Chapter 18: Chapter 17: Blackdale Industrial Military Center

Following his stop at a certain area in the industrial zone, an hour had been enough for the raid to be over, wrapped up, and for the transport truck to get moving again with the same 7 people, none of them showing any indication of being hurt.

With his energy not being in its downtime period due to having been interrupted, Aven had the rest of the trip’s activity all designated: He would cycle his energy.

The 1 hour of break had even allowed a part of it that was expanded to somewhat recover.

With his first personal experience of being near an armed and deadly conflict done in such a spectator-like way, Aven didn’t feel that impacted by all the bodies and blood he saw, he had seen far worse on his dad’s uncensored records after all.

When his energy cycling automatically stopped due to entering its downtime period more than 3 hours later, his arrival at Blackdale Industrial Military Center was already imminent timewise.

Before long, the truck came to a complete stop and the back door opened, letting in the view of the setting White over one of the major cities of Eland: Blackdale.

And the first to exit the truck…

“Freedom!” Aven cannonballed the exit of the truck, skipping through the legs of everyone, and exclaimed his joy at finally being freed, “I’m not doing another trip like that for as long as I can dodge it!”

“I hope this wish of yours becomes reality because it would mean you’re keeping to Blackdale for as long as you can,” wholeheartedly agreeing with his comment was Neela, similarly stepping out of the truck with a smile on her face.

Observing his new environment, all Aven could see was an endless concrete plain marred with gigantic concrete factories, swarming soldiers, engineers, workers, and dozens of rows of different land vehicles, from jeeps to trucks to tanks.

“This is exactly what I had in mind when I thought about a military industrial center!” Stars in his eyes, he continued observing everything that was on the surface and identified them all.

“Stop daydreaming and follow me,” after letting him revel in his new environment for a few minutes, Neela brought him back to reality relatively abruptly, “You can visit as much as you want once your transfer becomes official.”

“Okay~” Following her obediently, Aven also wanted to be done with the paperwork as quickly as possible.

Despite the absence of paths to follow on the concrete plain, Neela measured up to her title as a Blackdale representative as she skipped straight through a few buildings, entering from one side to exit the other, to finally lead him to yet another concrete building.

Except they didn’t exit this one, and he quickly realized why as they shortly entered a medium-size office where someone with a Major General insignia was seemingly waiting for them after a guard scanned through them briefly.

When Neela did the military salute, Aven swiftly followed, though he remained silent for the rest as he didn’t know who was the man before him, unlike Neela, “Representative Lacila reporting, Major General Lainesy!”

“At ease,” putting down a document he had on hand, he pushed the whole pile below it to one of his numerous assistants as he took another piece of paper he roughly read in seconds, “So you finally got us a tech super. And a pretty good one at that.”

“I did my utmost with what I had, and now that we got one, I don’t think it’s possible for us to get another,” relaxing, Neela very familiarly gave her opinion on the matter. Maybe a bit too familiarly considering she was talking to a true blue major general.

“Maybe, maybe not, if the situation asks for it I can ask for a few forced graduations. Back to our new production tech super,” giving his opinion without giving more than necessary, he redirected the conversation to Aven without looking at him.

“He’s been tested, and his innate ability usage optimization will be left to him to figure out over the next period of time. His competencies are above what can be expected from an average excellent newly graduated, and he can assume a solid position in pretty much any production line as long as he’s given some time,” Neela instantly disclosed the summarized version of what Aven was capable of the moment she was hinted to.

“Okay, so he lacks practical experiences, his energy cultivation is low so he can’t manage more than one production line at a time, but all this is overshadowed by his potential, good,” reading between the lines by combining what had just been said and his report, Major General Lainesy finalized the introduction phase with his own opinion.

“Then I see no problems in letting him get used to this industrial center first, let him visit by himself, let him encounter the other tech supers,” still not looking at Aven, he gave his instruction, “He primarily needs to do his job properly. Secondarily, while he does his job, he needs to increase his cultivation. And thirdly, he must think about his future. Anything else? If not, you’re dismissed.”

“Nothing else, sir!” Saluting once again, Aven quickly followed, and then the duo exited the office, and their dynamic changed once again as Neela took the lead again.

“Our next destination is the transfer station, once you’re done with that, you’ll have all the keys necessary to make Blackdale your foundation for the future,” making his imagination wild by saying that, she accelerated her pace a bit to get them to their destination faster.

And 5 buildings away, they finally reached a much less imposing but still as busy building where Aven was led to a smaller office and was abandoned by his guide after she had explained the situation, “It’s as far as I can help you, the rest depends on yourself. See you another day!”

“Bye~” Taking this treason mildly, he bid goodbye to her with a simple wave and then joined the man who was readying all the papers, “And hello! I’m here for paperwork!”

“And you shall receive,” said the man as he put yet another pile of documents on the table with a smile that transmitted everything he wanted to convey.

