A couple of hours later.
Elsewhere in the city, Dr. Nova made his way down a wide, silent corridor, accompanied by a man who walked half a step behind him. The latter kept his head slightly bowed and avoided meeting the scientist's gaze at all times.
—Dr. Nova —he said respectfully—, everything is prepared according to your instructions.
This man was named Vector, a powerful businessman within Iron City and one of Nova's most loyal subordinates. His voice sounded confident, but his body language made it clear that he was not comfortable in the doctor's presence.
Nova stopped and casually patted the shoulder of the man walking beside him—someone of mature appearance, dressed in clothes similar to his own, with a calm and inscrutable expression. Then he pointed to him with a simple gesture.
—This is Noah —he said—. He will be in charge of overseeing this new project. Make sure you carry out any of his orders without exception.
Without waiting for a response, Nova turned around and walked back down the corridor with the same calmness with which he had arrived, leaving both men behind.
Noah watched Vector out of the corner of his eye. He had chosen him to help with the creation of his new project precisely because he knew what he was like: an obedient dog, deeply conditioned to Nova's authority. He knew his role well in this world's story and knew that he would not question anything as long as he believed he was following the doctor's orders.
The Noah that Vector saw before him, of course, was not his true appearance. He was using a Transformation Jutsu. After all, giving orders and directing this project with the appearance of a child who hadn't even reached puberty would have attracted too many unwanted looks.
And as for the Dr. Nova who had spoken to Vector earlier, he was a shadow clone using a Transformation Jutsu.
Using Nova's own access—which in practice allowed consulting almost the entire Zalem database—Noah downloaded an enormous quantity of blueprints and technological schematics that could be implemented in the remodeling of the Ancor Vantian, especially Zalem's suspension system and the central antimatter reactor responsible for powering the entire city.
In addition to the clone tasked with impersonating Dr. Nova, Noah created several more clones.
The second clone would handle a very different task. He was developing a new sealing technique that combined Uzumaki fūinjutsu knowledge learned from the family library with the absorption spell. The goal was to create an autonomous, large-scale seal capable of constantly extracting power from one or multiple beings and transferring it directly to Noah's body.
The third clone, for his part, was focused on researching the technology of the psychic crystal developed by Dr. Nova. Noah wanted to see if he could improve that invention by combining his scientific knowledge with magic and advanced chakra usage.
And finally, there was the last clone, occupied with something completely different.
He was in Nova's workshop, calmly disassembling a Copy Robot.
Half of the robot's head was open, exposing its interior, as Noah examined its structure with meticulous attention.
The entire head functioned as an extremely advanced supercomputer, a robotic brain in the most literal sense. Noah found it absurd that in this world they used machines with such sophisticated AI that they could analyze and copy a target in a couple of seconds simply as a child's toy. Such a trivial application for such marvelous technology.
He carefully removed pieces until he finally found what he was looking for: a small chip that contained all the Copy Robot's software. He held it for a moment with tweezers and then turned to a nearby computer, where he began to fabricate a compatible port to connect it. It wasn't elegant, and it looked careless and crude, but it was functional.
Half an hour later, the makeshift plug was ready, the hard drive was connected, and the computer immediately began decrypting the information contained within it.
Noah's goal was to rewrite the source code of this AI so that it could autonomously control and manage the entire floating fortress.
Unlike other transmigrators who distrusted AI and feared scenarios like Ultron or Skynet, he did not share that concern. Alongside the AI, he planned to integrate an overwhelming number of backdoors and containment systems that would guarantee him absolute control, with no possibility of that intelligence ever breaking free or acting against him.
Thus passed Noah's first month in this world, with him focused on the main project and each of his clones fulfilling their assigned tasks.
—Phew… I finally found that thing.
Noah stood before an ancient spaceship, half-submerged in a lake.
The ship's hull was covered in rust and signs of wear accumulated over decades.
Noah crossed space effortlessly and appeared directly inside the ship.
