Before long, a piercing alarm sounded beside Gwen's ears as he, having recovered in his dream, tried to leave the underground base.
Almost instinctively, the deeply sleeping Gwen sprang up from the bed, lowered his body, pressed himself against the wall, and warily observed his surroundings.
The piercing alarm abruptly stopped after Gwen woke up.
Clearly, the alarm had only been meant to wake the sleeping Gwen.
"...I just slept for ten hours... Did something happen?"
Glancing at the time on his wristwatch, Gwen muttered to himself. He had no intention of going back to sleep, so he tidied his clothes as he walked out of the bedroom.
After only a few steps, the somewhat illusory figure of Prometheus appeared before Gwen, her red eyes quietly watching him.
"Prometheus, you woke me up in such a hurry. Did something happen?"
From what Gwen knew of Prometheus, this AI left behind by the Previous Civilization should not have used an alarm like this just to wake him up.
"Detected fluctuations in the soil outside the base. Comparison with existing data indicates that the base has been discovered and is currently being excavated.
As the highest-ranking authority holder within the base, you must choose how to deal with those outside."
Prometheus did not waste words and gave him a concise, straightforward answer.
"They dug their way to us?"
Gwen was somewhat surprised by Prometheus's words—
At first, when he had not even known how he would survive, Gwen had wondered whether the geological changes of the past had failed to bury the base too deeply. Maybe someone would excavate it and happen to rescue him along the way. But that had merely been the wild imagination of a desperate man with no other path to survival.
Now that someone had truly stumbled upon this base and dug it up, Gwen could not help feeling a little relieved.
Of course, only a little.
As for the authority Prometheus had mentioned—
Although Gwen's identity and origins were unknown, Prometheus was a high-level AI, not a mere program that could only follow commands. She possessed her own judgment.
After successfully injecting the Hyper-Evolution Factor, Gwen had gone from an utterly ordinary volunteer to... an utterly ordinary Reserve Fusion Warrior.
Although a Reserve Fusion Warrior did not possess much authority, he had at least entered the system.
At a time like this, Prometheus, as an AI, did not have the authority to make decisions. A human had to issue the command.
At this moment, Gwen was undoubtedly the person for that role.
"Stay silent for now and see who those people outside are.
If they're friendly, we'll try to make contact.
If they're difficult to deal with, we'll slip out directly."
If this had happened half a year ago, Gwen would naturally have been tearfully praying for those outside to dig faster.
But now that he had resolved his survival crisis and even gained a little strength, Gwen was no longer thinking of welcoming a savior with food and drink...
At the very least, Gwen believed he had the ability to see who was outside before making a decision.
"Command accepted. Beginning execution."
Prometheus immediately carried out Gwen's command. The few lights that had been on went out at once, plunging the base into darkness.
If Gwen had not already become familiar with this small, ruined base and gained night vision, he might have had to awkwardly ask Prometheus to guide him.
Still, even though he did not need directions, Gwen spoke up—
"Prometheus..."
At the same time, less than ten meters above Gwen—
"According to the scans, the ruins are right below us."
After returning from the control room, the active B-rank Valkyrie Anna reported to the superior and friend in charge of this operation, the active A-rank Valkyrie Rita Rossweisse from headquarters.
I, Gwen, a Man of the Previous Civilization
"I see."
Rita smiled and nodded, looking at the synchronized report on the tablet in her hand with a serious expression.
"Anna, strengthen security measures.
This is at the edge of Schicksal's territory, where Anti-Entropy and other forces are active. We cannot keep the excavation completely secret, so remain vigilant against petty opportunists."
"Yes."
Anna nodded.
"The Shield Generator is ready, the demi-Herrscher units have been deployed, and the accompanying Valkyries are standing by. We are ready for combat at any time."
"Mm. The weather is poor today, and the satellites cannot keep the surrounding area under close surveillance. I'll have to trouble you all to be more vigilant."
Rita and Anna were fairly familiar with each other. They had interacted frequently when Anna had still been at headquarters. They could not quite be called close friends, but they were certainly friends.
However, they were currently at work. Rita maintained the proper boundaries perfectly. Her mannerisms were nearly unchanged, yet anyone could clearly tell that Rita was now in work mode.
"Yes!"
Likewise, although Anna considered her relationship with Rita quite good, she did not do anything unrelated to work during working hours. She maintained the same businesslike demeanor as she turned and left.
Another half hour later, the soil covering the ruins was cleared away by the equipment brought by the archaeological team. A gate, warped and twisted by the geological changes of ages past, appeared before the excavation team.
"The current local time is 3:12 p.m., October 15, 2013. Prepare to open the ruins. Shield Generator, Valkyries, mecha troops, prepare for combat."
Once all preparations were complete, Rita, who was overseeing the excavation, glanced at the time on her terminal and issued the final order through the communications channel.
A chorus of acknowledgments answered through the comms—
"Yes!" *N
Schicksal—or rather, the major organizations of the current civilization—were all extremely enthusiastic about excavating Previous Civilization ruins and protecting its heritage. Schicksal, with Void Archives and Fu Hua, was particularly outstanding in this regard.
However, neither Void Archives nor Fu Hua could provide absolutely accurate information. As a result, Schicksal had suffered quite a few casualties during previous excavations due to the defensive mechanisms inside the ruins.
Thus, archaeology was a dangerous profession in this world.
For that reason, Schicksal had developed much supporting equipment. One of the tasks assigned to Rita, the special envoy sent from headquarters for field experience, was to test the performance of these devices.
