Chapter 489: Board of Patriarchs

The Board of Patriarchs’ headquarters within Zero City was not as mysterious as others might expect.

Instead of a highly guarded place that others would envision, the Board of Patriarchs’ headquarters was actually always open to outsiders.

Every time Zero City was opened to outsiders, an area of the Board of Patriarchs’s headquarters would be opened up for Awakened outsiders to visit – naturally, only one part was open.

The Board of Patriarchs’ headquarters was where the seven resident guilds of Zero City would hold their day-to-day meetings to manage the major issues of the city. This place could be considered the equivalent of a ‘minor United Nations’ for Zero City.

Truth be told, this place was never considered one of the critical locations in Zero City.

If a negotiation were necessary, the seven resident guilds would convene here. Normally however, there was nothing secretive about this place.

In contrast, the locations within Zero City that were truly highly guarded were the headquarters of each resident guilds. One such example was Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s hive like building.

And also… … the Angel Corps’ headquarters.

Those places were truly ‘restricted for outsiders’.

The Board of Patriarchs that was also known as a minor United Nations was actually not that mysterious.

Their headquarters was an oval shaped building that resembled a large stadium – however, it was sealed.

The area around the building was an empty square. Some Awakened ones could be found touring the area.

Today was an open day after all.

Bluesea and Chen Xiaolian walked side by side as they made their way here. As they had already altered their appearances, their arrival did not attract anyone’s attention.

Chen Xiaolian noted that the number of patrolling Sentinel mechs here was quite small. The number of Sentinel mechs here was smaller compared to the Sea of Love.

“Every member of the Board of Patriarchs is a premier figure in each resident guild… since they are premier figures of their respective guilds, they are also first-rate experts. Thus, they needed no protection.”

Walking beside Chen Xiaolian, Bluesea explained, “The rules of the Board of Patriarchs are: The seven resident guilds will take turns to manage the day-to-day affairs of Zero City. The management period for each guild would last for three months. Within those three months, the on-duty guild would be responsible for the management affairs of Zero City. Naturally, for the sake of ensuring fairness, the Angel Corps would be supervising the guild’s actions.

“Every month, every member of the Board of Patriarchs would convene for a routine meeting. There, they would discuss the major events occurring within Zero City. Zero City has its own standard of assessment for every issues. Normally, minor events could be left to the on-duty resident guild. However, once the level of the issue reached a certain level, the on-duty guild would have no authority over the issue. There is a need to wait for the meeting where every member from the Board of Patriarchs would cast in their votes.”

Hearing that, Chen Xiaolian raised his eyebrows. “A routine meeting once a month? Wouldn’t that cause delays?”

“If there is an emergency, we can call up an emergency Board of Patriarchs’ meeting. However, situations like these are rare – this is Zero City after all. It is completely cut off from the outside world.” Bluesea shook his head. “Normally, the minor issues would consist of small disputes. For example, some transactional disputes from black markets or some confrontation between Awakened ones from different guilds. What major issues could arise?”

Although it was not highly guarded, when the two of them arrived before the doorway leading to the lobby of the oval shaped building, Chen Xiaolian saw two patrolling mechs.

Clearly, those mechs were a newer version of Sentinel mechs. Judging from their outward appearances, they were slightly different compared to the II-Model Sentinel mechs that Chen Xiaolian was familiar with. They appeared smaller and the armour platings on them appeared to be packed closer. Even their paint was different.

Most importantly, the weapons installed on them were different. The II-Model Sentinel mechs’s arms were equipped with slicer blades.

These two Sentinel mechs however, were different. One of them carried a large sword on its back while the other held a sickle-like weapon in its hand.

“Those are all selected equipment. They were selected based on the pilot’s behaviour and characteristics.” Noticing that Chen Xiaolian was looking at the mechs, Bluesea smiled and explained it to him. “Those you saw before were mass-produced products. These however… … the pilots had their own guild’s mechanical specialist modify them. Some are even custom-made.”

“Are they more powerful?”

“… … …” Bluesea hesitated for a moment before slowly replying, “This is the assessment given by the Combat Department: Generally speaking, if the standard of the pilots are the same, one of these specially modified mechs can go up against four standard mechs. And defeat them! Naturally, the price for these things are much higher as well.”

Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea walked past the two mechs. As they did, Chen Xiaolian noticed some strange and unique looking symbols on the thrusters behind the mechs.

“That looks like… … some kind of… … magic?” Chen Xiaolian was stunned.

“Mm, that should be a magically modded mech.” Bluesea shrugged calmly. “They used magic to modify it. It is possible that they had also slipped in some magic attacks and defensive abilities.”

Chen Xiaolian could not stop himself from inhaling with a hiss.

They reached the doors leading into the lobby. Two large doors that were nearly ten metres wide and seemingly made of transparent glass – however, Chen Xiaolian was willing to bet that it was not glass.

“These doors are made of a certain type of polymerized material. It can withstand artillery blasts from energy-tier weapons.” Bluesea smiled and walked together with Chen Xiaolian to the side. He pulled out his badge and waved it before the ‘glass’ doors. Next, a two-metre tall door appeared on the surface of the large glass doors.

