“It seems the negotiation members on the Repuytari Kingdom’s side will be changing.”
“Hmm?”
The day after the Baron’s submersion incident.
Contact from the Repuytari Kingdom came promptly.
“Today’s meeting has been cancelled. They wish to resume from tomorrow onwards. Also, it seems the top of the Navy will be directly involved, so there’s a possibility the negotiations will be settled quickly.”
“Heeh. So it’ll be a top-level meeting, huh?”
Commander (Eve) doesn’t understand politics. She’s just saying whatever.
“Yes, Ma’am.”
＜Ringo＞ didn’t see any particular significance in explaining, so she casually brushed it off.
“But you know. That Communicator Doll became royalty, huh?”
“Yes, Ma’am. It seemed smoother for future negotiations to establish ＜Paraiso＞ as a monarchy. Externally, it will be announced as a kingdom.”
In continuing various negotiations, it became necessary to establish a national system.
However, Commander (Eve) isn’t interested in the details, so she’s leaving it all to ＜Ringo＞.
“Well, isn’t it fine? Currently, the initial models… 60 units?”
“Yes, Ma’am. All have been assigned appropriate positions. Local production is also steadily increasing, so it’s possible to maintain appearances as a nation.”
Invitations to ＜Paraiso＞ will likely not be accepted, so there shouldn’t be any particular problems.
In future activities, a solid system can be built within the Afrasia United Kingdom in a few years.
Adding the Defensive Fleet and the Dispatch Fleet to this will create a splendid maritime nation.
Of course, land forces will also be increased, so it’s entirely possible to operate as a country externally.
“Sounds good. Fortress Two (Black Iron) has also settled down, so can we seriously reach for space?”
“Yes, Ma’am. The launch test site will be fully prepared within a month. We are also preparing aircraft manufacturing facilities and fuel manufacturing facilities at the same time, so we will be able to conduct sufficient launch tests for spaceplanes.”
Iron Town has been completely brought under control, and mining of the surrounding lodes has begun.
By obtaining oil and natural gas fields, securing hydrogen and carbon as reducing agents is also sufficient.
Hydrogen can also be produced from seawater, but in terms of equipment, using methane gas as a raw material is easier. Plus, a large amount of carbon is obtained at the same time.
Both elements are excellent reducing agents. They can be used not only for iron, but also for extracting other elements.
The development of various lodes is also progressing smoothly, and there are prospects for securing a large amount of resources.
According to estimates, the construction of a practical element accumulation device will be possible in a few months. With this, securing even more useful elements will become easier.
“It’s nice to be able to develop without any restrictions. The sea is still a bit scary, though.”
At sea, large-scale facilities are being added to process seawater and recover Deuterium and Tritium. Of course, these will be fuel for the fusion reactor.
However, there are still many unexplored parts of the sea, and many forces are being allocated for defense.
Since it’s not known when large Threat Creatures might attack, adjustments are being made so that a certain level of Defensive Power is always stationed.
Therefore, at present, the progress of sea development has been slow. The seabed lode surroundings are also being carefully investigated. It would be a great loss if monsters attacked and turned everything to rubble after the platform became operational.
They are busy releasing fish-shaped bots to create a surveillance network and manufacturing Deep Sea-compatible attack aircraft.
“The lode development within the Afrasia United Kingdom is progressing smoothly. If seabed lode resources are added to this, productivity will increase dramatically.”
With the caveat that all plans proceed smoothly, the predicted graphs for production volume and military strength are rising sharply. It’s a world of difference from when the graph was crawling along the ground immediately after the transfer.
“With this, we might be able to make that thing.”
“Yes, Ma’am. The Aerial Platform, perhaps?”
“Mhm!”
While looking at the predicted trends in resource production, Commander (Eve) nodded grandly.
“It’s a romantic weapon, but it also has proper effects. For now, there don’t seem to be any threats in the sky, so I think it’ll be useful enough.”
