Author Notes:
The new OBOM chapter is brought to you by me, who is so high on butter-infused coffee!
Again, it's yet another new month, another time where I look back and is grateful of the journey thus far. With you all accompanying my Mom and I, we have managed to stay at our new home for one month already. Time sure flies, huh? That said, if it wasn't for you all, we really would have crashed into a ditch or something much earlier.
So, pat yourselves on the backs and drain all the coffee. Ladies and gentlemen, you have did it!
Now, as always, enjoy the new chapter! And don't forget to check out the Monthly Recruitment Drive, coming soon to your neighborhood tomorrow and will last until the 25th of September! Early Access is at hand for all newcomers!
https://www.patreon.com/Heartbreak117
https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/Heartbreak117
https://discord.gg/cVZxJ29ruh
https://www.webnovel.com/book/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich_23809095505377305
https://www.webnovel.com/book/in-the-grimdark-sector-with-a-system_31596105108346205
https://www.webnovel.com/book/my-soul.-occupied-body---please-the-other-me...!_35377211308783905
https://www.scribblehub.com/series/2271569/reich-marshal-of-the-belkan-reich/
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There's something to be said about running in the snow... Shit gets bogged down in rough terrain real quick.
Due to its proximity to the Southern Cold Region, the island we are navigating has just experienced a snowfall, worsening the condition of an otherwise virgin landscape. The Rover, even with the reduced weight compared to the base bridgelayer model, regularly finds itself spinning its tires or roughing it in one thawing creek after another. There are times when the Rover, with its powerful engine, finds itself stuck in the cold mud as its big wheels splatter silt all over its hull. In times like this, we have to use the heavy-duty winch on the Rover, wrap it around a big rock or a towering tree, and pull the Rover out of the bog. Sometimes, when even the winch isn't enough to unstuck the Rover's wheel or undercarriage, Reizen has to step off and use her supersoldier physicality, or some wee bit Psionic manipulation, to either give the Rover a little push or to smooth out the terrain.
Seriously, if you think the Rover, as an explicitly designed all-terrain motorhome, could navigate the wildland well just on its own. You think wrong, then. The island is untamed, with not even a single manmade trail. It has been soaking up the rain and snow for countless years. The vegetation developed wildly, and beneath the layer of frozen mud are hidden potholes, gigantic root formations, and rocky outcroppings that threaten to puncture any normal all-terrain vehicle. Fortunately, despite the arduous journey, the Rover is anything but normal. While not exactly creating a blazing trail across the wild, wild South, the Rover is still making good progress and has yet to suffer any damage to its drivetrain and whatnot.
The only casualty in the whole thing is Reizen, who has to brave the mud and cold water to help us navigate through some particularly difficult patches of terrain. Luckily, we are near our destination. There, we shall take a break and let Reizen take a warm shower.
Honestly, the feeling of driving across the cold wildland and experiencing all of its difficulties reminds me of one particular series of games back in the old days. Recreating those games in the living world wasn't on my Bingo Card, but here we are.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
The Rover comes to a stop on a low mountain landscape that overlooks the coastal lowland. After deploying the parking brakes and making sure the Rover is not gonna slip off anywhere it shouldn't be, I lean back on the chair and give myself a good stretch. My muscles are a bit sore, having been at the steering wheel for so long and suffering all the bobbing that navigating the land entails.
[Y-You worked hard!] Comes the soothing words of my dear Other Me.
[Thanks, but I think Reizen is the MVP here. She has been out there for so long.] I reply mentally.
Reizen, bless her spirit, has been out on the roof of the Rover during the entire time we spent travelling. According to my blue-haired partner, she doesn't want our motorhome to be dirtied with mud and whatnot that got splattered onto her whenever she hops off to unstuck the Rover. And since she has been staying up there, Reizen also doubles as both a lookout and a navigator, protecting the Rover and guiding me on where to drive or cross through.
What would Aurea and I do without Reizen, really? She is just so helpful in every which way that it would be unimaginable for us to do all this and get this far without her.
As for Sapientia...
