Chapter 142 – Mirror Match

Chapter 142 – Mirror Match

I checked the Observation Ships I had sent to Africa in advance.

“What on earth is it?”

I couldn’t help but tilt my head.

The reason, of course, was the Monster Collaborators I had seen in southeastern Congo the other day. I suspected them to be ordinary people rather than Villains or Mutants, judging by their appearance.

The Mana Lens of the Observation Ship confirmed that it was true.

They were all ordinary people.

“I can’t understand it.”

I tilted my head.

Monsters are beings that seek to exterminate humans. To side with such Monsters meant helping beings who wanted to kill them. It was a contradictory act no matter how you looked at it.

In the case of Mutants, it was at least understandable. Mutants had already given up being human and sided with the Monsters.

“Why on earth?”

It was when I narrowed my eyes and asked myself.

[The last Essence is Corruption. A Monster that attacks Humanity’s heart.]

Assistant AI answered.

“If I eliminate a guy like The Man, will his followers be freed?”

[A corrupted heart never returns.]

It was a story I didn’t want to believe.

I asked several questions to confirm how accurate its answer was, as accurate as The Man’s. But it wasn’t for nothing that I had gathered six Forgotten Knowledge Essences; it answered most questions reasonably.

After such a long struggle with The Man-

[Their hearts are already as good as dead.]

“As good as dead…”

I had no choice but to admit it.

Furthermore, humans near The Man Monster would even cooperate with the Monster. They would become completely corrupted… but it added that if the distance increased, it would simply act by stimulating The Man’s Attack Castle.

So that people who already harbored considerable Attack Castle would change even faster.

‘Could it be that The Man-like Looters are really…?’

Seoyeon in the previous round had suspected there might be a mental attack, seeing the Looters rapidly changing. It seemed to have been an accurate judgment after all.

‘I need to eliminate it as soon as possible.’

It seemed the answer was to eliminate it before more damage occurred.

I accelerated the Fleet’s speed.

Kuguguung-

With the explosive operation of The Man’s engine, the clouds began to split.

***

Meanwhile. The Assistant AI, which had absorbed six Essences, was also providing me with various answers.

‘What is the true nature of its ability?’

Humanity’s abilities are similar to the manifestation of a Special Entity’s abilities.

‘Is all of Humanity a Special Entity like The Man? That’s strange.’

[There is a possibility that Earth itself is a Special Entity.]

‘Earth is a Special Entity…?’

The amount and content of that information was so confusing, it was almost overwhelming.

On the other hand, some points made sense. Essence could only be extracted in a very few cases, such as from special entities and humans who had become Villains.

For example, most ordinary Mutants did not have Essence.

It seemed that the conditions for collecting Essence were ‘being a special entity and having undergone Monsterification in some way.’

And if most of Humanity were special entities, then a conclusion could be drawn: Essence could be collected from Villains, who were Mutantified humans, but there was no Essence to collect from simple Mutants.

In addition, many answers were also received regarding the conditions for the production of Mutants and Villains.

[The conditions for becoming a Mutant are: the individual must have violence, manipulation, and other such tendencies inherent within them, be unhesitant to betray Humanity, and be an individual who can be greatly affected by Corruption Essence.]

‘What about that next?’

[There is not enough Essence to restore that information.]

…Of course, it wasn’t explaining everything, but the questions that had been bothering me for a while were all clearly answered, and I felt a certain thirst being quenched.

Going even further-.

‘Only individuals who can be greatly affected by Corruption Essence become Villains… Does that mean if I eliminate this Monster, no new Villains will be born?’

It was good to be able to reconfirm the goal.

***

To go from Porto to Congo, one inevitably encounters the Sahara Desert first.

Generally speaking, the Sahara Desert was not a terrain to be underestimated. For example, its size alone was about 94 times that of the Republic of Korea. But now, it was even one of the Fire Manipulation areas most quickly occupied by Monsters.

It was almost a land of death.

But that was based on general thinking.

“Wow… it looks like waves!”

Sooa’s eyes were sparkling as she looked at the endlessly stretching Desert.

“Isn’t there a kebab stand somewhere? I’m hungry.”

Minju, who, despite her appearance, was a true food lover, always visiting famous restaurants on the other side of the world, was looking for a restaurant.

“Shouldn’t we go see the Pyramids? The Pyramids.”

Meanwhile, Seongjae was still in tourist mode.

Unlike the scorching sun outside, the ship’s interior was comfortable with air conditioning. This was only possible because it was covered in plush furniture. We were also admiring the Sahara Desert from the bridge.

And when we got tired of it—.

“I’m going to sleep……”

Like Seoyeon, escaping to the private quarters was the only option.

Just like that, we crossed the Sahara Desert as easily as flipping a hand. The same went for the Northern Congo Rainforest, which stretched out like the Amazon.

Considering that the size of Congo alone is comparable to the entirety of Western Europe, this was beyond normal comprehension.

It was then, as we approached the vicinity of the Corruption Beast.

‘What, it’s moving?’

The Corruption Beast’s escort unit began to move.

