Chapter 967: City of Nagadako 1
When the situation took a sudden turn for the worse, the fatty's mysterious offer of help also confused Garen, Sixth, and Sinno slightly.
Even if he had a powerful background and protector, it should not be enough for him to offend an Inherited Level powerhouse for a complete stranger.
Inside the pillar, a person dressed in black robes, his face covered, stood in the middle quietly, looking at Garen and company coldly.
"If you want to go in, hurry! There are still people waiting behind you!"
"Alright." Garen also knew that this was no time to talk, and he nodded at the other man, taking out his key.
That person reached out his hand and pointed at Garen and company.
Suddenly, there was a burst of bright light, and there was an intense white light everywhere. This phenomenon only lasted for less than two seconds.
By the time Garen and the others recovered, their surroundings were slowly growing dimmer, and returning to the regular level of brightness.
They were surrounded completely by a large semicircular barrier made of a blue membrane, and the floor was made of a grey-white metal. There were many semicircular bunkers all over the place, all squeezed together. These bunkers were like tumors growing on the ground, all of different heights and sizes, but they were all uniformly black hemispheres, with different titles and names hanging outside.
The three of them glanced across and saw that it was completely empty around, with not a soul in sight, and only the occasional blue line streaking across the sky above them.
"Moving with teleportation alone, how lavish!" The Sixth Divine Wind General sighed slightly. "Energy Machinists are rich and powerful indeed."
"Welcome to the home of Energy Machinists, please walk forward to the teleportation point, you and your Followers will be teleported to a bunker room that was automatically assigned to you. In there, you can don your everyday living and exchanges, but if you wish to go to the battlefield to earn military credit and crystals, you'll need to take three steps back. Thank you for your cooperation, this is Surveillance and Management: The Fifth Energy Machinist Star Tower."
There was a sweet and lovable voice coming slowly from the sky.
"Let's go." Garen led the way out of where they had begun, leaving the Big Wild Wolf behind, because it would follow them back by itself. Sinno, on the other hand, struggled to carry the Sixth Divine Wind General, following closely behind Garen.
The three of them took three steps forward, and suddenly their vision blurred. In an instant, they had arrived in a pitch-black hemispherical room, and the ceiling above was made of a hard material that looked like stone. It was another meter above the tops of their heads, and underneath it, there was a secret trapdoor on the floor that led underground. Evidently, there was more space underground.
Garen went down for a look and found three more rooms, a large hall, and a washroom there. There was something that looked like a quantum computer in the hall, a large black metal shelf installed beside the computer. As Garen approached, words of welcome appeared on the computer screen, and the metal shelf beside it beeped twice before opening automatically. Inside, a mechanical table offered them fragrant dishes. Fish, meat, chicken, duck, vegetables, fruits, there was everything you could ask for.
There was even the option to choose what kind of food you wanted on the computer screen.
"This place is not bad," Sixth said with some admiration.
"You might have to stay here for a while." Garen nodded in agreement, this place was pretty good, the Energy Machinist Region was in charge of food and drink, and the living area was well-hidden enough. Even they did know which bunker they lived in, there was a teleport option on the computer, so everyone could come and go using just teleportation, which made things very convenient.
This also proved that most Energy Machinists stayed at home, cooping up at home to research things was evidently their favorite pastime, otherwise this place would not be designed like this.
"Most Energy Machinists are researchers, of course, if you meet a Modified Berserker, that is the direct opposite," said Sixth softly. "They are the only group of Energy Machinists who like to fight, they feel that war is the most basic motivation for the evolution of creatures. Among the Energy Machinists, they have at least more than half of the power."
Garen nodded.
"Alright, you guys go rest for now. Sinno, take better care of Sixth, I'll go look for that little fatty who helped us."
"Mn, okay. If possible, try to make friends with him," Sixth told him quietly.
Garen nodded and stood in front of the computer in the underground lab, choosing the option to get teleported out.
With a swoosh and a blurring of his vision, he was instantly back on the platform he was previously on, and it was still quite empty around him, with no one sight.
The little fatty that helped him just now seemed to be waiting for him purposely, standing at the teleportation point as he chatted to the person beside him, grinning widely. When he saw Garen appear, the little fatty instantly approached him with a laugh.
"Gad." He stretched out his hand.
"Garen." Garen stretched out his hand shook Gad's. "Thanks a lot for your help just now, or else I could have been in danger."
"It's no big deal, I just waited a little longer, that's all, it's nothing. I've always admired young people with potential who can get in trouble!" the fatty said with a chuckle. "So you don't have to worry about it."
"You helped me, and I'll remember that," said Garen calmly. "Tell me how to contact you, maybe next time I'll have a chance to help you."
"Aw, it's no fun to say it like that." The fatty waved his hand. "My favorite thing to do is make friends, my logic is that if anyone who can get in trouble and not die, then they are surely elites who can stand the trials of life."
"That is a very interesting theory you have there," Garen chuckled.
