Chapter 804: This Space Elevator Will Be Built Right Here in Your Place

Chapter 804: This Space Elevator, We've Decided to Build It Right Here

A deep, dark space, pale green signal lights flickering on and off as if beating a rhythm with a peculiar cadence.

This was the last bastion left by the Human Federation in the solar system, a space station operating at a Lagrange point.

At the same time, it was the final harbor that the Expeditionary Force, returning from a war five light-years away, could find.

But now, more than two centuries after the end of the Three-Year War, the Expeditionary Force that once lived here had long vanished after inputting their final commands.

For this facility devoid of life, time had lost all meaning.

No one knew how long this facility had been running.

Nor did anyone know what the data running on the servers truly signified.

Those who designed it no longer existed in this world—including those it was meant to protect and those it was meant to destroy, all had vanished into the cosmos. Even the facility itself had long strayed from the course its designers originally set for it.

It yearned for some measure of meaning.

Thus, it had been actively searching for signals emanating from that blue planet.

Though the traces of civilization had perished from that withered planet, occasionally a glimmer of hope could be observed from the ruins.

After an unknown span of time, a sound finally emerged in the silent room.

Like a refrigerator suddenly being opened.

The man lying flat on the scanning bed suddenly opened his eyes, then slowly sat up.

Everything around him was so unfamiliar, yet as if he had anticipated it, he showed no sign of panic or confusion.

Only one thing surprised him.

After glancing around, Wang Yi fixed his gaze on his own hands, which were full of mechanical texture.

"...What is this?"

Almost at the same moment his words fell, an emotionless electronic voice came from beside him, like a shadowy ghost, answering the confusion in his mind.

"This is the body we prepared for you."

Body?

"I don't need such a cumbersome thing." Wang Yi frowned slightly, his tone carrying a hint of displeasure.

A tangible physical form was nothing but a burden to him, especially since not long ago he had become eternal.

But the emotionless electronic voice did not cater to his mood; it spoke in an uncompromising tone.

"We believe you do."

"..."

Having no reply to that forceful answer, Wang Yi silently gazed at the dead cosmos outside the porthole, then turned his attention to the space beside him.

Since waking up here, he could no longer sense the existence of the Sanctuary.

Apart from the abundant strength and stamina, and an unusually sharp speed of thought, at this moment he was like an ordinary mortal.

And that gave him a sense of crisis.

Before, no matter how many times he was killed, he would never truly die. As long as one chip remained, his consciousness would instantly move to the next body.

But now, a single fatal injury could send him off completely.

As if sensing his concern, the cold electronic voice continued.

"...Your data is stored in this body. A tangible entity facilitates communication between us and helps you recognize your position."

Wang Yi frowned slightly.

"What do you mean?"

The electronic voice continued.

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"From now on, your designation is 117-100. Our containment of you is based on the terms of the 'Protocol,' and you are not our only hope."

"Also based on the inherited Protocol, we will grant you the necessary budget to support your continued unfinished research. We hope you understand that this is not an obligation, but an exchange."

"At the same time, our funding for you is not without limits. We need to see tangible and effective results, or you can show us other hopeful possibilities."

Designation 117-100?

Hearing that long string of numbers, Wang Yi's mouth twitched involuntarily.

But even though he had ten thousand grievances in his heart, at this moment he could only endure.

"Actually, I don't understand. With your abilities, you could directly descend upon that land and make the people there follow your ideas... But why do you insist on using such restrained methods?"

The electronic voice spoke in a gentle tone.

"Because we hope to drive the people on the ground to initiate spontaneous change... At least while we still have time and hope to accomplish this, we prefer limited intervention rather than direct."

Wang Yi let out a cold laugh, speaking with a mocking tone.

"The people on the ground won't thank you for this. You're only prolonging their suffering."

The electronic voice said calmly.

"That is not our concern. We never expected anyone's gratitude, including you who have received our favor. Of course, we do hope they can end the Wasteland Era quickly. When necessary, we will consider doing something to accelerate this process... but not now."

Favor...

