After completing the basic structure of the underground building, the machines started printing the walls, however, this time they were joined by a new batch of similar machines as they helped in the construction of the building much faster. But, the batch of these new machines wasn't all there for the construction of the walls. Instead, some of them went to the massive square holes that were left by the previous machines while they were printing the rest of the building, each of these holes was more than twenty meters in length from all sides and had a number of over fifty.
These holes were strategically placed in similar positions in all of the printed floors, indicating that they were left there for a purpose and these new machines immediately started to accomplish their purpose as they started printing what appeared like electromagnetic rail beams that were being placed in the four corners of the squares, extending directly from the topmost to the lowermost floor of the b
"By the way, how did the soldiers manage to survive against such a concentrated explosion?" John asked."They were using one of our experimental technologies known as the C-Kinetic Shield MK-II," Aron answered as he materialized something that appeared like a thick smartphone and handed it to John who was immediately shown the details of its technology.[Model Information]Name: C-Kinetic Shield MK-II (Testing Version)Size: Compact, Smartphone ThicknessPurpose: Prototype Testing & EvaluationPower Source: MANACharge Status: 85%Backup Power: NONE[Shield Strength]Energy Absorption Rate: 75% (Variable)Regeneration Rate: TestingCoverage Area: Partial Protection[Status Check]Shield Activation: TestingTactical Mode: EngagedAdaptive Deflection: TestingOverload Protection: Unstable[Features]Kinetic Absorption: Limited Test DataParticle Barrier: Experiment
"What is the analysis saying?" Aubrey, Morgan's Family Head inquired to the slightly trembling presenter who was overly nervous, which was in stark contrast to his confident demeanor during the previous conference where he had given an idea that had earned him praise from Aubrey."Why are you quiet? Do you want to piss me off," George, the Family Head's Favorite son asked, confidence evident in his voice and personality since he had been the favorite son after he had been successful in executing the attack on the Rothchilds and inflicting heavy damages on them."The thing is, the suspected individual seems to be in the process of dumping billions into the country, pumping the economy with large amounts of dollars in the country and increasing the confidence in investors, reducing the chances of the economy collapsing to a lesser degree than what we had previously calculated," he paused to take a breath as his heart was almost trying to jump from his chest from all the nervousness."To
A real-world day has passed since Aron had started showing John the weapons in the warehouse, meaning a total of fifteen days have passed in the universal simulation already.During this period, Aron had demonstrated to John everything that was in the warehouse and even the experimental ones that were still under the process of research. This was then followed by him taking the soldiers to where they would be receiving their training after Aron called for them.Meanwhile, Nova, who had just finished decorating and furnishing the building, shifted her focus to the decoration of the surroundings of the building.She started doing so by building a large parking lot, immediately followed by building a massive park surrounding the building, ensuring that the atmosphere surrounding the building doesn't appear to be mismatched, destroying its beauty.She also followed by starting to build infrastructure leading to the building since one of the pipeline digging and one pipeline printing machi
Meanwhile, in a meeting room."So, what did you find?" James Comey, the FBI director, asked the two men standing in front of the long meeting room table of high-ranking officials in the Bureau."Sir, in his basement, there is a server that seems to not have been upgraded since the time he bought it. And although its power consumption was minimal it was still indicated that it was actively being used. Also there was something else that was consuming enough power than what the entire house does. Nothing comes to my mind that would cause such a machine to gobble such a high amount of electricity while maintaining abnormal silence," reported one of the men, and not much surprisingly, he was the one who had visited and inspected Aron's house under the guise of being an inspector from the power utility company."Did you manage to take a look at it?" asked Lisa Page, the FBI attorney."No, madam. There was a guard accompanying us throughout the whole process," answered the second man."So,
{Welcome back sir} Nova greeted Aron, appearing in front of him in her augmented reality form the moment Aron opened his eyes after logging off the VR, having just finished his meeting with John just moments Ago."It looks like you really went all out," Aron said after he opened his eyes and could see the side of the building rising a hundred or so meters in height, its length resembling a Titan wall.{I decided to start earlier to make sure that no problem occurs midway and causes delays to the project} Nova reported."What do you mean by that?" Aron asked, quite puzzled.{Based on my calculations using the variables and datasets that I have access to, it shows that there is a high chance that Esparia will escalate its actions, either due to either external influence or internal factors} She explained to the now completely focused Aron, who after hearing this report had lost any curiosity about the building behind him or about any of the other infrastructure that was still ongoing th
