QT: Against My Will-Chapter 633 - 12.13 - Shina Team’s Benefits - Interstellar Voyage
The environment of the world Shina and her team was about to enter was extremely harsh, with different air composition, weather conditions, and lethal temperatures.
To counter these environmental conditions, Shina’s team had two options.
The first was to don their scaffanders, which were engineered to provide a safe, breathable atmosphere and temperature regulation. However, they drew too much attention, and could limit mobility.
The second option was to use advanced technology that would allow them to take control of a native’s body. This technology was commonly used in many interstellar operations.
Bing Shi found a few pods that looked like this technology inside the old ship. She wasn’t confident enough to use it on another species. This technology was too complex and required a team of experts to operate, which she didn’t have.
Either way, she left some pods behind, thinking how Nathaniel or someone else would eventually figure out how to use it.
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Shina gave Juliet and Felicia a few instructions before following her team inside Felicia’s dimensional space.
The alien being with a multitude of shimmering eyes, turned its gaze towards Juliet and Felicia. Its voice, a deep rumble, echoed through the spacecraft’s cabin, "#&$@&-." Its translator followed next, "Call Mothership." It used one of its many tentacles to point at a specific button on the spacecraft’s control panel that would connect the spacecraft with the mothership.
"Understood." Juliet fastened her seatbelt in the alien’s spacecraft. Faced with controls designed for tentacled beings, she realized the need for a universal gadget to operate any spacecraft, a tool that she could use in this unpredictable environment.
Felicia glanced at Juliet with a slight smile, "We do make quite the interesting team, don’t we? It’s not a combination you come across every day."
"Indeed." Juliet’s intangibility allowed her to withstand extreme conditions, making her nearly indestructible, and her ability to create her own oxygen was perfect for a mission like this.
Felicia was basically a ghost, an astral projection, so the reason she was picked didn’t need to be explained further. Her soul was kept within the body inside her space, and was used only when it was necessary.
Receiving a quick lesson on how to operate the spacecraft, they braced themselves for moving through the planet’s atmosphere.
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Each member of Shina’s primary team had a dimensional space in various forms and shapes:
1. Felicia had the most spacious one. It was Earl Fester’s grandiose mansion she used to live in after Dai An took her in as her disciple. The property was surrounded by sprawling gardens and an artificial moon and sun. As Shina’s concierge, she managed the staff, including the ten systems provided by Leon, and made sure everyone’s in Shina’s core group needs and requests were met.
Size: 30 000 m2 (She received it from a mysterious man who appeared in Shina’s bathroom in ch. 8.36).
2. Aria and Henry had space dimensions suitable for living. It was a three bedroom house with a small garden and a traditional water well.
Size: 150 m2 (from Shina)
3. Laura had a space ability that was still increasing in power. It didn’t have an intact shape yet. Everything inside of it was floating because of zero gravity, so in order to stay organized, she used shipping containers and other types of storage. People could stay inside, but she would need to provide them with oxygen bombs that she kept inside the containers.
Size: 5 000 m2 (from her ability)
Size: 150 m2 (from Shina)
4. Juliet ’inherited’ a space ring from her deceased grandfather, which had been passed down for generations. It looked like an old office with an attached storage room and a bathroom.
Size: 750 m2 (family heirloom)
Size: 150 m2 (from Shina)
5. Douglas and Alain had similar space dimensions. Theirs was uninhabitable, but they could keep food and other ingredients without worrying about the expiration date.
Size: 5 m2 (gift from their parents)
Size: 150 m2 (from Shina)
6. Liam got his spaces from his family members after their death.
Size: 0.5 m2 (gift from his father)
Size: 50 m2 (obtained from his father)
Size: 0.5 m2 (obtained from his mother)
Size: 5 m2 (obtained from his uncle)
Size: 0.5 m2 (obtained from his aunt)
Size: 150 m2 (obtained from Shina)
7. The rest of twenty three people, including Orion, that weren’t part of the core group, got a space dimension that looked like a small storage room. As for accomodations, they were offered a place to live in Felicia’s space.
Size: 0.05 - 5 m2 (their own dimensional spaces)
Size: 65 m2 area for their mobile house in Felicia’s space
Size: 10 m2 (from Shina)
What Bing Shi found the most troublesome about traveling to new worlds was the necessity of starting anew each time in her search for reliable and skilled individuals. Her strategies were often large-scale and complex, and undertaking them alone would be too daunting.
Relying on systems would have been an easy solution for Bing Shi, but the people she dealt with were usually far from ordinary. Take a look at the systems Leon had bestowed upon her. They excelled at listening to orders, but that’s where their utility ended.
She needed allies who brought more to the table than mere obedience. That’s why she let Felicia manage them in her stead.
· ─────── · ⊱❈⊰· ─────── · ·
Aria and Laura strolled outside the mansion, guiding their siblings towards the swimming pool for a stretch and breath of fresh air.
"Do you have any spare wooden planks? I’m thinking of building a loft area in the kids room," Aria asked Laura, "The loft will be a cozy space for Nina, up high where she can have her own little world. And beneath it, I’ll create a space for Caspian."
Laura pulled out a pile of sturdy wooden planks. "These should be perfect for your project," she said, handing them over to Aria, "Maybe I should do the same to separate Timmy and Ethan from Lily, Emma, and Jessica."
"Will you have time for it though?" Aria asked in doubt, reminding Laura of their packed schedules, "You should ask Felicia to lend you some of her manpower."
"Oh right, I always forget that there is this option," Laura said. They didn’t receive wages for their contributions, but rather benefits. One of such benefits were the dimensional space and access to Felicia’s confectionery.
Though the service they received from Felicia was technically ’free,’ Felicia would occasionally request specific items or supplies she was running low on.
