[The Mercenary Mission System is a brand-new mission mode. Unlike the monthly Mandatory Missions, which require traveling to entirely new Mission Worlds to perform phased missions, Mercenary Missions are randomly generated daily. The mission locations may be within the Space Crevices outside Prometheus Fortress or within already connected worlds. The content is diverse but relatively simple, and they provide corresponding rewards, primarily Battle-Hardened Points.
The Mercenary Mission System is mainly targeted at members who were unable to participate in the Mandatory World Missions, ensuring they do not always have to wait for opportunities to travel to Mission Worlds to improve themselves.
Battle-Hardened Points are the primary currency of Prometheus Fortress. Before the Central Hall broke through LV.5, it was considered the newbie stage. To provide a better recuperation environment, the fortress's accommodation, food, and entertainment were all free. After breaking through LV.5, the fortress officially entered the elementary stage, and the currency system was opened. Daily consumption, such as food and entertainment, now requires the spending of currency.
At the same time, Battle-Hardened Points can also be used in the Exchange System. The Exchange System will be set up by members at the rank of General or above, offering items such as parts, skills, Mobile Suits, Warships, and more, allowing ordinary members to use Battle-Hardened Points for redemption.]
"Randomly generated missions? And executing missions in the Space Crevice outside the fortress?! How is that possible?" Yang Hui immediately asked. They had tested the area outside Prometheus Fortress before. Aside from the massive simulated training grounds generated by the Port and Military Zone, the Void within the Space Crevice could crush anything in existence. Yang Hui and the others had once tested a drone wrapped in a GN Field and equipped with the latest technology. Its defensive power was undoubtedly top-tier, but the moment it left the edge of Prometheus Fortress, it was reduced to dust.
Under such circumstances, how could they possibly execute missions in the Space Crevice?
[After accepting a mission, departing from the Port will automatically generate protective measures to resist the erosion of the Void. At this stage, there are only patrol missions around the fortress and scout-and-salvage missions. The main objective of scout-and-salvage missions is to recover various remains that entered the Void under special circumstances and scattered. These can promote the growth of Prometheus Fortress by allowing the analysis of their technology or conversion into various amounts of resources.]
"Protective measures within the Void... can the research institute study them?" Yang Hui asked. Although it was called a Space Crevice, which sounded like just a narrow gap, it was theoretically infinite. It was impossible for only Prometheus Fortress to exist within this crevice. Yang Hui had reason to believe that high-dimensional civilizations capable of traversing spaces certainly existed. Thus, Prometheus Fortress was not alone; guests could arrive at any time. Various remains must be floating within the crevice. Whether they represented success or failure, the technology capable of entering the Space Crevice was worth researching.
Therefore, what Yang Hui was considering was not just the convenience provided by the Mercenary Mission System, but a way to get his hands on these protective measures. That way, they could organize personnel to explore the Void without relying on the Mercenary Mission System.
[It is possible, but not yet.]
"Permissions?"
[Yes.]
"...Understood."
Aside from the newly arrived Kati, Sergei, and Aeolia Schenberg, everyone else understood the meaning behind those words. It was just like how mission difficulty increases after completing an advancement assessment, or how enemy intrusions might occur in Legion Missions, but they would never encounter a large-scale enemy army.
In other words... this was to allow them to adapt to the enemies of Prometheus Fortress step by step.
The Mercenary Mission System, with its patrols and salvage missions in the Space Crevice, was also designed to let them contact the Space Crevice little by little, preventing them from overextending themselves.
"Then what about the connected worlds? All those worlds are currently in a state of peace; what missions would require them to be executed there?" Yang Hui asked.
[Upon entering the elementary stage, the absolute protection of Prometheus Fortress begins to weaken. This means there is a very small probability that Prometheus Fortress and its connected worlds will encounter intrusions. However, protective measures still exist; even if intruders appear, they will not manifest as large-scale legions or enemies that are completely impossible to deal with.
Furthermore, intruders are not necessarily enemies; they could also be other Void-Travelers or special interlopers.
Additionally, as you all are well aware, peace is only temporary. Before internal conflicts shift outward, peace will inevitably be broken. I now have the authority to monitor all connected worlds. I will submit applications to the fortress core based on the stability of each world to issue various types of missions to maintain that stability.]
"Well, that is great news." Flit pondered the significance of this. The Promis Legion was growing larger and larger, but the number of slots available to go to Mission Worlds was too few. Judging by the pattern of increasing personnel, no matter what level the Central Hall reached, it would never be enough. After all, the number of connected worlds would continue to increase, and the members of the Promis Legion would grow at an even faster rate; those few slots could never suffice.
