1.35 12th Navigation Command

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“12th Navigational Command.”

Wu Chen opened the detailed description. VIP employers had the privilege of previewing cards in the talent pool in advance.

“Yes, Master. The six alien flight attendants in this card serve aboard a cosmic flying saucer. They survive by charging on a daily basis and can even consume batteries to replenish their energy when necessary. The card is only rated two and a half stars, so even with a sixty percent premium, it costs no more than 800 coins. With the ten percent VIP employer discount, the price is only 720 coins,” the artificial intelligence explained at length.

“Six alien flight attendants for a flying saucer, all sustained by charging.” Wu Chen pondered. “Are they biomechanical robots?”

“No. They are aliens.” The artificial intelligence clarified, “Their cells differ from those of humans. It is rather like photosynthesis in green plants—a racial adaptation.”

“I’ll think about it.” Seven hundred and twenty coins was not especially expensive, considering he would be getting six aliens. But after purchasing the card, only 863 coins would remain. Wu Chen’s sense of security would plummet back into the three-digit range.

“Very well, Master.” The artificial intelligence never forced him into anything. The Viper Air Hunter was originally a large unmanned aircraft belonging to the Skynet. It required no pilot to control it manually. After the artificial intelligence rebuilt its systems, its A.I. functions would only be stronger than before. For the time being, there was no need to assign it a pilot.

The flight-control center and the Viper Air Hunter were modified simultaneously.

The forward and rear-mounted plasma cannons were converted into internal weapons. The cabin, which had been occupied by a large amount of Skynet equipment, was streamlined appropriately, leaving enough room for squad members and their gear. An electromagnetic shield, optical camouflage, electronic countermeasures, and both hardware and software optimization were also indispensable. Every command issued by the artificial intelligence, Ayi, was carried out faithfully by the drone swarm, saving enormous amounts of manpower and material resources.

Wu Chen’s Base 0326 was changing with each passing day.

As his neighbors, Baili Yan and the others were astonished. As Baili Yan had said on the Road of Destruction 404, Wu Chen’s past was surely extraordinary. Though they had no idea what truly went on inside the base, the various structures being built one after another were proof enough.

To have the best of both worlds, he needed to increase his income while cutting expenses, advancing on both fronts.

To replenish his dwindling supply of Shelter Coins, taking on another mission was imperative.

Of the three missions the artificial intelligence had found, only the one involving the recruitment of a private photographer remained.

The photographer would have to enter a designated story fragment and take specific photographs. Equipment had to be provided personally. The initial payment was 68 coins plus 12 Starry Sky Cards. With Cleanup Day fast approaching and no one showing interest, the client had doubled the offer to 136 coins plus 12 Starry Sky Cards.

“Master, photographic equipment can be rented from the Mocha Coffee House. A Polaroid camera and three Starry Sky Cards cost only ten coins per day,” the artificial intelligence said. It had already gathered a tremendous amount of information about the city.

“The navigator from the Dynamic Edge said that Boss Chu is a renowned ‘fragment hunter.’ So the Polaroid cameras rented by the Mocha Coffee House can photograph characters from story fragments and produce Shelter Cards.” Wu Chen thought for a moment.

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“That is correct.” The artificial intelligence offered a word of encouragement. “This commission will allow you to make initial contact with another core rule of the Broken City: cards are fragments.”

“Who is the client?” Wu Chen asked again.

“The client is none other than the city’s most famous cybernetic surgeon, 0717, Li Xiaoxian.”

“Then the place they want me to enter is most likely an A-grade Ghost in the Shell story fragment.” Wu Chen had already reached his conclusion. “The objective is to collect cybernetic organs for cybernetic enhancement.”

“Very likely.” The artificial intelligence agreed with Wu Chen’s assessment.

“Contact the client by email and ask for the details.” Wu Chen decided to make inquiries first.

“Yes.”

The artificial intelligence sent the email on Wu Chen’s behalf.

Wu Chen walked along, speaking into his wristwatch. The personnel at Base 0326 had long since grown accustomed to it.

“Master?” After arranging everything, the artificial intelligence spoke again.

“Hmm?” Wu Chen entered the flight-control center, which was still under construction, and inspected the Viper Air Hunter as it underwent accelerated modification.

“Even virtual-reality special training requires time. The sooner we hire pilots, the better,” the artificial intelligence advised.

