episode_0391

Peaceful Red Zone today as well. The morning in our Karnak Archipelago always begins with the screams of magic beasts and the shouts of our comrades.

“Attack!”

“Roar!”

Primitive shouts echoed every time a battle broke out. Our Violet base was built to look idyllic, as if it had popped out of the Middle Ages, and here we enjoyed a wild life, battling magic beasts.

Suddenly, the thought crossed my mind: was this what the pure society in a state of nature, as ancient philosophers described, truly looked like?

“But those days are over!”

My chest swelled with excitement. The moment I had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Because starting today, this primitive and pure land would embrace true change.

“Deploy!”

All change would begin with that gigantic container descending onto the beach.

Like a seed carried by the wind taking root in unfamiliar soil, a box containing the will of civilization and industry, suspended by wires, slowly descended from the airship.

Our Violets, who had been waiting, immediately rushed forward and clung to the container.

Like ancients moving megaliths, dozens of comrades placed round logs beneath it and pushed with all their might.

After much grunting and straining, pushing and pulling, we and the containers finally passed through a small rampart and reached the command center.

“Good! Finally, the fruit of civilization!”

“Let’s conquer the Red Zone in the true sense of the word!”

Half of us cheered, while the other half couldn’t hide their anxiety.

“Will this really be useful? This is the Red Zone!”

“If this gets eroded too… I wonder if Kale’s abilities will even reach here.”

That’s right, no one could guarantee it before trying it.

It was something we would only know by trying it ourselves.

I began to unlock the container, which had been pulled inside the base, one by one.

-Clank!

As the ceiling was ripped open, all the walls unfolded like petals, revealing the contents.

Inside was a golden, hemispherical device equipped with complex bundles of wires and manipulators of various sizes.

Unusually, there was a bizarrely shaped chair in the center.

It even had a device to secure the head, making it resemble an electric chair for executions at first glance.

“Alright, let’s start now! Who wants to go?”

“Me! I’ll sit first!”

Number 6521 stepped forward with a confident stride.

Watching the one of me seated in the chair, I activated the machine according to the procedure I had received from the Academy City.

-Whirr!

The machine attempted to connect to the network through my head.

The harsh environment of the Red Zone, all sorts of bizarre anomalies.

Despite all of that, the signal connected immediately without a moment’s hesitation.

“…this is Hecatoncheir Kale. Can you hear me well?”

Upon hearing the familiar voice, I gave a thumbs-up.

“Connection is good on this end. What about you? Try operating it!”

The robot arms attached to the machine shot upwards in unison, shaking their hands and tools.

“Connection successful! No issues!”

I could feel Kale, who had gained control from across the distant sea, jumping around happily. It was a natural reaction.

The remote Red Zone pioneering machine began to operate.

“It worked!”

“From now on, we build civilization!”

On a morning in September, our Red Zone industrialization finally commenced.

It was the moment the glorious Violet Free Planned Economy broke ground for the first time.

**

Around the time Kale’s weapon development capabilities began to show remarkable growth, our Violet collective intelligence reached two important conclusions.

The first of these was that Kale’s identity must be thoroughly hidden.

“The Federation or Restraidna might get suspicious!”

Cascadia Island was literally the territory of the Cascadia family. Adela’s family was one of the few noble families that protected their territory even after the First Interdimensional Invasion.

They were not like some tin can knights or other fallen old nobles who lost their territories and were driven out, but people who actually managed to preserve at least a part of their land.

Among them, the area where Kale and Cheolkwon were located was a military zone, so security was thorough.

Nevertheless, a corner of my mind was uneasy.

“But we don’t know when suspicious eyes might fall upon us! Remember the last Corvus Virus dispersal operation.”

“That’s right! We shouldn’t create anything that could hinder our alliance.”

I recalled recent news. Thanks to the mine reclaimed from pirates, the Cascadia family’s standing had greatly risen. Financially and politically, that is.

This also meant that conspiracies from other jealous old nobles and clans could become even more rampant.

However, what we needed now was a large-scale factory.

The sudden appearance of a massive factory complex with an unknown origin would certainly arouse suspicion.

This sense of crisis, unexpectedly, connected with a new opportunity.

“Perhaps we can bring civilization to our land!”

Hecatoncheir was originally a pioneering vessel built by the aliens of the Nornir Federation. Its original mission was to land on new planets, collect surrounding resources, build outposts, and sow the seeds of civilization there.

As these two ideas dovetailed, the solution naturally emerged.

“Commander, it’s best to keep the main body here! Instead, I’ll operate the facilities there via remote control to do the work!”

“Oh! That’s a very good idea! Let’s test it right away!”

However, the first attempt ended in failure.

Kale’s remote control system couldn’t penetrate the thick erosion zone of the Red Zone.

“Tch! My quantum communication network access is blocked because of the demons’ physical distortion! I think we’ll have to give up on this…”

At that moment, a thought flashed through my mind.

