Ch.60The Unknown World

# Chapter 60: Unknown World

The warp gate demonstration and public broadcast ended in an instant.

In its place, continuous emergency meetings were being held at the imperial palace of the Holy Sebelli Empire regarding this matter.

Of course, in the Sebelli Empire where public opinion was in shambles—to the point where Gestapo-like enforcement agents roamed freely—there was no way such meetings would proceed properly.

“The ambitious warp gate project was actually fake?! Pew pew!”

“That ‘pew pew’ is the sound of gunfire aimed at you.”

“Ah.”

While they were busy identifying and eliminating spies, reactionaries, and leftists who took this opportunity to criticize the warp gate technology…

“Arto.”

“…”

“I’ll handle the aftermath somehow, so go work with Minister Vermut to deal with the gate issue.”

By direct order of our Emperor Artraia…

I visited the Ministry of Technology and Science, which was being battered by foreign media over the gate issue, and said:

“Minister Vermut, don’t you think we should conduct a clear investigation of this newly discovered star system?”

“I’d love to! But the people claiming the gate is a fraud are now even interfering with our research expedition launch!”

Even for a true madman like him, Minister Vermut’s mental state seemed shaken after being treated as a galaxy-wide fraud.

Seeing the minister in such a state, I shrugged nonchalantly and replied:

“Those people have already been dealt with, so Minister Vermut, you just need to focus on research and exploration as I suggested.”

“Y-yes…”

Of course, even if you pave a road for someone to walk on…

It’s useless if the person in question has no intention of running on it.

So I decided to give Minister Vermut, the person in question, a slight push.

“Minister Vermut.”

“Y-yes?”

“For this exploration, the Development Ministry will cover all expenses.”

“…!”

“We’ll dispatch purge unit members for protection, and provide full research funding whenever something new is discovered.”

“What are you waiting for, Minister Arto? Let’s depart immediately!”

Perhaps I pushed his back too hard.

Minister Vermut’s face was filled with a madness I hadn’t seen in a while, and he tried to lift me up like a princess with his mechanical tentacles, almost kidnapping me.

“Wait, I still have work to do, so you’ll have to handle the exploration yourself.”

“Ah right, of course. I got carried away.”

After Minister Vermut barely regained his senses, tossed me onto his sofa, and disappeared outside…

Riel, who had been standing back, approached me sprawled on the sofa and said:

“You’re supposed to give a ‘slight’ push at times like that. Who told you to attach a rocket booster to his back?”

“…”

“You’re truly something else.”

Unable to deny Riel’s words, I ignored them and got up from my seat.

“Now the important thing is to make sure there’s no interference with this project.”

“Your skill at subtly changing the subject keeps improving.”

“…Quiet.”

“Yes, sir.”

After silencing the whining Riel, I emphasized that we had numerous tasks ahead of us.

“Riel, from now on, spread information about this matter to the media, behind-the-scenes lawmakers, and several minister-level officials.”

“What kind of information?”

At Riel’s question, I pondered repeatedly using time pause.

Then, releasing the time pause, I said in a refreshing tone:

“Something along the lines of how this exploration will allow the Empire to secure vast territory and capital without border friction with other countries.”

“Got it.”

“And don’t forget to always prepare an escape route.”

“Of course.”

————————

Another half year passed.

[It has been 14 years since you started playing this game. Excessive gaming may interfere with normal daily life.]

With that precious event message, I was greeting the first day of the new year in my office with Riel.

“It’s been quite a difficult time.”

“You can say that again.”

Other countries spreading disinformation that the gate was a fraud, their spy networks and agents, and other flaming garbage…

Only after completely destroying everything—including some civilian media outlets that crossed the line—did our gate exploration finally begin to make progress.

“…This feels rather strange.”

“What does, Minister?”

When I said this, Riel tilted her head and looked at me as if I was saying something odd.

