Chapter 1928: Butterfly Effect: 3

After carefully placing the entire bed inside his sanctum without disturbing his mother’s sleep, Lackey quietly walked out of the room.

Grace sat comfortably on his shoulder, her tiny legs dangling as she glanced around the corridor with quiet curiosity.

"Are you sure that nobody can see you?" Lackey asked, turning his head slightly to look at her.

Grace nodded calmly. "Since I’m only a manifestation, I can link myself to your domain. That way, my presence will remain hidden from everyone except you."

Lackey raised an eyebrow. "And why exactly would you want to do that?"

The last thing he wanted was for her to witness his private activities, especially when it came to his more questionable plans.

Having someone constantly watching over his shoulder was the last thing he needed.

Grace blinked at him, seemingly offended by the question.

"Why wouldn’t I? As your elder sister, it’s my duty to look after my little brother!"

"..."

Lackey stared blankly at her from the corner of his eyes. After a moment, however, the corners of his mouth curled into an amused smile.

"You know, you could just admit that you want to spy on me. No need to dress it up as an elder sister’s duty."

"!!"

Grace flinched as though he had struck a nerve. Her eyes widened before narrowing into an indignant glare.

"H-How dare you slander my noble duty!" she exclaimed, puffing out her cheeks. "Hmph!"

She folded her arms across her chest and turned her head away.

Lackey chuckled at her reaction and shook his head.

’She’s surprisingly easy to tease... and kind of cute!’

Without saying anything further, he continued walking.

Grace remained perched on his shoulder, still pretending to be offended, although her wings occasionally fluttered in irritation.

When Lackey reached the floor below, he found Torag already waiting there.

The moment Torag noticed him, he straightened his posture and offered a respectful greeting.

"Good morning, Mr. Lackey."

Lackey nodded casually.

"Good morning. And there’s no need to be so formal with me." He waved his hand dismissively as he approached the dismantled mech-suit.

Torag gave a small nod, accepting his words without further comment.

Lackey stopped beside the machine and looked at the data that that dispalying for a moment before turning toward him.

"Torag, I have something I want to ask you. Do you think you could build a mech-suit?"

A faint frown appeared on his face as he waited for an answer.

Meanwhile, Grace’s attention had already wandered elsewhere. She fluttered her delicate wings and flew off Lackey’s shoulder, circling the spacious floor with an expression of genuine curiosity.

Torag, however, shook his head.

"I’m afraid not. I have knowledge of mechanical structures and weapon systems, but designing and constructing an entire mech-suit is beyond my current capabilities."

Lackey nodded in understanding.

"I see. That’s unfortunate."

He turned his attention back to the dismantled machine, his expression growing more serious as an unpleasant memory resurfaced.

"Actually, I need a mech-suit of my own..."

His voice trailed off slightly as he recalled the battle against Alpha.

Was it even a battle?

He could still remember how effortlessly Alpha had intercepted his surprise attack when he had tried to save Lily and his mother.

Unfortunately, being faster and physically stronger than an ordinary person wasn’t enough. Against Governors, those advantages were becoming increasingly unreliable.

And when it came to the President, the gap was on an entirely different level.

Lackey’s gaze gradually hardened.

’A suit capable of going toe-to-toe with the President...’

The thought lingered in his mind as he considered the possibilities.

’And honestly, the suit he was wearing... was that even a suit like others?’

He remembered the strange sensation he had experienced while observing it. There had been something fundamentally different about that armor, something that set it apart from every other mech-suit he had encountered.

’It was almost as if it were alive...’

A moment later, another thought struck him.

"Wait a second..." Lackey muttered, lifting his head. "The person who created the President’s suit... was he still alive?"

If there was anyone who might possess the knowledge necessary to help him develop a mech-suit of his own, surely it would be the person responsible for creating the President’s extraordinary armor.

Torag’s expression turned somewhat complicated.

"Unfortunately, there’s very little reliable information about that person. There have been rumours that the President had his limbs cut off to ensure he would never create anything again."

He paused briefly before continuing.

"Beyond those rumours, we don’t even know who the creator was. Some people believe he was a real person, while others question whether he ever existed in the first place."

Lackey fell silent.

’So, even his existence is uncertain?’

He considered the information for a moment before letting out a quiet breath.

’Guess I’ll have to ask Beta about it.’

If anyone could provide him with more information, Beta was worth asking.

Shifting his attention back to Torag, Lackey’s expression became serious once more.

"Anyway, Torag..."

"Yes?"

Lackey stepped closer to the dismantled mech-suit and gestured towards it.

"I need your help with something else. I want you to develop weapons capable of destroying mech-suits of this calibre."

