Months have passed since the warped eclipse devoured the sun and brought eternal darkness. The new age began when the world erupted into chaos. It was the beginning of the Dark Cataclysmic Era.
On the first day since the sun disappeared from the skies, the governments barely held themselves from internally collapsing.
Martial laws were declared throughout the globe, but it didn't stop the impending disorder. It only grew and intensified to an uncontrollable degree.
Hatred, sorrow, guilt, and silence. These emotions were what most felt on the first day.
And from the despair of humanity was the birth of the apocalypse in the form of the Stygian Virus. It was a sickness that spread far and wide. Those infected by it become monsters known as aberrants.
Aberrants don't resemble their former selves and were deformed by the Stygian Virus into a horrendous form. These monstrous creatures only had one goal in mind, and that was to spread the infection.
Vast cities burned as tall skylines tumbled down. Mighty armies were massacred as the ones they pledged to protect became horrors of the darkness. Once powerful nations collapsed as they fragmented.
Humanity crumbled from the apex of the world and fell from grace. They returned to the time when everything was trying to kill them. And the only thing they could do was survive.
But amidst these miserable and dire circumstances was the shining ray of hope.
Deep in the fringes of the Dominion of Wyoming was the private military force that waged war against the abominations that ruled the dark world. They were the ones who went on an offensive against the horrors.
And won...
They were the Cerberus.
The keepers of the gate of hell. For as long as they exist, humanity will never go through it.
The Cerberus resided in the southern interior of Goshen County, where its headquarters dwelled and governed. It stood proudly in the vast wilderness of the south and proclaimed the right of its existence.
It was Cerberus's destiny to lead humanity back to its throne. In the far future, the Dark Cataclysmic Era will end, and the golden age of humankind will start.
But only the future can tell of the golden age.
For now, let's start with the epic of humanity's emperor.
....
In the vast wilderness of the southern interior of Goshen County was a towering dome-like structure clad in metallic jet-black. It was two kilometers in diameter and four hundred meters in height.
Dozens of radiant neon clusters spread throughout its structure, twinkling like brilliant stars in the night skies. At the dome's summit was the soaring superstructure 200 meters above the structure's peak.
It was the Tower of Babel looming over the dark world.
This was the upgraded Cerberus Headquarters. The home of the private military force, Cerberus.
Inside the crown of the towering superstructure was the Strategic Command equipped with dozens of futuristic electronics of the Cerberus.
Whether it'd be a communications array, a high-holographic displayer, a sophisticated detection radar system, or a control panel of the entire headquarters.
The Strategic Command had it all.
Beside the Strategic Command was the office of the most influential figure in Cerberus, the Director. Known by his subordinates as the lord and savior of humanity, he was the leader of the war machine.
"I only have five hours left before the 50% Discount duration is expended. So I have a lot of things to do."
Duke glanced through the windows, which provided him a 360-degree view of the surroundings. At first, he wondered why the Strategic Command and his office weren't deep underground of the headquarters.
During that time, Aurora responded with a proud smile.
"There's no way the Director would be underground in the dregs of the land. So, the Strategic Command and Director's Office is primarily placed at the crown of the headquarters."
Duke couldn't argue much about it since the worldviews of the Cerberus were much more different than his. Besides, even the Imperium of America had ineffective designs for the sake of style.
Remembering what had happened made Duke shake his head and look at the dozens of files simplified by the Administrator. They mostly were reports about the battle and the current situation of the headquarters.
'Anyhow, I need to buy more buildings since they would become immensely costly after the end of the 50% Discount.'
Duke bought the Barracks, Armored Factory, and Fusion Reactor buildings for 8,000 Source Points. This should leave his original 42,043 Source Points down to 34,043 Source Points.
With this in mind, he opened the Doomsday Mall to look for more buildings he could buy. Scouring the entirety of the Building Tab, he discovered five buildings he wanted to buy.
