Ch.351Gravity Bomb (9)

7th dimension, space of the outer gods.

“Tsk.”

Queen Aurore clicked her tongue.

‘As expected, quite extraordinary for a lower life form.’

The plan to assassinate Seti before Eidel appeared had come to nothing. Even after deploying so many monsters, it was useless.

But.

This was about half intended.

‘Now that I’ve threatened his younger sister, they won’t be separated anymore.’

Eidel von Rheinland.

And Seti von Rheinland.

It was an opportunity to catch two rabbits at once.

And that wasn’t all.

‘I’ve already achieved my strategic objective.’

A considerable number of scientists and soldiers had already died. About 40% of the southern research facility had been destroyed. The damage the Queen had inflicted on the Federation was beyond imagination.

‘This will slow down his research.’

She had bought time.

The Queen smiled coldly.

The war had only just begun.

***

After Seti’s near-death experience, I got an earful from our parents.

“Please, she’s your only sister.”

It was more of a request than a scolding. A request to take good care of my sister.

So that’s what I decided to do.

Since that day, Seti and I have been inseparable.

“I can’t trust you at all.”

“Look who’s talking.”

Seti turned her head sharply. She rotated her injured ankle in circles.

“I wonder if it’s healed yet?”

“You’ll reopen your wound if you keep doing that.”

“It’s been healed for ages.”

Tap, tap.

Seti jumped lightly. Her body bounced up like a rubber ball.

“Good, it’s all healed.”

“Don’t overdo it.”

“I’m not overdoing it. Overdoing things is my stock in trade.”

Stock, huh.

That damned economy was the problem. After the invasion of the outer gods, the Federation was facing a depression that made the Great Depression look mild in comparison.

Companies were going bankrupt one after another, and unemployment was increasing exponentially.

People who had nowhere to go either survived on government food rations, joined religious orders, or if even that was difficult, became thieves.

It was that much of a disaster.

The government even called the previous incident by this name:

“Outbreak.”

Literally meaning a sudden disaster. Seti sighed.

“When will this end?”

“When the research is done. So give me research funds.”

“I’ll give you everything I have, so hurry up and make that graviton bomb!”

“Is that as easy as you make it sound? Coordinating different opinions, sourcing materials, testing for errors, pinpointing black hole locations—all these things take time.”

“Hmm.”

This was when it started. My sister began meddling.

Seti followed me everywhere I went, asking what this was and what that was, offering all kinds of unsolicited advice.

At first, I thought it was just simple mischief. What would someone who wasn’t in science or government know about the project? It was annoying, so I just gave brief answers.

But.

Something unexpected happened.

“Hey, you stupid brother.”

“Hm?”

“Your organizational chart is so terrible that it’s slowing down your work. You’re working hard on research but using an outdated communication system?”

“Then what? How would you do it?”

“Wait. Let me reorganize it for you.”

Seti restructured the graviton bomb project’s workflow and design from conceptual design onward.

“See, this is much more efficient.”

“…Oh.”

She kept what was necessary and removed what was unnecessary. The process was exquisite. I wondered why I hadn’t thought of it myself.

That wasn’t all.

“The approval process is delayed because of the time needed for communication between departments. If we use the constellation network that our company operates, we could communicate instantly.”

She showed me ways to solve in one second what would have taken hours.

“You need this much just to build one turret? Let’s see… Ah! We have a satellite we acquired a while back, we can use that.”

She even personally procured materials needed for production.

“Wow, seeing this in person, I can tell it’s going to be profitable! Black hole power generation following nuclear fusion and constellation power.”

She also accompanied me around research facilities, encouraging investment from other entrepreneurs.

“This too. It would be useful in many ways.”

Every time Seti opened her mouth, the stock market stirred. Black hole-related stocks and stocks themed around me soared. A rare phenomenon in the current recession.

Surprisingly.

Seti had that much influence.

She once called me a walking circuit breaker, but she herself was acting no differently than a market manipulator.

Well, all’s well that ends well.

But.

“Why couldn’t the government officials do this?”

“Because they’re civil servants.”

“Ah.”

“Just kidding. You need business acumen to create a structure like this.”

What a thoughtful sister. I never expected she could help in this way.

“What about Professor Feynman?”

“He’s still in intensive care.”

The faculty of Stellarium Academy suffered heavy casualties. Some had passed away, and many survivors were injured.

Essentially, I was the only one unharmed in the physics department.

A sudden, great tragedy.

I didn’t even feel sad.

I just wanted to push it all away.

And this was a sentiment shared by the entire research facility.

With support from companies led by Seti, the remaining three turrets were completed. The money spent on this amounted to 4 quadrillion credits.

The Rheinland family contributed a significant amount of research funds. Almost the entire family fortune was gone.

In other words.

The Rheinland family is now destitute.

Not just my parents, but the entire council of elders contacted me in shock.

[What on earth is going on?]

