Chapter 211: Tier-2 Stargate! A New Battle Begins!
Chapter 211: Tier-2 Stargate! A New Battle Begins!
"Unlocking this megacorp blueprint is seriously no joke…"
Realizing just how far he still was from having enough Corp Credits to exchange for the War Moon megastructure, Li Ang suddenly felt a heavy pressure weighing on him.
Fortunately, after redeeming the Matter Decompressor, he hadn't rushed to blow the rest of his Corp Credits upgrading other megastructures or researching tech trees.
If he had, he'd be even more strapped for resources right now—and the time it would take to unlock the War Moon would've stretched even longer.
When your credits are insufficient, tightening your belt and allocating resources wisely isn't enough. You've got to find new income streams too—figure out ways to generate more Corp Credits.
And the source of those credits? They're tied to the expansion of his megacorp, the industrial zones it occupies, and the various missions completed across multiversal worlds.
Up to this point, the planets and industrial zones under megacorp control—including those in the main universe, Universe 001, and Universe 002—barely added up to just over a thousand.
At Ideal City's current production speed, it would take at least ten years to expand to more than ten thousand planets using only replicants and clones.
So, if Li Ang wants to accelerate the megacorp's development, there's only one real option left—lead his forces through more stargates and continue conquering other multiverse realms.
In short, self-reliance can't beat freeloading off new worlds.
"Still... can the stargate really refresh two separate multiversal realms this time? Or maybe it'll just throw me into a high-difficulty scenario?"
"Something that rivals a Creator-level civilization like Three-Body? A chaos-ridden Warhammer world? Or straight into the apocalyptic madness of Stellaris…?"
Staring at the gaping credit gap on the system panel, Li Ang couldn't help but feel a little down. It wasn't that he feared failing to conquer new worlds—he just worried the stargate's current level wouldn't generate realms with rich enough rewards.
That's right—even stargates have level-up mechanics. Just like with quests or treasure chests, the stargate's level directly impacts the quality of the rewards.
Each successful conquest of a multiversal world fills the stargate's XP bar. Once it hits max, the stargate levels up.
At present, after conquering Universe 001's Ghost Realm and Universe 002's Pacific Rim, the XP bar was just a sliver short of reaching Tier 2.
So close—yet still out of reach!
"If I could just instantly max out the XP bar and push the stargate to level 2, I could unlock higher-tier worlds immediately, right?!"
At that moment, a bold idea popped into Li Ang's mind: what if he dumped all his remaining Corp Credits into upgrading the stargate?
Tier-2 stargates would definitely yield much more lucrative conquests than Tier-1 ones.
With a single Tier-2 mission, he might earn more rewards than he did from both of the previous Tier-1 multiversal conquests combined.
Having made up his mind, Li Ang decided to go all-in—"All or nothing. Bike to Ferrari!" With a Tier-1 stargate, he'd need to complete at least two missions to earn enough credits. With a Tier-2 stargate, maybe just one or two would be enough to unlock the War Moon.
Doing the math, there was no real downside—only the potential for massive gain.
After all, two Tier-2 world conquests would undoubtedly yield better rewards than one Tier-1 and one Tier-2.
With that final decision made, Li Ang tossed all his remaining resources into upgrading the stargate.
[Stargate upgrade duration: 10 minutes]
With nothing else to do while the upgrade was in progress, Li Ang switched screens and refocused on the War Moon megastructure.
Even though unlocking Stage Four of the megacorp blueprint would have the system provide all necessary construction materials, it didn't hurt to get a sense of what resources and time the project would require.
Better to be prepared in case he wanted to build more War Moons down the line.
Soon, guided by system prompts, Li Ang viewed the first stage of the War Moon's construction—"War Moon Candidate".
This phase involved choosing a planet as the core foundation for the megastructure, to be developed and built upon later.
In simpler terms, pick a planet.
After all, the War Moon is fundamentally a weaponized planetary body.
The basic War Moon super dreadnought is about the size of Earth's moon.
As for the full-power version… well, no one really knows how massive that could be.
