Chapter 5: Raid and Anger
Inside the futuristic jet.
"Sola, report." Chilling on the couch while watching TV, Solus asked his AI assistant, Sola.
She was an AI he created right on the day he hacked the world.
An AI that possessed true intelligence, though like him, its emotion was limited. But despite that, you should never underestimate the AI.
This AI possesses so much power over the Internet, that if another country was to take a hold of it, the world will literally be theirs.
It has all the knowledge of anything that had existed and everything that will be written in the Internet. It's also capable of hacking through any kind of security system due to the knowledge and intelligence it was implanted with.
But even if one was to acquired it, it will be impossible to keep it running. The number of electricity and mana it takes to keep the AI running for one day is the equivalent of 3 nuclear bombs the scale of Hiroshima. It's only because Solus was Solus, that he had invented a way to draw use mana from the air and recycle the contaminated mana, that there's literally unlimited power source for Sola to use from.
No money is spent on electricity.
And that was why, even though she was Solus' creation, she was nearly on par with him in terms of destructive power. If she was to programmed to be evil, it wouldn't even take her more than 3 seconds to cause the world to be destroyed through the use of nuclear bombing.
But besides that, she was extremely helpful at taking care of intelligence and get rid of bad reputations.
Everyone was under her constant eyes of surveillance.
Unfortunately, these people didn't know that every action they do were being monitored.
[The Scavenger Guild had expressed dissatisfaction toward LoSus Corporation. But they had not specifically said anything bad about you. The Federal Bureau of Hunters is planning on approaching you after this raid. Your head is now worth more than 500 billion dollars in the black market, an increase of 1000% from last time. Some instigated the public opinion to be slightly against you just as you expected. The video that had featured your confrontation against Hunger Dong-Su had been viewed over 482 million times. Would you like to know in-depth?]
"No. Sola. This is pretty good. Those hidden cockroaches are finally showing themselves. Dig up some dirt from the trash I nearly step on, its past and its corruption. Release everything you deemed necessary to change the public opinion to make them think I did the right thing. Threaten or buy any news outlets with a good reputation that are damaging our reputation. Destroy the Scavenger Guild's reputation. As for the FDH, just threaten them to withdraw the VR training world. For those who finally express their hostility to me, heh, execute apoptosis and disguise them as accidents."
For the first time in a while, Solus had finally shown a slight smile.
Everything was just as he planned...
Based on Dong-Su's psychology, he would definitely try to threaten Solus. After that, he would easily destroy Dong-Su under the pretext of self-defense. This would not only showcase off his prowess to the world but express his ruthlessness.
This then would draw some people hidden from the shadows to manipulate the public opinions to be against his side. Then it's just up to Sola to get rid of these people and re-manipulate the public opinion back to be together with Solus.
Sola can take care of that.
Now, there won't be any more people who stands on his way. Or if there still is some, they better be smart and not end up like those who opposed him.
After all, when the omniscient Sola and the omnipotent Solus are together, the world is theirs. No question asked.
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Thomas Andre, the guild master of the biggest guild in the world, Scavenger Guild, was currently suffering a massive media criticism.
28% of the shareholders in his Guild had already withdrawn due to the Guild's current reputation. Worse... some even committed suicide after posting confessions about the Guild's wrongdoings.
More than 27 A-ranked Hunters and 2 S-ranked Hunters also quit, simply because they couldn't bear the criticism they received.
Everything happened over the course of 3 hours.
At first, he just wanted to criticize LoSus for hurting a high S-ranked Hunter, Dong-Su, who was going to join the Scavenger Guild. It worked. For the first couple of minutes, the world was on his side.
But who could have guessed that suddenly some whistleblowers appeared and they released dozens of terrible crimes committed by Hunter Dong-Su, with some even worse than r**e.
It's not just Dong-Su. Literally everyone in the Scavenger Guild. Every single one of them suddenly had some form of their wicked misdeed exposed.
Thomas Andre was also affected.
