Brand-New Equipment 1/6 / A Not-So-Bratty Brat

Just like that, Bai Ye's life on Rhodes Island entered a fulfilling rhythm. His social circle was small, and he knew few people well; yet at the same time, he had become extremely well-known across the island. Most operators had heard, to some extent, of this newly appointed department supervisor.

Four more days passed. When Bai Ye received another reply from Miss Swire, Rhodes Island's Engineering Department notified him to collect the equipment he had ordered earlier.

Meanwhile, since Bai Ye visited the Caster Department every day to assist with testing and the development of Originium Arts, his personal staff had also been completed.

"It's time to get ready to leave."

Bai Ye stretched and settled on a departure date.

"Supervisor..."

In the office, Typing Girl looked grave after learning the news.

"Don't put too much pressure on yourself. I'm only going out to complete a simple field assignment." Bai Ye patted his assistant on the shoulder.

"What kind of supervisor personally goes out to handle field assignments...?" Typing Girl pouted.

Bai Ye had geniusly pioneered the most advanced "Monarch Offline System." As one of Rhodes Island's higher-ups, this supervisor of theirs was simply separating himself from the ship.

"Please make sure to return early." Typing Girl sighed.

Next, she would handle some insignificant little tasks.

Bai Ye had entrusted all of that to her. She could not let this supervisor down.

New Equipment

After handing over his work, Bai Ye gathered the higher-ups of External Operations for a small meeting.

The ideological work among his own people had to be handled properly.

First came ideals. The operators who came to work at Rhodes Island were already progressive in their thinking. Their ability to cast aside traditional hostility and discrimination against the Infected, and coexist with those whom others regarded as "outcasts," was itself a form of progress.

They were kindhearted, so as long as Bai Ye spoke of "this land," he had the right password.

With ideals established, the next matter was profit. As he had promised before, Bai Ye raised External Operations' salaries. He paid the difference out of his own pocket. Rhodes Island could not simply raise the wages of an entire department unilaterally; that would not be very fair.

Bai Ye even promised that if the messenger logistics business went smoothly, those operators far from their hometowns would be the first to receive the small privilege of communication. They would be able to contact home more frequently.

Thus, External Operations became united from top to bottom. Bai Ye successfully ensured that this department would have only one voice from then on. He did not want the operators under his command to start arguing after he left Rhodes Island.

Bai Ye also handed work over to his assistant. To a certain extent, she could represent him.

That way, he had nothing to worry about.

The miraculous "Monarch Offline System" no longer seemed as absurd and terrible as it had at first—oh, no, it should be called the Supervisor Off-Ship System...

If someone wanted to travel unhindered in this world, there were two ways. One was to possess unrivaled power. That power could be personal might, or a force gathered together, a political entity... In short, something that stood completely above others.

The other was to be tied to the interests of most people, with everyone's interests intertwined link by link, sharing prosperity and loss alike. To prevent their own interests from being harmed, most rational people would naturally clear the way for you.

As for those less rational people, those madmen, power was needed to "deal with" them.

Just as Bai Ye had considered before: who were his friends, who were his enemies, who could be won over, and who had to be dealt with...

Perhaps he still was not doing well enough, but that was all right. He was still growing, still improving. More importantly, he possessed a weapon that ordinary people lacked—his power.

For greater power, Bai Ye headed to the Engineering Department.

The equipment he had commissioned had passed testing in the workshop. Now, he only needed to perform the final weapon test and adjustments.

"Come in, quickly."

An Engineering Department craftsman pulled Bai Ye into Workshop No. 1.

On the workbench, Bai Ye saw his weapon. It was a one-handed straight sword, sharpened on one side, with a casting unit and energy-conducting device installed on the other.

Under the cold lights, the tip of the blade gleamed with a sharp, dazzling radiance.

Bai Ye placed a hand on the hilt. The weapon had been custom-made using fully collected data, fitting him perfectly. Bai Ye could sense that mysterious feeling of being connected to the weapon.

It was not an illusion. In truth, Bai Ye had already linked himself to his weapon. His mind was attuned to the casting unit, allowing him to wield the weapon as he pleased.

"We worked with the Caster Department to install an Originium Arts circuit here. You can directly cast the Originium Arts engraved on it."

The craftsman was clearly proud of the sword.

Bai Ye nodded. The equipment's information had already appeared on the game interface:

Unnamed

Quality: Purple

Category: One-Handed Sword—Originium Sword

Description: A sharp blade custom-made for you by Rhodes Island's Engineering Department. It contains a casting unit that can use Originium energy to enhance slashes and sword speed. It can also use Originium to carry your own Originium Arts.

