Chapter 12

By late morning, nearing the afternoon, Adam made his way to the training grounds to supervise the volunteers who had stepped up to form a militia team for the shelter's defense.

He had no reason to doubt their loyalty—most had families living here, relying on the safety he had provided. Their determination to improve was genuine.

Thanks to the specialized helmets equipped with an automatic targeting system, aiming and shooting weren't major issues. The real problem lay elsewhere—not everyone was physically capable of handling the firearms he provided. Some suffered from malnutrition after months of scarce food, while others were simply too old.

Watching the T-Dolls act as drill instructors, leading the exercises with mechanical precision, Adam felt a sense of dissatisfaction.

If this is the standard of our militia, he mused, they wouldn't stand a chance against even a small group of Archangels without taking heavy casualties.

He considered deploying a dedicated team of T-Dolls to guard the shelter instead. But that was a temporary solution at best. If they relied on him too much, they would grow complacent. When a true crisis hit, they wouldn't be able to defend themselves—they would only look to him to save them again.

That wasn't what he wanted.

At his side, Alice—his ever-present companion—noticed the troubled look on his face and tilted her head in concern.

"Master, what's wrong?" she asked.

Adam glanced down at her, meeting her bright, sparkling eyes and the genuine worry in her expression. Almost instinctively, his hand reached out, resting atop her head before he gently ruffled her hair.

"It's nothing serious," he reassured her.

Still, his expression darkened as he continued.

"I'm just worried about the security of this shelter," Adam admitted. "I won't be here forever. They need to learn to fend for themselves, but at this rate, I don't know how to fix that prob—"

Crash!

Years of combat instinct kicked in. In a split second, Adam had already drawn his gun, aiming in the direction of the sudden noise—only to find himself staring at Kayoko.

She stood frozen, her eyes wide in shock as she stared back at him. The tray she had been carrying, once filled with drinks and snacks, now lay scattered across the ground. Realizing what had happened, her face turned bright red.

"Kayoko?" Adam lowered his weapon, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What's wrong?"

"Ah! It's… nothing! My hand just slipped! Yeah, my hand slipped! I'm sorry!" she stammered hastily, scrambling to pick everything up before dashing away in embarrassment.

Adam blinked, watching her retreating figure, utterly confused.

Just as he turned to Alice for some sort of explanation, he caught sight of her expression—a look of exasperation, as if she had seen this exact scenario play out too many times before.

Nearby, the militia trainees had also noticed the scene. Though momentarily distracted, they didn't get away with it—the T-Dolls, all embedded with Angeline's personality, immediately barked at them like strict drill instructors, ordering them to run ten more laps around the apartment complex as punishment.

Yet even as they ran, Adam caught their quiet murmurs—murmurs directed at Kayoko, spoken with… pity?

Still puzzled, Adam turned back to Alice, seeking an answer.

She sighed, shaking her head.

"In the past or present, Master is still Master… Still a clueless heartbreaker as always."

With a nod of sage-like wisdom, she reaffirmed her words to herself, as if resigning to an undeniable truth.

Adam could only scratch his head in confusion before shifting back to the previous topic, acting as if nothing significant had happened.

Meanwhile, Alice, offered her insight: consult the wise and all-knowing Angeline. With her superior intelligence and a Quantum Computer to process vast amounts of data, there was no problem she couldn't solve.

Although, Alice also felt some concern about Angeline since she is also a believer of simpler approaches like more firepower and more firepower. If a gun cannot kill the enemy, vaporise the entire planet. Good luck surviving the ensuing gravitational collapse and supernova.

After a brief consultation, Angeline provided two practical solutions to enhance the militia's combat effectiveness. The first was a tactical exoskeleton suit, while the second was transhuman enhancement through nanomachines.

The exoskeleton was the simpler and more cost-effective option, providing an immediate boost to physical performance. In contrast, the nanomachine transformation offered far more comprehensive benefits—not just enhanced strength and endurance, but improved health, longevity, and even Honkai resistance.

Adam didn't hesitate in his decision. He chose the exoskeleton.

It wasn't because he was unwilling to provide more or being stingy. His reasoning was purely practical. He had to consider the potential consequences—not just for his people, but for the broader world.

Angeline kept him well-informed of global affairs, including intelligence leaks and the top decision-makers of the Fire Moth, some of whom were actively seeking to locate and seize his technology. A few even viewed him as unworthy of possessing such advancements, believing they had the right to take it by force.

If he were to grant the survivors nanomachine augmentation, their fate would be sealed—hunted, captured, and dissected in a ruthless bid to reverse-engineer the technology. However, with exoskeleton suits, the situation changed. The suits could be removed, making them a less permanent and less dangerous prize for those who sought to exploit them.

In the end, Adam prioritized their overall survivability. It was a harsh truth, but one he couldn't ignore.

Upon making his decision, Adam contacted Angeline again to order the exoskeleton suits to be manufactured.

