Long-term salvation

"No, no, no, campus life has nothing to do with those weird things, right?!" New Jersey complained with a smirk. She reached out and tugged at Rhodes' cheek. "Although most students can't hear those noises, if you let them run wild, they'll still cause trouble."

"We'll just deal with things as they arise. Besides, this place has always been the most closely monitored. The security level is the same as those top-secret laboratories."

Rhodes stretched and walked towards the depths of the university in the dim sunlight approaching dusk.

After passing through the university's main building and avoiding the students who had just finished class, Rhode and the others walked along the suspended corridor into the library behind the main building. This place covered a large area and was adjacent to the museum and underground collection vault, forming the core of the entire university. The imposing main building looked like a gift after purchasing something.

Walking in the corridor of the library, Rhodes saw that the dusk had already spread over the bright glass pointed window frames, dyeing the diamond-shaped light spots into a faint amber color. The girl was standing between light and shadow, her head peeking out from the side of the heavy wooden door, with a flash of joy on her face.

Gu Guanyou grabbed the door and waved shyly at Rhodes.

"It seems that deciphering the R'lyeh Texts hasn't exhausted you too much. Director Armitage has complained to me several times."

Rhode walked over with a smile and reached out to touch the girl's head. The latter carefully glanced at New Jersey who had a =ω= expression, and the shame on her face deepened.

Taking a few deep breaths, Gu Guanyou, with the cherry blossoms crawling down his neck, closed his eyes and whispered:

"I... I don't have anything to do with it. I'm just the 'Magician of the Ancient Library' after all, but the professors all look pretty tired."

"Then I need to reward my good girl!"

Rhode smiled and picked up You, but the next second, the ship girl rushed over from behind, wrapped her arms around his neck, and shouted loudly:

"I want a hug too!"

"Ah wait, I'm going to fall!"

A few minutes later, when the Michigan professors, dizzy from interpreting the text, looked up, they saw Rhodes staggering in with a strange posture, holding one person in front and carrying another on his back, with helplessness on his face.

Professors: “…”

Professor Harriet Dower, formerly of Brown University, pushed up her glasses and turned to look at Professor Armitage beside her. She asked:

"This Mr. Rhodes actually likes women other than the descendants of the evil god? I thought he only had that kind of thing."

"No... Professor Dao, you'll know later," Professor Armitage said, covering his face with his hands in embarrassment. He watched Rhodes put the two girls down, then calmed himself down and said,

"According to the information provided by the three ladies, the body of the Great Old One, pronounced 'Cthulhu' in our human language, should be sleeping in a city called 'R'lyeh,' but this city has been destroyed."

“具体位置应当是在南纬47°9′西经126°43′（洛夫克拉夫特原设定）或南纬49°51′西经128°34′（奥古斯特·德雷斯的设定）中的一个吧？”

Rhode raised an eyebrow, reached out and pulled over a chair that wasn't piled with ancient books, and sat down. He looked around the reading room, which was filled with books in every corner. There was also an open folding bed, which seemed to be the place where the literary girl usually rested, but now it was also covered with drafts and books.

There were several professors in the reading room who were also participating in the interpretation, so there were several more desks crammed in, making the already small room seem even more cramped. Fortunately, the work had been completed, and the professors no longer had to go back and forth every day.

Gu Guanyou, head bowed, not daring to look at anyone else's face, dove into the pile of books and pulled out a simple-looking box containing the text she had sorted out. After placing it in front of Rhode, the girl sat beside him and quietly explained it to him.

After a few exclamations of "how great it is to be young," the professors began to slowly discuss the content of the text interpretation and other ancient books used, and of course, the most important real-world geographical coordinates:

"Through comparison, we estimate that the former... but the two places are very close."

Professor Warren Rice of the Department of Literature's Paleolithic Studies let out a long, tired sigh. He rubbed his temples and decided to find a place away from the sea to rest.

Even when interpreting the text copied by Gu Guanyou, he could feel a faint whisper echoing in his ears! Not to mention that he always dreamed of some strange things when he slept recently.

However, the moment the interpretation was completed, the professor was immediately overwhelmed by a sense of accomplishment, so much so that he had to speak up and propose:

"How about we organize an expedition team? Take a few of our most determined students with us. I think Francis Wayland Thurston would be a good choice. I remember him being Professor Angell's student... Professor Angell, what do you think?" (Both from "Call of Cthulhu")

"I think it's possible," Professor Angel nodded, his face showing an excited expression of anticipation. "The text also describes spells for summoning large murlocs or the evil god himself. Perhaps we can try it - oh well, we won't try this, Mr. Rhodes."

