The headquarters of the Elders Council in Zero City were not as mysterious as one might have imagined.
Contrary to the heavily guarded fortress one might have expected, the headquarters of the Elders Council in Zero City had always been open to the public.
It could have been said that whenever Zero City held an open day, a section of the Elders Council headquarters was opened accordingly, allowing visiting Awakeneds to tour—of course, only a part of the area.
The Elders Council was one of the seven permanent teams responsible for the daily management of major affairs in Zero City. In fact, that place had been equivalent to a "mini United Nations" within Zero City.
And in fact, that place had never been the core area of Zero City.
When there was a need for discussion, the elders of the seven teams would gather there for meetings. Otherwise, there hadn't been much that was too confidential there.
In contrast, the truly heavily guarded areas in Zero City had been the headquarters of each permanent team, such as the "Hive" of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild.
And... the headquarters of the Angel Corps.
Those places had been the real "off-limits" areas for outsiders.
As for the Elders Council, functioning as a "mini United Nations," it had not been as mysterious as one might have imagined.
It had been a building shaped somewhat like an ellipse, resembling a gigantic stadium—albeit enclosed.
Around the building had been an empty plaza, where even Awakeneds could have been seen wandering nearby for sightseeing.
Obviously, today was open day.
As Bluesea and Chen Xiaolian walked side by side, two individuals who had both altered their appearances, they didn't attract any attention.
Chen Xiaolian noticed that there weren't many patrolling sentinel mechs around here, even fewer than around Love Sea.
"Each member of the Elders Council is a giant figure in the permanent teams... Each giant figure is already a top expert, so the elders who come here for meetings don't need any guards or protection at all," Bluesea explained as they walked alongside Chen Xiaolian.
"The rule of the Elders Council is that the seven permanent teams take turns managing Zero City on a daily basis. Each team has a three-month duty period during which they manage Zero City on a daily basis. Of course, to ensure fairness and justice, the Angel Corps supervises during the duty period.
Every month, there is a meeting of all the elders to discuss major events that have occurred in Zero City over the past month. Zero City has its own system for assessing the level of events. Minor matters are usually handled by the team on duty. However, for matters of a certain level, the team on duty has no authority to decide independently and must wait for the full assembly of elders to vote during the meeting."
Chen Xiaolian frowned upon hearing this. "Having a meeting only once a month, wouldn't that delay things?"
"If there is a real emergency, we can convene an emergency Elders Council meeting at any time. But such situations are rare—after all, this is Zero City, completely isolated from the outside world," Bluesea shook his head. "On ordinary days, it's just minor matters, like some disputes in the black market, or friction between teams and Awakeneds. What big events could there be?"
Although the security wasn't very tight, as they approached the entrance to the elliptical building, Chen Xiaolian still noticed two patrol mechs.
Obviously, these mechs were upgraded models of sentinels. From their appearance, they looked slightly different from the Sentinel II model that Chen Xiaolian was familiar with. They seemed a bit smaller in size, with more tightly sealed armor and different paint schemes.
Most importantly, their weapons were different too. Unlike the Sentinel II, which had a mounted blade on its arm.
Chen Xiaolian saw that one of the mechs had a huge sword hanging from its back, while the other one was holding a weapon resembling a long sickle.
"These are all optional. Pilots customize their weapons based on their combat characteristics," Bluesea noticed Chen Xiaolian's interest and explained with a smile. "What you saw before were mass-produced units, while these... are modified or even specially made by the mechanics in each pilot's team."
"Are they more powerful?"
"..." Bluesea hesitated for a moment before saying slowly, "Generally speaking, according to the assessment of the combat department, a specially modified mech, under the same pilot's skill level, can take on four mass-produced units alone. Of course, they also come with a higher price tag."
As Chen Xiaolian and Bluesea passed by these two mechs, they noticed that the one on the left had some intricate and beautiful patterns on the thrusters at its rear.
"That looks like... some kind of... magic?" Chen Xiaolian exclaimed in surprise.
"Yeah, this should be a magic-modified mech," Bluesea shrugged nonchalantly. "It's been modified with magic, perhaps even equipped with some magic-based attack or defense skills."
Chen Xiaolian couldn't help but take a sharp breath.
The doors to the hall were wide open, two massive, nearly ten-meter-wide doors made of transparent glass—though Chen Xiaolian would bet that the material was definitely not glass.
"These doors are made of some kind of composite material, capable of withstanding hits from weapons of two energy grades," Bluesea chuckled. He and Chen Xiaolian walked to the side, and he took out a badge. After waving it in front of the "glass," the huge glass sliding doors melted away as if by magic, revealing a roughly two-meter-high small door.
Bluesea and Chen Xiaolian walked through this door together.
Once inside, they realized just how massive this elliptical building was!