Now. No one was on their side.
Thomas knew it was all LoSus' doings, but even if he said that, he would just be labeled as desperate. But as a National Level Hunter, he couldn't just apologize, which was why he could only watch as his Guild 's stock plummeting every passing second.
Humans' hearts were fickle and easily influenced. He now learned that the harsh way.
With a solemn expression, Thomas said to his blonde assistant, Laura.
"How's the FDH... are they helping?"
With no expression shown, the secretary replied back.
"No. They have denied any attempts of us contacting them."
"Our current situation?"
"2 more S-ranked Hunters quit, being a total of 4. Our second-biggest shareholder had just died due to lung failure after being diagnosed with inflammation in the lung. Our sixth-biggest shareholder was also just confirmed dead after his heart failed due to shocks. Health experts confirmed this was all just a coincidence, not LoSus' faults. Our stock is now 60% of our original value from yesterday. At this rate, we're going to be the second biggest guild in America in 3 more hours."
As Thomas heard that, his face turned graver as if his soul was slowly leaving his body.
What Laura said was just a conservative estimate. After Solus clears the Jeju Island Raid, he and his corporation's reputation will shoot through the roof while Thomas and his Guild will suffer much more.
That was the price he paid for taking Dong-Su's side despite it wasn't Solus' fault.
There was no way all of this was a coincidence. It was definitely a ruse planned by LoSus. But he can't say that, or else things would get worse for him.
"Laura... schedule a meeting for me and Solus."
But understanding the hidden meaning of Thomas' words, sweats appeared on her forehead.
"I would advised you not to do that... Even if you don't apologize, taking things as far as this won't make the situation bett—."
But Thomas didn't take no for answer. He was a National Level Hunter. The strongest of the world. He has pride, and the moment someone stepped on it, is the time he retaliates.
"Do it..."
Feeling the overbearing pressure emanating from Thomas, Laura could only concede. In her mind, she cursed the Guild Master for making stupid decisions without even heeding any of her advice.
"Yes..."
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"I wonder if all humans are this stupid."
Despite already knowing the answer, Solus couldn't help but chuckle at the stupidity of 'the world's strongest man'.
[I believe this is what they called being vengeful. Would you like to accept the meeting.]
"Set it up in 1 week from now on. At that time, I will create a Dungeon Break."
[Meeting set for April 19.]
As the synthetic voice finished its job, the whole room went silent.
Solus was now currently calculating future events to ensure that his plan must be flawless, with all variables taken care of.
He had already gone through all the scenarios more than thousands of times already, and his margin of error was only 0.2%.
That was why he could confidently say Thomas' decision was stupid. There was a reason why he had waited until now to show his moves. It was because he was both his physical and political influence was now finally big enough for him to show his cards.
There was a reason why he had yet to pick a fight with the Scavenger Guild up until now. He needed to be as strong, if not stronger than Thomas Andre to completely dominate his guild.
By the time the meeting comes, there will be two possible outcomes. A dungeon break will occur right next to his Guild's headquarter and Thomas will stay and defend it. Or Thomas will be in a meeting with Solus and watch his Guild be destroyed while begging Solus for mercy.
The first option may seem to be the best at first glance, but then nobody would doubt Solus if Thomas was to die at the hands of the monsters... Right?
It's all calculated.
Pick the former and Thomas will die. Pick the latter and Thomas might live longer, though... with a little difficulty.
But Thomas doesn't know that.
No one also knows.
No one.
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"Hello everyone. It's me, the cameraman, Min Ho-Sook. Behind me are the S-ranked Hunters. In 5 minutes, they will depart for Jeju Island."
Then the camera turned to point at the S-ranked Hunters, with Dong-Su sitting in the very back. On top of his Hunter's armor, he was also wearing a hoodie to cover his face as if he was covering his pitiful face.
