“408 Lost. 522 Red. 123 Yellow, retreat.”
On the tactical map, friendly (green) icons were successively overwritten with destruction markers.
“Ugh. What the heck is that?”
Moving with speeds akin to teleportation, it was disabling powerful multi-legged tanks with a single strike.
What an absurdly strong warrior had emerged.
“The Church’s High Priest, huh? They’re pretty strong.”
“Priests were strong, but High Priests are even stronger, huh?”
While sending action guidelines for the multi-legged tank groups to the front-line AI, Erika rewrote the High Priest’s combat capability assessment.
“Can we even hold them back?”
When the number of multi-legged tank losses exceeded 20, Commander (Eve) frowned and asked.
“If that power gets used against a Land Battleship, wouldn’t that be bad?”
Land Battleships were extremely powerful weapons. They possessed powerful cannons and housed numerous autonomous weapons. The vast energy generated by their three fusion reactors meant that, including their escort units, there were no restrictions on operational time.
However, because of their size, weren’t they vulnerable to small, powerful enemies infiltrating their interiors?
“There are mechanisms in place to prevent them from getting close in the first place, but even if they do get inside, it’s not that critical,”
＜Ringo＞ replied to Eve’s concerns.
“First of all, the interior is not designed with human movement in mind. There are no corridors, and energy transmission lines are everywhere. Also, the temperature is not comfortable enough for living beings to operate. The average is 60 degrees Celsius, and in some places, it exceeds 200 degrees Celsius. The basic structure is non-metallic for weight reduction, but lightweight, high-strength materials such as carbon nanotubes are used, making destruction difficult.”
“Energy lines, huh? Messing with those could cause a backfire…”
“Yes, Ma’am. If destroyed, circulating working fluid will噴出. The extremely high temperature will generate harmful vapors, causing rapid corrosion of untreated metals and organic matter. It is also possible to intentionally cause a runaway reaction by closing off entire blocks.”
It was quite a vicious design. Even if one tried to infiltrate the interior, it was not an environment in which living beings could survive in the first place. In a place where environmental damage was constant, it would be difficult to exert full power.
Besides.
“Well, even if they’re destroyed, we have more…”
Even Land Battleships could be mass-produced by ＜The Tree＞ in its current state.
It was only due to resource issues that they weren’t being mass-produced; if they wanted to, they could send as many as they liked to the front lines. Of course, the cost-performance ratio was terrible, so they would never actually do it.
That was what it meant for ＜The Tree＞ to have its production lines in order.
Even so, the Prawa Theocracy had judged that they could take down the Land Battleships with just three of their own. They wouldn’t carry out reckless operational maneuvers that would lead to pointless destruction.
“Sis, the troop redeployment is complete!”
“Commence simultaneous firing!”
The refugees ran through the path that the High Priest had single-handedly opened. Confirming this, the High Priest stepped even further in, and was bombarded with an immense amount of thermal energy.
The Land Battleships and multi-legged tanks simultaneously fired their anti-air laser cannons.
The High Priest, now the focal point, was subjected to a concentrated ultra-high energy attack totaling hundreds of megawatts. The matter in the targeted space instantly vaporized, turning into plasma.
“Eugh.”
“Even this is not enough heat to deal with a Wyvern. According to calculations, we need to concentrate ten times this amount to scatter them.”
“Eugh.”
The refugees in the relay city of ＜Ganey＞, having lost their greatest strength, were surrounded by a swarm of multi-legged tanks and had come to a halt. The Warrior Monks had attacked recklessly, so they had already been eliminated.
The Prawa Theocracy’s Warrior Monks and Priests were truly impossible to reason with.
They stubbornly tried to eliminate the enemy and did not respond to surrender recommendations.
However, this had been revealed during the information gathering process by the intruding bots. Doctrinally, they recognized everyone other than themselves as potential enemies. They would push their demands, but would never compromise.
“It’s helpful that the citizens who aren’t affiliated with the Church aren’t that fanatical. Literally turning it into scorched earth… well, it’s not that we couldn’t do it, but, you know…”
“Alright everyone, let’s go home!”
In the local footage, refugees being herded back into the city by Doll Machines (Communicators) riding multi-legged attack vehicles could be seen.
Since attack machines alone couldn’t communicate, it was necessary to use Doll Machines (Communicators). Unlike attack vehicles and tanks, they were structurally fragile, so they couldn’t be sent out until after the suppression was complete or safety was ensured.
“We’ll start governing immediately.”
Confirming that the suppression was complete, Ichigo gave instructions to the local AI.
It was necessary for the residents to return to their original jobs as soon as possible. Prohibiting them from going outside could lead to riots.
However, it was certain that the environment would change in various ways.
For the time being, food and daily necessities would be supplied as ＜Paraiso＞.
This also had a significant aspect of baiting.
“Refined wheat flour, salt, sugar, yeast, various spices. Alcohols, sweeteners, preserved foods like dried goods. Smoked fish and meat. They seem to have had a simple diet, so it should have an impact.”
“We will also install a pure water purification plant. Safe water is also valuable.”
Water that could be consumed without heating would also be very welcome.
They probably couldn’t use the lake water as it was, so they must have been securing drinking water by digging wells. Laying water pipes would greatly increase convenience.
“The city interior is taken care of, but what about the suburbs? Are you going to use them as an invasion base?”
“Yes, Sister. We will build a logistics hub and a runway. We are laying a railway from Yakari Port, and once it’s connected, we will be able to transport large quantities of goods. According to plan, we will be able to invade the entire Prawa Theocracy in one month.”
As an invasion plan, it was naturally extraordinarily fast, but for Eve, who knew the power of ＜The Tree＞, it felt like they were taking their time.
All of ＜The Tree＞’s units were machines, and if they assembled the units considering supply and maintenance times, they could essentially operate 24 hours a day. Moreover, unlike humans, the learning period after manufacturing was very short. Simple combat machines could be deployed to the front lines immediately after coming off the line.
Considering that, it seemed somewhat excessive for ＜The Tree＞ to spend a month gathering its forces.
“Rather, the goal is to gather the Prawa Theocracy’s forces. In a month, we can gather all the forces that can be moved for the time being. Crossing this lake, the Holy City Staritsa is just beyond. They will undoubtedly move to defend it.”
“Ah, I see.”
The Prawa Theocracy was very vast. They were trying to gather as much of their forces as possible from there, and hollow it out. Since they would gather on their own just by waiting, nothing could be easier.
“Using that time, we will turn Ganey into a base. We have confirmed that there is a copper mine a little further south. Geologically, there is a high possibility that there is a lode nearby that produces multiple metals, including iron ore. Now that the pacification is complete, we will start test drilling immediately.”
“Are you going to turn it into a production base as is?”
“The production base is near Yakari Port. It’s easier to transport from there. It’s difficult to transport large weapons by air. Sea routes are the only option.”
The fortress under construction in Yakari Port was vast. This was because it was intended to house a large production base inside. It was selected because it had a wide, flat land and the port was located deep in a V-shaped bay.
It was a port facing the calm sea of the Lafret Sea, making it excellent as a logistics base. Fortress Two (Black Iron) faced the open sea, so it had the problem of rough waves.
“Ganey’s water resources are also excellent, so we will build production facilities here as well.”
The lake that the relay city of ＜Ganey＞ faced was very vast, with a width of over 200 km. An environment where large amounts of fresh water could be used was also important for production facilities.
In this way, ＜The Tree＞ had electrically seized the southeastern part of the Prawa Theocracy, but the advance stopped here.
Acting after thoroughly investigating and being fully prepared.
It goes without saying, but it is quite difficult in reality.