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Hanging below the rat’s head was a spine, but it wasn’t just any spine.

To be precise… it was something processed from the spine.

“Let’s see…”

Jinseong plucked a single hair.

As he tucked the hair between his fingers and concentrated his psychic energy, the hair twitched as if it were alive, smoothly gliding towards the rat’s head at Jinseong’s will.

It moved very stealthily and swiftly, almost like a real parasite.

The hair that burrowed into the rat’s head penetrated through the skin, swam through the muscle, and repeatedly bumped into the bones before returning to the muscle. Eventually, it reached the spine, probing forward like a blind person feeling their way along.

That process wasn’t easy.

The rat’s spine was as impenetrable as if it had been coated.

Yet, wriggling and twisting, the hair somehow found a gap and slipped inside.

Once inside that coated wall, the hair played around as if it were at home…

Not long after, as if done playing, it emerged outside and flopped onto the floor.

A single strand of water-soaked hair floated in the air before falling to the ground.

Jinseong picked up the fallen hair again, placed it back between his fingers, and closed his eyes to assemble the information fed to him by the hair.

What was once a single entity craved to remain one even after falling apart.

Branches originating from a single root also go in opposite directions, but they start from the same place.

Whether flowers bloom and flourish, forming a forest or a flowerbed, the source must always exist.

In the same way, the hair was a part of Jinseong.

And humans can get information by moving their bodies.

So, the hair that had once fallen off but was now back in his hand was the same.

Thus, Jinseong savored what the hair had felt, assembling the meager information lacking proper senses and comparing it with what was in his memory.

And so, he gathered information.

“It’s the Eye of Apollo.”

He recognized it as something similar to what he had seen before regression.

『 Eye of Apollo 』

A byproduct of America’s national security project, the ‘Dodecatheon Project.’

One of the elements that made infiltrating America difficult before regression, and after the chaos of World War III, it had become so obsolete that it didn’t require much attention.

This surveillance system had been researched since even before World War I, completing its development only in modern times.

The project began with the idea of using animals for surveillance and reconnaissance, starting from attaching cameras or listening devices to animals’ bodies, leading to the development of extracting animal eyes and replacing them with cameras as science advanced. Now, it had come to—

‘microchips.’

It was completed with the invention of the ‘convenient’ method of inserting microchips into animals’ bodies.

Once attached to the spine of a designated animal, the microchip functions, emitting magical energy and chemicals to coat the spine and taking over the nervous system that passes through the spine to steal electrical signals. Although the video quality is poor, it records what was witnessed through the eyes and sends it to the intelligence agency’s server.

The invention of the microchip.

The development of wireless communication.

The normalization of Wi-Fi.

To environments where it’s not strange for small animals to be active.

All of these elements combined to create a groundbreaking surveillance system.

That was the ‘Eye of Apollo.’

Thud.

Jinseong tossed the rat’s head onto the floor and gave it a kick to move it to a corner.

‘Still, it shows a lot of clumsy aspects. Is it a prototype? Or does it seem to be still developing…?’

The Eye of Apollo was indeed a terrifying means of surveillance; even though the video quality was poor, it accurately served its role of monitoring and recording at any time and place. Whether entering buildings, going underground, or even diving into sewage, it transmitted footage.

When entering buildings that disrupt signals, it would automatically record and send data once a connection was established. These rats were acting like superior spy bots.

But it seemed it hadn’t yet reached that level.

If the condition faltered even a little, the connection with the server would break, and the video sent would likely be filled with noise and interruptions.

Quality? Could it even maintain 144p quality?

Clearly, it was useful, but…

Compared to what it used to be, it seemed lacking.

‘I see. This isn’t about video quality, but a form focused on audio as the main feature.’

Realizing something, Jinseong looked up.

He raised his head and gazed at the building visible through the window.

Pigeons were clustered on the buildings and streetlights, dozing contentedly or playfully interacting, fluttering down to the ground to peck at crumbs, then hopping back to the lights when a passing person threatened to kick them.

