Chapter 93: Aren’t they just predatory land developers?!
Around the time Kazuma was flying around various countries, forcefully driving Barrier Generators into designated coordinates, the leaders of various nations had gathered in Hawaii and were boarding a spaceship secretly built by Kurashige Industries.
“I can’t believe something like this was under Hawaii~”
“My apologies, Mr. President! Once this battle is over, we’ll pay compensation immediately.”
“No, no, that’s quite alright. The survival of Earth is at stake. Demanding compensation would be tactless, wouldn’t it?”
“But…”
“Then, how about this? Once this is all over, if you’d just hand this over to us—”
Just as the President was speaking, Shouzo interjected.
“Please wait. Even if you are the President, we cannot hand over this ship without Kazuma-san’s permission.”
“Hmm… I see. Mr. Satsuki’s permission, huh.”
Shouzo was probably right.
There was no way Kazuma would stay silent about it.
However, conversely, if they could just win Kazuma over, they could get their hands on the spaceship.
And a high-performance one, the likes of which had never been seen before.
Now that the existence of aliens had been proven, considering advancement into space, they should acquire it by any means necessary.
Of course, they had to deal with the aliens first.
“By the way, who will be the captain of this ship?”
“Originally, it would be Kazuma-kun, but he’s currently in the middle of deploying Barrier Generators in various countries, so I believe we have no choice but to choose from among ourselves…”
Present were the leaders of various nations, including the crew from Kurashige Industries.
Just when it seemed an argument might break out, as everyone was worthy of being a leader, the national leaders looked at each other and entrusted the white cap to Ema.
“M-Me?”
“Mhm. This is America, but… everything up to this point has been Japan’s achievement. In that case, it can only be you.”
“Oh, ooooh…”
The entrusted white cap.
Guided to the captain’s seat, Ema’s heart pounded.
He never thought he’d be the one sitting in a chair he’d only ever seen on the other side of a screen, giving commands.
“Well then, as we seem to be short on time, I’ll give you a tour of the ship after we’ve launched.”
Then, everyone’s gaze shifted to the captain.
“…Full speed ahead!”
“Aye, aye, sir!!!”
The enthusiastic crew snapped a sharp salute and began preparations for the spaceship’s launch.
The crew remaining on land opened the sea-surface hatch, allowing the spaceship to rise from the seabed.
Perhaps because it was built with a kind of late-night, high-energy vibe, epic BGM, intended for the launch scene, began to play throughout the ship and the entire base, and the crew’s excitement was through the roof.
“Uoooooooooooh!”
“Has this day finally come…”
“Eheh, eheheheh~. This is so cool~”
“The scene I dreamed of is right before my eyes!”
“I can’t put this feeling into words anymore…”
“I’d have no regrets if I died today.”
“Bring me a chicken burrito!!!”
“Would K.F.C. not do!?”
As the sea-surface hatch opened, the crew waved, tears streaming down their faces, praying for the warriors’ return as they watched the spaceship soar high into the sky.
The crew at the Hawaii Island base, watching the spaceship fly towards the heavens, were overcome with emotion.
“Still, this is eerie…”
“What is?”
“They have that much military strength, plus technology far exceeding our assumptions. If so, they should be aware that we’re approaching in a spaceship. And yet, there’s no movement from them.”
“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Even though they have an overwhelming advantage.”
“Is it the composure of the strong? Or perhaps…”
There had to be something.
But they didn’t know what it was.
They wouldn’t know anything until they actually met them.
The key would be whether they would agree to talk.
“Kakka. One vessel from Earth is heading this way. What are your orders?”
“Just one?”
“Yes. We’ve scanned the entire Earth, and it’s only that ship.”
“No hidden troops, then… Have they come to negotiate?”
“I don’t know, but shall we open a communication channel?”
“Yes, do that. It would be appreciated if they surrendered obediently…”
“That’s unlikely. We are invaders, after all.”
“Probably. Keep the channel open. Depending on what they say… we’ll shoot that ship down.”
A discussion upon which Earth’s survival hinged was about to begin.
Around that time, Kazuma was in the deep sea, forcefully ramming Barrier Generators into place.
While Ema and the other leaders were negotiating with the aliens in space, Kazuma was fighting Ibinom in the sea, encountering new types of Ibinom, exploring shipwrecks and unearthing treasure, and getting excited all by himself after discovering undersea ruins.
“Now, will they respond to our call…”
“We hear you.”
Ema, who had been calling out to the enemy ship, was gripping the microphone tightly and waiting for a reply when the communication suddenly connected. He was so surprised he almost dropped the microphone.
“Thank you for responding to our call. I am—”
“We know. About all of you.”
“I see. That saves us some trouble. We’d like to know your objective.”
