TheRandomBlueCat
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Corpo Age - Chapter 246: Imminent
🕑 Added 2024-12-18 19:27:58 +0000 UTCAN: Just a reminder incase you haven't seen my announcement post, there will be no chapters on the 25th to 27th. Have a happy holiday season!
Thanks to the eager pilots, we didn’t have much time before the space trials got on its way. I returned inside the shipyard to the monitoring room that oversaw the test. People specially trained in their roles were there to take charge, so I was relegated to a simple spectator.
As exciting as the words space trials sounded, the majority of the test was quite mundane. The test crew was tasked with going over a long checklist of things, cycling through various systems. They were then instructed to do the simplest of tasks, like turning the ship a few degrees or decelerating to a stop.
While they did the boring part, I took the liberty of checking on our gaming department. I accessed the logs and conversed with Lanus about our business’s current trends.
“Lanus, did you fulfill Ferrumus’ request to give that spoiled brat the items and info she wanted?”
“Affirmative. Objective completed seven hours and fifty-two minutes ago.”
I doubled checked the account in question myself to confirm. The young corpo seemed to be quite the active player with several thousand gold coins to her account. It was an amount that took a week of nonstop playing to make, and that was only assuming if done in the most efficient way possible.
Of course, her records showed she purchased that currency instead.
Having my attention brought to the game money, I then pulled up the data about the virtual economy Lanus was managing.
It appeared the value of the virtual currency was being managed perfectly, retaining its value over time despite having the option to buy the currency with real credits. Lanus did this by adjusting numerous aspects of the economy in real-time.
As a result of the stable game currency, more and more people began willing to loosen their pockets and exchange their real money with our fake money.
I don’t think this would’ve been possible without the help of an AI like Lanus. I can’t thank myself enough for having created such a resourceful assistant.
“Sir?” a voice called out to me, bringing me back to reality. “Sir, are you okay?”
“Hmm, oh yes. What’s up?”
“The space trial is done, sir. Are there any special instructions for us?”
“Oh, no. I trust that all of you haven’t left any stones unturned.”
Soon, the ship returned to the shipyard and a final inspection began. It was going to be carefully scrutinized for the slightest problem that could arise.
I took this opportunity to join the inspection crew, so I could tour my new ship.
Inside, cold metal corridors could be seen, much like many of the other ships I’ve been to. I got to check out the readings at the central core that provided the vessel with its power and the life support systems that oversaw everything.
I only stayed at these places for a brief moment, as the inspection team was there to do a more detailed investigation. As for me, I made my way over to the section of the cargo area where my workshop was set up. I marveled at the equipment and tools at my disposal despite it being a spacecraft.
Satisfied, I exited the place and returned to our company residence.
Just like I had done back on the planet, I needed to board the ship discreetly if I was to throw any third-party observer off my tail. I had gotten a body-double which I would require their assistance once again.
-----
Ralph - ???
Within one of my numerous units inside a megabuilding, a fit man could be seen exercising in his living room. As he held himself in the plank position, he was actually compiling the latest report to be sent back to his company.
The contents of it mainly described about his activities in the city and the details of a game he played every day. In fact, once the man was done with his report, he would go jump into the virtual reality capsule in his bedroom to play the very same game in the report.
As usual, he started the day by opening up the farming simulator. He would care for the crops, watering them and monitoring the soil’s nutrient level. If it became a problem, he would need to mix in the proper type of fertilizer to remedy any issues.
When he was done, he then launched the next game. For the past week, the game of choice was the space trading game, but today, he would be returning to the fantasy world of Legend of the Mythic War.
Believing it to be his duty, Ralph attempted to clear every bit of content in the game. He continued with his quests for the majority of the day until it finally led him back to the major city of his faction.
There, he could see colossal walls surrounding the place and the thriving player base of the game, all enjoying their own thing.
Many of them sat by the side of the main road, on a blanket neatly laid on the ground. It was where they would display various items that had come into their possession and sell them off to the passing traveler.
