The morning of the 15th dawned clear.
Everyone on board was gathered in the Edo’s dining hall.
“Normally, we would be heading to Alcyone Island right about now,” Jin said, explaining the information he had just received this morning to the group. “I only just heard about it myself, so I don’t know the full details yet.”
With that preamble, he prompted for the briefing. “Laojun, please give us a detailed explanation.”
『Yes, My Lord....Everyone, last night, the Land squads conducted an investigation of Alcyone Island, where they discovered an object of interest. It is this.』
An image was projected onto the magi-screen, and the group stared wide-eyed. To them, it looked like nothing more than an ordinary pebble.
“The issue is ‘what it is’ rather than how it looks, right?” Jin asked.
『Yes, My Lord. This is, with over a 99 percent probability, an artificial substance.』
Shock spread across everyone’s faces. An artificial object left behind on an island thought to be untouched by human hands—what could that possibly mean?
“Do you have any idea what the material is?”
『No. However, it is certain that this is a mineral that has undergone molecular compression.』
“Molecular compression, huh...”
Jin also used a special manufacturing process to create hyper-adamantite. While the results varied depending on the conditions, it was typically a super-metal with a compression ratio of 10 and a specific gravity of about 200. Its strength was twenty times that of standard adamantite.
“Does that mean there is someone else who possesses that technology—or someone who once did...?”
“Another mystery has surfaced,” Goose muttered, having remained silent until then.
“You’ve recovered the substance, haven’t you?” Saki asked. Currently enthusiastic about material research, she had been analyzing various substances alongside Laojun, so this was a fascinating sample for her.
『Yes. It is currently being stored aboard the Katsura.』
“Was there anything else?” Jin asked once more.
『No, that is all.』
“I see...”
It wasn't particularly a threat, and the substance had already been recovered. However, Jin felt hesitant about taking this group onto Alcyone Island after learning this.
“We won’t be landing on Alcyone Island, but I’ve thought of a different, interesting plan,” Jin said. He wanted this honeymoon to end on a high note, and he had devised a specific project for that purpose. “An underwater tour.”
“Whoa, amazing!”
Hanna pressed her face against the window and cried out in wonder.
They were inside the Shachi, the submersible Jin had crafted. As it was primarily an eight-seater, the cabin felt a bit cramped with Edgar at the controls, along with Jin, Elsa, Hanna, Saki, Goose, Vivienne, Marcia, Mine, Martha, Stearena, Toa, and Reiko.
However, true to Jin’s engineering style, the design was generous; it was built to accommodate up to fifteen people in an emergency, so the group was able to ride in total safety. For Jin, maintaining a safety factor of at least two was common practice.
This was further evidenced by the Shachi’s maximum load capacity of two tons. Of course, one of the reasons for setting such a high value was the future goal of developing seabed resources.
The southeastern side of the Pleiades Archipelago was quite deep. The seabed, which followed a gentle slope near the coast, dropped off at a sharp angle once past the islands. This made it the perfect location for an underwater tour.
Inside the Shachi, the issue of humidity had been completely resolved, so there was no condensation on the glass. The change in atmospheric pressure was minute, and the cabin was entirely free from the risk of oxygen deficiency.
“Wah, a funny-looking fish!”
Hanna was the only one shouting, but the others were clearly just as thrilled internally. They all stared intently out the windows, mesmerized by the view.
Their current depth was about ten meters below the surface. Because the seawater was so clear, sunlight reached down in abundance, illuminating the swimming fish.
“Oh, a pretty one!”
A school of colorful tropical fish darted past and vanished behind the shadows of some rocks.
“Mm, this is quite fun,” Saki muttered, her face stuck in a permanent grin.
“Looking at the underwater world like this, it feels like another realm entirely... No, I suppose the land and the sea are indeed separate worlds,” Goose said. Despite his calm tone, his eyes were shining with curiosity.
“It’s a different view than peeking in from the surface... Oh, that rock has an interesting shape,” Toa added, looking deeply intrigued.
“You can’t see things like this with skin-diving. Jin, you really are amazing,” Marcia said with a shrug of admiration.
“I wonder if we can collect various materials here? There must be so many resources still sleeping on the seabed,” Stearena mused.
“This view is legendary... It’s difficult to even put into words,” Vivienne whispered, her voice tinged with excitement.
“Hah, I feel like my lifespan is being extended just by being around Jin’s inventions,” Martha said happily.
“Yeah! Grandma, you have to live a long time!” Hanna replied, flashing a dazzling smile.
“Jin-sama’s power truly exceeds the human norm...” Mine said, caught between exasperation and awe.
Meanwhile, Jin and Elsa sat in the very back, leaning close to one another as they gazed out the window together.
“Oh, a big fish!”
“Eh?”
At Hanna’s shout, everyone looked toward the starboard bow to see a slender fish over ten meters long heading toward them.
“A D-Death Sea Serpent?!” Saki’s face went pale, but Jin quickly corrected her.
“That’s not a Death Sea Serpent. Look at the face.”
Just as he said, the head of the approaching fish was small, and its mouth was small to match.
“I think it’s a member of the eel family.”
“Ah, now that you mention it, it does look like one.”
“It’s massive, though.”
In the Great Shama Marshland of the Klein Kingdom, dragonic eels only grew to about three meters in length, making this specimen truly exceptional.
“We have a barrier and weapons. Even if there were ten or twenty Death Sea Serpents, we’d have nothing to worry about.”
At Jin’s words, Saki finally relaxed. “Only Jin would say ‘ten or twenty’ instead of ‘one or two.’”
The giant eel swam past the starboard side of the Shachi without incident.
“Oh, another big fish!” Hanna cried out again.
“...A sunfish?” Jin let the words slip out in surprise.
A school of about ten giant fish resembling sunfish were drifting together. They appeared placid, showing no reaction even as the Shachi approached. They simply continued to swim leisurely as the submersible passed them by.
“There certainly are many kinds of fish out here.”
“Covering every living creature in the world would probably be impossible, even if you spent a lifetime on it,” Goose said pensively.
“But you can strive toward a goal. That is the purpose of life.”
These were the words the Orphanage Director had told Jin many times when he was on the verge of giving up in his youth.
“The purpose of life is to strive, huh? I see.”
“Hehe, those are good words.”
The Shachi continued its slow, peaceful progress beneath the surface of the blue sea.