From Titan Corporation to the Empire of Man

Since arriving in the Halo universe several years ago, Leon has continued to assist the company, infiltrating the territories under the jurisdiction of the UNSC and UEG, and performing various key tasks that help with integration.

For example, he was deployed to Arcadia, Reach, and Halo Earth in different capacities.

This means that he has been working continuously for two years.

I finally waited until the end of the unification war in the Halo universe, and returned to the main universe at the beginning of this year, ready to enjoy a rare vacation.

Who would have thought that he had just obtained a visa and took a company-owned civilian flight to Mars at his own expense. Before he could lie on the golden beach of Mars to bask in the sun and admire the bikini girls with "explosive" bodies, he received a notice from the company.

Need to arrive at the space gate before 3:26 Pacific Time on March 12.

The company did not specify what mission was to be carried out, nor did it mention the personnel involved in the operation.

So Leon immediately applied to the company, hoping that Mike Monardi, who is also an elite investigator, would carry out this mission for him.

Unfortunately, the company rejected it and clearly stated in the reply email:

“Dear Mr. Kennedy, this operation was specifically requested by your direct superior to be carried out by you.

In order to compensate for your loss of vacation time, the company will provide an extra two months' monthly salary and a 30% increase in year-end bonus.

At the same time, the company can guarantee that this mission does not require any contact with any known aliens or heretics, it is just a routine reconnaissance operation. "

After receiving the reply email, Leon had to leave Golden Beach, cancel the luxury suite he had booked, and quickly called a maglev taxi to rush to the orbital elevator to prepare to return to Earth.

However, since I got in the taxi, either the French driver kept chattering or I encountered some traffic conditions.

For example, the private hovercraft that just forced its way into the waterway.

In this regard, no matter how accustomed Leon is to the inexplicable traffic accidents around him and no matter how good his temper is, he can't help but feel unhappy.

immediately.

Leon took out his cell phone and turned on the screen.

Seeing the time displayed on the screen, "2004/03/26/07:17 PST", he turned his head to look at the French driver humming a little tune beside him, and said with a slightly tired look:

"Hey man, I'm paying double the price, can you please take me to the orbital elevator as soon as possible within the legal range?

My flight is due in more than half an hour, and I'm in a hurry."

"Oh huh?"

When the driver heard that Leon was willing to pay double the fare, his eyes lit up.

Then, the driver pushed the button on the console, held the steering wheel with both hands, and deliberately lowered his voice:

"Mon vieux (little brother)! Sit tight, we'll be there in a moment!

Oh, by the way, there is a vomit bag in the passenger compartment. If you really can’t stand it, vomit quickly, but don’t vomit in the car. I just bought it not long ago!"

?

Noticing the driver's serious expression, Leon was just confused for a moment, then shrugged indifferently.

It seems like they are thinking, how fast can it be?

What's more, he is a genetically enhanced investigator who has seen all kinds of big scenes, so how could he vomit because of "motion sickness"?

Next.

This hovering taxi began to shuttle and wander in the crowded waterway at a speed within the legal speed limit.

The drones patrolling nearby swarmed over the area after noticing that the taxi Leon was riding in seemed to be driving dangerously.

However, French drivers are extremely skilled in driving.

Or seize the opportunity to overtake, or complete lane changes, turns, etc. without affecting the navigation of other vehicles.

???

This time, it was the unmanned patrol aircraft controlled by the stupid AI that almost went down.

Because the taxi that Lyon was riding in seemed to be driving dangerously, but in fact it did not affect traffic safety.

finally.

Within ten minutes, the French driver drove the taxi and parked it in the parking lot on the north side of the rail elevator.

When the unmanned patrol aircraft saw the taxi stop, they left and continued their normal patrol duties.

As for Lyon

"Mon vieux!"

"."

Leon got out of the car and waved to the driver with a slightly pale face.

"Hahaha! You are the first one among all the passengers in a hurry who didn't vomit! Great, I wish you a pleasant journey! Mon vieux!"

Seeing that Leon was not seriously injured, the driver closed the door and maneuvered the taxi into the air again.