Although there was the Legion Mode that allowed everyone to participate together, it was impossible for every mission to be a Legion Mission, right? At least not for now—their strength was still too weak.
As for the gains this time, if they hadn't reached a mutual understanding with the ELS, where some of the fallen members were resurrected in ELS form and lost Mobile Suits and Warships were repaired and reconstructed by the ELS, the mission rewards would have been less than the losses incurred during the mission.
This time it was the ELS; what would the next enemy be? What if it were the regular forces of the festum race? Whether they could win was one thing, but how would the Promis Legion obtain enough harvest from that race to compensate for their losses?
Without Legion Missions, most of the legion members would be left idle. This would very quickly widen the gap between the top-tier members participating in world missions and the rest.
A single world mission could last as short as a few years or as long as decades or even a century. How large would that gap become?
For example, take the twin brothers Neil and Lyle. In the beginning, their comprehensive strength was nearly identical. But now, Lyle has the ability to thrash three Neils. That is the terrifying reality of the gap.
The emergence of the Mercenary Mission System provided these idle members with room to grow. They would no longer be like before, working behind closed doors in the training spaces of Prometheus Fortress.
As for the danger... their path was filled with danger, even for the top-tier experts. Hadn't Mephis said it? A situation where defeat was certain would not occur. It would then depend on their individual abilities. Survival of the fittest—the law of nature—applied equally within the Promis Legion.
Those who did not dare to face danger and risk their lives to grasp the hope of moving forward were not qualified to remain in the Promis Legion.
"As for the Battle-Hardened Points and the Exchange System... they solve the currency and trading system issues that have been bothering us," Durandal said.
When Prometheus Fortress was small, with few connected worlds and few members, there was naturally no need to worry about this issue. Everyone was an acquaintance, mostly comrades-in-arms who fought side-by-side and faced life and death together; sharing was natural.
But as the scale grew and more worlds were connected, it became completely different.
People from each world would certainly pay more attention to their own world and companions from their own world. The lower circles would inevitably form one small clique after another. When that time came, sharing would no longer exist; only trading would occur.
Even in the current Trading Zone, transactions between several worlds were insufficient because the currency systems of each world were different and could not serve as equivalent exchange mediums. Even gold did not have that qualification. After all, the trading members who could come to Prometheus Fortress were definitely not short on money and would not value money too highly, so they mostly relied on bartering.
However, bartering is the most primitive form of trading and would sooner or later lead to problems.
Therefore, a dedicated currency trading system for Prometheus Fortress had to be established, and the arrival of Battle-Hardened Points solved this problem perfectly.
The Exchange System, meanwhile, solved another problem troubling the decision-makers: the issue of military merit rewards. Although military ranks could be raised or lowered based on performance in missions, there were no substantive rewards.
For example, most Mobile Suit pilots fly mass-produced MS. Because resources are limited, it is naturally impossible for every unit to reach the level of an Ace Machine, nor do they have the excellent piloting skills required to handle one.
But as they grow, mass-produced machines can no longer satisfy their needs. So... what about Mobile Suit upgrades? Are they given for free?
One or two people is fine, even a dozen is fine, but what about hundreds or thousands? What about tens of thousands?
Thus, actual rewards were needed. With the Exchange System, they could upgrade and modify their own Mobile Suits according to their accumulated Battle-Hardened Points and their own needs.
The same applied to skills. There were too many idle skills and too many personnel; it was impossible to ensure everyone was assigned the most suitable skill to improve themselves. The Exchange System solved this trouble. Everything could be listed on the Exchange System, and those in need could redeem them themselves. If they didn't have enough Battle-Hardened Points, they could go perform missions.
The opening of these new functions instantly filled the existing loopholes in Prometheus Fortress, resolving a significant hidden danger.
"The issues of the currency system, trading system, and reward system are all solved. Next is the matter of the other races," Creuset said.
"Mhm." Yang Hui nodded and directly opened the control panel of Prometheus Fortress. Sure enough, the dark empty space behind the Central Hall was lit up, and a plus sign had appeared.
"..." Yang Hui clicked the plus sign and saw the detailed information for what could be built.
[Xeno-Species Settlement (ELS Exclusive): A dedicated territory for the ELS to station, including basic territory and other functional buildings...]
It could be built at any time and required no resources.
Yang Hui looked up and glanced around at everyone. Seeing them all nod, he tapped the build option with his finger, and then...