The gate, which had long lost its original function, was quickly broken apart and completely dismantled by Schicksal's archaeological equipment. The ruins were finally laid completely open before the Schicksal personnel.
However, neither Rita and Anna, the Valkyries responsible for supervision and security, nor the researchers who had come to assess the value of the ruins entered immediately. Instead, they sent specialized robots inside to scout the situation.
The moment the ruins' gate was opened, Gwen put away the alien music player whose display was glowing faintly red.
"The base gate has been destroyed. Machines have entered the base and are currently exploring it."
A faint glow lit up as Prometheus appeared before Gwen once again, reporting the current situation.
Gwen did not know whether it was merely his imagination, but he felt that Prometheus, still wearing the appearance of an emotionless little girl, had changed in some way compared to earlier.
"Bring up the footage, Prometheus. Let's see who has welcomed us into this world."
Without pursuing the source of that feeling, Gwen was now curious about the people—or rather, the organization—that had opened these ruins.
Had an ordinary archaeological team accidentally opened the ruins? Or had the "archaeological teams" of those massive organizations from his memories entered this place?
Gwen would have to explore everything himself.
"Alright."
Prometheus nodded and waved a hand, bringing up the nearest surveillance feed and displaying the figure of the uninvited guest who had entered the base.
"..."
After studying the strangely shaped robot for a moment and noticing the markings on its body, Gwen reached a conclusion.
This was Schicksal's archaeological team.
"You seem to have recognized their identity."
Prometheus's voice appeared directly in Gwen's mind rather than being played through speakers and transmitted through the air to his ears.
During the past half hour, Gwen had given Prometheus a choice: remain in this base and wait for an unknown future, or leave with him.
Although the first batch of "junk" from the system had contained little of use to Gwen besides food and water, after a round of "gold panning," he had found something whose style was obviously different from the rest of the "junk."
After studying it briefly, Gwen had unexpectedly discovered that he possessed access rights to the blue-and-white alien music player. He had also figured out where it came from—
It was a standard military and police summoning device used on Ares Star, which possessed governing authority over Ginga.
Since Gwen only had the summoning device and no cassette, he could not use the Ares Police Armor. However, he could still learn the knowledge stored within it.
Aside from its armor-summoning function, the device was also an absurdly capable computer and storage unit—
Although its capabilities in that regard were inferior to the yellow, game-console-like summoning device of another deputy-general armor set, it could still easily store the complete Gene Codes of more than a dozen Ares Imperial Guard soldiers and transfer them instantly.
During those half hours, Gwen had spoken with Prometheus and successfully tricked... ah, no, abducted... ahem, persuaded her to choose to leave the base with him.
Prometheus had been skeptical that this device, which looked technologically advanced but also resembled nothing more than an MP3 player, could contain her program.
But after all her programs had been transferred into it, Prometheus no longer questioned it.
Because she had entered the summoning device, Prometheus's voice could now appear directly in the mind of Gwen, who had established an energy connection with it.
However, after asking her question, Prometheus did not wait for Gwen's answer before continuing with another.
"How do you plan to deal with them?
Will you allow them to enter, or...?"
"...Do nothing. Just wait for them to discover me."
Gwen, who had already worked out his background story with Prometheus during the past half hour, said after some thought.
"After all, my identity is suspicious to begin with. If I act too welcoming, it'll only make me more suspicious."
Inside Gwen's pocket, the red light on the summoning device's display flickered briefly before finally dimming.
Contact and Attack
Inside the base, Schicksal's exploration robots advanced slowly, continuously sending the information they gathered back to the surface.
"Based on the current scan results, these ruins are relatively well preserved. Although part of them has been damaged by geological changes, the remaining sections are still operating."
The analysts rapidly examined the information sent back by the robots and said,
"However, judging from certain traces, there appear to have been human activities within these ruins, and they do not seem to have occurred very long ago."
"..."
Upon hearing this news, everyone in the tent looked somewhat displeased.
Experience showed that obvious traces of human activity within Previous Civilization ruins meant someone had entered them before.
Whether the ruins had been too damaged and had been breached by grave robbers at some unknown time, or whether another force had entered them, the gains available to later excavators would be greatly reduced.
"It's fine. Don't let such a small matter affect you."
Noticing that everyone's mood had become somewhat unsettled, Rita spoke up.
"No matter what, successfully excavating a Previous Civilization ruin means everyone here has merit, not fault."
"Yes." *N
Since even Rita from headquarters had said so, the others temporarily set aside their worries and continued with their work.
Inside the base, one of several robots arrived before a well-preserved gate.
After scanning it and discovering that it was still being supplied with energy and functioning normally, the robot's mechanical arm shifted. Its laser weapon charged, ready to forcibly dismantle the gate—
Clearly, Schicksal did not possess the authority of Fire Moth from the Previous Civilization. Faced with a gate that was still operational, forcing it open was the only choice.
However, just as the remote operator on the surface was about to act, he instinctively cried out.
"There's someone here?"
"Hmm?"
In an instant, the worker drew the attention of most of the people in the tent, and their gazes turned toward the screen before him.
On the display, a gate slowly opened, revealing a brightly lit room and a black-haired, black-eyed man sitting in a chair directly facing the entrance.
Looking at the robot bearing Schicksal's insignia, Gwen spoke calmly.
"You are already using machinery of this level to excavate ruins?
It seems your civilization has developed quite well."
"Is this... a human from the Previous Civilization?"
Before you continue