The Markitus soaring fleet began to scatter, but Laojun was not about to let such an opportunity slip by.
"My Lord, this is our chance to strike."
"Right. Adriana, fire lasers. Short bursts."
The Adriana deactivated its solid barrier, unleashed a barrage of thirty shots in a single second, and instantly redeployed the defense.
In that one second, however, the soaring fleet was decimated. The ships were rendered unnavigable and forced into emergency landings.
"That’s enough. I’d like to avoid unnecessary destruction if possible."
Both Jin and Laojun believed that the situation would be resolved once they dealt with Markitus himself. Furthermore, Jin wanted to preserve anything that could serve as a technical sample of the Progenitors' ancient technology.
"Wiped out in an instant..."
The screen had gone pitch black. Even the aircraft positioned at a distance for observation had been shot down. With this, the Markitus aerial forces were effectively zero.
<The enemy's combat power is terrifying,> the assistant automata analyzed. <I believe they possess the power to erase this entire mountain if they so desired.>
"Hmph... Deus Ex Machina... No, Jin Nidou, was it? Who on earth is he?"
Even the highly capable assistant automata did not possess an answer to that question. However, it offered a comparison:
<His technology partially rivals that of the people who created me—those whom you call the Progenitors—and in terms of combat capability, he surpasses them. Our chances of winning a frontal confrontation are slim.>
"If you say so, then it must be true."
<However, if we can lure this individual into the base, we may yet have a move to play.>
"I see. I would very much like to see the enemy's true face for myself."
"My Lord, it seems nothing else is coming out to meet us. How shall we proceed?"
"It has to be a direct infiltration of the base."
If he committed all of the Adriana’s weaponry, Jin might have been able to erase the mountain from existence, but he possessed no such destructive impulses.
"I’ll head into the base using the Body Double."
"I believe that is for the best. Actually, this current Doppel is a special model."
The Doppel was already a high-spec unit, but there was a reason Laojun went out of its way to emphasize the point.
"The My Lord from four hundred years ago performed a Reinforce on it."
"I see."
With just those words, Jin understood almost exactly what his past self had done.
"He gave it at least half the performance of Reiko, didn't he?"
"Exactly as you say. In reality, it is at thirty percent. Any more than that, and My Lord would have been unable to handle the physical feedback."
"I see."
It seemed that as a human, Jin could not have managed the sheer power of a higher-spec unit. Even so, thirty percent of Reiko's performance was more than sufficient.
"I will provide support for some of the more complex maneuvers."
For movements Jin was not accustomed to—intense combat or acrobatic maneuvers—Laojun would move the unit by interpreting Jin’s intent.
"Alright. So, can I even jump down from Pegasus 2?"
"Yes, My Lord. A drop of fifty meters or so is no problem. The unit has a built-in force generator, after all."
"That’s impressive."
The obstacles to storming the enemy base alongside Reiko had vanished.
"Reiko, let’s go. Hope, I leave the rest to you."
"Yes, Father."
"Please leave it to me. I pray for your success in battle, Jin-sama."
After that brief exchange, Jin’s Body Double—Jin D—and Reiko leapt from the Pegasus 2.
Jin D and Reiko used the force generator to offset their fall from an altitude of about one hundred meters, touching down without a sound.
"Oh, this is incredible."
Jin felt a thrill of excitement at the fluid movements of the Jin D he was controlling.
"Father, from the look of things, there seem to be no issues with the synchronization?"
"Yeah, Laojun’s support is excellent. We can keep going like this."
"Then let us proceed."
Reiko took the lead, heading for the Markitus base. Since the launch bay for the soaring fleet had already been identified, that was their primary objective. It was located about ten meters above the spot where they had landed.
Jin D and Reiko scaled the ten-meter height in a single, effortless leap.
"It is here."
The spot was a somewhat leveled area on a nearly vertical cliff face. The flat section was, in fact, the main hangar doors.
"Alright. There’s bound to be a smaller entrance for humans nearby."
"I have already located it," Laojun reported. "If I may be so bold, I shall guide My Lord’s Body Double from here."
"Understood."
The efficient Laojun had already pinpointed the auxiliary entrance. Jin D proceeded to the right along the cliff until he reached a towering rock formation. The human-sized entrance was supposedly near its base. At eye level, a red stone the size of a fist was embedded in the rock.
"My Lord, you should see a single red stone peeking out from the rock face. Channelling mana into it should open the door."
"Got it. Good work."
Following Laojun’s instructions, Jin D sent mana into the red stone. A part of the rock slid downward without a sound, revealing a gaping entrance.
"It's open. Reiko, let’s go."
"I shall enter first."
No sooner had she spoken than Reiko leapt into the opening. Jin D followed close behind.
The interior was dim, illuminated only by sparse emergency lights.
"This is definitely a Progenitor base," Jin D muttered, looking around. "It’s quite different from Onogoro Island or Uni."
"It likely reflects the philosophy of the Progenitors who constructed it," Reiko offered.
"That might be it. I’ve heard the Progenitors were highly individualistic, so this must have been a specialized facility."
Recalling the resource shortage on the Pandor Continent, Jin figured this base must have been built by the branch of the Progenitors who had systematically stripped the underground resources near the surface.
"Father, I hear footsteps."
At Reiko’s warning, Jin D stopped and gazed down the corridor. From the shadows ahead, the rhythmic clack of multiple footsteps echoed.
"Security personnel, I assume?"
Five golems emerged. In appearance, they were similar to the combat golems Elena and her team had been fighting, but they were not identical.
"Are these higher performance?"
"Yes, it would seem so. Those outside were likely mass-produced models; these are probably dedicated security units for the base."
Reiko reached her conclusion after sensing the total mana capacity of the opponents.
"Security units, then. In that case, I doubt they're open to negotiation."
The moment Jin D finished his sentence, the five units charged forward with fierce speed.
"I shall handle this," Reiko said, leaping forward to meet the machines head-on.