The Evil Scientist is Too Competent

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Vooooo-!

In that moment when the wave spread out, the Artificial Intelligence overseeing Evilus Android recognized a problem with the output. Both the drive motors and the engines responsible for the output were fine.

But for some reason, it couldn’t produce output beyond a certain threshold. Most of the heavily armed Evilus Androids, equipped with equipment too heavy for an average human, were rendered partially powerless just from that.

Of course, the combat AI installed in them didn’t become useless in this situation; it assessed what it could do and made the best choices.

[Disarming. Redirecting output.]

Shedding the thick gloves covering its body, it fully dedicated all output to firing its weapons. The enemy seemed to have no means to attack the Evilus Androids, as they offered no substantial response even after shedding their gloves, just as the AI predicted.

Lightened, the Evilus Androids immediately lifted their firearms and pulled the trigger. Bang-! Gunpowder erupted, fiercely pushing out dozens of grams of bullets.

The bullets flew and went thud- against Mr. Powerful’s body before falling down.

[…Camera anomaly?]

[No anomalies. Cross-check complete. Reduction of bullet kinetic energy confirmed.]

[─Potentiality of the enemy’s superpower raised.]

Mr. Powerful’s frail body wasn’t sturdy enough to block bullets. It was Mr. Raise’s power of normalization. It applied to everything. Light and sound. Bullets and machines were no exceptions.

Thus, the thrown bullets were weakened to the point where they would only sting a bit if they hit you but wouldn’t inflict any real damage.

“Alright. So, my turn now?”

Stepping forward in front of the stammering androids, Mr. Powerful planted himself. Of course, Mr. Powerful was also affected by Raise’s normalization, and being as skinny as a twig, his physical strength wouldn’t hold up to an average person’s… but who cares?

His name is Powerful. The name given to this seemingly frail man was neither a wish from his parents for him to get healthier nor a teasing mockery. It was simply determined by measuring power at the moment he exhibited his abilities.

He was, after all, the strongest of the four knights—Mr. Powerful.

“─I am a legion.”

Though Powerful said that, nothing really changed. However, he just shuffled over and grabbed the face of the Evilus Android that had shed its gloves.

And then he ripped it apart.

Seeing the android tear apart easily, Powerful clicked his tongue as if dissatisfied with the sensation and shook his hands clean.

“Tch- Machines have no joy in tearing them apart.”

“……We have no time to waste. Our objective is—.”

“I know, I know. But working under orders from some other guy is annoying, right?”

With a grin, Powerful began smashing every other Evilus Android as well. It was strange if you think about it, considering Raise’s ability only limited their output and didn’t lower the standards of those gloves.

He was also under Raise’s normalization, so how could he exert such force? The answer was simple. Mr. Powerful. His ability as the vanguard of war and knight was as straightforward as his name.

“Guess it’s time for some fun.”

His ability was Legion Forming. To explain in detail─ it was the ability to become stronger than the opponent, no matter what. Literally limitless. Whether the opponent had a force of 1 or 100, he would always gain that much additional strength.

Moreover, this ability had no limits. Whether there were 10, 100, or 1000 opponents, he would become as strong as the combined strength of all of them. At this time, Mr. Powerful was assessed as equal to the number of people Mr. Raise targeted.

In other words, at this very moment, Mr. Powerful could exert the strength of 136,000 ordinary people.

“─Let’s go.”

“……Hmm.”

This was the reason why they were known as the invincible combo of war and conquest.

It was also why two people, who had little interest in others, chose to be together.

* * *

“I’m feeling weak.”

“We’re doing our best to find a way. Just hold on a bit longer.”

Inside the laboratory. Looking at the executives of the Evil Organization who, for some reason, could no longer exhibit strength, I quickly fiddled with the computer. To figure out what kind of ability had caused them to become like this.

I already knew what kind of ability it was. It must be Mr. Raise’s ability, which had found us the day before. During that time, I heard from the mouths of the two about the abilities they possessed. …I never thought it would be this powerful, though.

‘Is it a restriction? Preventing output consciously?’

According to the combat records sent by the Evilus Android, it didn’t seem to be that either. Did the bullets bounce off as if they were just bouncing balls? In other words, this ability applied not only to living beings but also to inanimate objects.

It’s clear why it doesn’t apply to light or air or sound. Light lacks energy. At least, the energy of individual photons is nearly 0. Of course, there are lasers or lightsabers that gather tons of photons and shoot them out—but surprisingly, they can’t produce energy of a size above a certain threshold.

A power that prevents energy from exceeding a certain threshold in a certain range. It’s not some form of area deployment… I chuckled to myself as I conveyed the realization.