It was the cheapest way to do business, as it didn’t incur the transaction fees the auction system imposed on them.
Finding an interesting stall, Ralph carefully eyed several rings that were advertised to give impressive stat bonuses.
“Hey, that over there is only two-hundred and fifty gold coins. If you buy it now, I can throw in a health pendant.”
“Hmm, let me think it over,” Ralph replied.
“Well, you better hurry, because I don’t do pre-orders. If I didn’t need money for a mount real quick, I wouldn’t of even sold something so versatile, with bonuses to three different main stat.”
“Yeah, but over two hundred coins? That’s enough to pay for my game time for the next year and more.”
Throughout his time playing the game, Ralph had found the economy of the game remained stable. He had heard of numerous players trying to destabilize it in order to abuse the system of simple to have fun with it, but none of them ever succeeded.
“Choice is up to you. Accessories with big stat gains like these will definitely soar up in price when the new content releases.”
After an entire day of gaming, Ralph returned to reality and ate a hearty dinner before laying in bed. He thought back to his experiences throughout the day and brainstormed what to put on his report the next morning.
Hmm, I doubt putting my forecast on how the price of items will rise in the near future is something my company cares for. What else can I write about?
-----
With both the particle beam business with Ferrumus Corporation and the continual success of our game, funding wasn’t much of a concern for my Halls Corporation. Coupled with the success of launching our first ship, we aimed to replicate that success and began working on constructing more shipyards.
However, the implementation of those details was left to my employees, not me. Instead, I secretly boarded our new flagship and joined in on the fleet drills to prepare the crew. To be precise, I was actually holed up in my workshop while the rest of the crew did those drills.
As I was working on my power armor, a priority alert suddenly distracted me. It didn’t take me long to realize it was due to a message sent from Titus, the supposed owner of AeroDynamic, who also happened to be a confidant of the NPC, my mysterious guardian angel.
The contents of the message was a simple request for a meeting. It appeared the man was in Aegis right now and wanted to meet if we had time.
Seeing how important Titus was, I didn’t hesitate to order the captain to return immediately. I could’ve sent my body double there instead, but I doubt they could fool the sharp senses of someone from an A-Class corporation.
Thankfully, it didn’t take long as we didn’t have any distance bases to visit. We always flew close to Aegis.
Despite throwing the meeting at me so suddenly, I still procured some fine gifts before entering the dining room where Titus sat.
The powerful man was there all alone, eating and drinking without a care in the world. He only nodded to ward me before resuming his feast. I sat there quietly, waiting for him to finish. When he was, he fetched out the circular jammer from his breast pocket and placed it on the table.
“Mr. Halls, we meet again.”
“Yes, I hope you’ve been well, Mr. Adair.”
“I wish I could say that I was, but alas, things haven’t been going so great lately. Our mutual patron has passed along a message. They said to prepare.”
“Prepare? Haven’t we always been preparing for a big confrontation? What other preparing do we need on top of what we already do?”
“No. Prepare as in brace for impact. It seems the time has come. Our common foes have the leeway to move, while our patron can’t. We’ll have to address the coming trouble ourselves.”
“Does that mean you plan to have us band together to face the trials ahead?” I asked skeptically.
“Yes and no. We need to work together and share intelligence, but nothing more for now. We don’t know how our adversaries plan to attack us, so there’s no point in pooling our resources now. It’ll only create openings in our various facilities.”
We then continued going over possible ways our enemies could attack and how we could work together. Due to the nature of our discussion, the atmosphere was ominous, as if we could suffer an ambush at anytime.
I didn’t dawdle and immediately sent an alert to all my trusted employees about the imminent danger.
However, the first message I received back shocked me.
That was because it wasn’t from any of the people I contacted. Instead, it was from Lanus.
“Report. Suspicious activity detected. Requires user input as soon as possible.”
Comments
Scion
I wonder if he detected the spy
