Episode 47: Conclusion of the Death Struggle
“…! ＜Ringo＞, charge!”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
A golden opportunity. Even for an operation unacceptable to the Overseer AI, if it’s Commander (Mum)’s order, it’s executed immediately.
The No. 1 (Alpha) class, 17th ship (Quebec), accelerated and rammed into the flank of Rain Croin, who was desperately thrashing about trying to break through the encirclement.
A ram attack.
The moment of impact. As expected, the defense membrane protects it from the shock, but,
“Full power!”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
The force of the charge doesn’t weaken. The bow succumbs to the pressure and is crushed. Steel buckles, and structural materials shatter.
Even so, it doesn’t stop accelerating, pushing the hull into Rain Croin.
“Defense membrane vanished… It’s not regenerating.”
“Good, fire, fire!”
The defense membrane disappears, succumbing to Quebec’s pressure. The No. 1 (Alpha) class, 15th ship (Oscar) and 16th ship (Papa), a total of six 150mm smoothbore cannons, continuously fire APDS shells.
Rain Croin is bent over from Quebec’s ram attack. The thrashing giant body is a threat in itself. Just a graze from a foreleg causes half of Quebec’s superstructure to fall off. ＜Ringo＞’s specially made hull structure is still holding, but it won’t last another minute.
However, one minute was enough.
A total of over 250 APDS shells were fired into Rain Croin’s body. A vast amount of blood is dyeing the surrounding sea area red. Rain Croin seems to have almost no strength left. Parts of its body are moving weakly, but that’s probably just reflexive rhythm.
“…Did we somehow, win?”
“Thank you, Ma’am. We were able to take it down in a short battle.”
＜The Tree＞’s damage is the large consumption of cannon shells and torpedoes. And one Quebec, used for the ramming attack. The superstructure is almost completely destroyed, and one-third of the hull is crushed and gone.
Thanks to the meticulously subdivided watertight compartments, it hasn’t sunk, but it’s safe to say it’s heavily damaged.
It’s astonishing that it can still navigate under its own power because the main engine and screws are intact.
“The cost-effectiveness might have been bad. Could we have defeated it if we had continued the bombardment…?”
“…No, Ma’am. If we had let it escape in that situation, there was a possibility that ＜The Tree＞’s external facilities would have been damaged. It was a brilliant decision, Ma’am.”
“…I see, yes. Okay, let’s go with that.”
She sighed deeply and sank into the luxurious chair of the Commander’s seat. Well, well.
“Ah… I’m really tired. I’ve used my brain the most since coming here.”
“You’ve worked hard. I’ll take care of the rest, so why don’t you take a rest?”
“Maybe I will… Then, I’ll hear the report later.”
＜Ringo＞ also leaves the Command Room, accompanying the Commander (Mum) as she exits. Naturally, ＜Ringo＞’s main body exists within the Supercomputer ＜The Core＞. There’s no problem taking care of Commander (Mum) while handling the aftercare.
Commander (Eve) seems to have decided to head to the bath for now. Originally, ＜The Tree＞ wasn’t equipped with facilities like a bath, but as a result of ＜Ringo＞ subtly (blatantly) requesting it after becoming interested in bathing, five types of bathing facilities were created. She wasn’t very enthusiastic at first, but she ended up liking it and uses it almost every day.
“What shall we do for the meal?”
“Hmm… Meat…?”
Thanks to trade with Telek Port City, fresh meat is now available. By purchasing it fresh and flash-freezing it, we can secure enough meat for the seven sisters to eat. That being said, we’re planning to start livestock farming soon. Also, now that we have a certain amount of large-scale equipment, we’re trying to get our hands on large sea beasts like whales.
“Meat dishes, then. Understood.”
Come to think of it, I think Commander (Mum) said she would try her hand at cooking at first… ＜Ringo＞ added an item to the task list to suggest trying cooking together when she calms down a bit.
