Chapter 240 "Night City" (Two in One)
"We have arrived at the hub area of the ruins base. Please pay attention to your belongings and leave the carriage in an orderly manner."
As the maglev train stopped, the broadcasting again issued a reminder.
Soap, Ghost, and Xiaoqiang each carried their travel bags and walked out of the carriage, and came to the platform with a group of colleagues from the armed department.
As the three of them followed the "large army", they could also see the engineering team driving engineering mechas to unload containers with the Atlas logo on the platform.
Some containers were also printed with words such as "new firearms", "new equipment" and "condensed battery".
Seeing this, Soap tightened the handle with his right hand, carried the travel bag on his right shoulder, and sighed to the two people beside him:
"Back then, the equipment of our advance team was the most advanced in the company's armed department. I wonder if this operation can also upgrade the advance team."
"."
Xiaoqiang nodded in agreement.
"Hazardous environment work clothes are indeed a bit outdated." Ghost also felt that the company had not updated their advance team's weapons and equipment for some time.
No, it should be a long time.
After a while.
The three of them and a group of colleagues from the Armed Forces took the rail train to the main body of the ruins base, and then transferred to the living area exclusive to the Armed Forces, and put their personal belongings in the temporary dormitory arranged by the company.
Because the front-line base is still under construction, and the order they received is:
"Please move to the front-line base of the Zero Nine Universe before 10:00 on March 9th in the main universe."
So after putting their personal belongings in place, the three of them prepared to go to the bar in the living area, have a drink and reminisce about the past, and by the way wait for the latest progress of the advance team and investigators, so that they can have enough intelligence support when they rush to the Zero Nine Universe.
Soon after, in the bar officially opened by the company;
~§~
This place is not as noisy as bars and nightclubs outside, but plays more soothing music.
Soldiers from emergency countermeasures and rapid response units also choose to come here to drink and chat in order to relax their tense nerves during their breaks.
Some male soldiers also thought that there might be some "chance encounters".
After all, there are many female elites in the armed forces, and more importantly.
Maybe there will be female elves from Terilla!
It has been nearly three years since the company fully integrated Terilla in the 07 universe.
The engineering department hired many dwarves who are good at forging and construction, and the elves who are good at close combat and have excellent eyesight naturally joined the armed forces.
"The average age is over 100 years old", "simple in mind", "with angelic appearance and figure" -
And the moral concept of the elves is that as long as they identify their partners, they will stay together forever, and even if their partners die, they will not easily remarry or remarry.
This point is a "critical blow" to humans living in different universes.
If it were not for the strict requirements of crossing the space gate, most employees would like to be transferred to the 07 universe.
Of course, elves are not all advantages.
Their stubborn character makes it difficult for them to change their living habits. Moreover, if their partners cheat, they may take more "crazy" revenge.
Even so, some people are still willing to continue to "rush forward".
At this time, next to the bar.
"Three glasses of gin, whatever you like."
Soap said to the bartender, and sat on the high stool with Ghost and Xiaoqiang.
"Okay."
The bartender also placed transparent glasses in front of the three of them. It didn't take long for him to pour the prepared light blue gin into the glasses one by one:
"Please enjoy."
"Thanks, man."
Soap smiled at the bartender and drank half a glass in one gulp.
After putting down the glass, he said happily: "It's great! When I was at home, I was not allowed to touch alcohol at all! Now I am finally free!"
"Huh~!"
Xiaoqiang also closed his eyes and took a long breath.
As for Ghost, he lifted up the half-mask and did not make any noise like the two friends.
"Look at your frustrated look, do you wear a mask at home?" Soap couldn't help but complain.
"Through the analysis of the images and video data sent to us by Price, the Earth in Universe 09 should be a world in the near future." Ghost answered irrelevantly and said:
"The Investigation Department has sent investigators to the city closest to the space gate to conduct infiltration investigations."
"Price is really old and immortal," Soap complained again:
"He is almost fifty years old, but he always fights on the front line and takes the initiative to work overtime. I can't stand it.
