In a rest room below the ship.
Noah had originally been sprawled on the bed.
After a Bloom Bearer came to notify him that Rover had granted him P21 probationary Bloom Bearer temporary permission for one year, he instantly perked up.
The other party brought him dinner, gave him a Black Shores-style terminal and a Blake Bloom emblem, then left without saying much else.
Since transmigrating, Noah had not eaten a single grain of rice.
Seeing how considerate the other party was, he didn’t care about anything else and decided to eat first.
Dinner was not lavish but very refined – meat, vegetables, rice, and a bowl of vegetable soup.
It looked like the standard meal for the crew.
After eating and drinking his fill, Noah began examining the terminal sent by Black Shores.
After fumbling with it for a while, he roughly figured out how to use it.
This terminal might as well be called a personal handheld communicator.
In plain terms, it was just a smartphone with a somewhat unique design.
There weren’t many apps inside the terminal.
Besides the regular communication functions and this world’s internet browser, there was only one electronic database app called “Black Shores Tethys System Public Library.”
Noah roughly scanned the library’s contents and learned some publicly available introductory materials about Black Shores.
“Black Shores Archipelago and Overseas Territories is a political and civilizational entity directly governed and uniformly managed by the Black Shores organization.
Both this organization and the entity have the core mission of observing, warning against, and combating The Lament, as well as protecting the people of Solaris everywhere.”
“Rover is the sole supreme leader of Black Shores and the Black Shores Archipelago and Overseas Territories.
Shorekeeper is the super administrator of the Tethys System and the highest manager of the Black Shores organization and entity.”
Noah softly read the opening aloud, and his heart skipped a beat.
Good grief, this didn’t sound like a simple research organization.
It was more like…
a national regime?
He continued reading: “Black Shores Archipelago is the core territory of this entity.
It is a cluster of blackstone islands hidden in the storm seas of Solaris, gathering elite talents from all walks of life around the world.
Due to its long-term dedication to combating The Lament, it has extensive and deep cooperation with most nations of Solaris…”
“The larger systematic overseas territories mainly include three: Huanglong Yuezhou Overseas Territory, Rinascita Ragunna Island Overseas Territory, and the New Federation Western State Overseas Territory.
As of the latest official information released, Black Shores has a total population of around one million, with over 800,000 permanent residents on the archipelago.
The total number of employees belonging to the Black Shores organization is 120,000.”
A population of one million, with 120,000 employees?
In the game, Black Shores Archipelago was nothing more than a tiny place with only a hundred or so NPCs.
Now seeing this scale, it far exceeded his imagination.
He quickly scrolled through the pages and continued reading, finding the section on armed forces: “Black Shores’ subordinate armed forces are mainly divided into sea and land forces, with no independent air armed forces.”
“Among them, the Army mainly consists of ground armed forces, special Bloom Bearer rapid response forces, main island garrison forces, and overseas territory armed forces.
The Navy consists of seven major fleets and the Marine Corps, distributed across the main island, overseas territories, and locations around the world.”
“The Seventh Fleet is Rover’s directly subordinate fleet.
Rover herself is also the supreme commander of all Black Shores armed forces.”
After reading this series of public materials, Noah was somewhat stunned.
Black Shores was this powerful?
Was this still the Black Shores he knew?
In the game, he only knew Black Shores as a super research institution and international organization that had existed for ten thousand years, maintained close cooperation with countries around the world, and possessed unique methods and technology in observing, warning against, and combating The Lament.
He never expected that Black Shores was also a country…
No, it should be said that it was a super political and civilizational entity that transcended national boundaries, possessed a huge population, numerous territories, and powerful military strength.
And Rover was not only the leader but also the supreme commander of this force.
He had previously been thinking of hugging a thigh and lying flat.
What thigh was this?
This was clearly hugging a pillar that supports the heavens!
Seeing this, he made up his mind.
Rover’s thigh – he was hugging it for sure!
No one could persuade him otherwise, not even that idiot system.
From today onward, I am Rover’s most loyal Bloom Bearer! Find the original chapter at g.com.
Noah stared at the screen for a long time before finally digesting this information.
Looking at the search bar, he thought for a moment and instinctively typed in “Honami City.”
This was from the plot of Version 2.8 in the game.
“Hmm?
Query failed?
No related results?”
Noah frowned but didn’t pay it much mind.
“P21 permission is still too low.
I can’t even view events that happened on Black Shores main island.
Forget it, I know the general plot anyway.”
He then closed the page and exited the library app.
Noah opened the contacts again.
It was completely empty.
Besides that, the terminal’s memo contained his P21 permission identity code and some basic personal information.
The latter was all the fabricated story he had told, which Black Shores had already entered into the system.
Noah put down the terminal in his hand.
While picking up the Blake Bloom emblem and pinning it on his shoulder, he thought about how to convince Rover next to give him a spot to accompany the exchange student team to Startorch Academy.
At this moment, the system suddenly spoke up in his mind again and began issuing a new task:
[New Side Task Released: Information Armament]
[Task Content: Within 24 hours, understand information related to the Startorch Academy exchange student program and the Lahai-Roi erosion environment.]
[Success Reward: Knowledge Infusion “Basic Theory of Virtual Mass Magnetic Storm Research”]
“Basic theory…
Hmm, learning a bit more information is always a good thing.”
Noah thought for another moment.
