Arknights: Mobile City

Pioneer thumbed through the technical document with keen interest. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught Laurentina and Texas entering from the adjacent room. He nonchalantly stashed the file away, continuing his search for anything else of value.

But his mind kept circling back to the technology he'd just uncovered.

To be honest... this was pretty intriguing.

The monster outside had probably been made with this very method.

The content itself was straightforward—the document laid everything out in simple, step-by-step language. It was practically foolproof.

All it required was nutrient solution and biomass. With the right formula, the special nutrient solution would allow these biological components to gradually assemble into an embryo, and rapidly develop. Based on Pioneer's quick mental calculations, with top-grade nutrient solution and enough biomass, an embryo could go from conception to maturity in a single day.

The only drawback: the embryo had no self-awareness. Only by fusing embryos repeatedly could one create the sort of twisted collective consciousness found in the monster outside.

Because of this, the researchers had considered the project a failure and had continued to revise it. Unfortunately, the entire research institute had been destroyed before they could finish—cause unknown.

Yet for Pioneer, what should have been a flaw was actually a unique advantage...

Why bother with embryo fusion just to get a sliver of awareness?

Why not just directly implant his own consciousness?

The thought made Obsidian whistle softly, eyes narrowing with a dangerous glint.

The next identity... has found its vessel.

Dealing with the biomass wouldn't be hard. Over the past few days, quite a few Sweeper corpses had piled up—a headache to dispose of, since they barely yielded any more Lunacy. But now, it seemed, they'd found a new purpose.

As for the nutrient solution, the technical file even included the recipe.

Obsidian scanned it. All the ingredients could be assembled easily—trace metals, basic elements like nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, water, and a few special additives... Obsidian even judged that some of the Sweeper's back-mounted fuel could substitute for part of the formula.

Truly "human-centered" technology, he thought with a twist of humor. If memory serves, that Sweeper fuel was made from people in the first place...

But what really caught his interest was that K Corp's ampoules could also be added to the mix. Who knew, maybe it would help the resulting shell develop a tolerance to ampoules as well.

Not bad at all. In the future, these identities could even be used as clean-handed "gloves" for sensitive work.

With that, Obsidian quickly set Doubts to prepping the base materials, and shifted his consciousness back to Pioneer.

Searching the lab a little longer, he uncovered an unexpected bonus.

"The principle of workshop weapon manufacturing..."

Pioneer stepped into a partitioned area, eyeing the weapon assembly line. He raised his eyebrows, rummaged nearby, and found the relevant file. Rapping the folder with his knuckle, he murmured to himself.

Then he turned to Laurentina.

"What do you think? Can you handle this?"

"You want to manufacture weapons?"

Laurentina accepted the file with casual indifference, then asked.

Pioneer looked over the weapon line without answering. The implication was clear enough. Laurentina glanced at the file again, her previously idle gaze turning serious.

"...Some of the weapon crafts are pretty troublesome..."

Finally, Laurentina put the file down and spoke:

"A lot of the weapon types are missing their manufacturing methods... but some are doable."

"That's enough. Just the ones we can build will suffice. In the future, if I need you to help set up a weapons production line, what do you say?"

Pioneer nodded, asking quietly. Laurentina considered for a moment.

"There's payment. Ringfinger-related."

"Deal. I'm in."

Laurentina's reply was as cheerful as it was immediate.

Pioneer nodded back. As expected, these incentives were all it took to sway Laurentina.

Simple, straightforward, and worry-free.

If only all the Deepsea Hunters were like this...

Being able to produce workshop weapons was a definite boon.

It meant that, soon, even the refugees under Obsidian's protection would have some fighting strength. The City would finally start to feel like... well, a City.

As for the missing techniques, Obsidian guessed they were either connected to Singularity Technology, or required some workshop-crafting prerequisites. The City's manufacturing know-how was still shrouded in mystery.

"All right... looks like we've scouted enough here. Let's head back."

Pioneer's tone was calm as he strode for the exit. Texas and Laurentina blinked, then hurried after him. On the way back, Texas couldn't help but ask:

"How'd it go... Any good gains this time?"

For a second—maybe it was her imagination—Texas thought she saw the corner of Pioneer's mechanical face curve up in a smile.

"Not bad at all."

With that, Pioneer walked on ahead in perfect composure. Texas eyed him, curiosity flickering in her gaze.

But in the end, she said nothing—just quietly followed in Pioneer's footsteps.

...

The next day, Obsidian eyed the nutrient tank in front of him—and the fast-growing tumor of flesh developing inside—and clicked his tongue.

His batch wasn't as intensive as the original; at this rate, it would take two more days for the thing to reach human size. Still, the efficiency was incredible.

Physical qualities, aptitudes, even basic gender—these were all left to pure chance. In other words, Obsidian had to gamble whether this body would suit his needs.

No matter. He had plenty of time.

Having worked through this, Obsidian exhaled lightly, guiding Pioneer to take a seat beside the [Tearful Thing], and began telling stories. Meanwhile, a Doubt was carefully dripping diluted ampoule fluid into the nutrient tank.

Obsidian rose, casting a glance at the [Tearful Thing] as it slowly wept, and left, heading toward the distant wooden hut.

Time to find Laurentina again...

Today was the day Laurentina's radio was due for delivery.

And the day Obsidian would negotiate with the Aegirian for the first time.

This time, I have to figure out a way to get these refugees settled with proper jobs...

And secure the resources the City needs most right now.