March 5, 3900.
Jin was making his final preparations to travel to Hale.
With the spaceship's completion finally in sight, he had decided to advance his plan to the next stage.
"How is the Bridge of Warp Gates coming along?"
"Yes, My Lord. Preparations are complete. Testing has concluded, and the system is ready for use at your discretion."
"I see."
The distance from Ars, where Jin and his companions lived, to Star Celane was approximately 150 million kilometers. This almost exactly matched the distance between the Earth and the Sun in the Sol Solar System.
This meant the distance to Hale, located on the opposite side of Celane, was roughly 300 million kilometers. However, that was only the distance if one could travel in a perfectly straight line.
In this case, with Star Celane sitting directly in the middle, a straight path between Ars and Hale was practically impossible. A bypass route was necessary.
Taking into account the radiation from Star Celane and the concentration of free ether, the most logical path was to fly along the orbits of Ars and Hale. This made the journey at least 470 million kilometers, even by a conservative estimate.
The Adriana, the flagship of Jin's space fleet, had a maximum speed of 400 kilometers per second. By calculation, the trip would take nearly fourteen days.
To facilitate travel, Jin had established bases at relatively stable locations along the Ars-Hale orbit known as Lagrange points. There were three bases in total.
If one were to visualize the orbit from the side of the celestial North Pole—placing Hale at twelve o’clock and Ars at six—the bases were located at the two, three, and four o'clock positions.
The bases at two and four o’clock had been established not by Jin, but by the Progenitors. The base Jin had built was at the three o'clock position. However, since the three o’clock position was not actually a Lagrange point, the base utilized a force generator to maintain its stationary position relative to the planets.
The Progenitors' bases had now been fully restored to functionality. Consequently, there were now two separate systems forming the Bridge of Warp Gates. This provided a level of safety and redundancy that even Laojun found acceptable.
"Well then, let's be off."
At 9:00 AM Hourai Island Time, Jin boarded the Adriana with Reiko.
"Adriana, launch."
Jin gave the command without any particular fanfare. The Adriana lifted off as lightly as a feather.
Following in its wake was the Vulcan, a construction ship 100 meters in diameter. The two vessels ascended rapidly, vanishing into the blue sky.
The first Warp Gate was located on the moon, Uni. While Jin had considered placing it on Ars, he had eventually decided on Uni as a safety precaution.
"It’s a chilling thought, imagining someone accidentally wandering through in the flesh."
The destination was the vacuum of outer space. Even for a golem that didn't need to breathe, returning would be nearly impossible without a force generator.
By the way, the Bridge of Warp Gates was also equipped with gates sized for humans and worker golems. When Jin had guided No. 700672 in the past, they had used those smaller gates.
This time, Jin chose to travel via the Adriana partly because he was in the mood for it, and partly to test the route since he planned to send more spaceships through in the future. He also insisted on going in person rather than using a Body Double. Having confirmed that all safety measures were sufficient, Laojun had permitted Jin to travel to Hale in the flesh.
A massive Warp Gate stood at Uni's Lagrange L2 point, on the moon's night side. It was a colossal structure towering atop a disc-shaped platform one kilometer in diameter and 200 meters thick. The gate itself was a staggering 700 meters wide and 700 meters high.
Considering the sheer scale, it wasn't hard to imagine that maintaining such a structure on Ars would have been a logistical nightmare.
"All right, enter the Warp Gate."
"Acknowledged."
The supervising magi-brain, Taisei, gave a brief reply. First, the Vulcan vanished into the Warp Gate. Two seconds later, once it was reported to have arrived safely on the receiving side, the Adriana followed suit and disappeared into the gate.
The transit through the Warp Gates proceeded without any complications. By shortly after 7:00 PM Hourai Island Time on March 5, the two ships had entered orbit around the planet Hale.
"Now then..."
Jin pondered whether or not they should descend immediately.
"Father, why not rest here for the night and land tomorrow morning?" Reiko suggested.
While they could still be active if they landed on the day side of Hale, Reiko recommended sticking to the schedule of Hourai Island to ensure Jin didn't lose too much sleep.
"Let's do that."
Appreciating Reiko's concern, Jin nodded and spent the night in a bedroom aboard the Adriana.
The following day, March 6 by the Ars calendar.
At 6:00 AM ship time, synchronized with Hourai Island, Jin gave the order to land. Their target was a point on Hale where it was also roughly 6:00 AM.
Hale consisted of a single massive continent. While there were numerous small islands, there was only one landmass large enough to be called a continent. The ratio of sea to land was approximately five to five.
When Jin had visited long ago, the sea had only covered about twenty percent of the planet. He wondered if they had used some kind of technology to increase the water volume, a question he intended to ask later. Still, a fifty percent water-to-land ratio felt low to him. Earth was so abundant in water it was called the blue planet, and Ars was much the same.
Because Hale's continent was so vast, the interior had become a parched desert region. It was uninhabited by people and served primarily as a mining district.
"By the way, do we have a map?"
Strictly speaking, this was something he should have checked much earlier, but since he had left the Adriana's operations entirely to Taisei, the matter had only just occurred to him.
"Yes, My Lord. We have one produced 350 years ago. As the terrain has not changed since then, it can be used without issue," Taisei replied.
"I see."
Taisei maneuvered the Adriana toward a plateau at the eastern edge of the continent, where the sun was just beginning to rise.
"...There’s more greenery than I expected."
"Yes. This is the result of the reforestation efforts that have been ongoing for the past 400 years."
"Is that so?"
According to Taisei, following the suggestion of No. 700672, they had planted, cultivated, and multiplied plants native to Hale.
"The golems managing the flora are the Fores units."
Hearing the name, Jin wondered if it was derived from "forestry."
"Units Fores 1 through 1100 are currently stationed across the continent, dedicated to plant cultivation. They were, of course, created by you 400 years ago, My Lord."
"I thought as much."
Jin had suspected as much the moment he heard the name. He also realized that this was another detail Laojun had kept secret so that Jin could experience the discovery for himself.
"Hmm... Even so, I wonder if the rainfall is being regulated?"
"Yes, My Lord. Regarding that, we have maintained and utilized the equipment left behind by the Haleans—the Progenitors."
"I see."
Water was indispensable for growing plants. The Progenitors had clearly been aware of this and had apparently implemented some form of climate control.
"As the vegetation increases, the moisture in the air rises through transpiration, which in turn makes it easier for clouds to form."
"Right, that creates a cycle."
Since Hale as a whole wasn't actually short on water, the explanation made sense. Jin imagined that the Progenitors had likely focused their weather control on the arid regions in the center of the continent.
While they talked, the Adriana began its landing approach.
They were descending toward a plateau about 500 meters above sea level, near the eastern coast. Situated near the Tropic of Cancer, the season there was roughly early spring. In this regard, the seasons of Ars and Hale appeared to be synchronized.
The ship touched down on a plot of land roughly two kilometers square that had been leveled flat.
"This area was developed with the intention of serving as an airport and a spaceport," Taisei explained.
"That makes sense. My self from 400 years ago must have predicted that I would use Hale for something eventually."
Jin considered several possibilities, including his decision to have No. 700672 reside here. Since he was speculating about his own past self, the theories likely carried a high degree of truth.
"Well, shall we go down?"
Looking out, Jin saw several golems—presumably the Fores units—gathering near the ship.
"Temperature is 23 degrees Celsius, humidity 60 percent. It is a very comfortable climate."
"Understood. Reiko, let's go."
"Yes, Father."
Once more, Jin stepped out onto the soil of the planet Hale.