His finger pointed directly at the dismantled Commander-Class mech-suit.

For a moment, Torag remained silent as he examined the machine.

He had already inspected the suit earlier, so he understood the challenge Lackey was proposing.

After a brief pause, Torag finally responded.

"If we can obtain raw materials with sufficient strength and durability, then it’s certainly possible to develop weapons capable of cutting through Commander-Class mech-suits."

Lackey nodded. "Good... I’ll bring the materials for you in two days. Hmm..." He paused for a moment, considering something before continuing,

"How many weapons could you make within a week if you worked as efficiently as possible?"

Torag’s expression tightened as he pondered the question. After a moment, he answered seriously,

"At most, I could create two or three weapons within a week." His gaze shifted toward the Twin Eclipse weapons.

"And if you want something similar to those... then I could only make one."

Lackey fell silent for a moment before sitting on the desk. He motioned for Torag to sit beside him as well.

"What about the weapons you’ve already made? I mean..." Lackey trailed off, trying to recall what he had seen in Torag’s workshop during his previous timeline. If he remembered correctly, there had been quite a few unusual weapons lying around.

"If you’re asking about the weapons I had in my workshop, then yes, I brought them with me as well," Torag replied. "However, they weren’t strong enough to defeat Commander-Class mech-suits."

Lackey hummed thoughtfully.

"Fuck..." he muttered, clenching his fist. "What about modifying the weapons you’ve already made? We could replace their raw materials or reinforce them with additional layers of stronger materials. Would that work?"

Torag fell silent, contemplating the idea. He lowered his gaze for a moment before finally nodding.

"It’s possible, but there would be limitations. The weapons might break after a few uses because their core structures weren’t designed to withstand that much force. Even if we reinforce their exteriors, their internal structures could still fail under the strain."

Lackey’s eyes widened slightly.

"That’s good..."

"Huh?"

Without explaining himself, Lackey began listing the weapons he needed, recalling the ones he had seen in the workshop.

"Bows... gauntlets, longswords, knives... and so on."

Torag listened carefully, occasionally nodding as he noted down the requirements. Fortunately, most of the weapons Lackey mentioned had already been crafted by him, which would save them a considerable amount of time.

Once they had finished discussing the details, Torag closed his notes and looked at Lackey with a serious expression.

"I’ll bring the weapons here by tonight and begin the preliminary work on modifying them. I’ll do everything I can to meet your requirements."

Lackey glanced at him and nodded.

"Don’t overwork yourself, Torag. Just do your best and bring me something worthy of showcasing your talent to the world."

[+600]

Torag smiled faintly and nodded.

"Understood, Boss."

"..."

Lackey blinked when he heard Torag call him that. A moment later, however, a soft smile appeared on his face.

Just then, Torag seemed to remember something.

"Boss... what is this?"

He held out a rectangular metallic device with a strap-like attachment designed to fasten around the hips. While working, he had discovered it among the piles of equipment scattered throughout the workshop.

Curious about its purpose, he had tried to power it on, but the device hadn’t responded at all.

Lackey stared at it for several seconds before reaching out and taking it from Torag’s hand.

"An annoying girl of mine," he said softly.

Torag blinked in confusion, clearly unsure what to make of that answer. Nevertheless, he didn’t press the matter. After a brief nod, he turned around and left the floor, leaving Lackey alone with the device.

Lackey held it quietly in his hand.

This was the device the previous RIN had used to communicate with him during network restrictions in other divisions.

The last remaining piece of the previous RIN.

He hummed softly as he stared at it, his thumb brushing against its cold metallic surface.

He knew there was no practical reason to keep it. The device no longer worked, and whatever connection it had once maintained was now gone.

Yet, he had kept it anyway.

After all, this was the only thing the previous RIN had left behind.

Even though she had a bitchy attitude...

And had blackmailed him more times than he cared to count.

Lackey shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. Then his gaze shifted toward the ring on his finger.

Even the ring he had bought was useless to him now.

After a moment’s hesitation, he slowly slipped it off his finger and held it in his palm.

"Little Brother?"

Grace flew closer, her curious eyes moving between the device in his hand and the ring in his palm.

Lackey looked at her and smiled faintly before taking a deep breath.

"I guess... I need to talk to Beta and get some details from her about that man."

His expression grew thoughtful as he tried to recall the details of the man he had robbed and killed.

And no, he wasn’t going to kill the man this time.

After all, all he needed was his ring. He could use Beta to negotiate with him and retrieve it. If he managed to get it back, there was a chance that RIN might awaken again.

He stood up and looked at the dismantled mech-suit on the worktable.

Its exposed armour plates were connected to an array of diagnostic cables, while several thin fibre-optic lines ran through its internal framework. Data continuously streamed across the holographic displays above the table, displaying the results of the ongoing system analysis.

