Ch.207If we fail, it’s war; if we succeed….(1)

# Chapter 207: Failure Means War, Success Means… (1)

The day after my heart-fluttering one-on-one meeting with the Empress ended.

“Now, let’s officially set our operation plan in motion.”

I began to methodically implement my plan to give our dear Empress a big surprise, step by step.

First, regarding the most important signal jammers…

-Weeng-chicken-chicken-weeng…

“That sound effect really makes me hungry.”

“You can say that again.”

We started rapidly producing them in the manufacturing bay inside our super-vessel, the Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought, quickly matching the required quantities.

However, the manufacturing bay inside the Leviathan was merely designed for the ship’s own repairs, ammunition, and weapon supplies.

If we tried to make everything there from start to finish, it would take at least a year to gather enough units for the operation.

“Alright, from here to here, we’ll make these ourselves.”

“Whaaaat?!”

I decided to mobilize the Empire’s workforce and industrial capacity, including the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry, to produce the signal jammers.

Of course, it would be troublesome if this activity was discovered not by the Empress, but by Prosnack.

So we renovated one of the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry’s secret hideouts, disguising it as a civilian factory to continue our work there.

———————————————-

Once the production of signal jammers began in earnest.

I started running here and there according to plan to secure ships for the infiltration team that would cross into Prosnack Union territory.

If there was one fortunate thing, it was that obtaining vessels for this operation was extremely easy.

-“Small vessels, you say, Holy One?”

“Yes, ships under 100 meters… preferably with sufficient automation, and I need about 10 of them.”

-“Oh, we can provide those in any quantity you need.”

In such a massive interstellar nation, small vessels under 100 meters could be obtained somehow by simply asking the various fleets.

Of course, no matter how easy they were to acquire, strictly speaking, we were arbitrarily taking ships assigned to the fleet.

“Minister, what compensation should we give to the 3rd Fleet?”

“…We’ll have to ensure they receive some additional funding in next year’s budget allocation from the Treasury.”

Paying some form of “compensation” was only natural.

Besides, it was only the standard ships that were easy to obtain.

“Now, from here to here, everything needs to be modified according to the plan.”

“We need to cut the hull in half and lift it up, understood?”

“…”

The extensive modification of the ships was entirely our responsibility.

“Aaaaargh! I thought I was finally free from the signal jammer work!”

“I thought I joined the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry, but it turns out I’m a factory worker?”

We began the ship modification work using office slaves and other surplus personnel.

Seeing these people suffering from manual labor, Ash took pity on them and decided to bestow the blessing of nanomachines.

“Shall I help you, Minister?”

“Whatever it is, help would be appreciated.”

Finding Ash’s thoughtfulness truly admirable, I eagerly accepted her assistance.

However, not long after, I came to witness a scene that made me regret Ash’s choice.

-Slurp slurp… CRUNCH! CRACK!

Before long, Ash began devouring the small ships we had brought in for preliminary modification and testing.

And then shortly after…

-Grrrrrr!

“Oh… ohhhh!”

“Ohhhhhh!!!”

“How can it be so perfectly done!”

Ash spat out the ships she had devoured, with all the necessary modifications already completed.

The precision of her work, which allowed the jammers to be attached directly, was so impressive that everyone present couldn’t help but applaud.

Seeing everyone’s amazement at her remarkable craftsmanship, Ash revealed her humanoid form and reacted with apparent shyness.

——————————–

After adequately handling the ships and the workforce(?).

Having resolved the most urgent issue of the signal jammers, I was hoping to hear that the operation preparations were complete…

While handling various miscellaneous tasks as usual.

“Thanks to Minister Arto’s help, our Kerzin Republic has begun to establish its foundation.”

“I’m glad to hear that. Kerzin has long been our ally, so we should help each other.”

“Sniff…”

A desert planetary system that our Empire couldn’t even use.

I was attending the inauguration ceremony of the “Kerzin New Republic(???)” which was born by providing one of those systems to the Kerzin government-in-exile.

-Ring ring♬

At the sudden alert from my terminal, I excused myself and went somewhere private to check it.

But the moment I saw what appeared on the terminal.

‘…Seriously, the world is just messing with me.’

I couldn’t help but inwardly lament about everything in the world.

And for good reason, because of what appeared on the terminal.

And the moment I read it.

-Ring ring♬

[Time Pause]

[Event: Signal Jammer Material Supply]

[The rare metals needed for the signal jammers being prepared for your joint operation with Ambassador Samiya are insufficient.]

[If you don’t find a way to secure the lacking rare metals, the production of enough signal jammers to proceed with the operation will fail.]

Seeing the event message that appeared before my eyes, I had to express all sorts of frustration internally.

‘Ah shit.’

This would be understandable if the Empire was directly involved.

But we only got permission from Artlaia.

The actual implementation is being carried out exclusively by the Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry.

The problem was that we literally had to handle everything ourselves from start to finish.

If it weren’t for that, from the production of signal jammers to ship procurement, movement, and personnel deployment.

Instead of our Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry struggling with all of these tasks…

Signal jammers (Technology and Science Ministry)

Ship support (Defense Ministry)

Additional transport support (Land and Transportation Ministry)

Personnel deployment (Diplomatic Enforcement Ministry)

We could have divided the tasks neatly like this, minimizing the burden on those involved.

But now we’re shouldering everything ourselves.

And now I’m getting whiny messages disguised as event notifications asking me to secure resources.

——————————————

After barely resolving the rare metal supply issue, another problem began to emerge.

“Minister, is this really the best we can do for the size of the signal jammers?”

“That’s right.”

We had managed to reduce the signal jammers from the size of a large commercial building to that of a small car.

But even so, they were still too large, which was becoming a problem.

“Is there an issue?”

I feigned ignorance and showed a puzzled reaction.

“Of course there is, Minister Arto!”

“…Even for us, carrying something like that around is impossible.”

Hearing the Purge Unit members point at the Tico-class signal jammers, I found myself at a loss for words.

According to our rough operation plan, the Purge Unit or Prosnack Marines deployed for the operation would need to keep moving with the signal jammers.

The small ships we got from the 3rd Fleet weren’t for that purpose; they were only meant to transport the unit members to their destination during the infiltration process.

From the Purge Unit members’ perspective, even if it was an order from me whom they absolutely follow.

Carrying a signal jammer the size of a small car but much heavier… was apparently impossible.

So I kept pondering if there was some solution, but…

‘…No matter how much I think about it, I can’t come up with anything.’

After using numerous time pauses to think.

It seemed that an ordinary person like me couldn’t come up with any brilliant ideas beyond this point.

In a half-resigned state, I was about to tell them to just figure something out.

But at that very moment.

“Aseiii… KIYAH!!!”

“Aiya-iya-iya-iya~iya~!”

For some reason, Prosnack Marines wearing only underwear appeared with bizarre sound effects at the place where I and the Purge Unit members were racking our brains.