There was no mistaking they were pigeons.

They looked a bit more sinister than the ones seen in Korea.

Jinseong quietly observed those pigeons and lifted his hand.

Then he placed his left hand on his chest palm up, raised his right hand high above his head palm down, and moved his right hand in a bizarre trajectory before clapping it against his left.

Boom—!

The sound of palms slapping together echoed not like a usual ‘snap’ but like something exploding, and an invisible, intangible wave surged towards the pigeons.

It brushed against their bodies, enveloping them, and—

Thud.

Thud.

Thud.

Suddenly, several pigeons perched on the buildings and streetlights began to tumble downward as if struck by a pitcher’s thrown bullet, or frozen suddenly from an abrupt chill.

The fallen pigeons, no longer moving as they had just moments before, rolled helplessly on the ground, trampled underfoot by the bustling crowds.

Jinseong nodded at the sight.

‘So, the Eye of Aphrodite exists too.’

The ‘Dodecatheon Project’ refers to the twelve gods residing on Mount Olympus. With such a name, it wouldn’t be surprising if there were more than just the ‘Eye of Apollo.’

The rats represent the Eye of Apollo.

Then the birds—the Eye of Aphrodite.

‘Pigeons are one of the animals symbolizing Aphrodite.’

Pigeons have long been one of humanity’s most useful animals.

They have been used for meat, ornamental purposes, as pets, and even trained to exchange letters. During World Wars, they were equipped with cameras for observation and even used to guide missiles.

Project Pigeon is fairly well-known due to its creative concept.

And humans are those who will always utilize anything useful.

Pigeons also could not escape America’s attention.

Because they could fly, pigeons were greatly favored by intelligence agencies, receiving ample affection that far surpassed the mere implanted microchip in rats.

Eyes swapped for cameras, machines hidden within feathers, sometimes implanted with chips for remote control, or simply trained and released. Those modified and released pigeons would circle around their ‘targets’, continually sending photos and videos.

With a quality that was a different dimension from that of the rats.

‘Rats and pigeons. If the level feels so clumsy, it seems it has not been distributed widely across the U.S. yet… They must’ve only attached them to important targets.’

Moreover, there’s the server issue.

America still hadn’t developed graphene semiconductors nor built the ‘world’s largest data center’ utilizing graphene. Additionally, they had not yet managed to reclaim factories scattered around the world or produce necessary surveillance equipment using those factories.

So what could be done was to monitor only those of high importance using existing facilities.

‘Importance, importance.’

Jinseong recalled Lucas’s face.

An evil person.

A fitting subject for Huele’s visit.

A wolf obsessed with making money.

But considering importance, it’s ambiguous for him to be at the top…

‘Perhaps there’s more hidden in this.’

Jinseong felt he needed to learn more about Lucas.

But at the same time, he also found it a waste of time to be bound solely to Lucas.

America was vast, and the tasks were countless.

Moreover, Lucas wasn’t the only one to benefit from the butterfly effect.

To check on other matters, he needed to move around…

‘Making an exit from here would be a bad hand.’

No matter how he thought about it, that wouldn’t be a wise choice.

If he left here, he’d lose the opportunity to learn about Lucas. Additionally, to keep an eye on Jinseong, they would attach pigeons and rats.

Or perhaps, seeing that Jinseong might have sensed the presence of pigeons and rats, they could take “measures for national security.”

If that happened… it would become quite troublesome.

In every way he thought about it, staying here seemed beneficial.

‘This is just perfect. For my training, broadening my knowledge is also important, so I can take this as an opportunity.’

If choosing one is difficult, one can choose both.

If, out of a desire to avoid loss, one were to discard the options with losses and take only the gains, it could be done.

How could that be, you ask?

It is possible.

At least for him, it is possible.

His body was not singular.

* * *

Rustle.

Eyes filled with flame pierced the darkness.

Long sleeves dragged along the ground, making sounds as a body distinct from an ordinary person slowly rose.

Japan.

The body once called shinjū (神主) started moving somewhere.

 

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