…

‘It’s too late to start exploring… And it took me so long to transport my 2 suitcases over… That’s unfortunate.’

Getting off a bike he had acquired only 30 minutes ago, Aven had felt right at home the moment he got on it, so he was disappointed when he had realized that the White was only minutes away from completely setting and plunging the world into darkness after all the paperwork he had done.

And he still had his 2 suitcases to pick up at the transport truck in this situation.

‘Well, at least it’ll let me go through this whole freaking huge map of the center and its thick guidebook.’

Focusing on the positive, he approached a building he had relatively struggled to find with his massive backpack and 2 similarly huge suitcases in his hands. From the moment he got off his bike, he saw a few people, including both men and women, chilling at the wide-open entrance to a massive sky blue building.

As a super, Aven hadn’t been assigned to a barrack like any other newly recruited low-level personnel would have been, he had skipped this whole low-level soldier thing and was directly assigned an officer quarters. Not to his displeasure of course.

Taking the key he had been given out of one of the numerous pockets his combat uniform offered, he used the tag attached to it to confirm this was the right building and walked towards it once he was sure that, this time, this was the right one.

“Good evening everyone,” the group of people looked at him in passing and some answered weakly when he politely said hello as he entered and started analyzing the structure and door designation logic to find his own quarters.

‘Oh. So the ten unit doesn't mean above, but the hundred unit probably is… So 3rd floor 24th?’

Using the stairs 2 by 2 while being weighed down by his duo of suitcases, he arrived on the 3rd floor and found that the 24th unit door existed, so he inserted his key inside the keyhole and tried to turn it…

And it worked.

“Oh, yeah! Easy! Just half an hour of struggle in total! That was nothing!” Celebrating by jumping in place and pumping his two fists up, he entered his new quarter for the foreseeable future.

“Hehe~ A couch, a big TV, a big desk, a kitchen, my life is on a loop I really like,” putting down his heavy backpack after turning on the lights of his new living quarters, he spoke aloud as he noted how similar furniture-wise this living room was to the one he had just left.

Exploring it more thoroughly, he found a massively big bedroom with a huge bed in it, a very generous bathroom containing a wide bathtub and even a small sauna room, a moderately big toilet room, and a final comfortably large laundry room.

“That’s definitely an upgrade,” making waves with his eyebrows, Aven took another look at the small sauna room, wondering if he should use it… And he decided that yes, “Well, I’m moving in! It’s at least something worth celebrating!”

Turning the sauna on, he closed the door behind him as he returned to the living room to start unpacking after putting on some background music thanks to the TV.

‘From EMATE to a raid in the industrial zone, and finally to here, in this military officer-level living quarters. All that happened in less than a day… How could my current life as a super compare to my previous unawakened one?’

Having a bit of an impostor syndrome stroke when he realized where and why he was moving into such a living quarters, his progress slowed down.

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With only 2 suitcases and a backpack to unpack, however, he was finished organizing everything in under an hour, and so he started to make himself a nice assorted meal with the numerous imperishable supplies available in the kitchen.

Once he settled down on the couch, his stroke naturally went off as he did a small introspection on himself and what he had accomplished until now.

‘I became a super who awakened an innate ability with so much potential that I felt forced to endure through 16-hours days of volunteering for weeks. But in the end, I wasn’t forced by anyone but myself to arrive where I am now in such a short time.’

Thinking about his potential, thinking about what he could accomplish, and thinking about the worsening planetary situation, Aven quickly reignited his spark of ambition and his drive to push forward and not let down his objectively endless potential.

‘I’m 21 years old, I’m a descendant of the legendary fairies, and I’m a super with endless potential.’

Feeling motivated suddenly, he put the massive map of the Blackdale Industrial Military Center he had been given on the table, then pinned it down under the thick guidebook that came with it.

“Wait for me here, I’m coming back shortly,” whispering his determination, he started undressing and selecting a casual set of clothes to wear after a cleansing bathing and sauna session.

…

“Sigh… What a bad night…” Crashing into the couch with a big glass of peach iced tea, Aven lamented the fact that he had gone to sleep directly after taking a bath due to how lethargic he had felt.

As a result, he hadn’t been that tired and had walked on the border of dream and reality for a good part of the night, bringing about pretty disturbing sights that he could only vaguely remember.

“And I didn’t even open that map…” Taking a sip of his favorite drink, he felt his tongue shiver in pleasure and opened the map as he kept watching a documentary he had just put on but was only watching by habit.

Keeping unfolding the map, when it took the whole table, he could only sigh heavily and start to analyze what he had to visit and understand in its entirety during the next 5 days to reach the minimum optimization level, “Is this a mini country? And what’s with this guidebook…”

Taking a look at the secrets contained inside the thick guidebook, he realized that the map was covered in numbers and letters… And he had to find what each number and letter meant.