“Wait, I’m in the Red Zone and you’re in Cascadia, but we’re conversing just fine, aren’t we?”

“Ah! That’s right!”

The problem was solved with surprising speed. All that remained was to urge the personnel at the Violet Research Lab.

It was surprisingly simple.

“So, you need a brain-computer interface. We just need to connect it, right? We had something like that we used during our network access research…”

“Then it should work! Uncle!”

After slightly adjusting the machine they had been using at the lab, they moved it to the hangar.

And our little ship girl received it and skillfully modified it to suit the Violets.

“It’s done!”

Our makeshift plan achieved success beyond expectations.

“What about the erosion problem?”

I checked on the biggest concern first.

Any object entering the Red Zone was bound to be eroded unless it underwent expensive magic power treatment.

Machines and artificial objects beyond a certain size would break down, and all organic matter would, without exception, mutate into magic beasts that threatened humans.

That was the biggest reason why we hadn’t been able to escape our medieval lifestyle until now.

“Commander! There’s no problem. After measuring, it seems your magic power has been applied to this pioneering equipment. The erosion has been blocked! Besides, our Nornir machines had little to do with magic power in the first place!”

Now that I think about it, Kale’s ship had a low affinity for Aether.

They said its creators couldn’t properly handle Aether either. The aliens couldn’t use magic power even with their excellent technology, but paradoxically, they were also less affected by its erosion.

“So, we found a way to purify the demons’ land by using the avatars as terminals!”

The puzzle pieces clicked into place in my mind.

This meant that through the combination of me and Kale, we could build modern pioneering vehicles and bases unaffected by the Red Zone.

“Good! Let’s bring civilization to this land!”

Briefly, joy filled us, then the pioneering machine extended a robotic arm and handed over a peculiar piece of equipment.

It was a crude object, as if a laser gun, an antenna dish, and a walkie-talkie from a children’s sci-fi movie had been jumbled together.

“Kale, what is this?”

“Ah, Commander. That’s a short-range mineral detector! If you go to an area that might have minerals and scan, it will tell you the location and type of resources. If you have even the slightest suspicion, scan it! I’ll tell you whether to dig it up or not.”

I nodded, recalling what needed to be done.

I’ll have to ask my friend for the resource map data of the Karnak Archipelago from before the Great War.

Now, all preparations were complete.

Eight thousand five hundred Violet Brigade members lined up inside and outside the base. Expectation could be felt in their eyes.

“Alright, the command center announces! From now on, we will expand the Red Zone pioneering machine and go dig up the necessary resources! If we feed it resources, it will smelt and refine them on its own and expand its size. Understood?”

“Yes! Understood!”

The Violets finished their preparations for labor, letting out enthusiastic cheers.

The first to move were the construction Violets.

“Construction Violets, ready!”

“Woohoo! Overtime!”

The construction Violets swiftly took out materials and equipment for the first automated facility expansion from their multidimensional bags.

We moved the pioneering machine from the container into the command center building, signaling the start of our first mechanized factory fortress construction.

While the construction Violets began their work, another group poured out of the base.

They were the miner Violets, setting out to find minerals.

“Minerals are insufficient!”

I quickly assessed the situation.

External aerial supplies and stockpiled materials from multidimensional bags were insufficient.

Because our ultimate goal was to establish a perfectly self-sufficient system.

The Violets took the detector that Kale had handed them and began to thoroughly search the surroundings.

Rough rocks, endless sandy beaches, even old mines. They pointed the detector anywhere a faint signal was detected.

Fortunately, the exploration was easier than expected.

Although the island was teeming with magic beasts, it also contained abundant mineral resources.

“Oh! Commander! That place is rich in ammonium nitrate! Dig it up quickly!”

“They said this is iron ore, what do you think?”

“Good! Later, we’ll install conveyor belts and automatic mining machines to extract metals. For now, bring over the rocks and soil from there. I’ll do the refining!”

According to Kale’s explanation, if enough resources were supplied, it would eventually automatically produce weapons, construct buildings, and even mine minerals on its own.

However, until that automated system was complete, we had to supply the resources ourselves.

Fortunately, arduous labor was an accustomed daily routine for us Violets.

“Forward! Forward! Today’s blood and sweat become tomorrow’s happiness!”

“For Avatar Democracy!”

Armed with shovels and pickaxes, the Violets burned with a fervent pioneering spirit.

They carved away the rough land, cleared dense forests, and created our new home.

“This place is now Violet City!”

The price of industrialization immediately followed. The attacks of the wicked magic beasts grew even more ferocious.

“Grrr!”

Behind the frenzied charge of the beast magic beasts, a bizarre shriek echoed.

“Intru…ders…get…out!”

For our home and our new nation, the Violets vigorously replied.

“This is our land!”

The Second Pioneering War for industrialization and modernization began.