Ch.44Terraforming (1)

# Chapter 44: Terraforming (1)

A massive storm blowing over the horizon, grinding away all the irregularities on the surface.

A bizarre cliff formation filled with strange rock formations created by such storms.

An atmosphere filled with all kinds of toxic gases, with barely enough oxygen for humans to breathe.

-Tssssss…

A temperature so extreme that a piece of bacon, taken out as an experiment, instantly dried up and twisted.

And an atmospheric layer so thick that it scatters the light of the star, maintaining that temperature.

Watching all this scenery before my eyes, a thought suddenly occurred to me.

In this world where Earth hasn’t been discovered yet, why do they call terraforming “terraforming”?

And that’s not the only thing I could nitpick about.

‘Like using the metric system, or using the same stellar system names that Earth established in reality.’

Couldn’t I nitpick about all sorts of things if I wanted to?

Such thoughts filled my mind, but…

[Event: The Fourth Wall]

[Too much nitpicking about the game is not good for your mental health.]

‘…What.’

I couldn’t hide my embarrassment as the status window naturally called me out.

“M-Minister, where exactly… are we…?”

And simultaneously, hearing Gaia’s voice beside me, I put aside my thoughts and spoke confidently.

“Welcome to the middle of nowhere.”

“Pardon?”

“You’ve been kidnapped along with me.”

“What?”

—————————–

Rewinding time a bit, a few days ago.

“I understand you want to utilize Gaia, but where do you plan to use her?”

“That part definitely needs more consideration.”

Having successfully cleared the pedophilia suspicions from Arthraia, I was pondering where to utilize Gaia’s terraforming abilities.

“Honestly, we don’t really need to use it in our mother star system.”

“Same with Saunia, which has one of the rarest high-quality natural environments in this universe, comparable to our mother star system.”

And in the process, we began selecting candidate sites for terraforming tests.

“How about this one? It’s one of the latest pieces of information received from the research vessel.”

“Hmm… what was thought to be a gas giant is actually a massive rocky planet.”

It was strangely pleasant to see an event from the original game pop up here.

“It’s fine, but it seems too large for the current Gaia to handle.”

If this were the original game, we could just throw Gaia onto the planet and terraforming would begin immediately regardless of size.

“…”

“Hmm, is that so?”

Unfortunately, this was reality, and the Gaia we picked up had been weakened more than expected due to whatever Prosnack had done to her.

“You know that Gaia’s current condition isn’t exactly great.”

“Then what would be the best place?”

“I think… instead of full-fledged planets, how about using a planetary satellite?”

“A satellite?”

After pondering for a moment at my words, Arthraia eventually shook her head and said:

“Recently, large-scale mining operation plants are being built on satellites near the capital star system, so it wouldn’t be good for terraforming work.”

“Ah, that project has already started?”

After eliminating candidate sites with timing issues, situational mismatches, and other defects in this manner,

We finally succeeded in finding a place that met all conditions.

“The Meregaaran system, located in the southern part of the Empire… near Miss-Fel’s territory.”

“It’s such a barren place that there aren’t even colonies for resource extraction, and it’s not connected to nearby trade routes.”

“Hmm.”

“It’s also quite far from the capital Kesada system, so rumors won’t spread easily.”

“Not bad. Then we could also control information, presenting it as the discovery of a hidden paradise planet.”

A remote border far from the capital, not connected to nearby trade routes, and with no people due to the lack of resources.

“And even the outpost marking the system as our territory runs autonomously without any permanent personnel.”

“Even better.”

It was like how nations on Earth in my previous life claimed resource-less reefs to expand their territorial waters.

‘In cases like this, it’s similar to the game.’

With such thoughts, after selecting the detailed region of the candidate site, we finally reached a conclusion:

“We’ll go with this one.”

“Meregaaran III, its satellite Medusa.”

Considering Gaia’s condition, we decided to terraform the satellite Medusa, which was at least large enough to be useful for the Empire.

“Then Arto, I’ll leave it to you?”

“…?”

But why entrust the front-line command to me?

———————-

And back to the present.

“This place is truly desolate.”

“Indeed it is.”

Due to the murderous intensity of the storm, we had retreated inside the ship to spend some time.

‘I didn’t expect this.’

In the game, you just had to throw Gaia somewhere, and everything would be handled automatically without worrying about nature or climate.

But when it became reality, there were constantly emerging aspects that needed attention…

‘This is why I should be using subordinates!’

It was a moment when I freshly realized why the high-ranking officials in my previous life disliked getting directly involved in anything.

“For the Minister to come personally, whatever this mission is, it must be extremely important.”

“It’s been so long since I’ve seen the Minister…”

“Hmm.”

But if we just stayed idle here, there was no telling when our “fans” might attack us.

I decided to call in the research team waiting on board to ask when this storm would end.

“When do you expect this storm to end?”

“Well, to be precise, in 10…”

“10? You mean 10 days?”

“…9, 8, 7…”

“Oh.”

As soon as I called the research team, the storm miraculously subsided.

“Good, then let’s start the test right away.”

“Yes, yes!”

————————

But as they say, things rarely go well from the start.

[Event: Gaia Terraforming Test]

[Gaia, the humanoid terraforming weapon obtained as a reward from Prosnack.]

[To test her abilities, you have come to a distant wasteland to conduct tests.]

[During the terraforming test, success occurs at random probabilities.]

[Warning! There is a low chance that terraforming may become impossible for this planet!]

“Nnngh…!”

“Gaia, that’s enough for now.”

“J-just a moment… I think I can do it if I try a little more…!”

Gaia, who had instantly created a massive tree from a pot of ordinary soil before, was now unable to properly transform even the soil right in front of her on this planet.

“Let’s take a break for now. Perhaps you’re still adapting to the unfamiliar environment.”

“Wow, if you showed me even a tenth of that concern, how would that be?”

“You’re already getting plenty.”

With Gaia straining without any results, and another storm approaching from beyond the horizon,

We decided to return to the ship and wait for the storm to pass.

“Uuugh… I’m sorry, it’s because I’m inadequate…”

‘Was she always like this?’

And while waiting, I also took on the role of encouraging the dejected Gaia.

“Don’t worry too much. Everyone makes mistakes at first.”

“That’s right, that’s right. Even the Minister made a huge mistake at first, and it took so much effort to fix—mmph!”

“It seems our Riel’s brain circuits are starting to malfunction.”

While also disciplining Riel who spoke out of turn, I saw a glimmer of light appear on Gaia’s previously dejected face.

And not long after, once the storm subsided again:

“Gaia, you can do it, right?”

“Yes… I’ll do my best!”

“Fighting!”

We took Gaia outside again, chose a suitable flat area, and decided to proceed with the work there.

“Nnnngh!!!”

And Gaia also put forth her best effort to meet our expectations, but…

“Minister, no anomalies have been detected so far.”

“After examining the soil nutrient situation and atmospheric density, there are no changes from before.”

Upon hearing the reports from the research team that came with us, I was about to show my disappointment, but…

“…!”

Seeing the indescribable despair on Gaia’s face, I simply couldn’t.

‘…This damn random probability.’

Of course, that doesn’t mean I can’t be upset with Gaia.

I freely hurled curses at the system that implemented such an excessive individual probability application.