Chapter 1365: The New Design Bureau
That was not the only change.
Roland watched workers tearing down and replacing the signboards along both sides of the road. The construction sites that normally hummed with activity stood silent, as though the modern car dealership project had been erased overnight. The low dividing walls of the former development zone now bore fresh scaffolding — the skeleton of a new exterior wall taking shape.
More remarkable were the armed police. Officers in full tactical gear had established a perimeter around the projects department, sentry posts flanking every entrance and exit, vehicles prohibited from approaching the main building.
After their credentials were checked and verified, the guard snapped a standard military salute and stood aside.
“Good God…” Garcia murmured as they walked through. “What exactly did you ask them to do?”
“Honestly, nothing.” Roland shook his head. “I haven’t even submitted a request yet.”
As they crossed toward the main building, Garcia stopped. Her expression darkened.
Standing at the doors was her father.
Garde — a member of Clover Group’s board of directors — nodded to his daughter first, then extended his hand toward Roland. “I’ve been expecting you. I knew you were unusual when we first met, but you’ve far exceeded what I imagined then.” He held the handshake a moment longer than necessary. “From today, this facility is yours.”
The good wishes were genuine enough. The tone was something else. When they’d first met, Garde had barely concealed his contempt. At the second meeting — once he learned Roland’s connection to the Defender — the contempt had been papered over with a studied cordiality. Now, on this third encounter, what Roland saw in the man’s face was fear. A complicated ensemble of it, plainly visible.
“Wasn’t the car dealership a flagship Clover development?” Garcia said. “I’m surprised you handed it over so meekly. I thought you’d put up more of a fight — after all, you were ready to demolish apartments over public objections.”
Garde received this without anger. He only chuckled, the sound hollow. “The Martialist Association offered terms the family couldn’t refuse. My position on the board wasn’t enough to change the outcome.” He paused. “There’s something else. The Clover Group has terminated the demolition and relocation plan. We’ll be making the announcement at the reception later. You don’t need to campaign for the residents anymore.”
Garcia’s composure broke.
“The demolition plan is… terminated?”
“Yes.” Garde’s voice was slow and deliberate. “I know this doesn’t mean forgiveness — not easily, and perhaps not at all. But at least we are no longer enemies. If you ever want to visit your brother, you are welcome home at any time.” His eyes moved briefly to Roland. “You’re welcome to bring him.”
He led the startled pair through the entrance, then turned and retreated from the projects department without further ceremony.
The secretary responsible for receiving them guided them onward before either of them had quite composed themselves.
The conference room held forty or fifty people in formal dress. The scale of it bore no resemblance to a construction site meeting. Four chairs had been placed at the center of the main table, facing each other. Defender Rock occupied one. Two others held strangers — a man of forty or fifty with the bearing of a soldier who had seen the real thing; another with grey at his temples and eyes that were still entirely alive. The fourth chair was empty.
Garcia finally shook herself loose of her thoughts and nudged Roland forward.
He walked calmly to the empty seat and sat beside Rock. Years of holding a throne and a kingdom had burnt any tendency toward stage fright out of him long ago — he felt only curiosity. The Association had clearly planned this as a surprise. He waited.
What followed was the longest sequence of introductions he had ever sat through.
And then it ceased to seem long.
From metallurgy to materials science. From machine design to automatic control systems. Every relevant discipline had sent a representative — among them a sitting laureate of the National Academy of Sciences and the chief technical director of a major private corporation. Every person at this table was a point at the front of an enormous triangle of expertise, with entire research and development teams ranged behind them.
The two men to Roland’s right turned out to be President Wu, overall director of the technology division, and Executive Manager Head Liu, responsible for resource allocation. Between them, they commanded a system precise and complete enough to render Graycastle’s original Design Bureau — Roland’s bureau — something like a sketch next to a finished painting.
This was why the Association had needed the entire parcel of land. The scope of parallel research required it.
The two were also government representatives, present to render assistance and gather information.
