Episode 309: Advance and Collapse
The video from the ＜Jumper＞ moving through the forest suddenly went haywire.
Along with a jolt, it turned in an odd direction and shook violently.
Then, it fell to the ground, and the video transmission cut off.
“Onee-chan, this is the latest footage~”
“Something’s kinda-sorta showing up, y’know~”
Utsugi and Erika reported this to Eve. The members of ＜The Tree＞ were racking their brains over the situation where the Jumpers sent to the front lines were being lost one after another.
“Look, Onee-chan, this, this.”
“Looks like a hand, doesn’t it~”
Then, they zoomed in on the parts of the footage where what appeared to be the culprit’s hand or foot was visible.
It closely resembled the five-fingered hand or foot of primates like monkeys.
“A monkey… maybe?”
“From the palm to the fingertips, it’s about 15cm. Pretty big, huh~”
“Maybe we should switch to all-around cameras~? It’ll put a strain on the communication bandwidth, though…”
“…We might have to lower the resolution…”
The Jumpers weren’t equipped with advanced information processing devices.
This was because they were dispatched with the assumption of loss, and high-precision sensors couldn’t be operated due to insufficient communication capacity.
“If we spread electromagnetic waves too wildly, we might attract unwanted things!”
The communication capacity, or rather, the strength of the electromagnetic waves, was limited under Asahi’s supervision. By randomly changing the bands used and reducing the strength, they tried to lower the probability of detection from afar.
Due to the nature of reconnaissance, they had to prevent attracting Threat Creatures by scattering microwaves too flamboyantly.
“If they’re stand-alone, we can’t share information when they’re lost…”
It might be necessary to consider a method of specializing in stealth, sealing off information, and advancing independently. However, there was also the problem that if they were destroyed by some factor, they wouldn’t be able to bring back information.
“If we put in too many, we might disrupt the ecosystem and cause a huge mess!”
“That’s the ＜Stampede＞, right? If we get hit by a tsunami like that, we’re done for.”
If the Demon Forest was disturbed, it might unintentionally cause a large-scale migration of Monsters.
If something like that avalanched into the forward base under construction, it would undoubtedly be annihilated.
They couldn’t predict what would happen or how far the effects would reach.
Who would have imagined that the disappearance of just a few Wyverns would cause a Stampede of Monsters over a wide area?
Well, there was a high possibility that the Wyverns were special.
Besides, it wasn’t just the Wyverns; a huge Threat Creature called ＜Mountain Boar＞ was also involved.
“For now, the immediate target for elimination is the owner of this hand?”
“Yep! Um, the classification is Monkey Monster, and the species name is ＜Black Monkey＞. The figures that keep showing up look like pitch-black monkeys!”
“According to the data humans have, it’s a Monster at the rumor level! The Chimyera Clan seemed to call them Black Apes, and there were records of engagements, too!”
According to Erika.
Black Monkeys were ape-type Monsters less than 1m in size, living in groups and possessing territories.
Given that they had the power to destroy Jumpers, it was certain that they were enhanced by Magic (Fantasy).
“Somehow, there are traces that the Jumpers are being preyed upon, too.”
Of course, the Jumpers were lumps of metal and plastic. Apparently, remains had been discovered that showed they had been gnawed on.
It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call them omnivorous, or rather, gluttonous.
“It doesn’t seem like they’re actively eating them, though~”
In any case, the current situation was that the reconnaissance units using Jumpers were being destroyed little by little.
It would be easy to increase the number of units deployed, but it didn’t seem like the information gathered would improve dramatically.
“It would be great if we could observe the Monsters without being noticed and decipher their ecology~”
“All the cameras we set up randomly got destroyed. It’s like, ‘Eliminate foreign objects!'”
Building a forward base and extending roads from there.
That was the plan, but it seemed difficult. If possible, they wanted to gather information thoroughly first.
“…I guess we have no choice but to advance first. Just dispatching Jumpers only tells us that there are aggressive Monsters…”
“Okay~. I guess we’ll try advancing about 500m for now~”
“It’s a shallow layer, but it’s the first base, so let’s try it out like that~”
◇◇◇◇
Then, after several days of advancing heavy machinery to the front lines for base construction.
They were able to create a 500m-long road and move wheeled heavy machinery to the front lines.
Currently, they were developing the surrounding area in a circular shape to secure land for base construction.
“The ground is noisy?”
“Yes, Onee-sama. It seems that a considerable number of Monsters are active underground…”
As a result of conducting geological surveys, they were able to detect multiple sources of noise.
And it seemed that it was probably the sound of some small creatures digging underground.
“Like Worms?”
“There’s no match for that. The prediction is that it’s a new species.”
However, it didn’t seem to be that frequent. They had no choice but to proceed with construction while being cautious.
Then, two more days passed since the advance to the front lines.
The construction of the Power Supply Tower for power supply was completed without any particular problems.
“Microwave power supply was convenient, but maybe we should think about something else…”
“We might want to think about something for advancing into the Demon Forest.”
With just this one tower, the power supply range would expand by several kilometers. The range would be considerably wider if they used the power supply Drones in the sky, but they wanted to use the ground-based transmission towers because the energy loss due to diffusion was large.
Diffusion meant that microwaves would be scattered over a wide area, which meant that the risk of attracting Threat Creatures would increase.
“Internal combustion engines have the highest energy density and are the best, but the noise…”
“If you’re considering quietness, electrical energy is better.”
While Akane and Eve were having such a conversation.
A warning alert icon popped up on the development map.
“…Onee-sama. An abnormality has occurred in the foundation of the Power Supply Tower.”
“Hmm?”
The yellow icon flashed several times. After that, the icon turned to an urgent red.
“Hmm!?”
“Abnormality detected in the foundation structure. The Power Supply Tower is tilting.”
The video switched. The local work machinery showed the Power Supply Tower in question.
In the video, the tower seemed to be standing without any problems at first glance.
“…Geez, it’s really tilting!”
Video analysis showed that the tower was tilted several degrees more than it should have been.
It was impossible for automated machinery operating with perfect control to manufacture such a defective structure.
In other words, the foundation tilted due to external factors after construction was completed.
“…The tilt is increasing. The abnormality in the foundation is expanding. The buried foundation piles are being destroyed.”
This Power Supply Tower was a simple structure, and the main body was fixed by driving multiple foundation piles into the ground. The foundation piles were arranged with strict calculations and were designed to be fully compatible with natural deterioration and expected natural disasters.
However, if they were intentionally destroyed, they wouldn’t be so robust.
In particular, if only one side was continuously destroyed, the holding force would be twisted, and there was a high possibility that it would collapse all at once.
“Ah!”
In front of Eve’s eyes, the Power Supply Tower slowly tilted as it was. Underground structures were exposed along with the tilt, dust from the collapse spurted out from the entire tower, and the wires for structural support were torn off and flew away.
“The Power Supply Tower has collapsed.”
The automated machines retreated all at once from the collapse range of the falling tower. The dropped structures fell onto the completed blank ground.
“…………”
“…………”
In just a few hours after completion, the Power Supply Tower collapsed. It was quick to build, but it was also quick to break.
No, they certainly didn’t want such a rapid rise and fall.
“…Find out the cause and prevent recurrence. I’m counting on you…”
“Yes, Onee-sama.”
Thinking about the ecosystem is fun!!
I want to put out various things~.