Episode 329: The Frontline Fortress and That Girl
The small hill, once covered in lush trees, had completely transformed its appearance.
About a kilometer in radius around the hill had been cleared, and the entire area was covered in thick concrete.
The outer edges were slightly elevated, and numerous mobile gun emplacements were deployed within.
At regular intervals, openings were set up, connected to underground passages so that heavily armed machines like multi-legged tanks could rush out immediately as needed.
Most of the interior of the hill was a network of mobile pathways divided by concrete walls, allowing for the deployment of numerous automated machines from the central area.
Even if Monsters were to invade underground, their movement would be hindered by the provided gaps and metal shutters, and they would be subjected to crossfire from the numerous weapons converging upon them.
Furthermore, living spaces were prepared near the surface, in the middle layer of the base, where the Chimyera Clan stationed at this location resided.
In the event that Threat Creatures were discovered, the standby Chimyera Clan were ready to rush to the scene.
And in the central part of this Fortress.
Here, numerous large cannons and missile launchers were installed.
Also, in the underground section of the center, a fusion reactor was operating in a heavily sealed state.
The reactor supplied abundant energy to the entire Fortress while minimizing its external impact.
“Hmm. So it’s finally happening, huh?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. The cargo will arrive in about five minutes.”
＜Iris＞, who managed the frontline Fortress in the Demon Forest, was using a Communicator Doll to explain the important event to Eve.
“But… you’re really going to relocate that thing…”
The “that thing” Eve was referring to.
It was the massive Magic Stone and its organizational structure that had been protecting the Holy Capital of Prawa, which generated a Magic Barrier.
The entire living structure that had been spread throughout the Holy Capital was being carefully excavated and packed so that the structure would not fuse together during the relocation.
Currently, it was being loaded onto a freight train and transported to the frontline Fortress.
Footage of the freight train was displayed on the front projection screen.
Vehicles heavily armored against attacks from Monsters and Threat Creatures, fully loaded with various supplies, traveled along the steel road.
Within Prawa Theocracy, a railway network was currently being constructed at an incredible pace.
Border security, transportation of goods to various locations. Or, long convoys loaded with large quantities of excavated resources, transporting them to large-scale production bases.
And refrigerated freight cars that went around each village, collecting agricultural products.
Within Prawa Theocracy, this railway network had become the bloodstream that revitalized the entire region.
In the footage, the slowing freight car entered the frontline Fortress.
It was fully loaded with a large amount of supplies, but the highlight was, of course, the massive Magic Stone and its organizational structure.
From now on, this Magic Stone would be placed at the center of the Fortress, and its structure would be spread throughout the entire Fortress.
Already, pipes for allowing the living structure to crawl through had been installed inside the Fortress. Inside the pipes, ultra-fine machines for the task were on standby.
The string-like Doll Machines would grab the ends of the living structure, crawl through the inside of the pipes, and reliably bury it inside the Fortress.
And in future operations, similar string-like Doll Machines were scheduled to monitor and manage this living structure.
“Hmm… As always, it doesn’t look very appealing…”
“This living structure creates that Magic Barrier. It’s hard to believe.”
Apparently, ＜Iris＞ also found this Magic Barrier Generator unpleasant.
Well, it was like embracing a mysterious living organism with unknown principles inside one’s stomach.
It was understandable to find it disgusting.
“If there’s anything you don’t understand, be sure to ask the Chimyera Clan. They should be the most familiar with how to handle it.”
“Understood.”
The stopped freight car opened, and the cargo loaded inside was carried out one after another.
While admiring the scene, Eve stroked the back of ＜Iris＞, who had a subtle expression.
◇◇◇◇
“Hum hum hum, hum hum hum hum.”
While humming cheerfully, Fantasy Advisor No. 6, ＜Asahi＞, was pacing restlessly around the control room.
This was inside a base built near Flattala City in the Afrasia United Kingdom.
Asahi had somehow obtained permission to come to this location in order to directly connect to the large-scale research facility near the Royal Capital.
In terms of distance, it was the closest possible connection. Asahi herself had hoped to go to a closer location, or even to the site itself, but that was rejected.
And what Asahi was about to carry out was the dismantling of the stored ＜Wyvern＞.
“Alright, finally. Finally, finally! Permission has finally been granted!”
Asahi raised her tension and waved both hands with all her might.
“Wyvern dismantling! Experimentation! Research! I’ve made countless hypotheses, but the time for practice has finally come!!”
Experiments using the corpses of Threat Creatures had been ongoing on a small scale, but the large-scale experiments proposed by Asahi had been repeatedly rejected due to too many uncertain factors.
But this time.
With the precedent of installing a Magic Barrier Generator, which was a mass of uncertain factors, in the frontline Fortress, permission was granted for the use of the corpse.
“However, it’s the body of a valuable Threat Creature, after all. It seems like a good idea to imitate the real thing and think about how to turn it into a Barrier Generator…”
While exchanging information by connecting to the research institute, Asahi paced around the room.
Since she was accessing the network using wireless communication, there was no need for Asahi to directly operate the equipment.
While the other Five Sisters mostly sat quietly in their chairs during work, Asahi’s basic mode was to move around. According to her, stimulating the motor cortex improved the overall operating efficiency of the Brain Unit.
The truth of this was unknown.
“In that case, it’s probably best to use the blood vessels after all. Dividing the muscles into thinner strips and using them wouldn’t be bad either. And then there’s the skin, I guess? We could just tear it into long strips and use it as leather.”
Asahi muttered to herself while re-examining the measurement results.
“However, connecting different tissues together seems a bit difficult after all. In the first place, if we connected them in such a way, they would probably be recognized as something different and rejected.”
At Asahi’s connection point, the ＜Wyvern＞, which had been left untouched thanks to its resistance to decay, was being transported to the work area.
A huge mobile machine, prepared for this day, was carrying the ＜Wyvern＞.
“Hmm, it really hasn’t decayed at all. Well, I knew that because I’ve been observing it regularly. Was it a waste that the blood leaked out? Still, it’s full of holes, so trying to plug them is too much of a dream.”
While she was talking about such things, the ＜Wyvern＞’s body was lowered to the designated position and secured.
“Alright. Now, now, it’s time for that thing to make its appearance!”
And what Asahi instructed the local control AI to bring was the ＜Severing Sword＞ she had obtained in the Adventurer town, North End City.
Normally, ＜The Tree＞ used high-energy devices such as plasma cutters to dismantle Threat Creatures. It took that much effort to even cut them, but the characteristic of becoming ultra-high temperature caused the problem of tissue alteration.
Therefore, she had obtained a Magic Tool with high cutting ability that had been confirmed to exist in North End City.
“Alright, let’s use this to slowly and carefully dissect it! First, let’s expose the blood vessels!”
Asahi-chan does her best! episode.
It’s a Naro cheat protagonist-like move (terrible reputational damage).