The project had been named Project Nüwa — after the ancient figure who had patched the sky itself. It fit. The official documentation presented the undertaking to cleared government officials as a complex disaster simulation: modeling how surviving humans would utilize resources and rebuild civilization in the aftermath of an Erosion-driven catastrophe. One key provision stated that certain Awakened Beings had undergone rare evolutions due to Erosion, manifesting abilities entirely unlike the standard Force of Nature — abilities whose applications the research teams were required to investigate. As for what these special abilities were: Chief Hunter Roland had been designated the project’s overall person-in-charge, with full authority to determine disclosures.
Roland nearly inhaled his tea.
In practical terms, he had been given a podium and told to describe the witches’ powers, and everyone in the room was obligated to take him seriously and consider how those powers could be applied to rebuilding civilization. If he invented something, they would have to treat the invention as a real possibility.
It was fortunate the Martialist Association was the one framing things this way. Had Roland attempted to present this arrangement to a room full of specialists on his own authority, they would have filed out within minutes.
Rock turned to him when the introductions concluded, a slight smile at the corner of his mouth. “Are you satisfied with the proposal? When you first raised your concerns with me and spoke of the stakes for the world, I thought you were exaggerating. I understand the meaning behind those words now.” He paused. “No matter how unusual your requests may seem, given that the magic power of the two worlds operates differently, no one here will dismiss them.”
Roland raised an eyebrow. “You believe everything I’ve told you?”
“Honestly — I don’t know.” Rock’s gaze moved out across the room. “But if working together allows us to prevail over the Erosion, we’ll have the chance to verify everything afterward.” A small pause. “This new Design Bureau is only the beginning.”
Chapter 1365 - The new Design Bureau
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
It was not the only change in the area.
Roland noticed many workers tearing down and changing the billboards on both sides of the road, and the usual bustling construction sites were all extremely quiet, as though the entire modern car dealership project had disappeared in the blink of an eye. The short wall used to divide the construction space had a new scaffolding in place, looking as though it was being used as a base for new exterior wall.
Even more ridiculous were the heavily-armed police on alert as they cordoned off the projects department with sentry posts. Any entrance and exits required identification and vehicles were prohibited from approaching the main building.
After having their credentials verified, the armed policeman saluted them with a standard military salute and opened the guarded entrance.
“Oh my god…” Garcia whispered, “What did you make the Association do?”
“To be honest, I am as clueless as you are.” Roland shook his head helplessly. “I haven’t even made any requests yet.”
As the two walked towards the main building, Garcia suddenly stopped in her steps and frowned.
Standing at the doors and welcoming them was her father, Garde, a member of Clover Group’s board of directors.
“I’ve waited for you for a long time.” The man nodded at his daughter first, then initiated a handshake. “Mr Roland, although I’ve known that you were
special the first time we met, I’ve never thought that you’ll be far more special than what I imagined. From this day on, this factory is yours.”
Garde’s words were clearly filled with good wishes, but his tone did not have the slightest bit of joy—the look on his face was complicated, like an ensemble of contradictions. During their first acquaintance, this middle-aged man showed an obvious contempt towards Roland, a feigned friendliness on the second due to Roland’s relationship with the Defender, while the current and third meeting was one of fear, most probably his true emotion.
“Isn’t the modern car dealership originally an important development for the Clover Group? Are you guys really that nice to gift it away so submissively?” Garcia mocked, “And here I thought that the Clover Group would be slightly more unyielding, with how all of you were ready to demolish the apartments in spite of public opinion.”
To her surprise, Garde did not reveal any anger and merely chuckled ruefully. “The Martialist Association gave the family terms that they couldn’t refuse. Although I’m a member of the board of directors, I was unable to stop the decision. Aside from that, the Clover Group has officially terminated the plan to demolish and rebuild the apartments. We will be announcing it at the reception later—there is no longer a need for you to rally for the residents, my daughter.”
Garcia was frozen with shock.
