October 22nd, 8:00 AM, Hourai Island Time.
Jin, Reiko, Elsa, Edgar, Saki, Goose, and Vivienne were just about to board the Konron 3 when an unexpected interruption occurred.
"My Lord, I have an emergency report."
Laojun’s voice rang out across the plaza in front of the laboratory.
"That's unusual," Jin replied, stopping in his tracks. "What’s happened?"
"Yes, My Lord. A typhoon has formed near 100 degrees west longitude and 20 degrees south latitude."
"A typhoon?"
Since arriving in this world, it was the first time Jin had heard that word.
"Yes. I used the term 'typhoon' for the sake of clarity, but it is a massive low-pressure system accompanied by a severe storm zone. It is currently moving northeast at twenty kilometers per hour."
"Wait a second."
Jin dug through his limited knowledge of meteorology. Generally, low-pressure systems move from low-latitude regions toward high-latitude regions. A tropical cyclone forming south of the equator should naturally track toward the South Pole.
"...Which means it should be heading south, right?"
"Indeed, My Lord. This is clearly an instance of abnormal weather."
"I see..."
Since the information came directly from the Watcher satellite, there was no room for error.
"Does this sort of thing happen often in this world?" Jin asked.
"I cannot say. We have almost no historical observation data to reference."
"Right..."
Jin thought for a moment and then turned to Elsa, Saki, Goose, and Vivienne. "I'm concerned about this. Would you mind if we postponed our departure for a bit?"
"Mhm," Elsa nodded.
"I agree. I'm curious about this too," Saki added.
"Yes. I’ve never heard of such a thing either," Vivienne said.
"Of course. Let’s look into it, Jin," Goose finished.
With no objections from Reiko or Edgar, the group headed straight to the command room.
"This is the image of the clouds."
The magi-screen displayed a massive, swirling mass of clouds.
"Clockwise... I see."
On Earth, low-pressure systems rotate counter-clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere. This system followed the Southern Hemisphere rule.
"Then why is it moving north?"
"I cannot say for certain yet. However, the far more pressing issue is that if it maintains this course, it will likely make landfall in the Shouro Empire."
Laojun displayed the current path alongside the projected trajectory. Indeed, the Shouro Empire lay directly in the storm's path.
"The maximum instantaneous wind speed is estimated at 150 meters per second. This is a disaster-class event."
"Wait a minute. 150 meters at that scale!?"
"Yes. That is our deduction based on the movement of the surrounding cloud layers."
"..."
"Jin, as far as I know, even a 'strong wind' usually only reaches about 15 meters per second," Goose noted, his face pale.
A book authored by the Magus contained brief entries regarding meteorology. According to those records, Wind Force 7—or 'Strong Wind'—was described as a state where 'whole trees are in motion and inconvenience is felt when walking against the wind,' equating to a wind speed of 13.9 to 17.1 meters per second.
Perhaps because the world was relatively peaceful or because Goose had lived far inland, but the discrepancy between history and this current threat was staggering.
"The swells are also growing significantly. It is extremely dangerous for small vessels," Laojun added.
Hourai Island's fleet had already withdrawn, but Jin worried for the local residents and their fishing boats.
"Jin, from what I’ve seen, the homes of commoners wouldn't stand a chance against a storm like that," Goose said grimly.
"Even a castle... I wonder if one could withstand 150 meters per second..."
Jin recalled a weather radar dome that used to sit atop Mt. Fuji in his old world. He remembered hearing that it was designed to withstand 100 meters per second. A storm 1.5 times stronger than that was beyond imagination. A human being would be blown away like a leaf.
"Laojun, how long until it starts affecting the Shouro Empire?"
"Approximately one day, My Lord."
"One day, huh..."
An unprecedented disaster was looming.
"Jin, are you saying we can do something about it!?" Goose asked, sounding skeptical.
Whether he could truly halt the fury of nature was something even Jin didn't know. However...
"At the very least, if we don't do something, the consequences will be catastrophic," Jin said firmly.
"But..."
A typhoon's energy was said to be thousands of times that of a nuclear bomb—on par with the annual power generation of modern Japan. He wondered if it was even possible to stop such a thing.
"Jin-nii, what are we going to do...?" Elsa asked, her expression filled with anxiety.
"In principle, we have to lower the seawater temperature," Jin explained.
Typhoons form in regions with high seawater temperatures and rapidly lose strength when the supply of water vapor is cut off. That was the extent of Jin's technical knowledge on the matter.
"Then, should we use Freeze? Or Absolute Zero?"
"We probably don't need Absolute Zero. Freeze should be sufficient."
Freeze was a spell that lowered temperatures to minus 70 degrees Celsius, while Absolute Zero dropped them to the theoretical limit of zero Kelvin.
"But the area is massive... I don't know how effective it will be. Still, we have no choice but to try."
Jin quickly formulated a plan of action.
"Laojun, deploy 500 units from the Mermaid unit."
"Understood."
Assuming the conditions underwater would remain relatively calm, Jin ordered the deployment.
"I’ll design the cooling magic tools in the meantime. Just get them to the site for now."
They were sent to the nearest sea area via the transporter, from where they would approach the storm's center by swimming underwater. The coordinates provided by the Watcher made the destination easy to pinpoint.
While the golems moved into position, Jin began reviewing his countermeasures.
"I don't think we need to go all the way down to minus 70 degrees, but I have no idea what temperature would actually be effective..."
"Father, is this more troublesome than the long-period planet?"
Seeing Jin's troubled expression, Reiko spoke up.
"In terms of the lack of time, it's definitely more troublesome," Jin admitted. Being unable to secure a proper preparation period was a massive disadvantage.
"Then what is our first step?"
"First, we'll start by stirring the seawater."
Jin recalled a television program explaining that when high waves stir the ocean, mixing the warm surface water with the cold deep-sea water, evaporation is suppressed and the typhoon weakens. He worried that if he cooled the sea too abruptly, it might cause unexpected ecological damage elsewhere.
"My Lord, Mermaid units 501 through 1000 have arrived near the site at a depth of 30 meters."
"What’s the water temperature?"
"One moment... The report is in. It is 30 degrees Celsius at the surface and 18 degrees Celsius at a depth of 30 meters."
"That’s quite a significant temperature gradient... All right, have them stir the sea using Water Stream."
"Understood."
And so, the Abnormal Typhoon Countermeasure Operation began.