Chapter 7402: The Contentious Design of the Elemental Universe After a brief pitstop in Yernstall, the Bluejay Fleet was almost ready to resume its journey to the Terran Alliance. Many of the sub-capital carriers and warships received enough servicing and minor upgrades to keep them going for a couple of years if necessary. Although they could have undergone more extensive modernization, the RA and the RF would have to invest much more time and resources in order to bring them up to the latest standards. The Red Two also did not have the available shipyard capacity to complete so much work. It was already a small miracle in itself that they were able to free enough capacity to complete the current round of servicing. The mechers and the fleeters cared much more about mass producing new hulls than upgrading existing ones. Doing the latter was simply not cost-effective enough. In a time where every asset mattered, a lot of mechs and starships had to make do with outdated configurations. This was already fairly normal during the Age of Mechs, but it only got worse during the Age of Dawn. Ves didn’t care too much. The firepower offered by warships was already sufficient. The specific performance of combat carriers did not matter too much as their main job was to ferry around mechs. The strength of the Bluejay Fleet mainly centered around its mechs and Ascended Giants. So long as both of them were numerous and powerful enough, they could wipe out any moderate opposition. That was enough as far as Ves was concerned. He just needed enough deterrence to be able to reach the Terran Alliance without incident. He would be able to threaten much more powerful adversaries once he reunited with the Premier Fleet and all of its powerful Larkinson mechs! Ves ultimately trusted his own works more. Just after he arranged the mass conversion of superdimensional halberds into the new Resonant Breaking Hammers, Alexa Streon insisted on meeting him in private. "What’s this all about, Alexa?" "Ketis has been insistent on telling you that the work on upgrading the old MSTS into the Elemental Universe has met most of its goals." The former Terran explained. "She and I have not only expanded the virtual landscape with a diverse range of new facilities, but also fleshed out its economy. Furthermore, we have also designed easier access points, which await your approval." Ah. Ves hadn’t paid too much attention to this project for a long time. Though he was peripherally aware of changes taking place through his connection with Vulcan, he had not considered all of the implications. He allowed Alexa to summarize all of the changes and additions they had made to the virtual environment of the Elemental Universe. They had truly outdone themselves in this regard. They created a living city that could serve as a cozy living environment that existed on a completely separate plane from the material realm. This vibrant city possessed an unreal architecture that possessed numerous fantastical traits. It was clear that Ketis and whatever architects she hired to do all of the work did not limit themselves to realistic boundaries. Ketis also assigned other teams of experts to develop the facilities where many users would probably spend a lot of time in the future. There were at least 3 different categories of training grounds. The Mech Pilot Training Fields were the most expansive ones. They offered a complete range of training facilities that could offer nearly infinite practical training scenarios in a fairly realistic environment. Since the physics of the Elemental Universe was dependent on Vulcan’s understanding of reality, the accuracy of the training scenarios should be high enough that hardly anyone would be able to tell the difference. "The only instances where the realism of the Elemental Universe begins to show flaws is when we attempt to simulate the performance of third-party expert mechs and ace mechs." Alexa admitted to Ves. "Unless one of our living mechs have encountered these machines ourselves and observed their performance extensively at close range, we can never get it right. The same applies to other extraordinary enemies such as phase leaders and Goliaths." This couldn’t be helped. Vulcan could simulate anything that played by the rules, but as long as anything began to pull off tricks that violated the standard model, the ancestral spirit needed to carve out a whole set of exceptions for every individual case! Fortunately, the Elemental Universe was at least able to accurately simulate the performance of all living mechs, including high-ranking ones. This allowed fantastic and reality-defying machines such as the Dark Zephyr Mark III and the Minerva Mark II to exercise their unique capabilities and enable their pilots to practice their skills to mastery in a safe environment. Mech pilots were not the only ones who could benefit from training in the Elemental Universe. Ketis had taken the time to design the Swordsmanship Training Fields. The swordmaster had especially set it up to allow sword practitioners to hone their fighting skills and challenge each other. The practitioners could safely exercise their swordsmanship and willpower until they managed to ’kill’ each other! "In order to grant swordsmen access to the Elemental Universe without interfacing with a mech or a Carmine mech, Ketis has taken the initiative to design a standalone helmet." Alexa revealed. "This helmet works similar to conventional virtual reality helmets, but its mechanics are entirely based on E-technology." Ves narrowed his eyes. "I did not ask for you guys to design such an interface. I thought the point of the Elemental Universe was to provide value-added services to our customers. By customers, I mean the users of the products sold by the Living Mech Corporation." His direct disciple smiled in response. "We know, but we have decided to expand the EC’s range of services to encompass a larger range of consumers. The addition of sword practitioners not only helps Ketis’ effort to popularize her Reformed Swordsmanship, but also adds a strong base of contributors to the Elemental Universe. It also reduces its dependence on mech pilots and Carmine mech pilots." She