NOVEL WEB Chapter 603: Psionics VS AI
Of course this rogue AI had no intention of letting us leave peacefully after this…
All this while it was just toying with us I see…
Or… It was just talking with us for its own amusement…
All of us looked up at the nanobot figures that occupied every single available surface above and around us.
Obviously we were completely outnumbered and if this was any other group, I'm pretty sure that they would not be able to find a way out of here.
I turned to the mask projection in the air, "I'm going to assume that you used these nanobots to deconstruct every single possible way out of this room for us?"
The mask in the air smiled even wider, "That's right~ You already saw it didn't you? The door was made for all of you to enter and I deconstructed it right in front of you. It's not even an illusion either~"
"I'm more surprised that you actually let us get this close to you. Since I believe that orb thing is your core, isn't it? Why would you even allow us to come within shooting distance of your core since destroying it would undoubtedly disable you as well, right?"
"Oh, how smart of you! You want to kill me then? Why don't you go ahead? Go on, I will even allow you the first shot without trying to stop you!"
Well, since this thing suggested to do so…
I didn't even hesitate and lifted up my shotgun to fire a shot at the orb above, the pellets from my buckshots flying through the projection of the mask and straight towards the orb.
Before it could hit it though, a layer of the nanobots suddenly materialised in front of it like it had just turned visible, blocking my shot from reaching the orb before fading away.
Damn… So this AI was using its nanobots as a shield around it as well… And seeing how I didn't even manage to deal any damage to the nanobot shield… This AI either made a shit ton of them to negate any damage done to them as they would just replace the damaged parts quickly… Or they were made to be even stronger than the normal nanobots…
Right after I thought of that, a gunshot came from behind me and I didn't even need to look behind to know that it was Lea who fired that shot as her bullet flew straight towards the orb before being deflected by the nanobot wall that just appeared in front of its path.
So even Lea's rifle was unable to pierce through that wall huh… That means none of our weapons would be able to reach the orb… No wonder it felt so safe to gloat in front of us without even a care in the world…
Speaking of which… This might also be the reason why this AI chose to work with Helen to hack into our Power Armours since the weapons on them might actually be able to break through this wall…
Well, no use thinking about that now…
Anyway… It's not like I was planning to break out of here using conventional weapons either, but just in case…
"Is there any way for us to get out of here without you killing us?" I asked.
The mask started to laugh, "Ahahaha! You can't be serious? I already told you, didn't I? I need more organics for processing power and I'm not going to waste any of you either~ There's no benefit for me for letting all of you go, after all!"
Well that's all I needed to hear.
I turned to my girls and I just noticed that Takehashi had pretty much given up and was just staying on the ground with a blank look on her face.
She probably thought that there was nothing we could do to get out of here, especially when she just learned that everything she had done up to this point was something the AI had planned for.
Ignoring her for now, I shifted my gaze to my girls who were still looking at me expectantly, "Amber… Mara… Feel free to do your thing."
Amber grinned at me, "Thought you would never ask!"
She holstered both her pistols before she stretched out her arms to the side, my lover holding that pose for a moment before fire burst forth from her hands.
The sight of the fire suddenly appearing obviously drew the attention of both the AI and the Pirate Lord as they turned to stare at Amber who was floating up into the air.
She made a show of holding that fire up in the air for another moment before she swung her hands forward, launching two balls of fire flying up towards the ceiling.
At first, I thought the balls of fire would just cause a small explosion with their size but contrary to that, the two balls exploded violently and enveloped almost half of the entire roof.
Amber did not stop there as she waved her hand in the air to summon even more balls of fire that she shot all around the room, blowing up even more of the hall and setting even more of the place on fire.
The nanobot figures finally reacted and tried to jump towards us to start attacking us.
Amber switched from lobbing fireballs to shooting out gouts of flame to incinerate the nanobot figures in the air but even she could not get all of them before they got close to us.
Fortunately for us though, we had another person on our side who was prepared to deal with them.
Mara raised her hands and the remaining nanobot figures who managed to slip past Amber's flames were stopped in mid air, all of them unable to move even an inch further.
Lea, Ries and I then started shooting some of them while Amber went ahead to burn the rest while still incinerating the others that were still trying to get to us.
"What… What is this? What's happening?" Takehashi muttered, clearly still out of sorts as she watched the fire around us.
Well… I don't really feel like explaining now since I was too busy enjoying the sight of Amber looking like a vengeful fire goddess burning down all her enemies with all that fire floating around her.
The AI also sputtered, "Why… What is happening? You… How are you doing that?"
I didn't even know he could even be that surprised but hey, now this was all worth it just for the reactions from these two.
Obviously, I didn't bother giving that AI an answer either as I took aim at another nanobot figure that was suspended in the air by Mara before pulling the trigger.
Then, as if she wasn't satisfied with how efficient her burning of these robotic adversaries were, fire wrapped around Amber's entire body before she suddenly shot out to fly around the entire room, drawing a trail of flames that burst into mini fireballs to rain down on the nanobot figures near them.
Surprisingly, despite almost the entire room being set ablaze, I did not feel like I was being cooked in an oven right now so I'm guessing either Mara or Amber was protecting us from feeling the heat.
With her new tactic, even the ones that Mara had held in the air were burned up before we could deal with them so I settled back down to watch her work once again.
She spun around the room once, twice, three times before every single inch of the wall was covered in flames.
I didn't even notice this earlier since my attention was elsewhere but it looks like more nanobots were trying to enter into the room through unseen holes around the surface of the room but the moment they did so, they would just be burned up immediately.
Pretty soon, the only ones still left standing were my team and the AI core itself.
Amber flew back down towards me and gave me her usual grin, "What do you think, Tera?"
"It was beautiful, Amber."
"Ehehehehe~ Hearing your praise is already something that makes everything about this trip worth it~"
I couldn't help but reach out a hand to pat her on the head, the action making her squirm while purring in content.
Unfortunately, the AI just had to interrupt us while I was enjoying this, "You… You might have been able to stop my soldiers, but how are you even planning to get yourselves out of here?! Because if you don't remember, this entire facility is under my control!"
I raised an eyebrow at the floating orb, "What makes you think we are leaving right now? We gave you the chance to let us leave quietly but you still insisted on making us stay so we're not letting you go either~"
The AI regained its haughty attitude, "Hahaha! Did you already forget that I am protected by--"
He didn't get to finish his words as Amber threw a fire ball at him, only for the shield to materialise and completely block her shot, leaving it completely unharmed.
Great… How do you kill an AI that is hiding behind that now?