บท 25: The Aftermath of the Electrical Dilemma

"HELL YEAHHHH!!!" I shouted to the sky in celebration as I finally got through the so-called Lightning Grid obstacle.

My heart was beating fast from excitement, and I was quite ecstatic. I had just beaten what I thought was an impossible obstacle by using the most improbable method I could think of. I still couldn't believe that my insane idea had actually worked.

Charging my whole body with electricity so that I could radiate EMFs myself? If I were still the normal human I once was, I would have died from just the sandpaper-like rubbing that I had to endure to even start generating any electricity in my body. It's all thanks to this new body of mine that I could even attempt such superhuman stunts.

Of course, I also owe my utmost gratitude to my nanobot suit, the Grunt Battle Suit. Not only for allowing me to conceive this wild idea but also for protecting me all this time since I was reincarnated as Grunt No. 703. Hell, these nanobots enveloping my whole body even started to mend the damage done to my skin as I felt soothing relief throughout my whole body.

I also felt tingling all over my body... or more precisely, the tingling was coming from the nanobots. I've said this many times already in the past short amount of time, but I really have gone insane because I felt that those tingles were my nanobots telling me something... and that something was more or less a cheeky 'you're welcome' for helping me out. "Yup, I am definitely insane," I muttered to myself in amusement, realizing that even talking to myself was a sign of insanity.

But then again... these nanobots were connected to my entire nervous system, so it wasn't really a farfetched idea to think I could talk to my own nanobots.

"Well, if that's the case, then I'm counting on you from now on, partners," I said, looking down at my GBS suit, or specifically, at my nanobots. Again, I felt tingling from my nanobot suit, and I could somewhat tell they were agreeing with me.

And again, I realized that I looked like I was talking to myself again... Maybe I should try talking to my nanobots through... what was it? Telepathy? Speaking through my mind? I felt another tingling from my nanobots, and it felt like they were saying 'yes' or something similar.

My own crazy thought process had to stop for now because I heard the familiar sound of a drone's spinning rotor blade approaching from the sky.

I looked up to the source of the sound and found the familiar drone with a familiar display monitor attached to it. The drone's display monitor was also showing yet another familiar face that I still found somewhat irksome. It was none other than the mad scientist Victoria "Mad Star."

The drone itself quickly approached me, and I was surprised by how fast it was speeding towards me. I was relatively calm, expecting it to stop near me... But it didn't show any sign of stopping. It was still flying fast towards me!

I quickly shielded myself with my arms, dreading that it would crash into me, but... it didn't. I could still hear the loud sound of the drone's spinning rotor blades, but the impact never came. I slowly looked forward, letting go of my shielding arms, and found that the drone was right in front of me... with Victoria's full visage right in front of my face, shown through the drone's display monitor. It was as if we were facing each other through a glass window.

But the thing was... her expression was rather different than usual. Rather than the usual irksome mischievous expression that she usually showed me, this time... Her expression was that of genuine excitement and delight.

I was quite taken aback by the expression she was making. Because... My gut was telling me that this expression of hers was not one with pure intentions.

"Amazing! Grunt No. 703! That was truly amazing, what you just did!" Victoria congratulated me with full excitement, emphasizing her astonishment by having her drone approach me closely. It was trying to stick to my face, close to hers as shown on the drone's display monitor.

I firmly tried to push off the drone that was invading my personal space. "Okay, okay! I get it! Thank you!!" I replied to her congratulations, wanting her to back off her drone from me.

Fortunately, she finally did back off her drone, but it was still hovering a bit too close for comfort.

"That was truly amazing, Grunt No. 703," she congratulated me once again, but this time it wasn't as energetic as before. "I thought that when you asked how to use your Grunt Battle Suit, you would use it to destroy the obstacle right in front of you like a muscle-brain idiot." She quickly started explaining her astonishment to me... but her speaking was a bit too fast for me to comprehend. However...

"Wait, did you just call me an idiot?" I caught her last comment, thinking that she was secretly insulting me.

Unfortunately, Victoria ignored my question and continued her rambling. "I never expected you would use the triboelectric principle to charge your own body with electric charge, just to create your own EMF zone? Simply outrageous!" She continued her explanation with the same fast-paced excitement as before.

"'Tri' what now?" I tried to repeat what she had said about the electric charging thing, but the term was quite foreign to my ears and she was still speaking too quickly.

Again, she ignored my confusion and continued her rambling.

"But you did it! You created a mini-EMF zone that was able to block and repel the electric current produced by the Lightning Gate! Simply amazing, Grunt No. 703~," She finally finished her astonished rambling, which was fortunately a bit slower than her previous ramblings. Furthermore, her last praise felt quite genuine and made me blush a little.

"I-I see... thanks, I guess?" I thanked her for the genuine congratulations she had just given me.

Suddenly, her drone moved quickly and once again tried to stick close to my face. To be precise, she was sticking her monitor-displayed face close to mine. Of course, I was taken aback yet again by how close she was trying to get. I was about to protest and push away the drone, but...

"Grunt No. 703!" Victoria suddenly called my name, which shut me down from any protest. She was showing a serious expression as if she was about to say something important to me.

"Y-yes?" I asked back, waiting in anticipation and a bit of fear as to what she was about to say...

"Would you like to become my own personal grunt?" She suddenly offered.

"... huh...?"