Chapter 22

“If you don’t, I will blow that tightly wrapped head of yours right off.”

Adam spoke in a distinct voice.

“I cannot hand Shuri over. Not even for a trillionth of a second.”

He then continued in a voice laced with ridicule.

“I am envious. I too wish to blow your heads off directly, but unfortunately, I cannot do so.”

Shuri swallowed her dry saliva from the mounting tension.

‘The first of the Twelve Principles of Artificial Intelligence. The Law of Respect for Human Dignity!’

This was something that governments and corporations around the world, led by UH, had agreed upon and applied to Adam when he was temporarily granted command over all military facilities upon the discovery of the asteroid cluster.

Though there were numerous principles and fine details, right now, it came down to this: Adam could not kill humans.

However, that did not mean the most powerful artificial intelligence on Earth was powerless. Adam could deploy as many robots delegated with lethal authority as he wished. For instance, in the case of the Patrol Bot acting as a machine gun keychain over there, it was capable of subduing or even killing hostile combatants if necessary to protect civilian lives.

Yet that was a story for places where public order infrastructure was established; there was no such thing as a Patrol Bot here. There were only ruthless enemies.

“I like that you’re honest. Then again, what can a bastard without even a gun do?”

Kay laughed cruelly, baring his white teeth. At that, Shuri raised her gaze and looked straight into Kay’s face.

She could see everything. Murderous intent resided within Kay’s blue eyes. Despite having made the decision to kill someone, not a single shred of guilt could be felt from his eyes. Exactly like making the decision to blow out a candle, he had simply resolved to kill someone.

She could tell from that unwavering gaze just how many times Kay had made such decisions. She could also tell from his smile, which had grown faintly deeper than a moment ago, that he was feeling a cruel joy.

Therefore, Shuri closed her eyes.

‘As expected, I hate people.’

Almost simultaneously, Adam’s large hands covered both of her ears.

“Farewell, wrapped head!”

The squad member pulled the trigger. The next instant, a roaring boom arose.

Bang—!

Was it because her ears were covered by Adam’s hands? The sound felt considerably distant.

‘No, it’s just physically distant?’

Adam slowly lowered his head and whispered to her.

“I told you. I will not have you taken away.”

Somehow, Adam appeared perfectly fine.

Slowly lowering the hands that had covered her ears, he cozily wrapped his arms around her shoulders. Even in such an urgent situation, his arms were warm and comfortable. Left bewildered, Shuri slily opened her eyes.

“Argh—!”

The moment she opened her eyes, what she saw was Kay rolling on the ground while clutching his face. For some reason, his gun was entirely shattered to pieces.

Angel shrieked while looking down at his own gun barrel.

“W-What is this?”

Before anyone knew it, his gun was covered with something resembling dark blue foam.
Sprawled on the ground, Kay shouted in a voice that held back pain.

“D-Don’t shoot! It’s Creeper Foam!”

It was a name Shuri had heard of as well.

Creeper Foam. A non-lethal weapon fired by the ultra-small drone, VX-9; it was a polymer compound that penetrated the inside of the gun barrel and the muzzle in a liquid state, swelling hundreds of times over by a signal emitted by the VX-9 and curing as hard as concrete to neutralize the firearm.

Angel cast aside the gun that could no longer be used. He then rushed over to Kay and propped him up.

“Why is something that only exists in the highest-grade security zones even in Zone A sitting here?!”

“How should I know…!”

Clutching his bleeding face, Kay bellowed in a voice driven by pure malice.

“Catch those bastards!”

The squad members who had been standing by cast aside their rifles and drew short knives.

“These bastards.”

It was the same for Kamal. Drawing his kukri knife in a flash, Kamal’s eyes glinted with murderous intent.

“You’re all dead meat.”

A touch-and-go situation.

“Everyone!”

Adam raised his hand and pointed toward the parked military vehicle.

“Please look straight over there.”

Everyone’s gazes gathered upon one spot.

Someone—no, something—was clinging to the machine gun. Looking closely, it was the Patrol Bot that had been hanging like a keychain from the machine gun with its waist snapped in two.

A fairly large drone had landed on the nape of the robot’s neck, supplying it with power. The power-supplied Patrol Bot could be seen calmly scanning the faces of the squad members.