“Well, what better time to start than now?” Shrugging at the inevitability of what he was going to start, he stopped half-heartedly opening the guidebook and started from the summary.

Half an hour quickly passed as Aven focused entirely on this guidebook, and only after he finished reading through all the big sections’ introductory segments did he stand up to see the map from higher up and plan where to start, “Let’s start with eliminating all the living areas…”

Taking a pen from the big desk in a corner of the big living room, he started going through all the buildings designated with only the letters “l.a” and crossing them subtly in visible colored dashes.

“It’s so ridiculously huge,” finishing with this first scope-reducing stage, he started another stage with another pen of a different color, “Now, same with the administrative buildings.”

Repeating this operation more than ten times, the huge map of the Blackdale Industrial Military Center became much more recognizable than before and much easier to plan a tour in.

“I think it’s best to interview someone before planning my tour in this… Mini country-level production industry,” frowning heavily at the map where more than half of the buildings had a yellow dash on them, meaning they were all somehow linked to the production industry.

Putting down his pen, he started leisurely preparing his backpack for the day, ate a bit, dressed in his new official white military engineer uniform, and stepped out of his new living quarters when the White had only just started brightening up the sky.

His bike was where he had left it yesterday, but this time when he rode on it he really felt that this way of using it was the right one, unlike yesterday when he had been rushed by time.

“Let’s go! Industry administration building! Whatever that means!” Pushing for the first time a pedal, he launched, and soon enough he reached a very comfortable cruise speed that couldn't be equaled easily by foot.

…

‘My insignia is visible, I’m clean, I’m honest, what could possibly go wrong?’

Getting down from his bike, he entered a building that was already swarming with people despite it being so early.

Once he entered the white concrete building that looked like all the others, he realized once again that he wasn’t in an educational environment anymore, there was no more receptionist or even big signs pointing to everything.

He had to find his own way.

“Excuse me,” he interrupted someone wearing a similar uniform to him but without the fancy insignia walking by.

Looking at him, the man quickly identified his uniform and insignia that combined into him being identified as an official engineer, “Yes, sir?”

“If I were to ask you about someone able to globally understand this whole industrial center, and more precisely its industrial production aspect, where would he be located in this building?” Turning his question in a way that left no ambiguity, Aven asked.

“I would bet on the production manager located at the A56 office, sir. No matter their ranks, production managers are responsible for overseeing and managing the global flow of resources across the whole center,” respectfully answering, he answered exactly what Aven had wanted.

“Thank you, you can leave,” smiling and thanking him to show his appreciation, he started to seek the A56 office.

‘I should make more research on military ranks later. I know the one I got is honorific and doesn’t work the moment I enter a battlefield, but if it’s high and my innate ability recognizes it…’

Having tangential thoughts as he found the A56 office quickly due to how utilitarian and finely arranged this whole building was, he knocked on the door.

“Yes, enter!” A rough voice reached him, so he opened the door.

“Hello and good morning to you! Are you a production manager? I want to meet one!” Showing his morning enthusiasm, Aven suddenly wanted to talk more than he probably needed to.

“Yes, production manager can be said to be my job, though I’m only a basic one. And who might you be?” The same rough voice that told him to enter appeared, except this time it very clearly emanated from an exhausted-looking middle-aged man.

When he looked up at him from his desk full of documents, he saw his uniform, and then his insignia, and made the link immediately as he stood up and saluted, “Sir! What can I help you with?”

Adopting a somewhat concerned look at this display, Aven waved at him to calm down before closing the door behind him, “What if I told you I was only just transferred here yesterday? And that I was looking for a guy able to tell me his own point of view about this humongous industrial center? Are you maybe too busy?”

“No, sir!” He responded very differently from how his conversation partner had expected, “I can help you as much as you desire! And my exhausted look is natural! I had a very good 10-hours night if you’re worried about me!”

“Oh~” Taking a closer look at the man’s complexion, Aven saw that his eyes were very lively and that he stood upright without difficulty, so he apologized before reverting back to his true self, “Sorry for the assumption. If you’re really up for telling me everything though, then I’m giving you the lead. Should we talk here? Outside? Cafeteria?”

“If you only need an overview, then we can do that in this office. Unless something is bothering you, sir?” Remaining polite and respectful all along, the man suggested.

“It would be my pleasure to enjoy your office,” really not minding anything, he relaxingly took a chair from the side and started unpacking his backpack to take a notepad and some pens out, “I’m Aven, by the way, a newly transferred tech super engineer.”

“Ah… Hu…” Lost for words after hearing that the young man before him wasn’t just an engineer, but a tech super engineer, it took a few seconds before the man replied in kind, “I’m Bhanas, sir!”

And that’s how Bhanas made the encounter of a 1-month old super who had no pretense about his status, rank, and authority at all.

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