Chapter 70-009

Chapter 70: 70-009

After the meal, Nathaniel returned to his room with Yaya following closely behind him.

The little white cat jumped onto the bed before pausing to look back at him. Nathaniel smiled at her. "Go play for a while, Yaya."

He gently lifted her down and set her on the floor, and Yaya immediately trotted toward one of her toys, batting it across the room before chasing after it.

Nathaniel watched her for a moment before turning toward his computer. He sat down and powered it on.

Given everything that had happened to the world, he wasn’t expecting much. The communication networks had collapsed, power grids across countless regions had failed, satellites had been damaged, and the internet was practically useless.

Yet, the computer screen lit up and was working just fine. Nathaniel froze at the realization.

"...What?"

He blinked several times. The connection was active and not merely active, it was working perfectly.

He opened several pages, checked the network status, and ran multiple connection tests. Everything was functioning. "This is amazing."

Nathaniel leaned back in his chair, staring at the screen in disbelief. "How did she do this?"

There was only one person who could have connected the ship to a network that should no longer exist, Aymara.

He had already realized that her cruise ship was far more advanced than any ordinary vessel, but every new discovery seemed to make the mystery surrounding it deeper.

She had somehow built a system capable of maintaining communication even after civilization’s networks had collapsed. He didn’t know how she did it but she was glad that Aymara wasn’t helpless in this time of disaster.

Nathaniel shook his head. "This new version of Aymara really does know how to surprise me."

A small smile appeared on his face. Just then, his expression became thoughtful. If Aymara’s system could maintain communication, could it locate someone?

He typed Noel’s name into the search bar. The computer processed the request and a few seconds later, the screen changed.

[Target located.]

Nathaniel’s eyes widened. "Noel?" He immediately requested a visual feed. "Display target."

The monitor flickered once and then an image appeared on the monitor.

Nathaniel leaned closer. A ship appeared on the screen, battered and surrounded by endless ocean. Several sections of its exterior were damaged, and smoke drifted from one side but it was still afloat.

The two familiar figures appeared on the monitor, Noel and his younger brother, Ambrose.

Nathaniel’s shoulders relaxed. "They survived..."

Relief washed through him. He had been worried about them ever since the apocalypse began. Seeing them alive made something heavy inside his chest finally loosen.

But their condition was far from good. The ship had taken significant damage during the first waves of the disaster. Noel and Ambrose were attempting to repair it, but their efforts were painfully slow.

Neither of them was an engineer, a mechanic and they didn’t possess the technical knowledge necessary to properly repair a heavily damaged survival vessel.

Nathaniel frowned. "They won’t last long like that." He changed the monitor. "Track my fortress down."

The system processed his command and a map appeared on the screen. Nathaniel stared at the location.

His apocalypse fortress was incredibly far away, far beneath the ocean, hidden beneath the ruins of his former home. The computer zoomed in.

Nathaniel’s eyes gleamed with happiness when he spotted it. He had made preparation for months.

His underwater fortress remained completely intact beneath the waves. A powerful protective shield surrounded it, keeping the structure safe from the raging ocean above.

The floods and storms had barely affected it. Only a few superficial scratches were visible across the outer protective layer.

Nathaniel let out a quiet breath. "As expected, you’re still safe."

The fortress had always been his final contingency, a place nobody knew about and a shelter he had prepared in case everything else failed but now that Aymara had provided for his survival, he realized it could be useful for something else.

He picked up his phone. If Aymara’s system could connect to his fortress, then perhaps his fortress could connect to Noel.

Nathaniel dialed and for a moment, there was nothing and then the system connected the call through.

Click.

The call connected. "Noel?" he asked to make sure it connected to the right person.

Nathaniel heard a familiar voice on the other end.

"Nathaniel?" Noel sounded exhausted.

Nathaniel smiled with pure joy at the sound of his voice. "I’m glad you’re alive, buddy."

"So am I." Noel gave a tired laugh. "We barely made it through the first waves."

"I can see that." Nathaniel glanced at the monitor. "You’re having trouble repairing the ship."

"That’s putting it mildly." Noel sighed. He looked around to spot how Nathaniel was seeing him. When he didn’t spot a drone anywhere, he gave up. "Neither Ambrose nor I know enough about engineering to fix half of this thing. We’ve been trying to improvise, but we’re running out of options."

"Stay where you are, bud."

Noel went silent. "What?"

"Don’t move your ship." Nathaniel stood. "I’m sending help right now."

Before Noel could ask what he meant, Nathaniel ended the call. He opened another communication channel and called the phone inside the fortress.

"Roa," he spoke the name of the AI I’m charge of his fortress through the phone.

[Yes, boss.] A mechanical voice, less aware than Aymara’s system responded.

"Wake one engineering unit," he ordered and a moment later, the fortress responded.

[Engineering-combat unit 009 available, boss.]

Nathaniel nodded. "Prepare it for deployment."

A section of the underwater fortress opened. A humanoid robot emerged. Its body was reinforced for underwater operations, with specialized engineering equipment integrated into its frame.

It possessed advanced mechanical knowledge, engineering capabilities, repair tools, and combat programming.

Nathaniel gave it another command. "009, Load emergency supplies."

The robot moved immediately. Food, water, medical supplies, repair materials, and mechanical components. He picked everything Noel and Ambrose might need was loaded into its storage compartment.

Once the supplies were secured, the robot stepped toward the deployment chamber.

Nathaniel watched from the monitor. "Protect yourself before you leave 009."

[Command acknowledged, boss]

The robot activated its defensive shield. A faint energy barrier formed around its body.

"I’ve sent you coordinates. Your task is to guard and protect primary host’s of the vessel in the destination and maintain vessel condition at all times," he ordered. "Set off."

WHOOSH!

The boosters built into its boots activated. The robot shot out of the underwater fortress and began speeding through the ocean.

Road sealed off the fortress once 009 had left and the barrier enclosed once again. Any contaminated water that entered when 009 was leaving was immediately evaporated and cleaned thoroughly.

Nathaniel watched 009 and tracked its location on the monitor.

Five minutes, seven and then ten... Finally it arrived at the destination.

[Target location reached.] 009 reported back.

"Good."

Nathaniel immediately switched to the visual feed. The robot emerged near Noel’s damaged ship. Noel and Ambrose stared at it in stunned silence.

"What the hell is that?" Ambrose looked at his brother as he asked.

Noel could only shake his head because he too had no idea why a robot emerged from the bottom of them endless ocean.

Then the robot landed and opened its storage compartment. The supplies he brought with him were revealed.

Noel’s eyes widened. "Nathaniel..." the man was the only one he knew that could possibly have the kind of power and even ability to have robots at hand in times of natural disaster.

He quickly connected the communication channel on his phone. The system on the cruise connected the call to Nathaniel. "You actually sent us help," he said the second Nathaniel answered.

Nathaniel smiled. "Told you I would."

Noel laughed in relief. "You have no idea how useful this is," he smiled. "You’re a life saver, my friend."