Jin believed Reiko was safe, but the sudden explosion had still caught him off guard.
Just as the terrible thought that he might have lost her crossed his mind...
"Father, we are currently returning to base. Everyone is safe."
Reiko’s voice echoed across the bridge of the Adriana.
A collective sigh of relief filled the room.
"It was a close call. It appears the Central Brain intended to take us and the Adriana with it by self-destructing."
"How did you manage to escape?"
"There were five seconds between the detection of the self-destruct sequence and the explosion itself. That was more than enough time to evacuate."
They had utilized one of the battle suit's built-in functions—the emergency transporter—to teleport to the backup Raptor 1 waiting nearby.
"I see. Let's meet back at Hourai Island."
"Understood."
Shortly after, Laojun dispatched a small spaceship to retrieve them, and Reiko and her team safely made their way to Hourai Island.
＊ ＊ ＊
Thirty minutes later, the entire Jin Family was back on Hourai Island. Reiko and the Land squad arrived at roughly the same time.
At least, that was how it appeared, but the return of Pegasus 1 was slightly delayed.
"What happened?" Jin asked Sky 1 as he finally arrived.
"My apologies, Master. After seeing Ojou-sama off, I noticed a small flying object."
"A flying object?"
"Yes. It was a sphere, approximately fifty centimeters in diameter. It ejected from the enemy spaceship and attempted to flee toward Hale."
Hearing that, everything clicked for Jin.
"I see. A messenger craft to deliver data to Hale, then?"
He hadn't been able to understand why the enemy's brain had suddenly charged the Adriana, but if it had been a diversion to allow a craft carrying information to escape, then the maneuver made perfect sense.
"That is what Laojun speculated as well," Sky 1 continued. "I pursued it with Pegasus 1, but I determined that capturing it intact would be impossible under the circumstances, so I shot it down."
Sky 1 apologized once more, explaining that the report was late because the situation had unfolded so rapidly.
"Don't worry about it. In fact, you did a great job."
"I am honored, Master."
Next, Jin turned to praise Reiko.
"You really went through a lot this time, Reiko."
"Not at all, Father. I am simply happy to have been of use to you."
Then he addressed the Land squad.
"Land squad, good work out there."
"It was nothing, Master. The new equipment made the mission quite easy."
"All right, let's hear the full report."
Because they had been inside a barrier, they hadn't been able to communicate with Laojun during the infiltration. Only Reiko and the Land units knew the details of their conversation with the enemy's Central Brain.
"Yes. To begin with..."
Reiko began her explanation.
As she spoke, she used a manacam to transfer the data to Laojun. Laojun would archive the information and conduct an independent analysis.
Reiko’s report confirmed many of their previous suspicions and shed light on several new facts.
"I see. To summarize what we've learned..."
- The Origin Clan was highly individualistic and divided into many factions.
- While the majority migrated to Ars, some factions remained on their home planet, Hale.
- They began coming to this planet 1,108 years ago to harvest and siphon off resources.
- They have attempted to secure resources from other planets as well, but results were poor, making Ars their most efficient source.
- Since the term 'Master' was used in the singular, the mastermind is likely an individual or a single family unit.
- They are a race that naturally avoids conflict, but through their long observation of Ars, the Central Brain learned rudimentary combat.
- Because they lack an affinity for conflict, their strategies and tactics are remarkably primitive.
- They possess the technology to blockade free ether.
- They possess the technology to terraform planetary environments.
"That seems to cover the basics," Jin said, looking around at the gathered group.
Goose spoke up from the circle.
"Jin, tell us what you found out from your investigation of Onogoro Island as well."
"Right. They make extensive use of synthetic materials."
"They don't use biological materials at all?" Saki asked, clearly intrigued.
"Exactly. I thought you'd be interested, Saki. They were actually producing a form of magi-synthetic resin."
Jin gave a brief explanation of the magi-plastic he was currently developing.
"Heh, that sounds fascinating! All right, leave the research and development to me!"
"I figured you'd say that. I'm counting on you, Saki."
"You got it!"
Though it was a bit of a side project, the matter was settled—Saki would take the lead on the plastic research.
"Also, for the time being, the mechanics of ether transfer remain a mystery," Jin continued. "It doesn't seem like the residents of Onogoro Island have any intention of revealing that secret either."
"Hmm... but for now, we don't strictly need it," Reinhard noted. Now that Onogoro Island and the mobile base had been neutralized, it was no longer an urgent problem.
"Actually... I think I might have an idea about that, Onii-chan."
"What!?"
"What did you just say?"
Everyone turned to look at Hanna after her sudden interjection.
"Well, about ether transfer, right?"
"Y-yes..."
"You see, movement through a Warp Gate basically works by pulling on the 'center of gravity' of the object being transferred, and then everything else follows it through."
"..."
Jin found himself nodding at Hanna's logic. "That's certainly true..."
"Hanna-chan, that’s brilliant," Elsa added, her voice full of admiration.
"So, in the case of ether transfer, if free ether is made of particles, I think a single 'particle' could be teleported that way, right?"
"..."
The rest of the group sat in silence, captivated by Hanna's explanation.
"To use a different example, if you wanted to transfer water, I think if you were to submerge the entire Warp Gate in water, the receiving gate would always be full of water too."
"I... haven't tried that before." Jin had tested running pipes through gates, but the simple elegance of Hanna's idea startled him.
"One more thing. I think it would help if you focused on what the gate recognizes in order to trigger the teleportation process."
"I understand. Thank you, Hanna."
Thanks to Hanna’s insight, a new method was already forming in Jin's mind.
"I'm just glad I could help you, Onii-chan," Hanna said, nodding with a beaming smile.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Anyway, if you have any other minor questions, please ask Laojun."
"Everyone, I am managing the consolidated data, so please feel free to inquire at any time," Laojun added.
"But more than anything else," Jin said, his voice turning serious, "what concerns me is this 'mastermind'."
"The mastermind, huh..." Reinhard crossed his arms, his expression growing somber.
"When you look at their methods so far, a certain level of immaturity keeps peeking through. It feels... childish."
Having spent years looking after children at the orphanage, Jin recognized certain patterns, but in this case, the immaturity was obvious to everyone.
"Or perhaps they are physically an adult but mentally still a child," Jin suggested.
"That's a very real possibility," Vivienne agreed.
"Mental maturity is heavily influenced by one's environment, after all," Toa added, speaking from his perspective as a parent.
"In any case," Jin concluded, "I don't think we'll be able to settle this for good until we eventually make the trip to Hale."
"That is true."
"Yes, it seems inevitable."
"It's worrying, though."
Regarding an expedition to Hale, the group—however reluctantly—recognized that it would one day be necessary.