Several months had already passed since blacksteel had been released into the world in large quantities through Suho, who had obtained the meteorite.
Of course, considering the price of one billion won per kilogram, calling it “large quantities” was somewhat misleading, but if one considered the rarity and supply of blacksteel before that, anyone would agree that now it was practically dirt-cheap and abundant.
In any case, thanks to the smooth supply of blacksteel, items and equipment using it poured out, but contrary to initial expectations, there were no S-rank ones among them.
Considering that a considerable number of the blacksteel-made items that had dropped from the Tower so far had been S-rank, it seemed there were variables beyond the material itself.
Perhaps it was the difference in ability among the crafting-type Admiti artisans who made the objects. Or else the difference in ability among enchanters.
In any case, that was why Ultimate Line was still the only clan in the entire world whose every member was fully equipped with S-rank gear.
* * *
“Oh... so this is the waiting room on the Tower’s 1st floor...”
Suho, entering the Tower for the first time, could not hide his fascination and kept looking around.
Since this was a point from which one could leave before proceeding with the 1st floor’s capture, most clans set up their first base camp here and unpacked their luggage.
“Wait, Clan Master, this is your first time entering the Tower?”
“You’re a rank beyond S-rank, so how...”
“Well, I... could collect items perfectly well outside the Tower too...”
“Wow, how fascinating! Clan Master, you were a newbie? So cute!”
“...Tsk...”
As if looking at a newly awakened newbie, the S-rank clan members surrounded Suho and doted on him with sparkling eyes.
“It really feels unfamiliar to see the Clan Master, who only ever surprises us, being amazed by such little things.”
“Right, right.”
Among the members who had quickly checked their armaments and finished their preparations, Danbi asked,
“Our luggage, the hard-shell carriers... no, not those, this time the stuff we packed full onto carts. We don’t need to take those out here, right?”
“Well, since they’re in the Clan Master’s subspace...”
“Everyone’s got their potions, so wouldn’t it be safest to keep leaving that luggage with the Clan Master?”
“Right. Everyone’s got their Newtri Ampoules too, and we’ve packed Vitanova for emergencies.”
“No, but with the Clan Master here, do we really need to carry ampoules and Vitanova individually when they’ll just get in the way? Wouldn’t it be fine if we just took our own equipment and potions?”
They were exchanging various opinions with Suho beside them, when Suho put an end to all their worries at once.
“No need.”
“Right? We’ll leave the rest of the luggage with you, Clan Master, and just take our weapons and potions—”
“No, I mean you don’t need potions either. Put them all away.”
“Huh? Still, we don’t know what might happen, so potions are—”
“You won’t need them. For now, I was thinking of just sending the enhanced androids in.”
The number of super enhanced androids had dropped significantly after Suho sold them to various countries, but he had diligently made more in the meantime and brought the number back up to thirty.
Since this was inside the Tower, even S-rank Admiti would be able to exert one hundred percent of their power unlike outside, but when they sparred with the enhanced androids outside, the androids had not been operating at one hundred percent output either.
In particular, the combat weapons corresponding to lethal mode had almost never been used.
According to Dr. Choi’s rough estimate, inside the Tower, a super enhanced android operating at one hundred percent full functionality possessed combat power equivalent to five S-rank Admiti exerting one hundred percent of their strength.
The gap was not as overwhelming as it was outside the Tower, but it was still an enormous fighting force.
And since there were thirty of them, it was no different from an additional one hundred fifty S-rank Admiti entering alongside the Ultimate Line clan members.
At Suho’s statement that he would send out the enhanced androids first, the expressions of the clan members who had been about to form a formation turned empty.
Seeing that, Suho smiled faintly.
“We’re not going to keep doing that. Just the lower floors. The lower floors are going to be tedious for you all anyway, right? Let’s just sweep through the lower floors quickly with the enhanced androids. What do you think?”
“You’re right. I’m in favor.”
“Hear, hear.”
When Danbi chimed in, voices of agreement rose here and there.
In truth, even for battle junkies, the lower floors were simply tedious sections.
The nineteen-member攻略 team, lightly armed and carrying no backpacks or luggage whatsoever, left the waiting room and stepped into the Tower’s domain, the unknown land.
[You have entered the 1st floor.]
Along with the vivid message that appeared, the world of the 1st floor unfolded.
“Waaah...”
A vast desert terrain spread out before them.
The tower visible far in the distance marked the end point of the 1st floor, and when they looked around, all they could see in every direction was a horizon of sand.
Suho looked around like a child seeing a desert for the first time.
“Pfft... There he goes, amazed again, Clan Master.”
“Kyaa, our Clan Master is so cute. Who knew he had a side like this?”
Whether the clan members, who found Suho’s fascination with the Tower’s environment even more fascinating, chattered on or not, Suho really could not hide his wonder.
It had no physical substance, but from the outside, it looked like nothing more than a tower like a building... so how could there be such a vast world inside it?
