1.21 The Harvest Above All Else

"One day," Wu Chen said, his tone carrying deep meaning.

"Awakening in one day" was perhaps the norm for plot characters. No matter how severe the injury, provided the medical treatment was appropriate, a single day within the base was sufficient for a full recovery. Of course, this was merely Wu Chen's hypothesis; whether it held true remained to be verified.

In the personal living quarters on the second floor of the base, Lin Baiyu lay quietly on the bed, wearing a VR headset. She was undergoing the "Shelter Enlightenment" that every player and plot character must experience—commonly known as the "fast-track worldview adjustment."

Before the Shelter fractured, such tasks were typically handled personally by Wu Chen's soul mate, Ennai. In the City of Fragments, however, the smart brain A.I. took over the duty, ensuring that all exclusive plot characters completed their mental metamorphosis as soon as possible, so they could be put to use by Wu Chen.

By a stroke of chance, Wu Chen had given Lin Baiyu the two pieces of nano-smart wearable gear that comprised the powered armor's combat suit: a KN95 protective mask and protective gloves. Moreover, they were genetically bound and could not be altered. For an ordinary person, lacking a full combat suit (a cockpit suit) not only prevented the powered armor from reaching its maximum efficiency but also made it extremely easy to injure the operator. Prolonged neural linkage, in particular, could trigger "sudden abnormal neuronal discharge," leading to acute conditions like seizures or strokes.

These abnormal discharges were especially prone to occurring during high-intensity combat, posing a grave danger.

Having completed the genetic binding and nano-molding inside the phone booth two days ago, this set of "powered armor combat gear" was now exclusive to Lin Baiyu. Consequently, the femme fatale Lin Baiyu would automatically transition into a "Powered Armor Warrior."

Originally, this vehicular powered armor, acquired through a second-tier upgrade, was Wu Chen’s exclusive armament. Thus, the AE86 chassis had been integrated with numerous functional units, including a "Powered Armor Cockpit," "Nano-Medical Pod," "Cryo-Sleep Pod," "Nano-Hive," "Medical Kit," and "Emergency Tool Kit."

The medical pod could treat combat trauma; the sleep pod could cryogenically preserve dying companions; the nano-hive could repair chassis damage; and the medical and tool kits each had their own utility.

It must be noted that the AE86 was almost certainly one of the core units of Wu Chen's exclusive Shelter. Not being able to utilize it to its maximum potential was, for Wu Chen, somewhat of a regret.

It all depended on whether Lin Baiyu, currently undergoing the base's "Shelter Worldview Fast-Track" training, could adapt quickly.

As a femme fatale, she was notoriously ruthless and would stop at nothing to achieve her goals. Her adaptability to new environments, and especially her survival instinct, should far exceed that of a normal person. "Using beauty to achieve one's goals is more sophisticated than using one's fists"—perhaps this was why Lin Baiyu’s star rating was higher than Kotal Vetriss’.

As Wu Chen’s Omega brainwaves recovered, the neural network was quietly reorganizing. Subtly influencing and correcting one's worldview was the great advantage of the brainwave network. As the citizens of the Shelter often said: "Harvesting is above all else."

Players must remember: the purpose of intervening in a plot world, interfering with, or even reversing the main storyline, is always to harvest benefits.

Seeing this clearly is a prerequisite for becoming a VIP player. It is obvious—if one does not harvest enough Shelter Coins, how could one ever become a VIP?

The super-alloy chassis, superconducting motors, micro-core batteries, and onboard super-brain acquired during the first upgrade had all been enhanced during the second. Benefiting from this more powerful hardware support, the smart brain A.I.'s capabilities had multiplied. Through big data processing, A.I. provided new suggestions for assembling the tidal platform.

First, the tidal platform could no longer be reverted. The quantum beacon carried by the alien aquarium was likely related to the "Sweeping Day." Referring to the Reaper rules, regardless of where the quantum beacon passed, the profit would far exceed that of the aquaculture farm remodeled by the "fat otaku," or even the tidal power station built by a previous player.

If the beacon led to a "Main Plot Fragment," the harvest would be in the thousands.

Wu Chen was well on his way to a fourth-tier upgrade for the AE86.

What was he waiting for?

At Wu Chen’s command, the drone swarm responded immediately. The alien aquarium, shattered by the Sweeping Day, was rapidly restored.

Platform assembly and system integration were tasks A.I. could perform with ease. Before sunset, the tidal sub-platform was successfully joined to the main bedrock platform. The twice-expanded "exclusive shelter (folded) space" increased geometrically—it was far from being as simple as 1+1=2.

