3 7777 301 As soon as the ship docks, everyone aboard rushes ashore. Yet, sensing the uncanny air, the Kowloong Crew shouts and stops the stampede.
4 7776 301 Not a single soul is at the port. No sailors, no mechanoids.
5 7775 301 "——Something is afoot."
6 7774 301 The same thought flickers through everyone's minds.
7 7773 301 AniZhuanchangBegin After discussing it with the others, all of you reach a consensus and agree to Chrome's plan, which is to send an elite squad to scout the area before doing anything else.
10 3 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Setting off from the port and walking a long distance, a wall shows up, towering before everyone.
11 4 201 1 1031001 7
12 5 301 1 Liv Is this a city wall? 1
13 6 203 1 0.4 400
14 7 201 2 500026 -400
15 8 301 1 Lee Let's ignore the size of that thing first, but something strange is clearly bubbled around the city. 2
16 9 302 And it's glowing. 10 Is it a shield of some sort? 15
17 10 202 1 2 1
18 11 201 2 1021001
19 12 301 1 Lucia My guess is some kind of Gestalt-based defense apparatus. I've seen this kind of light before in the outer parts of Babylonia. 2
20 13 201 2 500026
21 14 17 301 Lee Mh-hm, very likely. Similar to the Gestalt-based defense tech in Babylonia, only much bigger in scale. 2
22 15 202 1
23 16 203 2 0.4
24 17 301 Lee A rough scan suggests that the city is surrounded by an extremely powerful signal jammer, along with a layer of virus filter. As for what's wrapping around that tower, it appears to be some kind of light barrier. 2
25 18 301 Lee Signal jammer... That explains how it's staying off grid. 2
26 19 301 Lee To think there exists an earthbound faction that matches Babylonia in tech... 2
27 20 202 2 3
28 21 201 1 1081001
29 22 301 1 Kamui So what now? Do we go in? 1
30 23 202 1
31 24 201 2 500026
32 25 301 1 Lee We're going in all right. I'm just a little concerned about the situation. 2
33 26 203 2 0.4 400
34 27 201 3 1081001 -400
35 28 301 1 Kamui What situation? 3
36 29 202 2 3
37 30 201 1 1031001
38 31 301 1 Liv On our way here from the port, we haven't seen a single person. The port must have been deserted for a reason. 1
39 32 203 1 0.4 400
40 33 201 2 500026 -400
41 34 301 1 Lee And yet, on the surface, the city looks well-preserved. Enormous, but fully functional. 2
42 35 301 Liv ...Not to mention the detector on the wall, which has been monitoring us since we got here. 1
43 36 301 Lee Talk about getting on my nerves... 2
66 58 301 AniZhuanchangEnd Silent, still, but alive. The stagnant city greets you with neat rows of commercial buildings and streets, lined by glittering newish-looking goods.
67 59 301 But...
68 60 201 1 1021001
69 61 301 1 Lucia Still not a soul to be seen. Liv, have you detected any bio-signals, or for that matter any mechanical frequencies? 1
70 62 203 1 0.4 400
71 63 201 2 1031001 -400
72 64 301 1 Liv No, not within my scanning range... As for machines, only some terminals. Nothing automatic. 2
73 65 202 1
74 66 201 3 500143 400
75 67 301 1 Yazi How could this be? Where has everyone gone off to...? 3
76 68 202 3
77 69 201 1 500026 400
78 70 201 2 1081001 -400
79 71 301 1 Kamui Maybe the Corrupted already stomped through the place and... 2
80 72 301 1 Lee Impossible. The streets would have been ransacked if the Corrupted had been here. Besides, this city is protected by a fully functioning filter. 1
81 73 301 Lee And, a short scan suggests that the viral density in this area is incredibly low. 1
82 74 301 Kamui Then how do you explain this ghost town? 2
83 75 202 1 2
84 77 301 Qu Not much to explain. I relocated the residents to the core area.
85 78 302 Who's speaking? 79 Who goes there? 521
86 79 201 1 1031001 7 1
87 520 541 301 DialogDisable 1 Liv Commandant, up there! 1
88 521 201 1 500155
89 80 301 DialogDisable 1 Chrome That high and mighty one up there. 1
93 81 301 DialogEnable Qu Babylonians. A circus of cretins, as expected.
94 82 301 Qu I am Qu, the leader of Kowloong Corp.
95 83 302 Aren't you supposed to be... 84 The real Qu?! 85
96 84 86 301 Qu Dead?
97 85 301 Qu Why so surprised? Though I do suppose you just got off that "ship."
98 86 301 Qu Well, let me tell you the truth.
99 87 301 Qu Over the years of Kowloong's development, I became its leader.
100 88 301 Qu Then Villier impersonated me. He sneaked off with a copy of Huaxu and activated Plan B—the KCC Vessel, the Nighter.
101 89 301 Qu And the rest is history. Villier grew attached to the copied system, and his indiscretion eventually led to the demise of them both.
102 90 301 AniZhuanchangBegin Qu Huaxu came up with the plans for this city and the ship. And yet in their sordid little parallel, the other Huaxu met such a pathetic end. What a disgrace to Kowloong.
108 92 301 Yazi The real leader of Kowloong... Lady Qu. May I ask what really happened in the city? 1
109 93 301 1 Qu Yazi, you have the cheek to come back after you slunk off with Villier...? 2
110 94 301 Yazi I fell for the other Lady Qu's vision. But the situation now, Lady— 1
111 95 301 Qu Now, Kowloong does not require you anymore. I appreciate you bringing the ship back in one piece, but you are no longer part of Kowloong. 2
112 96 301 Yazi What?! 1
113 97 301 Qu You and those on the ship used to be part of Kowloong, but after what you people went through out there, your mentality has changed. 2
114 98 301 Qu If I order you to attack Babylonia right now, will you do it? Will those on the ship do it? 2
129 116 301 1 Lucia I understand if you don't take kindly to Babylonia, but those people on the ship, they want to come home badly. Are you really going to abandon them? 1
132 120 301 1 Qu I've abandoned plenty of things in my life, and those people are but another addition to that list. Besides, they'll be the safest on the ship. 1
140 128 301 1 Qu I'm amazed by how poorly-informed you Babylonians are. Very well then, this info is on the house. 2
141 129 301 Qu The Ascendants are planning to attack us with an army of Corrupted. Soon, this place will become a battlefield, and everything outside of the light wall will be devoured by those filthy Corrupted. 2
157 141 301 1 Qu Ah, the president of Babylonia, Hassen. Never expected we'd meet like this. 2
158 144 301 Hassen Allow me to apologize for the lack of decorum. It has been quite hard to contact you, what with the signal jammer and all. But enough about that, are you certain of the Ascendants' plans? 1
159 147 301 Qu You're the leader of Babylonia. Is your dome piece for show? 2
163 150 301 Hassen ...So, what they're really after is the Gestalt-tech in your hands—Huaxu? 1
164 151 302 Huaxu is a Gestalt? 152 By Gestalt, do you mean... 153
165 152 154 301 Hassen As you should know, we have a Gestalt kept in Babylonia. And here in Kowloong, there's an AI system called Huaxu that stems from the same source as that Gestalt. 1
166 153 301 Hassen Yep. The same Gestalt that's in Babylonia. Its computational power is why we can survive so long in space. And here in Kowloong, there's an AI system called Huaxu that stems from the same source as that Gestalt. 1
