I Am Not a Robot. Beep-bop

Chapter 62: Give It to the Kids! 5

【Earnest Rail, true to its name, handles transportation networks and overall mobility systems, including hovercrafts.】

According to Theresa’s explanation, all of Ark’s transportation networks—roads, highways, staircases, elevators, and vehicles, including hovercrafts—were the work of Earnest Rail.

Naturally, the road leading to the external satellite city, Zain, was also an Earnest Rail creation, appearing as a well-paved road coated with a protective glass layer.

However, beneath the seemingly intact road lay a secret underground passage installed by Earnest Rail.

The underground road’s existence was known only to full-time employees ranked as managers or higher within Earnest Rail. This passage extended even to the satellite city, Zain, outside.

【Earnest Rail’s true supply chain operates not on the ground or through the air but via the underground roads.】

“Surprising, isn’t it? Even with hovercrafts available for aerial supply, they use underground roads?”

【The satellite city, Zain, was constructed with the assumption that Ark’s migrants and corporations would continue to use it in the future. In the long term, Zain has undergone consistent growth and expansion, and the value of the distribution network known only to Earnest Rail continues to rise over time.】

Normally, on the northern front, large hovercrafts capable of levitation were commonly used for supplying goods.

Few Mega Corps besides Earnest Rail could create paved roads in a short time, and even if roads were built, considering raiders, monsters, and occasional abnormal weather erupting from the ground, hovercrafts capable of aerial mobility were far more economical.

For these reasons, both Zain’s Dawn and the Saya Guild typically paid Earnest Rail usage fees for the transportation network or supplied their needs using their own company-owned hovercrafts.

【It is speculated that Earnest Rail supplies genuine logistics through the underground road to avoid raids from external forces and competitors.】

“True, even if external raiders or infiltrators from Dawn attempt to shoot down or raid airborne hovercrafts, they’d only end up capturing empty vessels.”

Despite the existence of operational aerial supply routes, no one would expect underground roads to have been constructed.

Raiders would likely think, ‘Oh, the hovercraft already finished its delivery,’ or, ‘The real supplies must have been transported by another hovercraft,’ and believe they had been unsuccessful.

【Of course, Earnest Rail would not have anticipated their underground roads being detected by me.】

Likewise, neither Earnest Rail’s deputies nor directors would have imagined Theresa discovering the existence of the underground road.

Theresa exists for my survival, and she is extraordinarily sensitive to all energies, including electricity, mana, and vitality, far surpassing Ark’s robots or AI.

Thanks to Theresa detecting abnormal exchanges linked to the surface floor, I was able to dig into the ground with the kids, playing a “sand tower building” game. At the end of our digging, a long, massive cavity was revealed.

“Wow!”

“It’s huge! So big!”

“Secret base!”

“It’s a secret base!”

“I’ll bring a ton of glow-in-the-dark crayons here!”

Naturally, the kids loved the dark, cool underground passage, with its well-maintained humidity and its eerie yet cozy atmosphere.

The tunnel wasn’t just a dug-up dirt pile; the interior was reinforced with concrete and various barriers, making it feel more like a massive indoor sports arena than an underground structure.

Since the road was meant to transport large supplies, its area spanned roughly the size of a soccer field, branching out like a spiderweb, enough to excite the children’s sense of adventure.

In truth, it was a tricky situation.

Taking 20 kids to effortlessly plunder Earnest Rail’s supplies was all well and good, but creating a campsite would immediately trigger Earnest Rail’s detection network.

Where should I store the stolen supplies and meal kits?

Going back and forth to the Saya Guild over that distance was a hassle, not to mention a waste of energy.

I needed to conserve energy as much as possible.

Even just sitting still doing nothing for 24 hours drains 20% of my battery into thin air. So wouldn’t it be wiser to settle near Earnest Rail and cause mischief?

At least I secretly charged a few auxiliary batteries near Earnest Rail’s facilities, so I could sneak them back later. But with such an underground cavity available, it was a different story.

I gathered the children crawling all over the underground cavity and declared boldly.

“Fufufu, kids. From now on, this place is our base camp.”

“Gasp!”

“Camp!”

“Base!”

“Squishy!”

Though the kids didn’t understand the exact meaning of “base camp,” the fancy term alone made their faces light up.

They roughly interpreted it as a secret base, and that wasn’t far off.

A vast underground labyrinth hidden from anyone’s sight.

Successfully infiltrating a place known only to a handful of people within Earnest Rail meant we no longer had to worry about being discovered.

