After finishing his initial tour of Hale, Jin was soaking in the bath aboard the Adriana.
"Father, are you tired?"
"No, I’m alright."
The Adriana was equipped with its own bathing facilities, and while Jin was soothing his body in the warm water, his mental fatigue hadn't quite vanished.
"The Progenitors really did a number on Hale, didn't they?"
"It would seem so. About four hundred... no, roughly three hundred and fifty years ago, No. 700672 visited several times to assist in restoring Hale’s environment."
"Is that so?"
Jin found himself wondering which version of the planet No. 700672 considered his true home world: the desolate Hale of the past, or the recovering Hale of the present.
"...Wait, No. 700672 wasn't actually born on Hale, was he?"
He felt as though he had heard the answer once before, but the detail had slipped his mind.
"Well, either way, if No. 700672 says it's fine, then it must be fine."
Weariness eventually cut his train of thought short. Instead, he simply stretched his limbs as far as they would go in the tub.
"I wonder if there are any hot springs on Hale?"
Since it was an even older planet than Ars, it was possible that the planet's core had turned solid deep underground. If that were the case, he wasn't sure what the geothermal situation would be. If the heat was too low, he couldn't expect any hot springs.
"But then again, doesn't temperature rise under high pressure...?"
Since it concerned his beloved hot springs, Jin began to consider the scientific possibilities quite earnestly.
"In that case, Father, shall we order some survey boring?"
"Right. Oh, wait, I can just check the subterranean conditions with Grand Search."
"...Father, I believe it is about time you got out."
"Hmm? Ah, right..."
Aware that he would get lightheaded if he soaked for too long, Jin decided to wrap things up. After the bath, he enjoyed a glass of Persica juice.
"Ah, that’s the stuff."
The chilled juice permeated his heated body, and Jin let out a long sigh of relief. That night, he slept soundly in his cabin aboard the Adriana.
＊ ＊ ＊
The next day, Jin woke up at 6:00 AM ship time—which was synchronized with Hourai Island—and ate breakfast in the dining hall.
"By the way, were there any living organisms in that melted seawater?"
Even if there were, he didn't expect them to have survived, but he asked just in case. Taisei provided the answer.
"Yes, My Lord. Aside from microorganisms, there appear to have been none. For safety's sake, I should clarify that no dangerous microorganisms, bacteria, or viruses were detected among them."
"That’s a relief."
It would have been a grim irony if ancient pathogens in the restored seawater had triggered a pandemic. Elsa—the peerless healer, his disciple, and his beloved wife—was no longer with him to perform miracles.
"Looking at it this way, the only thing we really need for migration is resources..."
Even then, unless the project became truly massive, they could manage by bringing supplies from Ars.
"Preparations to go to Zipart should be finishing up soon, too."
According to reports from Laojun and Jack, the management magi-brain of the Moon, Uni, the special spaceship would be completed today or tomorrow. Jin intended to return via a Warp Gate to inspect it personally.
"I think I’ll name it... the Atlas."
The name was already used for one of the islands in the Pleiades Archipelago on Ars, but its origin lay in the Greek myth of the titan who carried the heavens on his shoulders at the western edge of the world. Since he was planning to move an entire satellite, Jin felt the name was fitting.
After breakfast, Jin contacted Uni and learned that the special spaceship was finished. The timing was perfect.
"Alright, let's head back for a bit."
Jin made an immediate decision and headed to Uni via a Warp Gate accompanied by Reiko. The Bridge of Warp Gates, utilizing the relay bases, functioned perfectly. A few minutes later, Jin was standing in the command room deep beneath the surface of Uni.
"Welcome, Jin-sama."
The completed spaceship was displayed on the large magi-screen in the command room.
"What shall we name the ship?"
In response to the question, Jin provided the name he had chosen: "Atlas."
"Understood. I shall inscribe it immediately."
Working golems must have been standing by; in no time at all, the name "ATLAS" was inscribed on the hull in gold lettering.
"All preliminary tests have been completed. No abnormalities detected."
"I see. You've done well."
"The command authority for the management magi-brain has not yet been established. Please proceed with the settings now."
"Understood."
While there were living quarters inside the Atlas, they were kept to the absolute minimum. Even the central bridge was surprisingly small for a three-hundred-meter ship, being only about the size of a four-and-a-half tatami mat room.
Jin headed toward the bridge. After moving via a built-in Warp Gate, he walked a short distance down a corridor. The walk was only about ten meters. As noted before, the hull of the Atlas was comprised almost entirely of force generators and magi-reactors—the core of its propulsion system. Furthermore, the crew consisted of one hundred space-type golems, Cosmos units 601 through 700. These matte-gold units were capable of using magi-craft and had built-in force generators.
＊ ＊ ＊
"Welcome aboard."
The management magi-brain of the Atlas greeted Jin as he stepped onto the bridge.
"I will now establish the command authority. Is that clear?"
"Yes, please proceed."
"Very well. Password set: 'Tsutsui Shuuki'. Master-Slave hierarchy: first, Jin Nidou; second, Laojun; third, Reiko; fourth, Jack."
"My Lord, settings are complete."
"From now on, your name is... Kintoki."
Sakata no Kintoki was said to be the adult form of the peerlessly strong Kintaro. Legend held that he was discovered by Minamoto no Raikou and, as one of the Four Heavenly Kings, defeated the Shuten-douji of Mount Oe. Incidentally, the name Kintoki was a byword for great strength in the region around Mount Fuji.
"Yes, I am Kintoki, My Lord."
"I'm counting on you."
"Yes, leave it to me."
With that, Jin had secured full control over the Atlas. Returning to the Uni facility via the Warp Gate, Jin gave his final instructions.
"Send the Atlas to Hale. It's finally time to begin the plan."
While he could have used the Bridge of Warp Gates—which was now large enough to accommodate spaceships—he decided that, as a final test, the Atlas would navigate to Hale under its own power.
Equipped with engines with an output twenty times that of the Adriana, the Atlas had a maximum speed of 5,000 kilometers per second. It could traverse the 470 million kilometers between Ars and Hale in roughly a single day. The guard ships Sirius, Procyon, and Betelgeuse, which could not reach such speeds, would use the Bridge of Warp Gates to rendezvous at Hale.
"As you wish."
Jack would handle the logistics.
"Then, I'm counting on you."
Jin used a Warp Gate to return to the planet Hale.
"Welcome back, Father."
"Welcome back, My Lord."
Reiko and Taisei greeted him aboard the Adriana on Hale’s surface.
"The plan is finally in motion. I’m looking forward to this."
Jin murmured the words to no one in particular, his mind already drifting toward the future of the planet.