Note: A gift from the Engineering Department.

"Please give her a name. I'll engrave it onto the hilt."

This craftsman seemed particularly fond of such rituals.

This was the final step of forging a sword.

Bai Ye was terrible at naming things. After all, he had grown up under an orphanage director, and everyone had already witnessed the old director's naming skills.

After thinking for a moment, Bai Ye said, "How about Arc Light?"

As soon as he spoke, the weapon name that had originally been Unnamed changed to Arc Light on the interface.

"Would you like to test it?" After registering the name, the craftsman looked at Bai Ye and asked.

Bai Ye gripped the hilt and lifted it lightly. Brilliant sword light immediately filled the entire workshop.

It was lighter than he had imagined.

"Arc Light... it actually suits it pretty well." The dense reflective effect of the Originium crystal made the blade exceptionally bright. Once Bai Ye connected to the Originium casting unit, he could feel energy gathering along the blade.

"Once the energy erupts, it can propel the blade, but be careful when using it. If you apply force incorrectly, you might break your hand," the craftsman explained from the side.

"Thank you."

Bai Ye sheathed the blade. He was very satisfied with this weapon. In his previous life, it had been quite difficult for Players to obtain a purple weapon.

Materials were scarce, and the craftsmanship was complex. The Engineering Department had only put so much care into this weapon because Bai Ye was a supervisor.

Afterward, Bai Ye went to the Caster Department.

There, Bai Ye received his first staff...

"This is the staff you were talking about?"

Bai Ye stared in surprise at the "staff" before him. It was clearly a Sword Sheath.

"The Engineering Department deliberately did not make a scabbard because they handed that job over to us," a researcher explained with a smile.

"This..." Bai Ye felt that something was not quite right.

"A staff is merely a name. It refers to a tool used for casting. Forget scabbard staffs—there are hammer staffs, shield staffs, whatever is convenient works." The researcher did not think much of it. He seemed to have noticed Bai Ye's doubts.

Bai Ye picked up the Sword Sheath and tried inserting Arc Light into it. Sure enough, it fit perfectly.

"You have not systematically studied Originium Arts theory, but your innate spell works very well with Originium."

"So we installed enough Originium units and flow-guiding devices inside the scabbard... blah blah blah..."

The researcher began endlessly explaining professional terms such as energy transmission, and Bai Ye felt his head swell.

According to the Caster Department's calculations, Originium could effectively amplify Bai Ye's spells.

If he had enough Originium, and if his magical talent continued to develop, he might even be able to produce Catastrophe-level destructive power with that amplification.

A humanoid Catastrophe.

Unfortunately, only processed Originium could be used effectively. The energy in natural Originium mines was too violent and difficult to control.

Obtaining new equipment meant that Bai Ye would soon leave Rhodes Island.

A Bear Cub Who Wasn't So Bearish

Bai Ye spent an entire afternoon familiarizing himself with his new equipment at the training grounds.

Though the blade fitted with an explosive propulsion device was somewhat difficult to handle, Bai Ye was an old Player. What strange equipment had he not used before? After a brief adjustment period, he was already able to control it with ease.

As for the Sword Sheath made as a staff... Bai Ye found it surprisingly sturdy. Even when not used for casting, it was incredibly useful for simply hitting people. That was an unexpected bonus.

After swinging the Sword Sheath around for training, Bai Ye discovered that he had unlocked a new skill: Armed Combat. It was a skill he had mastered in his previous life, but because its level had been low, he had not inherited it at the start. He had not expected to acquire it again by accident this time.

Near dinnertime, Bai Ye ended his training and submitted a repair request for Training Ground No. 5—while trying to develop a new application for his innate spell, he had made a mistake and cracked one of the training ground's walls.

After paying the repair fee, Bai Ye fled the scene as if running for his life—otherwise, if the Logistics Department operators caught him, he would get another lecture.

After dinner, Bai Ye returned to his dormitory to pack. In his previous life, he had often traveled long distances through the wilderness. For Players, it was one of the few ways to travel from one city to another Mobile City.

After all, one of the most criticized aspects of Arknights Online was that the game had no teleportation and no hearthstones. It was absolutely awful.

Traveling across the map relied entirely on crossing the wilderness. Even traveling from Victoria to Lungmen took Players half a month.

