Free Web Novel“Information-collection unit has arrived on-site. Beginning data transfer.”
“Big Sister, I’m putting up the satellite imagery!”
Less than an hour had passed since the operation began, and developments were already coming one after another like a storm. The sheer speed of it all was enough to give Eve a headache as she turned toward the display Asahi had added the image to.
“There’s a lot of dust.”
“I’ll just make a few little adjustments here!”
At Asahi’s instruction, the analysis AI applied multiple filters to the satellite image. Then, by overlaying several kinds of information outside visible light, including electromagnetic-wave maps, it brought hidden information to the surface.
“Ooh, the earth and sand are being blown upward! I’d say some kind of force is pushing aside the soil beneath <The Reflector>’s body!”
“Some kind of force...”
“Magic, of course, Big Sister!”
Asahi answered brightly as Eve furrowed her brow.
And what the hell is magic supposed to mean?
That was written all over Eve’s face.
“Hmm, just a moment, please. I’ll check it chronologically...”
The displayed images flipped rapidly one after another.
Of course, Asahi’s analytical operations did not actually require the display to change like that.
It was a performance for Eve.
“Yes, I see. It looks almost as if the soil and bedrock beneath it softened so much they turned into water! Rather than digging and escaping, its behavior looks more like it sank under its own weight!”
“I mean, I can understand that if something with that mass and volume tries to go underground, it would end up behaving that way, but...”
By common sense, at least.
When burrowing into the ground, unless one displaced a volume of earth and sand equal to one’s own body, one could not exist there.
If the object were small, it would probably burrow by compressing the soil to fill the small gaps that already existed.
Otherwise, it would have to scrape the earth and sand out, then push its body into the resulting void. freёwebnovel.com
“Judging from the data from the information-collection unit, the ground where <The Reflector> submerged has certainly risen, but it doesn’t seem as if earth and sand were scattered around dramatically. It definitely didn’t burrow while digging with something like a drill. It sank!”
“Sank, huh... No, never mind. There’s no point picking at that. We won’t understand it anyway... Can we track this?”
“Juuust a moment. <Iris>, how’s it looking!?”
“Deploying sensors. Seven minutes remaining.” fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
According to <Iris>, several information-collection units were currently scattering large numbers of sensors around the area. They were primarily compound sensors meant to detect underground vibrations.
The rod-shaped sensors dropped from the air deployed drogue chutes to stabilize their posture, then ignited rocket motors and stabbed themselves into the ground. A few seemed to have struck trees and been damaged, but for now, about eighty percent had buried themselves in the ground as intended and begun collecting information.
“First, we collect data through passive sonar. If we do not gather meaningful information, we will use explosives.”
“That’s what they call an artificial earthquake! I’d rather not use it, since there’s a risk of attracting strange threat organisms...”
To track <The Reflector>, which had fled underground, <Iris> had begun deploying numerous sensors.
It would be ideal if their passive exploration could pinpoint its location, but if it could not, they would have to use active sensors.
However, there were almost no sensors capable of surveying underground.
There were sensors that used radio waves, and others that used ultrasound, but even reaching a depth of about one hundred meters was already the better end of what could be expected.
<The Reflector>’s height was roughly one hundred forty meters, and at present, it had completely vanished beneath the earth.
In other words, it could easily burrow more than one hundred forty meters deep.
And if it had that ability, then naturally, it should have gone even deeper. There was no need for it to remain near the surface.
“No helping it, then. If it looks bad, you have permission to use them. And if this leads to some outrageous result, I’ll authorize withdrawal from the continent.”
If they wanted to grasp the situation several hundred meters underground in detail, they would need to deliver a fairly large impact.
There was no guarantee it would not draw in unobserved threat organisms.
Even so, Eve chose to prioritize information gathering while accepting the risk.
This was due not only to the low probability of the number of threat organisms increasing, but also to the fact that resource collection from the ocean was proceeding better than anticipated.
At present, seabed resource recovery was expanding steadily, and seabed development already accounted for thirty percent of <The Tree>’s production resources.
On top of that, seabed development was actively expanding.
In the worst case, even if they lost their continental bases, they were now in a position where rebuilding would be entirely possible.
“First sensor deployment complete. Beginning information collection.”
“Now, I would like to advance the automated machine groups a little farther, but... If there are threat organisms like <Peacock> around, that would be troublesome.”
<Peacock> was an anti-air magical beast inhabiting the forest on the route to Amajio’s base, <Trout Nursery>.
Since the information-collection units were already able to advance into the sky, at the very least, none probably inhabited this immediate area.
“They may have fled due to <The Reflector>’s movement.”
“If that’s the case, then it might ~Nоvеl𝕚ght~ be worth turning this place into a base while we can!”
No matter how one looked at it, <The Reflector> was a threat organism positioned at the apex of this <Demon Forest>.
If a colossal body like that came moving through, then any creature with even a little intelligence would naturally flee.
Well, in the past, they had also observed threat organisms that challenged <The Reflector> to battle.
“Are <Wyvern> actually stupid, maybe...”
“The analysis results show that their brain capacity is low compared to their body length! If most of the brain is being used to maintain the body, then their thinking area may be even smaller than expected!”
“Even so, their capacity is larger than that of ordinary human species. It is strictly forbidden to underestimate them.”
Conversely, there was also the possibility that they had misjudged the situation because they were half-smart, so it was true that no assumptions could be made.
That said, it was irrelevant right now.
“We can think about turning it into a base separately. Even if we fortify it, maintaining it would be difficult.”
Remembering Fortress <Gladiolus>, which had become the <Demon Forest>’s front line, Eve pulled over the display beside her.
That display showed information on and around <The Reflector>’s escape point.
“We should have some data by now. How does it look underground?”
“Displaying results.”
A new display appeared in the direction of <Iris>’s gaze.
It was an underground map constructed through analysis of subterranean information.
“The analyzable depth is approximately two hundred twenty meters underground. It is believed that <The Reflector> sank almost vertically into the earth. This section shows a cylindrical zone with different geological properties. It is the location where <The Reflector> sank.”
Apparently.
<The Reflector> had sunk after softening the earth through some kind of effect until it became possible to pass through.
A structure like an enormous vertical shaft, matching its colossal body, was clearly displayed on the underground map.
“Well, it must be magic, I suppose. Earth magic, perhaps! It certainly has created rocks in midair and launched them before!”
Now that she mentioned it, Eve remembered that when <The Reflector> and <Wyvern> had been fighting, Asahi had gotten excited about stone bullets or whatever. At the same time, however, Eve also thought it was somewhat difficult to connect that to this underground submergence.
“We have detected some form of vibration believed to be <The Reflector>. However, the source point is likely too deep, so we cannot analyze it. To gather information quickly, we must generate an artificial earthquake.”
And so.
<Iris> had captured vibrations that were thought to belong to <The Reflector>.
However, it seemed they could not gather enough data to analyze them accurately. That meant they needed to actively apply a massive vibration resembling seismic waves from their side.
“...Let’s do it. That all right with you, <Ringo>?”
“Yes, yes, Commander Ma’am.”
“Understood. <Fringhornir>, launch missiles equipped with large penetrator bombs.”
Earth-penetrating bombs, commonly known as bunker-busters. They were brute-force weapons in which a large bomb protected by a high-strength warhead was accelerated from the sky and driven into the ground.
By slamming several of these in, they would generate artificial seismic waves.
From <Fringhornir>’s vertical launch cells, eight missiles shot into the air.
