We Do Business In Full Auto [EN]: Chapter 109

109

The Standard of Evaluation (1)

“How?”

“Just a minute!”

Soo-jeong scurried away.

The annotated edition of the Necronomicon was incredibly thick. It took a long time to read thoroughly, and there were still many parts that remained untranslated.

Soo-jeong had been learning runes and interpreting the Necronomicon for a long time. Although her understanding of runes wasn’t perfect, she could infer and translate to some extent.

“Soo-jeong translated it.”

I received the translated part.

[A magic circle allows a 5th Circle black magician to use 6th Circle magic. However, 6th Circle magic circles require a legend-grade magic stone, which is extremely rare on Earth. Magic stones are divided into white and black magic stones, and special magic stones that have absorbed the energy of death over a long period transform into legend-grade magic stones.]

“Legend-grade magic stone? This isn’t some game.”

“It’s just a way of saying it’s as rare as something out of a legend, right?”

“Do you think such a magic stone exists?”

“If there’s any place it might be… the Catacombs?”

“You mean the Catacombs of Paris.”

“Yes!”

I paused to consider.

If a legend-grade magic stone existed on Earth, it would have to be in the Catacombs. If there wasn’t a legend-grade magic stone there, I would have to reach the 6th Circle by any means necessary.

Of course, reaching the 6th Circle would be a distant goal.

There was no knowing when that enlightenment would come.

Even so.

“I have to go, don’t I?”

“Dad, you’ll have to go alone. Are you okay with that?”

“Dad’s a capable guy now, right?”

“Yes! I know you can do it, Dad!”

I didn’t know how long it would take this time. I might have to stay in France for quite a while.

There was also Soo-jeong’s school to consider, and my wife would never allow it. I’d have to pretend it was a business trip, but she wouldn’t understand why I’d take Soo-jeong with me.

“I have no choice.”

“I’ll be waiting for good news.”

It was unavoidable.

If GK Retail hadn’t been preparing for a chicken game [a situation where two parties engage in a reckless contest where both risk ruin], there wouldn’t have been such a rush to reach a higher realm or mass-produce dummies.

But if the chicken game started in just a week?

No matter how abundant the funds, it would lead to enormous losses. I had to push for the mass production of dummies before that happened.

The next day, in the morning.

I immediately began preparing to fly to France.

Now, I had only six days left. Factoring in a day for travel there and a day for travel back, I effectively had only four days.

Lee Seul-gi had arrived and was drinking tea.

“How many days will it take?”

“A few days if it’s short, a week if it’s long.”

“Yes.”

“Secretary Lee, if we launch a new lunchbox, ask my wife for the recipe.”

“Don’t worry. But France all of a sudden? What’s there?”

“Technology to mass-produce dummies.”

“Ah!”

Lee Seul-gi exclaimed briefly.

Being the quick-witted woman she was, she would have immediately grasped why dummies were needed. It was a business trip for the chicken game.

“Are there technicians there?”

“You could say that.”

There might or might not be a legend-grade magic stone.

If I couldn’t find a magic stone, I would have to find a way to reach the 6th Circle, and if that didn’t work, I would have to pressure GK in other ways.

If all else failed, I would have to consider supplying lunchboxes, but I didn’t want to do that if possible. Business has its momentum.

Once you lose momentum, there’s no end to it, and you never know what demands they’ll make next. I had to eliminate that risk in advance.

Soo-ah and Soo-jeong came running.

“Have a safe trip!”

“Have a hard trip!”

Soo-jeong said, “Have a safe trip,” and Soo-ah said, “Have a hard trip.”

Soo-jeong looked at Soo-ah with a surprised expression.

“Where did you learn that phrase?”

“On TV. Did Soo-ah do something wrong?”

“Ugh. You’re so smart.”

“Hehe. I’m going to surpass my sister.”

“…….”

It wasn’t just me who was taken aback. Even Lee Seul-gi was questioning how old Soo-ah really was, given her vocabulary.

“Then, I’ll be back.”

I left the house and headed straight for Incheon Airport.

On the way to the airport.

Lee Seul-gi still looked surprised.

“Soo-ah is new every time I see her.”

“She’s learning English now, you know.”

“E, English?”

“It seems she knows some.”

“Ha…….”

You’d be surprised, right? Usually, kids that age can’t even speak properly. But she’s mastered her native language and is immediately learning English.

English?

For my family, English is like a second native language.

Soo-jeong mastered English at that age too. Since her mother is British, she was able to learn the pronunciation accurately.

Although it had a British accent, it could be considered native English.

How will Soo-ah grow up?

I had an idea, having raised Soo-jeong, but I couldn’t easily predict my daughters’ futures.

