The longest chapter (Word-wise) I’ve translated thus far.
Chapter 280: Human Experimentation
“Ara-?” (Sadina)
The place I specified the fortress to move to was Sadina’s Secret Base.
Below, I see Sadina waving her hand at me.
“Hmm? Master, we’re getting off already?” (Firo)
“Yeah, the fuel efficiency of Flying Castle Mode is really bad, so we can’t fly for long periods of time.” (Naofumi)
I change it back to Laboritory mode. The Castle Plant extends its roots deep underground and begins recharging.
I’ll need to gather as much energy as I can.
“What’s up, Naofumi-chan? You made quite a grand entrance.” (Sadina)
“No, right now that’s Naofumi-chan.” (Sadina)
“She was a fake. She trampled upon my ideals.” (Naofumi)
I explain the events that had just transpired to Sadina.
And Sadina blinks rapidly in surprise.
“… Ara… That’s what…” (Sadina)
She nods with an indifferent expression.
“What sort of guardian are you? You can’t even tell the difference between the real thing and a fake.” (Naofumi)
“Yeah!” (Naofumi)
What a useless protector!
How stupid is she, for her not to notice she was guarding the wrong person.
“Master, what will you do from now on?” (Firo)
“Not yet!” (Naofumi)
Like I can invade when I don’t have a good grasp on my own forces yet.
That means there’s one thing I must do.
Within the Castle Plant, I must carry out greater modifications.
I order it to search for enemies.
I don’t need to consider the consequences. Just once is enough.
The Castle Plant’s internal lights flicker as the output raises higher and higher.
“Wha!?”
“W-what is this?”
Starting with the people in the Castle Plant, then the people of the world. Every lifeform on the planet felt, for a single moment, the feeling of some magic passing through their body. The entire world turned its head at the strange phenomena.
From the power released by the plant, I could sense the location of each and every one of my slaves.
“Good!” (Naofumi)
The person I want to find. There is only one of them in the world.
Of course, I don’t mean that fake. Where’s the real Raphtalia?
The stone slate in front of me displays the words, ‘Searching in progress.’ The system computes the large amount of data at a high speed.
… Search completed. Results…
“What?” (Naofumi)
I can’t do anything. I’m at a loss for words.
1 Match.
When I excitedly brought up the location, I saw that it was just the fake.
Absurd! My Raphtalia would never be killed off so easily.
There’s no way the system I made would lie to me.
“U…uu…” (Naofumi)
Extreme despair clouds my heart. It feels like I’m being strangled.
“Master, you’re crying. Are you alright?” (Firo)
“Naofumi-sama…? Please stop crying. If there’s something I can do to stop your tears, please tell me. I’ll do anything.” (Atlas)
“Atlas! Don’t say things like that. And this guy! He’s really crying! They’re real tears.” (Fohl)
How calm these people are.
If this is the truth, then for what purpose am I living in this world…!?
I can’t remember anything of the sort.
Was it when she was out training? Or after she returned?
That means the quickest way to find out would be to capture her and torture the information out of her.
… No, if Raphtalia’s not here, there’s no point in the first place.
Right.
But since I have no idea where or how she died, I have no way of finding her remains.
What do I do?
“Naofumi-chan, what happened? You were just crying, then you made a serious expression, and from then on, various emotions have been rolling around your face.” (Sadina)
“… If I recreate her through a Homunculus… No, that would just be making a fake like that other one.” (Naofumi)
Yeah, that fake is definitely a Homunculus in Raphtalia’s form.
A Homunculus is able to perfectly mimic a person, but for them to have prolonged life, they must go through constant maintenance. Even with that, it’s difficult for them to live very long.
I can’t call something like that living.
I’ll need to bring Raphtalia back in a different way.
Okay. Let’s make reviving Raphtalia the first step to my World Domination.
I also have to strengthen these people who have chosen to be my subordinates.
I immediately put my hand on the stone panel used for management.
An image from far away is displayed on the screen.
“Wah, Amazing!” (Firo)
“What is happening now, Naofumi-sama?” (Atlas)
It’s because Atlas cannot see.