In an isolated chamber, separate from the rest of the structure, a purple force field enveloped something that remained hidden. Noah activated his ability again and passed through the barrier as if it didn't exist, completely ignoring its defensive effects, appearing on the other side without the slightest resistance.
There, suspended between a pair of metallic arms, was a headless female cyborg body, elegantly designed and extremely sophisticated, with a combination of black and purple tones. It was a Berserker-class cyborg body, the most advanced model ever developed in this world.
Originally, this body was destined to be discovered by the protagonist, Alita, who would later transfer her head into it after the destruction of her previous cyborg body. Noah, however, had no interest whatsoever in following that course of events. From the moment he learned of this model's existence, he had been tracking the ship's location for a long time, and only now had he managed to find it.
He planned to use this cyborg body along with the Copy Robot technology and mass-produce a force of robots that would serve as his main workforce—units capable of serving both in combat and in the collection of valuable resources in the various worlds he visited.
Storing the cyborg body in his 4D pocket, he opened another portal and returned to his workstation with the intention of continuing his work.
But suddenly, a throb hit him like thunder.
—Agh!
Noah brought both hands to his right eye, where he felt as if a thousand needles were constantly stabbing him.
He doubled over, gasping. The veins around his eye bulged violently, lighting up with a bluish glow that tinged his fingers. The pain grew, reached an unbearable peak, and then…
A wave of chakra pressure burst from his body.
The entire laboratory shook. Flasks on the shelves vibrated, some screens flickered, and dust accumulated in the corners rose in small clouds.
Noah remained motionless, gasping, his hands still pressing against his eye. Gradually, his fingers relaxed and his breathing calmed. The pain vanished completely, leaving behind a feeling of fullness.
—It's over —he whispered in relief.
He slowly straightened up, leaning against the edge of the table. He blinked a couple of times, adjusting his vision before walking to the mirror.
The Tenseigan was fully developed.
Noah nodded, satisfied.
Then, calmly, he sat down in the chair in front of the mirror.
—It's time.
He closed his left eye for a moment, focusing on the right one. Then, using his psychic powers, he extended an invisible energy toward his own eye socket.
His hand trembled slightly, but only for an instant.
The psychic energy enveloped the eyeball gently but firmly, like an invisible surgeon. It located the optic nerve, surrounded it, and with a precise movement, severed it.
—…
Noah made no sound.
Blood poured from the empty socket, sliding down his cheek, dripping onto his clothes, onto the floor. In the air, floating held by telekinesis, his right eye—now transformed—spun slowly. But even as the blood flowed, Noah watched as the eye began to change.
The cyan blue and the characteristic floral pattern of the Tenseigan faded, replaced by pure white.
In a few seconds, what floated in the air was a white eye, identical to a common Byakugan. As if the Tenseigan had never existed.
Noah raised his left hand and, with a mental gesture, summoned the Horadric Cube.
The object appeared in his palm and, carefully, he placed the eye inside it. Then, from his 4D pocket, he took out the crystal sphere containing the Sacred Flame and also placed it into the cube.
As soon as both objects were inside, the cube began to glow and the fusion process started, projecting an estimated time of one month and fifteen days.
Noah frowned.
—…Huh?
The cube's glow reflected in his single eye as he tilted his head slightly, as if expecting the figure to change on its own.
—That long…?
He exhaled through his nose, confused. Last time, the fusion of three Mangekyō had barely taken a week. And now… only two elements, and yet the process was dragging on absurdly.
He clicked his tongue, annoyed, but didn't look away from the cube.
There was nothing he could do.
After a few seconds, he simply shrugged.
—Well… at least it wasn't rejected.
He let out a short sigh, as if closing the matter, and shifted his attention.
He stood up, staggering slightly from the imbalance of monocular vision, and walked to a small medicine cabinet embedded in the wall.
He took a gauze pad, moistened it with an antiseptic liquid, and brought it to the empty socket. Blood was still flowing slowly, but it was already beginning to clot at the edges. He cleaned it with unhurried movements.
When the wound was clean, he covered the socket with a patch.
Then, he returned to the table and continued working.