I shook my head once and changed the subject.

“By the way, there’s still no reaction from GK?”

“Not yet. They said they’d wait a week, so if they move before that, they’d really be trash.”

“Does that mean they’re keeping their business ethics?”

“Maybe?”

Well, a week isn’t a very long time.

It was only natural to give them that much leeway, as they needed time to make decisions as well.

“But, President, if you mass-produce Androids, what happens to the ones you sold off a while ago? I thought you said it would take at least a few years to mass-produce them.”

“I’ll just say the situation has changed. What are they going to do about it? They’ll just think they got scammed.”

“Ah.”

I certainly hadn’t set a deadline.

It wasn’t specified in the contract either.

I had only written that they could disassemble it and make it with their own technology. That was the stated reason for receiving so much money.

In reality, they were greedy to research and release it before I could mass-produce it, but that was never going to happen.

“What if they analyze the technology first?”

“Analyze?”

I couldn’t help but scoff.

If it were science, they could definitely create a replica, but this wasn’t in the realm of science.

“It’s impossible.”

“Why do you think so?”

“Because Androids aren’t from this world’s technology.”

Lee Seul-gi just laughed at my words.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

A non-regulatory agency under the U.S. Department of Commerce, its stated mission is to strengthen economic security, improve quality of life, and advance the nation’s industrial competitiveness by advancing measurement science, standards, and technology.

Of course, this was only the external mission, and they conducted extensive research on science and technology. The publicly known budget was about $2 billion, but in reality, more funds were invested.

Thousands of scientists, engineers, technicians, and staff worked there, and it was no exaggeration to say that America’s advanced technology came from there.

NIST had been disassembling and studying the Android brought from Korea for several days.

If they could produce the latest AI that was stronger than an adult male and durable, it could be used for various dangerous missions.

Especially in the military sector, it could bring about innovation, so CIA Deputy Director Katherine, who first purchased the Android, was recognized for her contribution and could aim for the next Director.

The problem was that they were selling it not only to the United States but also to other countries, but they expected to analyze the technology the fastest.

It had been several days since they took the Android, so Deputy Director Katherine visited the lab to receive a report.

Chief Researcher Gerald D. Jackson was reluctant to speak, with a very troubled expression.

“Well…….”

“I need information for the interim report. It’s a report that goes directly to the President.”

“Nothing has been revealed yet.”

“Is it difficult technology?”

“It’s not that, we don’t know the driving principle.”

“What? Do you mean it’s hard to interpret the AI?”

“It’s not that, it uses a completely different system.”

“You haven’t even figured out the driving principle yet. What if other countries release it first?”

It was not only an innovation in the military field, but also an opportunity to seize the market if they preempted the technology.

The United States was opening a new era.

But Researcher Jackson just sighed.

“This is an absurd machine. No, I’m not even sure if it’s a machine.”

“You doubt it’s a machine?”

“It’s not driven by electricity.”

“Does that make sense? It has a battery.”

“Look.”

He made a wound on the Android’s arm.

Swish!

The wound healed quickly, and eventually, no trace remained.

“Does this look like science to you?”

“It could be nanotechnology.”

“We have microscopes here. I thought nanobots might be filling the inside, but we didn’t find anything. Except for the frame and the part we call the battery, it’s just… bone fragments.”

“What do you mean?”

“We have no idea how the skin covering the frame heals, and we don’t know how power is transmitted from the battery without any electrical devices.”

“Is there no way to know at all?”

“Extremely low frequencies have been detected… but even those are anomalous waves of extremely low frequencies. It’s impossible to interpret.”

“Impossible to interpret…….”

“The frame is similar to human bones, but it’s not bone. It consists of 35% organic matter, including collagen fibers, 45% inorganic matter such as calcium, and the rest is water. It’s similar to human bones. But something is coated on it. I don’t think it’s an Earth element.”

“…….”

Katherine frowned.

What nonsense was this?

It was in the realm of science, but even modern technology couldn’t interpret it. In other words, CEO Lee Yoo-sung’s technology transcended the times.

Was that even possible?

“Anyway, you have to say it’s not this world’s technology.”

“Then does that mean CEO Lee Yoo-sung is an alien? CEO Lee Yoo-sung was born and raised in Korea.”

Investigating such a person was basic.

They had started investigating him since he solved the Syrian crisis.

He had gone bankrupt once while doing business, but otherwise, he hadn’t deviated from the axis of ordinary humans.

It was a bit questionable that he wasn’t majoring in science, but he made amazing things well, but his whole family was genius, so I decided to think so and move on.

“I have nothing to say.”

“Ha…… Then how am I supposed to report?”

“Report that it is currently impossible to interpret with the technology of the United States.”