basically argued that it might not be a bad idea to diversify the Elemental Universe. Orienting its services towards mech pilots alone made it too one-dimensional. Though Ves did not disagree with this premise, he still reserved his judgment whether it was a good idea to expand the customer base of the Elemental Universe. Its very existence threatened a lot of existing interests. Competition would push back even harder if the existence of the Elemental Universe threatened their business models. Alexa continued to explain the other facilities available in the Elemental Universe. The Craftsmanship Training Workshops offered flexible practice opportunities to artisans. The Cultivation Grounds simulated different environments that were orientated towards different attributes. Other facilities offered a range of fixed and randomized combat scenarios. The smaller ones could be completed individually, though the scenario developers also created more advanced ones that tested a wider range of skills. The larger ones usually demanded the participation of groups on one side or both sides of the simulated engagements. These were big training scenarios that usually required the input of a lot of Elemental Credits in order to remain profitable. "Tell me more about Elemental Credits." Ves requested. "As you already know, Elemental Credits are the core of the Elemental Universe’s economy." Alexa responded. "EC is a direct representation of spiritual feedback. A typical mech pilot can typically earn 1 EC if they pilot a living mech for at least 4 hours. This ratio can vary depending on many variables. Stronger mech pilots are typically able to generate much more EC. However, it is difficult for them to stockpile their gains as they typically need to spend more EC to obtain effective training results. Low-spec training scenarios cannot satisfy them anymore. We have tried our best to set the prices and exchange rates to ensure that the Elemental Universe will always maintain a slight positive balance." In other words, as long as the Elemental Universe continued to operate normally, it would gradually build up a surplus of spiritual feedback. The more Elemental Credits in reserve, the lower the probability that it would suffer a service failure in case the economy became unbalanced. If Ves was willing to squeeze the consumers of the Elemental Universe even further, then Vulcan would be able to earn a bigger windfall by acting as its server! "How much ECs do the users of the Elemental Universe have to spend just to stay connected?" "Currently, we have set the price at 1 EC per hour. This is a simple ratio that is easy to understand." "That is a fairly steep price just to get inside." "It is, but there is still plenty to do without spending any additional ECs. Users can meet each other at one of the many public venues. They can also engage in many simple training activities. The value they can gain from these basic services already exceeds most of the alternatives." "What if these customers aren’t satisfied with the basics?" Ves asked. "What if they want to make use of the more expensive services?" "There are more ways for users to earn Elemental Credits than relying on passive spiritual feedback alone, sir. Many humans have already become qi cultivators in one form or another. Even if they are still weak by our standards, they at least possess the ability to actively channel their E energy into the Elemental Universe. The more energy they donate, the more ECs are deposited into their accounts. What is also important to mention is that this is a true currency. People can easily transfer their ECs to others." Ves looked surprised. "This can lead to a lot of problems." "On the contrary. We are offering regular people a means to monetize their cultivation. Even if they are jobless, they can still cover their living expenses by converting their spare E energy into cash. Those who have money to spare should be more than willing to buy up the available ECs. The more valuable the Elemental Universe, the higher the market price. This should eventually result in a win-win situation for both the rich and poor." 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺 This meant that as long as the Elemental Universe became widespread, it could play an indispensable function in stabilizing human society! It offered a relatively accessible way for people to earn spare money. Those who possessed considerable talent in cultivation would even be able to earn a small fortune through this exchange! Naturally, Vulcan would never lose out on these transactions. He would earn a small cut for every transfer, thereby encouraging him to maintain the existing infrastructure. "You guys are treading upon dangerous ground." Ves warned Alexa. "Introducing EC transfers to the Elemental Universe will invite unwelcome attention from regulators. The Red Collective will not allow us to run all of this economic activity without oversight." "Then it is a good thing that you are already an insider of the RC." The female Journeyman stated. "We have weighed the risks and believe that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages. The Elemental Universe can do a lot of good to many ordinary people. We believe that it has the potential to become one of the most essential public services of the new age. It has the potential to rival the galactic net in terms of utility. It can bring together humans from multiple different groups together. We deliberately designed the Elemental Universe in a way that minimizes barriers. This makes it easier for Terrans, Rubarthans, Cybers, mechers and fleeters to come together and participate in various different group activities." It was not enough for them to create a parallel economy. They also wanted to engage in social engineering! All of this strayed far too much into politically contentious activity. Ves did not believe that the bigshots would be willing to let the Elemental Universe operate according to its current design. While he appreciated the courage and initiative shown by Ketis and Alexis, they may have taken this assignment too far! The Elemental Universe was supposed to be an evolution of the MSTS, not an entire parallel society!