Danbi spoke to Suho as he stood there blankly.
“Clan Master? You can take out the enhanced androids you mentioned now.”
“Ah, ah! Yes. Then I’ll send just twenty for now.”
Shushushushushut—
The twenty enhanced androids Suho took out at regular intervals unfolded from their crouched positions and immediately ran out across the wild land, the 1st floor dungeon, and the desert terrain.
The sight of them spreading out in a single horizontal line and running at the same speed was terrifying.
Here and there, creatures inhabiting the sand, such as sand beetles, desert scorpions, and sand anglerfish, appeared, but since they were monsters that appeared on the 1st floor, they were low-level monsters anyway.
They were cut down without slowing the running enhanced androids’ advance by even a single second.
It was like a cat trying to stop a charging elephant.
The攻略 team stared blankly at the enhanced androids, which had already rushed ahead while cleanly pacifying a path about two hundred meters wide, until they looked like distant specks.
“This... it’s like that thing. A mine roller.”
“What’s that?”
At Taewung’s mutter, a female Admiti who was not very familiar with military equipment asked.
“There’s this thing in the military. It’s a roller that finds and removes mines hidden underground, and they attach it to the front of something like a tank. So as it moves, it gets rid of mines in advance. They also call it an obstacle-clearing tank or a mine-clearing vehicle...”
“Ah-ha. So what you’re saying is, the monsters hiding and then popping out are like mines?”
“That’s right.”
“It does feel exactly like that.”
Just then, Suho looked back at everyone and said,
“The enhanced androids are faster than I expected. Let’s hurry and follow them. But if we fly, I think we’ll overtake them in no time, and if we run, it’ll be too exhausting, so let’s ride these and follow at a leisurely pace.”
What Suho took out were nineteen electric buggy cars.
Sand buggies specialized for sandy deserts.
“Whoa, awesome!”
“I was wondering how we were supposed to chase after them by running through ground where our feet sink in like this...!”
Veeeeee—
As everyone climbed onto one while armed and powered them on, an artificial exhaust note flowed from the buggies.
The tires of the sand buggies were wide and set to low pressure, allowing them to glide smoothly even over sand.
On top of that, they were monsters equipped with high-output motors, giving them excellent instant acceleration and allowing them to reach speeds of over two hundred kilometers per hour even in the desert.
“Whoa... the maximum driving range says fourteen hundred kilometers...?”
“The energy efficiency is no joke...”
“I’m going ahead!”
Veeeeeeeeeeeng!
“Ahahahaha! Wait for me!”
“Haha, this is way too fun!”
“It’s totally desert trail riding!”
Veeeeeeeeng!
The sand buggies sprayed sand behind them as they raced forward competitively, and Suho, who had remained until the very end watching them, donned his powered armor just in case, got into his vehicle, and pressed the accelerator.
Less than an hour after the enhanced androids set off, they cleared the 1st floor, and the portal to the 2nd floor opened immediately.
Normally, they would now have to move the base camp they had set up in the 1st floor waiting room to the portal right before going up from the 1st floor to the 2nd floor, set it up again, and then enter the 2nd floor, but with Suho there, there was no need to do anything so troublesome.
“We’re continuing! To the 2nd floor!”
“Go, go!”
“Can we keep riding these?”
“Why not? It’ll keep being desert terrain. Oh, the enhanced androids already went over.”
“Let’s go!”
.
.
.
“They say the 11th floor is finished too. Let’s rest now.”
The number of Tower floors cleared that day over fourteen full hours was an astonishing eleven floors.
It was truly an insane speed.
Well, if one looked purely at combat power, it was no different from one hundred S-rank Admiti running wild and cutting down monsters, so perhaps it was only natural.
The desert terrain ended at the 10th floor, and from the 11th floor onward, grassy highlands appeared, where they had to fight rock monsters.
Of course, those creatures were likewise no threat at all to the enhanced androids.
“I was confident I wouldn’t be surprised anymore after all I’d seen... but today surprised me in all sorts of ways again. Eleven floors in a day...”
“Haha, to be honest, I knew something like this would happen once the Clan Master came.”
In truth, all the fighting had been done by the enhanced androids, and all the Ultimate Line clan members had done was leisurely follow along on the buggies, so it seemed questionable whether rest was even necessary. Still, they did need to sleep. The arrangement of day and night inside the Tower was truly arbitrary.
No matter how bright it was in broad daylight, if the time was night, they had to sleep, and no matter how dark it was due to the surrounding ecology, if it was daytime, they had to move. Only then could they secure and maintain a minimum level of physical condition.
“Haaam... I’m tired. What did I even do to be this tired...?”
“Seriously. Now that we’re going to rest, I feel kind of guilty...”
“Haha... Laziness has built up to a lethal dose in just one day...”
“I know, ugh. I didn’t realize riding a buggy for a long time was so hard.”