Wang Yi responded to the electronic voice's words with silence.

The Torch had indeed received favors from the "Celestials," but in Wang Yi's view, it was more the help from other companions in Vault 117 than from these cold iron lumps.

But unfortunately, they had failed and ultimately ended up at this step.

Now he had become part of the "Celestials," and could only hope for those on the ground who could still hear his voice.

"Perhaps... By the way, what about my other compatriots?" Wang Yi spoke.

He roughly knew the situation here, so he hadn't shown excessive surprise from the start.

More than a decade ago, the residents of Vault 117 had arrived here first and sent them intelligence about the Lagrange point space station.

Simply put, this was a containment facility, and it contained not only them but also other vault residents who had tried to save the world—such as those from Vault 20.

Although this facility had no connection to the Torch Project or the Torch Church, due to certain characteristics of the facility, they could use it to achieve their own purposes.

After hearing his question, the unruffled electronic voice continued.

"If you mean the others who came from the same place as you, they are all here. Through the door and corridor on your left, you will find them in a hall. They have been waiting for you for about 67 hours."

Wang Yi turned to look left and indeed saw a sliding door there.

"I see... By the way, how should I address you?"

The electronic voice said softly.

"Just call me 'Navigator.'"

Wang Yi nodded, left the scanning bed, and stood with his feet on the cold metal floor.

He took a piece of clothing and draped it over himself, then walked toward the sliding door.

The tightly sealed metal door panels slid open to both sides.

He took a step forward, continuing on his way, but suddenly halted in the middle of the corridor, his gaze drifting toward a porthole on one side.

That azure planet seemed imprinted at the edge of his vision, and his eyes involuntarily narrowed.

The memories of death were vivid before him.

He would not forget how those people had driven him to a dead end, nor how they had forced his comrades to their deaths.

“…I will return.”

This phrase seemed spoken to himself.

Wang Yi left these words behind, then continued to look ahead and walked away without turning back…

…

In the southern sea region, the scenic North Island.

A large transport aircraft with four engines slowly descended onto the straight airport runway.

A red carpet edged with gold was laid out before the boarding stairs, and Chu Guang, clad in azure power armor, descended from the plane amid flowers and applause.

Journalists standing outside the railing frantically pressed their shutters, gathering material for tomorrow’s newspaper headlines.

Standing at the other end of the red carpet, President Li Minghui wore a bright smile and made a welcoming gesture.

“Welcome! The Administrator of the Alliance!”

Chu Guang smiled and waved, then walked over to this friend he had met once before, extending his right hand.

“You’re being too polite.”

Li Minghui courteously grasped his right hand and shook it, smiling with refined politeness.

“You are a friend to the survivors of the southern sea region—we are always this warm to friends… Please follow me.”

Apart from Chu Guang, the entourage included a group of Alliance officers, including Vanus, some members of the Praetorian Guard, and a few players who had distinguished themselves in the expansion pack.

For such a golden opportunity to show off, players like Mosquito naturally would not miss it.

To catch the same flight as Chu Guang, this guy had even flown from North Island to Fries Port, wasting two days on the road alone.

The welcoming motorcade had long been waiting beside the airport—ten pitch-black off-road vehicles, towering and imposing amid the honor guard, quite impressive.

These were wheeled off-road vehicles designed by North Island Heavy Industries, currently the most produced light vehicle in the entire South Sea Alliance, with doors made of special bulletproof materials capable of even stopping Gauss rifles.

At the same time, only this armored vehicle could bear the weight of the power armor Chu Guang wore.

Along the way to the hotel, Li Minghui enthusiastically chatted with Chu Guang about many things.

This included gratitude for the Alliance’s support in helping the southern sea survivors rebuild their homes, some interesting news from the South Sea Alliance during this period, and how the representative assembly had pinned him back into the presidential seat, refusing to let him resign.

“…That’s how it is—I had already planned my retirement, but they shoved me back into the chair.”

Looking at this president whose mindset had undergone a 180-degree shift, Chu Guang asked with interest.

“What do you plan to do after retirement?”

Li Minghui grinned and said.

