Namba Heavy Industries / Powah

Aside from a few highly specialized problems that required expert help, replicating the rest from his memory was not difficult.

With R.G. Industries, Rhodes Island, Lungmen, Nian and Gladiia, plus Luna who might offer assistance, we can definitely handle it.

The question, however, is whether Miss Melantha can accept this offer, and whether her parents, despite being wealthy, are truly willing to spend so much money on their daughter.

Bai Ye decided to talk to Melantha.

"Teacher, were you looking for me?"

Melantha wiped away her sweat, panting, her fair face flushed.

She had just finished training a set of sword techniques that Bai Ye had taught her, and she looked a little tired.

"Okay, let's rest today. Your body has reached its limit. Continuing to train will not only be less effective, but it may even affect your physical condition." Bai Ye nodded.

"Hmm—" Melantha, somewhat disappointed.

That's far from enough.

She's always like this; she can't do any better.

"Don't rush things. You're still young, and you have plenty of time." Bai Ye gently patted the girl's head.

The girl blushed and lowered her head.

"Well, if there were a way to make you stronger in a short time, strong enough to protect the members of Squad A4, would you accept it?" Bai Ye suddenly asked.

"Huh?!" Melantha was somewhat surprised.

For a moment, she even doubted whether she had misheard, or whether this was another test from her teacher.

Bai Ye's teaching of Melantha did not stop at physical strength; he also emphasized the cultivation of the girl's mind.

This is a swordsmanship training method originating from the Great Yan and the Higashi.

Therefore, Bai Ye often interrogates Melantha's heart, making her stronger.

Melantha initially thought the same thing would happen this time, but when she looked up, she found that Bai Ye was serious.

Perhaps because the promise of "protecting her companions" was too tempting, Melantha hesitated before nodding and asking, "Teacher, could you tell me what the method is?"

Bai Ye was pleased with the girl's trust, and then he offered his suggestion. "Have you ever considered becoming a pilot of Powered Armor?"

"Huh?" Melantha, somewhat puzzled.

"Well, what I mean is, Powered Armor can directly enhance your combat capabilities. If the armor is strong enough and you are proficient in operating it, you can even rival some Elite Operator in terms of combat power," Bai Ye explained with a smile.

"If you want to learn, I can teach you."

"But, teacher, all you've taught me so far has been swordsmanship... relying on external tools to improve myself... Waaah—"

Melantha muttered under her breath, then couldn't help but cry out in pain as Bai Ye tapped her on the head, not too hard, not too lightly.

Seeing his student clutching his head, Bai Ye smiled and said, "Silly child, isn't the sword in your hand also an external object?"

"Hmm..." Melantha nodded, it seemed to make sense.

"Do you remember what I told you in our first lesson on the northwestern ice plains of Ursus?" Bai Ye suddenly asked.

"Uh—'Holding a murder weapon requires awareness, and it is absolutely forbidden to do so out of vanity or curiosity'... Is that right?" Melantha tried hard to recall, and then remembered what Bai Ye had said before.

Bai Ye nodded and said with satisfaction, "That's right. What I wanted to teach you back then was not only to adjust your mindset, but also to change your understanding of the sword."

"A sword is just a sword, a weapon for killing, and it doesn't possess any so-called sacredness or symbolism. The same goes for Powered Armor; it's not something to be trifled with, and like a sword, it's for combat."

"Don't feel guilty."

Melantha nodded after listening to Bai Ye. She felt that every time she interacted with her teacher, her worldview would be shattered and then rebuilt.

However, repeated practice has proven that teachers are not wrong.

Melantha wanted to become stronger, so she wouldn't let this opportunity slip by.

"What do I need to do next?" Melantha asked curiously.

"Good question. You need to write to your parents first... and tell them to be ready to send you money."

"Huh?!"

Chapter 58 Nanba Heavy Industries

Bai Ye was certain that Miss Melantha was a wealthy woman.

But those were her family's assets, and actually had nothing to do with her personally. This Miss Melantha was just an "ordinary" girl who graduated from a private high school in Wessex after Oripathy and went to Rhodes Island for treatment.

Of course, parents' support is needed to purchase a "big toy" like Powered Armor.

"Teacher, may I write your name and comments in the letter? And what about... the Adventurers' Association?" Melantha suddenly asked from the side.

Bai Ye raised an eyebrow. "You know quite a lot."

"Hehe, because I'm quite concerned about the teacher, I've been collecting information on that." Melantha a little shyly.

