"This new place feels different! It feels much bigger than Gutierrez's place!" Twilight exclaimed in Alex's new home's activity room.
In terms of floor area, Alex's new home activity room was not actually larger than the lounge in Gutierrez's shop, but due to the new renovation, lighting, and furniture arrangement, the activity space indeed looked much larger.
However, none of this was important. For them, what was more important was the crossover.
When Alex and the others crossed over, only their consciousness was projected into the 40k era; their bodies remained in the 3k era.
Previously, Alex's home didn't have enough space, so everyone basically just sat directly on the floor or found a chair, and the military box was also casually placed on the floor.
Now, Alex had set up a large table, placed the military box on it, and the few of them sat around the table.
Moreover, for comfort, Alex had bought high-end home sofas that one could lie on and sleep directly.
"My place has cabinets on both sides. Alex put the models and chess pieces in another room, so of course, it's more spacious," Gutierrez commented casually. Then he looked at Alex and asked him, "By the way, how are you going to arrange Titus's team? Why don't you give them to me? I can find a place to build a Watch Fortress. I currently have five new recruits with me, so Titus and his team can help train them."
"Eh? Adventure mode isn't supposed to allow projecting chess pieces, is it? Gutierrez, where did you get new recruits? Did Alex recruit them for you?" Twilight suddenly asked curiously. Mai Mai and 32, who were beside her, also looked over with curiosity.
"This is a new feature unlocked after upgrading to Rostov III access, don't you have it?" Gutierrez feigned innocence and glanced at the other three. Amidst their disgruntled laughter and curses, he explained, "After upgrading to Rostov III access, you can unlock a new feature that allows you to recruit a Kill Team for yourself. Their configuration is related to the faction you've chosen.
For example, since I chose the Forgemaster of the Deathwatch, I can recruit Deathwatch Astartes or Combat Servitors.
However, all recruits are blank slates and require self-leveling, training, and equipment purchases. The only advantage is that they can be continuously upgraded, and if trained well, they can become a team of four-pin elite veterans."
"That sounds good! But what if they die? Do you have to train them again? That would be a huge loss!" Mai Mai was very interested in this. His identity was a Rogue Trader, and he happened to need a Kill Team of his own as retainers.
But if subordinates cultivated with such effort died in battle, it would indeed be very painful.
This is like playing a strategy game where you finally recruit a five-star general, upgrade him, equip him, and finally raise him, only for him to die in one battle. That would make one feel very bad.
However, Gutierrez quickly said, "If they die in battle, you can spend points to revive them. However, the revived one is another person with the same abilities, attributes, and equipment. Memories will be inherited, but it is not the same person."
"So, it's roughly equivalent to copying a new character, right? That sounds acceptable," Gutierrez's explanation made Mai Mai nod, strengthening his resolve to upgrade to Rostov III as soon as possible and then cultivate his own Kill Team.
"Although it sounds like there are some limitations, overall, it's still reasonable. You can consider using this method to cultivate your trusted subordinates." Gutierrez had mentioned this to Alex before, and he also agreed with it.
Leaving aside everything else, just by looking at Shi Dong and Aarn's work, one would know how much trouble a subordinate with autonomous capabilities saves.
However, he was in Commander mode and could not recruit retainers or a Kill Team; he could only use his own chess pieces.
Although the autonomy of the chess pieces was not bad, the inability to upgrade, improve, and strengthen them made Alex feel somewhat less satisfied when using them.
Hearing Alex say this, 32 immediately became interested: "Then can we cultivate a group of apprentices for ourselves? Raise a group of sages to work, and then we only need to do some guiding work?!"
"Of course, you can, as long as you upgrade to Rostov III, you can do that." Alex and Gutierrez nodded in unison.
This was precisely the key reason why Alex thought this retainer mode was very good: they could truly work for him.
Although his chess pieces could also do the same things, there were still some differences between the two.
This was actually the difference in growth potential. Although the retainers in adventure mode were blank slates at first, with their growth potential, they might not be unable to become purple or gold cards in the future.
However, the chess pieces in Alex's hands, although they could be max-level and max-stats from the beginning, were fixed as gold or silver cards from the start, losing the possibility of growth.
If viewed only from Alex and their current situation, this actually had no impact.
Rostov was not a major power and did not need powerful figures like the Regent to help with administration, nor did it need two generations of Imperial Warmasters to lead troops into battle.
The territory they currently controlled was only one planet, at most including the star system currently being developed. Overall, the demand for talent was not that great.
Although Chamberlain Rachel was a former Commissar and her work style still carried a Commissar-like mindset, she had no problem managing the administrative affairs of Rostov II, and all tasks were completed very well.
Perhaps she could not adapt to a higher stage, but for her current position on Rostov II, she was qualified.
By the same token, while the chess pieces Alex projected might indeed lack growth potential, this did not mean their abilities were insufficient; it merely meant they lacked the possibility of becoming top talents and could not improve themselves through experience accumulation.
It's like someone as dull as an Ogryn; even if he makes many mistakes, he will accumulate experience to avoid making the same mistakes next time.
However, the chess pieces in Alex's hands do not possess this possibility of learning and growth; their abilities are already fixed.
"Enough idle talk, let's get ready to go!" Alex ended the discussion on this topic, then said to Gutierrez, "I need to go to Rostov III to check on the factory construction. You can go find Titus's team yourself.
Anyway, you are the Forgemaster of the Deathwatch, so they should obey your commands.
As for building the Watch Fortress, you can handle it as you see fit. If you lack anything, discuss it with Rachel. I should return after checking Rostov III and Rostov, and inspecting the factories and mines."
"Alright, I understand. I'll go talk to Titus and Rachel about this later," Gutierrez nodded, then entered the crossover state.
Alex said nothing more, simply placed another chess piece into the military box, and then also entered the crossover state.
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