Chapter 6: President Adamir Nexus
"Nexus has already sent dozens of teams to explore the new planet, but barely anyone could return alive. Even a team of well-trained soldiers has met the same fate,"
The screen switched, and a video showing a group of soldiers holding various medieval weapons, as well as what appeared to be a wooden staff, while exploring a wilderness, was played.
The video started with the group slowly approaching a vein of unknown minerals, before suddenly a huge beast appeared from behind and attacked them.
From that point on, the video grew shaky, followed by countless clashes and sounds of explosions, and soon after, the videographer was slaughtered as well.
Before ending the video, the camera fell and coincidentally directed its full attention to the huge vein of glistering minerals in front, evidently showcasing it to attract the attention of the entire population of Noverra, who are watching at this very moment.
The screen returned to the female announcer right after.
"That's why they've decided to open it to the public in hopes that someone amongst the people of Noverra could help."
The female announcer turned her attention towards the camera.
"We've already talked about this topic in the past. The world of Noverra is now on the brink of dying just like our original home world, Earth. It started from the continent of Rustfall, then now it's spreading to the rest of the four continents. If we don't do anything to help save this world, like what Nexus is doing over the years, then we'll just repeat the same fate as our ancestors."
On the screen, various images about pollution and other global environmental crises and their various effects on the planet of Noverra were shown briefly before returning to the face of the female announcer again.
"Nexus needs you! No! The world of Noverra needs you!" The female announcer abruptly stood up from her seat and bowed down to express her sincerity.
After a few seconds, the female announcer stood straight up and continued. "Nexus plans to use this planet and extract its resources to save our second home world, Noverra."
"They don't expect much from you, as any form of help is welcome. In fact, as a token of sincerity, they've decided to grant full rights to whatever materials are discovered in Avalon to the person who finds them. If you want to keep it, keep it. If you want to sell it to Nexus in hopes of helping rebuild Noverra, then go ahead."
"After all, the world of Avalon represents a new opportunity for all of us in Noverra. If you do things thoughtfully and thoroughly, then who knows, this world might just become your ticket to make your dreams come true!"
The female announcer finally ended her speech with a meaningful smile on her face.
In the next moment, the screen switched, and what appeared soon was a man in his mid-forties.
It was the President of Noverra, Adamir Nexus.
"Hello, everyone!"
Adamir's smile radiated confidence and was full of charisma, the kind that was born from absolute control.
"To continue with our announcement tonight," Adamir started walking towards a huge device that was covered by a thick piece of cloth before continuing his speech. "Remove the cloth!"
As soon as the cloth was pulled away, a massive metallic device was revealed, showcasing its spider-like arms sprawling outward, all converging at the center where what seems to be a golden apple rested in full view.
Looking at the golden apple, it was rotating in a predetermined order while the device was following some sort of pattern or algorithm to seemingly keep up with something.
"We call this device the Nexus Core, and at its very center is the Golden Apple. From this moment onward, this machine will serve as the very core of the entire Nexus foundation!"
Adamir spread his hands out proudly.
"Now, let me explain," Adamir paused and fixed himself. "The Nexus Core is connected to the entire internet of Noverra. And once I hit the switch, all devices that are connected to the digital world will have the capability to open a portal which connects to the world of Avalon!"
"I am confident that you know what this means, right?" Adamir looked at the camera. "Equal opportunity for everyone! And you finally being able to decide what kind of future you want to live with your life! So, what are we waiting for? It's finally time!"
Raising his hand forward, Adamir grabbed a lever. "Once I pull this lever, an application will pop up on your devices, which once you click, will straight away open a portal. Alongside that is a detailed document that should be able to help you get to know more about the world of Avalon. Nothing to worry though if you don't want to read the thick document, because each of you will also be given a personal companion that will assist you in your adventure!"
"Anyways, let's start!"
After finishing his speech, Adamir finally pulled the lever.
*Whoosh!
*Clang! *Clang! Clang!
In the next moment, the Nexus Core began operating.
The Golden Apple, right at the very center, started circling wildly in which normal human eyes can't possibly keep up. Albeit that was clearly not a problem for the spider-like arms of the Nexus Core, as they also seemingly moved at the same pace and speed as the rotation of the Golden Apple.
"Now, I'll leave our fate entirely up to the population of Noverra to decide!"
Adamir finally ended his speech, and the screen returned to the female announcer.
By this point, Kael, Lawrence, and Jayem were no longer interested in continuing to watch what the female announcer was about to say.
In one quick motion, Lawrence and Jayem went to their respective computers. On the other hand, Kael turned the television off before going to his computer.
As Kael sat down calmly, Lawrence and Jayem instantly realized something as the duo turned to look at Kael with a look of shock on their faces.
"You knew about this, do you?" Lawrence already knew the answer, but he still wanted to confirm it.
"Tell us the truth!" Jayem followed up hastily.
"Yes," Kael nodded. "So, there's no need to open up the document because what's listed in there is nothing but a bunch of bullshit meant to mislead the masses in the early stage. As we go on and experience the world of Avalon, we'll eventually find out the truth!"
In the future, Nexus would hold a press conference apologizing about the misleading information they've written in the document and will use the excuse that they're also considered as novice and clueless in majority of the information about Avalon so they don't know everything, then in the next second they'll release an updated document which contains only a small portion of truth, albeit the lie was so believable that people believed it anyways.
Moreover, they're just going to continue repeating that same operation over and over again in order to get a head start on their competitors every time someone discovers something new about Avalon.
In that kind of manner, Nexus was able to grow its forces so strong that they remained uncontested until the day he died.
Anyone who dares to compete will consistently find themselves stuck in their progress.
He's not going to lie, that area is what they've already mastered in executing.
"How do you know all that?" Lawrence was already starting to fully trust Kael, and in his opinion, the operation they're about to do is most likely related to Avalon instead of the four continents.
"I'll tell you in the future. For now, let's get inside quickly because the faster we are, the better our condition will be from the rest of the players." Kael hurriedly started looking for the Nexus Core app, which is the name of the app Adamir mentioned that will pop up on their device.
"Players?"
"That's the name they'll start calling everyone who has entered Avalon!"
That's right, Nexus is treating this entire operation as a game.
Well, as much as he hates to admit it, this whole thing about Avalon, Nexus Core, and Golden Apple was indeed more or less like a virtual reality game.
However, it's wrong to treat it like that, because once one dies in Avalon, they're dead forever. There's no such thing as a reset button or a save point. It's as if one is playing a game with a hardcore mode activated.
Lawrence and Jayem weren't satisfied with Kael's response, but they had no other choice but to believe it because they couldn't possibly threaten the latter to tell them everything. After all, it's quite clear for them already that he knows a lot about this so-called new world of Avalon. In a new environment, especially a planet, being close to someone who has prior information is always a good thing, and they only stand to benefit from it in the long run. Killing him wasn't an option either. Not only was he far stronger than them, but even if that turned out to be a bluff, he hadn't done anything to harm them so far. To simply put, they had no real reason to attack him.
The best course of action right now is to fully cooperate with whatever Kael plans on doing and decide later on whether to continue supporting him or not.
"Let's hold the explanation later, for now, let's get inside!" Kael finally clicked on the application.
Lawrence and Jayem also followed suit.