Arknights: Mobile City

In truth, as a transmigrator, Obsidian didn't possess any grand insight. There were plenty of things he only half-understood—politics among them.

If he was honest, Obsidian's grasp of politics wasn't much better than the "armchair politicians" who argued endlessly online back in his previous world. In a contest of real political cunning, he'd be outmatched by most of Terra's leaders.

But Obsidian did understand one thing:

Might makes right.

If he had the power to flatten all of Terra single-handedly, then all the tricks and machinations, all the political maneuvering, would be utterly meaningless.

As long as the City grew strong enough, he wouldn't have to worry about politics at all.

That was the path Obsidian was walking now. He couldn't be bothered to train himself into a political mastermind from scratch—that would take far too long, with no guarantee of success. He didn't have that much time or energy to spare.

So, he chose a simpler, blunter approach.

Now that he had the [Well], there was no reason not to use it. He needed to maximize his power through gacha pulls, until he had the kind of strength that could simply end the game.

That was the goal he was chasing—and it was clear his efforts had paid off lately.

By now, he'd stockpiled a fair amount of [Lunacy]. Adding it all up, he had enough for thirty pulls.

A full 4,000 [Lunacy]. All the result of Obsidian's ceaseless effort: founding K Corp, boosting the City's population, taking down monsters here and there… Even the [Lunacy] from the recent launch of the Eye currency had just hit his account.

With all this, his supply of [Lunacy] had suddenly ballooned. For the first time, he actually felt flush.

"Who knows what I'll get in these thirty pulls… Honestly, with how much three-lamp gear I've pulled before, I won't be surprised if my luck runs out this time…"

Rubbing his brow, Obsidian headed back to his little cabin, mumbling to himself. With a wave of his hand, the [Lunacy] he'd accumulated appeared before him.

Stretching lazily, he hesitated for a moment, then threw in 1,300 [Lunacy] to test the waters.

A flash of predictable red light greeted him. Obsidian clicked his tongue in annoyance.

No gold—not exactly uplifting.

"Whatever… Red's better than nothing. Let's see what we've got."

He muttered, flipping through the results from the Well—then froze, momentarily baffled.

[Thread ×20]

[(00) Identity Extraction Ticket ×4]

[Ham Bonk Bonk Solo Meal ×2 (0)]

"?"

Staring at the loot before him, Obsidian tilted his head, a look of confusion on his face.

[Ham Bonk Bonk]—whatever, maybe that'll be handy at some point. But why so many [Identity Extraction Tickets]?

Did he just hit the [Identity Extraction] jackpot?

Scratching his head, Obsidian finally sighed.

It's better than nothing… At least he wouldn't be running out of [Extraction Tickets] any time soon.

Still, he'd have to find City residents who could actually use the tickets… Or maybe it didn't have to be just City people.

Thinking back to a not-so-distant plan, Obsidian felt a new idea forming.

He'd need to travel again soon. Unlike Heal's trip to Kazdel, next time would be longer and further… Maybe he could just take all the [Identity Extraction Tickets] with him.

He had his reasons for making that plan, and one of them was Don Quixote.

As the City's population grew, Obsidian could feel signs of life stirring in Don Quixote.

Twice in the last ten days, he'd picked up vital signs—he'd installed monitors and detectors on Don Quixote to keep track of his condition.

The first time, his heart had beat for about half a minute; the second, his heart beat for nearly a minute, and one finger even twitched.

Obsidian was sure: as the City's population climbed, Don Quixote… might soon awaken because of it.

That day was probably not far off.

Time to get ready.

Obsidian let out a slow breath, setting the thought aside for now. There was still a bit of time before he'd send people out; for now, he'd focus on spending all his [Lunacy].

After a moment's consideration, he decided to just dump the rest into the Well.

A twenty-pull!

"Come on, just give me a gold!"

As if in answer to his plea, the [Well] flared with a sudden golden light. Obsidian's eyes lit up.

Here it comes! What'll it be this time?

He'd already pulled [Singularity Tech] before, and didn't need more in the short term. Even if he got some, he probably didn't have the resources to develop it yet. The [Tearful Thing] was the most manageable so far—any others wouldn't be so easy.

Twenty pulls—only one gold at the end. But quantity didn't matter. What mattered was what that gold would be.

Heart pounding with anticipation, Obsidian checked the gacha results.

[Thread ×70]

Not bad—Laurentina's third-break materials sorted.

[Basic Workshop Weapon Crafting Tech]

Weapon crafting tech… Good, that should complete the City's current set. Advanced workshops were probably out of reach, but low-level ones could be set up now, and Laurentina had already got those lines running…

Time to recruit some more craftsmen.

Thinking so, Obsidian skimmed the rest of the results.

A set of [Ham Bonk Bonk] meals. Unexpectedly, three cans of [Enkephalin]

Not a permanent fix, but a decent stopgap… At this rate, Obsidian figured they'd run out of liquid originium and other energy in two months, tops. He'd have to come up with another way to generate power by then.

Finally, he looked at the gold—the reward for the twentieth pull. And then Obsidian froze.

[Prototype Singularity Prosthesis: Local TT2 Acceleration Protocol]

"?"

"Wait, what did you just give me?!"