I feel the Ember Goddess' hands rest on my tensed shoulders and give them a massage. I let out a soft exhale in relief as Sapientia gently works out the knots in my muscles, and I nearly pass out when she moves her hands to ease my aching forehead. Sapientia has been sitting in the co-driver seat the whole time, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't contribute anything. Every so often, she interjects and gives us the needed paths that are more traversible than the others, saving us precious time. It's the only reason why we could have reached our destination when the sun was still up. Were Sapientia not around, I reckon we would have taken at least a day or two to get here.
"A thank you to you too, Sapientia." I murmur as the Ember Goddess coax me slack with her adept fingers.
"Small matters, really." Sapientia replies, chalking my words as thanking her for the guidance and massage, which she isn't wrong about. "This is the first time I employ the mundane life skill of massage that I managed to learn in passing. By the look of it, my ministrations ain't half bad at all."
And there comes that bit of smugness that I am not unfamiliar with, coming from Sapientia. That said, the godly massage I am subjected to is indeed good.
[Aww... I wish I could give you a massage as well, Umbra. I... There's not much for me to do without being physically present.] Aurea interjects with a mental image of her being disappointed at her own lack.
I reach out with a mental pat on her head before adding.
[Just hearing your words is enough for me to have the strength of a thousand soldiers. So don't sweat it, Aurea.]
[Un.]
We then hear a sound coming from above. It's Reizen, who just hopped off the Rover's roof. I reach across the dashboard and press a button. That button then triggers the lowering of the Rover's rear ramp, on which Reizen steps after magically removing the mud and dirt on her boots.
"You've worked hard, Reizen~!" Turning my body on my seat, I peek my upper torso around Sapientia's fair form and the opened internal bulkhead door that separated the driver's cabin from the rear habitat module to wave at Reizen.
Hearing my voice and seeing the smile on my face, with Sapientia still massaging me, Reizen gives us a composed thumbs up, saying.
"I am glad we could get here so soon. While I am showering, you two should take the chance to rest as well. We may not be able to afford the chance when we're embroiled in setting up the Base of Operations."
"Per your words, partner~!" I give her a two-finger salute and a wink.
Reizen giggles wryly at my action before heading to the shower room. Heeding Reizen's advice, Sapientia, Aurea, and I take turns giving one another playful massage sessions.
Coincidentally, Aurea is a natural at giving body massages. It doesn't take her long to pick up the craft.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Now that we are all refreshed, we step off the Rover and onto solid, albeit a bit slippery ground and take a good look at the lowland spanning our entire view. It's somewhat flat, and features two rivers that flow into the sea. Beyond the virgin beach lay the blue water that, according to Sapientia will get deep enough to fit our needs. A quick check with the GAD Module confirms this information. Additionally, further ahead are the rings of natural reefs that can provide our future Base of Operations from any potential storm. However, we will need to clear a path through them if we are to deploy future sea-faring vessels safely. If we go as far as building the Base of Operations into the mountainous landscape around us, we will have a lot of real estate to work with as well.
Considering the self-sustaining aspect of the Base of Operations, we will need all the free real estate we can get.
"Well," I start, giving a Reizen and Sapientia a look. "We already have a blueprint planned, but let's truly put the GAD Module to the test and see what we are working with... And holy shit! I know Arcadia is big. I know this island is big. But does it have to be bigger than Greenland!? We are this shy of calling this thing a miniature continent!"
"Heh!" Sapientia laughs at my incredulous expression with a hand over her mouth.
Reizen, however, looks at me with a curious gaze. "How big of territories are we looking at, Umbra?"
I explain.
"Now that we're on this island, the GAD Module directly gives us the number of 2,331,069 square kilometers, though this does include other offshore minor islands that we saw on our way in. The Greenland that Reizen and I should be familiar with is only around 2,1 million square kilometers in size, but this number incorporates the massive ice sheet which covers some 1,7 million square kilometers. This nameless, unclaimed island we are on? That 2,331,069 square kilometers number is pure, claimable, and developable land! Imagine all the resources we can get from this island! Sure, it's still gonna be cold and muddy, but it ain't as bad as having most of the land being covered in permafrost for nearly an entire year!"