Two drone stations maintained the main and sub-platforms respectively, while the platform base was under the sole control of the smart brain. Just like any high-tech facility, access permissions were divided from the top down. Wu Chen was the "Master" of the platform base, holding the highest authority. Next was the smart brain A.I., with "Administrator" privileges. Following that were the two followers, holding "User" access. Wu Chen’s friends, such as Baili Yan, held low-level "Guest" access. Transport drones and the like held the lowest "Transit" privilege, matched to all subsystems, including access control and databases.

The platform base for Baili Yan and the others was right next to Wu Chen's. Baili Yan’s was even directly connected to Wu Chen’s; entering the 0326 platform base was as simple as crossing the street. Their "partner link" under an "encrypted protocol" had never been interrupted. On the encrypted intranet, Wu Chen shared the useful data he had collected and organized with everyone in real-time. Baili Yan and the others benefited greatly and had their own gains as well.

Existence is the prerequisite for all things. The approaching Sweeping Day allowed for no negligence. The threat of death hung overhead, following like a shadow. For players in the City of Fragments, especially those in the Port District, the death knell was about to ring.

In the garage on the first floor of the main base:

"...Master." A slightly nervous voice sounded behind Wu Chen.

"You're here." Wu Chen replied with a warm smile.

"Does Master need something?" When saying the word "Master," Lin Baiyu was much more composed.

"Yes, please get in the car." Wu Chen opened the driver's side door.

Lin Baiyu expressed her obedience through action. Seeing Wu Chen sit in the passenger seat, a flash of panic crossed her eyes.

Wu Chen pointed to the cigarette lighter and smiled. "Press it."

"Wh-what?" Lin Baiyu was momentarily dazed. Was what was about to happen different from what she had imagined?

"Press it." Wu Chen did not notice the woman's anomaly.

Lin Baiyu was currently wearing the nano-combat suit that had originally belonged to Wu Chen. Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she gently extended her index finger and pressed the cigarette lighter.

Nothing happened.

Wu Chen said again, "Push it down."

"Mm." After all, Lin Baiyu came from a modern plot world and was no stranger to car cigarette lighters.

She pushed it down gently, and the change began.

An unknown metallic structure began to emerge from the cigarette lighter. It first covered her finger, then wrapped around her palm, and traveled up her arm, spreading across her entire body. Simultaneously, an endoskeleton emerged from the seat back, and power-assist boosters rose from the pedals... every part of the powered armor seamlessly integrated with the driver's seat. It was fluid and flawless assembly.

"Don't move, it will be fine," Wu Chen said, hurriedly soothing her as Lin Baiyu subconsciously tried to pull her finger away.

"Yes." It felt as if she were rapidly donning layers of metallic skin, or as if she were being repeatedly sprayed with a metallic coating. By the time she finished speaking, the assembly was complete.

Iris scan, biometric data binding, internal and external system connection, and full-body scan were all finished. The cockpit adjusted itself, and control programs were downloaded. Body-matching and fine-tuning began.

Lin Baiyu lay back in the cockpit, utterly shocked by the system screens flooding her vision. The high-tech gear, which surpassed her understanding, left her completely defenseless and utterly at a loss. She was utterly bewildered. Without realizing it, the driver's cab had quietly transformed into an armor pod, with its own shielding, separating it from the passenger seat.

Similarly, the passenger side had a similar structure, capable of sealing into a nano-medical pod. The rear passenger seats could also isolate themselves into cryo-sleep pods.

Not only the central console screen, but the entire windshield had become an LCD window, displaying the "Powered Armor Armament Progress" in a panoramic view.

The onboard smart brain was still the A.I. Wu Chen was familiar with—the same one that managed the platform base.

Meanwhile, the powered armor control A.I. was being built by A.I. simultaneously.

It was only natural that the first arming process took longer. Once the "armament progress bar" was completed and recorded into the system, the next arming would be a matter of an instant.

"Powered armor solidification complete, nano-swarm released," the smart brain A.I. reported in real-time.

"What is that for?" Wu Chen suddenly remembered the nano-hive hidden in the trunk.

"Equipment enhancement," A.I. said, being brief and to the point.

They watched as the nano-swarm, like a glowing thread of hair, entered the powered armor pod through the internal pipe network. The final reinforcement began.

A moment later, the drones brought over Lin Baiyu's "Beretta over-under shotgun."

Wu Chen was quite curious about how this antique would be compatible with the powered armor.