"call"

After the taxi disappeared into the airway, Leon finally breathed a sigh of relief, shook his dizzy head, put on his backpack, and walked towards the lobby of the orbital elevator.

He obviously didn't expect that taking a taxi on Mars would bring back memories of his first mission.

At that time, he was still a rookie who had just completed training at the Kenya base.

When I parachuted into Congo to conduct a practical assessment, I also met a French driver.

Are all French people driving so aggressively?

He had undergone genetic modification, and his qualities were far superior to those of ordinary people, but he almost vomited it out.

"My life, ah, forget it."

Leon sighed and stopped dwelling on his experiences.

Followed by.

Leon completed identity verification and routine security checks, then took the orbital elevator straight to the space station.

At the last moment, he managed to enter the Crunia as it was about to leave the port of call.

-

Inside the cabin in the middle of the ship.

"Sir, please show me your electronic boarding pass."

A female flight attendant with a very standard figure and appearance and a professional smile asked Leon who had just boarded the ship.

"it is good."

Hearing this, Leon immediately took out a transparent magnetic ID card and handed it to the other party.

The flight attendant took the card and used a disposable invisible holographic lens to scan and verify the information on the card. She then handed it back to Leon and smiled again:

"Welcome aboard, Mr. Kennedy, please follow me."

"okay."

Leon took back the magnetic card and followed the flight attendant to the business class with a private room.

Wait for the flight attendants to leave and the cabin door to close.

Leon placed his backpack directly on the table, then he lay down on the sofa-like seat and looked at the sealed porthole on the left side.

Seeing that the mechanical arm responsible for stabilizing the Crunia was loosened, and he felt that the Crunia was slowly leaving the port, he closed his eyes and took a short rest.

For civilian flights within the solar system, the total flight time, from boarding the ship to the ship leaving the port to the ship arriving at the destination, is no more than forty-five minutes.

It is equivalent to a maglev high-speed rail, a journey from one city to another.

After all, the popularity of jump engines has made interstellar travel extremely convenient.

In addition, Atlas controls all flights equipped with jump engines, so the ticket prices are affordable for everyone.

And, Atlas dominated each universe, gradually replacing the old-fashioned currency.

Based on Atlas' experience in rebuilding multiple universes, and the existing credit currency system in the Halo universe, humans will fully adopt the latest credit currency technology to replace the old currency system.

If we follow the normal process to change the currency system, we need to go through the "concept design and development" →

「Construction of currency platform」→

"Legal and regulatory adjustments" →

Economic Transformation and Management →

「Social and Cultural Promotion」→

"Implementation Assessment and International Response" and other procedures.

But most residents of various universes have adapted to all aspects of Atlas, and most products related to life, especially electronic products, are produced by Atlas.

So, Atlas's steps to replace old-fashioned currency were directly shortened.

Only need to consider "implementation of conversion plan" →

「Conversion of existing assets and cash」→

"Legal and policy support, and the issuance of incentives", etc.

At this stage, Atlas encourages its residents to replace the old-fashioned currency in their hands with digital credit coins and "paper" credit cash.

For example, offering switching incentives, as well as tax breaks or other financial incentives to encourage early adopters.

As for "paper" credit cash, it is cash with a plastic texture and a unique magnetic code.

With the combination of stupid and intelligent AI, the possibility of counterfeit currency is directly eliminated.

面额分别是1、5、10、20、50、100。

In terms of purchasing power, 1 credit coin (cR) is equivalent to 5 US dollars in the main universe.

Maintaining the balance between different universes is also the responsibility of stupid and intelligent AIs to avoid chaos.

Therefore, if residents of the main universe want to go to the moon, Mars, or even more distant planets such as Europa and Titan, they only need to spend about 60 to 100 credit coins.

This price is almost the same as intercontinental travel on Earth.

Of course, it is simply a fantasy for Atlas Airlines to earn back the cost of shipbuilding through ticket prices.

All flights are now being operated at a "blood loss" for Atlas.

The same is true for terraforming Mars.

The lakes, rivers, and oceans on Mars all come from Europa.

Europa has a diameter of less than 3200 kilometers, but contains twice as much water as Earth.

