Chapter 354: Landing Commences
The side of the ship opened, and a securing anchor shot out from within.
The massive anchor plunged into the sea, securing the long hull in place.
This location was Point 2, managed by ＜The Tree＞, in the waters near another continent in the eastern region.
And the vessel anchoring was the Argo-class Reconnaissance Mothership, third ship, ＜Orpheus＞.
It was one of ＜The Tree’s＞ latest groups of automated machines, dispatched with the mission of securing and surveying each point.
The strategic AI installed was a general-purpose type, built with the expectation of potential loss. It essentially lacked will and was an electronic brain only capable of executing pre-registered commands.
Even so, it possessed the performance to survey and secure a designated area.
Of course, they could have sent in a high-performance, independent AI.
However, Eve did not permit the deployment of a valuable independent AI into an uncharted territory.
Once ＜Orpheus＞ confirmed that the six anchors it deployed were secured to the seabed, it deployed the electromagnetic catapult on its deck.
The time was 4:00 AM local time. A time when diurnal animals would be sound asleep.
A reconnaissance aircraft launched from the raised catapult at the minimum necessary speed.
If it were to mistakenly exceed the speed of sound, an enormous sonic boom would echo around the area, so naturally, the speed was strictly controlled.
The reconnaissance aircraft that took off flew away to gather information about the surrounding area.
And next, a large drone was launched from the catapult to provide perimeter警戒 and communication relay.
Each automated machine was connected via a satellite communication network, but it was better to have a backup line.
In this way, after continuing reconnaissance from the sky for several days,
＜Orpheus＞ began releasing ground-based automated machines.
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“The second ship, ＜Typheus＞, and the third ship, ＜Orpheus＞, have begun landing multi-legged reconnaissance vehicles. The fourth ship, ＜Calais＞, and the fifth ship, ＜Zetes＞, are continuing to map the surrounding terrain as planned. The sixth ship, ＜Castor＞, and the seventh ship, ＜Pollux＞, are scheduled to arrive in 52 hours.”
“So far, there’s no contact with Threat Creatures or civilization, huh?”
“Looks like we’re hiding properly?”
The members of ＜The Tree＞ gathered in the Command Room as usual, observing the situation at the front lines.
In particular, the Argo-class Reconnaissance Motherships currently being deployed were all groups of automated machines that operated with autonomous judgment. Although they provided information, ＜The Tree＞ was not transmitting any data from their side.
This was a measure to prevent the informational link to ＜The Tree＞ from being traced, even in the slightest chance.
“Point 2 is the most resource-rich, right?”
“Yes, Onee-sama! Based solely on the spectral analysis from the satellite, we expect a large-scale iron ore deposit!”
A separate continent located to the east, as seen from ＜The Tree＞.
From there, the reaction of exposed iron ore was discovered over a wide area.
Therefore, it was selected as a promising point where a large amount of resources could be secured.
“Probably an ancient seabed that has risen, forming a banded iron formation. There is a high possibility that high-grade iron ore can be mined by open-pit mining.”
“It’s a desert area with shrubs near the equator. The fact that no significant human civilization has been observed in the surrounding area makes it a very good location.”
The images of the ground transmitted from ＜Orpheus＞ showed:
A reddish-brown earth covered in gravel.
And sparsely growing shrubs, about 1-2 meters tall.
This scenery continued all the way to the horizon.
According to spectral analysis, this red color was mainly composed of iron oxide.
In other words, the land exhibiting this red color was highly likely to be entirely iron ore.
“The mountainous areas may contain other rare metals. It’s a region we’d like to effectively control if possible.”
And in the western region of this continent, which appeared to have been uplifted by crustal movements,
It was expected that there would be many ore deposits formed by volcanic activity.
“There are few water sources and little vegetation! It’s hardly a suitable land for living things to thrive! The inland areas have extreme temperature differences and are very dry!”
“According to weather simulations, there are wet and dry seasons. The inland area is almost a desert climate. There are river-like terrains, but no water has been confirmed at present.”
In other words, at least, there were no human nations nearby.
The conditions were so good that they could have decided on this location based on that alone.
Water could be produced from seawater, and the fact that they didn’t have to worry about humidity was a good condition.
After all, dehumidification was troublesome, and humidification was easier.
Of course, it would be more advantageous to have a freshwater source nearby.
However, when constructing ＜The Tree’s＞ facilities, a seawater treatment facility for producing Deuterium would always be installed, so there was no concern about the supply of pure water.
“…If we can develop this area, our resource production will be more than 40 times what it is now…”
That was Olive’s estimate.
The Afrasia United Kingdom, which was currently the main resource production area, also had abundant underground resources, but the source of the resources was lava, so the production efficiency was somewhat poor.
Of course, lava itself contained many resources, so the total amount of reserves was very large.
However, Point 2 was thought to be a banded iron formation. It was an environment where high-grade iron ore could be easily and massively obtained. The cost of resource extraction was extremely low.
It was a very promising land in the sense that a large amount of resources could be secured in a short period of time.
And if a large amount of resources could be secured, the development of the Northern Continent, including the Afrasia United Kingdom, would progress. Of course, the scale of the seabed mineral deposits could also be further expanded.
“Multi-legged reconnaissance vehicles are starting to move.”
“The active camouflage armor is working normally.”
The active camouflage armor, which automatically projected camouflage patterns to match the surrounding colors, was installed on all automated machines this time.
It was difficult to completely conceal the presence of multi-legged machines that moved quickly while they were moving, but they had been given the performance to almost completely hide their presence while stationary.
The multi-legged machines ran across the reddish-brown earth, trying not to kick up too much dust.
They were gathering information using only passive sensors so as not to stimulate the surrounding area.
“Native creatures discovered. Small reptiles. There are cave-like hollows in the ground. It is thought that other animals live there.”
“It is thought that there are few creatures that are active during the day. A re-survey will be necessary at night.”
“Even if they’re not Threat Creatures, I’d hate it if there were any Monsters.”
“The Maso Meter doesn’t show much reaction! But it’s not zero! We can’t conclude that there are no Monsters!”
On the Northern Continent, it had been observed that the Maso Density decreased as one moved south from the Demon Forest.
Therefore, it was expected that the Maso Density would vary depending on the location.
“I wonder if there’s something like the Demon Forest on this continent too…”
“Forest areas have been confirmed, but it is not known whether they are Demon Forests! At least, no supernatural Giant Creatures have been found!”
It was reconfirmed that there was no human civilization.
If so, the targets of vigilance were Threat Creatures.
Even in a barren desert area, they couldn’t let their guard down at all, given the precedent of the ＜Serket＞ species.
In particular, it had been analyzed that large Threat Creatures often did not move and tried to conserve energy.
This was a fact that had been revealed from the results of tracking ＜Serket＞, which usually hid in the sand, and giant Threat Creatures that were active in the Demon Forest.
Even the ＜Wyvern＞, which was thought to be the most active, had not been confirmed to have any activity other than patrolling its Territory. Moreover, it did so at intervals of several weeks, and it did not seem to secure food every day.
“This is something we won’t know unless we check it out over the long term…”
Eve muttered as she looked at the information being sent from the other points.
＜The Tree＞ begins to move in earnest to find a new base.
They will be seriously delving into the fantasy world, but what will happen!!!
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