“Yes, Ma’am. If we are to operate it, satellite support is essential. After we have a prospect for spaceplanes, I judge that there will be no problem in proceeding with construction.”
Aerial Platform.
Literally, a general term for huge facilities floating in the sky.
The means of flight vary, from aerodynamic utilization to space fixation technology, anti-gravity devices, and rotovators, but they all share the characteristic of being huge, to be called aerial aircraft carriers or aerial fortresses.
“If I choose based on coolness, it’s aerodynamic flight, isn’t it? I can’t stop getting excited thinking about something like that flying in the sky.”
What Commander (Eve) displayed looks like an ordinary Flying Wing at first glance. However, its full width exceeds 300m, making it a splendid aerial aircraft carrier.
The propulsion method is jet engine-based, and it gains buoyancy depending on the speed.
“Yes, Ma’am. In the Afrasia United Kingdom invasion, the speed of invasion is also important. If we can use such platforms, the sacrifices will be even fewer.”
In that case, various accompanying facilities such as equipment for constructing this structure, structural test machines, and runways for launching will also need to be prepared.
“With the assumed trial balance, operation is fully possible. Considering the expanded control range, it’s safe to consider it a surplus.”
＜Ringo＞ immediately performed a simulation and concluded so.
However, atmospheric surveys have only been conducted in a part of the Northern Continent.
Although air power has not been confirmed, this world is not so naive that it can be concluded that there is none.
According to Asahi (she), just as ＜Rain Croin＞ was wandering in the sea, it is impossible that there are no aerial wandering Threat Creatures.
I didn’t really understand what she meant by impossible, but certainly, large flying creatures such as giant birds (Roc) and Dragons are countless in the world of fiction.
There would be no loss in being too cautious.
“If it’s a large structure, it can have an energy furnace built into it, so the range of activity will expand. It will be important to try out the platform in future expansion of power.”
“Okay. Then let’s start on that too. We have a lot of projects coming up!”
And so.
Suppressing the troublesome external factor of the Repuytari Kingdom, ＜The Tree＞ was steadily executing the strengthening of military power within the Afrasia United Kingdom.
According to ＜Ringo＞’s prediction, the treaty with the Repuytari Kingdom will be concluded and trade will begin in about three months.
In the meantime, ＜The Tree＞ will further advance the construction of ships, and two Panas-class nuclear-powered Cruisers and 22 Hedgehog-class Destroyers are scheduled to be commissioned.
Some will be used for equipment defense, but large-scale trade by large transport ships and escort fleets will also become possible.
By the way, operating transport ships without escort is too dangerous, so it was decided to have at least one Panas-class and six Hedgehog-class ships accompany them.
◇◇◇◇
“I heard they made it, but they really made it…”
The man muttered while looking up at the bronze statue in the square in front of the Royal Palace.
It was a statue of the heroes who created the current Repuytari Kingdom.
A series of bronze statues were built to commemorate their achievements in the square, which is open as a place of relaxation for citizens.
The man sighed in front of one of them.
“It’s not as similar as I thought, so that’s good… Hmm, this one is Alban’s bastard. Ah, now that I think about it, he looked like this when he was young… Yeah, he’s also a Supreme Admiral, lol.”
The man, who had been directly summoned by the Supreme Admiral of the Navy, was killing time until the specified date and time by sightseeing in the capital, Moor.
“But still… I think it’s only been about 20 years, but it’s developed this much. The last time I came, there were still horse-drawn streetcars.”
The man was most surprised that steam engine-powered railway locomotives had become popular in the capital, Moor.
The technology was still clumsy, and the sight of the exposed pistons moving vigorously up and down was, on the contrary, impressive.
“I only know the guy from the warship… It’s been miniaturized so much that it’s starting to spread to the general public. After all, there are geniuses…”
Somewhere in the distance, the sound of steam escaping could be heard, “Phee!”