It is said that the boss immediately returned to Universe 08 (Halo) after opening the space gate, but the Intelligence Department must have received the boss's reminder. I think they must have known the situation there earlier than the Investigation Department."
"Yeah." Ghost responded lightly and continued:
"This seems to be the first time that the boss has not directly participated in the exploration of the new universe, which indirectly shows that the humans in Universe 09 are far inferior to the company in overall strength."
Ghost and others, or most of the employees of Atlas, although they did not know the existence of [Reset], they also understood that the Intelligence Department could provide them with intelligence support that was almost accurate to the minute and second through the boss.
It's just that everyone knows it tacitly.
"Gululu. Gululu~!"
Soap drank the gin in one gulp and said happily again:
"If it weren't for the boss, the three of us might have stayed in SAS and carried out those unjust missions instigated by the rich and powerful."
Beep-beep-.
At this moment, their exclusive mobile phones issued a reminder sound.
?
Soap put down the wine glass, took out the phone, unlocked the screen, and saw the latest order from the company:
"Major John McTavish, please go to the 04-141 conference room in the living area immediately."
Xiaoqiang and Ghost also had the same order.
"It seems that colleagues in the intelligence department have planned the initial target. Let's go."
Soap showed the identity magnetic ring on his left wrist, scanned the sensing area on the bar, paid the company's internal price for the wine, and got up and left, walking out of the bar.
Xiaoqiang and Ghost followed closely.
Walk out of the bar.
The three of them walked through the slightly crowded living area, which looked like a steel town.
The rock walls here have long been covered with reinforced concrete and metal buildings.
The three of them came to a building with armed security guards at the main entrance, then took the elevator to the fourth floor and entered the 04-141 conference room filled with captains and lieutenants from various units according to the house number.
And Lei Ruoya, who had long silver hair and wore sports casual clothes, was particularly conspicuous.
"Welcome~!"
Moreover, this Glory Warrior, who was a hybrid of human, vampire, and werewolf, waved his arms and greeted Zaopao and others in a familiar manner.
"."
Although he did not have much interaction with the Glory Warrior, out of friendship as a colleague, Zaopao and the other two nodded in return.
He chose a seat by the window and waited for a while.
Swish——.
The induction door of the conference room opened and closed.
As the commander-in-chief of the emergency response force, Jack Krauser walked slowly into the conference room, stood at the podium at the front of the conference room, and said bluntly:
"Everyone, you will be responsible for the preliminary matters of the company's integration of the 09 humans."
As he spoke, Krauser used the holographic touch screen on the podium to call up text information with images for Leroya, Soap and others, and explained:
"Three elite investigators from the Investigation Department successfully infiltrated the human city called "Night City" four hours ago.
From this, we can know that the 09 Earth is the near future of 2075, and the investigators found that the local residents use prosthetics and artificial limbs too much.
Almost everyone has a link port to facilitate their brains to access the network."
Prosthetics
Brain port
Hearing Krauser's introduction, everyone's face gradually became solemn.
The company's biological department had already carried out research on prosthetics and artificial limbs before the space door was opened.
The original intention of the research was to allow disabled people to live like normal people.
By the early 1990s in the main universe, the Biological Department had developed many mature products that had been tested and confirmed to be safe.
For example, Rod Hoind, who participated in the operation to intercept the Reaper mothership and had his legs melted by a plasma explosion, was equipped with bionic prostheses with the help of the company's medical team, and was able to stand on his feet again, walk, and even run.
However, the Biological Department was very opposed to the research project of brain ports.
Because allowing the brain to log into the network directly will overload the brain. If an organization with ulterior motives develops a "virus" that attacks the human brain, it will directly cause brain death.
Even so, the Biological Department still completed the research on brain ports. After all, this is closely related to projects such as synthetic humans, consciousness transmission, and brain editing.
But Soap, Xiaoqiang, Ghost, and others, as well as most combat personnel, belong to the "antique" faction.
In the annual questionnaire, facing the question "Are you willing to undergo brain port surgery?", all filled in "No".
They don't want their brains to be "accessed" by hackers.