➤| Communication Tower(Military): The Communication Tower is a vast communication array rising about 150 meters in height, extending the direct communication range of the headquarters for 500 kilometers in radius. 50 Communication Operators must operate this building for efficient array performance. (Cost: 1,250 Source Points[50% Discount]) |
➤| Research Station(Military): The Research Station is a highly confidential building of the Cerberus. It can be placed anywhere in Cerberus Territory and doesn't consume too much space. The building tackles experimentation of units, arsenals, biological weapons, and many more. One can unlock tech trees from this building. It also unveils a new personnel called Researcher(Military). 25 Researchers are needed to operate the station. (Cost: 4,000 Source Points[50% Discount]) |
➤| Arsenal Refinery(Military): The Arsenal Refinery is a weapon, munition, and ordinance manufacturing factory. It requires large areas to occupy and must be operated by 100 workers at its complete capacity. The Arsenal Refinery can manufacture its weapon, munition, and ordinance for half the price. Through naturally acquired materials, the manufacturing price would be a fourth of its original cost. (Cost: 1,500 Source Points[50% Discount]) |
➤| Drone Forge(Military): The Drone Forge is a manufacturing factory focused on land, seaborne, or aerial drone construction. The creation of the building unlocks the basic drones of the Cerberus Military. But one can also directly manufacture drones at only half the price. The factory is highly automated, so it doesn't need any workers. (Cost: 1,750 Source Points[50% Discount]) |
And finally...
➤| Air Dock(Military): The Air Dock is a large platform with multiple runways and hangars that can accommodate aircraft of any size. It requires an area of a kilometer in diameter to be constructed. The building automatically unlocks several aircraft, units, and a new building. (Cost: 5,000 Source Points(50% Discount]) |
The total price of these five buildings was 13,500 Source Points.
From the price alone, Duke's wallet was begging for mercy. But unfortunately for the wallet, this was a required investment for the Cerberus.
With a thought, Duke bought the five buildings that cost over ten thousand source points.
| The Director has purchased 1x Communication Tower(Military), 1x Research Station(Military), 1x Arsenal Refinery(Military), 1x Drone Forge(Military), and 1x Air Dock(Military) with the price of 13,500 Source Points(50% Discount!) |
| Congratulations on purchasing over five buildings from the Doomsday Mall! |
| Reminder! Once bought, you will permanently have their blueprints and can build such structures for a fraction of the price. |
| Tip! There are tons of space in the headquarters. How many things can you fit inside it? |
After Duke purchased the five buildings of the Doomsday Mall, he was bombarded by notifications about it. The Protocol seemed to congratulate him for buying five buildings.
However, sadly, there were no rewards.
Nonetheless, according to the notifications, once he purchased buildings from the Doomsday Mall, their blueprints would forever be available to him.
This means that in the future, as long as he had the materials and personnel to construct buildings for himself, he could do so at a lesser cost.
'I guess the Protocol also promotes a bit of independence from it. Which makes sense. The Cerberus must be able to stand on its own even without the aid of the Protocol.'
Duke wanted to purchase all the essential buildings for independence. But at the moment, the five buildings were enough. These structures would also help the Cerberus Military increase its efficiency in terminating abominations.
Anyhow, he also noticed something peculiar from the notifications. It was a tip message, which was the first. He never saw a notification tip before, but might have been a part of the update.
"There are tons of space in the headquarters. How many things can you fit inside it? What does this mean?"
Duke's eyes squinted as he thought carefully about the notification tip. Then, he remembered one of the newly-emerged status functions after the update.
Three functions materialized from the status after the update. The first one was the Detailed Unit Array. The other was the Explored Minimap. And the last one was the Doomsday Base Interior Level.
If his thoughts were correct, the Doomsday Base Interior Level might be connected to the notification tip.
'I guess the only way to find out is to open the function.'
Not wanting to waste time, Duke opened the Doomsday Base Interior Level, and a digital display materialized before his eyes.
He looked at it with interest as a smile crept into his face. Things finally made sense for the Director.
What the notification tip said was correct. The current size of the headquarters was two kilometers in diameter, followed by the four hundred meters in height. That didn't include the superstructure 200 meters taller than the dome structure.
This only means one thing. There was too much space inside the headquarters.
―<◉>―
| Doomsday Base Interior Level |
-| Interior Level(5/15 Slots) |-
●| [Top Floor]Strategic Command(★) |
○| Empty Slot |
○| Empty Slot |
○| Empty Slot |
○| Empty Slot |
○| Empty Slot |
○| Empty Slot |
●| Warehouse(★) |
○| Empty Slot |
●| Barracks(★) |
○| Empty Slot |
●| [Ground Level]Cargo Depot(★) |
○| Empty Slot |
●| Fusion Reactor(★) |
○| Empty Slot |
―<◉>―