149 Expansion XV

As Arc was browsing the system store he thought of something could an upgrade chip upgrade his ship? So he asks nine.

"Nine, can I use the upgrade chip on my ship?"

"Yes, the specter is already a 1-star ship and can be upgraded to 2-star using 2-star upgrade chip."

"Really? Great," Arc is very happy with Nine, with that his urgent mission can go a little safer, so he started to plan ahead, he bought a 2-star upgrade chip to be used later before he leaves and he will use the remaining Energy Credits to build an advance Energy Factory.

Back in the Grand Fortress Oda was accompanying Arc as he visits the place, after seeing the outer part he then visits many facilities where the Grand Army is using for training. He met with Tom and Gerry who were busy training the new recruits he gave both of them a hug surprising the two who can no longer keep their poker face and have a huge grin plastered on their faces. He also met with Ruby and Jem as well as the rest of the top shadow unit who was busy planning the next mission, he gave them a new mission and that is to infiltrate all superpower government and have them control the leaders in the shadows, it is a tall order, but the shadow units are excited to try it.

Likewise, he left Jem and Ruby who are now so busy trying to come up with a plan to execute his order, with the help of Gaia Arc was not worried they be exposed or something like that.

Arc then visits the deepest part of Grand Fortress where he will be placing the new energy factory, the Area is in a cave and over 5 kilometers below ground and the only way to reach it is through the special train at the very bottom of the Grand Fortress that only select personnel can access, the area is about 20 kilometers away from the grand fortress, it is a huge underground cave that Eve manages to discover when they are building the Grand Fortress using an advance scanner, and when Arc saw the report he decided to use that place to build his Energy Factory, so over 1000 builder droids and drones were sent there. And after that they build a tunnel that connects it to the bottom floor of Grand fortress,

And after a few weeks the whole underground cave has been expanded and reinforced to make it safer in all form of attack as it will house one of the most important factories they have, originally the underground cave is about the size of a football stadium but after the builder droids and drones, it was expanded 10 times and was reinforced it was now more durable and safer before they saw it. There's no life in the cave as the air is very stale only a small stream of water can be seen when they first reach it, now hidden vent that circulates fresh air was installed and after the renovation, the whole place looks like an advanced facility not like inside a cave, of course, a few places remain untouched as to give the place a slight touch of being underground.

When Arc reach there, there's no human personnel inside only drones and droids can be seen maintaining the place, Arc was impressed when he saw it, it looks like they are inside a spaceship only some walls and roof who still have stalactites reveals that they are actually underground,

Arc didn't waste time as he immediately went to the area where he will place the Energy Factory a huge vault door welcomes him and after some verification, he heard Gaia voice welcoming him as the vault doors opened. He saw a huge space inside it, making him speechless he was unable to tell they are underground.

Inside the vault, it was quite bright, and he can feel a breeze of fresh air circulating inside, the vault is empty and Arc felt like an ant inside a huge mansion. It took him an hour to build all the energy Factory even though some energy factory is quite big but inside the vault even with all the energy factory place inside only about 2-3% of it are actually been used, so it still felt empty.

After leaving the underground Arc now use all his stockpiles of Energy Unit, he now fulfilled his goals in visiting the Grand Fortress, but before he left he visited the prison, and the gate or Death Valley, he was hoping he would feel something when he reaches the gate of Death Valley but nothing there was no fluctuation or any indication that what inside the Death Valley is connected to the system, it may be that there's something inside that masking it, or it simply didn't have any form of energy connection with the system, and it was simply another tool from a sovereign empire that can help him as Adam didn't give him any hint as to what inside Death Valley he just knows that there is something inside waiting for him.

He spent a total of 2 days in the grand fortress originally he plans to leave immediately as soon as he fulfilled his goals of placing the energy factory, but Eve told him he should bring Biggs and Wedge as well as Ruby and Jem on his journey to complete his urgent mission, at first he was reluctant to do so as Ruby and Jem are needed in the Shadow Unit, and as for Biggs and Wedge they are protecting Dianna and Tiffa and his parents. But Eve and even Gaia argued that he should bring them for his protection, as he was the most important person overall and his safety and life take precedence above all else and besides Gaia reassured him they can manage even without the four of them, it took them half a day of arguing until Eve connects Jem and the rest to the conversation and when all of them are convincing and begging him to bring them Arc reluctantly agreed,

So Arc, stay another day in Grand Fortress, for Jem and Ruby to delegate their job to others in fact there no need to, but Arc still give them time to prepare, Biggs and Wedge are already been informed and in their places, Michelle and Dove along with their respective team, to fill the hole Biggs and Wedge left, and when the rest found out about Jem, Ruby, Biggs, and Wedge accompanying their Big Boss the rest of them who came from the system are jealous, but they also know they have their own job to do.