Even if the Biology Department guarantees that the firewall of the brain port is sufficient to resist any known attack, Soap and others still refuse this kind of transformation surgery.
Of course, "traditional" strengthening methods such as Inquis serum and implanted nanorobots are within the acceptable range of Soap and others.
On the other hand, Krauser paused for a while and continued to explain:
"Investigators also found that the public security in Night City is extremely worrying, the gap between the rich and the poor is huge, violence is happening all the time, and gangs and mercenaries are rampant.
In addition, the information provided by the Intelligence Department shows that Night City is not under the jurisdiction of the government and is controlled by giant companies like our Atlas.
However, this facilitates the company's integration operations.
The Intelligence Department stated that many wars have broken out in the Zero Nine Universe. If we Atlas use military integration, it will directly trigger strong resistance from local humans.
And the company's focus at this stage is all invested in The 08th Universe involves the entire galaxy, so it is impossible to transfer excess manpower and resources to the 09th Universe.
You must know that after the company unified the 02nd Earth (Avatar) by force, although the overall trend is relatively stable, some areas are still facing low-intensity security wars.
So!
The company plans to set up a branch in Night City first, and then instill the company's philosophy and welfare to local residents in advance.
In this way, when our main force of Atlas has dealt with difficult enemies such as the Star Alliance and the Flood, the company will also have a certain amount of public support in the 09th Universe. "
At this point, Krauser looked up at the people present, lowered his voice and said solemnly:
"Everyone, your main task is to assist the company in establishing a branch and open up the Night City market for the company.
Specific matters will be arranged by Colonel John Price when everyone is deployed to the forward base.
I'm wondering if anyone still doesn't understand? "
"me!"
As soon as Krausa finished speaking, Leroya couldn't wait to raise her right hand.
“…”
Seeing this, Clausa's facial expression did not change, but the melancholy look in his eyes showed that the commander-in-chief was trying to recall Leroya's last name.
Finally, after a pause of nearly three seconds, Clausa finally spoke:
"Captain Vitellius, please speak."
"Yes! Sir!" Leroya put down her right hand and asked:
"Since we are assisting the company in setting up a branch, how can we smoothly integrate into the Zero-Nine Human Society without arousing local suspicion?
I have read the public documents of the United Earth Zero-6 (Pacific Rim). The original body Magnus used tobacco, alcohol and other scarce materials to conduct secret transactions with the gangs there, and then established a gang-like organization.
So we also need to create gang-like organizations first? Will this affect the company's reputation?
Also, looking at the graphic information you provided, sir, it seems that the 09 humans are quite good at network technology. So how do we guard against hacker attacks? "
After patiently listening to Leroya's series of doubts, Krausa said without showing an obvious frown:
"In fact, the company has already considered Captain Vitellius's matter and has taken countermeasures in advance."
Then, Clausa turned his attention to a female "clerk" wearing a black uniform sitting in the corner:
"To this end, the company has deployed the latest model of artificial intelligence to help you solve network problems."
Hearing this, Leroya, Soap and others turned to look along Clausa's line of sight, only to discover that the black-haired employee with an almost perfect figure and facial features had a faint purple light emitting from his pupils.
Finding himself the center of attention, the black-haired employee stood up and said with a smile:
"My employee number is A-OD-00017, but everyone can just call me Seren. The employee number is somewhat convoluted."
"Okay Serin, please sit down first." Krausa raised his hand to signal the intelligent AI who called himself Serin to sit down, and then explained to everyone:
"Selin is the latest product developed by the core team of the Department of Biology using cloning technology and synthetic human technology.
The thinking logic far exceeds that of the original intelligent AI. Her physical body has also been enhanced by the biology department in many aspects, and her brain can be directly connected to the network. "
"Oh..."
After listening to Clausa's explanation, Xiaoqiang, who was still single, sighed and his eyes flickered. It seemed that he was even more looking forward to the day when the company officially released the synthesizer.
"However, don't forget it." Clausa finally warned:
“Seline’s cost is calculated in hundreds of millions, so while you are performing tasks in Night City, you must ensure her safety.
Okay, let's all disperse. "
"Yes, sir."