She can’t see the image displayed.
“Fumu, that fake has taken the Heroes, and they’re on their way here aboard Gaelion.” (Naofumi)
At this rate, they’ll arrive here in no time.
As it is now, they should be able to drop it out of the sky easily.
“What should we do?” (Atlas)
“No problem. I expected this, so I already prepared countermeasures.” (Naofumi)
I input commands into the stone.
The Fake is flying straight at us aboard Gaelion.
Sound also gets through, so I can hear their conversation.
“What is that building!?”
“KYUA!”
“Yeah…”
Like that’s happening.
They rapidly burst out of the ocean. The relative of the Castle Plant, the Tower Plant.
“W-what are these!?”
Gaelion concentrates as he avoids the rising towers.
But it’s not like the towers are enough to drive them away. Gaelion and the Fake aren’t that soft.
Gaelion continues flying.
There’s no way that’s all I’ve got.
Of course, the center is the lab.
With the lab at the center, a powerful barrier is formed in the shape of a dome while the towers act as protective walls around the base.
“W-what!?” (Raphtalia)
Gaelion has no time to dodge. He rams right into the barrier and is stunned for a moment. The next instant, the barrier repels him, and he’s sent flying while doing revolutions in the air.
“KYAAAAAAAA-…” (Raphtalia)
“UWAAAAAAH-…” (Ren)
The fake and her Fake Heroes let out idiotic sounds as they’re sent flying away. The scene is quite humorous to my eyes.
“Now then, with this, those fakes won’t be able to approach for a while. Shall we not make preparations while they’re away?” (Naofumi)
“What could this be?” (Sadina)
Sadina asks while watching the screen.
Fumu, I guess I’ll have to offer an explanation.
“Ah, this is a long-term barrier connected to my shield. Its origin is based on my Shield Prison and Meteor Shield.” (Naofumi)
Relying on my own power, this much is nothing.
“… How convenient. Does it have any weaknesses?” (Sadina)
“Niichan, that means you want us to defend the towers, right?” (Kiel)
“… Naofumi-chan, won’t you teach us the order? I mean, we’ll have to be defending them, anyways.” (Sadina)
“This is number one, this one number two…” (Naofumi)
I carefully point out the tower’s numbers.
The enemy probably won’t figure it out, but if they do, we’ll need to defend them in that order.
“Ren-chan and Itsuki-chan are there too, right? Will they not be able to break the barrier?” (Sadina)
“Then we can’t get out either? That’s a little troubling.” (Sadina)
“No problem. It uses the same concept as my Meteor Shield. Those I give permission to can leave and enter freely. Defend the seas however you wish.” (Naofumi)
At the moment, it’s troubling to keep up. But there’s no way they’ll pierce my absolute defenses.
Trampling down the enemies before us will be my first step to World Domination.
But there’s something I need to do first.
“Wow, Amazing.” (Sadina)
“Master is ama~zing.” (Firo)
“I-is this amazing? I don’t really get what’s… Atlas, do you really plan on following that man? I can only see him as a complete villain at the moment.” (Fohl)
Everyone sings praise of me.
Of course I’m amazing. But having them say it makes me happy.
“Hahaha, praise me more!” (Naofumi)
“Right, that bitch’s owner definitely has a screw loose.”
“And wait, I think this is the first time I’m seeing him smile…”
“No matter how I look at it, he’s getting too full of himself.”
Motoyasu’s three talk amongst themselves.
Like I care.
“Niichan, Niichan! What will you do now?” (Kiel)
“OKAY!” (Everyone)
The slaves and monsters gather by my order.
Ah, right. Should I use the slave seal to finish off that girl who thought she could take over Raphtalia’s place?
I opened up her screen, but perhaps an error has occurred. It’s too staticy, and I can’t give the order.
There’s no choice. I’ll leave that fake’s disposal for later… wait.
I noticed something.
“Firo, you don’t have many followers.” (Naofumi)
Only about one-fifth of the Filo Rials followed.
This is way too few.
