The Best Gift
"I'll need to prioritize and focus on specific upgrades."
No matter how much I racked my brain, I only had 300,000 Cash.
To be precise, 310,000 Cash wasn't enough to resolve everything I had in mind.
"Sigh. I wonder if a real Cash box will drop somewhere."
I thought I could sketch a rough plan with 300,000, but it was far from enough.
First...
I decided to cleanly give up on one Exclusive Weapon.
An Exclusive Weapon was a surefire way to exponentially increase an ECHO's combat power.
However, in a situation where there were no large-scale battles immediately pending, purchasing two more Exclusive Weapons after Pomen's felt like an unnecessary expense—in other words, a luxury.
"And if I have to choose which ECHO to give an Exclusive Weapon to... it would have to be Helena over Arva."
It was an inevitable choice.
Considering the combat style of the Cerberus Squad, which was heavily centered around Helena, strengthening her combat power meant strengthening the survival and overall power of the entire squad.
In contrast, the Arclight Squad's members are relatively balanced in their individual abilities.
The combat power of the leader, Arva, was already at a considerable level, and Pomen could support her in the area of mass destruction where she was lacking.
Noah was also sufficient as the squad's shield to protect Pomen and Arva.
"Wanderer."
[Yes, Commander.]
"Call Arva for me."
Having made my decision in my heart, I summoned Arva to the Commander's office.
"For those reasons, I plan to purchase Helena's Exclusive Weapon before yours."
"……."
"I’m sorry, but it can’t be helped."
Arva remained silent for a moment at my apology.
Then, tilting her head, she spoke in her usual cool voice.
"It is fine, Commander. Your decision is the will of the Ark. You do not need to worry about me."
Without a hint of disappointment, Arva spoke in a way that felt like she was comforting me instead.
However, I had already prepared a reward for her.
"Still, Arva, you're a member of the Ark too, right? Instead, I'll give you something else."
"...That is not necessary, Commander."
"It's because you're that precious to me."
"……."
What I intended to give Arva was the core of the Carapace Lord.
By strengthening Arva's core with it, it would serve as a stepping stone to unlock her potential.
Thinking ahead, a well-trained melee dealer was essential, and given Arva's position as the squad leader and her cool-headed personality, she seemed like a melee dealer who would be well worth the investment.
"I plan to strengthen you using the Carapace Lord's core."
"……Thank you, Commander."
A mixture of emotion and loyalty wavered in Arva's eyes.
"However, it will take some time. According to Karen, to turn the Carapace Lord's core into a Low-grade Core suitable to be transplanted into an ECHO, the molecular structure must be rearranged and then precisely refined."
"I understand, Commander."
Even if she didn't express it in words, she seemed to understand my sincerity.
Next, I decided to bring out the second gift for her.
This was a special gift for Arva that only I, as a user who had played the mobile game Echoes of Humanity — ECHO, knew about.
"Oh, and I told Madeline to set aside a basket of strawberries for you. You like strawberries, right?"
"—!!"
At that moment.
The face of Arva, who always controlled herself with cold reason, crumbled.
Why?
Why does she like that more than the Carapace Lord's core?!
"Th-Thank you, Commander."
I knew she liked strawberries, but was it to this extent?
While bewildered by her pure reaction, I thought the way she didn't know what to do with her flushed face was quite cute.
And so, a mischievous streak was triggered.
"If you give me a kiss here, you get two baskets of strawberries."
I said, playfully tapping my cheek with my finger.
Simultaneously, Arva's body froze.
Her pupils began to shake violently as if an earthquake had struck.
Two baskets of strawberries versus the embarrassment of a kiss.
I could see reason and instinct fighting fiercely inside her head.
It was just as I let out a small chuckle.
Chu—!
"...Eh?"
It was a very brief moment, but I clearly felt a soft and warm sensation.
"—!!"
And when I turned my head, I saw Arva's face, turned bright red like a ripe tomato.
"I-I shall take my leave now—! Excuse me, Commander!"
Arva couldn't even look at my face anymore and rushed out of the Commander's office as if she were about to explode.
[How tasteless.]
"But wasn't she cute?"
[I think you're the only person in this world who would call an ECHO cute.]
"Hmm... that's strange. All the ECHOs are pretty and cute."
[So, when do you plan to lay your hands on Arva?]
"Who knows?"
I planned to leave that as a pleasure for later.
Even without Arva, there were far too many ECHOs who deserved praise.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
After finishing the meeting with Arva, I called Helena.
"Uh, uuh..."
When I showed her the process of purchasing the Exclusive Weapon Hell's Gatekeeper using the Money Compass, her eyes went as wide as saucers.
Ah, yes.
This is what an Artifact is.
Helena's Exclusive Weapon had a name as ominous as its menacing appearance.
Hell's Gatekeeper.
It had a bizarre appearance, combining a massive, rugged tower shield with a combat shotgun. Perhaps because it was an Artifact?
Its special ability was at a level that defied common sense.
