I Became a Mad Scientist for the Foundation

Episode 209. Copenhagen Decryption (2)

Hasti gazed at Saltholm Island from underwater. She wondered if there was even a need to fight. The Foundation Headquarters’ Special Forces were stronger than imagined and had successfully subdued her.

The siege at the Beijing Branch had been fierce, and Pixel’s subordinates in the U.S. were incredibly powerful too. So, what about these guys…?

It seemed the real deal was Dr. Kim. There was nothing special about Saltholm Island.

Hasti swung her staff again, and the Flying Polyps charged toward the facility. The Flying Polyps were incomprehensible horrors, difficult to strike with physical means. But Hasti’s trump card wasn’t the Flying Polyps.

“Kieeeeeek! Kieeeeeeeek! Kiaaaaaaeeek! Kaeieaek!”

Every alarm siren in Copenhagen was screaming as if the city was about to collapse, but the roar of the Black Dragon Hasti had just summoned drowned out hundreds of sirens.

Primordial fear.

Even Hasti, who had summoned the monster, felt a chill down her spine. What about everyone else? The soldiers in the attacked facility opened fire, but…

The Black Dragon’s roar, the sirens, thunder, and wind—even the sound of heavy weapons firing was nothing more than popcorn popping.

Thud, thud, thud.

The Black Dragon wasn’t flying. It folded its wings and crawled toward the enemy facility.

Hasti and the Hero took advantage of the chaos to move toward the facility. The massive Black Dragon was just a diversion. The mission’s goal was to infiltrate Hasti and the Hero into the facility.

Nanami and I finally entered the Copenhagen Branch facility. Nanami finally drew her greatsword. From now on, anyone blocking our way would be turned into brown paint.

I shook the water off my wetsuit.

I tossed the oxygen tank aside and swapped it for a gas mask helmet from my subspace bag. I switched my weapon to the Gauss Musket and draped the Invisibility Cloak over my shoulders.

“Let’s split up. Dr. Kim, put on the cloak and find the commander. I’ll hunt down the sorcerers.”

“Understood.”

The command center had to be deep within the facility. It shouldn’t be hard to find. As for the sorcerers, I had no idea where they were.

But Nanami would handle that. I saluted Nanami and dashed deeper into the Copenhagen Branch. First, the stairs.

Nanami looked around.

Dr. Kim had to sneak around, so he took the stairs. Nanami didn’t need to. Nanami didn’t need to hide.

In fact, it was the opposite. Nanami had to draw attention to keep Dr. Kim safe. Nanami steadied her stance and prepared to swing her sword.

At least, that’s how Nanami felt. All of this happened before Dr. Kim could take three steps.

Crash!

Nanami’s sword energy shattered the ceiling. Twisted rebar peeked through the crushed concrete. Reinforced concrete is tough.

Making a path for one person wasn’t easy. But a hole had been made. Nanami climbed through it.

Every floor had to be searched.

Since Dr. Kim had just gone down, it made sense for Nanami to go up. The first floor had nothing. What about the second floor?

Nanami leaned against the wall and scanned the area.

“What the…”

Voodoo magic is inherently difficult. If killing someone without meeting them was easy, everyone would be doing it.

Both Dr. Chae and Nanami were puzzled. What had they done for the voodoo magic to affect even Dr. Kim?

The second floor of the Copenhagen Branch was filled with dolls. Dolls resembling Dr. Kim.

Well… It’s a method the Foundation often uses.

Overwhelming with firepower. If a ritual fails once, repeat it ten, a hundred, a thousand times.

Nanami frowned in disgust.

It was deeply unpleasant.

Nanami turned on her radio.

“This is Nanami. Changing the mission to track and eliminate all humans in the facility.”

[Huh? Why?]

It seemed the entire facility was being used for a ritual to kill Dr. Kim. As expected, we had to kill every last one of them.

They’re hiding. Where is everyone?

Footsteps.

Nanami recalled the manual for facility assaults. Her role was to grab her weapon and run as fast as possible, but not everyone did that.

Are there bunkers on every floor?

Nanami turned her head toward the sound of footsteps and steadied her stance.

Bang!

Nanami broke through the wall.