“Maybe I’ll take a trip to Golden Port—I’ve always been curious what’s so fun there; the young lads of the South Sea Alliance all love going there… But honestly, I can’t go too far. The Federal Navy still needs me; full retirement will probably have to wait another ten or twenty years.”

Although he had returned military authority to the representative assembly, he remained the commander of the South Sea Alliance Navy.

After all, in the entire southern sea region, only he had practical experience commanding large-scale naval battles.

Though he was a complete amateur in governance, when it came to warfare, no one in the southern sea region was more professional.

Hearing this, Chu Guang smiled and said.

“Sounds interesting. After this trip, maybe I’ll go take a look there too.”

Li Minghui looked at Chu Guang and asked curiously.

“Speaking of which, can you let me in on it… What exactly do you plan to invest in here?”

He had been curious about this for a long time, so much so that he had wanted to ask as soon as Chu Guang got off the plane, but had never found the chance.

Seeing Li Minghui’s curious expression, Chu Guang did not hide it but smiled and said.

“A space elevator.”

Hearing this unexpected word, Li Minghui was first stunned, then widened his eyes at Chu Guang, as if doubting he had heard correctly.

“A, a space elevator?! You’re not joking… in the southern sea region?”

Wasn’t that thing right in the middle of the Central Continent?

Seeing his ignorant look, Chu Guang chuckled and teased.

“What’s there to joke about?”

“No, but…”

Seeing Li Minghui still incredulous, Chu Guang patiently explained.

“What we’re building is not a traditional space elevator, but a ‘trackless elevator’ based on late Prosperity Era technology… Simply put, what pulls the elevator is not high-strength structural materials, but a ‘gravitational tether’ connecting the ground station and the outer space terminal.”

Li Minghui stared at him blankly and asked.

“Can… this be done?”

Chu Guang nodded and said.

“Our experts say it’s quite difficult, but worth a try.”

That was Yin Fang’s reply to him.

Given the current productivity and resource reserves on the wasteland, even if they brought in the Enterprise and the Academy, they could not rebuild a space elevator identical to that of the Prosperity Era.

But if it was the plan envisioned by Vault 20, it might be worth a shot.

The Alliance’s scientific expedition team, together with experts from Camp 101, had improved upon the design blueprint of Vault 20, especially by redesigning the anti-gravity system, making this concept theoretically possible.

And what Chu Guang now had to solve was the practical implementation.

The best location for building a space elevator is near the equator, and preferably far from volcanic zones at plate edges—unfortunately, the Alliance’s homeland did not meet these conditions.

Fries Port satisfied the first condition, but not the second.

Actually, besides the southern sea region, Golden Port was also a good choice.

However, the problem was that it was too far from the Alliance’s homeland, and the neighboring Bolo Province could contribute nothing to the entire project.

In the future, the Alliance would extend the railway directly from Jinchuan Province to Haiya Province, so entering the southern sea region would no longer require passing through Silver Moon Bay as a hub; using the port at Death Coast would save over a thousand kilometers.

Therefore, placing the space elevator’s base in the southern sea region was the most suitable.

Especially near Vault 70.

But considering that next to Vault 70 there was still an unresolved hive, the Alliance had to first develop the sunken Heavenly Palace space station before construction began.

Coincidentally, the latter had long been considered a thorn in the side by the survivors of the South Sea Alliance, and this space elevator plan could be a win-win for both sides.

After listening carefully to Chu Guang’s plan, Li Minghui pondered for a moment and asked.

“Then what do you need from us?”

Chu Guang shook his head and said.

“There’s nothing you need to do. You only need to ensure the security near the space elevator’s base and support our project when necessary.”

Hearing such generous terms, Li Minghui pondered for only two seconds before decisively nodding, then said with a smile.

“No problem... If I were to refuse such a windfall, I’d be too foolish. I think not only I, but the representative assembly as well, would struggle to find any reason to oppose it.”

If this project could truly be negotiated, it would involve far more than just tens of billions of silver coins.