The next day."Oh my god what the heck happened here?"Gasped one of the fifty Ares soldiers who had been sent the next day, responding to Aron's order for them to come so that they could receive their training earlier than the rest of the soldiers who were scheduled to arrive by the next week.And as the rest of the occupants disembarked from the messy boat, they noticed the massive new port which the soldiers knew didn't exist before, since some of them in this batch had helped in transferring the first batch of the materials to the island when Aron was about to start the construction of the fusion reactor.The port looked new and futuristic, and though empty, it still commanded respect since it was built differently than any other usual port, it was a hybrid port for both the civilian and military vessels to dock on it without needing any specialized modifications.Faced with the size of the port the boat those soldiers were in felt out of
{You are inside the VR, as for your real bodies, they are inside a pod within the massive building that you had seen and are under the protection of Sir Aron, so don't worry about anything else and focus on your retraining} Athena began, answering all of their questions in one swift motion.{I understand that my answer might have given rise to some new questions for you, so let me answer them immediately, not wasting both of our time}{Your bodies have been injected with genetic enhancers specifically tailored according to each of your bodies and would help in enhancing your genetics and increase your body power, coordination, speed and many more}{However, these enhancers are inactive at the moment and the only way for you to activate them is for your body to undergo the exercises needed to push your body to really reach that realm. When your brain starts to imitate this in order to activate the enhancer, the enhancements will be reflected into your real
Two days later…"Man, she is not giving us enough time to rest," complained Jeremiyah as he sat down to use the little ten minutes of rest that was given to his team as a reward for completing their last course of exercises.For the past month, Athena had done nothing other than making them train from one exercise to another. And with the training getting progressively difficult and longer with each new exercise, they were always being forced to always break the new limits that they had managed to raise due to their previous exercise.During that period, they were only given one hour of rest every day and additional rest time was granted if they could impress Athena by completing a set of tasks faster than the time she had tasked them with. The moment they realized that they could gain more rest time by working harder, it resulted in them always working harder than what Athena expected.{One last exercise and if you do it well I will give you a who
“Seraphina,” Aron began, his voice steady but carrying an undercurrent of authority, “I’m not your enemy—unless you choose to make me one. I understand your anger, your frustration. You’ve lost control of a situation you believed was firmly under your command. But this predicament wasn’t my doing—you’re here because your leader chose to sacrifice you. What I’m offering you isn’t a chain—it’s an opportunity.”Her sharp eyes narrowed, the intensity of her gaze unwavering, but she held her silence. Aron leaned forward, his own gaze unrelenting as it met hers.“You can continue resisting, pushing the boundaries of the mana oath, and enduring needless pain. Or…” He paused, letting the words linger like a challenge. “You can choose to turn this situation into one that serves us both. Your strength, your insight—these are not things I wish to suppress. Quite the opposite. I want them refined, amplified, and put to meaningful use.”He motioned toward the table, where Nova was still doing fina
[Colosseum]Aron and Seraphina stood motionless, maintaining the same distance as at the start of their faceoff. Neither had moved, even during the spectacular fireworks show that followed Aron’s acceptance of her surrender. The only exception was Aron briefly waving to the citizens of his empire watching the broadcast, many of whom were overcome with emotion, crying in celebration of their historic victory. This event marked the first-ever interstellar combat they had participated in, and despite their lack of experience, they emerged as the sole victors.As cheers of triumph reverberated among his people and the disbelief of others lingered, the broadcast concluded. The moment Aron secured his final victory, the Arena itself was officially handed over to him as part of his reward, along with control of the AI referee. Without hesitation, the AI complied with her new owner’s first command: to end the broadcast. Aron had more pressing matters to attend to—a private conversation with a
[Meeting Room]Inside the Zelvora mental network, an oppressive silence hung over the gathered representatives around the meeting table. The events of the day had left them all stunned, their minds racing with the implications of what had transpired. These were not just any representatives—they were the ones who had signed off on the agreements, the architects of their civilizations’ participation in this contest.Now, they were confronted with the brutal outcome of their decisions.Many representatives sat deep in thought, their faces betraying various degrees of fear, frustration, and resignation. Those who hailed from civilizations steeped in selfish political traditions knew all too well the grim truth: scapegoats would be needed. Someone would have to bear the brunt of the blame for the humiliation, anger, and setbacks their civilizations had suffered.For many of them, the path forward seemed bleak. In the best-case scenario, they might lose their positions, exiled from the corr
