Shirou's clones number 30 million

"Uh... what are you researching?"

"Virtual technology".

I don't think he's lying.

Asuna Yuuki glanced furtively at Adris, and thought again:

If he's telling the truth, could he be an employee of the company where Akihiko Kayaba works?

If that's the case, then their strength becomes understandable.

On one hand, he was very strong, and on the other hand, he had memorized all the monster data.

"Are you... someone connected to Kayaba Akihiko's side?"

"more or less."

In that instant, Asuna Yuuki unconsciously conjured up tens of thousands of words of plot in her mind.

Why are you telling me all this?

"Didn't you ask that?"

"You can just tell any lie you want."

“I don’t like lying about such trivial things.”

Before they knew it, the two had successfully arrived at the BOSS room on the nineteenth floor.

Even when facing the BOSS, Adris still easily defeated him.

Throughout the entire process, he appeared to be handling it with ease and without any effort.

This scene sparked a huge reaction online.

Adris thought it would take two days to fight the monsters, but in reality, it only took one day.

When I reached the hundredth floor, the sun had just set.

At this moment, it was dusk, and the orange sunset cast long, thin shadows on the ground, making the two figures appear as two slender shadows.

There is no boss on the 100th floor, only a man in armor—Kayaba Akihiko.

Chapter 286 Heroes and Demons

Chapter 286 Heroes and Demons (Section 287)

"It really was you."

Adris chuckled softly and shook his head with a hint of regret.

For Shirou Narusaka, Akihiko Kayaba was a disciple he had valued highly in the past, and he had some affection for him.

He didn't want to personally challenge Aincrad, partly because he was afraid of the trouble, but also because he didn't want his disciple to die by his own hand.

Unfortunately, I am not Shirou Narusaka.

Although memories can be shared and emotions can be exchanged, feelings cannot.

To Adris, Kayaba Akihiko was just a very familiar stranger.

"I never expected that you would be able to defeat the 99-floor boss that I designed myself in just one day."

Kayaba Akihiko stared intently at Adris, faithfully playing his villainous role.

"Before I met you, I thought you were a backup plan left by the teacher to save the world, but the moment I met you, I instantly understood."

"You are... a savior sent down from heaven."

Adris was speechless. He had thought that Adris had figured out that he and Shirou Narusaka were the same person, but it turned out that was all there was to it.

"What nonsense are you spouting? Is the data ready?"

Although we don't need that kind of thing, we still have to go through the motions.

"Do you really need that kind of thing?" Kayaba Akihiko's gaze seemed to hold a deeper meaning.

Has this guy already discovered it?

"I still prefer the real world to the virtual world."

Where is the boundary between virtual and reality? As long as it continues to improve, what is the difference between the virtual world and reality?

This sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Two seconds later, Adris suddenly remembered that these words seemed to be what Narusaka Shirou said when he was teaching Kayaba Akihiko.

It wasn't entirely a lie; at that time, Narusaka Shirou genuinely wanted to prolong his life.

"That's enough. I don't want to discuss these pointless questions with you. Did you bring the documents?"

Kayaba Akihiko looked disappointed, glanced at a treasure chest in the corner, and gestured:

"The information is all in there. Beat me and you can take it."

"This design is similar to traditional RPC games, I like it! Okay, I'm going to play!"

Adris chuckled and charged forward, sword in hand.

In just a few seconds, he stabbed Kayaba Akihiko in several vital areas, including his eye socket, ear, and mouth.

However, Kayaba Akihiko, who should have fallen to the ground, remained standing in place, holding his shield, his health bar stuck at the last sliver of health.

Adris sheathed his sword and stood a few meters away from him, asking in a deep voice:

"what do you mean?"

Could it be that he has really discovered me and is testing me?

To break his cheating methods, a higher level of access is required, and only Kayaba Akihiko-sensei—Narusaka Chisuke—possesses such access.

Kayaba Akihiko did not answer, but instead asked:

Is this your limit?

Yuuki Asuna, a spectator standing nearby, stared blankly at the two of them, then suddenly realized what was happening and quickly ran over:

"Kayaba Akihiko, why hasn't your health bar changed? This is blatant cheating!"

Kayaba Akihiko glanced at her, then looked at Adris again:

"Answer me, have you reached your limit?"

Is this a test of me, or does it harbor other expectations?

Adris pondered for a few seconds, then nodded slightly:

"Since you want to see it, then so be it."

The next moment, Kayaba Akihiko felt everything go black before his eyes, and his body collapsed to the ground with a thud.

......

"Mr. Kayaba, something terrible has happened! The source code for our design has been stolen!"

"what?"

Kayaba Akihiko's expression changed slightly. Aincrad was not yet completed, how could such a thing happen?

"What should we do now, Mr. Kayaba?"

"Calm down, calm down first, I'll go ask..."

Huh...? Who was I supposed to ask? Why can't I remember that person's name or what they looked like?

For the rest of the day, he remained in a daze, completely unaware of what he should do.

That evening, I turned on my phone and found it was full of missed calls, emails, and text messages.

No matter how you turn on the TV or change the channel, the same thing is being reported:

Virtual reality games have now been released, but at the same time, my company is being sued for infringing on hundreds of patents.

"What is this? I never expected to encounter something like this."

Virtual games involve too many technologies, and I've been studying them in isolation, so I haven't had time to apply for a patent yet.

Since the other party dared to sue me, they must have already registered patents for the stolen technology.

Moreover, the opponent's game was released before ours.

This would put them at a disadvantage, both in the eyes of outsiders and in court.

This war without gunfire has already lost more than half of its battle before it even began.

Several days later, Kayaba Akihiko jumped off the roof of a high-rise building.

When I opened my eyes again, it was another new dream.

......

After an unknown amount of time, Kayaba Akihiko slowly opened his eyes and stared blankly at the twilight sky.

"Oh...you're awake."

Looking at the two people beside him and the thick book of documents in the blue-haired boy's hand, he gradually came to his senses and realized his current situation.

"I see... I lost?"

"What are your thoughts?" Adris asked with a light laugh.

Kayaba Akihiko didn't respond, but continued talking to himself:

Would you like to hear a story?

"Everything has a lifespan, and the Earth is no exception. In the foreseeable future, Earth's resources will certainly be depleted."

"At that time, if humanity had not yet developed space technology, it would have been destroyed along with this planet."

"Therefore, we have come up with a plan for an eternal human existence."

"To allow the consciousness of all mankind to enter the virtual world, and under the premise of immortality, to interfere with the material world by manipulating robot bodies from the virtual world."

"The flow of the virtual world is different from that of reality. With such a huge time difference, human technology will definitely advance by leaps and bounds."

"In our envisioned future, children learn in virtual worlds, teenagers experience life through virtual games, young adults manipulate robotic bodies to explore the material world, and middle-aged and elderly people work hard for technological innovation in research labs."