Still, Li Ang figured it wouldn't be too enormous. Bigger doesn't always mean better in terms of raw firepower.
Once you exceed the limits of physics, your ship's combat performance can actually drop.
So in his estimation, even a maxed-out War Moon probably wouldn't be larger than twice the size of Earth.
"Well, that's convenient—I've got a bunch of junk planets lying around anyway."
Li Ang grinned. He'd just looted a load of territory from the alien Precursors over in Universe 002's Pacific Rim world.
The planets he'd cherry-picked and claimed from them were now his to use.
Originally, he thought he wouldn't gain much useful tech from the Pacific Rim Earth—maybe some kaiju or Precursor gene samples, or mecha schematics at best.
But now, even those seemingly useless planets had their value.
Though there were plenty of planets in the main universe, not many were actually fit to be War Moon foundations.
Most celestial bodies out there are just giant space rocks—finding suitable ones among them isn't easy.
Just as he was wondering whether to custom-create a planet instead of using the system's default options, the stargate upgrade finally completed.
[Tier-2 Stargate Upgrade Complete!]
As the notification sounded, Li Ang immediately refreshed the stargate interface—eager to see what new worlds were available.
[Edge of Tomorrow + (Unknown)]
"Wait, what the hell? An 'unknown' world? Did the system glitch out or something?"
Seeing the strange new multiversal world, Li Ang was momentarily stunned. He understood the inclusion of Edge of Tomorrow—but what was with the random "unknown" tagged on the end?
Could it be that this unknown world was locked behind the completion of the Edge of Tomorrow mission?
He immediately searched the system interface for an explanation—and what he found wasn't far off from his guess.
The good news: the stargate had indeed generated two conquest missions, and completing both would reward enough Corp Credits to unlock the War Moon.
In fact, he'd likely have credits left over to upgrade another megastructure or tech node.
The bad news: the two multiversal conquests were merged within a single shared universe.
In other words, two similar realms had been fused into one.
Like how, in Li Ang's native universe—a cyberpunk world—you might also find Avatar's Pandora as a location.
This new world followed the same logic.
Some alien civilization from another multiversal realm had descended into the sci-fi world of Edge of Tomorrow.
Li Ang's mission now was to complete the first stage—before the "unknown" alien civilization fully invades Edge of Tomorrow's Earth.
Then he'd have to deal with the second wave of alien threats.
Like a double-yolked egg, this mission came in two parts.
"What is this, multiverse conquest with phase-two boss fights? I'm starting to feel like I'm playing Sekiro!"
Li Ang chuckled, shaking his head at the system's relentless antics.
Still, this was perfect—it let him sweep everything in one go, avoiding the hassle of opening multiple stargates and managing simultaneous campaigns.
"Come to think of it, some multiversal worlds really do share the same universe lore," Li Ang mused.
The classic example being Blade Runner and Alien—both featuring the same AI interfaces in their ships.
Accepting the mission structure, Li Ang began reviewing the key elements of Edge of Tomorrow. If there was one piece of tech or ability in that world that stood out…
It had to be Omega.
The massive, sea-anemone-like entity known as Omega possessed the terrifying power to reset time—a literal temporal reboot mechanic.
That kind of tech couldn't even be called sci-fi anymore.
It was mysticism. Psionics.
"That thing… it might be kind of redundant for me, but it also feels potentially useful…"
He knew the system had a built-in save feature that could serve the same purpose—rewinding time and starting over.
However, using this function would trigger an unknown penalty mechanism for Li Ang, such as deducting resources or tech points.
So this function could only serve as a last-resort safeguard, not something he could rely on for trial and error.
But if he gained the ability to rewind time without any penalties, then Li Ang would essentially have a unique "superpower" of his own.
"Looks like this time, I'll have to head to the front lines myself."
If he wanted to obtain Omega's time-reversal ability, that meant Li Ang would have to emulate the protagonist from Edge of Tomorrow.
He'd need to die alongside Omega and mix their blood together.
Then survive and make it back safely after gaining the rewind ability.
With his next goal locked in, Li Ang closed the system interface and turned his gaze toward the city of night beyond the window.