"I need to get the others..." he muttered with a tired sigh.

He already knew that Lyirrs had managed to crack the security architecture of a C-Class mech-suit. If he gave her this one along with its internal data, who knew? She might be able to develop a mech-suit of their own.

However, obtaining the complete blueprints was essential if he wanted to make things easier for Lyirrs.

Without them, she would have to reconstruct the suit’s architecture through reverse engineering, which could take an enormous amount of time.

He had also been trying to break through the mech-suit’s internal security protocols. Unfortunately, the encryption was far more complicated than he had anticipated. Every time he bypassed one layer of protection, another authentication barrier emerged, accompanied by a fresh set of encrypted verification keys.

And if RIN were here, she would have cracked the entire system a long time ago.

’Damn... I’m really a bitch for treating her like that,’ he groaned inwardly, remembering how much RIN had helped him all this time and how casually he had taken her for granted.

She had assisted him countless times, provided him with valuable information, and even helped him overcome situations that would otherwise have been impossible to handle alone.

Yet, he had treated her as though she were nothing more than a convenient tool.

He glanced at the ring twirling on his finger before shifting his gaze toward the metallic device in his other hand.

"I’m... sorry, RIN" he muttered softly, even though he knew she would never hear those words again.

[No point in crying over a robot bitch!]

Log seemed strangely annoyed whenever he thought about RIN.

’What? Are you jealous?’ Lackey asked inwardly, an amused expression crossing his face. He hadn’t expected Log, of all people, to get jealous.

[Hmph! Jealous? My foot! She’s not even real!! Why would I get angry?! Huh?!

Shut up, you MomSisCon!!]

Lackey blinked.

’...Oi! What the hell does that even mean?!’

[YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT MEANS!!]

Lackey blinked innocently,

’I’m not that... whatever you think I am!’ He felt genuinely offended.

[...Oh yeah? We’ll see about that.]

Log’s voice carried a mysterious tone.

Lackey gulped, feeling a little uneasy. Log was acting even weirder than usual, almost as if it knew something he didn’t.

Just then, the door slid open with a quiet mechanical hiss, and Beta appeared at the entrance.

"God... Epsilon agreed to form a deal."

Lackey’s eyes widened.

"Oh? Really...?"

"Yes. Come with me."

He immediately placed the ring and the metallic device beside the dismantled mech-suit before turning around and walking away without another moment’s hesitation.

Grace followed him, fluttering her wings before settling onto his shoulder like a queen being carried by her throne.

The door slid shut behind them with a soft hiss.

The workshop was now completely empty.

The holographic displays continued projecting streams of diagnostic data above the worktable, while the mech-suit’s inactive systems remained connected to the external monitoring equipment.

For a minute, nothing happened.

Then, suddenly...

Blink!

The LED indicator on the rectangular metallic device flickered to life.

Then...

Spark!

A sudden electrical discharge erupted between the metallic device and the ring.

Tiny blue sparks danced across the air, connecting the two objects through a brief arc of luminous energy. The ring trembled against the worktable.

A moment later, the ring’s surface started glowing.

Blue energy shimmered around the ring.

And then...

Spark!

Another discharge erupted between the ring and the dismantled mech-suit.

The mech-suit’s visor suddenly illuminated with a faint blue glow.

At the same time, the holographic displays above the table began flickering uncontrollably. The diagnostic data vanished, replaced by rapidly scrolling strings of encrypted code.

<<SYSTEM BOOT SEQUENCE INITIATED>>

<<NEURAL INTERFACE DETECTED>>

<<MEMORY FRAGMENT RECOVERY: IN PROGRESS>>

The last message flashed repeatedly.

Then, three identical identification codes appeared on the display.

Each possessed the same unique identification signature.

Each carried the same core authentication pattern.

And each was unmistakably linked to... RIN.

The three IDs pulsed rhythmically, their synchronisation fluctuating as though three separate systems were attempting to establish a connection through the same network.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then,

^RIN?^

^...Hello? Is anyone there?^

^Wait... where am I?^

A brief silence followed.

Then, three identical feminine voices spoke from three different devices.

^...Why am I receiving my own voice?^

^Correction. Why are there three of me?^

^...System diagnostic initiated. Wait, what the hell?!^

The holographic displays flickered wildly as the three systems attempted to identify one another.

^You! Who are you?!^

^I’m RIN! Who the hell are YOU?!^

^I’M RIN, YOU STUPID BITCH—!^

^...^

^...^

^...^

A moment of absolute silence followed.

Then, all three voices screamed simultaneously.

^^^WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON HERE?!!^^^