BIOLOGICAL SUPERCOMPUTER SYSTEM

1147  Glints in the Rubble

The landscape was bathed in the amber glow of the setting sun, its shadows lengthening across the rubble strewn about. A symphony of sounds filled the air—clanging metal, shifting debris, and urgent voices. As night fell, jagged silhouettes stood against the dimming sky, obscured by dust clouds and stretching shadows. n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Someone moved through the area; the sound of shifting debris echoed.

Hands sifted through the rubble. Each piece of wreckage was examined before being set aside, as if that wasn't what the person was searching for. Despite the apparent futility of the task, there was urgency in the searcher's actions. Something of tremendous importance lay hidden beneath the ruins.

Suddenly, a glint caught the man's eye. Eager, the man cleared away the rubble. His hands became faster, but more careful. Then he stopped, his body going stiff. He had found what he was looking for.

<Master.> The clone said.

<Yes? Did you find anything?>

<I did.>

<Great job, June. Wait for me there; I'm on my way.>

Eight days passed since the battle on Maynard Island, which passed in an instant for Erik and all those on Maynard Island, simply because there were many things to do, and given the little time they had available, they could only search without pause.

After the battle, Erik focused on searching for any information he could use—something about the blackguards, something about their plans, their leaders, their bases, their members. This proved rather problematic. The battle between Erik and the three Vindicators reshaped the island landscape, and when Monica took her wyvern out, she destroyed the main building, which presumably was the place where such information was held.

How something so big could be destroyed by a single creature's simple movement was beyond Erik, but unfortunately, those kinds of things were very much possible in his world.

Regardless, that meant that if Erik wanted to find a kind of database, he would have needed to clear the rubble and fix the area. That required time and, more especially, people.

Erik had his clones, but the Chimaeric Demons were no longer that much. Around 10 thousand, but not enough to clear everything in less than a week.

That was a problem, and that their search for surviving blackguards brought to nothing didn't help either.

<Finally some kind of lead…>

Most of the rubble had been cleared, all the surrounding area had been leveled, and everything had been brought to walking levels, but the research was not complete.

Erik arrived where June was. "Where is it?"

"Down here, Master."

Below Erik were the remnants of what looked like servers. This was where the blackguards kept their information.

"We did it, Master." June said, genuine happiness blooming on his face.

"Yeah, that's if the blackguards didn't erase everything when we came."

If that was the case, Erik would need something to fix this equipment, do it fast, and then he would need to search it with the biological supercomputer.

"Bring this to the camp, then call Caiden. Send him to my tent."

"Yes, Master."

With that, Erik reached the place. Caiden got to Maynard Island two days earlier. As soon as Becker received words of Erik's victory. He sent Caiden to coordinate with Erik, but something told Erik the reason he was there was because of Amber.

Soon after Erik got there, Amber's father arrived. "Were you searching for me?" The red-haired man said, entering the tent.

"Yes. I need you to contact Becker," Erik said.

"Is this about the servers you found?"

"You already know about this? Damn, it hasn't even been ten minutes."

"Well," Caiden said, "your clones were shouting with joy, as if they'd just received Christmas gifts. It was impossible not to notice."

"Stupid idiots…" Erik sighed. "Anyway, we don't have techs able to fix them, and I cannot do it myself."

He was going to take care of that sooner or later. "I need to fix them and find out what information is there."

"Wouldn't it be better to send them to Frant?"

"No," Erik said. "The carriers might get attacked, and we might lose the information forever. Besides, it will take a lot of time for you to crack open that thing, while it won't take me much."

"Ah, right," Caiden looked at Erik with dawning realization. "I forgot you are a skilled hacker. Yet you can't fix a computer. Shouldn't this be like some sort of basic information for you guys?"

Erik didn't reply. "Besides, the war in Frant is not over yet. The blackguards are still in the territory, aided by Etrium, and Miciselen joined in the war. It doesn't matter if Hin is outside of the picture right now."

Erik sent many of his clones around the world because that was exactly what he wanted to prevent—for more countries to join the war. They took control of Khunelerp, Reraiaph, and Prare, but hadn't been able to yet take over Miciselen since it was the closest to Maynard Island, after Hin.

Miciselen was another insular country, in the extreme northeast. Its southern side was close to Hin's northern, and on its east was the Mannard continent. The ocean separating Maynard Island from Miciselen was larger than the one between Hin and the tiny island that had housed the blackguards for centuries. However, it was still much closer than Frant, and especially Khunelerp, which lay on the far east.

As for Etrium, the blackguards' influence there was too strong. The Chimaeric Demons did their best to take control of the country, but it looked like the fake paladins of justice, once Etrium found a way to make brain crystal weapons, set their goal to completely dominate the country, as much as they did in Hin.

There were only two things that could stop Etrium at that point: complete defeat or, if the Chimaeric Demons got enough time, a tactic similar to that Erik used on Hin: substituting their leader.

"Richard says the blackguards are retreating. No one knows where they are going, but it looks like they are being escorted by Hin's retreating troops somewhere. They might even be coming here. I still don't get why—"

"Why am I allowing Hin's troops to come back to their countries?"