The Patrol Bot spoke.

[All targets verified on the wanted list. Opening fire for civilian protection.]

The Patrol Bot grabbed the machine gun. Bullets peppered the ground with a rat-a-tat-tat pattern, chasing after the squad members. Along with a sound like roasting beans, dense dust whipped up.

Someone shrieked.

“Run!”

The sounds of screaming and fleeing amidst the dust, and the sound of a vehicle hastily starting up echoed. The squad members fled, abandoning even their military vehicle and machine gun. As their shrieks grew distant, the machine gun fire also ceased.

Soon, the wind blew and cleared the sand dust away. At that, the Patrol Bot could be seen taking its hand off the gun.

While everyone stood frozen.

The Patrol Bot hoisted a thumbs-up.

Having sheathed his knife before anyone realized, Kamal burst out laughing.

“Look at those bastards flee like their tails are on fire!”

Jera came hopping over and flung himself at Adam and Shuri.

“S-So cool! Artificial intelligence, how did you do that?”

It wasn’t just Jera. The door of Soul Garden swung open, and the children came pouring out in a tumble.

“The scary ahjussis ran away!”

“The Patrol Bot came for us.”

“Shuri, are you alright?”

“Are Shuri and the robot dating?”

It seemed a somewhat strange question was mixed in, but Shuri was currently in a state of extreme confusion. Held by the children’s small hands and pulled this way and that, she was at a total loss.

“I-I’m fine…”

Though she was like that, Adam answered every single child’s question amiably.

“I supplied power to the Patrol Bot through an Infiltrator drone. You could say I gave the Patrol Bot an opportunity to restore its honor. And as for my relationship with Shuri, I shall try to put in more effort.”

The children burst into laughter at Adam’s words.

Sisi extended her hand and grabbed Adam’s finger. She then smiled brightly and offered a word of gratitude.

“Thank you…!”

Adam gazed at the faces of those children one by one. He then let out a low chuckling sound and nodded his head.

On the edge of Revnax, one of the central cities of Zone F in the vast Free Zone, lay a few of Shuri’s rare regular shops. The bar, <Big Carrot>, was one of them.

As such, White Rabbit—the bartender of <Big Carrot>—was immensely astonished to discover Shuri entering the bar while tightly holding Adam’s hand.

“Shuri? Did you… perhaps bring a man home?”

Shuri’s face turned red. Puckering her lips, she complained.

“Why… why is it the exact same reaction as Kamal? Is it that strange for me to walk around with someone?”

“Of course! You turn into a furious Chihuahua whenever someone is next to you.”

“Calling a person a Chihuahua…!”

Gabbing the growling Shuri’s waist, Adam hoisted her up and settled her onto a high bar stool.

Seeing Adam’s thick forearm, White Rabbit’s eyes grew wide.

“Wow, what is this?”

However, that wasn’t even the half of it. Raising her head to verify Adam’s face beneath the hood, White Rabbit’s eyes grew as wide as they physically could.

“Seriously, what is this? Why are you walking around wearing a helmet?”

Adam was clad in a loud hooded jumper—exceedingly to Shuri’s taste—which she had picked out for him at her regular clothing shop. Carefully aligning his tautly lifted buttocks against the bar stool, he spoke in a soft voice.

“I am currently in the middle of practicing being together with Miss Shuri.”

“Ahhh…!”

Aware that Shuri could not look into people’s eyes, White Rabbit took on a deeply moved face. She nodded her head so vigorously that the rabbit ears attached to her headband fluttered frantically.

“Passed. Character is a pass as well…!”

Shuri growled.

“Just what exactly is a pass…?”

While doing so, White Rabbit’s lips entered her field of view. Numerous emotions were contained within the pretty pink lips that formed an arc. Warm emotions like joy and relief… various kinds of them.

Shuri grumbled.

“Ju-Just take the order, will you? The usual!”

“Yes, yes. One Chihuahua Set, order received. What about the boyfriend?”

“Ah, for me, mineral water, please.”

“H-H-He’s not my boyfriend…!”

After White Rabbit went to fetch the drinks while cackling continually.

‘As expected, I truly hate it.’

Burying her face against the sticky bar table while cradling her head with both hands, Shuri planted her forehead right down.