Chapter 136

The white snowflakes dance in the cold, bitter tundra.

From the empty tundra sky, two lights twinkle.

A fleet consisting of a single cruiser belonging to the pirate band repaired by Banetta and crewed by Jason.

While Edu sits in the command bridge of Jason, Seoli’s voice reaches his ears.

“Wow! Hinge, it’s pretty!!”

Seoli, peering out of the window and turning back to look this way.

Her big round eyes sparkle brightly.

“That’s called snow, Seol.”

“Nung!”

“Not nung, it’s snow.”

“Snow!”

A cheerful conversation exchanged between Nisia and Seoli.

After watching the two for a moment, Edu turns his head to look at Sita.

“What about you, Sita? Are you getting used to it?”

“…Not yet, I think I need to learn more.”

Sita responds cautiously.

“We have plenty of time, so take it slow.”

“Yes, sister.”

A determined will is reflected in Sita’s eyes as she nods.

At that moment, the sound of a door opening from behind and footsteps approaching.

“Edu.”

“Oh, Banetta! You’ve come?”

“Yep, here.”

Banetta hands me a terminal device.

Hands takes the device instead and places it in front of me.

On the small screen, the mark of the Russian Federation Strategic Rocket Forces and the locations of several cities are visible.

Above the city, the acronym ZATO, which refers to secret cities in Russia, is engraved.

“Oh, have you confirmed everything already?”

“Working with the internet is one of my specialties. And if you have the authority, finding information is quite easy.”

“Heh, I didn’t know that.”

As expected from Banetta.

The super engineer who can do anything is always reassuring.

“If you’re curious, I can tell Edu later. But shouldn’t we be informing the other ship of this information?”

“That’s right, Jason!”

[Please speak, Captain Edu.]

Jason responds promptly.

“Could you send the information on this terminal to the other ship?”

[Confirmed, Captain Edu. If you connect the terminal, I will transmit the data to the cruiser.]

“Okay, Hands?”

Hands, who had been listening to the conversation, lifts the armrest and connects the cable tucked inside the cover to the terminal device.

[Connection confirmed. Starting data transmission.]

Jason’s voice echoes again, soon followed by Mr. Balder establishing communication.

[Captain, I have confirmed the materials. Where shall we head?]

“To Sarov.”

[Sarov… Ah, it’s this place. Understood.]

As the communication cuts off, silence returns.

All my friends are busy learning to operate Jason, and we are quite far from our destination.

While I ponder what to do, a word suddenly comes to mind: stat window.

“Speaking of which, it’s been a while since I checked.”

“ID, show me the stat window.”

[Code confirmed. Visualizing and displaying status.]

——————————————————–

LV. 48 Edu Nimbusday *(■)

[HP 73 / 73] *(■)

[MP 1885 / 1885] *(■)

[ST 75 / 75]

ATK 40 *(■) / DEF 35 / RES 40

STR 6 *(■)

DEX 8 *(■)

INT 638 *(growth bonus x6)

CHA 510 *(growth bonus x6)

CON 16 *(■)

LUK 482 *(growth bonus x6)

SP 0 / SK 76 / EXP 86218

Physical Traits *(■)

Character Traits *(■)

Bonus *(■)

Achievements *(■)

——————————————————–

“Oh, I’ve gained a lot.”

The stats, which I had previously glossed over while checking the traits window, catch my eye as the numbers show significantly higher growth.

Indeed, it must be due to the academy event; you can’t find better growth than this.

Thinking that, I scan through the stats and check one by one, and my gaze is drawn to something new in the positive traits.

——————————————————–

Positive Traits

——————————————————–

Genius / Bundle of talent / Know-it-all / Apparent genius / Intellectual / Predator / Eye of Truth / ◎■

——————————————————–

“The Eye of Truth was acquired in the sealed city, but what is that strange symbol?”

I tap the symbol bundle, but it shows no reaction.

Still, being in the positive traits means it won’t have a negative effect on me, but my curiosity about something I’ve never experienced grows.

However, since clicking it yields no response, I decide to skip it for now and touch the Eye of Truth.

Then, a small screen appears above the traits window.

——————————————————–

Positive Traits

——————————————————–

Eye of Truth

——————————————————–

An eye that seeks out the hidden and uncovers the truth within it. Provides more detailed information about an individual’s abilities, objects, and tools.

——————————————————–

It’s similar to what I knew about the Eye of Truth, but there’s a new description added below.

“Huh? About detailed information on abilities, objects, and tools?”

I tilt my head slightly at this unfamiliar feature and touch the bonus section.

——————————————————–

Bonus

Additional Element – Collection.

Additional Element – Encyclopedia.

——————————————————–

A new screen appears.

I move my hand to touch the collection.

——————————————————–

Additional Element – Collection.

The Eye of Truth provides bonuses for owning and storing equipment that shares the same traits. Equipment can be stored or released.

——————————————————–

“Oh?”

“Sister? What’s wrong?”

Sita immediately reacts to the sound that escapes me without thinking.

“Oh, it’s nothing. I was checking something and got distracted.”

“Oh, yes. If you need any help, just call me anytime.”

“Okay.”

Sita focuses again on learning Jason’s functions.