To say Aron was surprised would be the understatement of the gigaannum. The announcement had obliterated every scenario he had meticulously crafted in his mind. In all his time spent in simulations, preparing for countless contingencies, not once had he considered the possibility of the Xor’Vaks surrendering—least of all without a fight.Their pride in their strength was legendary, surpassing even the vaunted arrogance of the Valthorins. For a race that reveled in their dominance, surrendering, especially on such a grand stage, was unthinkable. This sudden reversal of expectations hit him with such force that he could practically feel the metaphorical veins in his temple throbbing from the sheer shock of it all.The audience’s collective astonishment mirrored his own, but none felt it as acutely as Aron, whose carefully laid strategies now seemed almost laughably over-prepared in the face of this unanticipated twist.The largest part of Aron's shock wasn’t just the surrender itself bu
The minutes passed quickly for the viewers, their eyes glued to Aron as he sat unmoving in the same meditative position for over fifteen minutes. Speculation ran rampant on both sides, fueled by curiosity and tension.For those in the Empire, the consensus was that Aron was in VR, likely meeting with family or key figures. Many debated who he might be speaking with, guessing that he was either calming worried loved ones or strategizing for the next fight.On the other hand, viewers from the Astral Conclave harbored a mix of anxiety and intrigue. They questioned whether Aron was recuperating in preparation for the upcoming battle, enhancing his focus and mental clarity, or if his recovery from the previous fight was incomplete and he was still in the process of healing.But their speculations ceased to matter as Aron opened his eyes with five minutes remaining in the waiting period. Calm and deliberate, he removed the glasses from his head, placing them back into their container. His n
The moment the fight was officially declared over, Nova acted without hesitation. She immediately dispatched the collector ship, equipped with a medipod, to retrieve the Trinarian fighter's body. Simultaneously, she ensured Aron could rearm himself with a fresh set of nanomachines. For the first time, this process was being done openly, marking a significant shift.Previously, nanomachines had been classified technology, their existence kept strictly under wraps. However, that secrecy had been unintentionally broken when Nova used them to cover Aron’s exposed body during a critical moment, prioritizing his dignity over confidentiality. As a result, while the technology remained shrouded in mystery, its existence was now officially acknowledged, albeit without disclosing any further details.Aron retrieved a small canister from the ship and opened it, revealing a liquid-like substance inside. Pouring it onto his hand, the substance behaved unnaturally, defying gravity as it began to sp
"Him alive is better than dead, right? I can use his live brain data to study how they use their spatial abilities—it might even help accelerate my plans if things go as intended," Aron said as he stood over the fainting Trinarian fighter.{True, having him alive presents opportunities. But dead men cause no problems, while the living carry infinite potential for chaos—especially one like him. If our spatial lockdown isn’t enough to fully contain his abilities, he could use them long enough to cause catastrophic damage, even if it means enduring the backlash,} Nova replied, her tone laced with caution. She wanted to ensure Aron was fully aware of the risks he was inviting by sparing the fighter's life.Usually, Nova would have been in favor of keeping him alive—it meant more data for her to process, analyze, and extrapolate from. But spatial ability users were in a league of their own when it came to danger. Even a dead one would yield enough data to at least satisfy her curiosity for
“Nova,” Aron called out in his mind the moment his eyes snapped open, rapidly collecting information and orienting himself, realizing he had finally left the enigmatic place the system had sent him.“Nova,” he called again, this time aloud, his voice carrying a commanding weight as it echoed faintly in the arena. Receiving no response to his first call, his sharp gaze shifted to his surroundings. It didn’t take long for him to notice his current state—nearly naked, save for the swarm of nanomachines that had begun assembling around him.{The system had ejected me, sir,} Nova’s voice finally came through, calm but slightly delayed as the nanomachines completed their task. They prioritized covering his lower body, forming a sleek pair of trousers, as there weren’t enough surviving nanomachines to reconstruct full armor. His chiseled upper body remained exposed, glistening under the lights of the Colosseum, much to the awe and unease of the spectators.Nova’s pragmatic choice left Aron l
Following Nova's orders and the AI referee's approval, the mana stone carriers swiftly began moving toward the Colosseum. As the first ship arrived and entered, it wasted no time, promptly unloading its entire cargo of mana stones before departing to make way for the next carrier to do the same. The process was conducted with remarkable efficiency, ensuring a steady flow of mana stones into the Colosseum without any unnecessary delays.The process continued as over fifty ships unloaded their cargo of mana stones, an act many from the Conclave viewed as both excessive and wasteful. With each successive ship, the pain of the Conclave's viewers grew, particularly when the fifth ship alone had already matched the quantity of mana stones used during the Colosseum's initial construction. Yet, they didn’t stop there; instead, they went on to unload ten times that amount, as if mana stones were an endless resource, leaving the Conclave citizens bewildered and horrified by such apparent extra