Elincia (2)

The sleek black Lambo sidled up to the number 4 eastern gate in a low-key manner.

Such a small gate would generally have a decent amount of daily traffic, but of course, having a discerning eye is a key requirement to joining the local garrison or national army.

A beautiful and expensive means of transportation like this would naturally stand out like a hawk amongst vultures, so without much ado, one of the 50 garrison guards on duty ran up to the Lambo and gently rapped on the driver's window.

John rolled the window down and extended his left hand which held his com-link.

"M-Marshall!?"

After John identified himself, the guard's eyes widened for a brief moment, before standing at attention and giving a solemn salute.

"At ease soldier." John smiled lightly while taking off his red-tinted sunglasses.

"Don't do anything excessive, I'm just here passing by" he added.

"Understood. Let me escort the Marshall through the city gates. Otherwise, an hour's wait is too excessive for the Marshall's matters. If I commit such a sin, I can't afford the consequences." The guard said seriously.

"Haha, no problem. Let's go." John laughed, at ease.

...

"Well, aren't you the big shot?" Alfred teased.

"Strength, it's all strength. Without strength, you won't achieve much. Even if you do achieve something, any random dude stronger than you can casually snatch up your achievements and claim them as their own." John glanced at the contemplating Alfred.

"So, brat, take your training seriously from now on and stop that pedigree nonsense you've been putting on for the past few months. If you want something, and want to keep what's yours; then grow stronger. Grip it like your life depends on it, become a rabid dog if you have to. Let them know that if they covet what's yours, they must be prepared to lose a pound or two of flesh if they aren't strong enough!" He instructed.

"Yes sir!" Alfred answered sincerely.

As someone who lived on the streets for a few years, he could resonate the best with John's sentiment. Not to mention...

...

[Title: Baby Steps (50℅ Bonus Exp, 28D, 22H, 43M 18S)]

...

Time was ticking!

Alfred wanted nothing more than to grind Exp asap! So how could he not be worried about wasting time?

'Hopefully, the initial training doesn't take up too much time.'

-_-

Alfred's face darkened.

...

The guard was quite conspicuous and efficient in his black army apparel with the two red stripes down the sides. So when he started escorting the rarely seen sportscar, most people naturally wouldn't cause a commotion.

...

John flew the hovercar into the docking port on the 13th floor of the main building in the army base, which was located in the southeast section of the city.

While traversing through the lower tenth of the building, Alfred could spot countless other people bustling about. With just a quick scan, he could see a few hundred army personnel in their signature black and red uniforms.

'Just this one floor has at least a thousand army soldiers, and they don't even count for half the number of total staff so far. I wonder what the other floors look like...' Alfred couldn't stop his head from swinging left and right, even to the point of almost going dizzy.

"Say, Dad, why is this place so huge?" he didn't think that a mere floor on a single building would have such a large area. He couldn't see from one end to the other! At least, not with his current level.

"Hmm. It's indeed quite big. It's a tad bigger than our Lake Myr, the entire building is over a billion in area." John replied while scratching his chin in the elevator.

"Over a billion square feet!?"

Alfred was shocked. From his memories when he was still on earth, the largest building back then was a little under 19 million square feet. Then what sort of concept was a billion square feet? A hundred times the size? Were they creating a city in this building?

"..."

"No, kid. A billion square meters. There are a total of 115 floors, excluding the other 30 or so public underground floors. Just the above-ground 115 floors count towards that billion square meters." John corrected.

"Are all the cities in the Oolong Republic like this? Or is this city special?" Alfred couldn't stop himself from asking.

"Yes and no."

John thought for a while before continuing.

"Most cities indeed have large army bases and main buildings. Almost all the cities are separated by a distance of a few thousand kilometres. For example, look how long it took us to get from Cote De Myr to Elincia. The distance is over 3,180 km. Keep in mind that our place is not a city. To reach Jarvis city on the opposite side of Cote De Myr, it's another 4,000-5,000 km." John smiled at Alfred. Although the brat was lazy, it's good that he was curious.

"Are the cities spaced like that to police the surrounding areas?"

Alfred couldn't think of any other reason. As far as he was concerned, leaving such vast and prosperous lands empty and unoccupied was a great sin. Three thousand to eight thousand kilometres between cities were basically the size of some large countries back on earth.

The question is, just what do they need to police on such a large scale?

"Again, yes and no. You couldn't see it since we were flying at a 30km altitude earlier, but we did pass by a few small towns and various private properties similar to our Cote De Myr. The army bases provide security patrols and emergency relief when needed to the satellite towns and manors in their areas. Elincia is also special because it's close to the southwest border garrison." John explained patiently.

"I understand the border garrison, but what about the towns and manors? Are criminals so rampant that the unified Oolong Republic still needs to upkeep so many soldiers just to patrol? A single city has over 3 million soldiers? And this is only a small city?" Alfred shook his head lightly.

"Brat, what do you know? That's why you should pay attention to the news! Don't you have a com-link? Well, it's understandable since the army got proactive in the last 500 or so years."

John turned towards Alfred while leaning backwards on the elevator's glass.

"You ask why?"

He got serious.

"Beasts... Mainly beasts, but also underground organizations."

Ding!

The elevator door opened and the both of them got off on the 115th floor.

"Good questions kid. But since we've almost reached our destination, let's hold off on them until we get out of this building. I'll answer your questions after the meeting." John ruffled Alfred's curly brown hair in delight.

Swish! Swish!

Alfred shook his head vigorously while trying to escape the grubby hands.

John smiled and let the kid go.

"Go relax in the lounge over there. You can order whatever you want, it's almost lunchtime anyway. I'll join you in a while."

John instructed Alfred while passing by the premium lounge specifically for the army bigwigs who visit the top floor.