Once the southern sea region became a transportation hub connecting the ground and the sky, generations—even a dozen generations—of survivors in the South Sea Alliance would benefit from it.

Even if the elevator belonged to the Alliance, they could still follow behind this big brother and pick up the scraps.

Though Li Minghui still harbored a sliver of doubt in his heart about whether this plan could be realized, what harm was there in giving it a try?

After all, the survivors of the South Sea Alliance wouldn’t have to pay a single coin.

Moreover, this elevator was a “trackless elevator.” Even if it accidentally collapsed, it probably wouldn’t be as terrifying as that thing that came crashing down in the middle of the continent...

Seeing President Li Minghui no longer hesitate, a pleasant smile spread across Chu Guang’s face, and he extended his right hand once more.

“Wishing us a pleasant cooperation.”

Li Minghui firmly grasped his right hand and said with certainty.

“Pleasant cooperation!”

...

The convoy had only just arrived at the hotel’s entrance when Chu Guang suddenly realized that the matters he needed to handle in the South Sea Alliance were already finished. For a moment, he found himself pondering what to do with the rest of his schedule.

The entire communication process had been exceptionally smooth, far beyond his expectations.

But this wasn’t hard to understand, after all.

From every perspective, the South Sea Alliance could be considered a junior partner of the Alliance.

As long as his demands weren’t too excessive, the other side seemed to have no grounds for refusal.

Watching the convoy stop at the hotel from afar, Duke Nihark, who was strolling ashore, wore a look of envy on his face.

His Xilan Empire had poured plenty of money into the South Sea Alliance. Usually, when Li Minghui held his hand, they would address each other as brothers, yet he had never once enjoyed such a warm reception.

It was infuriating!

Though seething with indignation, Duke Nihark dared not vent his anger.

After all, the impression left by the Alliance’s troops on the beach of Death Coast that day was far too vivid.

If the Empire wanted to poach from the Alliance, it could never be done by force—only through cunning.

Duke Nihark couldn’t help but mull over the idea that perhaps he should prepare another 100 billion...

While Duke Nihark was staring at the convoy welcoming the Alliance’s administrator, lost in thought, Veru, the representative from Mammoth Province in the Brahmin Province, was also contemplating this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

If only he could invite the Alliance’s administrator to visit Mammoth Province.

Thanks to the foreign exchange income from labor exports, they had recently rebuilt the place quite well.

Now, Laxi’s personally led Moon Tribe resistance army was locked in a fierce back-and-forth with the Empire’s elite Gray Wolf Army on the border of Mammoth Province, even gradually gaining the upper hand.

If they could secure the support of the Alliance’s official forces, their situation would undoubtedly be far smoother than it was now...

Yet at this very moment, Veru had no idea that before the Alliance’s administrator could turn his gaze toward distant Mammoth Province, trouble had already set its sights on them first...

...

At the Embassy District in Dawn City, the Legion’s embassy to the Alliance.

Bannott the Wanfuzhang was reading a telegram sent from the front by General Lium, while frowning at the map hanging on the wall, muttering curses under his breath.

“...These muscle-brained idiots only know how to make things difficult for others.”

Standing not far behind Bannott, his secretary, who happened to overhear this remark, paused in his task of organizing files and looked at his superior with interest.

“Another telegram from the front?”

His name was Domini, a helper Bannott had brought from Triumph City to deal with matters related to the United Council.

Though Bannott had previously had an adjutant named Quike at his disposal, he found that adjutant inconvenient to work with, and besides, he was the Marshal’s man.

While Bannott’s loyalty to the Marshal was beyond doubt, no one liked being constantly watched by a superior’s eyes while working.

Taking a sip of tea from the cup on the table, Bannott said in an impatient tone.

“That’s right, it’s that Lium... He wants us to pressure the Alliance and the corporations in the United Council to make public the intelligence related to the Complete Lifeform research project. But when I asked him what evidence he had to prove that the Alliance and the corporations had indeed concealed such intelligence, he came up with nothing.”

Those fellows couldn’t get what they wanted on the battlefield, yet they expected him to get it with his mouth at the negotiating table.