I pause my excitement before turning to Sapientia with a questioning look. "Surely an ice sheet won't form out of the blue and blanket the whole place, right?"
Sapientia chuckles. "I would love to see your expression should I answer yes; there will be an ice sheet. But lucky for you, this island is indeed tameable."
"Oh, thank Viola and all the Divines out there!" I let out a cheer, even jumping with my hands waving in the air, much to the amusement of my Other Me and the others.
After a few moments, I calm down, blushing as I cough into my fist.
"Anyway, back to the matter at hand..."
"Given our current resources..."
"According to the blueprint we created..."
"Analyzing local geography..."
"Readjusting individual sectors..."
I assure you, my murmuring and my waving my hands in the air at something invisible actually mean something. It means that I am interacting with the GAD Module to develop the final form of the Base of Operations. It doesn't stop it from looking weird from the outside, though, as Reizen and Sapientia share a glance of amusement.
"And that should be it..." I say at last after nearly half an hour of brainstorming.
Behind me, Reizen and Sapientia have already deployed a tea table and are enjoying some warm drink since who knows when.
"You're done?" Sapientia perks up from her cross-legged position on a folding chair.
"Yeah." I nod at her, looking at the final design of the Base of Operations. "... Now that I think about it, what will happen if I press the construction button? According to the GAD Module, the first Base of Operations is given the freebie of instant construction. Yet, what will it do to the animals and whatnot living in the building zone?"
My question puts a thoughtful frown on Reizen's face before she turns to look at the Ember Goddess. Sapientia, who's just about to take a sip of her tea, pauses her action. The goddess' face pales somewhat at the one thing all of us just so happened to miss out on.
"Crappa..." Sapientia mutters before placing her tea mug on the table and shooting to her feet. "Yeah, that could have ended badly for Lady Bubble and her family down on the coastline!"
Sapientia then bows at me before putting her hands together in an apologetic manner.
"Sorry! Sorry! But can we hold off on building the base till tomorrow or later? I need some time to work with Mother Arcadia to resettle the snowpuff seals and other assorted denizens to other parts of this island."
Reizen and I then share a look. Reizen is fine with whatever, and Aurea in our mental space doesn't offer any rejection, so I turn to nod at Sapientia.
"No worry. Please, take all the time you need. I can only imagine the disruption the construction of the Base of Operations will cause to the local wildlife and fauna. The Snowpuff Seals ending up homeless would be the least of the damage, I reckon."
"Yeah..." Sapientia giggles wryly. "I really didn't think this whole matter through. It's a bit unbecoming of me, really. Anyway, thank you, all of you, for making the effort to respect the nature that Mother Arcadia has nurtured here. While normal developments and so on are understandable and accepted by Mother Arcadia, she will feel grief if things suddenly go poof and gone en masse, like what the GAD Module can do to the land you choose."
I smile understandingly. "Well, given that Mother Nature is very much active here, of course we need to pay her my due respect, no? After all, we are effectively renting out the place from her. How about this: in the future, I hope you can work with me more closely on the matter of land reclamation and development. Maybe set up some ground rules, and something along the lines of a natural conservation zone. That way, we can lessen Mother Arcadia's worries, no?"
"Good idea, and I'm all for it!" Sapientia nods repeatedly before adding. "Now, I really need to go and get the wildlives all sorted. Seeing you all soon!"
With a comedic poof of smoke, Sapientia's gone. I stare at the empty space for a few seconds before shrugging, moving to take the seat that was Sapientia's. Leaning on the backrest, I sigh.
"Well, that was something..."
Reizen reaches over and pats me on the shoulder. "It's a good thing that you remember that. I know it will surely pain Aurea if Lady Bubble ended up homeless because of us."
"Yeah..." I immediately dread the prospect.
"By the way, what's the final figure for the Base of Operations?" Reizen changes the topic, prompting me to throw out the number.
"700 square kilometers." And that, my friend, is a massive plot of land.