The planet's crust is a giant ice block with an average thickness of 100 kilometers, and below that is a liquid ocean.

When the Atlas Engineering Division used the Reaper mothership to arrive at Europa for exploration, they discovered a large number of plankton and "local" organisms in Europa's liquid ocean.

This is also the first time that humans in the main universe have discovered a planet with life other than Earth in the solar system.

Afterwards, the engineering department transferred 1/4 of Europa's liquid water to the surface of Mars.

With the help of the atmospheric transformation device and magnetic field activation device built by the Engineering Department, as well as three pure flowers derived from Sui Yang's spiritual energy, Mars is continuously transformed.

In just two years, Mars has been completely transformed into a large colony with a population of over 500 million.

In addition, the Accra Park has also relocated some production lines to the northern hemisphere of Mars, with the intention of turning Mars into a "forging world" for humans in the main universe.

However, Mars in the main universe will still pay close attention to issues such as environmental pollution.

Ensure that the colonists on Mars can continue to have good living space.

-

Shortly after.

08:30 Pacific Time.

The Crunia had already arrived at the orbital space station above Mombasa, allowing all passengers to leave the cabin and step onto the surface of the earth.

As for Lyon, as soon as he took the orbital elevator and returned to the surface, he changed to the maglev train and rushed to Accra in West Africa.

When he arrived in Accra.

The time has reached 11:15.

Lyon then hurried to Atlas' Accra branch building, and using the maglev train provided for the convenience of the company's internal staff, he headed straight to the Imperial Palace where the space gate was located.

finally.

He finally left the train at 11:45 and almost ran all the way to the designated location.

As Leon ran, he shouted in his heart:

"It must be Ada Wang! Only a devil like her would come up with such a strict time limit! ! "

Fortunately, there are also rail trains beneath the surface of the Imperial Palace to facilitate employees' travel.

After all, an area of ​​20,000 square kilometers is comparable to two new Accra cities.

If Lyon really ran, he might not be able to reach his destination in several hours.

11: 58.

In the ruins where twelve space gates have been opened;

The scale here has expanded as the size of the space gate has increased, making it like a real underground city.

The command building is responsible for dispatching materials and personnel to different universes, providing military living areas for accommodation, training and recreation for armed units, as well as office areas for ordinary employees.

There are streets, tracks and a channel for maglev vehicles.

And Leon arrived at the eighth space gate leading to the Halo universe before 12:00.

"Huhu."

He breathed lightly, carrying a backpack on one shoulder, and walked to the assembly area where dozens of people were already standing.

And at a glance, he saw Ada Wang wearing a red cheongsam.

Sure enough it was her!

Seeing Ada's presence, Leon immediately confirmed his guess.

When Ada saw Leon walking into the assembly area breathlessly, she raised her left eyebrow frivolously and looked at Leon with an ambiguous look.

?

This confused Lyon.

Did he offend his immediate superior in some way?

Otherwise, Ada would not have set such a strict time limit.

"Hey woman."

Leon sighed.

Then he walked to Ada, glanced at the young people gathered here, and asked in a low voice:

"Director Wang, why do you suddenly interrupt my vacation? What on earth do you want to do?"

"I heard that you had a great time on the golden beach on Mars?"

Ada answered the question irrelevantly.

"Um, ok?"

Leon didn't know why, but he always felt guilty.

But on second thought, why should he feel guilty? !

There is nothing else between him and Ada except the relationship between superiors and subordinates and colleagues, so why should he be afraid of each other? !

So Leon straightened his back and continued: "Director Wang, my vacation was ruined by you"

"Stop whining."

However, before Leon could finish his words, he was interrupted by Ada, who said in a cold tone:

"We are going to return to the 08 (Halo) universe, but this operation is not a regular reconnaissance or infiltration mission.

We will be recruiting candidates for the Spartan Program on behalf of the Biology Department on behalf of the company.

Furthermore, we also need to assess trainees who are performing the same tasks to determine whether they can become qualified investigators.”

After saying that, Ada glanced at the newcomers whose average age was around 20 years old.

Among them were David and Lucy, who were transferred from the experimental force, and the shorter Rebecca.