“All right.” Since the expense could not be avoided, Wu Chen decided to place the order first. One of the privileges of a VIP employer was remote ordering with home delivery. Once the 720 coins had been spent, the delivery drone would bring the two-and-a-half-star card, 12th Navigational Command, directly to the base.

This was Wu Chen’s eleventh activated card. There was still one inactive card, the Umbrella Demon, in the telephone-card collection.

“The entire 12th Navigational Command has arrived. Shea, Sophia, Susan, Lisa, Gabi, and Gina, at your service.”

The six alien flight attendants stood in formation and saluted.

“Welcome, everyone.” Wu Chen smiled in reply.

With the arrival of the six alien flight attendants, Base 0326 now had twenty-two followers besides its master, Wu Chen, and the artificial intelligence, Ayi.

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The cost of ordering meals had become a problem. Including Wu Chen, fourteen meal sets had to be ordered—140 coins per month. Clearly, that was far too wasteful. This was when the importance of facilities such as vertical farms and aquaculture became apparent. If food could not be produced independently, the daily cumulative expenditure would become enormous. Wu Chen therefore needed to resolve the issue of food supplies next.

A design for a drone-maintained vertical farm had already been completed by the artificial intelligence, Ayi. With only a dozen or so people, there was no need to attach another auxiliary panel solely for planting. It was enough to weld tiered planting troughs around the outer walls of the base. Simple “building-mounted facilities” of this sort were effortless for the drone swarm.

The tiered planting troughs on the base walls would be used mainly for crops, while the area near the U-shaped holographic curtain would be filled with flowers. These external facilities were unobstructed on all four sides and received abundant sunlight. The polymer troughs could collect and store rainwater. The drones could handle the daily farming and harvesting without any human labor. They could even take care of the entire cooking process from start to finish, effortlessly solving the problem of food supplies.

The artificial intelligence told Wu Chen that the alien aquarium could also support aquaculture. Obtaining a variety of proteins would pose no problem. Of course, the simplest and most convenient option was merely a bag of nutrient solution. But for the sake of taste and quality of life, a sumptuous meal after a hard day’s work was indispensable. Since he had the means, why not enjoy it?

No sooner said than done.

Naturally, it was not entirely cost-free. Drones required polymer consumables canisters, which had to be replaced once depleted. Twelve basic canisters cost only five coins, which was reasonably cheap. And if the artificial intelligence could fully recycle half a cargo container of T800 components into polymer materials, sort them by type, and refill the canisters itself, then not a single coin would need to be spent.

The newly arrived 12th Navigational Command also entered the virtual-reality training hall immediately to undergo worldview realignment. Later, they would be divided into groups of three to serve as the crew of the Viper Air Hunter. One group would go on missions while another remained on standby.

At this point, Base 0326 had become a flatbed base composed of the Bedrock Mainboard joined with the Tidal and Arc secondary panels. It consisted of seven major functional areas: the Garage, Living Quarters, Superintelligence Matrix, Alien Aquarium, Biomechanical Robot Laboratory, Virtual-Reality Training Hall, and Flight-Control Center.

The levitation engines, spatial folding, wireless communications, self-circulating systems, backup battery banks, wireless energy transmission, maintenance-drone station, and other features were all built-in modules of the flatbed and were not counted separately.

Night fell, and the artificial intelligence received a reply from the client.

“Master, the client’s destination is indeed an A-grade Ghost in the Shell story fragment. The mission is exactly as you predicted: to collect cybernetic organs.”

“What, specifically, makes it so difficult?” Wu Chen asked.

“Within the story fragment, the machines have mutated, and danger lurks everywhere,” the artificial intelligence replied. “Many of the large-scale Ghost Shells have evolved autonomously. Their size and form far exceed what humans originally designed. They look highly unusual and are extremely dangerous.”

Ghost Shell was an abbreviation for “attack-type armored exoshell.” They were also called “Ghost Shell tanks,” or Tachikomas in transliteration. They were so famous that almost no science-fiction enthusiast was unfamiliar with them. Moreover, among the fragments of manga Wu Chen still remembered, Ghost in the Shell ranked very near the top.

Wu Chen smiled. “The reason the client took so long to reply must be that he could not bear to see the commission he posted accepted by a ‘Broken novice’ like me.”

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