By March 22nd, Jin had nearly finished the grounds surrounding the House on Hale.
The underground facility was what had taken the most time.
"I built a hangar, but I don't have anything to put in it."
Konron 3 and Pegasus 2 were his legs—or rather, his wings—on Ars. Naturally, that meant he needed something for his new home.
"All right, I'll build some vehicles specifically for Hale."
"The workshop is already finished, and I have plenty of materials."
The materials in question were all Neo-series metals.
"I'll have to deal with ecological materials later, though."
He had not yet tested whether he could cultivate Ground Spiders or Ground Caterpillars here. Even back on Ars, he knew that farming them anywhere other than Hourai Island resulted in lower quality, such as weaker silk thread. He had to be cautious about trying to raise them here on Hale.
"Now, what should I do for the size and design?"
On Hale, Jin could demonstrate his skills to his heart's content. He spent a few moments agonizing over whether to make a plane or a rocket.
"Maybe I'll make an all-purpose type for land, sea, air, and space."
A ten-meter-class small spaceship would fall into that category, but it felt like something was missing.
"I suppose a teardrop shape would be best after all..."
Jin cherished these moments lost in thought.
"My Lord, I apologize for interrupting your deliberations, but I have one question."
Laojun’s voice broke through his reverie.
"Hmm? What is it?"
"Yes. Now that the residence for No. 700672 and My Lord is complete, I was wondering what you intended to do about other residents."
"Residents..."
Jin had been thinking about the people of Onogoro Island and the Northern People.
Onogoro Island would likely be discovered eventually if the culture and civilization of Ars continued to develop. As for the Northern People, they could now live anywhere since the free ether concentration problem on Ars had been resolved. However, most of the desirable land was already inhabited by humans, leaving little room for them to settle.
The Lashier Continent in the Southern Hemisphere of Ars had plenty of undeveloped land, but Jin wanted to leave it alone as a nature preserve.
"The reason I asked this question is that I humbly thought it might be wise to consider these potential residents as you move forward with your plans."
"Ah, I see. Thank you, Laojun."
Laojun's suggestion made Jin snap to his senses.
"That's right. Before I build a vehicle, I should make a terminal for you."
Laojun's reach did not yet extend to Hale. Jin decided that he should first build a terminal so that Laojun could oversee Hale from Ars.
"Well, even if I say 'oversee,' it's not like he'll be ruling it."
Jin was not a dictator, nor did he intend to become one. He simply disliked the idea of his peace being threatened by unforeseen circumstances.
"Communication with Hourai Island will utilize sub-ether waves."
This was because they were unaffected by the free ether noise that permeated space.
"And there's no time delay."
That said, the speed of ether waves seemed to be far faster than the speed of light that Jin remembered from his previous world. The Progenitors likely knew exactly how fast light traveled, so he could probably find out if he asked No. 700672.
"It's probably about a thousand times faster than in my original world."
Jin estimated as much because he observed no delay in communications between Ars and Hale. Since there was no time lag, the unit here and the main body on Hourai Island effectively functioned as a single entity: Laojun. To put it another way, it was like a multi-core CPU where some of the cores were located here on Hale.
Jin proceeded with the work efficiently, with Reiko acting as his assistant.
Using plenty of the new Neo-series materials—specifically for the structural components and the exterior—he finished Laojun's terminal. It took him about two hours.
"There, that should do it."
Its defining feature was a Peeping Telescope, or Peeper, that could overlook the entire planet of Hale. On Hourai Island, it had been necessary to fix the device to solid bedrock, but thanks to a foundation and base made of Neo-adamantite, the Hale version was less than a tenth of the size. The design also allowed for plenty of room for expansion features he intended to add later.
"Laojun, how is it?"
"It is excellent, My Lord. I have no issues at all. In fact, the responsiveness is even smoother than the main body's."
"I see, that's good to hear."
For now, he had not created a mobile terminal like Laozi, but he intended to make an equivalent in some form eventually.
Next was Reiko's upgrade.
"Reiko, I'm going to replace your skeleton with the Neo-series."
"Yes, Father. Please do."
Reiko's current skeleton was made of Hyper-Adamantite—a material created by molecularly compressing Magi-Adamantite. This time, it would be Neo-Hyper-Adamantite, made by molecularly compressing Neo-Adamantite.
Its default strength was about 1.2 times greater, but when reinforced with magic, it would be more than four times stronger than her previous skeleton. Since the weight remained the same, Reiko's total mass did not change.
"Hmm, it looks like there were all sorts of fine upgrades added after all."
The Jin from 400 years ago had likely continued to refine his beloved daughter, Reiko, until his final years. There were traces of modifications that the current Jin, as a duplicate, did not recognize.
After performing detailed maintenance, he finished the process in an hour.
"There. How do you feel?"
Reiko sat up and performed a self-check.
"I feel very well, Father. Thank you very much."
"I'm glad to hear it."
Since it was lunchtime, they decided to eat. Jin made tanuki soba for the first time in a while. Reiko kneaded the soba noodles, and Jin prepared the broth himself.
"Hmm, I haven't done this in so long I'm losing my touch," he muttered. Despite his self-deprecation, the taste turned out to be quite acceptable.
＊ ＊ ＊
After lunch, while Jin was thinking about his next steps, Reiko made a suggestion.
"Father, why don't you prepare some maid golems to take care of your personal needs?"
"That's a good point."
Jin decided to spend the afternoon creating maid golems for the Hale residence.
"There won't be as many chores here as there are back at Hourai Island, so two should be enough....In that case, I'll use a pair of opposing concepts as a theme..."
Muttering to himself, Jin proceeded with the work. All the metal materials, including the skeleton, were Neo-series. Actually, those were the only metal materials he had available on Hale. The ecological materials, such as muscles and skin, were brought in from Hourai Island.
"Maybe I'll make them automata instead of golems..."
He eventually completed two lady's maid automata. They were 155 centimeters tall with slender figures.
"They'll be Japanese-style maids... or rather, domestic helpers."
A too-curvy figure wouldn't look right in a kimono. And since they were wearing Japanese clothes, he gave them kappogi-style aprons.
"There, that's done."
"Father, what will you name them?"
"Ah, right. Since they're twin sisters..."
Jin remembered that he had named Reiko's subordinates Soleil and Luna.
"I'll go with Tsukino and Hoshino."
And so, it was decided.