After the professors argued for a while, Rhodes put down the document in his hand. He looked at the several respected professors in front of him and said seriously:

"First, I thank you all for your help. You will receive the rewards you deserve... Second, I need to erase your memories of the R'lyeh coordinates and specifically delete the deciphered text."

According to the quest description in the [Side Quest: Call of Cthulhu] released by the system - find R'lyeh and banish Cthulhu's consciousness to the depths of the Dreamland to advance the base construction side quest - plus the previous [Base Construction Side Quest: City of the Gods - Silent Watchtower] quest, it is required to provide a base for the submarine mothership.

In this way, the idea of ​​the system is clear enough:

He/It hopes that Rhodes' "Forbidden Army" will have a secret base between reality and the supernatural dimension in the South Pacific to dock and maintain the Alicorn submarine, providing the "last resort" and the seeds for re-emergence of the Army Without Borders after failure.

It's not wrong to prepare for everything early, but it makes life difficult for the unlucky deep-sea fat guy.

However, this left Rhode somewhat perplexed. A base housing a creature as large as the Alicorn would require long-term construction and personnel to maintain... so would the system simply provide it? Considering the difficulty and risk of this mission, the rewards would surely be substantial. He looked forward to it.

Since this was a base exclusively for Rhode's Imperial Guards and a repository for their counterattack seeds, to save trouble, Rhode had no choice but to erase the professors' memories of the coordinates. Furthermore, the entire deciphered text needed to be placed in a storage space or the [Shiting Box]. However, a copy with some content deleted could be kept at Miskatonic University.

"Everyone, what are your thoughts?" Rhodes turned the idea over in his mind and finally looked up at the professors in the room. "If you can't accept it, you can raise it. I will try to convince you."

"If you just want to erase the coordinates and the memory of how to interpret them, we'll definitely have no objection."

The professors were not angry about Rhode's decision; they simply expressed regret. After mumbling to each other for a while, Director Armitage spoke up as a representative:

"However, Rhodes, we hope you will allocate additional funds to the university. We are currently planning to conduct a scientific expedition to Northern Europe, and the universities of the three Nordic countries have issued a joint invitation. As for Antarctica... you said you would lead the team yourself, so it would be best if we could discuss a suitable time."

"A large-scale scientific expedition takes at least one to two months. How can I have that much free time right now? Besides, I'm planning to visit the Vatican and Africa, and there's a lot going on with the Army Without Borders."

Rhodes spread his hands helplessly, but when the word Antarctica turned around in his mind a few times, he remembered Dr. Serizawa who was tracking Godzilla.

Maybe we could get him on the Michigan expedition team? With his abilities and luck, maybe he could find that "Monster Zero"... Thinking about the terror of King Ghidorah and the troubles of that fat Godzilla, Rodan felt a headache.

So, after considering his words, Rhodes said:

"How about this? The Army Without Borders will fund the construction of a large base in Antarctica to facilitate subsequent surveys and scientific research. Once the base is built, you will conduct preliminary investigations and submit a survey plan report to me. I will select a timeframe for the mission and join. How do you do that?"

"This... sounds good."

The professors looked at each other, and then someone raised his hand and asked:

"If I clear more memories, can you approve more funding?"

Rhodes: "...Professor Fernando, please come closer. I will use the butt of my gun to erase your memory."

"Oh, never mind."

Chapter 363: An Ordinary Day on the Alicorn (3K)

Deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, the belly of the Alicorn submarine brushed against a rising sea ridge, but a school of phosphorescent jellyfish in front of it was startled and scattered by the sudden arrival of the steel behemoth. These shimmering deep-sea creatures shimmered in the current, creating a beautiful iridescence that shone like crushed stars across the submarine's streamlined back.

The undercurrents of the vast ocean surge endlessly, witnessing and hiding countless events in human history.

The Alicorn's bridge dome glowed with a cold, hard metallic luster under the bright lights, but the holographic tactical sand table in the center of the cabin emitted a soft, dark blue glow. The light spots on the three-dimensional nautical chart flickered like deep-sea fireflies, condensing the strategic situation of the entire Pacific Ocean into this two-meter-diameter projection.