I checked it briefly, and it seemed that when she deployed the shield and entered combat, an energy field would expand from the shield, nullifying all incoming projectile attacks from the front.
"W-Wait— Karen?!"
"Hurry up, Helena. Aren't you curious about the Artifact's abilities too?"
"But I still have things to discuss with the Commander..."
Sure enough, Karen, upon hearing the news, dragged Helena away like a child who had found a new toy, claiming she needed to analyze the mechanism of the new Artifact.
"It's okay. Go on."
It was probably just my imagination that I felt a deep sense of regret in Helena's eyes as she was helplessly dragged away by Karen while holding Hell's Gatekeeper.
Could she have wanted to... get some action during the meeting?
Soon after, with a knock, Cordelia entered the Commander's office.
Perhaps she had already heard the news from other ECHOs, as a faint sense of anticipation lingered on her face.
"Did you call for me, Commander?"
"Yes, sit. I called you because there's something we need to talk about."
At my words, Cordelia sat in the chair with efficient movements.
Her voluptuous chest and slender waist were revealed above her combat suit, and the curves of her smoothly extending legs exuded an undeniable sensuality.
Come to think of it, I owed a few things to SwiCo...
I swallowed hard and forced my gaze to stay fixed on her face.
"First, Cordelia. I've given it some thought, and it's impossible to restore both Original ECHOs right now."
"...Is that so?"
I saw Cordelia's shoulders tremble slightly.
As an ECHO, she didn't show even the subtle change in expression where hope turns to disappointment, but she must still be disappointed.
"Yes. Repairing Lapis Theron also requires a lot of the Ark's resources."
I paused for a moment and looked straight into her eyes.
"However, I plan to proceed with the production of one of them."
Since I possessed the genes, my calculation was that production was possible if I spent roughly 60,000 Cash using the Money Compass.
Cordelia's eyes widened in surprise, as if she hadn't expected this.
I decided to give her the choice.
"In my personal opinion, I think Jin should be the priority over Sable for joining the squad first. What do you think?"
"...I agree. She is the team's sub-leader and a composite recovery-type ECHO. She will be a great help not only in combat but also for the Ark as a whole."
Cordelia shared her opinion in a voice that was noticeably brighter than before.
I nodded, respecting her choice.
"Alright. Then let's use Jin's genes to produce her again first."
"Thank you, Commander."
Cordelia bowed her head quietly.
She knew very well how many resources went into the production of an Original ECHO.
Especially for the fleet commander of a small-scale Ark like Ark 69, it was a difficult decision that couldn't be made lightly.
Despite that, the Commander was telling her that he would bring back at least one teammate, just as he had promised.
But the Commander's gifts weren't over yet.
"And you remember the Carapace Lord's shell we recovered this time, right?"
"Yes, Commander."
"I plan to use that to strengthen Lapis Theron's hammer and the core components of the rifle you'll use. According to Karen, it should be possible to increase both durability and destructive power simultaneously. Well, the barrel shouldn't give out just because you fired a thousand rounds, after all."
"...Thank you, Commander."
Cordelia could feel her voice trembling slightly.
Although it wasn't the complete reconstruction of the Sacred Front squad, the Commander was giving her the best gift he possibly could.
"For the Commander. For the Ark. I will do my absolute best."
"Right, I'm counting on you."
Looking at the Commander, Cordelia firmly resolved her heart once more.
That this Ark, and the person before her, were the final sanctuary of the Sacred Front and everything she had to protect.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇
"Now all that's left... is roughly 100,000 Cash?"
30,000 Cash for strengthening Arva's Core.
100,000 for purchasing Helena's Exclusive Weapon.
14,000 for the repair of Lapis Theron, an Original ECHO of the Sacred Front, and 65,000 for the production of Jin, another Original belonging to the same squad.
[You've used it quite frugally.]
"Why, do you need something too?"
[Hmm... then a Special-grade Arc Reactor.]
"A Special-grade Arc Reactor?"
Is it different from the one I brought from Ark 74?
Out of curiosity, I searched for the price with the Money Compass and then closed the screen with a chuckle mixed with a heavy grimace.
"50 million Cash? That's fucking expensive."
A pie in the sky?
I'll never get that even if I die and come back to life.
Anyway, thanks to this, the workload for Karen, the Ark's only production-related engineer-type ECHO, increased significantly.
Modifying the Carapace Lord's core, testing Exclusive Weapon specs, restoring and producing ECHOs, producing AP-5 Ammunition...
Was that all?
She also had to repair the broken vehicles recovered while exploring near Zhenlong City.
If she were an ordinary human, it wouldn't be strange for her to collapse from overwork with this amount of work.
Despite that, she always gave me a beaming smile, making me think I should give her plenty of praise soon.
Of course, that didn't mean Karen's efficiency increased.
To resolve the Ark's backlog of work, another production-type Original ECHO was needed to help Karen.
Lena Hydros.
It seemed the time had come to create the production-type Original ECHO, who was another member of Ironworks and set as a strict senior to Karen.