…
Within the sprawling industrial zones, filled with factories and production workshops, the most heavily guarded and expansive area was the Astartes warzone.
As the sun dipped below the horizon, tens of thousands of workers in the zone began clocking out for the day.
Some returned directly to their dorms, ready to unwind with video games or immersive dream-movies.
Others took advantage of the corporate-provided public transport, leaving the warzone to enjoy drinks and merriment with colleagues in the bustling commercial districts.
But within the six-story Astartes Augmentation Division at the heart of the warzone, staff continued to work tirelessly without rest.
Armed soldiers stood guard at the building's main and side entrances, fully equipped and vigilant. Nearby, numerous AI-controlled turret sentries remained on high alert.
For ordinary employees, the first line of the employment agreement made it explicitly clear: entering classified zones was strictly forbidden.
Every rule in these restricted areas had to be obeyed without exception. Disobedience would result in immediate termination—literally.
After all, this was the Astartes warzone's central hub, home to many of the megacorporation's military secrets.
Deep beneath the Augmentation Division building, in a lab three floors underground, David Martinez was about to undergo his 13th augmentation surgery.
"David, looks like the 'artificial dura mater' we implanted in your brain last time is performing well—your body hasn't shown any signs of rejection."
The speaker was Viktor "Old Vik" Viktor, the Astartes legion's chief augmentation engineer, whom everyone here affectionately called "Old Vik."
The so-called artificial dura mater was an organ grafted onto the top of the cerebral cortex. It allowed soldiers to voluntarily enter a state of suspended animation.
In this state, even gravely wounded Astartes warriors could forcibly survive for years—essentially buying time to cheat death.
Though it might seem like a marginal feature, in critical moments, it could be the difference between life and death, giving teammates enough time to mount a rescue.
"Truly a gifted kid. In just over two years, you've already completed your 12th organ augmentation."
"You're the first in our Iron Hands legion to achieve that—second only to V!"
Jack Wells, David's direct superior, couldn't help but click his tongue in admiration, staring at David on the operating table like he was a rare treasure.
"Haha, maybe I just got lucky."
David chuckled lightly from where he lay strapped to the multi-function operating table, metal restraints securing his neck, limbs, and waist.
"Say, Old Vik… why am I strapped down this time? That wasn't the case during the last operation."
David asked, clearly puzzled.
"It's for your safety," Viktor replied with a smile, attempting to ease David's nerves. "With these multi-purpose mechanical arms, we don't need to operate directly. It minimizes the risk of contact-based infections."
At that moment, the red monitoring lights in each corner of the surgical room were glowing steadily, indicating that recording was in progress.
Additionally, a one-way observation window had been installed on the right side of the operating table for personnel to monitor the procedure.
David Martinez was able to undergo this 13th augmentation today—the integration of a Melanin Regulation Organ—thanks to his outstanding contributions in three interdimensional conquest missions for the megacorp.
His repeated merits had earned him a spot as one of the Iron Hands legion's key soldiers, codename A369!
At that moment, the Transcendent AI Europa projected a holographic screen in front of David, prompting him to sign a document.
[According to records from the Megacorp's Expansion Division, you displayed exemplary performance during campaigns on Pandora, the Netherworld, and the Pacific Rim.]
[You have now been promoted to leader of Ace Vanguard Team 7, and are about to undergo your 13th organ augmentation. Please sign this agreement.]
[…]
Without the slightest hesitation, David confirmed the agreement via voice recognition, officially initiating the augmentation process.
"Keep it up, kid. One day, you might even take over as commander of the Ace Vanguard Team."
Jack Wells smiled, offering encouragement.
Back on Pandora, he'd seen the potential in David. And sure enough, David had since risen to become one of the legion's most promising young officers.
"That's my duty, sir."
David returned the smile.
"Sir, are my three recruits also undergoing augmentation here today?"
Before the operation began, David couldn't help but ask one final question.
During last year's Pacific Rim campaign, his recruits in Squad Corey had played a critical role—leaving a lasting impression on him.