Moreover, hacking the advanced AI managing Earnest Rail’s distribution network would require at least an AI authorized by an administrator.

Unless an Overseer descended directly, it was safe to assume that the existence of this underground road would remain undetected.

Thus, my kids and I were able to use this massive, cozy underground road as our base camp without issue.

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The sound of a massive rail echoing through the darkness.

It was the noise of Earnest Rail’s supply train traveling through the underground road.

The clumsy vibrations of wheels and caterpillar tracks reverberated along the walls.

Naturally, there were no soundproof walls or noise-reduction measures in this place.

Nobody here was going to suffer hearing loss just because of some loud noises.

“Everyone, get ready.”

At Alice’s words, the children, who had been clinging upside down to the tunnel walls and ceiling like bats, quietly lifted their heads.

They resembled dormant creatures suddenly emerging from the walls.

Each held claw-like weapons and bayonets in their hands.

As their talons dug into the walls, defying gravity, they all turned their gazes toward the incoming underground train.

“Theresa.”

【Hacking-initiating】

Theresa’s violet neural network instantly spread, shutting off the lights in the underground passage, reaching the main system of the approaching underground train.

【Target… Earnest Rail-Lower Mining High-Speed Train Main System connected】

【Surveillance system OFF】

【Alarm system OFF】

【Automated weapon system OFF】

【Autonomous driving system OFF】

【Switching to manual driving system.】

【Temporary driving system operational.】

【Human, hacking maintenance time is 9 minutes and 19 seconds from now. Please proceed swiftly.】

Good.

Nine minutes?

That’s more than enough time to steal the world.

“Alright, attackkkkk~!”

“Woaaaaah!”

“Waaahhh!”

“Malaaaaang!”

“Bweeeeh!”

“Kieeeek!”

The kids, charging at the train while shouting in different tones, would have looked like monsters attacking humanitarian aid from afar.

And honestly, they weren’t far off from that impression.

-Kwajik!

-Kwaduk!

The children clung to the slowed-down train, its speed reduced significantly by Theresa’s hacking, and easily landed on its roof like scurrying spiders.

A few kids nearly slipped and fell, but thanks to my tendrils extending to catch them, everyone managed to board the train without a single loss.

-Kung!

Alright.

Now it’s time to go inside.

I immediately transformed my mechanical tendrils into a chainsaw and began cutting through the train’s wall.

-Kiiiiiing!

The outer wall of the train was quite sturdy, but the strength of the chainsaw I created was far superior, and it took less than 10 seconds to slice through the wall.

There’s no need to make holes for the kids.

They were all strong enough to break windows with their hands or tear apart the walls with their own weapons.

One child even…

“Ta-da! Pile Bunker!”

…stabbed the sword they were holding into their own body, only to pull it out transformed into a tactical pile bunker-like weapon.

For reference, the kids’ weapons were made from their bones and flesh, created using their near-infinite regenerative abilities.

By reabsorbing the weapons into their bodies, they could reshape them into something mimicking other weapons or equipment if they had basic knowledge.

‘When they first stabbed their own body with a sword, I was absolutely horrified.’

When one kid turned their sword into a pile bunker, the others gasped and started creating grotesque new weapons of their own, gnawing through the train walls.

After a bit of time passed, the kids began breaking through the walls one by one and, like me, infiltrated the interior of the train.

“Wah! Successful infiltration!”

“Intrusion complete!”

“It’s infiltration!”

“Don’t care!”

Thankfully, the train was unmanned.

If there had been people inside, they might have fainted in terror, seeing the kids pour in from all sides like spiders.

Even though the kids were pretty, their blood-red suits and spider-like movements on the walls made them look like something out of a horror movie.

Ah, I remember before I died, even female ghosts like eight-foot-tall spirits or other ghostly women often appeared oddly attractive or pretty.

“Theresa, what’s our current location?”

【D-11. Supplies, including meal kits, are located in car D-14.】

Only three cars away.

But if the supplies are stored in car 14, what are the other 13 cars ahead being used for?

Upon closer inspection, it looked like something was stacked there… Boxes?

Are those robots?

Lots of mechanical arms too.

“Teacher! Where are we going now?”

“Ah, this way.”

For now, I decided to move as the kids urged me.

I could always check it out later.

“Let’s gooo!”

“Kyahaha!”

“Teacher, can we tear this off?”

“No, no. Stealing is bad.”

What we’re doing isn’t stealing; it’s relocating ownerless items.