Sure enough. A line of enemies—scientists or researchers—was fleeing with guns. But ordinary humans couldn’t react to Nanami’s speed at this distance.

Moving faster than bullets is hard.

But.

Moving faster than the enemy’s eyes, the speed at which information travels through the optic nerve to the brain, and the speed at which the command to pull the trigger travels through the nerves—that was possible for Nanami.

Clang!

The barrel was sliced off, and bullets spilled from the severed magazine. The fleeing enemy line turned into a bloody mess in the blink of an eye.

Only one person Nanami deliberately spared lay on the floor. The tip of the Uncheolseok Greatsword pointed at the fallen scientist.

“What were you doing here?”

Some answer came, but it was incomprehensible. Nanami sliced the last person to death.

What about the dolls? She wanted to burn them all, but damaging voodoo dolls recklessly could have unknown consequences.

Clearing the facility was the top priority.

Nanami double-checked the corpses to ensure no one was alive, then moved on to hunt more enemies. Kill them all.

I couldn’t scratch my head because of the helmet, but I pondered. Why did Nanami decide to kill everyone here?

“Huh? Why?”

[The entire facility seems to be functioning to target Dr. Kim. Dozens of sorcerer teams were after you.]

“I see.”

[There are dozens, maybe hundreds, of Dr. Kim dolls here. I’m going to kill every visible person in this facility.]

Anyway.

“Ah. Understood.”

[You kill anyone you see too.]

Depending on the situation. From what I checked earlier, the facility had up to Basement Level 4. The command center seemed to be on Basement Level 4.

Every door in the facility’s underground area was guarded by heavily armed security. The security wasn’t as tight as the facility, but there were quite a few enemies.

Let’s avoid them as much as possible.

The goal is the command center.

The stairs I came down didn’t lead to Basement Level 4.

I had to find a separate elevator to Basement Level 4. I looked around.

It’s a common method. Hiding the passage to critical areas is wise. Though it makes escaping harder.

That aside. The enemies didn’t seem well-prepared for anti-stealth attacks.

They didn’t have equipment or training to deal with invisible or perception-hindering enemies.

Though the situation was chaotic. I reloaded my gun and scanned the area. The central elevator was guarded by two robot dogs and security personnel.

Let’s see.

I rolled a grenade on the floor and aimed my gun at the enemies guarding the elevator. My musket spat fire.

Bang!

The enemies finally realized I was approaching. The grenade’s effect wasn’t great, but it successfully confused them.

First, the turret dogs.

I took out one robot dog with my gun, then rushed forward as fast as possible. Bullets ricocheted off my helmet and bulletproof shield, but they were no match for Overtech-enhanced, supernatural-grade armor.

Bang! Bang!

I tossed aside my empty musket, drew Niguras-5, and sliced the enemies now within sword range.

The second robot dog was destroyed.

I set off a smoke grenade and assessed the situation. No enemies around. I reloaded my gun and slung it on my back.

Let’s see what to do next.

First, the corpses lying on the floor.

Getting shot in the back of the head here is a no-go. I confirmed the kills on the fallen soldiers with my greatsword. Red blood stained the blade.

Now…

Taking the elevator controlled by enemies was too risky. I swung my sword, shattered the elevator door, and kicked the steel door open to enter the elevator shaft.

This was probably the fastest way.

Basement Level 4.

It was very similar in structure to the Director’s Office I commuted to every day at the Seoul Branch. I stared at the tightly sealed bunker door of the Director’s Office.

Niguras-5 pierced the steel door.

As the blood-forged sword glowed with dark energy, the steel plates forming the bunker door began to warp and crumble.

I kicked the bunker door.

Crash!

The heavy steel door collapsed.

Before entering the command center, let’s switch weapons. I sheathed my sword and swapped my weapon for a Foundation-Made Rifle.

I scanned the Basement Level 4 area. No signs of enemies fleeing. On the contrary. Urgent voices of several people came from the room.

The end of the situation was near.

Ignoring the bitter sense of victory, I entered the Copenhagen Branch’s command center with my gun leading the way. The command center was packed with people.

“Dr. Kim—”

I didn’t want to hear it. I emptied my magazine into the command center. When I lowered my gun, only a few corpses remained in the command center.

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