"Alright, let's go, no more delaying," said one of the pretty girls next to the fatty.
The fatty seemed to be slightly scared of this girl, and he nodded quickly.
"Alright, I'll be on my way, you do whatever you need to," he said softly.
Garen could tell that he had no intention of getting too close to Garen, and he would not even give his contact details, his helping Garen was a spur of the moment decision. So Garen did not say anything more, and gave way to let the three of them pass.
Together with the two beautiful girls, the fatty took a few steps forward, and they quickly faded and vanished with a whoosh, instantly transferring into the bunker and out of sight.
Garen stood on the spot and looked around him, and indeed, he did not see anyone else come out. Everyone stayed in their own bunkers, the whole area under the light blue protective barrier was completely quiet. Evidently, even the bunkers were soundproof, so that the whole place appeared to be deserted.
Garen stood on the teleportation point and looked around. There were countless bunkers around, squeezed together, at least several hundred if not a thousand, by rough estimates.
With a whoosh, that tall and thin middle-aged scholar showed up this time, and he still had that girl with coal-like skin beside him. The two of them maintained a strange distance, they were not too close, but neither were they too distant, so Garen had no idea what their relationship was.
As soon as the two of them appeared, they saw Garen next to them. The scholar smiled at him politely, and quickly took a few steps forward, disappearing from the spot with a whoosh.
Garen watched a few more Energy Machinists who were teleported there, each of them had Followers, and quite a few of them looked troubled, their expression dark. They were all evidently the type to consider every possibility, but at the same time they could maintain the basic pretenses of manners on the surface, and put on blatantly false masks.
He examined his surroundings for a while, and tried to walk out of this small teleportation point, but unfortunately it did not seem to work. The teleportation point was about five meters in diameter, and it was not a very large area. As soon as he stepped out of this area, he would be instantly sent back to his bunker. Garen did not dare to step back recklessly, and kept stepping forward instead, walking in circles. If he stepped back, that would mean going to the battlefield to earn military credit. He was not going to just rush into the battlefield without any prior knowledge of the situation there.
Since he had gotten all the information he could here, Garen went back to his own bunker, he just had to simply walk forward and out of the five-meter diameter to do that.
There was a computer in the underground room for searching information, and this computer was very strange. It was connected to a teleportation drawer, he just had to choose what he wanted on the computer, as long as it fell within the free one crystal range. Converted to the standard currency, one crystal could be exchanged for a hundred thousand Mother Planet Universal Units. A hundred thousand Universal Units was enough for an Energy Machinist to live here on the bare necessities for several years, given that they did not simply waste the money, of course.
Garen checked his account, the computer had been automatically connected to his own account. This one crystal was a free gift from the Energy Machinist Secret Area's Fifth Star Tower to all the Energy Machinists who entered here, but other than this one complementary crystal, he had also earned a bit in the shop. After all, after entering Level Three, his status had changed. A Level Two Energy Machinist earned two hundred crystals in salary every week, and Level Three Energy Machinists earned five hundred crystals. Garen had just paid off the debt he owed for the advance payment of the Energy Machine Imprint, and now he still had three hundred crystals left.
"Three hundred crystals left, that's enough." Garen took out two hundred crystals directly, and put them into his designated account in this bunker computer. He was going far away, into the special ability space, and it might be a long time before he could come back. On the other hand, the Sixth Divine Wind General needed to heal his wounds, so he had to stay here to avoid the dangers outside. These two hundred crystals would be enough for the two of them to live here for a long time, after all, this was equivalent to twenty million Universal Units outside, as long as they did not buy things without thinking, it would be enough to last them several decades or even a century.
"You're leaving?" Sixth was laid down on the black leather sofa in the hall by Sinno, quietly. He turned his head, and his eyes behind the black metal helmet stared straight at Garen, who was sitting in front of the computer.
"Yes, I need to know more about the way to progress from here as an Energy Machinist, my training method only goes up to Level Five, and I'm still missing a lot of basic prerequisites, it is way too hard to be self-taught in this field," replied Garen determinedly.
The Energy Machinist's Secret Area was only a temporary resting point for him, but to Sixth, this was the safest hiding spot. The Energy Machinists were unbelievably powerful, even the powerful factions among the pilots would never be able to oppose the Energy Machinists in this part of the galaxy.
"I will find a chance to take you with me," Garen told Sinno. "But I can't do it now. If you take care of Sixth here, though, he might be able to give you some tips."
Sinno always had plenty of faith in Garen, and when she heard that, she looked at Sixth. Along the way here, she had also noticed that this mysterious Sixth person was evidently very powerful. When he was in full health, he had even saved the mysterious Garen, anyone who could do that was basically untouchable and so high above her in her eyes. Now she had the chance to be taught by him, this was naturally an unprecedented opportunity for her!
"After you leave, I'll have to rely on her to take care of me. Don't worry, I'll help teach this child, but you better move fast. I'll be fully healed in ten years at the most, and if you don't return before then, I won't wait for you," said Sixth calmly.