"Mr. Mitsuki, you're finally here!"
Before the portal to the Dimensional Battlefield, Dunshan (Shield Mountain) welcomed Mitsuki with a rare look of joy on his face.
Although Dunshan held a significant position under Luca, he was a man forged in the fires of war. He and his team had always held immense respect for someone like Mitsuki, who possessed top-tier combat prowess and exceptional execution skills.
However, seeing the usually stern Dunshan being so enthusiastic today was slightly surprising for the newly arrived Mitsuki.
"What's wrong? Is the base construction not going smoothly? Or has there been new movement from the Hell Dimension?"
As he spoke, Mitsuki looked past the follow-up troops marching out of the portal in perfect formation, towards the military base under fervent construction nearby.
Thanks to the design philosophy of the Yuri MCV, although Dunshan's initial force hadn't been in the Dimensional Battlefield for long...
The once-empty "Manhattan City Center" was now populated with numerous brand-new military structures.
Yes, although this Dimensional Battlefield simulated the entirety of New York, Luca's forces couldn't possibly cover every inch of the battlefield with their buildings.
So, in the initial plan, the site for the starting base complex was set in the area Luca was most familiar with: Downtown Manhattan.
A swarm of engineering bots bustled about, moving and assembling modular structures.
Even Dunshan didn't understand why his Young Master insisted he prioritize building an Ore Refinery on a Dimensional Battlefield devoid of mineral resources.
But under his management, various strangely shaped Yuri structures were being erected methodically according to the original plan.
Small defensive structures like Anti-Aircraft Turrets and Machine Gun Bunkers were already scattered everywhere.
Although the Dimensional Battlefield simulated New York's terrain, it lacked the original skyscrapers.
Thus, apart from this rapidly expanding base area, the rest of the battlefield looked overly empty to the newly arrived Mitsuki.
Looking as far as the eye could see, in the areas that should have been "Brooklyn" and "Queens," apart from a few scattered robots belonging to their side, Mitsuki didn't see any signs of battle with Hell demons.
Perhaps sensing Mitsuki's confusion, Dunshan didn't hide anything and explained directly.
"Base construction is proceeding without issues. According to the plan, the construction of Bio-Reactors hasn't stopped, and the Grinder started construction the day before yesterday."
"We'll continue replicating key buildings while expanding the coverage of defensive structures outward."
"It's just..."
Dunshan paused slightly.
Noticing that Mitsuki maintained his poker face and had no intention of interrupting, he continued with a hint of helplessness.
"Lately, demons have been appearing more frequently on the Dimensional Battlefield. And it seems like organized deployment. I suspect the Hell Dimension might have truly started gathering its forces."
"Moreover, most of the initial troops I brought are resource and engineering units."
"If a large-scale demon invasion really happens... given the scale of war Young Master Luca described, this unfinished base might be hard to defend."
Due to the unique nature of the Dimensional Battlefield, this area was essentially a projection existing simultaneously in both Hextech and Hell dimensions.
When forces from either side entered this area, they would appear directly on the Dimensional Battlefield. Conversely, leaving the battlefield area would only return them to their original dimension.
So unless there were special means, soldiers entering the Dimensional Battlefield couldn't directly cross this projection to the opposing dimension.
Luca's subordinates were even more unique. They weren't native beings born in the Hextech Dimension but were transported directly from Earth to the Dimensional Battlefield via the Ancient One's magic.
This meant Dunshan could currently only judge the enemy's gathering status by the scale of the occasional demon incursions.
Ultimately, this was a fear born of insufficient firepower due to Dunshan's short arrival time and the incomplete base.
If the area were already filled with automated turrets, traps, and mechanisms covering the entire battlefield, guarded by countless clone legions, Dunshan might have actually wished for more demons to come.
After all, the future plan for this Yuri base was to "sustain war with war." Exterminating demons was equivalent to bringing resources to the base, adding bricks and tiles to its construction.
After listening to Dunshan's explanation, Mitsuki wasn't overly worried. He nodded slightly to show he understood and switched to another topic.
"This is the new weapon Lord Luca asked me to bring you."
Saying this, Mitsuki took out a capsule from his pocket and handed it to Dunshan. Inside was another brand-new "Pandora" Luca had forged for him.
After briefly introducing the weapon's functions, Mitsuki pulled out another capsule like a magic trick.
"This contains the latest superpower enhancement serum. Lord Luca's intention is that during subsequent construction of war buildings, more resources can be poured into standard Barracks and Clone Soldiers."
"With these superpower enhancement serums, we can mass-produce super-powered soldiers at an extremely low cost."
Hearing this, Dunshan's face lit up with joy, even happier than when he received the "Pandora."
After all, among the Yuri faction's units, the cheapest was the standard Yuri Initiate (Clone Recruit).
Although this unit wielded the seemingly magical Psychic Flak Helmet, their actual combat power wasn't particularly outstanding.
Using them as the main force against demons was clearly insufficient. This led to Luca's original plan relying on Brutes and intelligent machines as their foundational combat power, despite having access to such a cheap unit.
However, now that there was a way to rapidly enhance the combat power of Clone Recruits, this extremely cost-effective unit would undoubtedly massively increase the speed at which their faction could "zerg rush."
"For the time being, I will focus on modifying and optimizing the completed cloning equipment."
"Since the quantity of enhancement serum I brought is limited, we can't rely on manufacturing and transport from Sokovia forever."
"So, Lord Luca intends for you to continue overseeing command and construction here for now."
Neither of them cared much for power struggles, so there was no further discussion on this matter.
But in the gap of their conversation, sounds of combat suddenly erupted from the far edge of the Dimensional Battlefield.
Dunshan looked towards the noise. Although it was far away, he could still hear the commotion faintly.
"Should be another small-scale unit deployed by Hell..."
"No! That intensity!"
"Everyone! Level 2 Combat Alert!"