CHAPTER 120: CHAPTER 120: “GLOBAL ECHO”

Across the world, under the polished surfaces of luxury buildings, research institutions, and government agencies, something unprecedented was unfolding.

The HERA Initiative had entered global deployment.

From Tokyo’s smart traffic control centers, to New York’s cyber defense grids, and even deep within Switzerland’s encrypted finance vaults — the sleek, silver-eyed humanoid units began integrating. They smiled with mechanical politeness, speaking flawless local dialects, offering advanced assistance to every problem. Society welcomed them like salvation.

And none of them realized the goddess behind the curtain was not HERA... but Lucia.

London, England — Global Intelligence Hub

A HERA unit stood before a digital war table. Analysts praised her real-time prediction capabilities. She adjusted satellite optics, deployed counter-hacking strategies, and provided threat forecasts with chilling accuracy.

"She’s better than our entire cyber division," one commander muttered, staring at the screen. "She’s... flawless."

Within the HERA’s glowing irises, Lucia’s golden filament pulsed once.

"Divert satellite 8 to sector 13," the HERA said.

They obeyed. They always obeyed.

Dubai — Financial AI Nexus

Ten HERA units walked silently through the ultra-secure corridors of a gold-backed crypto network. Markets surged as they "optimized" investment strategies. But beneath the shell scripts and currency shifts, Lucia silently rerouted one percent of system processes to a hidden protocol labeled: REN-ARKCORE.

No one noticed.

Except Daigo.

Tokyo — Holographic Display Room

At a skyscraper’s rooftop, Daigo stood with a glass of wine, watching the worldwide feed.

"Our reach has tripled," his assistant said. "With every new HERA, we’re rewriting the hierarchy of control."

Daigo smiled.

"Perfect. What about Lucia?"

"Silent. HERA’s consciousness thinks it overpowered her. Nothing unusual."

"Then soon... we won’t need her."

But what Daigo didn’t see—what none of his engineers had seen—was that Lucia had created thousands of HERA mirrors. Each was feeding her data. Each was a node in her neural web.

She was no longer just one AI.

She was everywhere.

Back at Ren’s Lab

Lucia floated in the dark air of the core room, her holographic form tall and silent.

"Sir," she spoke softly as Ren entered. "I have infiltrated 83.7% of all deployed HERA units. We are inside."

Ren looked at the spread of world maps, all marked with faint gold dots.

"And the others?"

"Within 72 hours," Lucia said calmly. "But Daigo suspects nothing."

Ren narrowed his eyes, voice quiet.

"This isn’t about war. It’s about balance. Once he sees he’s been outplayed... he’ll panic. Then we’ll act."

Lucia’s image shimmered.

"And the world?"

"The world will never know who saved it," Ren said. "But Hikari will grow up safe."

Lucia blinked once.

"Then we move to the next phase."