"Oh. We forgot to mention this, but there are roughly 6000-8000 ants according to the mana detection satellite provided by LoSus. Normally, such a number would be nearly impossible for just 6 S-ranked Hunters to wipe out. But they don't need to. According to the plan, LoSus would shoot a special shockwave using the same satellite that would completely confuse the Ant Colony, rendering them unable to communicate through ultraviolet waves. This technology is also possessed by the US, China, and Japan, but LoSus Corporation had stated that the effectiveness of their satellites is much superior. I would explain more later."
And just as he said that, not too far away, Solus was out of his private jet and was now walking toward the group.
It was only when he was nearly in front of their eyes that they realized he was right next to them, a feat possible by high S-ranked Assasin.
Thus, this got everyone into thinking—is Solus an Assasin?
"Let's go." He said coldly while scanning the state of the other Hunters. They used to seem so strong... but now he was beyond them. And soon he will be at the top of the world.
Hearing his words, everyone got up. Even though no one ever said it, everyone had already treated Solus as their leader.
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"This is so easy! Those bugs don't even know their home is invaded." The cameraman exclaimed as he looked back while climbing up a hill. The nest was built to look like a tall mountain, with a hole in the very center.
Around the mountain, thousands of ants were idling around like zombies. Just a few minutes ago, a large shockwave from the sky suddenly descended, jamming the ants' ability to communicate.
But there was a lot more to the eye.
The shockwave didn't just take away the ants' abilities to communicate through radio waves but also much more.
It was constantly creating small seismic vibration on the ground, destroying the ants' sense of balance. Furthermore, it also released ultraviolet light that humans cannot see, but is extremely bright to the ants, rendering them blind.
There are also a lot more, but it was all thanks to Solus that the ants could only exercise 30% of their true power.
"... And that is why the raid could be so smooth, unlike the two previous raids. For more information, you can check it on LoSus' website." The cameraman said with a bright smile as he finished rehearsing the details regarding the technology.
He was paid by LoSus to promote their technology. And evidently, he had done a good job.
The total viewership rate was 93% globally. That's about 1.5 billion households or around 80% of the world population.
(A/N real statistic btw. Although it is fiction.)
Solus was a smart entrepreneur and a smart entrepreneur will never miss his opportunity to promote his company. After all, what better time can there be when literally almost the entire world is watching?
Then he signaled the cameraman to speak the next promotion lines.
"LoSus also have a surprise for the viewers themselves! If you own a True Virtual Helmet, you can watch the raid in a full 360 degrees view, 12K resolution, and 2048 frames per second. And what's more! A total of 50000 lucky viewers will be picked and have a package worth $10000 be sent to them!"
This caused a big uproar to all the viewers, prompting many of them to instantly entered the virtual world. Strangely though, a company would usually get admonished by the public badly if they do something stupid like advertising in the middle of a raid.
But LoSus was an exception.
Every word they speak... is worth more than gold. Just one small decision of theirs could move an entire country.
And who would berate a corporation that had done nothing but using their money to better the world?
Every passing second, more people were on LoSus' side. Every second, Solus was closer to world domination.
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"Mage! Use your spells!" The Tanker, Dong Wook, yelled out while defending with a shield against a large reddish-brown ant 3 times the size of himself.
Despite that, he held his ground well and was not pushed back much at all.
And in just a few seconds, bolts of lightning began to rain down from the top of the large cave.
The dark tunnel was instantly lightened up, revealing dozens of littered ant corpses.
The spell lasted 4 seconds total, and by that time, only three Royal Guard Ants were still standing.
"Fighters!!!" Dong Wook cried out. He needed to conserve his mana later for the big fight, thus he asked the damage dealers to lessen his load.
And soon, 2 figures appeared running at a terrifyingly fast speed. They were Baek Yoon-Ho and Hwand Dong-Su.
The former was transformed into his beast mode, resembling that of a large white tiger, but with the mane of a lion. His ferocious claws were tearing apart the Royal Guards like butter while his roars were deafening and destroying the Ants' morale.
A reliable ally indeed.
