“Information gathering unit, arrived. Starting data transfer.”
“Onee-sama, satellite images coming up!”
Less than an hour after the start of the operation, a furious series of developments unfolded. Eve, feeling a headache from the sheer speed of it all, turned her face to the display where Asahi was adding images.
“Lots of dust clouds, aren’t there?”
“I’ll do a little tinkering!”
The analysis AI, following Asahi’s instructions, applied multiple filters to the satellite images. Furthermore, by overlaying multiple sources of information other than visible light, such as electromagnetic wave maps, it brought hidden information to the surface.
“Oh, the soil is erupting! It feels like some kind of force is pushing the soil under ＜The Reflector＞’s body away!”
“Some kind of force…”
“Magic, of course, Onee-sama!”
Asahi replied cheerfully to Eve, who was frowning.
So, what is magic anyway?
That was written all over Eve’s face.
“Hmm, please wait a moment. I’ll check the timeline…”
The displayed images flipped through rapidly.
Of course, there was no need for the display to change with the analysis operations Asahi was doing.
It was a performance for Eve’s benefit.
“I see. It’s as if the soil and bedrock below have become as soft as water! It’s behaving as if it sank under its own weight, rather than being dug out and escaped!”
“Well, if something with that mass and volume were to submerge into the ground, I can understand that kind of behavior…”
Logically speaking, that is.
When burrowing into the ground, one must displace the same volume of earth and sand as oneself to exist there.
If it is a small object, it will burrow by compacting the earth and sand to fill the gaps that exist to some extent.
Otherwise, it is necessary to scoop out the earth and sand and push the body into the resulting cavity.
“According to the data from the information gathering unit, the ground where ＜The Reflector＞ submerged is certainly rising, but it doesn’t seem like the earth and sand are being scattered wildly. It definitely didn’t sink while digging with something like a drill!”
“Sinking… Well, never mind that. I wouldn’t understand even if I asked… Can we track it?”
“Just a moment. Iris, how is it going!?”
“Deploying sensors. Seven minutes remaining.”
According to Iris, multiple information gathering units are currently scattering a large number of sensors around the area. These are mainly composite sensors for detecting underground vibrations.
The rod-shaped sensors dropped from the air deployed drogue chutes to stabilize their posture, then ignited rocket motors to pierce the ground. Some of them collided with trees and were damaged, but so far, about 80% have successfully burrowed into the ground as planned and started collecting information.
“First, collect data with passive sonar. If no significant information is gathered, use explosives.”
“The so-called artificial earthquake! We don’t want to use it too much because of the risk of attracting strange Threat Creatures…”
To track ＜The Reflector＞, which had escaped underground, ＜Iris＞ began deploying a large number of sensors.
It would be ideal if they could pinpoint its location with these passive probes, but if that was not possible, they would have to use active sensors.
However, there are very few sensors that can explore underground.
There are sensors that use radio waves or ultrasonic waves, but at best, they can only detect up to about 100 meters underground.
＜The Reflector＞ has a height of about 140m, and it is currently completely hidden underground.
This means that it can easily dive more than 140m.
And if it has such an ability, it should naturally be diving even deeper. There is no need to stay near the surface.
“It can’t be helped. You can use them if it doesn’t seem to be working. If something terrible happens, I’ll authorize a retreat from the continent.”
To understand the situation several hundred meters underground in detail, it is necessary to apply a considerable amount of impact.
It is possible that it could attract unobserved Threat Creatures.
However, Eve made the choice to prioritize information gathering, taking the risk.
This was due to the low probability of increasing Threat Creatures, as well as the unexpectedly smooth collection of resources from the ocean.
Currently, the recovery of seabed resources is expanding smoothly, and 30% of the resources for ＜The Tree＞ production are already being covered by seabed development.
Furthermore, seabed development is being actively expanded.
At worst, even if they lost their base on the continent, they would be in a situation where they could sufficiently rebuild.
“First sensor deployment complete. Starting information gathering.”
“Now, I’d like to advance the automatic machine groups a little more… But Threat Creatures like ＜Peacock＞ are troublesome.”
＜Peacock＞ is an anti-air type monster that lives in the forest heading towards Amadio’s base, ＜Trout Nursery＞.
Since the information gathering unit has already been able to advance into the sky, it must not live in this area, at least.
“It is possible that it is fleeing as ＜The Reflector＞ moves.”
“In that case, it might be a good idea to turn this into a base while we can!”
＜The Reflector＞ is, by all appearances, a Threat Creature at the top of the Demon Forest.
If such a giant moves, any creature with even a little intelligence would naturally run away.
Well, there have been Threat Creatures observed challenging ＜The Reflector＞ in the past.
“Actually, are ＜Wyvern＞ stupid…?”
“The analysis results show that the brain capacity is small compared to the body length! If most of the brain is used for maintaining the body, the thinking area may be even smaller than expected!”
“Even so, it has more capacity than the average human. It is strictly forbidden to underestimate them.”
Conversely, it is also possible that they misjudged because they were half-smart, so it is certainly impossible to be sure.
However, that story is not relevant now.
“Let’s think about turning this into a base separately. Even if we fortify it, it will be difficult to maintain.”
Recalling the ＜Gladiolus＞ Fortress, which had become the front line of the Demon Forest, Eve pulled the display beside her closer.
The display showed the escape point of ＜The Reflector＞ and information about its surroundings.
“I wonder if the information is starting to come in. How is the situation underground?”
“Displaying results.”
A new display was added in the direction of ＜Iris＞’s gaze.
It was an underground map constructed by analyzing underground information.
“We were able to analyze up to about 220m underground. It is believed that ＜The Reflector＞ sank almost vertically into the ground. This part is a cylindrical area with different geology. The place where ＜The Reflector＞ sank.”
Apparently.
It seemed that ＜The Reflector＞ had sunk by softening the soil with some kind of action to make it submersible.
A huge vertical hole-like structure, befitting its giant size, was clearly projected on the underground map.
“Well, it’s probably magic. Earth magic, I guess! Certainly, it did create rocks in the air and shoot them out before!”
Now that she thought about it, Asahi was excited about Stone Bullets when ＜The Reflector＞ and ＜Wyvern＞ were fighting, Eve recalled. At the same time, she thought it would be a little difficult to connect that to this underground dive.
“Some kind of vibration that seems to be from ＜The Reflector＞ can be detected. However, it seems that the point of origin is too deep to be analyzed. To collect information quickly, it is necessary to generate an artificial earthquake.”
And.
＜Iris＞ had captured a vibration that seemed to be from ＜The Reflector＞.
However, it seems that she cannot collect enough data to analyze it accurately. In that case, it is necessary to actively add a huge vibration like a seismic wave from this side.
“…. Let’s do it. Okay, ＜Ringo＞?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Understood. ＜Hringhorni＞, launch a large Penetration bomb-equipped missile.”
A Bunker Buster, a large bomb protected by a high-strength warhead, is a brute-force weapon that accelerates from the sky and plunges into the ground.
By slamming multiple of these into the ground, they would generate artificial seismic waves.
Eight missiles shot into the air from ＜Hringhorni＞’s vertical launch system.
It would be nice if we could pinpoint the location with some convenient sensor, but that’s not going to happen. The underground is an unknown world. Exploring it requires a lot of effort.
And the expected Bunker Buster is used as a sensor instead.
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