“The demolishing and relocation plan has been… terminated?”
“Yes, it has,” Garde replied slowly. “I know that even if this passes, you will not forgive me that easily, but at least we are no longer enemies. In the future, if you wish to meet your brother, feel free to come home anytime. Of course… you can bring him along as well.” He looked towards Roland.
After leading the startled duo into the main hall, Garde waved before leaving the projects department building.
The secretary responsible for bringing them in led them to the conference room even before they came round to.
Seated around the approximately 100-square-meter room were about 40 to 50 people, all dressed in formal attire. It did not appear anything like a construction site meeting. Placed around the center table were four chairs arranged facing each other. Apart from Defender Rock, there were two others sitting there—one about 40 to 50 years of age and resembled a veteran of war; the other had graying hair but had eyes brimming with vitality.
The last chair was obviously left for him.
Garcia finally jolted out of her reverie and gently nudged him on the back.
Roland nodded, calmly walked over, and proceeded to sit beside Rock.
With the experience of being a King, he naturally did not suffer from stage fright, but instead felt even more curious—from the looks of it, the Association had obviously planned to surprise him.
But after the secretary’s announcement of the start of the meeting, every single person in the room were given an introduction, leaving Roland in suspense. Despite knowing that the Martialist Association had a long history and its great influence over the government, the ‘surprise’ greatly exceeded Roland’s expectations.
From metallurgy to materials, from machine designs to automatic controls, every single subject matters expert were present. Among them was an existing laureate from the Nation’s Academy of Sciences as well as another leading technical expert from a private corporation. More critically, every single person here was merely a representative. Behind them were enormous teams, each completely capable of undertaking the entire process from research and development to production.
As for the two men seated to his right, one was the overall-in-charge of the technological department, President Wu and the other Executive Manager, Head Liu. The former took charge of all research development while the latter was responsible for the allocation of resources. The professionalism of the entire system was evident and was not something the original small group of the Design Bureau of Graycastle could compare to.
This was the sole reason for the Association to take over the entire land— without the space, they could not have research work happen in parallel.
Aside from that, the two were also representatives of the government; they were sent to assist in the situation and gather information.
The entire project was assigned the name ‘Project Nüwa.’ It was rather fitting to use the legend of her patching up the sky to describe the resistance against Erosion. Information of the other world was limited to only a few government officials and as a result, the official documents explained that the undertaking was a ‘complicated drill’ designed to simulate the final destruction of the human race due to Erosion and how the survivors would utilize resources after the war and rebuild civilization from the ruins.
One of the crucial points listed was that some Awakened Beings underwent rarely seen evolutions due to Erosion. They evolved and displayed completely different abilities from what the Force of Nature had; thus, the researchers were required to study all relevant elements around the phenomena. As to what this special abilities were, Chief Hunter Roland was designated by the Association as the overall person-in-charge with full authority to make decisions.
At this point, Roland almost spat the tea that he had just imbibed.
In other words, the main content of the meeting was to listen to the abilities announced by him and investigate their applications. Even if he were to make things up, it was a requirement to take him seriously and consider how the abilities could influence the rebuilding of their civilization.
It was fortunate that the Martialist Association was the one doing such a thing. If Roland had to announce the conditions to this matter that seemed to border on child’s play by himself, all the professionals on site would have left immediately.
“I wonder if Mr Roland is satisfied with the proposal?” Rock smiled towards him and said, “When you raised your request to me previously and mentioned its severity to the world, I thought you were exaggerating then. But now, I have finally understood the true meaning behind your words. Taking
into account that the magic power manifested from both worlds are different, no matter how absurd or weird your requests are, they will not disagree with you.”
Roland raised his eyebrows. “You believe… in everything that I’ve said?”
“To be honest, I don’t know.” Rock retracted his gaze. “But as long as we can prevail over Erosion by working together, we will have the opportunity to verify them in the future, is that not? And this new Design Bureau is only the beginning.”