Bluesea and Chen Xiaolian walked through the door together.

Only after walking in did he realize how big the interior of the oval-shaped building was.

There was even an ecologically balanced environment inside.

There were grasses and flowers, more than ten mus of exotic tropical plants, rivers and ponds (1 mu = 1/15 hectare).

A completely ecologically balanced environment.

Raising his head up, he saw that there were birds flying above.

Wait a second! Birds?

Chen Xiaolian froze.

Up ahead was the sunny and clear sky. Birds flew above.

“These… … are these all virtual projections?”

“No, it is real.” Bluesea smiled. Then, his voice took a serious tone. “More accurately, it utilizes spatial transference technology to ‘cut’ a piece of sky from the outside world and ‘graft’ it here.”

“The real sky?” Chen Xiaolian inhaled deeply. “Cut, graft? What does that mean?”

Bluesea thought about it. “Utilizing spatial transference technology, a piece of sky from a certain location is directly copied to this place. Ah, the word copied is not right. It should be called ‘import’.”

Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes and looked at it again. He abruptly pointed at the sky and said, “Then… … if someone were to jump up and fly up the sky, what would happen? Or rather, what would happen if one were to fly straight up until that person moved out from Zero City?”

Bluesea smiled and replied, “That person would end up leaving Zero City. When they leave, they would be transferred through space and the place the end up in would be the sky that is ‘imported’ here.

“Simply put, if this piece of imported sky is from a tropical rainforest, you would end up in that tropical rainforest if you fly straight up.

“And if this piece of sky was imported from New York or London…”

“I would appear in New York or London?” Chen Xiaolian’s interest was piqued. “This… … won’t that be dangerous? Won’t that expose Zero City’s position?”

“No.” Bluesea shook his head. “The spatial transference is a one-way trip. In other words, you can go out from here, but you cannot come in from the outside. Additionally, there is another reason why we kept this thing here…”

Without waiting for Bluesea to finish his words, Chen Xiaolian said with a frown, “Emergency escape passageway?”

“.. … yes.” Bluesea gave a nod. “Truth be told, this piece of sky is not something that the Board of Patriarchs created. Zero City’s initial programming had probably set it up. This Board of Patriarchs’ building on the other hand, was built after that – built around this place.”

After a pause, Bluesea slowly continued, “Furthermore, we have no control over the piece of sky. We had conducted many tests. Every time we moved out from here, we would end up in a different location. In other words… … this sky you presently see above you is just something that Zero City’s system imported at random. By the next second, it is possible that the coordinate of the sky has changed.”

“In other words, this piece of sky that I am looking at right now might be from New York. But in the next few seconds, or the next few minutes, it might become one from London?” Chen Xiaolian frowned. “It is totally random?”

“Totally random. We had attempted to collect data on it and build a model to calculate the locations. However, we were unable to figure out what algorithm Zero City’s system is using to change its locations. In other words, even now, we have not even grasped it.

“However, this could also be considered a piece of good news. Since we are unable to figure it out, we believe that it would be very difficult for the Development Team to find us. Thus, this escape passage should be safe.”

Chen Xiaolian cast a long stare at the sky.

“You had better not even think about flying up,” Bluesea warned with a hushed tone. “The first rule inside the Board of Patriarchs’ building is that flying is prohibited! If anyone tries to do so, automatic weapons would fire at the air-borne violator to knock him or her down. Those weapons are products of the Angel Corps. Not even [A] class Awakened ones could escape them.”

Chen Xiaolian turned his gaze away from the sky.

Seeing that Chen Xiaolian was no longer looking at the sky, Bluesea inwardly gave a sigh of relief. Then, he led Chen Xiaolian further in.

“Coincidentally, Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild is the one on-duty. In other words, the ones keeping watch here are all our men. Thus, it is very convenient for you to visit.”

Chen Xiaolian pondered and said, “I heard that once you become a resident guild in Zero City, Zero City would automatically allocate resources for you. I want to know how those resources are allocated and where? Or should I say… … where is Zero City’s main control system?”

“Why are you asking this?” Bluesea glanced at Chen Xiaolian.

Chen Xiaolian’s expression remained unchanged. “If I say I want to make my guild a resident guild in Zero City, is that good enough?”

“… … …” Bluesea took a deep breath and there was a faint flicker in his face. “You have that kind of thought?”

“Why? Does it sound too unbelievable?” Chen Xiaolian shook his head. “Your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild did it in 30 years, why can’t I? Besides…”

“That is right.” Bluesea sighed and nodded his head. “During Blood Verdict, I had found that your power is exceptionally strong. Is it… … did Skyblade help enhance your power?”

Chen Xiaolian did not answer the question. Instead, he slowly said, “Can my request be fulfilled?”

“… … that is not difficult.” Bluesea’s reply came as a surprise for Chen Xiaolian. “Truth be told, Zero City’s main control system and the resident guild evaluation program are open to outsiders. You can go check it out at any time… … however, when you get there, you might feel disappointed.”

“Disappointed? What do you mean?”

The edges of Bluesea’s mouth displayed an odd smile. “You will know once you get there.”

…