Reborn With A Technology System In A Fantasy World

Within minutes, the key members of New Haven were gathered. They assembled in the command center, a room that served as Adrian's base of operations.

The room was austere and functional, dominated by a large, circular table made of special glass.

This was the heart of New Haven, the place where strategies were forged, resources were allocated, and the future of their burgeoning city-state was decided. It was where most of the important meetings and core decision-making was held.

After Charles entered and took his seat behind the round table with a folder in hand, Adrian confirmed that they were complete.

Eli, Mara, Charles, Jeffery. Every one of them was a member of his core team. They were the pillars upon which he had built this sanctuary.

Mara's wisdom and experience with people had been invaluable in managing the civilian population.

Eli's loyalty made him the undisputed commander of their security forces. Jeffery's competence and mastery of logistics ensured the city ran smoothly.

And Charles… Charles was the engine, the pragmatic and often cynical voice that translated Adrian's grand visions into actionable plans. Without them, there would be no New Haven.

Except this time, there was a new face amongst them.

Adrian's gaze scanned the faces of his trusted allies before landing on their guest. "How's your stay, Varyn?"

The Duke was a changed man. Now, seated at the table, he looked healthier, and the haunted look in his eyes had been replaced by a genuine warmth. A quiet joy seemed to radiate from him.

"I am enjoying this place a great deal," Varyn replied. A smile touched his lips. "I'm happier than I have been in a very long time. Thank you, Lord Adrian."

"Adrian is okay."

Varyn nodded his head in understanding, a bit of appreciation showing in his eyes for the dismissal of formality. His acceptance paved the way for Adrian to address the rest of the room.

He looked at the folder in Charles's hands. "Charles must have informed you all of the news."

Instantly, the mood in the room lifted.

"Yes, he did."

"This calls for a celebration, lad!"

"You never fail to surprise us, Adrian."

"Thank you once again for serving justice."

Each of them replied almost simultaneously, a chorus of praise and relief. Adrian gave a single, sharp nod in reply, letting their initial excitement wash over the room before extinguishing it. "There will be no celebration. Only work."

The sudden shift in tone sucked the air out of the room. Charles, who had been leaning back with a wry smile, finally contributed since entering.

"Uhm… you know we're all fans of working and progress, boss. But what's the rush? You always act like the world is coming to an end the next day."

Adrian's first, immediate thought was to agree with him. Because it is. The words were on the tip of his tongue, a bitter truth he was ready to deploy like a weapon.

But Charles's words struck something else in him, a deeper, more uncomfortable chord. Was he always rushing? He thought back. Even before the System granted him the Garog god's memories, he had acted like a man in a race against time.

From the moment he'd woken up in this world, it had been a frantic, relentless push forward. It was a complicated feeling that Adrian just couldn't wrap his head around, despite the immense processing power his mind now possessed.

He wanted to find a reasonable excuse, some logical argument to justify his pace, but he came up empty. He decided to turn the question back on them. He turned his masked face to the others. "Do you agree with Charles?"

Eli spoke up first, his jovial expression softening into one of earnestness. "He's right, lad. You've worked miracles, but you never stop to breathe the air in the world you're building."

Adrian saw Jeffery and Mara nod in agreement as well, and his brows furrowed. He looked back at Charles.

"Okay, what do you want me to do? Take a break? Declare a holiday?"

He asked the questions with a bit of sarcasm, expecting them to back down. He was stunned to see all of them, even stoic Jeffery, nodding in enthusiastic agreement.

Charles hit the nail in the coffin. "Exactly, boss! You could even do more. Organize an event, a festival! It would be fun."

Adrian blinked in surprise. He felt a sense of profound disconnect from the people he trusted most. "Are you all serious?"

To his utter astonishment, it was Varyn, the calm and composed Duke, who spoke up.

"I don't disagree with them, Adrian. I may not know the intricacies of how you run this place, but… don't you think their unified determination warrants consideration?"

Adrian considered Varyn's words. Unified determination. It was true. They were all against him on this.

While he could absolutely crush their hopes, dismiss their proposal, and force them back to the grind, he knew he wasn't a tyrant.

He valued their counsel, and more than that, he knew morale was a resource as critical as iron or Tech Points. It would be more effective if he got them to understand his reasoning.

He let out a long, sharp exhale. "You see… it's a bit more complicated than you think. The thing is…"

Adrian spent the next several minutes laying it all out. He didn't hold back. He explained the Garog, the vision he'd received from their fallen god, and the sheer, mind-boggling scale of the threat.

He introduced them to the Kardashev scale, painting a grim picture of a Type 2 civilization bearing down on their Type 0.4 world.

He described the fleets that consumed stars and the horrifying future that awaited them. As he spoke, he watched their faces.

He saw their casual confidence curdle into confusion, then into wide-eyed shock, and finally, settle into a heavy, suffocating dread. The joyous energy from moments before was gone, replaced by a tomb-like silence.

After he was done, he concluded with a flat, final statement. "It's not that I don't like fun. There's just simply no time for that."

Adrian kept a straight face as he said it, despite the fact it was a lie. The truth about the timeline was real, but his feelings on 'fun' were a whole different matter.

Even in his past life on Earth, Adrian had barely taken time to enjoy the holidays, parties, and celebrations everyone else seemed to cherish. It all felt foreign to him, a distraction from the main goal.

As an ambitious person, he had always been on a quest for something greater. Back then it was money and power. Now, in this new life, he was on a quest for power and control. Ultimately, he had carried his core personality over with him. And he didn't regret it in the very least.

But it seemed his team begged to differ.

Charles shook his head, not in fear, but in furious disbelief. "What sort of machine are you? Do you think that horror story is enough to convince us to just… give up?"

Adrian stared, wide-eyed, at Charles. "What? Don't you comprehend the severity of this revelation?"

Charles sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"I do. We all do. We're scared, we want to stop it, I get it. But you said ten years. Ten years at the very least! By the Goddess, boss, do you have any idea how long that is?"

Adrian was at a loss for words, staring at the man who was usually his most grounded and logical advisor. "You think ten years is a large amount of time?"

Charles smiled wryly, a tired, almost pitying look in his eyes. "Yes, boss. That's an incredibly long time." He leaned forward and his voice dropped low.

"With all due respect, you're eleven. Ten years is almost your entire life all over again. Look at what you've done in less than one. You've built a city, overthrown the King, and become the most powerful person any of us have ever known."