Li Guang led Baron, Zhang Da Zhi, Madam Zheng, Wang Jian, one of the elders of the Middle Kingdom, and Zheng He of the Vesper faction to the treasury room. This process very much relied on the respect that all parties had for each other and the trust that everyone would keep their words on how many they would take. This treasury of blueprints was the absolute biggest out of all of the ones in the Chinese community, both numerically and qualitatively speaking. Baron had made a deal with the Meng Duo that at least one of the two blueprints he would choose would be one that could be used in aerial warfare. The other one can be whatever he wanted.

Along the way, Baron was chatting it up with Madam Zheng on what they hoped to pick up in the room full of treasures. Madam Zheng had been here only twice before and so she gave Baron a little heads up on what to expect and what he should focus on. Everyone could hear their conversation but most of them didn’t care since they all knew what to do, but Zhang Da Zhi could not help but overhear the talking which would be helpful to him as well. As soon as they reached the room, Li Guang turned around to give a brief talk before he let the group roam around inside.

(LG) “So, the rules dictate that you will have one full day to decide which blueprints that you will all take home, I will be here to confirm everything and to make sure none of you take more than you are promised. There are likely over a hundred thousand blueprints inside, and honestly, they are not sorted in any particular way. This means that you will require speed and luck if you wish to find something that is suitable for you and your group or faction.” Li Guang repeated his speech as he had done dozens of times already.

With Li Guang’s speech done with, the 6 of them briskly walked inside and immediately began to rummage through all of the ones that they could get their hands on. All of the blueprints were on pedestals of the same silvery color about a meter and change high stretching for as far as the eye can see in every direction except backward where they had just entered. They were organized by naval, aerial, and land warfare, but with so many in each category, it might as well have been all mixed up together.

Everyone split up so that they could go and find their own blueprints in peace. Within the first 2 hours, Baron was able to find something that was suitable for the demands of the Meng Duo. It was the blueprint to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. A super versatile machine of aerial warfare that could perform many duties such as long-range fighter, ground bomber, level bomber, photo-reconnaissance, and many other tasks. Baron took a moment to confirm which other types of blueprint that would benefit his team the most out of everything. Originally, he had wanted to get a different type of aircraft that would be able to cover up the shortcomings of the first blueprint that he had found. However, with something as useful as the P-38 Lightning, he believed that would no longer be necessary.

Instead, he chose to find a defense system that would be able to compliment the destruction that his already handy deepstrikes were doing to the enemy. For now, the best place to look would be inside the land warfare area, but Baron knew that if given enough time, drones would start to trickly into the Chinese community as the weapons on Earth started to get more humanly independent. If that were to be the case, it might be under the aerial area sooner or later. He quickly made his way over to the land area where he was greeted by Zhang Da Zhi.

(ZDZ) “Baron, it looks like you already have one. I am not having so much luck, unfortunately.” Zhang Da Zhi told Baron.

(BM) “Keep looking, I’m sure you’ll find something that will be helpful to you.” Baron consoled Zhang Da Zhi.

(ZDZ) “Yea, I think I’m done with this section, for now, I’ll leave you to it then, I’m going to go look for something good in the naval division.”

(BM) “Good luck.”

(ZDZ) “You too.”

Though both sides were being respectful to each other, each of them knew that the other was in a tight race to outdo and outperform each other. It might not have been readily visible, but there was growing a sense of urgency for their own group to become more well known and respected than the other. Then, both sides began to look for something that they could benefit from having in their arsenal.

Finally, the time came for when all of the representatives had to come out of their search and go back to Li Guang to take their findings home. The representative from the Middle Kingdom faction and Zheng He from Vesper faction had long ago found something that they were happy with and left earlier than everyone else. Baron, Wang Jian, Zhang Da Zhi, and Madam Zheng stayed until the very end hoping to get the best possible blueprints.

Zhang Da Zhi seemed to have found one good blueprint and one that he was not really happy with. Madam Zheng was able to score a destroyer escort battleship that she had found at the last moment which made her all smiles. Wang Jian was able to find 4 great blueprints that surprised even Li Guang, and finally, Baron was able to find one great and one good blueprint. Though everyone was able to follow the rules, Baron and Zhang Da Zhi were not overly happy with their haul. However, this did not matter now as they would not be given a second chance to enter into this vault for at least another century, likely more.