Because of this, Melantha's roommate Kroos even thought that Melantha had a crush on Bai Ye —she spent all her time collecting stories about someone, and no one would believe that she didn't have a crush on him.

Perhaps Melantha did have such thoughts at first. After all, she came to Rhodes Island alone and was rather timid. Bai Ye, as her teacher, took care of her and was also powerful and handsome, which made it easy for Melantha to feel close to him.

However, Bai Ye was often away from home after that, and he had no time to teach his students. In addition, his relationship with Skadi was already common knowledge among acquaintances on Rhodes Island.

Melantha then gave up on this relationship that ended before it even began, and instead became more enamored with Bai Ye's strength and calm, composed demeanor in the face of adversity.

Bai Ye, of course, was unaware of his student's inner thoughts. He simply thought Melantha was very clever. Indeed, if she had mentioned in the letter that it was her teacher Bai Ye's opinion, Melantha's parents would probably have paid even more attention.

The reason is simple: Bai Ye's reputation is actually quite high. Not only as a scholar, but also as a prominent businessman, people know the weight of Bai Ye and his allies.

Leaving aside Northern Cross Logistics, which built its fortune on Players and Rhodes Island's numerous stations across the land, Nanba Heavy Industries has also grown into a behemoth in the last two years. When it was first established, it was just an empty shell, used to deceive the Ursus Empire.

However, Nanba Heavy Industries now monopolizes the equipment market for low-end Players by offering cheap and high-quality ordinary weapons.

In this respect, other weapons suppliers are not competitive, or they find that the market has been monopolized when they think about making a move.

Other methods have failed to solve this problem— Nanba Heavy Industries' headquarters are located in the Talulah March, the Core City of Chernobog, the "city of the infected and the undead."

Due to local protectionism and Talulah's favoritism, companies that aren't friends of Bai Ye aren't even allowed to set up shop in the Core City. And the military-industrial companies that do enter the Core City are completely outside the same industry as Nanba Heavy Industries.

Players can use Nanba Heavy Industries' products during their early stages and then switch to R.G. Industries' even stronger weapons once they become more powerful.

The Core City is where Players have the most traffic, and now when people talk about buying weapons, they think of going to the Core City.

Companies like Nanba Heavy Industries and Blacksteel International provide standard equipment, which is relatively inexpensive but offers mature products with guaranteed quality. Of course, they also offer rare, custom-made weaponry, the price of which is hard to say.

With this restriction in place, Bai Ye's industry has virtually no rivals in the same field.

As for the Lobotomy Institute? That's an expensive project, and it hasn't yielded any significant results yet, but it has been secretly helping Northern Cross Logistics and Nanba Heavy Industries solve many technical problems. It will also play a greater role in Bai Ye's "Mobile Base Station" and "High-End Equipment" plans in the future.

Besides Bai Ye's own businesses, the Core City he resides in and the Adventurers' Association he recently established are also heavyweights.

This is why Bai Ye's popularity isn't just among Players; it's also very high among the native inhabitants of Terra.

His words were indeed very effective with Miss Melantha's wealthy merchant parents. Putting aside their affection for their daughter, they would probably agree to her request just to please Bai Ye.

However, the fact that they were able to find Rhodes Island Pharmaceuticals, which was not very well-known at the time, after their daughter was infected shows that the two of them also care deeply for their daughter.

Bai Ye's help to Melantha was not merely to help his insignificant apprentice; he also wanted to prepare for Nanba Heavy Industries into the high-end equipment market.

Compared to those weapons, Bai Ye certainly knew that Powered Armor was more attractive to Players.

Strength is a matter of one version, but being cool lasts a lifetime.

Regardless of its strength, the ability to pilot Powered Armor is enough to attract Players —of course, this doesn't mean that strength is unimportant; on the contrary, strength is essential for Players to accept and pay for it.

However, no military industrial companies are currently selling this equipment to Players. By developing the Powered Armor first, Bai Ye can gain an advantage in this field. It can also be used to attract Players and trick them into working for them in later events.

Bai Ye would never admit that he was just itching to try out the Powered Armor —although for him right now, it was practically a toy.

Melantha went back to write a letter.

She'll probably have to figure out how to explain her transition from learning swordsmanship to learning to drive Powered Armor.

However, considering that she has an all-around amazing teacher, perhaps there's no need to dwell on this issue too much.

Gladiia, however, was somewhat puzzled. "You even invited me to advise on the design and construction of the Powered Armor... and these engineers and researchers you've brought in from all over the place—this kind of grand gesture isn't your style, just for an apprentice."

