Chapter 47: Research at last!
Arriving at the two newly finished buildings, Alchemy placed her hand on the brighter of the two.
Both buildings were spiraling cocoon-like structures made of a material similar to the Tribal Hut. They were dark blue and black, respectively.
Entering the one she placed her hand on first, the [Hatchery Nexus], Alchemy was greeted with a rather cramped space and a system notification.
The ground below had a disturbing texture that made a squelching sound when walked over. Countless hatching pods were above, and in front of Alchemy was a single desk made of the same material as the walls. On top was a system panel.
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The panel allowed her to scroll and sort through all the units she had unlocked, including the Tier 2s she had just unlocked.
"I'm surprised this still reveals hidden stats."
Hidden stats, as the name suggested, weren't shown on the stats panel. These things didn't necessarily increase with each level: different defenses, resistance to debuffs, luck, and a stat that affected bonus damage from weapons.
Standard units had nine stats, with [Heroes], [Prospects], and other mutants having ten.
The Granitects and Sylvan Carvers held relatively simple upgrades, upgrading their toughness, movement, work speed, etc.
The Thornskirmishers and Wingrazers had the same, but they had upgrades like debuff potency and attack speed instead of work speed. Other units with different usages, such as buffs, would also have various upgrades.
The system displayed bars showing the number of upgrades each stat had. Each stat had only five upgrades, but once all of the enhancements were maxed out, the unit could be tiered up.
If one was willing to pay the price, Tier 1 units could be as strong as Tier 8 or even 9 units.
"I can just increase the amount of Sylvies and Granis to improve work efficiency. HP for the thorns will be OK for now. I wanna max that out first, anyway.
Sliding the bar up to the third stopping point, Alchemy upgraded her first offense units.
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Although nothing appeared to happen, Alchemy knew that the CON stats of the Thornskirmishers had quadrupled. Granted, they only had a measly 8 CON, but it was a start.
The exact amount could have changed under this unreliable system, but she'd check that later. Since they weren't fighting anyone, it wasn't of great importance.
With the [Hatchery Nexus] out of the way, Alchemy moved to the [Chrysalis Nexus]. The moment she walked in, she was bombarded with system notifications, but she pushed those aside as she looked at the interior.
Unlike the other research and development building, this one was… Well, It seemed out of place for its normality.
While the outside had the same design theme, the inside was a sleek, white, sterilized lab that was much bigger than it was on the outside. The only thing that made it seem like a building of the Verminae was the characteristic glowing green material. Even that was turned on by a switch, however, dragging any sense of fantasy away from it.
"Glad the underlying video game logic of these buildings remains unchanged." Alchemy chuckled.
The lab had no shortage of equally modern tools like a microscope and several machines that looked like electronics. Alchemy was not smart enough to know what those were or what they did.
"Nera is going to have so much fun here."
Alchemy turned her attention to the system panels when she finished combing through the multipurpose lab.
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"If this is going to say something stupid, I hope you know I wasn't joking about stabbing you. I will find a way." Alchemy sighed, still not particularly happy about the system's antics.
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"This feels like one of those educational games they forced us to play in the computer lab. Do you expect me to have the reading comprehension of a 3rd grader?" Alchemy sighed.
Then again, it gave a somewhat nostalgic feel.
Turning her attention to the aforementioned pedestals, Alchemy grabbed a Celestian from the storage and placed it on the plate.
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"10 minutes for a fruit that I already know the properties of. Love this already." Alchemy lamented.
She was really hoping the system registered the Knowledge Seekers as potential R&D units, or she might go insane from researching every piece of technology.
Her faction couldn't even use weapons, but she needed to research each type individually anyway to unlock more useful items.
'Well, at least Nera might use weapons. She tends to pick up those sticks and trees.' Alchemy hummed, remembering the giant tree trunk she attempted to skewer Gravana with.
Whatever the case, after the 10 minutes were up, Alchemy was blessed with the information she already had.
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Information she mostly had. This was the first time hearing or seeing the name of the forest she found herself in.
"Huh. That's kind of interesting, actually. What about…" Alchemy slurred her words while she grabbed something new from storage, this time one of the mana fragments.
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"Oh, come off it, two hours for a shiny rock?!" Alchemy clicked her tongue.