Chapter 103: First Sight at Promise Fortress
A flash of white light, Yang Hui, Huang, Wang Liumei, Graham, Shanna, Lyle, and Tieria found themselves in a completely unfamiliar place. It seemed to be in a huge building, full of futuristic technology, but everything had not yet started, only the weak emergency lights were flashing.
"Mephis, are you there?"
[Yes, Commander, welcome to Promise Fortress. ]
A pleasant female voice sounded around, and as soon as the voice fell, the lights suddenly turned on, and the strong light made everyone close their eyes. After opening them again, they really saw what kind of place they were in, as if it was a service hall in the future several centuries later. The pure white metal walls outlined golden lines, grand, luxurious and elegant. There were a large number of projection panels on the walls and the ground, but they were just flowing with various garbled codes.
At the same time, a woman's shadow appeared in front of them, with pure white hair down to her waist, and a white tights of unknown style outlining her curvy figure. A pair of fiery red eyes seemed to burn with passionate flames, but there was no expression on her face, like an iceberg, a world of ice and fire.
"Are you Mephis?" Yang Hui asked.
[Yes, it's our first meeting, Commander, and everyone, I am Mephis, the intelligent terminal AI of Promise Fortress. ]
"Please introduce us to the current situation of Promise Fortress."
[Everyone follow me. ]
Everyone followed Mephis's projection and walked out of the hall. The scene that came into their eyes shocked them.
"This... is this Promise Fortress?"
"Hey? Are you kidding?"
"Is this the interlayer of space?"
"The battle is too tragic."
When they saw the scenery outside the door, they were shocked at first, and then a word popped up in their hearts at the same time - damn!
Because they found that except for the intact building and floating land in the area where they were, there was nothing. Even the land was only a few steps extending from the door. The rest was a void like an abyss, with a lot of rubble scattered around, as if the entire continent was smashed by an unknown force.
"This... Isn't this nothing?" Yang Hui complained with his mouth wide open.
[Yes, Commander, I said that except for the central hall, all other parts of Promise Fortress were destroyed by self-explosion. ]
"But this is too..." Yang Hui wanted to complain a few more words, but finally gave up. Instead of wasting saliva complaining, it is better to do something serious, "... Forget it, how do I rebuild other areas."
[Follow me. ]
Mephis took everyone back to the central hall, took the innermost elevator directly to the top floor, and introduced the detailed functions of the central hall to them.
【The central hall is the core of the Promise Fortress, similar to the function of the command tower. The first floor is the service hall. Fortress members can accept tasks, submit tasks, contribute resources, exchange resources, etc. on the first floor. The second to fifth floors are the bases of various departments, such as the intelligence department, the staff department, the general combat meeting room, etc. The sixth to ninth floors are the dedicated ports and hangars for the commander and the fortress's high-level officials. The tenth to twelfth floors are the high-level residential areas of the fortress, and the top floor, the thirteenth floor, is the commander's residential area.
The residential area is not limited to the room, but a small space that can be extended infinitely. The owner can arrange it according to his own preferences. Of course, except for the commander, all arrangements require bonus points. For the specific matters of bonus points and additional tasks, please ask the commander to upgrade the central hall and unlock more functions before understanding.
At the same time, the commander has the highest authority operation panel. 】
As he said, a huge holographic projection appeared in the empty room. It was the Promise Fortress. The central hall was floating alone, but there were many plus signs around it, and there was also an upward arrow on the central hall.
"Hmm?" Yang Hui clicked the plus sign on the front of the central hall, and another panel popped up, with several options arranged on it, including production area, scientific research area, trading area, entertainment area, residential area, mining area, military area, and port. Each option corresponds to a construction opportunity and the amount of some resources that he had never seen before.
At this time, Yang Hui completely understood what the task rewards he had received before were. It turned out that the construction opportunities and the opportunities to strengthen buildings were all for Promise Fortress.
"What are these resources? What are their sources?" Yang Hui asked.
[The three resources are void gold, ether gas, and chaos crystal. ]
Upon hearing these three names, Yang Hui and others felt overwhelmed. Is this something they can understand? Not to mention that there is no such thing on Earth, these things may not exist in other worlds, right?
Mephis ignored the stupid look of several people like bumpkins who had just arrived in a big city, and continued to introduce: [... The three resources can be harvested from the mining area. The amount harvested is related to the number and level of the mining area, while the construction opportunity and building strengthening opportunity can only be obtained from the task rewards. 】
I understand. In other words, resources are secondary. The most important thing is the opportunity to build and strengthen buildings. Therefore, every mission must be performed to the best of one's ability in order to better develop Promise Fortress.
"So what is this strong sense of déjà vu?" Yang Hui complained. He remembered some games he had played in his previous life. The mode was exactly the same. He really wanted to ask if the creator of Promise Fortress was a time traveler from Blue Star like him.
"How should the fortress's upper floors be set up?"
