On top of the towering skyscraper that overlooked the entire city, a man leisurely took in the view, enjoying the breeze. Since he had arrived in this world, there hadn't been a single pleasant occurrence—except for this city. This place was his nest, his lair.

No dragon had ever had such a vast nest or as many subordinates. Most dragons only kept hundreds of followers in narrow mountain dens.

“You seem to be in a good mood, Your Grace,” someone said.

“That’s the secret to a long life. Only those who can find joy in even the smallest things can truly own their life.”

“I wouldn’t know about that.”

Behind him stood a woman with long ears and green hair. This was Ausoleon, who had crossed over into this wretched world alongside him.

The man glanced at her, shrugging as if to ask what she wanted. Ausoleon handed him a piece of paper without hesitation.

“Here. This is a recently published paper. I thought it might interest you.”

“A paper?”

Hithsberg took the paper from Ausoleon and quickly skimmed through it. Unlike most other businessmen, Hithsberg was highly knowledgeable about scientific matters. He could understand and appreciate the latest research, and this paper was no exception.

After reading it, he let out a hollow laugh and cast the paper aside.

“Proof of the soul? Ridiculous. How can one define the soul using mere machines and mathematics?”

“Is that what you think, Your Grace?”

“What else? Do you believe what’s written here is true?”

Ausoleon stayed silent. To be honest, she did think so. Unless there were significant errors, this should be regarded as truth, or at least as something to be accepted as such for the sake of scientific progress.

But the man in front of her seemed to think differently. Perhaps his long life had made him too set in his ways, unable to change his thinking easily. Or maybe he truly believed that the soul was something that couldn’t be quantified by equations and machines.

Either way, Ausoleon remained silent. She knew the value of silence better than anyone.

“Understood. It’s unfortunate.”

“Hmph—if creating a soul were so easy, I’d have already resurrected our kin on this land. The soul is something absolute, something sacred.”

With that, Hithsberg turned back to the window, looking out as if he no longer wished to be disturbed.

Bowing slightly, Ausoleon left the room, glancing at the crumpled paper in her hands.

She still didn’t think the paper was wrong.

“Grr…!”

“Does it hurt? That’s a relief.”

“What? You little—ugh…!”

The brute, who seemingly had muscles instead of brains, growled. I sighed, watching Galrm howl in pain.

“Do you really have muscles instead of a brain?”

“Of course not…”

“Then why did you eat two of them? I specifically told you to eat only one. I even warned you to not eat more than one, just so you wouldn’t get confused.”

Technically, my warning was incorrect. Telling him not to eat more than one implied that one was included, and that meant he shouldn’t have eaten any. Saying not to eat more than one was essentially a way of telling him not to eat any.

But I’d forced myself to use that incorrect phrasing out of fear that this idiot beast-man would take it to mean he could eat two. Even with all my precautions, he ended up downing two of them.

“If you have a death wish, would you mind signing this consent form for cadaver research first?”

“A consent form for… cadaver research? You maniac scientist…!”

“Galrm, you’re the crazy one here. Why would you eat two, thinking you’re some kind of enhanced soldier? Especially with your condition.”

“Gah…!”

As Galrm groaned in pain, I gave him a final slap on the back before standing up.

Various devices were attached to Galrm’s body, all designed to aid in recovery and rehabilitation.

“You’ll be in agony for a while. You’re already a mess, and now you’ve gone and overexerted yourself…”

“Can’t you just give me one of your energy boosters or that red potion?”

“Do you think those are cure-alls? Let me explain in terms even you can understand, Galrm. Those only push your stamina beyond its limits temporarily or restore it to full capacity.”

To put it simply: The energy booster enhances current stamina, The red potion replenishes lost stamina to the maximum.

Neither one affects maximum stamina, which has been severely depleted in Galrm’s case due to old age, lingering injuries from long wars, and the aftereffects of consuming two gene samples.

This was not something drugs could heal. Only long rest and recovery could solve it.

“Take it easy. You could actually die this time.”

“Tsk… Does that mean I can’t train?”

“Only if you plan on staying bedridden for life.”

I finished attending to Galrm and left the infirmary. Several doctors had come and gone, but none could offer a real solution.

The only ones left were ordinary doctors and nurses, who could only administer basic treatments rather than anything advanced.

“Busy, busy…”

The war between P City and W City had ended. People were now turning their fangs on W City, which was half-destroyed and ripe for exploitation.

Since the city’s administration was in disarray, it had effectively become a colony for other cities. W City’s supplies came from H City, its buildings were constructed by ABC cities, and in exchange for all this aid, it sold its resource rights. Restoring W City to its former glory would be no easy task.

“Boss wants me to build security androids… Is he starting to reveal his technology bit by bit?”

Naturally, our own E City—Ivels Corporation—was getting involved in the chaotic scramble. While Boss was known for his extensive welfare and support, that didn’t mean he was a fool or some altruistic entity.

On the contrary. Boss’s support always came with the expectation of extracting more than he gave. There was a reason he was known as the iron-blooded businessman, with people saying he had no heart or tears.

“An AI with basic intelligence should do. Nothing on the level of Dr. Kuroi’s Lucia, just one that can follow simple commands…”

This level was exactly what Boss wanted—enough to create some surprise, but not so much that it would throw the world into turmoil.

So, I poured myself into building security androids. Considering the villain levels in this world, a few rounds of tank fire-resistant armor and weapons capable of shooting down fast-moving targets should suffice.

Such specs would still fall short against an S-rank villain, but that was fine. My job wasn’t to spark a machine revolution that would take over human roles entirely.

“Just a little at a time… making the world a bit better…”

Like a gentle drizzle soaking one’s clothes without them noticing.

That was my role—to help people accept technology without even realizing it.

“What? What do you mean…?”

“Rejected from consideration, apparently. It’s absurd.”

“At that price point, nothing could have beaten it…”

Yet, my security androids weren’t immediately adopted.

A new android from D City—the Dragonbone Soldier—had taken its place.