“Motoyasu, you too.” (Naofumi)
“I’ll leave it to you. Even so, with both Firo and Motoyasu here, why are there so few?” (Naofumi)
“Piyo-chan?” (Naofumi)
“Firo’s first follower.” (Firo)
Ah, follower number one. He had a name like that?
Even though he’s a faker himself, he chose to follow that fake. How foolish.
I’ll have to deal with him personally.
“Also, there’s also some needing medical care inside of the lab.” (Firo)
“Got it.”
“Wrong. In other rooms, you’ll find glowing stones. Just rest near them. They’ll automatically recover your magic.” (Naofumi)
“Got it, Nii-chan!” (Kiel)
Kiel leaves, and the other Monsters and Slaves follow.
We head to the medical division of the lab.
(TL: I think these are the people Naofumi got from the Brainwashing incident.)
“Uu…”
“Don’t come closer… go away…”
There are Demi-Human children undergoing treatment there.
Rat and the medical personnel should have been looking after their injuries, but… It doesn’t look like they’re doing well.
There are slaves curled up in the corners, and one slave is shaking with a vacant expression.
I know, because I’ve visited this room quite often.
Yggdrasil Medicine is all-purpose, but I’ve restricted the use as to prevent addiction.
But still, we’ve given them a bit, so they’re at least alive.
We’ll need to treat them a little at a time. Their mental health also needs to be cared for.
Luckily, they’ve begun trusting me and Rat.
“Firo doesn’t like this place… She really doesn’t…” (Firo)
Firo mutters to herself.
Yes, if you have a healthy mind, you wouldn’t want to spend a long time here.
“Every time, I feel a sad Chi from here. As if it would go out at any second.” (Atlas)
“…” (Fohl)
Fohl looks at the slaves in the room. He has a sad expression on his face, but he says nothing.
It’s because the Atlas of the past was in a similar state.
“Now then, all of you.” (Naofumi)
I raise my voice to the slaves undergoing treatment.
“KYAAAAAAAAA!”
One of them shouts out in response to my voice. It happens every time I come here. I’m used to it.
Various drugs have warped half of the slave’s body, and its eyes have grown abnormally large. Perhaps I should say it became like a monster.
It’s gradually recovering, but it’s overly wishful thinking to believe that my Shield’s power will grant a full recovery.
“Have you calmed down? Now then, do you want to follow me? Or do you want to rot here?” (Naofumi)
“…”
There’s no response. The slave stares blankly at the ceiling with eyes filled with madness.
I activate my Human Experimentation and Gene Manipulation powers, and use it on the slave before me.
From my Shield, a light blue pattern of formulas and letters fly out. They wrap around the slave.
Without any ways of escape, the slave shakes violently. It tries to let out a scream, but no sound escapes its lips.
Perhaps they believe that this is the time when they will be disposed of.
Eventually, the patterns shine brighter, and… The treatment finishes.
“Ah…”
The slave who had undergone treatment blinks as it stares at me.
“How do you feel?” (Naofumi)
“I see.” (Naofumi)
“Yeah, now you’re definitely back to normal. If you want, try running around outside. Firo, play with him a bit.” (Naofumi)
“Thank You!”
The slave lowers his head to me.
And accompanied by Firo, he goes outside and returns a little later.
“It’s true. Again, thank you very much.”
“What is it?”
“… What will you do if I become your enemy?”
The slave ruminates over my words again and again…
“Yes. You are the one who saved my life, so I wish to repay the favor as best as I can. What sort of person are you?”
“Naofumi-chan is the Hero of the Shield. The god of all Demi-Humans.” (Sadina)
“Eh!?”
Sadina cuts off my self-introduction. The slaves undergoing treatment are all surprised.
“I’ve heard out your will. Now then, on to the next patient. I’d like to get you guys out of this facility and put you to work already.” (Naofumi)
“U-understood.”
Like this, I treat all of the slaves in the facility and gain new subordinates.
I’ll overcome that with the power of the Shield some way or another.
If I have the time to grant them power, then there are plenty of things I have to do.