By January 3, 3459, the Vulcan had reached the coordinates where Planet Hale was expected to be. The journey had been slow, as they had proceeded with extreme caution.
[This is the Vulcan. We are scheduled to arrive at the target position in six hours.]
"Hourai Island, Laojun here. Acknowledged. Continue your approach."
The communication was transmitted through the relay bases.
Back on Hourai Island, the guests who had stayed over—Hanna, Sion, Marikka, Saki, Goose, and Vivienne—had all returned home. Elsa had also left for a visit to her family's house. Jin would have liked to accompany her—indeed, he felt he should have—but the situation with Hale demanded he stay behind.
"Hmm. We're probably about three hundred million kilometers apart, right?"
"If we are talking about the distance between Hale and Ars, that is correct," Laojun replied.
Since the orbital radius was approximately 150 million kilometers, Ars and Hale were currently separated by a distance equal to the diameter of their orbits.
"But there’s no lag in the communication, is there?"
"Correct. As we hypothesized during our previous communications with Uni, it is likely that ether waves travel through subspace or hyperspace."
"It's the only explanation that makes sense. In this world... or rather, in this universe, the speed of light is three hundred thousand kilometers per second, isn't it?"
"I cannot say for certain, as we have not measured it. It is possible that the speed of light here is much, much faster."
"Ah, I see..."
$E=mc^2$. It was the famous equation derived from Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity. If $m$ was mass and $c$ was the speed of light, there was a possibility that the speed of light in this world—meaning this entire universe—was faster than the one in the world containing Earth.
"Since magic exists, I can't rule that out."
Considering how efficiently free ether could be converted into energy, it was possible that the speed of light, $c$, was as high as three billion kilometers per second. At the very least, there was no perceptible time lag when communicating with a location three hundred million kilometers away.
"Let's set that physics problem aside for another time. We need to deal with the immediate issues first."
Jin wasn't versatile enough to solve multiple complex problems in parallel. Moreover, the direction they needed to take for this particular challenge remained an unknown variable.
Five hours passed, and Planet Hale finally loomed ahead of the Vulcan.
[No barriers of any kind can be confirmed.]
The barrier they had expected to find was missing. Whether the initial information had been wrong or circumstances had simply changed remained to be seen.
Hale's external appearance was strikingly similar to Mars, the fourth planet of the solar system. It was a world of reddish-brown and pale green land, with white patches of snow or ice at the poles. There were areas that appeared to be oceans, but they only covered about twenty percent of the surface. Greenery was sparse, clinging to the land in pitifully small patches.
"It looks... quite desolate."
"Yes, My Lord. I expected it to be in decline, but I did not imagine it would be to this extent."
Even so, Laojun thought the surface might be unexpectedly hospitable. He ordered the use of the Peeping Telescope, also known as the Peeper.
"It's also concerning that the barrier is missing."
The pale green areas were likely grasslands, scattered around the equator and the regions near the tropics.
"No man-made objects are visible from this distance, either."
"True. Let's see what the Peeper footage shows us."
The Vulcan approached until Hale could be observed clearly with the naked eye. There were still no signs of barriers or shields, and no movement had been detected on the surface so far.
[We will begin by orbiting the planet to observe the surface. Simultaneously, we will use the magi-detector and the Ether Analyzer to probe for any free ether activity.]
After Cosmos 501 issued the orders, she began a thorough check of the ship's systems.
"My Lord, the information has been refreshed."
"Oh, really?"
Jin had been taking a break, as staying in the command room indefinitely was impractical, but he returned immediately upon hearing from Laojun.
"The Vulcan has completed one full orbit of Hale. As suspected, we have confirmed no conspicuous activity."
"I see..."
"We are receiving the visual data now."
The footage provided a clear view of the planetary surface.
"...It's all weathered," Jin murmured.
"It appears so. For buildings to deteriorate to this degree, we must be looking at a timescale of at least a thousand years."
"If I remember correctly, the population split into the migration faction and the remaining faction. Then the remaining faction split into the Return to Nature and reclusive factions, right?"
"That is correct. It would seem none of the remaining faction are left..."
"Wait, then where did the Disaster and the Beherrscher devices come from?"
"That remains a mystery. We must gather more information to solve it."
"Hmm..." Jin crossed his arms, deep in thought. "What about the possibility that they moved underground?"
"Yes, My Lord. We cannot rule that out. Once the surface exploration is complete, I believe we should search for subterranean facilities."
"Right."
Jin fell silent, staring at the landscape of Hale projected onto the magi-screen. It was mostly wasteland, though there were occasional grasslands with short grass and sparse shrubs.
"It looks like a very dry environment."
"Yes, My Lord. The oceans are quite small. Perhaps because it is an old planet?"
"I wouldn't know..."
Jin knew nothing about the life cycles of planets. As the footage continued to roll, he noted that there were no jagged peaks; every mountain was rounded and worn.
"Given the extent of the erosion, it's likely an old planet," Laojun remarked.
"True."
Or perhaps they had simply stripped the planet of its resources.
"Wait, what's that?"
Something had glinted.
"Tell the Vulcan to magnify that area."
"Understood."
The image zoomed in.
"...A transparent dome?"
"It is shattered, but it appears so."
Jin wondered if it was a dome made of cubic zirconia, similar to the resource found in the demon territory.
"Finally, a trace of civilization."
"Yes. We shall focus our search on the surrounding area."
The site was a plateau region near the equator. Likely due to the presence of slightly higher mountains to the north, clouds formed there and rain fell with some frequency, allowing the grasslands to flourish. They discovered three more structures that looked like ruined domes.
"Maybe a few houses clustered together. Members of the same faction, perhaps..."
The Vulcan continued its investigation of other regions. Jin stepped away periodically for meals and rest, but after twelve hours, the ship had completed its primary surface observation of Planet Hale.
"It appears not a single Halean remains," Laojun concluded.
"Yeah... It's looking that way. We'll have to see what the sub-surface scan turns up, but I'm not holding my breath."
"Even so, the probability is not zero. The Vulcan will now begin investigating the movement of free ether within the planet's interior."