Chapter 79

"In other words, there are exactly fifty people available for this expedition?"

"Yes!" Seele nodded.

"Fifty, then. That should be enough."

Lin Qi laid out the plan. "In the first phase, your mission is to follow Commander Cocolia, cruise the star sea, protect our merchant ships from harassment, and strike down large-scale interstellar pirates. In the second phase, once the 'big tigers' have been dealt with and concentrating your forces becomes a waste, you will break into smaller units to guard merchant ships along major shipping lanes. The entire military operation will last approximately three years."

"Leave it to us. It'll definitely be fine!"

Seele patted her chest, speaking with confidence.

"Confidence is a good thing, but don't capsize in the gutter," Lin Qi reminded her.

"How could that happen? They're just interstellar pirates, not some major power," Seele retorted immediately.

"It's not about the pirates; it's about the risks of piloting the Apostle Mechs. If your consciousness merges too deeply with the mech, it will be difficult to pull you out later."

"Alright, I understand!"

Seele said seriously.

She knew what Lin Qi was talking about.

She remembered when she first saw the Apostle Mechs, Ms. Ruan Mei had warned her that piloting them carried risks.

Whether the synchronization rate was too high or too low, anomalies could occur.

In extreme cases, one could turn into a "monster."

Or even merge with the mech, never to be separated again.

Although Ms. Ruan Mei later ingeniously came up with using "Light Cones" to replace the "soul" of the Apostle Mechs, which significantly increased the synchronization rate and allowed pilots to unleash power far beyond the mech's design in specific situations,

it couldn't be said that the Apostle Mechs were absolutely safe.

Piloting them still carried risks.

Seeing that Seele understood this, Lin Qi stopped talking about it and turned to another topic.

"Before you set out, give the Apostle Legion a name. After all, you are the commander."

"Ah? Me? Really? I thought we were just calling it the Apostle Legion!"

Seele was speechless. She was someone who didn't even have a surname, yet now she had to think of a name for something else.

Was this being a bit too hard on her?

It had taken her quite a while just to come up with the name "Butterfly" for her Apostle Mech.

The key was that if the name wasn't good, the legion would be mocked along with it.

That was very annoying.

After scratching her head and thinking for a while, Seele said a word.

"Wildfire!"

"Let's call it Wildfire!"

"Wildfire Legion?" Lin Qi pondered for a moment and felt it was quite good; it fit the "Destruction" temperament well.

However, he was still a bit curious.

"Seele, you didn't come up with this name yourself, did you?"

"Commander, your intuition is sharp! I heard Big Sister Natasha say this a long time ago. Back then, you hadn't come to Belobog yet, and the situation in the Underworld was getting worse by the day. Big Sister wanted to form an organization to help the residents of the Underworld. But then you arrived! So the Wildfire organization was never established," Seele explained.

"I see. Then let's call it the Wildfire Legion."

Lin Qi made the final decision.

Then he looked at Seele and said,

"I won't keep you for a meal. Go back and prepare well. At the earliest this month, at the latest next month, you will have to leave Belobog—no, leave the Jarilo system!"

"Pfft~ Who cares about that meal! Commander, I'm leaving now."

Seele waved her hand and disappeared, just as she had appeared.

Only a few butterflies slowly dissipated in the air.

"An interesting little ability."

Suddenly, a voice rang out.

"A-Ruan, why have you learned to be naughty? You didn't even say anything before coming." Lin Qi turned around and saw Ruan Mei stepping out from behind the Anywhere Door.

"It's inevitable after spending so much time with you."

Ruan Mei, as always, took out a plate of pastries, placed them on Lin Qi's desk, and poured a cup of black tea for herself and Lin Qi each.

Hmm...

This was the break time for geniuses.

But being a science fanatic, even during afternoon tea, she didn't forget to discuss technology.

"I can't solve the problem with the Light Cones."

"This isn't my field."

"My dear, if you really want to fix the flaws of the Apostle Mechs, I'm afraid you'll need the help of a Memokeeper."

After saying this, Ruan Mei took a sip of black tea and began to taste the pastries.

"The green rice balls this time are just right. Won't you try one?"

Lin Qi ate a green rice ball and wasn't very disappointed.

After all, even geniuses aren't omniscient.

Light Cones were in the realm of Memory, completely distinct from the material world.

Even for Lin Qi, it was very mysterious.

"A Memokeeper?" Lin Qi muttered.

"Yes, preferably someone from the Garden of Recollection," Ruan Mei nodded.

"I can figure out how to summon a Memokeeper—it's nothing more than making a big splash—but getting them to work for me and create exclusive Light Cones for the legion is another matter," Lin Qi shook his head.

The Path of Memory was very special and mysterious.

Herta had also dealt with them and even wanted to replicate Light Cones, but she could only replicate them as far as the "Memory Bubble" stage before she couldn't go any further.

Because the creation of Light Cones required the blessing of the Aeon of Memory.

Which meant one had to at least walk the Path of Memory.

And among the currently well-known methods to walk this path, a necessary condition was to abandon one's physical body.

Lin Qi couldn't do that.

Without a body, how could he invest in finance, discuss knowledge, and study life?

Absolutely not!

61. Heading to Penacony? The Astral Express reappears.

Attracting a Memokeeper wasn't a difficult task.

As Lin Qi said, just make a big splash.

If the news was big enough, you could even attract the Aeon of Memory.

For example, the Aeon of Memory had appeared at the retirement speech of the IPC founder.

Sometimes, Lin Qi couldn't help but wonder if there were already Memokeepers around him.

He just hadn't noticed them yet.

After all, his transformation of the Jarilo system was actually quite worth remembering.

To verify his hypothesis, Lin Qi performed many tests.

But he gained nothing.

Either Memokeepers were very hard to find, or they simply hadn't come yet.

He had discussed this issue with Ruan Mei.

The two concluded the latter.

Because no matter how hard they were to find, there would eventually be traces to follow.

In fact, Herta had fought a battle with Memokeepers and even learned the technology of making Memory Bubbles from them.

But the key to the problem wasn't how to attract a Memokeeper.

It was getting them to work for Lin Qi.

Honestly, that was very difficult.

To this day, there hadn't been any faction that could recruit Memokeepers long-term; at most, it was just a cooperative relationship.

Those who weren't sharp enough wouldn't even notice that a Memokeeper had been there.