“Still, the suspension was good, so my butt doesn’t hurt much?”
“Right. Training at the clan training grounds all this time felt way harsher...”
Amid the murmuring clan members, Suho raised his voice.
“Day one of the Tower capture, everyone worked hard. Now let’s rest!”
“Huhuh... Did we do anything worth calling hard work...”
“You did. Guarding the enhanced androids’ backs.”
At Suho’s joke, a burst of laughter erupted.
“The Clan Master is right. Whether we did anything or not, we still have to rest.”
At Danbi’s words, Suho smiled and manifested something large at the end of the 11th floor, in other words, in the clearing where the portal to the 12th floor was located.
It was a modular house. Four buildings in total.
Each one was a living space for six, a fairly sizable modular house consisting of two floors.
In a space of about thirty-four pyeong combined between the first and second floors, there were four bedrooms, two toilets, two shower rooms, one bathroom, one laundry room, a spacious first-floor living room, a small second-floor living room, a living room and kitchen, equipment storage, and even a rooftop with an outdoor terrace.
Four splendid modular houses, fully equipped with all the spaces, appliances, and furniture needed for actual living, were set up as though placed along each side of a diamond shape, facing the empty space in the center.
“Whoa...”
“Waaah...”
“My god... it’s a house...”
Watching their reactions as every single one of them stood with jaws dropped made Suho very pleased.
“The lodgings don’t necessarily have to be divided by team, right?”
At Suho’s question, everyone nodded.
“Then feel free to decide who you’ll share rooms with. I think the women can use these two buildings, and the men can use these two. Each is meant for six people, but that’s a generous six-person capacity. In truth, more than eight people can use one too, so keep that in mind.”
They were, after all, S-rank Admiti ranked among the best in the world, but it seemed they had never imagined they would enjoy such luxury inside the Tower.
The sight of them brightly excited, like elementary school students on their first school trip, as they formed groups to stay together, was cute.
Once it seemed the number of people for each lodging had been more or less decided, Suho added one more thing.
“I set up the modular houses in a circle with the center left open, right? I’m thinking of installing a barbecue area in this empty spot in the middle.”
“Whoa... barbecue...”
“Sluuurp...”
“Huh, then are we not eating Newtri Ampoules or Vitanova?”
Nutri Ampoules were high-capacity compressed nutrition ampoules developed for survival in extreme environments, distributed worldwide, and carried as essential meal replacements by Tower climbers.
Vitanova was an item Suho had developed as an upgraded counterpart to the Nutri Ampoule, a chewable tablet. A single pill provided all necessary calories and nutrients, a one-time consumable.
What the two products had in common was the advantage of easily supplying both calories and essential nutrients.
Their drawbacks were that they had little flavor, and more than anything, there was no joy in eating them.
But in many raid situations, even a Nutri Ampoule was something to be grateful for, so it was true that such luxury had never crossed their minds.
As if teasing them, Suho spoke again.
“No, I’m here with you, and you’re going to eat something like that?”
“No, no, of course not!”
“That’s right. Vitanova and Nutri Ampoules are strictly emergency meal replacements!”
The person who had asked the first question received sharp glares from everyone else and could only roll his eyes around.
Suho gave a little laugh, his face saying, That’s more like it, and continued.
“If you check the refrigerators and freezers in each lodging, there should be plenty to eat. There’ll also be a lot of canned food, ramen, and ready-made meals that can be stored at room temperature on the food shelves. Those of you who want to just have a quick meal like that and rest can eat simply in your lodging. Ah, and if you’re the type who thinks, I’m done with food, I just want to wash up and sleep, you can drink a Nutri Ampoule and go straight to bed. But anyone who thinks a proper meal is necessary—especially anyone who wants meat—go change and come out. Let’s have a meat party.”
“Sounds good! We’ve got to eat meat!”
“Outdoors means meat!”
“But is this really outdoors...? We’re inside the Tower.”
“There you go saying weird stuff again. You just go eat some ramen.”
“N-no, I-I’m eating meat!!”
On the broad plateau, which was utterly impossible to imagine as a single floor of the Tower, the place where the module houses stood was nothing more than one corner, a tiny portion of it.
As the sunset slowly settled over the grass-covered plateau and the glow of dusk spread warmly across it, the sight had the power to make one forget, for a moment, where they were.
Whenever the breeze blew gently, the grass rippled in soft waves, and within that vast, peaceful atmosphere lingered the quiet of a day coming to an end.
To think that rock giants had appeared in a place like this and threatened the lives of Tower climbers. It felt somehow unfitting, and chilling.
In any case, the Tower was an incredible place.
If this had been an ordinary Tower-climbing raid team, they would not have had the leisure to admire the scenery or eat something delicious. Instead, they would have been unable to let their guard down for even a moment, their vigilance raised to the utmost, silently watching every direction while sucking down Nutri Ampoules.
But this place was different.
This was the beginning of true Tower camping.