Episode 257: The Cradle Recovery Plan
“Based on the information provided by Mr. Amadio, we have plotted the coordinates of ＜Trout Nursery＞. Reconnaissance satellites have already passed over the area four times since the information was provided. We have a sufficient amount of satellite photographs.”
“How is Amadio-san…?”
“Amadio is defragging his memory banks. It should be finished in a few hours.”
Apparently, he received information from ＜Ayame Zero＞ of the Repuytari Kingdom. Akane answered Eve’s question.
“He said he wouldn’t do an overhaul for a while. I wonder if he still doesn’t trust us?”
“He said he couldn’t explain it to his staff, so he was thinking about it. It seems problematic for him to enter a mysterious facility alone and not come out for more than half a day.”
“…Ah.”
Amadio Silverhead is still active as a Duke in the Repuytari Kingdom. Certainly, he can’t suddenly abandon his official duties, and it would be too irresponsible to lock himself in a huge, unidentified facility brought in by ＜Paraiso＞.
At worst, they might try to attack him to save him (though it probably wouldn’t work).
“It seems the overhaul will have to wait until things calm down a bit.”
“Roger that. Well, let’s hear ＜Ringo＞’s report for now.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Displaying satellite photographs of ＜Trout Nursery＞.”
A huge display is projected in the air for Eve.
It’s an image taken from a slightly upward angle, presumably showing the Trout Nursery in the center.
“It’s wonderfully overgrown with forest…”
Unfortunately, there are no obvious artificial structures visible in the displayed image.
“Applying a filter to highlight metal.”
With ＜Ringo＞’s words, the display changes.
The image now shows metal reactions highlighted in a deep red.
“Oh… huh? Is that… some kind of observation tower?”
“Yes, Ma’am. Although collapsed, it appears to be a metal observation tower or radar tower, approximately 40 to 50 meters tall.”
The highlighted area shows the remains peeking out slightly from the forest. Several metal structures protrude, and what appears to be a structure that broke at the base and fell sideways, now covered in vegetation, can be seen.
“I guess that’s what happens after 100 years with no maintenance.”
If it were made of concrete or ceramic, it might still be standing. But metal couldn’t withstand corrosion from the elements for so long.
“Also, after analyzing the entire area, we believe the structure is as follows.”
A wireframe is overlaid on the forest image. It’s a predicted diagram of the entire Trout Nursery, created by matching Amadio’s memories with the terrain.
The Fortress itself is a flat, dome-shaped structure with a relatively low overall height. The diameter is larger than ＜The Tree＞, exceeding 600 meters.
Attached to the facility is a building that appears to be a control tower and an observation tower equipped with radar.
The remaining fragments of the observation tower are likely from this.
“It seems there was a runway attached, approximately 400 meters wide and 3,000 meters long. Unlike our ＜The Tree＞, the surrounding facilities also appeared in this location.”
“What? That’s not fair!”
“Unfortunately, the runway, attached warehouses, maintenance hangar, and control tower seem to have been destroyed by repeated Monster attacks.”
“What? That’s hard mode!”
Because it appeared in the middle of the Demon Forest, it was immediately attacked by Threat Creatures. A large group of turtles with metal shells about 5 meters long, gorillas with only muscular arms that were abnormally strong, and other such Threat Creatures destroyed the facilities one after another.
“They managed to defend the central dome somehow, but decided to abandon it due to a lack of ammunition. They apparently performed a long-term preservation (mothballing) procedure, but it’s unclear how well it was preserved.”
“Without power and no maintenance, I wonder how much is left… I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s all ruined.”
Since it was abandoned, there’s a possibility it has been ravaged by Threat Creatures. We can’t expect too much.
“Ultimately, we’ll need to consult with Mr. Amadio, but even just recovering the resources would be quite useful. There are likely considerable stockpiles of high-performance materials and rare materials.”
Certainly, it would be more efficient to recover and reuse existing materials than to mine from scratch in this world where there is nothing. If we could recover a large amount of rare materials used in electronic substrates, it would certainly speed things up.
“That’s true. The problem is, how do we get there to recover it?”
The site of ＜Trout Nursery＞ is within the territory claimed by the Prawa Theocracy. Moreover, it’s in the middle of the Demon Forest. It’s about 250 km from the edge of the forest and 1,100 km from the Holy Capital.
It’s also about 1,500 km from Ganey, the relay city we currently occupy.
At this distance, we’d want proper airport facilities along the way, even if we went by air. Rotorcraft with high transport capacity don’t have very long range. Also, it’s difficult for fixed-wing aircraft to land in the forest.
“We could dispatch the Gigantia Squad, but I’m afraid it would provoke them too much.”
“Yes, Ma’am. Turning off the radar significantly reduces the detection range. We want to avoid that situation as much as possible in unknown airspace.”
Sending the Gigantia Squad into enemy territory is a big risk. Even if we dispatch a Naglfar-class as cover, the distance from the coast is still a bottleneck. It’s estimated to be 1,300 to 1,500 km. It would take a long time to arrive, and resupply would be difficult.
“Then I guess we have no choice but to go by land. At least, we need to build a runway closer to the front.”
◇◇◇◇
“Sorry, did I keep you waiting?”
“I don’t mind. More importantly, welcome to ＜The Tree＞, Amadio-san.”
Amadio Silverhead, who had finished defragging and neatly organizing his memory banks, contacted ＜The Tree＞.
“Thank you for your cooperation in various ways. I appreciate it.”
“You’re practically family now, so you don’t have to be so formal. I look forward to working with you.”
“Yes, likewise.”
Amadio transferred the archives that occupied a significant amount of memory space to an external device, and the necessary data download is complete. He is reading the information necessary to pave the way to Trout Nursery, which is the immediate goal, from the archives.
“The situation is as I sent you earlier, but is it okay?”
“Yes. I can borrow computational resources now. I’ve confirmed everything.”
Amadio Salmon has mechanized his entire body and has information processing devices embedded in his brain.
Although he has been genetically modified, his fundamental performance is different from Eve, who is basically still flesh and blood.
“As we discussed, it’s difficult to go by air. Therefore, we need to capture it from the ground.”
“That’s right… Considering the possibility of those Monster swarms coming, it wouldn’t be enough to go by air. Making a road is better.”
The swarms of Threat Creatures that attacked, which remained in Amadio’s memory. It’s difficult to search for a home calmly in a situation where you’re attacked day and night.
We want to send in a solid ground force and secure the surrounding area.
“It would be best to steadily pacify the Prawa Theocracy and then slowly start working on it.”
Amadio has been living in this world for 100 years. The achievement of his long-cherished desire is imminent, but he is not young enough to rush here. Compared to 100 years, a few years is not a big deal.
“You’re going to secure the front line here and then attack from behind?”
“That’s the plan. However, the enemy’s strength is still uncertain. That’s the only thing I’m worried about.”
“Magic Warrior… That’s right. I heard that some individuals have tremendous power, so we have no choice but to overwhelm them with numbers.”
Amadio-san looks young, but his sensibilities are quite old.
However, his personality may change a little because he has regained his memory.