of the hull.”

“Oh.”

“It says ‘Chungmu’. This one says ‘Dae Jo Young.’”

“……”

Isn’t Dae Jo Young that divine presence I saw when I went to outer space? Why is its name written on that ship?

While I was puzzled, all the ships were summoned, and Asura muttered in disbelief, “Hmm… that’s 100 of them. Why are there so many?”

“……100 of them?”

Mangnyang, as if in disbelief, laughed heartily.

“The Twelve Joules probably has already produced future ships like the Advanced Ship using technologies from his future era. He likely gathered all kinds of resources from humanity’s world for thousands of years…”

“Hmm.”

“This could surely be stronger than 250,000 nuclear missiles. Just thinking about the power of the Advanced Ship alone is insane.”

I was too flabbergasted to speak.

‘Is this crazy… the Twelve Joules’ power so formidable!’

Based on the standards before obtaining divine power, his strength would be insurmountable even with all the human allies.

No—if there are 100 battleships stronger than the Advanced Ship, wouldn’t it be feasible to fight the Celestial Realm? If upper level gods or higher demon king level beings didn’t come out of the Celestial Realm, even normal immortals might get massacred. How could he have such ridiculously powerful forces and yet refrained from using them?

I gazed at the battleships floating in the sky and murmured, “But they have no captain, right? Don’t they need 100 commanders to operate?”

“Well, you could just assign each clan member to one, and otherwise, AI or autopilot could be a possibility. If it’s future tech, it should be possible.”

“Hmm.”

“Anyway, this is fascinating. Just what we’ve seen so far is enough to destroy the human world ten times over, so what the hell could the red panel be…?”

As Mangnyang said this, he scrutinized the panel intently. Then he frowned.

“The last red level can’t just be produced by operating the panel. It has to pass through a super quantum encryption. The key or terminal to interpret that super quantum encryption would likely belong to the Twelve Joules.”

“Super quantum… what? What the heck is that?”

“It’s future technology. Even regular quantum encryption can’t be cracked without a quantum computer, so this must be evolved beyond that. The claim that Nyarlathotep is a master of science isn’t just empty talk.”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“To put it simply, we could never crack it with the technology we have. Their technology is at least a hundred years ahead of that of the Great Bear Empire.”

“Ugh.”

I let out a groan. I wanted to completely empty out all the trump cards of the Twelve Joules, but does that mean I’m going to run into a wall here?

Asura, who had been watching, said in disbelief, “Even the strategists are useless. Is violence truly the best strategy?”

Mangnyang answered confidently, “What kind of nonsense is that? If you can achieve results without using your head, wouldn’t that be the best thing? After all, stratagems are just a means to achieve a goal.”

“True.”

Just then.

Kurrurrr

Suddenly, a strange resonance began to resonate throughout the Sacred Altar Tree.

And with that resonance came a peculiar mechanical sound.

[Emergency situation detected. Commencing Chaos Recalibration process according to designated protocols.]

Huh?

What’s that sound?

While I was trying to make sense of it all, Seimei’s expression changed.

“This energy… is a god coming!”

Pa-at

In the next moment, someone I recognized appeared in the air.

This being, holding a staff in one hand, looked down on us and said, “Well… since the barrier of the Sacred Altar Tree has been broken, I wondered what was happening… Looks like some pretty interesting things are unfolding.”

I must have been the only one who had directly faced that being in the hall before.

That’s because I only saw its true form when going to outer space.

I glared at it and said, “Hermes.”

The god of magic, the strongest sorcerer, the servant of Kabbalah, had now appeared in front of us.