Chapter Ten: Base Core

  The sun is setting in the west, still a distance from dusk.

  A military truck without a license plate sped down the long-neglected road, kicking up clouds of dust. The rear compartment was covered with canvas and had two cloth curtains hanging from the back, blocking off the rear section.

  At this time, Li Lan was sitting in the front seat, and the bumpy road surface did not make him feel any discomfort due to the good shock absorption of the military vehicle.

  Although every war tool in the army is not designed for comfort, as long as it can make the user more convenient without affecting performance, it is also a pursuit when designing equipment.

  This military truck is the first icon of the Red Alert base war truck category, and all the trucks in this category are uniform. There are military trucks and many civilian trucks, small trucks with a load of only a few tons, heavy trucks with a load of tens of tons, and even Li Ran saw the icon of a super truck.

  Unlike the original Red Alert units, these non-Red Alert units have very simple descriptions. The truck produced by Li Lan is just a normal military truck, except for its strong carrying capacity, there's nothing special about it.

  In the cramped driving room where three people sat side by side, apart from driver Ahmed and Li Ran, there was also General Zhang squatting on a chair.

  An hour ago, a simple meeting came to an end quickly after Li Lan became familiar with each of them. Two large boxes of rifle bullets totaling 8,000 rounds were spent, which cost 200 base funds, equivalent to the price of two mobilized soldiers.

  But Li Lan didn't mind, because the landlord's family had no surplus grain either. The previous African wild donkey had let Li Lan and Da Jiangjun eat for three days, and there was not much left. Now it was the food for eleven people plus three dogs, consuming a lot of food every day, and Li Lan also needed other supplies, such as diesel oil. So, Li Lan put his eyes on Muhanmudi again. This time with his own guard, he had fewer safety concerns, and Li Lan didn't make small moves, directly bringing 8,000 rounds of ammunition.

  These 8,000 brand new bullets, if sold at the market in Bossaso, could fetch at least $10,000, but only ten armed men of Li Lan's force were not reckless enough to safely enter and exit the crowded city of Bossasso with a population of over one million people from various forces.

  "Ahmed, why is your rank lower than the others who are all ordinary privates?" After an hour, Li Lan gradually discovered that these soldiers were treating Ahmed as a superior officer, and also showed great respect to General Zhang. Even Ahmed had a respectful attitude towards General Zhang.

  He originally thought that Ahmad was a second-rate unit, just like the great general was a third-rate elite unit, and would be respected by lower-level units. However, no matter how Li Lan looked at it, Ahmad was a first-rate soldier, with attributes that were exactly the same as other soldiers.

  Ahmed: First-class mobilized soldier, basic individual weapon mastery, basic combat skills mastery, proficient in: driving, various artillery operations, emphasis on ability: enhanced individual combat capability.

  The attributes of the other 9 mobilized soldiers are almost the same as Ahmad's, with some differences only in their expertise.

  "Because my training results were higher than theirs, and I mastered skills and leadership abilities faster than they did, as soon as I came out, I was given the rank of corporal." If respect for a three-star general is reverence, then Li Ran's attitude towards Ahmed is absolute faith. So after Li Ran asked, he immediately replied with an extremely respectful attitude.

  "Are you the one with the gift of command, just like the assistant said, a surprise, and you are that surprise?" Li Lan did not hide the existence of the base, because every single one of these soldiers was well aware of the base's existence, and very clear about how they came to this world. The base was no secret to them from the moment they emerged, its existence had become synonymous with their deepest memories.

  "I'm not sure, but I don't think the surprise that Assistant-sama mentioned is me, because there are many people with abilities like mine over there."

  "Oh, there!" Ahmed's reply sparked Li Lan's curiosity, and he also wanted to know what was in these people's memories. "'There' is where?"

  Faced with Li Lan's question, Ahmed suddenly paused for a moment, thinking carefully for half a beat, and replied with a bewildered and apologetic expression: "Sorry, Commander, I'm unable to answer your question. I have detailed memories of receiving training, but I just can't remember where we were trained."

  Li Lan was a bit disappointed, but he didn't mean to blame Ahmed. "It's okay, don't think about it if you can't remember. I'm just curious."

  "Thank you for your understanding, Commander. If you have any other questions, I will do my best to answer them."

  "There's nothing wrong anymore." Li Ran shook her head, seeing a somewhat regretful Ahmad, he wouldn't ask again even if there were problems.

  However, Ahmed couldn't answer, maybe someone else could. Thinking of this, Li Ran directly took out a trendy-looking mobile phone from her pocket, didn't dial the number, and put it to her mouth, saying: "Assistant, do you know where 'there' is that Ahmed just mentioned?"

  This phone was transformed from the base control panel under the assistant's guidance when Li Ran was about to set off. With this phone, no matter how far away Li Ran is, she can contact the base assistant at any time. And if there is anything around the base, the assistant can also contact Li Ran immediately through the phone.

  For now, this mobile phone, apart from having the functions that other mobile phones have, can only contact the base and does not have any stronger mobile phone functions. In Somalia, the role of this mobile phone may also be limited to contacting the base.

  "'There' does not exist in reality, nor do the trainings. Everything is just memories given to them by the base. The assistants they know are also aware of this. If one insists on saying that it exists, then there can only be one explanation - the gene library. They were all born from genes stored in the gene library within the base."

  The assistant's voice did not reach the second person's ears, nor did Li Ran's question reach Ahmed's ears nearby. This may be said to be the strongest ability of this mobile phone, which can shield other people's hearing. As the saying goes, "eyes see six roads and ears hear eight directions", they are not deaf to any sound, but rather cannot hear Li Ran's voice speaking here alone.

  "Where is the gene library located in the base? Can I go?" Li Lan's response to the assistant was barely acceptable, but another gene library came out, which made Li Lan seem to have caught a glimpse of the tip of the iceberg of the base.

  "The gene library is located at the core of the base. To enter the gene library, you must first destroy the base, but if the base is destroyed, everything inside the base will also be destroyed."

  "You said a lot, isn't it just to tell me I can't go? Can you get in touch with him?" Li Ran pouted.

  "I apologize, Commander. The assistant's authority comes entirely from the commander. Any information within the commander's authority will be automatically known to the assistant, and anything outside of the commander's authority will also be unknown to the assistant. The assistant is just a program serving the commander and the base, merely a servant who cannot enter the core of the base."

  "So how can I enter the base core? And is the base core directly below the base?" Li Ran already had some ideas about where the base core was, but he couldn't get in.

  "The base core is not within this space, Commander. To enter the base's core, please upgrade your clearance to the highest level. Then, the entire base will have no secrets from you."

  A few black lines unknowingly drooped down on his forehead, Li Ran discovered a rule, as if the more he asked, the more questions there were, but he still didn't give up and continued: "Then how to upgrade to the highest authority." At the same time, Li Ran's heart said: This is the last question, resolutely not asking again, otherwise his brain would not be enough.

  "The assistant is unclear how many levels of authority there are or what the conditions for reaching the next level of authority are. However, the assistant knows that as long as the commander can become a 'king', they can reach the highest authority in the base."

  Another word that made Li Ran very curious appeared. In the end, Li Ran still persuaded himself to ask one last time: "What did Wang mean?"

  "Sorry, Commander, insufficient authority, assistant cannot answer."

  This answer completely made Li Ran lose the motivation to ask further, it's better if she didn't ask at all.

  However, this "king" made Li Lan float with joy.

  P.S: This chapter and the assistant's dialogue are considered a pit, some of which may or may not be filled in the future.