There was even a separate ecological balance system inside.
There were flowers and plants, with over ten acres of exotic tropical plants, flowing water, and ponds.
A complete ecological balance system.
Looking up, they saw birds flying overhead?
Wait, birds?!
Chen Xiaolian was momentarily stunned.
Above their heads was a bright sunny sky, with birds soaring.
"Are these... all virtual projections?" Chen Xiaolian asked incredulously.
"No, they're real," Bluesea smiled, then his tone turned serious. "To be precise, this is achieved using spatial teleportation technology. It 'cuts and copies' a piece of sky from the real world outside, then 'transplants' it here."
"A real sky?!" Chen Xiaolian took a deep breath. "Cutting, copying? What does that mean?"
Bluesea pondered for a moment. "It means directly using spatial teleportation technology to copy a piece of sky from somewhere outside and bring it here. Well, 'copy' might not be the right word; it should be 'import.'"
Narrowing his eyes, Chen Xiaolian pointed to the sky and asked, "Then... what would happen if you flew up from here, up into the sky? Or, if you flew up to a sufficient height and then moved parallelly, moving beyond the area outside of Zero City? What would happen then?"
Bluesea chuckled and said, "You would leave Zero City, but once outside, it's a spatial teleportation jump, landing in the area outside the city, in the 'imported' sky.
"In simple terms, if this sky was 'imported' from a tropical rainforest, then if you flew out from here, you would directly appear in that tropical rainforest.
"And if this imported sky is from New York or London..."
"Would you just appear directly in New York or London?" Chen Xiaolian asked curiously. "Wouldn't that be... dangerous? Aren't you afraid of revealing the location of Zero City?"
"No," Bluesea shook his head. "Spatial jumps are one-way. In other words, you can only leave from here, but you can't enter from outside. And there is a special reason for keeping this here..."
Before Bluesea could finish, Chen Xiaolian frowned. "Emergency escape route?"
"...Yes," Bluesea nodded. "In fact, this sky wasn't created by the Elders Council; it seems to have been part of Zero City's initial program settings. Instead, it was this Elders Council building that was constructed later, enclosing this place inside."
Pausing for a moment, Bluesea continued slowly, "Moreover, we can't control this sky. We've conducted many experiments, and every time we leave from here, we end up in a different location. In other words... the sky you see above you right now is randomly imported by the Zero City system. It could change coordinates in the next second."
"So, the sky I'm seeing now, perhaps imported from New York, could change to London in the next second or a few minutes?" Chen Xiaolian frowned. "Completely random?"
"Completely random. We've tried to gather data and calculate using models, but we couldn't figure out the rules of how Zero City's system changes the sky coordinates. That is to say, up until now, we haven't been able to understand it.
"But I guess that's good news in a way. If none of us can decipher it here, then it's probably difficult for the development team to find us. So, this escape route should be safe."
Chen Xiaolian glanced deeply at the sky.
"You better not even think about flying here," Bluesea warned in a low voice. "The first rule in the Elders Council building is an absolute ban on flying! If anyone dares to try it here, the automated attack weapons will not hesitate to shoot them down as soon as they take off! These weapons were created by the Angel Corps, and even Awakeneds below [A] class can't escape them."
Chen Xiaolian withdrew his gaze.
Seeing Chen Xiaolian no longer looking at the sky, Bluesea seemed to breathe a sigh of relief before continuing to lead him inside.
"Right now happens to be the duty period for the Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, which means the ones currently on duty here are our people. So, if you want to visit, it's quite convenient."
Chen Xiaolian pondered for a moment and asked, "I've heard that any team becoming a permanent team in Zero City can receive resources automatically allocated by Zero City. What I want to know is how these resources are allocated and where? Or... where is the main system program control of Zero City located?"
"Why are you asking about this?" Bluesea glanced at Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian remained composed. "Let's just say I want my team to become a permanent team in Zero City. Is that reason enough?"
"..." Bluesea took a deep breath, his expression changing slightly. "You have that kind of intention?!"
"What, is it too far-fetched?" Chen Xiaolian shook his head. "Why can't I achieve what your Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild team has accomplished in thirty years? Besides..."
"Fair point," Bluesea sighed, nodding. "During the Blood Verdict, I noticed that your strength was very impressive. Did... Skyblade help enhance your strength?"
Chen Xiaolian didn't answer that question. Instead, he said slowly, "Can my request be fulfilled?"
"...It's not difficult," Bluesea's response surprised Chen Xiaolian a bit. "In fact, the main control of Zero City, as well as the evaluation and identification procedures for permanent teams, are all open to the public. If you want to see them, you can do so anytime... It's just that, perhaps you'll be disappointed when you get there."
"Disappointed? What do you mean?"
A peculiar smile formed at the corner of Bluesea's mouth. "You'll find out when you go see it."