Chapter 110: Ruthless Information Warfare
The Port Town of Terek fell under the umbrella of Paraiso without any obstacles, just as had been predicted.
“I’m somewhat relieved. I knew there wouldn’t be any problems, but still,” Commander Eve remarked, casting a nearly threatening comment toward Kuravia Terek, the Guild Master.
Despite the sharpness of her words, it was confirmed that nothing had fundamentally changed, and Kuravia agreed. In fact, there was a hint of joy in the clarity of Paraiso’s position, which had previously been ambiguous. Well, Ringo had anticipated that reaction as well.
“Yes, Ma’am. With this, we can boldly proceed with the establishment of bases around the Port Town of Terek. For now, let’s construct a large military port. We will primarily transport supplies via sea from the Second Fortress. It would be best to keep the existence of the Second Fortress as secret as possible.”
“I’m not particularly skilled in that area, so I’ll leave it to you. But do you think they will surrender as easily as Terek did, or will they resist against our military might?”
As Commander Eve worried, the situation in Terek was indeed unique. It was a power that had extended a helping hand when they were cornered—Paraiso. They offered assistance without resorting to violence, yet remained unyielding to threats, providing ample supplies. They created jobs, received returns, and conducted transactions fairly. Above all, their striking appearance was immensely popular among the citizens.
Naturally, the public sentiment to seek the protection of Paraiso had been cultivated, and it was not the first or second time that Kuravia Terek had received petitions regarding this matter.
Kuravia Terek would have preferred to make a decision sooner, but after several confirmations met with silence, they had half given up. The sudden arrival of a massive fleet, the unyielding demands presented aboard the flagship, had understandably intimidated them, yet the requests were quickly accepted.
“There shouldn’t be any issues with the Iron City or Flatara City. However, I’m not fully aware of the current situations in other towns and cities, so that might take some time. Considering the military strength we have, the likelihood of inflicting casualties on the enemy is almost nonexistent unless they self-destruct. We can unilaterally and overwhelmingly neutralize them.”
That said, the enemy was human. When emotions ran high, predicting their actions became difficult. They might even resort to reckless charges. Perhaps Ringo was suggesting that they could handle that as well.
“We can accumulate experience from here on out. First, we’ll head to the Kingdom of Repuitari. We are currently loading Redstone, so we will set sail in two days. From there, we’ll navigate westward while avoiding detection, aiming for the capital, Moar.”
“So, we’re not heading straight from the Port Town of Terek?”
“Yes, Ma’am. I don’t want to provide unnecessary information. Our goal is to secure the port of the capital Moar and halt the advance of the expedition fleet toward Terek. However, revealing information about Redstone will inevitably lead to connections with Terek, but until then, we can use it as a deterrent.”
They would intimidate with military force, immobilizing the enemy, and then bait them with Redstone. Ringo argued that it was more effective to instill hope before crushing it. The Kingdom of Repuitari would naturally want to purchase Redstone directly from the Afrasia United Kingdom, or even mine it independently. However, The Tree could not simply stand by and watch.
They would hold them by the neck, applying brakes to their overseas expansion. This would buy time to solidify The Tree’s foundation. They did not want unnecessary interference while subduing the Afrasia United Kingdom.
“We can continue trading Redstone. As long as they use that energy source, they will not pose a threat to us, The Tree.”
Research was also being conducted on the Redstone mined around the Port Town of Terek by Paraiso.
When subjected to a certain level of impact, it would spontaneously generate heat. The amount and duration of heat generated could be controlled by the strength of the impact, and it correlated with the size of the Redstone itself. Additionally, when set ablaze, it would ignite. If further impact was applied while burning, it would combust explosively. When ignited in powdered form, it would instantaneously catch fire.
However, to create a powder, some magical (fantasy) processing was necessary; simply grinding it would lead to a regrettable outcome of heat loss. Once it generated heat or caught fire, its volume would decrease until it ultimately vanished. Even when left in the air, it would gradually diminish in size.
Due to its property of generating heat upon impact, careful handling was necessary during mining to avoid applying excessive force. By using specially enchanted mining tools, it was possible to suppress the amount of heat generated. These tools were not manufactured in the Afrasia United Kingdom and were imported from the Forest Country, Lebresta. To prepare them independently, skilled magic tool engineers were required.
While there were some phenomena that even Ringo could not comprehend, the general properties were grasped. Fortunately, the Redstone that could be mined around the Port Town of Terek was at most the size of a fist, and the mining method involved tirelessly extracting these scattered pieces from the lava layers. Open-pit mining seemed acceptable, and with the right tools, it could be relatively easy to extract.
“There is a limit to the heat generated. While it is possible to produce enough heat to melt iron, several techniques must be combined to achieve this, so in that sense, its properties are not vastly different from oil or coal. Of course, the fact that it does not emit any harmful substances to the human body is a significant advantage.”
The steam engines of the Kingdom of Repuitari were structured to shove Redstone into boilers to generate steam. Ringo predicted that the absence of combustion gases would hinder the development of reciprocating engines that relied on explosive combustion. Therefore, while the performance of steam engines might improve, miniaturization would reach its limits.
“Unless there is a technological breakthrough, we are likely nearing a plateau. Thus, we will supply Redstone just enough to prevent a price collapse, allowing the nation to relieve its pressure. This is perfect for buying time. Additionally, we can monitor their technological level in real-time, so we can detect any breakthroughs as they occur. If we respond quickly, they won’t pose much of a threat.”
It was a truly dreadful situation. As she listened to Ringo’s explanation, Commander Eve thought about it. From gossip at the well to the nation’s most critical secrets, all information regarding the Kingdom of Repuitari was flowing seamlessly to The Tree. Moreover, even while handling all this information, the processing power of the supercomputer, The Core, still had ample capacity left.
If they wanted to, they could likely gather and analyze information from all surrounding nations. The production of Spy Bots simply hadn’t caught up yet, and even at this very moment, Ringo’s insidious influence was steadily reshaping the Northern Continent.
“In that sense, what we need is a hub for information communication. Electromagnetic wave communication can’t overcome the horizon barrier,” Eve mused.
“Yes, Ma’am. We might need to consider launching communication satellites or even developing quantum communication devices.”
“Quantum communication…”
Commander Eve glanced over the technology tree. Quantum communication technology was, of course, located far ahead in the tree. This meant there were many foundational technological development barriers that needed to be overcome. On the other hand, launching communication satellites could be started immediately. The problem was that a high-output antenna would be necessary to transmit signals to satellite orbit, and there was the hurdle of bringing that into enemy territory.
“Right. So, what’s the altitude for satellite orbit, anyway?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Based on previous observations, it is likely around 500 km. While it has a shorter lifespan, it is also possible to maintain an orbit at around 300 km. However, if we set the altitude too low, the time spent in the air will decrease, necessitating more satellites. Geostationary orbit is the most convenient, but considering the gravity anomaly—or rather, the gravitational acceleration of this planet—geostationary orbit will be quite distant. On Earth, it was 36,000 km.”
“I see, the gravity is stronger here. Hmm… Well, I suppose we’ll just have to try it out.”
While quantum communication could be considered later, it would be wise to delve into space development as well. She nodded, raising the priority of the space development technology tree.