Episode 181: Each Base of ＜The Tree＞
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Fortress Two (Black Iron) was bustling with construction.
Various ores were being transported from the large-scale ore deposits found inland, along with iron ore from the Iron City.
Crude oil was being transported from Oil Port.
And seaweed production had begun in the surrounding sea areas.
Resource production facilities were being rapidly expanded to refine and process these massive quantities of resources.
The availability of metals, oil, and organic materials made it an exceptionally well-situated location for a production base.
And having all these resources meant it was also advantageous for producing equipment.
Not only were various construction materials being made, but large quantities of weapons and machinery were also being manufactured here.
Incidentally, the name “Black Iron” was derived from its appearance. The exterior of the fortress’s foundation was pitch black due to the carbon nanotube fibers mixed into the concrete during its construction.
Furthermore, the fact that iron was scarce at the time meant there was a strong obsession with it, which also played a significant role.
Iron was important.
Well, that’s why Fortress Two (Black Iron) continued to expand.
It was steadily enhancing its facilities as a base for advancing into the Northern Continent.
While it couldn’t quite match the super brain (supercomputer) ＜The Core＞ within ＜The Tree＞, a supercomputer with considerable performance had already been installed.
This made it possible to provide sufficient command functionality.
Currently, a pyramidal hierarchical command function structure was being built, with Ichigo the Tree within ＜The Tree＞ as Commander, Akane the Tree as Vice-Commander, and other AIs assigned to various levels.
After these AI groups had accumulated sufficient experience, the plan was to disconnect them from direct connection to ＜The Tree＞ and make them independent. However, this would probably be a matter of years.
Also, a large number of troops were stationed at Black Iron.
The biggest reason for this was to break in the newly manufactured Brain Units.
While Brain Units were excellent processing devices, they couldn’t immediately exert their full potential after manufacture. It was necessary to repeat operations to a certain extent and strengthen synaptic connections through chemical approaches.
Otherwise, the entire brain could be initialized by a slight shock.
Currently, they were switching to computing devices other than Brain Units due to cost considerations, but for the time being, they planned to continue installing Brain Units, at least in machines with command functions.
Although they weren’t immediately combat-ready, approximately half of ＜The Tree＞’s current combat machines were stationed at Black Iron.
And as soon as they were combat-ready, they were transported to various bases.
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The Iron City no longer resembled its former self.
That town, which was once a small local iron mine, had been greatly transformed by ＜Paraiso＞—by the hand of ＜The Tree＞.
The men who dug holes in the mine and carried out iron ore were gone.
They were now tilling fields with their trained bodies.
Or rather, to be precise, they were pushing their trained bodies into the cockpits of agricultural machines and tilling the ground.
The iron ore that used to be carried by hand was now being mined in large quantities by giant (bucket wheel) excavators that looked like Ferris wheel monsters.
The number of iron-making facilities that used hydrogen transported from Fortress Two (Black Iron) to reduce iron was steadily increasing, and steel production had improved dramatically.
However, all the steelmaking work was done by automated machines, leaving no room for the residents to get involved.
Therefore, ＜Paraiso＞ had prepared the job of food production.
Since it would be too harsh to do everything manually, primitive agricultural machines based on ＜The Tree＞ standards had been prepared.
Using the lent agricultural machinery, the residents of Iron City were producing sufficient food.
Incidentally, the agricultural machinery was battery-powered and electrically driven, and steam engines were used to generate electricity for charging.
All of these operating principles and blueprints were publicly available and could be viewed by anyone. If you asked a Communicator Doll dispatched from ＜Paraiso＞, they would also provide an explanation.
This was an attempt to educate the residents of Iron City and improve their basic abilities.
＜The Tree＞ forces were a non-biological civilization with many superhuman AIs, and they did not need humanity for their survival. Only Commander (Eve) reigned as the absolute ruler.
However, solely due to the intentions of that ruler (Eve), they were continuing friendly contact with humanity.
However, simply dominating and embracing them would only increase unnecessary maintenance costs. Therefore, ＜The Tree＞ hoped that the local humans would eventually become independent.
There was also the saying, “He who does not work, neither shall he eat.” That was only natural.
Throughout the Afrasia United Kingdom, which was entirely under their control, various measures were being implemented due to such intentions on the part of ＜The Tree＞.
In Iron City, various production tasks other than agriculture were prepared as jobs.
Traveling to and from other cities to buy, sell, and transport goods was also one of the most popular occupations.
In particular, Iron City was a connecting point for roads and railways.
It was connected to Flattala City via Telek Port City, and extensions to other cities were also underway.
If the roads were connected, all that was left was to follow them and move.
Fortunately, horses were easily available within the Afrasia United Kingdom, and ＜Paraiso＞-made carriages were in circulation.
Logistics in the Afrasia United Kingdom had begun to resume, with Iron City as a relay point.
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Oil Port and the oil fields were steadily increasing their crude oil production.
The number of oil wells for extracting crude oil was increasing daily, and the pipelines for transportation were also being continuously expanded.
The threat in this area was the Giant Scorpion (Selket), but at least up to this point, it had not approached their territory.
It seemed that as long as they did not violate each other’s territory, they would remain non-interfering.
Oil Port was a port for transportation, but its defensive capabilities were also substantial.
It would be utterly foolish not to prepare countermeasures in case they had to fight Selket again.
Therefore, the ground forces were set up with Selket as their primary target, and they were preparing forces that could cope with the combat power estimated from its known abilities.
Air power, fixed turrets, and ground forces.
The ground forces were preparing multi-legged tanks and multi-wheeled tanks. The multi-wheeled tanks were chosen to prioritize deployment speed in order to protect pipelines and other facilities.
On the other hand, multi-legged tanks prioritized deployment to unprepared terrain. Although their movement speed was slower than multi-wheeled tanks, they could move without worrying about the footing.
Incidentally, although it was in the form of territorial encroachment, there was no sign that the Forest Country (Lebresta) had noticed it. The multiple Selkets were functioning as a good barrier.
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The base under construction in the suburbs of Flattala City was being developed around the airport.
Since the railway was still under construction, the main means of logistics was air transport.
The sight of large transport planes constantly flying back and forth had become a specialty of Flattala City.
Due to its location surrounded by other cities and bases on all sides, its defensive forces were small.
And as the center of other bases, it was being developed as a logistics hub.
The huge group of warehouses that suddenly appeared in the wilderness would give those who saw it an indescribable sense of awe.
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The Afrasia Royal Capital base was a small-scale garrison base.
At this time, it was being used as a relay base for sending troops to North End City.
In the future, there would be more exchanges with other countries, so it would be given some kind of function.
However, for now, only a runway, hangar, and warehouse had been built.
Since it was physically distant from ＜The Tree＞, they were considering how to utilize it.
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North End City was currently the hottest city in ＜The Tree＞.
This was because it was the research base for the Demon Forest, which was considered to be the closest to unraveling the mysteries of this irrational (fantasy) world.
As a front-line base, a runway, hangar, and huge warehouse had been built.
Fixed gun emplacements were also being built at a feverish pace in anticipation of monster attacks.
Since much of the surrounding area was undeveloped, multi-legged tanks were being airlifted in one after another.
In addition, the air force was covered by fighters on scramble standby at the Royal Capital base and the Gigantia Squad, which continued to fly over the Afrasia United Kingdom.
In the event of any incident, the scramble squad would buy time while the Gigantia Squad rushed to the scene.
And at the heart of this defense force was a huge research facility under construction.
It would develop greatly as a base for analyzing the unknown phenomenon of magic.