Mephis didn't say anything, but a new panel popped up in front of Yang Hui. He knew how to operate it at the first glance. It was almost the same as the union system in the previous online game, but it was more detailed. Under the commander, it extended like a tree diagram, with a deputy commander, a chief of intelligence, a fleet commander, a chief of staff...
"Are the candidates for these positions fixed?"
[The commander can make changes. ]
Hearing this, Yang Hui nodded. It's good that it's not a completely fixed rule. With the increasing number of members in Promise Fortress, these positions are definitely not enough. There are too many outstanding talents.
"Okay, now tell me how to go to other worlds."
[The interval between world missions is one month. The commander can enter the mission world in advance. No matter how long the commander has been in the mission world, the time in Promise Fortress will be fixed to one week. ]
"In other words, no matter how long we stay in other worlds, it will only be one week when we return to Promise Fortress, right?"
[Correct. 】
"Then how do we determine the mission world?"
[Randomly draw from the database, and the current followers are also randomly drawn from the commander's direct team. The commander will change after upgrading the central hall and unlocking higher permissions. 】
"Ah!?"
This made everyone dumbfounded. The personnel were randomly drawn? Then why did they follow? If they were unlucky and didn't get drawn, wouldn't they have to waste a week in Promise Fortress, and then pray that they could be drawn in the next mission?
"Yang Hui, it seems that upgrading the central hall is the top priority." Huang said.
"Well, let's understand all the situations first, and then hold a meeting to determine the next policy."
"Well."
Afterwards, everyone asked their doubts one after another, and Mephis was also very diligent, answering every question in detail.
The most important of them was their lifespan. After all, after traveling to other worlds, although only one week had passed in Promise Fortress, they had actually spent several years or even more than ten years. That is to say, Yang Hui went to perform a mission, and he might become an old man when he came back, but Huang and the others were still as beautiful as flowers, which was very embarrassing.
Moreover, rebuilding the Promise Fortress is a big project and it is impossible to complete it in a short time.
However, they also got a perfect answer, that is, after becoming a member of the Promise Fortress, their age has been fixed. Children will only grow to 25 years old at most, and the elderly will return to youth after entering. Although the body age will also grow after entering the mission world, it is only the appearance. Under the premise of ensuring that they will not die in battle or die of illness, even if they look like centenarians, their bodies still maintain the functions of their youth.
And they also got their own panels, such as Graham's MS driving is B-, Setsuna, Lyle and Tieria are all C+, and there are some unique skills, such as Huang's [Tactical Forecaster] - can speed up the brain's operation when analyzing intelligence and making plans; and Wang Liumei's [Super Spy] - the probability of being discovered when performing spy missions is greatly reduced, etc.
Although there are many things to complain about, it is also a relatively reasonable method, and it can keep youth forever. Huang, Wang Liumei and the female members who will continue to join in the future will not have any objections.
After learning the necessary information, Yang Hui first set the authority of everyone. For example, Huang was directly given to the deputy commander, Wang Liumei was the chief of intelligence, and after raising the highest authority to several people, he asked them to decorate their own rooms first, and then gather for a meeting half an hour later.
Huang and Wang Liumei naturally did not need separate rooms. After symbolically asking Yang Hui for advice, they happily went to decorate the new house together, while Yang Hui stood in front of the French window and looked at the ruins and void outside the window, feeling emotional.
"Haha, I didn't expect that I would have such an experience. It was already very strange to be reborn in the world of Gundam OO." Yang Hui shook his head and smiled bitterly, feeling that things are impermanent. He was originally just a otaku who was eating and waiting to die, but he accidentally traveled to the world of Gundam OO, drove his favorite Gundam, found an excellent fiancée, and experienced passionate and bloody battles.
Unexpectedly, in the blink of an eye, he could go to more worlds and was forced to take on major responsibilities.
"Mephis, why me?" Yang Hui asked. He didn't believe that this was a random selection. If a commander with a wrong outlook on life was selected, Prometheus Fortress would probably become the castle of the Great Demon King without the need for enemies from other locations to attack.
[The world where the commander originally lived was invaded by [Insufficient Authority]. The database was screened, analyzed and calculated. The commander was the most suitable candidate. The existence of Prometheus Fortress was not for a certain civilization, but for the balance of all universes. ]
"Blue Star was invaded? So the white light I saw before..." That was Yang Hui's last memory on Blue Star.
[Just as the commander guessed. ]
"Okay, I have another question. What if... I failed the mission, or I became a villain-like character? What would happen?"
[If the mission fails, I will leave the commander and re-select the test subject. ]
"Well, then I am really glad that I am a good youth who grew up under the red flag, but..." As he said that, Yang Hui called up the personnel authority panel and pointed out the option that Mephis had hidden before - Commander Successor.
"...Set Huang Li Norega as the Commander Successor. If anything happens to me, she will be your new commander."
[Completed. ]