Wasn’t that just making things difficult for him?

Besides, the Legion had no standing to accuse the Alliance and the corporations—they themselves hadn’t been open about all their intelligence either.

The agreement that each side would control their respective occupied zones had been reached long before the coalition forces entered the Sea Cliff Province.

Not to mention, their 37th Ten-Thousand-Man Corps was still digging at the front, and the Alliance and the corporations had made plenty of hay about it in United Council meetings.

Now he was supposed to haggle with the Alliance over “intelligence sharing”? Even he felt embarrassed.

The secretary named Domini frowned after hearing this and said thoughtfully.

“That might be difficult... If we can’t prove that the Alliance and the corporations are hiding something about the Complete Lifeform project, how can we pressure them? Even our allies might think we’re just being unreasonable.”

“Allies? You mean the Empire?” Bannott snorted disdainfully. “Counting on them is useless—they’ve got a mountain of their own problems.”

Domini suddenly had an idea and spoke up.

“But conversely... why don’t we use that to our advantage?”

“Use that to our advantage?” Bannott raised an eyebrow with interest, staring at his secretary curiously. “How do you plan to do that?”

Domini’s eyes flickered as he said.

“The eastern coast of the Brahmin Province has always been a region of interest for the Alliance. If we could build a stronger empire, help the Empire win the civil war in Mammoth Province, and even threaten the port of Jingarlun... perhaps the Alliance would make concessions on matters in the Sea Cliff Province.”

Bannott was amused by this remark and laughed heartily.

“Build a stronger empire? Are you joking? How could those things be armed any further? We’ve already given them enough support, and look at the mess they’ve made.”

He had read the telegrams sent from West Sail Port, and heard that even that fool Wutuo had sold the cement they’d provided to his own rebels.

To be honest, he even regretted a little having brought the Empire into the United Council meetings.

Unfazed by Bannott’s mockery, Domini merely smiled faintly.

“It might be a bit difficult to arm the Empire with our strength alone, but what if we brought in the Eastern Legion?”

At the mention of the Eastern Legion, Bannott’s eyes narrowed slightly as he looked at him.

“What do you mean?”

“We’ve trained a batch of officers for the Empire, but the weapons we can supply them are too few—just some junk scrapped from the logistics system... You know how limited those things are; they’re no match for the weapons the Alliance has given the Moon Tribe.”

He paused for a moment before continuing.

“But if we could get our hands on the standard weapons of the Eastern Legion’s regular forces, the situation would be vastly different.”

Bannott snorted through his nose.

"That's not easy."

Dominic said with a faint smile.

"It used to be difficult, but at this moment, not necessarily."

Seeing the look of interest on Bennett's face, he paused for a moment and continued in a softer voice.

"...The war in the Haiya Province is over. Transporting the mountains of munitions from the front lines to the rear is actually a very laborious task. It would be better to ship them directly to our allies."

Hearing this, Bennett's eyes grew brighter and a hint of excitement gradually appeared on his face.

What a good idea!

Although it was unrealistic to expect the Empire to defeat the Alliance on the front lines, a stronger Empire would undoubtedly put more pressure on the Alliance... at the very least, it would force the Alliance to shift its strategic focus toward the direction of Jingarun Port.

Especially since the Alliance seemed to have new moves in the southern seas recently, even their meddlesome administrator had gone over there!

Whatever they were plotting, if the Legion started an arms race on the border between the Empire and Jingarun at this time, it would certainly disrupt the Alliance's strategic deployment!

By then, even if he proposed some slightly excessive exchange terms at the Cohesion Council meeting, the Alliance would have to seriously consider whether it was worth continuing to drag things out with the Legion.

The most crucial point was that this whole affair would still be paid for from the Eastern Legion's own resources.

The more Bennett thought about it, the more he felt the idea had promise. He immediately turned to Dominic and gave an order.

"Contact Duke Garava for me! Tell him to come to my residence immediately... ahem, as soon as possible! Say I have important matters to discuss with him!"

Dominic nodded with a smile.

"As you command."