Starting completely naked in the Stone Age.
It only took Adam a few minutes to grasp the situation.
When building a civilization from absolute zero, what mattered most?
First, drop a town center, then train villagers to chop wood and mine ore… wait, no.
Chop trees and craft a workbench… also no.
Deploy the MCV, build a power plant, then barracks, then send dogs to scout… cough, wrong again.
Obviously, the first thing was to check the cheat.
This damn system had dumped him into a primitive world.
He needed to figure out exactly what the Civilization System actually was.
“Hello?
Anyone there?” “Is there a beginner tutorial?
Or some kind of starting quest?” Adam asked.
[Civilization System activated.] [Initializing quests…] [Initial Quest:] 1.
Establish a civilization and raise the population of your settlement to 20 or more.
Quest Reward: 1.
Initial Tech Tree ×1 “…” Adam stared at the quest panel in silence.
“Recruit twenty people?
Am I supposed to undergo mitosis?!” “And can you explain what the reward even means?
What’s an ‘Initial Tech Tree’?” “Civilizations across the myriad worlds each possess their own unique tech trees.
Upon completing the quest, the host may obtain one world’s tech tree to serve as the foundation of your civilization.” That explanation was a bit roundabout, but Adam understood.
Different worlds had different technologies.
The Nasuverse focused on magecraft and Command Seals.
The Honkaiverse revolved around Honkai energy.
Teyvat used elemental power.
The world of Tengen Toppa centered on Spiral Power… and so on.
The quest reward was essentially one complete tech tree…
something that would shape the direction of his civilization’s future development.
The system continued.
[Initial quest detected.] [Host has obtained starting ability: Dimensional Diplomacy.] [Dimensional Diplomacy] You can observe other civilizations across the myriad worlds.
You may engage in diplomacy with them and freely travel to their worlds.
“?” “What the hell kind of ability is this?” Adam stared blankly for a moment.
Observing other civilizations sounded like a map-reveal skill.
[On a higher-dimensional level, every world can be regarded as an independent civilization.] [This authority grants the host diplomatic and interdimensional travel capabilities within the multiverse.] [Opening hyperdimensional map…] With the prompt, Adam’s vision blurred for a second.
A brilliant star chart unfolded in front of him, exactly like the galactic map from a strategy game.
Against the backdrop of deep space floated countless soap-bubble-like spheres, each refracting the light of distant stars.
Every bubble represented the universe of another world.
Looking closer, he saw five world-bubbles marked near his own position.
[Demon Slayer (Steam Age)] [Date A Live (Magic Age II)] [Azur Lane (Pre-Space Age)] [Fate/Grand Order (Magic Age III)] [Honkai Impact 3rd (Pre-Space Age)] Each bubble displayed the world’s name along with its technological era.
“A multiverse map?” “So these are my neighbors?” Adam found it fascinating.
These were entirely different worlds, clustered close together on the star chart like neighboring countries on a map.
Some were anime, some were games.
Though they appeared near one another, every single bubble was a complete universe in its own right.
The system had essentially given him a higher-dimensional vantage point from which to observe the multiverse.
The tech-level classifications were interesting too.
Three technological civilizations, two magical ones.
Both Azur Lane and the Honkaiverse were classified as Pre-Space Age.
For all the absurdly powerful individuals and weapons they possessed, neither had true interstellar travel capability.
Demon Slayer lagged further behind at the Steam Age.
As for Date A Live and the Nasuverse… Both primarily used magic.
Adam could only assume the Nasuverse’s magecraft level was higher…
after all, it had entire Lostbelts.
No matter how many parallel worlds a given universe contained, the hyperdimensional map treated it as a single entry.
Farther out he could dimly make out other strange world-bubbles: Heaven’s Lost Property, Re:Zero, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Nekopara… and more.
His current mental strength wasn’t high enough to see much farther, though.
“High-end.
This map is ridiculously high-end.” He casually selected one of the nearby worlds.
Detailed information immediately popped up.
[Demon Slayer (Steam Age)] A world set against the backdrop of Taisho-era Japan.
Technological level equivalent to the mid-Steam Age, with steam engines and firearms seeing limited but practical use.
Extraordinary beings known as “demons” exist.
They possess combat power far beyond ordinary humans, though their weaknesses are equally pronounced.
[Relative Strength Comparison:] Technological Level: As Gods Military Strength: As Gods Economic Strength: As Gods [Diplomacy] [Travel] [Declare War] “…” “Even a bunch of Steam Age natives are ranking me ‘As Gods’?!” Adam checked the other nearby neighbors.
Every single one displayed the same result: As Gods.
Well… it wasn’t surprising.
His “colony” currently consisted of one person and a Stone Age tech level.
There was no comparison.
He examined the three available options.
[Diplomacy] Initiate communication with the faction leaders of this world.
If no clear leader exists, communication is impossible.
[Travel] Open a spacetime passage and travel directly to the target world.
Landing location is random.
[Declare War] (Unlocked after reaching the Space Age) “…” The interface gave him a strong sense of déjà vu.
It reminded him of a certain “wholesome” strategy game involving biological power generation, species-wide genocide, neutron sweeps, turning aliens into canned food, and crisis ascension paths.
Adam narrowed his eyes.
“I’ve been meaning to ask since earlier… this system of yours is also a Paradox war criminal, isn’t it?!” …