Part 36: NG+ Update 08: Toxic Personalities

NG+ Update 08: Toxic Personalities

Music: Ranger HQ







Zeno relieves Bosch from his duties as a Ranger. Bosch whinges about his ruined reputation, but after failing twice even his higher D-Ratio isn’t enough to save him.

Music: Controllers of the World





In the next scene we see what the Regents are up to. Vexacion claims it’s too soon for them to discuss anything. Cupid agrees, conceding that while mankind’s return to the surface has been foreseen, today is not that day.





Elyon sends one of his Alter Egos to the gathering, informing everyone that Ryu, a Ranger grunt, has bonded with a D-Construct. Vexacion is shocked that such a thing could happen, especially when Elyon reveals that the D-Construct in question was one that had seemingly been dead for some time.





Hortensia too has doubts, but offers to seal Ryu away before he can cause any damage, just in case. Elyon rebuffs her, telling everyone that the problem is beneath them and that the Rangers should deal with it - thereby manipulating them into taking no action.



Music: LowSector Borough



Our next stop is BioCorp, but first let’s check on the Fairy Colony.

Music: The More We Dig







The red team, stuffed with new recruits, manages to uncover a new empty room.





Blue team also digs out a new room.





Green team barely avoids being crushed by a collapsing boulder. Boulders are one of the hazards that can interfere with excavation. Getting hit by one won’t kill your ants, but it will deplete their HP and prevent them from digging for a while.



Checking the map after the digging is over reveals that our new Laboratory has been built. Selecting it on the map will even let us move there and check it out.





: Bring some quick, or no work will get done!



Right. We need to actually assign some staff to the place before anything good can happen.



Assigning ants isn’t hard. Just take the ants with the highest Smarts out of the excavation teams and pop them down next to the lightbulb icon.



Our three smartest ants are Monhim (25), Sumalo (25) and Capela (29).





Those three will show up at the lab after we assign them. Now we can put them to work.



We don’t have a market right now, but even if we did we’d still want to research Jobs first. More Jobs means more options for the rooms we discover, and at the rate we’re going we’re sure to uncover a whole lot more in the near future.



With that said, it’s a good idea to build a Market too. The shops there will eventually sell some of the best skills and equipment in the game, which will really help when the time comes to tackle Dragon Quarter’s optional dungeon.



With all that done, let’s leave and do a bit more of the main quest.







As before, we need an ID card to unlock the door.



Unlike before, there’s no fairy waiting to be rescued. The room she was in is empty, so there’s no reason to explore the area.





On leaving the party are ambushed by these assholes and their poison gas.



Unfortunately for them, this is New Game+ and our characters are kitted out with armour rendering them immune to negative status effects.







All three die quickly.





The cutscene plays exactly as it did the first time around. One of the rangers wrenches the canister open, flooding the area with toxins.





Ryu attempts to stop the gas, but collapses before he can retrieve the valve.





In desperation Nina activates her function as an air purifier, purging the gas at great cost to her own health.





In the aftermath, the team resolves to investigate BioCorp to find the answers they seek.

--

Bonus Art: Concept Art