In response to Riel’s reaction, I pointed at the “research vessel” approaching to pass through the gate on the screen and said:

“How can that possibly be called a ‘research vessel’?”

All the high-end exploration equipment and the Empire’s best technicians and researchers were essential for a “research vessel,” so I could overlook that.

But then there was:

Various defensive armaments (3 battleship-grade main guns, anti-ship missiles, etc.) prepared for any contingency.

Space Marines including purge unit members.

Ultra-high-strength armor plates made of plasteel carbon nano-alloy or whatever, normally used for fortress walls.

And so on.

It was essentially a battleship disguised as a research vessel.

And at my words, Riel made an incredulous expression.

“What?”

“Nothing, I just find it hard to understand who exactly pushed Minister Vermut to make such modifications to a research vessel.”

“Indeed, who could it be?”

“…”

At most, I had merely suggested in passing that it might be good to have minimal armaments since we didn’t know what was there.

‘My, who would do such an evil thing?’

As Riel and I were chatting, the research battleship(?) was shown on screen penetrating the spatial distortion of the gate.

-“3, 2, 1… warp out!”

The research battleship, operating under the assumption that there might be unknown alien species or hostile forces…

-“Energy charging complete for all weapons, all ammunition ready to fire.”

-“Marines and assault forces in each section, prepare for enemy infiltration.”

The ship, which had been preparing for combat since before entering the gate, immediately performed an omnidirectional scan and aimed all weapons in every direction upon exiting.

“The Minister of Defense would love this.”

“…Hmm.”

That old man, the embodiment of military enthusiasm, probably would.

But that wasn’t important right now.

As we continued watching the screen, the research battleship was carefully advancing while maintaining vigilance in all directions when…

-“Wait, something’s strange about the constellations here.”

“Hmm?”

At these sudden words, not just Riel and I…

But Minister Vermut at the communication relay station and everyone watching the screen began to doubt their ears.

Especially Minister Vermut, who understood the significance of those words, grabbed the microphone urgently and pressed the research battleship for communication.

“Is that true?”

-“Yes, the formations of the constellations are different from all those recorded in our Empire and those reported by other countries.”

And that wasn’t the end of the problem.

-“We need to expedite the construction of a forward base.”

This made sense, as they needed a base camp near the gate where the research battleship could be stationed, given that they didn’t know how vast this unidentified universe was.

-“That’s the closest planet.”

-“Let’s assign a temporary code… and build a forward base there.”

The research battleship turned toward the planet closest to the gate.

But as they got closer, even we watching through the screen could tell something was strange about the planet’s condition, not just the research team.

-“Something’s odd about the planet’s state too.”

-“Is it an ocean planet? It’s not uncommon for planets to have surfaces entirely covered in water.”

At first, seeing the surface moving erratically, everyone thought it might be an ocean planet.

But when they got closer and confirmed with scans, exclamations of shock erupted from the research team.

-“What on earth is that?!”

“What’s happening now?”

At this reaction, Minister Vermut at the communication relay expressed his irritation and contacted them…

-“M-Minister Vermut! The entire surface of the planet is… metal, no, made of nanomachines!”

Something I had never seen or heard of before.

No, something that would only appear in sci-fi settings even in this world—a planet made of nanomachines.

The appearance of the Grey Goo scenario sent a powerful shock through the minds of everyone watching the screen.

“Nanomachines? Does this mean the Grey Goo scenario has actually happened on this planet?!”

As if trying to neutralize our shock somewhat, another communication soon came from the research battleship’s research team.

“No, scans show that all nanomachines on the planet’s surface are in a completely deactivated state… It’s essentially like a sea made of metal.”

Nevertheless, it was still an astonishing fact.

-Ding-ding-ding-ding-ding

“Wow, that’s a lot of messages.”

“Ignore them.”

My terminal, which was regarded as belonging to the person who had secretly led this exploration, once again had to suffer from spam messages pouring in from all directions.