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In short, there was nothing in these documents that I could call a meaningful haul.

The moment I saw an item labeled “On the deployment of Chimera Project test subjects,” I got my hopes up.

But once I read it, it amounted to nothing more than a roundabout way of saying, “Their appearance is too horrible, so absolutely not,” and there was no real information about the test subjects themselves.

Naturally, there was no information about any facilities involved, either. All that remained were a handful of documents that looked like exchanges with a nearby military base, and it seemed the Chimera Project only appeared in passing.

(In other words, no results. The front line was being pushed back, and there were signs they tried to use this walled place as a defensive strongpoint. They attempted to deploy a Chimera Project product in actual combat here, but it was opposed because it looked too awful. That’s probably what happened… and yet there’s not a scrap of useful detail.)

When I pictured the two test subjects I’d encountered so far, it was easy to accept.

If you imagined something like that rampaging on a battlefield, anyone would reach the same conclusion.

I briefly wondered, “Was that why the Genetically Enhanced Soldier Project was created?” but since I knew how that technology had been converted into military use, I had to reject that quick assumption.

At minimum, that scientist had revealed there were three projects: these two plus the Ultimate Lifeform Project.

Given that documents like this existed, it was likely that around this period they cut their losses on the Chimera Project and advanced to the next stage: the Genetically Enhanced Soldier Project.

“…If I knew how the war situation evolved, I could tell how long Chimera Project test subjects kept being produced. And if genetically enhanced soldiers were being created after that, it would shed light on the period when I became an experiment.”

The problem was that I couldn’t remember how the western front had progressed at all.

If only I’d taken more interest in current affairs—I regretted the student days when I’d done nothing but mess around.

Still, based on the dates in the documents, I confirmed there was a gap of about one year and ten months between when I became a test subject and when the Chimera Project was stalled here.

What I really needed was the time between becoming a genetically enhanced soldier and being put into cryosleep… but there was no way I could know that, and I realized this number didn’t mean much.

(I thought if I knew the period, I could estimate how many test subjects existed…)

I’d consumed two and killed one.

And the other genetically enhanced soldier—known as the Emperor—had consumed two.

“Six, including me.”

That was as far as I could say with certainty right now.

On top of that, there was likely at least one under the Ultimate Lifeform Project.

But the Empire might have already fallen before that, and I also had to consider the possibility that facilities had collapsed—so I couldn’t say “definitely” with confidence.

And facility collapse applied to other test subjects too. The fact that he, who led over ten thousand orcs, couldn’t find a third one also proved it: locating survivors was extremely difficult.

Given the power map—goblins in the north and orcs in the south—it was probably fair to say searching for test subjects in the south was hopeless.

Who knew what might happen—maybe goblins multiplying too much would obstruct the orcs, and somehow that would leave me a chance.

I’d tried not to think about it, but I never expected the day would come when goblins were actually useful.

Still, extermination would continue.

These were done being useful.

Reconfirming that things were far from optimistic, I let go of the documents and began searching for a device that could play the data disc.

No matter what the contents were, I wanted to know.

From the remaining paperwork, I judged that the test subjects had never actually been deployed—but even so, being able to see elven combat power with zero risk would be valuable.

I wished it was a false memory, but among the footage I’d seen on television, there was one where a tank’s armor had been punched through and the crew inside were killed.

Needless to say, that damage wasn’t from a Spirit Sword—and if it was the power of the “magic bow” I’d heard about before, then the arrow aimed at me back then would have gone straight through me.

Fighting forest hunters who possessed multiple such weapons—no, an unknown number of them—would be suicide.

It seemed ineffective against a test subject with extremely strong magic resistance—the one called the Forest’s Nightmare—but I had zero desire to find out how much a lesser version of that resistance could endure in practice.

(Fortunately, using a magic bow is precious—or dangerous—enough that it requires the council’s approval. As long as I don’t take clear hostile action, it shouldn’t turn into the same situation as last time.)

More importantly, the elven martial types seemed to be kept in check by the clan that Number Six belonged to.

Sending silent gratitude to the first thing that came to mind—those impressive breasts—I gathered information to make my safety more certain.

And after searching nonstop until sunrise, I got an unexpected find.

I discovered a point where electricity could be used.

I didn’t know if it was stable, but an outlet I casually tried was live, and a small portable vacuum cleaner I’d picked up during my search reacted faintly.

I hadn’t expected to find this first, but the order didn’t matter much.

Now, if I could find a usable playback device, I’d be able to learn what was on the disc.

Then I kept searching for hours without even eating breakfast.

Around the time the sun climbed near overhead, I finally made progress.

I finished searching every accessible area of the central management center, then checked surrounding facilities—and at the third one, I found it.

“Hmm… ‘Alfort latest-model portable player’—is that right?”

I spoke the inferred name aloud from the letters that remained.

Its storage condition was ideal, and I felt a faint mana response from the device itself.

It was so subtle I wouldn’t notice unless I focused.

When I opened the box, there was a black portable player exactly like the photo.

The manual inside was intact too, and it seemed to be a latest model released after I underwent genetic enhancement.

I flipped through the pages and checked the specs.

For a multifunction model with a list price approaching the upper end of five digits, it was clearly a high-quality product.

Its main purpose was listening to music, but it also had recording functions and radio reception—various unnecessary features that justified being called “multifunction.”

Even so, looking at its overall performance, it was good enough to make me think, “I would’ve wanted this when I was still human,” and as my shoulders slumped, an idea struck me.

“…Should I at least try playing audio?”

Even without a battery, if I plugged in the dedicated cable, it could draw power directly from an outlet.

The accessories for that were included, and if it was high-end, it should support a wide range of data formats.

Muttering that it was worth a try, I returned to the room in the central center where electricity was available.

The moment I turned it on and pressed play, static crackled—and then I heard a faint human voice.

In that cramped room where only my upper body fit, I made a small fist pump.

Then, as the voice gradually became clearer and the noise grew louder, I listened closely—and clearly heard gunfire.

And amid the distorted audio, I distinctly caught the shouts of Imperial soldiers.

“It’s a sniper! Can’t… confirm… him! …got hit… request… reinforcements! Damn it… the tank—!”

“We were… behind the barrier… damn it, this is—! Fall back, before the explosion—!”

A booming blast and rising screams.

More explosions followed in rapid succession, along with broken, intermittent shouting—then suddenly, with a sharp cut, playback stopped.

There was only one conclusion to draw from this audio.

“Wait—seriously… they can punch through a tank with long-range fire?”