Chapter 203: Taking Responsibility For The Portal

[Faction (Unnamed, Leader: Roan Ackley) wants to merge his faction with yours.]

[Would you like to absorb the Faction (Unnamed, Leader: Roan Ackley)?]

[Yes/No.]

’Yes.’

[Faction (Unnamed, Leader: Roan Ackley) absorbed.]

[Faction Members: 10/10 → 20/20]

For the first time, Alex felt something that he decided to call Faction EXP. It was similar to his own EXP bar, which he could somehow sense despite there being no visible EXP bar on his Status Screen, but he had never realized that his faction possessed one as well.

He had probably been able to sense it since the beginning, but there had been no way for him to notice it because he hadn’t gained any Faction EXP before. Now that he had absorbed Roan’s faction, however, he could clearly feel that the Faction EXP had reached its maximum.

[Max Faction EXP reached.]

[Please level up your Faction if you wish to absorb more Factions, gain additional Faction perks, and unlock more Faction member slots.]

Alex waited for another notification to appear, expecting the System to either issue something like a Faction Quest or explain how he could level up his faction. Nothing like that happened, and instead, another notification appeared in front of him.

[Tutorial Quest 7 completed.]

[Silver Reward Box gained.]

[Tutorial Quest 8 issued: Have your Faction conquer a City.]

Alex looked at the new Tutorial Quest. As he had expected, the Tutorial Quests were now beginning to focus on growing the faction.

He lifted his gaze toward Roan and gave him a small nod. "Welcome to the group."

Roan nodded in response, and with that, the matter of merging their factions was settled.

Afterward, Alex gathered everyone for a meeting. The people present included the members of Alex’s original faction, new members, the Principal, several teachers the Principal knew, and a few other people who had insisted that they should have a voice in matters concerning the "Base" because of their knowledge and experience. Alex hadn’t liked the way some of them had spoken when they first approached, but he didn’t refuse to include them. Everything that had happened since System’s arrival had left everyone on edge, and their behavior could have simply been caused by fear and uncertainty.

More importantly, Alex understood that his faction was mostly made up of college students. He wasn’t arrogant enough to believe that he should make every decision himself and that he did not need any advice from others simply because he was the strongest person there, so listening to professionals who had more experience was the sensible thing to do.

That didn’t mean he would allow them to walk over him.

Alex first explained what they needed to accomplish. Their immediate priorities were clearing the monsters around the Base, taking care of the injured, and keeping a close watch on the blue cross in the sky.

He also told everyone that he planned to investigate the blue cross shown on the map his team had obtained in Hell Difficulty. If that blue cross represented a dimensional connection, then there was a possibility that they could connect it to the blue cross above the high school using the Interdimensional Connectors.

If they could link the two locations, they might be able to establish some control over the portal and prevent another monster race from gaining access to it. Everyone was already worried that something similar to what had happened in Washington could eventually happen here if they left the portal unattended.

Some seniors voiced their thought of abandoning the high school and move somewhere else, but Alex shot those ideas down. If they didn’t guard the portal, another monster race could eventually come for it and gain control of it, which could become an even greater threat.

As dangerous as the portal was, it was something they had to guard. Powerful monsters might come through it, but allowing other monsters on Earth to gain access to it would be even worse. Because these monsters would be able to bring more monsters from their own world.

There was some discussion about whether connecting the portal to Hell Difficulty was actually a good idea. For now, however, they decided to discuss the matter in detail only after Alex had confirmed whether the blue cross on Hell Difficulty map actually corresponded to a portal in Hell Difficulty.

The third matter was the distribution of Gene Potentials. Alex and his faction had defeated many monsters, and he planned to establish a system where people could exchange them for food.

"This is tyranny! Are you trying to hoard resources by asking people to give you food in exchange for Gene Potentials?" the German teacher suddenly spoke up.

She was a blonde woman with soft features, and although she trembled slightly when Alex met her gaze, she didn’t back down. From her expression, Alex felt that she wasn’t simply trying to oppose him and was instead speaking because she genuinely believed she was defending the other people in the Base.

"I don’t mind giving Gene Potentials away for free. However, if everything is given to people for free, some people will eventually become unwilling to contribute because they have no reason to do so. Everyone needs to contribute in some way, so if they want Gene Potentials to become stronger, they’ll need to either fight monsters or help with other work," Alex said.

He added, "The food isn’t something we’re taking away from them permanently. We’ll distribute enough food to everyone during breakfast, lunch, and dinner, while anyone who wants additional food can exchange Gene Potentials for it."

The German teacher didn’t immediately respond. She seemed to consider his explanation, while several others around the table also remained quiet. A few also looked surprised that Alex could think calmly, and come up with these things in a situation where stress made most people unable to think straight.

"What about the portions? Won’t it cause problems if some people end up receiving less food than needed? This is just one example. There are many more problems that can crop up," the Principal said.

..

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