No one spoke in the bridge, only the faint buzzing of the devices that kept the steel behemoth moving forward, or the occasional report that a certain seabed terrain had been discovered.

It was an ordinary day, so ordinary that it made people feel a little boring.

After about an hour of silence, a mass-produced Nikki (introduced in Chapter 282) asked:

"Who's used up all their daily entertainment satellite internet data allotment today?"

"It's 60."

"It must be 6O. I saw her secretly fiddling with her laptop in her room!"

"...Huh? I didn't!" When her name was called—actually, it was a code name. They had already given themselves names, but at this time they would still refer to each other by their code names—the petite mass-produced Nikki shouted guiltily, "Don't slander me, okay? I... wuwu... Don't pinch my face, I was wrong, Captain Helen!"

Nikki Helen, the Alicorn's captain, expressionlessly released her grip. She then clenched her fists and pressed them against 6O's head, twisting it and causing him to scream in pain.

"I'm sorry! I shouldn't have downloaded all the photo albums of Commander Rod from 'Kamen Rider Naya-chan'!"

It would have been fine if she hadn't said anything, but these words made Helen and the mass-produced Nikkis beside her even more furious:

"You're using other people's traffic to make a living, right?!"

"I... it hurts... it hurts... 1-E did it too! She's still writing a gender-swapped, reverse-harem story about Commander Rhodes! It's called 'The Young Lady of Hill Villa and the Mechanical Guards'. I saw it!"

"Didn't you fucking say you wouldn't betray me?!"

Nikki, the mass-produced model, blushed when she was called. She wanted to tear open the alloy floorboards below and crawl into the dense network of pipes. However, her companion patted her shoulder with an encouraging look on his face and gave her a thumbs-up.

"Then you didn't even come to say a good word for me!"

6O was twisted to tears, and to prevent her from revealing other people's secrets, the mass-produced Nikki stepped forward and punched 6O in the stomach. Glancing at 6O, whose eyes rolled back and slumped to the ground, Helen cleared her throat and said in a serious tone:

"1-E, go clean up 6O's room. Also, pay attention to your novel."

"I understand," Mass-Production Nikki nodded. "Your personal computer will receive the email and attachments later... and everyone else will too."

After resolving this little incident, Helen returned to her captain's seat, propped up her chin with her palm, and reviewed the Alicorn's actions in recent days - collecting hydrological data of the Pacific Ocean, tailing and tracking nuclear submarines of the United States and Russia, investigating possible cracks in the other world, and looking for the giant lizard that likes to eat nuclear waste.

A few days ago, Helen received an order from Rhodes, asking them to cooperate with the intelligence department of the Army Without Borders to track down a fleet of a large logistics group... It would be great if there were a few more submarines, Helen thought.

The Alicorn had already "accumulated" forty mass-produced Nikkis. Taking into account the cost of exchanging Black Stones, Rhode's previous Inner World Pollution Points had basically been used up completely, leaving only a few points left for the next battle.

Because of this, the daily operations of the Alicorn and the battles beneath the sea surface can now proceed normally, but large-scale inspections and maintenance of the carrier-based aircraft force are impossible, which requires more manpower - even in the current bridge, there are less than ten mass-produced Nikkis, and the rest are carrying out inspections and supervision in key locations such as the reactor, torpedo compartment and electromagnetic gun.

If the Nikkis produced by the system did not all come with basic knowledge, the unicorn would have to wait at least another half a year to recover its combat effectiveness.

"Should we really ask the Commander to send over some more Nikkis, or should we complete some missions along the way?" Helen tapped her chin with her fingers, pondering her next move. "The resupply was completed a few days ago, but the hull still needs to be inspected and maintained. I wonder if the Commander has discussed this with Mr. Irons..."

Slightly different from the worried captain, these mass-produced Nikkis mainly felt that their current daily lives were too boring - they were processing data and conducting deep learning all day long. They couldn't attack the United States fleet and nuclear submarines, nor could they fire missiles at the bastards who disrespected Commander Rhodes. Even the traffic they used to connect to the external network would be stolen by some petty thief!

The good news is that the food is good. The fleet affiliated with Plessy Logistics will drop large airbag-equipped containers on designated routes at designated times. Inside are various supplies for the Alicorn. At this time, the mass-produced Nikkis will be required to use helicopters and speedboats to retrieve the containers... a bit like retrieving parts for the Cossi Gundam.