Even as I watch her, the realization about the collection continues to develop in my mind.

“So, that’s why there were different effects and tabs when I put in various equipment!”

With a flutter of excitement over my new discovery.

At that moment, communication comes in from the cruiser leading the way.

[Captain, we are arriving at our destination soon.]

“Oh, has it already been that time? Then we’ll prepare to land.”

[Yes. We will use surveillance equipment to stay alert and prepare the equipment you requested for the defense line.]

“Yes, thank you!”

A little later.

Jason lands in the park at the center of the city, and the principal and Freya disembark from the vessel to survey the surroundings.

A quiet white city where snow falls.

Signs of invasion are clearly visible in the city, wounds that even the amassed snow cannot hide.

Russian Federation.

The lost territory of humanity mercilessly destroyed, becoming the point of the Invaders’ invasion.

Now we stand on that land.

“Hmm, it seems those guys are not here.”

“That’s how those tin cans operate.”

Freya replies with a frown to the principal’s question.

Just as she said, the Invaders did not station troops in every occupied area.

Because any city that fell into their hands contained no living beings, and the Invaders had no need to manage the city.

“So, Edu, where should we go?”

“We should head to the city hall, but do you know how to read Russian?”

“I know how. Let’s see… it’s that way.”

Freya taps the snow-covered sign to shake off the snow and points in the direction.

Passing the sign, we enter the city hall, where the signs of battle still remain.

“What about here?”

“We need to go underground and find Room 3.”

“Room 3 underground? Got it.”

Freya walks ahead.

The principal, who is carrying me, follows behind.

Step by step.

Only our footsteps echo in the quiet building, and from the depths of darkness, the place we seek is revealed.

“Room 3, here it is.”

“Just open the locker in the middle.”

“Middle locker, got it.”

Freya enters what looks like a normal changing room and pulls out a locker.

Then, a hidden hatch is revealed, and a red light turns on in the terminal next to it.

“There’s a terminal here?”

“Glory to the homeland, input Arzamas-16, 5457, 4319 in order.”

“Got it, wait a sec.”

Mechanical sounds ring from the terminal.

Once all inputs are complete, the hatch opens, revealing stairs leading down into darkness.

“Shall we continue?”

“Yes.”

Freya strides down the dark stairs, with the principal following closely behind.

After descending for a while, something reflecting tactical lighting vaguely appears in the darkness.

The emblem of the Russian Federation Strategic Rocket Forces, which has not completely lost its color even after collecting dust, and a massive iron door.

Next to it, there’s a terminal glowing red, just like the one we saw earlier.

“Input 6428971, and you’re good to go.”

“Okay.”

Beep beep beep, bleep!

A rumble and noise echo, and the massive iron door slowly opens as if a giant beast were yawning.

The scenery within is soon revealed.

“Huh.”

“This is all….”

The principal and Freya react with awe and astonishment.

Long, rectangular vehicles and numerous cylindrical structures line up.

All of them bear a black and yellow circular mark accompanied by a skull logo.

“Looks like they’re all here.”

Secret cities refer to those hidden by a state for a particular purpose.

Such hidden cities are naturally associated with state-level programs.

And most of these secret cities are linked to nuclear weapons.

The epitome of mutual assured destruction that is always mentioned when discussing the strongest weapons in human history—nuclear.

In fact, these secret cities are places that are opened as events in the later stages of games when pressing the Invaders in AOE.

But the enemy is also acting outside the predetermined flow, so there’s no need for us to just sit quietly, right?

“Shall we move right away? Principal, please come a little closer.”

“Uh, okay. I understand.”

The principal walks further inside.

The moment her feet halt before a large vehicle, a notification sound rings out.

– Notification, the collection function is available. Would you like to use it?

“Yes, I will use it.”

– Using the collection function.

The large vehicle carrying a cylindrical structure begins to shine, and its appearance soon disappears.

– Collection completed. RT-2PM2 Topol-M Intercontinental Ballistic Missile and mobile launch vehicle have been stored in the collection.

Nuclear weapons get tucked into the collection.

The cold teeth of Russia, which could not be used due to the Invaders’ invasion, are now in my hands.

“Wonderful. Let’s gather the rest too, shall we?”

“Yeah, let’s do that.”

“I’ll look for an elevator that leads to the outside; they wouldn’t just leave this kind of stuff piled up.”

“Yes!”

….

[Order, move to the N342 armored warfare combat unit A5-D1 sector. Requesting search and reconnaissance.]

[Understood, moving to the N342 armored warfare combat unit A5-D1 sector. We will begin searching and reconnaissance.]

Like usual, a high-tier processing device is gathering countless pieces of information and issuing commands.

At that moment, an urgent piece of information arrives, breaking the continuous activity of its thought circuits.

[Information, abnormal reactions occurring within the occupied territory. Requesting directives from the center.]

[???]

– Within the occupied territory?

The high-tier processing device responds immediately.

After checking the information, it falls into a moment of silence before quickly issuing new commands.

[More detailed information is needed; utilize small reconnaissance units and surveillance assets capable of long-range reconnaissance to assess the situation.]

[Understood, I will send the small reconnaissance unit and use long-range reconnaissance assets to grasp the situation.]