Outside, chaos raged, but upstairs, it was quiet.
Yuan Mei only had a handgun, and he didn't expect to fight his way out with just that.
Fortunately, the conflict downstairs didn't seem to be approaching his location, giving him enough time to study the system in his mind.
Before transmigrating, he loved playing various 4X strategy games. Coincidentally, the interface and functions of this Empire OL system were remarkably similar to those games.
However, the current Empire OL system seemed rather rudimentary, only displaying Yuan Mei's personal information and the system warehouse. Other than that, there was nothing else.
“System, give me points!”
“System, I want to simulate!”
“System...”
After trying various bizarre "spells," Yuan Mei finally confirmed that his system only had a warehouse function.
And it dared to call itself Empire OL?
You might as well call it Warehouse Simulator.
A hellish start combined with a baffling system left Yuan Mei, who was hitting dead ends everywhere, feeling somewhat frustrated.
Leaning against the wall in the corner, he closed his eyes and began to meticulously recall the memories of this body.
Although he had transmigrated into a game world, his predecessor had, at least, been the Chief Science Officer of the Saint Federation. Due to a rollback, memories of his "previous life" had not disappeared.
It was fine until he started recalling; the memories startled Yuan Mei.
When playing games, time flowed quickly, and with an omniscient perspective, it was difficult for a person to directly perceive the flow and convergence of the world's timeline within the game.
But now that Yuan Mei had inherited his predecessor's memories, it was as if he had truly lived a life in this universe.
Empires stood, technology exploded, races diversified, and ideologies coexisted.
This was the first time he had directly experienced how magnificent the worldview of this universe truly was.
Yuan Mei could even clearly see how the human empire he had played as was utterly annihilated in the cosmic catastrophe of 2599.
Real yet somewhat unfamiliar memories assaulted Yuan Mei's nerves. Those impressive scenes constantly reminded him that this was no longer a game, but a living reality.
As a carousel of memories neared its end, Yuan Mei suddenly grasped something extraordinary.
Empire OL.
He instinctively opened his eyes, his expression filled with disbelief.
Why was there a system in his predecessor's final memories before death?
He had always thought this system was a benefit he, as a transmigrator, came with, but now it seemed there was more to it.
Yuan Mei sat up straight, his consciousness sinking back into his mind. He found the system's message log, scrolled all the way up, and his gaze fixed on the message on the third line.
That's right, what was the "Gate of Time" event?
Although Yuan Mei wasn't a seasoned gamer, he clearly remembered that the stellaris game did not have this event.
“System, help me search for information related to the Gate of Time.”
“Recorded events can be displayed in detail on the data page. Searching for you now.”
“Keyword found: Gate of Time.”
“Description: You feel a technology not belonging to this era observing you. Through this technology, you seem to sense the gaze of another you in the ethereal, as if he comes from a higher dimension?”
“You are excited. Perhaps parallel universes truly exist, and there is still room for everything to be salvaged.”
“You believe that what you cannot do, he can certainly do. Is this not a form of high-dimensional invasion?”
“You face a choice: Do you summon your high-dimensional self to reverse time and space?”
“Please note, you will be completely replaced and erased. Once the Gate of Time is opened, there is no turning back.”
“Selection complete. The Gate of Time project has made new progress.”
Upon seeing this, Yuan Mei understood everything.
Damn it, this wasn't some sudden death transmigration plot; he was clearly set up by the game character he controlled!
High-dimensional gaze?
Wasn't that him, sitting in front of the computer?
Yuan Mei now had a splitting headache. You can summon, but isn't this starting situation a bit too awful?
He had seen Ring Starts, Dragon Starts, and Slingshot Starts, each with their own advantages in the original game.
But where was this Slave Start?
With no other option, Yuan Mei could only choose to re-examine the system he possessed.
From the Gate of Time information he just saw, this Empire OL was by no means ordinary. It was, after all, described as "technology not belonging to this era," so it should have its exceptional qualities.
After all, it was 2599, a time when the technology of various empires had developed to an extremely terrifying degree.
So, how powerful must this Empire OL be to be called "cross-generational"?
Yuan Mei scrolled through the various pieces of information on the panel, and to his surprise, he actually found something significant.
“Empire Online, Version 0.9.0, Beta.”
This string of numbers was very inconspicuous; not only was the font small, but it was also squeezed into the bottom right corner, which was why he hadn't noticed it before.
“Beta version, so it hasn't been updated yet?”
Yuan Mei muttered to himself. He tried clicking on the text, and to his surprise, a prompt popped up.
“Event completed: The Birth of a Great Leader.”
“Detecting that the above system update conditions have been met. Updating now...”
“Update complete.”
“Attention, Empire Online system has completed self-update, Version 1.0.0.”
“Hello, Chief Science Officer Yuan Mei, welcome back.”
“Technology Tree module unlocked. Please check.”
“Technology Tree module?”
Yuan Mei's heart leaped with joy as he saw the pop-up message. A new function had indeed been unlocked.
He quickly clicked on the details of the technology module, and the interface had already changed:
“Empire: Catastrophe Empire; Leader: Yuan Mei;”
“Empire Technology Tree:”
“Description: Facilities and items within your empire can now consume raw materials to upgrade. Each time a level is increased, you can choose an evolution direction and unlock new branch technology trees.”
Upgrade, evolve, and a technology tree?
Yuan Mei's eyes widened at the description of the effects. Before he could even be happy, the system's electronic prompt continued without pause, reporting:
“Detected some facilities and buildings in the vicinity. You can choose one building as your initial territory and begin your imperial journey.”
“Facilities and Buildings:”
“System Warehouse: (Ready)”
“Generator: (Damaged)”
“Food Cold Storage: (Inactive)”
“Mine Exploration Center: (Abandoned)”
...