The Nikkis call this kind of work "fishing," to distinguish it from the "empty-handed" fishing they do when they have nothing else to do. Perhaps because they've come up empty-handed so often as fishermen, they always imagine they'll hook something bizarre in the future.

In general, the mass-produced Nikkis will still need to entertain themselves for a while, until the Army Without Borders upgrades its communication technology again, or increases its network traffic... At least there will be no more embarrassing situation where the network runs out of data after downloading a few hundred photos.

“…I don’t use that much!”

6O, having recovered from her utterly bland state, closed her mouth and realized she had been returned to her original position. She was about to whisper a few complaints to her companions, but the screen in front of her suddenly flashed a stream of encrypted data.

After collecting her thoughts, Mass Production Nikki quickly got to work. After spending a few seconds interpreting the information, 6O turned to Helen and shouted:

"It's a coded message from Commander Rhodes—there are coordinates and an order... He wants the Alicorn to rendezvous at these coordinates first, and then take us to the South Pacific!"

"I understand," Helen, with a look of joy on her face, stood up suddenly, swung her right arm, and shouted an order, "Alicorn, turn!"

"Let's go reunite with Commander Rhodes!"

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

after a while.

Rhode and the three descendants of the evil god were sitting on a huge orange lifeboat, which was bobbing up and down in the waves. Fortunately, the sea breeze was not strong today, otherwise they would have to rely on the ship girl who was happily cutting through the waves nearby to reveal the warship's body... With the war coming, every bit of space saved was a bit of space saved.

"So, why do we have to jump out of the transport plane?" Abigail propped her chin up with her hands, while the cat, Pickman, crouched on her head to prevent herself from getting soaked by the seawater. The blonde girl, with a slightly disdainful expression, reached over her long hair, letting the seawater dissipate into droplets.

"It would be nice to come here by boat."

"I'm going to get sick from riding a boat, and we'll be drifting on the sea for days," Nayako said, reaching out to stir the waves, her face full of excitement as if she was about to cause trouble. "Let's get this over with soon. I'm already starting to get tired of those fish heads."

"Indeed, it's better to deal with this matter quickly, and it also needs to be kept confidential."

As Rhode spoke, he turned his head to look at the ship girl who was having fun not far away, wondering who the next ship girl in the system would be.

How about sending the Alicorn to the seabed to search for the Yamato? Or perhaps to Bikini Atoll to look for the Saratoga? However, she (the Forrestal-class aircraft carrier USS Saratoga, decommissioned in 1994) seems to still be in service... I wonder if the system can allow him to salvage a sunken warship like that.

Building and salvaging boats is an essential part of the game.

If it could really be salvaged, Rhodes could only hope that the system could be modernized, at least to the level of New Jersey.

"If these warships can really be salvaged, then why not find a pretext to attack the United States' aircraft carrier fleet?" Rhode stroked his chin, a hint of excitement on his face. "Bring the Enterprise here, or buy all the similar ships from New Jersey... Yeah, it's decided!"

While thinking about those random things, Rhode suddenly heard Qianye say:

"coming."

As soon as he finished speaking, a black steel behemoth suddenly rushed out of the sea. The surge caused by its massive body pushed the seawater away and almost capsized the lifeboat Rhode and his companions were in! The seawater fell like a rainstorm, soaking Rhode thoroughly. However, the three descendants of the evil god nearby used their magical powers to block the seawater.

"Meow meow meow."

Pickman jumped onto Rhodes' head and flicked his tail. The sea water splashed off his body and flew back into the sea, leaving the descendants of the evil god with regret to retract their fiery gazes.

"Thank you, Pickman," Rhodes reached out and hugged the cat in his arms, sighing, "I will never steal your dried fish again."

“Meow meow meow???”

Just as Rhode and his companions steadied themselves in the waves, a small hatch on the Alicorn opened, and a mass-produced Nikki emerged from inside. She smiled, waved at Rhode, and shouted:

"Commander Rhodes! Captain Helen sent me to pick you up!"

Rhodes: "...Don't say that code name!"

Chapter 364 Daily Life: Abyssal Syndrome (Not)

The sea was churning and giant beasts were roaming rampant.

Even at the speed of the Alicorn, it would take quite a while to reach the South Pacific. Rhodes was a little impatient about this, but Helen was very happy.