* * *

The Corruption Beast’s escort unit had a very rare composition.

It was, in fact, a mixed unit of humans and monsters. They were even cooperating as if they were with the monsters.

Although they were cooperating, it was on a different level than in Shanghai, where monsters and humans had merely attacked interchangeably.

The reason for this was, of course… the Congo Civil War.

Congo was a place that had been in an apocalyptic state even before the Apocalypse.

Corruption, rape, and murder were commonplace. Not only did they conscript child soldiers, but it was also standard practice to drug them and use them as cannon fodder in war.

In other words, Congo was a place where looters and warlords ran rampant in ‘modern’ times. The reason a monster with Corruption Essence settled here was because of The Man.

Because he instinctively knew that this was the optimal place to attract people with his Loyalty Essence.

But if you ask if he lacked intelligence and relied only on instinct, that wasn’t the case either.

Even among simple monsters, as a high-ranking individual, he didn’t devise complex strategies himself, but he knew that he could simply use humans who could devise complex strategies for him as his limbs.

And the name of the man who held the highest authority among his subordinates was ‘Masamba Kasongo.’ He was a man from a warlord background, who didn’t hesitate to commit inhumane war crimes.

He gathered his executives and began to give orders.

“An invader has appeared.”

And there was no need for specific instructions.

“Go and kill them.”

He just commanded slaughter, as usual.

* * *

Before long, a battle broke out.

Various ability users collaborating with monsters, and humans armed with AK-47s, RPG-7s, and so on. Since they were originally from warlord factions, even tanks and armored vehicles were occasionally seen, but it wasn’t a big problem.

If anything, in terms of the quality of warlords, the battle in North Korea or Jinseonmun in Texas felt more intense.

The North Korean Army I fought was not merely warlords, but looters organized from a regular army.

And Jinseonmun’s subordinates, who macro-managed the Gun Worship Cult, were the people who loved guns the most, even in the United States, which boasts a splendid gun culture.

With their meager armaments resulting from an unavoidable difference in wealth, and bodies ravaged by malnutrition and drugs, there was no way they could compare to My Legion. So the feeling I had was…

Just a little annoying.

Boom- Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-boom!

Even the already upgraded Interceptors were enough to eliminate them, let alone the Photon Destroyers.

In particular, there was no need to project my corporal power, but it felt sufficient to deploy only the Assault Cannons after their rate of fire increased, so that says it all.

It was also not difficult to feel that the Assistant AI’s information was correct. They felt no different from ordinary people, except for their mana reactions.

For example, even if an arm or a leg was blown off—.

……

The Man just stared blankly, stopping the blood flowing from his loyalty wound and continuing to fight. No normal emotions such as screams, pain, or fear were visible in the Men.

‘They’re practically zombies…’

And since they were mixed with Monsters, it felt as if they were practically Monsters in human form.

‘This should be over quickly.’

An anomaly occurred at that moment.

Whoosh- Bang!

At the same time, a strong vortex of mana struck one of my Photon Destroyers.

“What?”

It was from that moment.

Rumble-

My Photon Destroyer began to disobey my commands.

“That, it’s still going up in altitude?”

“Siwoo? Why is that doing that?”

The sudden movement even confused the others on the Bridge. But the most confused, of course, was me.

‘How is this happening?’

This had never happened, combining all previous timelines and the present.

Not even once.

But the anomaly didn’t stop there.

Screeching- Click!

The Photon Destroyer turned its main cannon towards another one of my Photon Destroyers…

Zzzzzzzzzzz-

It began preparing to fire.

“Siwoo! That!”

“It, it betrayed us?!”

Everyone around was aghast in that moment.

Kwakwaaaaaang!

The Artillery Barrage began.

***

At that moment, I understood everything.

‘Is it a Mind Control type ability?’

Mind Control was the name of a special ability in the real-time strategy simulation game I used to enjoy.

And the effect of that special ability was simple yet powerful.

It was to seize ownership of the units I produced.

This had an enormous impact on the battlefield.

Especially, the more powerful single-entity units I had, the more so. I had invested a lot of resources and time to produce those units. It was like handing them over to the opponent.

That alone was infuriating. If used on the battlefield, it wasn’t enough to just remove my powerful forces; they would also join the opponent…

It was enough to decide the outcome in a single decisive battle.

But…

“Oh… so something like this was possible. How interesting.”

I felt no tension.

Because it was none other than me who knew better than anyone else about the tactical-strategic weaknesses, structural vulnerabilities, and utilization methods of the Photon Destroyer.

I am Seong Siwoo.

The Sole Successor of the World’s Magitech Civilization.

But not only that, I was also a Pro Gamer whom no one could match with Macro Management alone.

And during my Pro Gamer days, I had been hit by Mind Control type abilities countless times, literally.

And that was against Pro Gamers with skills that even a mere Monster couldn’t approach.

So for me-.

“You think you can use it better than me just because you stole it?”

It was simply ridiculous.

Even with the same unit, the hands of the person using it…

In other words, the difference in control made all the difference in the world.