What are your plans?

Clearly, Gladiia didn't quite believe that Bai Ye would make such a fuss just for a disciple—she knew that military-grade Powered Armor already existed on land and was quite effective; if she wanted, she could simply buy it.

Bai Ye has no shortage of channels and doesn't need to go to such lengths.

Bai Ye looked at the sketch in his hand and smiled, "Because this is for Sargos's sake."

"Um?"

Gladiia remained calm, but waited for Bai Ye to continue.

What are your thoughts on the immortals?

"A unique race, completely different from other civilizations on land, and their spiritual level seems to have reached a very high level. Although they look similar, they are probably not the same civilization."

In recent days, Gladiia has also developed her own opinions about the Players.

Chapter Fifty-Nine: Throwing Tiles

Although she always spoke of the various races and civilizations on the land with the arrogance typical of the Aegir, Gladiia held the Players in extremely high regard.

She could sense, hidden beneath the Players' nonchalant, carefree, and boisterous facade, the arrogance of a higher-level civilization. It was a condescending gaze upon the inhabitants of Terra, but these Players concealed it so well that even the natives hadn't clearly noticed it.

Of course, it could also be due to the Players's natural sense of superiority over the NPCs in the "game," since in their eyes, the game is a box, and the Players is someone outside the box.

"And these guys won't die... which means they are, well, the kind you're talking about, 'fun people'."

In Gladiia's eyes, the Players had become a civilization that had transcended material needs, crossed the boundaries of life and death, and could indulge in the spiritual need for happiness at will.

"I never imagined that such a civilization existed on land..."

Bai Ye shrugged.

He almost burst out laughing, and it took him a long time to suppress it—although he had been trained to keep a poker face in the past, he had long forgotten about it after leaving the "Northern Cross Project" for six years.

Perhaps Gladiia has a misunderstanding about the Players community, or perhaps these people are too different from the natives of Terra, leading to a contrast and comparison... In any case, the Terra influence is severe.

"Therefore, the civilization that is so different from the nations of Terra will lead this group to have its own cultural identity. Although they may be temporarily opposed to each other because of their interests, they will stand together and become a natural army when needed."

Bai Ye's words surprised Gladiia, because she had never thought of it in this way before—after all, most of the time, Players are free-spirited and have unpredictable thoughts, making it difficult for Gladiia, as a military commander, to associate them with the army.

He's at most a bounty hunter.

"The undead possess unique methods of communication, allowing them to form organizations anytime, anywhere. What's even more terrifying is their sheer numbers." Bai Ye then smiled and looked at Gladiia. "How many of them do you think there are?"

Gladiia shook her head. She had only seen the number of Players on Rhodes Island, which, while considerable, was not a large number.

"The number of undead on this land may have approached 100 million (Note 1)."

Bai Ye didn't mention is that the game has around 15 million annual active Players. (Note 2)

This number is still before Luna promoted the concept of "games for everyone" and "second world." When later versions of Arknights Online are promoted as "second worlds," this number will further increase—of course, more non-combat Players will enter the game. These Players cannot be counted as Players combat power.

Gladiia's pupils contracted slightly; the number clearly shocked her.

On this land, no country could possibly muster an army of 100 million; it was utterly impossible. However, Players, who don't need to engage in production and can all fight, even if you remove a quarter of casual Players, non-combat Players, and Players skilled in crafting, their remaining combat power is still a terrifying number.

Fortunately, Players are now relatively dispersed and active all over the world. In addition, with the advent of teleportation mechanisms, they do not stay in one area for long, making it difficult to count their exact number.

Furthermore, these people don't seem very serious, lack threat, have self-destructive tendencies, and most of them like to court death and are silly. Therefore, although countries pay attention to the issue of the immortals, they do not put this issue at the top of their list.

If Players act as a unified force, it's unlikely that any nation would stand idly by.

Because this is a great power capable of conquering all nations.

Fortunately, Arknights Online is an MMORPG, not a Paradox Interactive game, and certainly not Command & Conquer.

Bai Ye looked at the Players engaged in a PVP duel on the deck below the bridge and said with a smile, "Before I understood the true nature of the Seaborn and the Swarm, I also had the idea of having the Undead fight against the Seaborn."

The Fourth Catastrophe fighting against the Zerg swarm sounds incredibly exciting.

Players can respawn repeatedly and increase their strength by defeating monsters. Although they cannot completely eliminate the Swarm Seaborn that have merged with the ocean, they can prevent the Swarm from spreading to the land.