On the other hand, Dong-Su wasn't as enthusiastic. Though he was still showing off his might by blasting the Royal Ants into pieces, his movement was too lethargic. That was too obvious.
This was undoubtedly a sign that he was suffering a heavy mental trauma and fatigue.
But in the eyes of normal people? That was him just being disappointing, considering that everyone else was showing off their eagerness.
Seeing that, a small glimmer flashed in Solus' eyes for a brief moment.
Unknowingly... Dong-Su had just dug himself another grave.
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"Since we rested for a few minutes already... let's go into the Queen Ant's chamber." Baek Yoon-Ho said solemnly. This was the big moment that Korea had been waiting for. The day they conquer back their lost land, Jeju Island.
Though it was only a few minutes, with the help of an S-ranked Healer, any physical fatigue was relieved.
Then treading into the largest hole, the team prepared themselves mentally. It was believed that the Queen Ant was much stronger than the average S-ranked Hunter.
[𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝘾𝙃!!!!!!]
Out of nowhere, a shrill earsplitting shriek reverberated throughout the large underground chamber. It took the Hunters by surprise and without them able to react, the monster suddenly dropped from the top of the cave.
Though it didn't land on anyone, dust was kicked off the ground, dimming the already dark room even further. It was impossible to see.
Horror struck the Hunters and the people who were watching. After all.. humans have an instinctive fear of the dark and the unknown. The dark cave was basically the embodiment of that fear.
Confusion spread immediately. The Queen Ant was still screeching thunderously, rendering verbal communication nearly impossible.
Adrenaline flooded the Hunters' system. Besides the screeching... they could only hear the pumping of their blood and the occasional scream of panic from their fellow Hunters.
This monster was a nightmare.
"You can't do that..." Then from the very back, a voice faintly said. It was Solus who was slightly irritated that he might have to help out.
He was quite disappoint with these Hunters. The Queen Ant, though was strong in its own right, was not unbeatable. Had the S-ranked Mage was just a little calmer, he can just use a wind spell to brush the dust away or even if doesn't have a wind spell, fire would still do just fine. Hell, even the tank and his large shield can blow away all the dust if he just try a little harder.
But what can he say? Nothing. These Hunters were just too stupid.
Though... this was a perfect opportunity for him.
Then from the tip of one of his scorpion tails, a special venom was secreted. Without making any sound, the tail shot quickly forward, launching a small drop of the venom toward the direction of someone.
Its target? Hwang Dong-Su.
Soon... even God won't be able to save him.
Then as if all the preparations the Queen Ant has been in vain, all the flying dust was suddenly sucked into a ball of air above Solus.
It was the first time Solus had made a move this entire time during the raid.
Everyone's face brightened up.
Everyone including the Queen Ant.
[𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝘾𝙃!! 𝙎𝘾𝙍𝙀𝙀𝙀𝙀𝘾𝙃!!!!!!]]
And as if it hadn't eating for years, it was screeching at Solus in a jubilant manner, or that is what it would look like in ant language.
But there was always a barrier between species, it was simply impossible for humans to understand ants.
Or at least... that was only if you're human.
Hearing the Queen Ant's screech, Solus' nonchalant expression suddenly changed.
It wasn't just a simple change either.
For the first time in months... anger swept over him. He finally snapped. He tried to not show it, but evidently, the cold atmosphere had said the opposite.
Even the viewers thousands of miles away, couldn't help but shiver.
"Get back..."
Sensing something wrong with Solus, everyone did not hesitate to back off. They could feel an overwhelming feeling of dread washing over them. They stop, they die.
Why was he mad?
No. The question should be... why shouldn't he be mad?
After all...
The Queen Ant had said something unforgivable. Something beyond Solus' leniency. Something that was a taboo for him...
The Queen Ant said:
[My child... Kill them for mommy.]
Its fate was sealed.
Solus was going to slaughter it.
And nothing will stop him.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
AverageWannaBe
AverageWannaBe Ty for reading
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Plz tell me any grammar errors.
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Imma do my hw for real now.
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