Now, about the main player in this incident, Rain Croin.
I tried to gather information using the Communicator Doll from Telek Port City, but there was nothing particularly useful. Well, with that giant body and athletic ability, it’s unlikely that any ship that encountered it would escape safely. It’s only natural that we only know rumors.
The most likely rumor about a monster of the sea is the Wandering Fear. It’s a terrifying monster that is said to be impossible to return alive from an encounter with it. It’s strange to say that you can’t return alive if there are rumors, but it’s probably just a common modifier.
In reality, there were crew members who escaped and survived.
Rain Croin’s swimming speed is quite fast, and it seemed to be operating with some kind of unanalyzable (Fantasy) power, so it can be assumed that it appeared widely from the open sea to the coast.
Roughly speaking, the facts that it suddenly attacks from below, that it can devour a ship in one bite, that it targets all ships in a fleet, and that cannons are deflected, it’s safe to say it’s Rain Croin.
The problem is whether Rain Croin is a unique individual or not.
There are almost no eyewitness accounts. Since everyone is annihilated when attacked, that’s unavoidable.
It’s unknown whether they were attacked by Rain Croin or destroyed by other causes, so the actual extent of the damage is completely unknown.
In the end, ＜Ringo＞ concluded that large sailing ships wouldn’t be popular if there were swarms of monsters of that class. Even if there were any, there would only be a few in the vast sea.
Indeed, a herd of more than 10 sea beasts is annihilated in a single hunt. If there were dozens of Rain Croins, they would soon become extinct.
Currently, that giant body is being towed towards ＜The Tree＞. It seems that even two No. 1 (Alpha) class ships can’t quite pull it because it’s too big.
When calculated from the body length and weight ratio of a normal crocodile, it seems to exceed 1,500 tons. The 18th ship will be rolled out soon, so it’s necessary to send that one for investigation as well. Also, ＜Paraiso 2＞ is currently returning from Telek Port City, so we plan to use that as well.
This time, it became clear that there was a problem with ensuring the safety of the surrounding sea area.
Well, it’s impossible to expect us to have predicted a threat of that class.
However, there’s no guarantee that giant creatures that can repel Armor-Piercing Shells from the front won’t appear in the future. We managed to deal with it this time, but if there had been two Rain Croins, it’s doubtful whether we could have defended it. It’s necessary to strengthen ＜The Tree＞’s immediate response capabilities as soon as possible.
Also, we have to investigate the sea beast that was left uneaten. After being attacked by ＜The Tree＞, it clearly showed movements to protect it.
If it’s just emergency food, that’s fine, but if wild animals take protective actions.
“A child, huh?”
“Yes, Ma’am. When protecting a nest, when protecting children, they are seen to attack very aggressively. Of course, it depends on the species.”
I see, she nodded. It’s possible that Rain Croin laid eggs on the corpse of the sea beast.
“…Does it, reproduce? That thing.”
“Unknown. However, based on the analysis of the composition of the body tissue, no major differences from ordinary animals were found, so it is highly likely that the ecology will fit within the framework of existing organisms.”
It’s still unknown what kind of Magic (Fantasy) exists in this world. However, it’s unlikely that spawning and breeding behavior also rely on Magic (Fantasy), and that they have a mysterious ecology that cannot be scientifically assumed. ＜Ringo＞ predicts that normal ecology is within the scientific realm.
“At least, no problems have been scientifically confirmed in the body tissue. If you ignore the size, you can think of it as a type of crocodile. If so, what Magic (Fantasy) is intervening in is that size and robustness.”
“I see… Well, if it’s a surprising creature that relies on magic for everything, abnormalities should be observed in the body tissue as well, huh? I see…”
Waiting for the results, she concludes. In any case, we’ll know if we investigate the real thing.
“If we can get even a juvenile, things will go smoothly.”
That’s what it was.
Understood. Please provide the text you would like me to translate. I’m ready to begin.