“The family fortune? I diverted it to make the graviton bomb.”

[Graviton bomb?]

“Yes.”

[Diverted?]

“Yes.”

It was the only way to defeat the outer gods.

[Listen here, no matter what, how could you use all that money without consulting the council, and in less than two weeks at that! Do you think that makes any sense…!]

“I’m hanging up now.”

Click.

This put me at odds with the family elders.

I don’t regret it.

The crime of trying to harm my sister. The crime of reducing the professors to such a state. The crime of making those around me suffer and bringing countless tragedies to humanity.

To create the hammer of justice to punish those crimes, a great price had to be paid.

“Brother, will you be okay?”

“I’ll be fine.”

I patted Seti’s head.

“Is money more important than family?”

Then I headed to Stellarium’s underground laboratory with my sister.

Eight hundred meters underground.

The completed graviton bomb, dimensional gate, and turrets were coiled together. Omega-class inspectors and core researchers were also frequently seen.

Graviton Bomb Research Headquarters.

A new research facility built at a cost of hundreds of trillions. Protected by a powerful Aether field, it was the pinnacle of human intellect, unapproachable by outer gods or even incarnate bodies.

Here, I could meet familiar faces.

“Welton, Mathers.”

“Urrrgh.”

“My friends.”

Welton and Mathers groaned like zombies when they saw me. Dark circles were clearly visible under their eyes.

Welton grinned and extended his hand.

“Long time no see, Professor.”

I took his hand and said,

“How’s life as a prospective graduate student?”

“No. Yes. No.”

“I heard you and Mathers were researching stabilization devices for pron tanks in the lab…”

“Don’t even mention it. I was hospitalized while researching that.”

Mathers and Welton showed me their hands as if by agreement. Children’s bandages with penguin characters were attached. Traces of IV drips.

“Where’s Mezulen?”

“In the temporary hospital now.”

“Is she unwell?”

“She just collapsed from overwork… *sob*!”

Welton took out a handkerchief and wiped his tears. Mathers clicked his tongue and pointed toward the infirmary. I went with the two of them to visit Mezulen.

Mezulen had collapsed from exhaustion. She had two IV drips, one in each arm. Her face was sunken like a valley.

[Graduate student in Xenobiology, Mezulen Hueritia. Sleeping here. (Do not wake.)]

“They say she hasn’t had proper sleep in two months.”

“Poor thing. Of all people, she had to meet a workaholic.”

I put down a get-well gift. A flower and a paper were on the side table. Looking at the paper, I saw it was a thesis with Mezulen as the first author.

[Pron-Aether Refinement Method Using Crystal Penetration Reaction]

The research done by Welton and Mathers, and the research done by Mezulen.

Compared to the grand scheme of the graviton bomb, they seemed insignificant.

But those small pieces came together to complete the puzzle.

“Professor! Professor Rheinland!”

Civil servants in uniform rushed in breathlessly. One of them was my handler, Mr. Sullivan.

“What’s the matter?”

“We have good news and bad news. Which would you like to hear first?”

“The bad news first.”

“Major invasions have begun from three directions: east, south, and west. The first defense lines in the east and west have been breached. The military has also sent an urgent report that the Queen is targeting this place again.”

“…And the good news?”

“It’s complete.”

“…”

I turned my gaze. Welton and Mathers’ eyes followed mine.

Suddenly, Seti took my hand. She raised her head. Her golden eyes, resembling mine, burned like flames, urging a declaration.

“Brother.”

Send those monsters.

Back to where they belong.

I held my sister’s hand firmly and moved forward. As we moved toward the main research sector, more people joined us.

Soldiers and doctors, scientists and engineers, field technicians and civil servants, constellations and androids.

And.

Even outer gods.

Everyone was here, including Rustila and Zernya, Ireh and Sonia, Cartesia, Seti, other colleagues, and professors.

“We’re going straight to the test operation!”

Boom.

A thunderous sound echoed.

The ground split open, revealing a massive turret.

On top of the turret were dimensional converters, phase manipulators, and the blood and sweat of countless researchers.

That wasn’t all.

Rumble!

A ring-shaped turret several kilometers in size slowly rotated.

Right now.

The planet Stellarium itself was one massive anti-outer god weapon.

The ground split and the Aether layer was isolated, revealing the sky. For the launch, the ground safety devices had to be removed first to minimize errors caused by interference.

Naturally.

The graviton cannon was most vulnerable at this moment.

“Get ready.”

Click.

The inspectors took their positions.

[“…So this is where you were.”]

Swish.

Seeds fell from the sky.

We all looked up. Darwin’s Legion monsters were falling. Incarnate bodies and manifested outer gods were also visible.

And at the center.

“The Queen has arrived.”

Queen Aurore was there.

“Eidel von Rheinland, let us settle this.”

The Queen twisted her lips and descended vertically.

I too snorted.

Today.

Either humanity will perish, or the Queen will die.

One or the other.