"As you wish, Master." Angeline agreed immediately without delay but her expression showed some hesitation before she added, "Although this will delay the production of the T-Dolls and TSFs."

After a moment of pondering, Adam replied.

"It didn't matter. The TSF's production can be delayed. A sufficiently armed T-Doll squad is enough to handle the threat of Honkai Beasts below the Honkai Emperor. Anything beyond that can be handled with Orbital Bombardments. The priory of TSF can be put behind others. For now, just focus on the production of the exoskeleton suits."

"Yes, Master. Everything will be ready along with the next batch of T-Dolls in two days." Angeline replied and Adam expressed his thanks before closing the communication.

Before Adam could celebrate his smooth progress, Alice was already jumping around in excitement about the next batch of T-Dolls.

"Master! Master! Can I get some new friends to form an echelon?" Alice asked with her big sparkly eyes staring at Adam with anticipation.

"Sure." Adam agreed easily while rubbing her head.

He didn't mind Alice taking a few T-Dolls since Alice still acts under his order. So, it didn't matter who led those T-Dolls.

———

Meanwhile, elsewhere.

"What do you mean all of them had left?" A man with his features obscured by the dark and dimly lit room stared down at his subordinates with his oddly gleaming red eyes like a ruby with an oppressive aura.

"E-Exactly as I said, sir! They all went missing a few days ago. I heard that there's someone setting up a shelter and providing supplies in the suburb area on the east side of the city and all the survivors flocked there." The subordinate replied in fear, hoping the information he provided could appease his superior.

"Shelter, you say?" The man mutters with curiosity. "Fire Moths? No, that's not possible. The Councillor had made a move to retract the Fire Moth's presence from the Far East." He quickly dismissed the idea before he thought of another. "The United Nations? No, those fools are too busy saving their own skins to squander their wealth and manpower with humanitarian aid. Then, who could it be?"

The man couldn't find any clue with his limited information and immediately looked back at his subordinate.

"You. Go investigate the person behind this shelter." He commanded.

"Y-Yes! I will go immediately." His subordinate replied before he left in a hurry.

The man looked at his subordinate leaving the room and only after he closed the door then he pulled out a satellite phone to make a quick call.

"Yes, it's me."

"No, there is still no substantial progress on the research. But you don't need to worry, with sufficient trial and error, the result will be achieved."

"Yes. But, I wanted to inquire about another matter. There is some disturbance here in Nagazora city that took away all my precious lab rats."

"Yes."

"I see. Then, I will await your good news, Mr Edward."

The man ended the call with a look of confusion since he couldn't get the answer he needed.

"Hmn, nevermind. The investigation will be completed sooner or later. My mission must continue!" He shrugged and went back to his previous activity with a renewed zeal.

———

In the evening, Adam was busy training to sharpen his combat skill against another T-Doll at the rooftop when Alice suddenly reached him through a transmission about a survivor reaching the apartment complex to seek refuge.

It wasn't much of an unusual occurrence as not all survivors reach out to Adam's call initially due to skepticism. That's partially the reason why he spent his time clearing out the neighborhood to create a safe passage for those survivors that were left behind.

This kind of trivial matter usually didn't need his personal input. For Alice to actually reach out to him of the matter means it was unusual or something is suspicious.

"Hmn?" Adam sensed something and immediately lifted his arm to block.

*Thud*

A powerful kick nearly hit his head but narrowly blocked by his timely guard.

"It's good that you didn't lose total focus during combat, Master. However, it's advisable not to be distracted with an opponent in front of you." The T-Doll said with a tone of both satisfaction and chastising.

Adam could see the smile brimming on the T-Doll's face although the upper part of her face was hidden by the visor which is part of her headpiece helmet.

Although Angeline said she copied part of her Neural Cloud to serve as cores for these T-Dolls, he couldn't help but think it was Angeline herself that controlled each of them although that didn't sound impossible knowing her capabilities.

Sensing the burning inquisitive gaze from Adam, the T-Doll couldn't help but blushed slightly and coughed a little before she said,

"How long are you going to stare at my exposed skirt, Master? Although I didn't mind, my inferior body isn't equipped with necessary parts to perform se— ouch!" She was interrupted when Adam suddenly pushed her leg away from his arm causing her to lose balance and fall.

Even after falling, she didn't stop her teasing, "My~ could it be you are shy, Master? Don't worry, even if I am not the original. I can be considered the clone of the original and it's nothing wrong to do 'it' with a clone of your legitimate wife."

Not entertaining her nonsense any further, Adam had already walked away and left to find Alice.

Only after he left did the flirty expression on the T-Doll vanished and replaced with a cold and analytic look that is similar to Angeline

"He is acting a little weird… Always deep in thoughts. Did that meddlesome System do something?" The T-Doll seems to be talking to someone inside her head.

"Well, I'll just continue my observation as usual." She sighed tiredly and returned to her task at hand.

—————

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