Still, one did not have to spend the entire journey in the wilderness—usually, travel across Terra involved moving through one mobile settlement after another. That allowed travelers to obtain supplies, the latest Catastrophe warnings, and the route and current location of the next Mobile City.

Though it was somewhat uncomfortable at first, and Players had to travel the map in advance just to take part in major version story events, they were eventually forced to get used to it.

Weaker Players could choose to travel with NPC convoys. The downside was that routes were limited, and the journey was intermittent. Once they reached the next Mobile City, they had to search for another route.

Stronger Players would buy their own vehicles and study routes themselves. This feat was initially jokingly called "graduation," though some weaker Players would also gather into massive convoys. Their sheer visual impact was so intimidating that even roadside bandits did not dare approach too closely.

From the latter half of the second version onward, Player guilds gradually grew stronger. The largest Player guilds developed their own convoys, capable of transporting Players, escorting goods, completing NPC commissions, and even exploring ruins and uncovering treasures.

Beyond that, in the later stages of the game, Players even obtained aircraft of their own.

Of course, this form of travel carried a certain degree of danger. One had to constantly monitor Catastrophe Messenger warnings. Otherwise, if bad luck led to encountering a Catastrophe, it would mean both vehicle and rider were destroyed. Losing levels and equipment might be tolerable, but crashing an aircraft was an incredibly painful loss! Those things cost real money.

Perhaps the comments would ask at this point, OceanCat, wasn't that unfair to Players elsewhere who could not participate in Archon Quests—no, world story events?

It was fine. After the world quest ended, instances would appear in other regions. These were teleportation crystals visible only to Players. The memory instances recreated the world quest's progression, allowing Players from other regions to experience the story and enjoy the various benefits brought by world quests.

After the limited-time instances closed, simplified permanent instances would appear across Terra, followed by high-difficulty instances.

The memory instance for which Bai Ye and TeaParty secured the first clear belonged to the highest difficulty of high-difficulty instances, and its final boss was "Talulah in the Heart".

As Players' levels and strength increased, instances that had once been difficult to clear would become easier. They could also discover all kinds of bizarre speedrun methods. Before Bai Ye transmigrated, a strategy group had even discovered a hidden achievement in Talulah's instance—defeat the boss while protecting Ursus civilians.

Bai Ye would not live to see the day Players obtained that hidden achievement. After all, he had already transmigrated...

Bai Ye naturally could not use an aircraft for this long journey, but he could receive the latest off-road vehicle from Rhodes Island, along with ample supplies.

In cities without a Rhodes Island office, he could use subsidies to purchase supplies. In cities with offices, it would practically be like returning home.

Miss Swire had helped Bai Ye tremendously again. She had prepared his entry permit for Ursus in advance, allowing him to travel without obstruction.

Bai Ye was very grateful to Swire and Chen. Their special status and authority allowed them to easily obtain resources that ordinary people struggled to acquire. In a way, this counted as living off women.

Although he could receive all kinds of supplies along the way, Bai Ye still habitually packed provisions into his inventory. It was a habit formed in his previous life. As a solo Player, he had encountered every kind of strange situation in the wilderness. Experience had taught him caution, and his preparations before departure had become increasingly thorough.

Players initially only had ten inventory slots, but their inventories expanded at levels twenty and forty. It was quite considerate.

"You're getting ready to leave?"

Bai Ye was busy organizing books on pharmacology and potion preparation to read on the road when Ifrit's voice came from behind him.

Turning around, he saw the girl peeking her way into his room. Looking here and wandering there, she was quite bold. After getting acquainted with him, she was not shy around him at all.

"I'm heading out on a mission." Bai Ye hung up the uniform he would wear tomorrow, then changed the window scenery projected by the holographic screen to night mode.

"That's nice. You get to go out and have fun." Ifrit looked at Bai Ye with envy. To her, the world outside Rhodes Island was endlessly exciting. Moreover, she yearned to prove her strength and ability outside.

Children always tried to prove that they had grown up.

Bai Ye shook his head but said nothing. He turned around, took a piece of chocolate from a jar, and handed it to the girl.

"This... is this for me?" Ifrit's eyes immediately lit up. Few people usually gave her candy.

No, in fact, anyone interacting with Ifrit was required to fully and practically understand all of that operator's basic information before speaking with her. As a result, there were not many people who could talk to her at all.

"Take it. Be careful not to let it melt." Bai Ye handed it over, only to notice that Ifrit's palm was somewhat hot.

"Don't worry about it." Ifrit waved a hand. She could not properly control her Originium Arts, and they often caused repeated ignition phenomena.