“……It seems immediate resolution is impossible.”

“Is that so— well, that’s good.”

“Huh? What do you mean by that—.”

But Galm stood up and stretched. Leading his enormous body, which towered over two meters with just the strength of an ordinary person, he began to leave the laboratory. Even walking seemed quite difficult, but there was no hesitation in his movements.

“Wait a minute! Mr. Galm! Where are you going?”

“Where do you think? I’ve got to stop those guys.”

“No, like I said, right now you—.”

“Can’t output anything beyond a level of an ordinary person? Hah— so what?”

Galm chuckled and extended his claws.

“I am Galm. Beast King Galm. In my life, I’ve never considered how strong or weak the enemy is while fighting.”

More than that—.

Galm said as he looked at me.

“You need someone to buy time, right? Scientist. I’ll buy you some time, so you think of a way to stop those guys.”

“……Mr. Galm.”

“And above all— I’m pretty good at unarmed combat. An ordinary person’s strength? So what? If I’m too late, I might end up defeating those guys myself.”

Beast King. One beast said that and left the laboratory, standing in front of the two knights. After a few exchanges of punches, Galm was left as a bloody mess, embedded in the building’s wall a few minutes later.

Seeing that, the other executives began to leave the laboratory one by one.

“Well, fine! I might not have a shield up, but I’m a specialist in bodyguarding, you know?”

“I’ll keep attacking without getting noticed, with my ability!”

“Leviton, you get in there and help out too.”

Vira, Six, and Levitan each stepped forward and positioned themselves in front of the knights.

Every time an executive fell victim, there was a moment of hesitation.

Executive-level members of the Evil Organization, equivalent to S-Class threats, crumbled far too easily.

Watching that scene, I turned my gaze to the last remaining Arima. Catching my eye, Arima shrugged her shoulders and gave me a bright smile.

“I prefer not to engage in a losing battle♠.”

“I see. Then please take care of this place. Ayle, you too.”

“S-Scientist? Where are you…!?”

Ayle, who had stood up in a panic following me leaving the laboratory, trembled nervously but cautiously followed behind me. Did she think I might have figured out a way to resolve this situation while the other executives were being taken out?

“M-Mr. Scientist?”

“Yeah? What is it?”

“You can… stop those people, right?”

Just as I expected, the question. After a moment of silence, I tilted my head and answered.

“Well— I don’t know.”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

“The basis of science is hypothesis and repeat proofs. My guess can’t always be right, can it? If it were, I’d be a scientist, not an all-powerful god.”

Hearing my words, Ayle started to shudder. Seeing her reaction made me chuckle. While I said that, I hadn’t really thought of any potential mistakes from the beginning. I, too, don’t engage in losing battles like Arima.

After getting off the elevator, I turned to see Mr. Powerful and Mr. Raise standing far away, looking dumbfounded as if they hadn’t expected me to show up.

“Uh… You didn’t run away?”

“Why would I?”

“I mean, you literally just showed up and didn’t use any abilities to prevent escape… if you’re standing right in front of me, shouldn’t I catch you?”

Upon hearing Powerful’s words, I realized this action wasn’t what they had intended. Well, being an ancient guardian created millions of years ago, someone must have given them a forced command.

While that could absolve them of their actions, it wouldn’t let them off the hook. Before catching me, they’d probably turned the whole city into a mess, and if I had escaped, the future I saw through precognition would have become reality.

I walked toward the two without saying a word. As I closed the distance, with just an arm’s reach away, Mr. Powerful, who had been displaying a troubled expression, stretched out his hand as if to grab my collar, resigned to his fate.

That hand— I lightly brushed it aside.

“Huh-?”

As a bewildered grunt escaped Powerful’s lips, my body moved to push him back against his chest. The essence of 4000-year-old Chinese martial arts was infused in that strike, sending Powerful flying away.

As I observed the rolling Powerful, Ayle and Raise stared wide-eyed in disbelief.

“M-Mr. Scientist! You can fight!?”

“No?”

“Then what is this…?”

“I’m wearing a suit.”

I stretched out the skintight suit hidden beneath my robe to show Ayle. It was a suit utilizing fourth-dimensional technology. It was advanced enough to be operated by an AI, allowing me to use pre-programmed martial arts.

As I proudly showed off the suit, at that moment, Powerful, who had been sent flying, stood up while brushing off the dust.

“What just happened? There’s no way Raise’s normalization wouldn’t work…”

“Right.”

“How did you do that?”

“Do I have an obligation to tell you?”

“Not really.”

However—.

Despite their abilities failing against me, the two didn’t retreat.

Like obsolete robots that could only follow pre-determined commands.

The two guardians silently stepped towards me.

 

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