If possible, David hoped to bring Corey and the others into his own combat unit to streamline future missions.
"You mean Corey, Steve, and Bruce? Don't worry—they're in the next room undergoing their ninth augmentation: the Third Lung implant."
As Jack spoke, he had AI Europa pull up a live feed of the adjacent operating room. Corey and the others were unconscious, undergoing lung transplants.
"Those three recruits performed well. Per the decision of the Market Expansion Division, they've now officially been listed as members of the Ace Vanguard Team."
"And you'll be their direct superior."
Jack could easily read David's intentions—after all, who wouldn't want competent subordinates?
Having capable men under your command often meant rising through the ranks yourself. Just like Jack Wells, who had climbed from a regular vanguard captain to vice-commander of the Iron Hands legion, as well as commander of the Ace Vanguard Team—second only to V.
Even someone like Reed was now working under him.
"Get some rest."
"Yes, sir!"
Soon after, jack left the surgical room and waited at the observation platform for the 13th augmentation to begin.
This procedure would grant him control over skin pigmentation.
Its purpose was to enable the body to darken the skin based on the environment, offering protection from ultraviolet rays.
It could also provide some resistance to other forms of radiation.
Of course, Astartes warriors typically wore power armor for protection—but extreme battlefield conditions didn't always allow for such gear.
And the more physiological advantages you had, the safer you were overall.
Hiss!
A needle-equipped mechanical arm, controlled by Viktor, precisely injected David at the base of his neck.
The clear fluid in the syringe entered his body, and David quickly slipped into unconsciousness.
…
At that same moment, on the top floor of the megacorp's HQ, Li Ang was meeting with his trusted lieutenants: V, Johnny Silverhand, and Reed.
"You've been busy this past year, cleaning up alien heretics left and right—even wiping out the last remnants of the AI nomadic civilization on Pandora."
As he read through the mission reports in the HQ database, Li Ang smiled and praised the trio before him.
"You've done well. Now tell me—what would you like as a reward? I'll do my best to accommodate."
It wasn't just about praise or rewards. The real reason Li Ang had summoned V and the others here was to gauge their attitudes.
In reality, when a superior asks his subordinates what they want as a reward, the best answer is always job-related.
If Li Ang truly wanted to reward them, he would have already done so. He wouldn't be asking.
And these three veterans—V, Johnny, and Reed—were savvy enough to understand that.
Johnny was the first to speak:
"Boss, I heard that Research Director Zuma's team recently developed a new antimatter shield. Any chance we could get early access to that?"
"It'd really help us on our future missions."
Johnny's response perfectly hit the mark—it showed loyalty, focus on the job, and humility.
Li Ang nodded in satisfaction. This was exactly the answer he wanted to hear.
"The antimatter shield is in its final mass production trials. Once the first batch is ready, I'll make sure you get it."
Even if Johnny hadn't asked, Li Ang would have prioritized the Ace Vanguard Team for deployment of the new gear.
Layering an antimatter shield on top of their anti-Hulk armor would make the vanguard troops virtually unstoppable.
Even someone like Homelander from The Boys wouldn't stand a chance against the Astartes.
"Haha, that's great news!"
Johnny chuckled, though he was personally more excited about the new anti-Hulk armor than the shield.
"Good. I'm pleased you've all stayed focused on your duties."
Li Ang dropped all pretenses and got to the point: "In one week, I'll reopen the Star Gate. Before that, you and the vanguard troops must be ready."
"Because this time, I'm going to the front lines with you."
Even the usually composed Reed couldn't help but react in surprise. Why would Li Ang—normally so cautious—suddenly risk himself?
Was there something in the next interdimensional world that he needed to personally retrieve?
Seeing their confusion, Li Ang calmly explained his reasoning. Only then did V and the others relax, though they still found it hard to fully understand.
Still, as long as the boss had a plan, their job was simply to carry it out.
"That's all—go prepare."
"Yes, sir!"
With that, Li Ang turned and walked to the other side of the hall, gazing out at the headquarters of the Multiverse Base he hadn't visited in over a year.
A new battle was about to begin.
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