He had a rough plan in mind regarding what reason to use to approach Rover.
Wearing that thick silver-gray coat, he left the cabin.
The corridors inside the ship extended in all directions.
Blue navigation light bands were projected onto the silver-gray metal walls.
Following the public area map displayed on the terminal, he headed toward the leisure corridor in the living area.
The leisure corridor was located on the middle level of the living area and featured a huge observation window.
Outside was the eternally churning gray-blue ice sea.
It was currently the period after dinner.
Scattered throughout the corridor were some Black Shores personnel on rest shifts.
Noah’s gaze quickly swept across the area and soon locked onto a small group of figures who looked particularly young.
Their clothing also differed slightly from the classic employee uniforms or combat suits.
They wore more casually tailored silver-gray uniforms, with an emblem of a book crossed with gears on their sleeves.
One young man wearing glasses had an identity badge hanging in front of him that read “Black Shores Research Department Affiliated College – Levi.”
Several young people were gathered together, using their terminal communicators to project a complex three-dimensional structural diagram.
They were discussing in low voices.
Faintly, words like “Resonance resonance,” “magnetic storm attenuation model,” and similar terms could be heard.
Noah took a deep breath, adjusted his expression to look like a timid yet curious newcomer.
He walked over and stopped a few steps away, opening his mouth somewhat awkwardly: “Um…
excuse me?”
The discussion stopped, and several gazes turned toward him.
The bespectacled man looked at Noah’s somewhat bulky gray coat and unfamiliar face, slightly raising an eyebrow.
“May I ask who you are?”
“My name is Noah.
I encountered some accidents and was…
temporarily taken in by Rover.”
Noah tried to make his smile appear sincere and harmless.
“Black Shores is renowned far and wide.
May I ask, are you all here to conduct academic research in Lahai-Roi?”
The bespectacled man exchanged a glance with his companions.
They had clearly heard about the “stranger taken in” matter.
His attitude softened somewhat.
“Yes, we are the exchange student team representing Black Shores heading to Startorch Academy.
I am Levi, the lead teaching assistant for the Environmental Engineering virtual mass magnetic storm research direction.
These are my fellow classmates from the same period.”
“Nice to meet you, nice to meet you.”
Noah quickly nodded.
“Environmental Engineering virtual mass magnetic storm direction…
Is that researching phenomena like the erosion outside?”
He pointed toward the special turbulent phenomena in the sky above the ice sea outside the window.
“Hmm, it’s one of the related fields.”
Hearing the other party mention “erosion phenomenon” and realizing he wasn’t completely ignorant, Levi became more interested.
He pushed up his glasses and became noticeably more talkative.
“The virtual mass magnetic storm in the Lahai-Roi region is one of Solaris’s most persistent periodic erosion phenomena.
Our project mainly focuses on the monitoring and modeling of magnetic storms, as well as possible protection and governance technologies.”
“That’s amazing…”
Noah timely showed an admiring expression.
“I don’t know much about these things.
Over at Startorch Academy, do they also teach this?”
“Of course.
Startorch Academy’s Virtual Science Department is an authority in the field.”
Another short-haired girl chimed in, her tone carrying a hint of longing.
“We’re going to a cooperative major jointly established by the Engineering Faculty and the Virtual Science Department.
It mainly involves participating in related courses and using their specialized observation equipment.”
“Also, there are opportunities to participate in some on-site survey projects – if the magnetic storm window period allows.”
Noah asked a few more innocuous but studious-sounding questions: basic information about Startorch Academy, course difficulty, academy life, Lahai-Roi’s local customs and practices, and so on.
Levi and the others had a good impression of this “knowledge-hungry unfortunate person taken in by Rover” and answered patiently.
Twenty minutes later, Noah gratefully said goodbye and left with satisfaction.
He had figured out information related to the Lahai-Roi erosion environment, the public purpose of the Black Shores exchange student team, and the general situation of Startorch Academy.
Upon returning to the cabin, the system prompt sounded.
[Task “Information Armament” completed.
Reward distributed.]
Immediately afterward, a stream of information carrying a slight stinging sensation surged into Noah’s mind.
A large number of terms and concepts regarding the essence, causes, existing theoretical models, and observation methods of virtual mass magnetic storms were forcibly crammed in.
Although it was only basic theory, it was enough for him to not sound like a complete idiot when discussing related topics.
Following that, some more fragmented and blurry images and memories surfaced.
[Information Fragment Completion: Based on the host’s “hundred-year remnant” background setting, complete some historical memories.]
Soon, Noah’s mind recalled some yellowed paper pages.
On them were hand-drawn, somewhat crude maps of the Lahai-Roi coastline, marked with some place names that might have long since changed by now.
Fragments of sloppy handwritten notes flashed through his mind: “Beneath the northern icefield, the rock foundation seems to have rhythmic movements.
Geological activity resonates with erosion tides…
or is related to the active period of magnetic storms…”
“The academic community generally believes that the Threnodian ‘Aleph One’ brought the erosion tides that swept across the Lahai-Roi region…
but on-site investigations…
were not the sole inducing factor…”
These memory fragments carried an old and worn atmosphere, yet pointed to certain very specific characteristics and speculations.
Noah leaned against the headboard, closing his eyes to digest this information.
The system was giving more and more information.
What he needed to do now was weave these fragments into a sufficiently tempting, yet difficult to immediately disprove, gorgeous outer garment.