第１８８１堀：南部調査隊出発直前会議 (Part2)
"That’s exactly right. We’ll place container houses to serve as lodging and rest areas while we gradually push further south. When we move, we’ll recover the containers and leave behind stationary surveillance drones in their place."
That way, we can monitor the areas we’ve already passed through.
Ideally, we would deploy gates to establish defensive perimeters, but we lack the manpower for that, which is precisely why we’ve adopted this method.
"Firia-chan is right. Also, keep in mind that since the gates are installed inside the container houses, you’ll need to be careful during the recovery and deployment process. We haven’t run into any issues yet, but it’s impossible to predict when a malfunction might occur."
Indeed.
The cornerstone of this investigation is the rotational exploration of the troops via instantaneous teleportation through the gates. By housing the gates within the containers, we’ve eliminated the need to repeatedly set up and dismantle them on-site... but that does leave me concerned about their durability.
After all, we are constantly moving these containers in and out, and depending on the terrain, the containers themselves might end up tilted.
Under such conditions, it’s entirely possible for them to break, or for the coordinates to fail to calibrate correctly, rendering them inoperable.
"Well, we’re aware of that, so it should be fine. After all, we’ve already successfully installed and operated gates on both of our aircraft carriers, so I’m not worried."
"True enough. Still, it’s a matter of placing them with due consideration."
Deryu-aneesama is right.
As Agil-aneesama noted, the aircraft carriers owned by Weed—the *Luna* and the *Lilishe*—are essentially mobile fortresses, and we’ve managed to successfully attach gates to them.
Given our track record of successful operation on the turbulent open sea, we’ve judged that the containers shouldn’t be a problem. They are functional, but we must remain vigilant, as we cannot be certain they will operate correctly in the southern reaches of this new continent.
"It’s possible they might not work at all, so please be prepared for that."
"Understood. If that happens, I’ll rely on Agil-san and Deryu-san."
"I’d love to say 'leave it to me,' but generally speaking, an immediate withdrawal is the preferred course of action."
"Indeed. It’s not something that can be resolved on the spot. If it were a matter of time, that would be one thing, but if a system that functions even on an aircraft carrier fails to operate, it implies a much more significant issue."
Yes, as Deryu-aneesama says, in such a case, it’s highly likely that the environment itself is the culprit—perhaps the ambient magic isn't flowing correctly.
Regrettably, there is little we can do about the magic in the atmosphere.
In the Haiden region, a barrier was erected to block the concentration of Luna-aneesama’s magic and the magic of monsters, which required an astronomical amount of DP for the gates associated with her, but because the magic itself was still present, there were no operational failures.
Even on the If Continent, despite the environment being hostile to the birth of demi-humans, the operation of the gates themselves remained unaffected.
"Come to think of it, Yuki-sama mentioned that DP consumption increased on the If Continent, didn't he?"
That was Narjia who spoke up.
"He did. And the Haiden region had an incredible multiplier due to Hairen-oneechan’s barrier, too."
It really did. The If Continent was at most three to five times the usual cost, but the Haiden region was at a staggering twenty times the efficiency.
"In that case, perhaps it would be wise to constantly monitor it via the dungeon system."
"That’s true. I only just realized it now. Come to think of it, I haven’t heard any reports of DP consumption changing in the southern fortress, or the northern one for that matter?"
"Indeed. I don’t recall any such thing either. It seems Aslin and Firia have only just realized it as well?"
"Yeah. We were told there were no changes in DP consumption, too."
"That is correct. That is why it slipped our minds. If there is a significant magical anomaly, DP consumption will fluctuate. Agil-aneesama, Deryu-aneesama, I must ask you to verify this."
"Understood."
"Indeed. We shall make sure to handle that."
With that, despite a few minor adjustments, we began the investigation.
It seems we will be heading into the southern survey with proper preparations in place.
That said, exploring beneath the cliffs will likely be time-consuming.
I truly hope we find something of note.
Regardless, the world beneath the cliffs is something to look forward to, isn't it?