“I think you can tell by looking, but shall I spell it out for you?”
After a slight pause, Kakka sent his next words to Ema and the others.
“The invasion of Earth.”
“Just as I thought… If possible, I’d like to hear your reason.”
“Hmm… How should I explain this… Let’s see, would it be easier to understand if I said we are providing new residences to our customers?”
“That sounds similar to what we call the real estate business… though the scale is on a completely different level…”
The aliens’ objective was to hand Earth over to others.
To that end, they were first trying to dominate Earth and seize complete control.
“Real estate, you say. Indeed, that’s an apt description.”
“I understand your objective and your reason. Now, I’d like to ask something else.”
“Very well. This will be your last chance anyway. I’ll answer anything I know.”
“Then… the Ibinom, no, the mysterious life forms that descended upon Earth—are they your doing?”
The existence of the Ibinom had been a mystery for over several hundred years.
What was the true nature of the calamity that had fallen from space one day?
Before him were aliens who seemed to hold clues to that.
Ema recalled the earlier talk about the real estate business and had a faint guess as to what the Ibinom were.
Though he didn’t want to know, he steeled himself and asked, knowing he had to.
“I see. So you don’t know what those things truly are.”
Ema felt anger at the tone, as if Kakka were pitying them.
From the way the other party spoke, he was convinced.
It was the aliens before him who had unleashed the Ibinom on Earth.
How many victims did they think had been created?
How much suffering, how many countless tragedies had occurred—Ema wanted to tell them all of it, clenching his fists as he waited for Kakka’s words.
“Their designation is ‘Planetary Environment Readjustment Biological Weapons’.”
“Planetary Environment Readjustment…! You mean you changed the environment to sell Earth?!”
“Isn’t that obvious? You wouldn’t want things left behind by previous occupants either, would you?”
“Tch! Don’t screw with us! For something like that!”
“We’re not screwing with anyone. We’re just conducting business. What’s wrong with that?”
The aliens felt no guilt.
They insisted they were merely conducting legitimate business and there was no reason for complaints.
Ema, angered by this, yelled, but from the aliens’ perspective, he was completely missing the point.
“You too would be angry if your new home was dirty, wouldn’t you? We are simply cleaning to satisfy our clients and striving to make it sellable to customers.”
“Can you say the same thing even knowing there are living beings there?! Can you say the same thing even when there are beings like us who can understand language and convey emotions?!”
“Don’t misunderstand. We too know common sense. If, as you say, indigenous people were living there, we would take that into consideration. However, that only applies to planets registered with the Interstellar Alliance.”
“What…?”
“To put it simply, from our perspective, you are pests living on that planet.”
“P-Pests…?! You’ve got to be kid—”
“You seem to have been misunderstanding for a while now, which is troubling, but the initiative lies with us. Surely you didn’t intend to fight us with just that one ship? If so, you’re quite amusing. It shows you don’t understand what military strength means.”
“We are fully aware of that! But there are times when one must fight nonetheless! Now is that time! We won’t let you take our homeland, our planet!!!”
“If you had surrendered obediently, we would have treated you as slaves… but it’s regrettable. We shall make an example of you and give you a grand funeral.”
The communication was abruptly cut, and silence dominated the ship’s interior.
Ema had made a bold declaration, but the difference in military strength was plain to see.
Against a large fleet, they had only a single ship.
While the spaceship built by Kazuma and Kurashige Industries probably wouldn’t be shot down so easily, if asked whether they could win, it would be tough.
After all, Earth was behind them.
Fighting while protecting something put them at an overwhelming disadvantage.
The situation would change depending on whether or not Kazuma had set up the Barrier Generator.
They had bought time with the discussion, but to what extent had the preparations been completed?
“Captain! I’m so moved! That speech from earlier was truly magnificent! I’m about to lose sight of everything through my tears!”
“So passionate, so passionate! That’s what a real man is!”
“I’m so glad, so glad! I’m so glad I boarded this ship!”
“It was like watching a scene from a movie…”
“My tension is rising!”
“My heart is pounding!”
“Whoo-hoo, you’re the best, Captain!”
“I’ll follow you for life!”
The Captain calls wouldn’t stop.
The speech from earlier had stimulated the hearts of the crew.
Ema, who had been feeling discouraged, laughed in amazement at the crew’s excitement.
“Ah, that’s right… Everyone must have dreamed of a situation like this. Everyone! We are humanity’s hope! We are the ones who will restore peace to Earth! Let us risk our lives and fight to protect those we love!”
“UOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
The crew was ecstatic at Ema’s understanding of the mood.
The enemy was a large fleet. They were just one ship.
The situation was perfect.
The crew spared no expense in using all their armaments as they headed for the decisive battle.