After concluding an agreement with the group called the Chimiya Family in the Prava Divine Kingdom, the forces of <The Tree> moved all at once to accelerate development of that base.
The Chimiya Family was a group that treated opening a road through the <Demon Forest> as its supreme objective.
If there was support for developing the <Demon Forest>, they would join hands no matter what kind of power the other side was.
Whether that was a focus on practical benefit or simply something mechanical, they were, in any case, a group completely detached from emotions like resentment and bitterness. Of course, part of that was probably because their sense of belonging to the Prava Divine Kingdom was thin to begin with.
In any case, the agreement had been made on the promise that active cooperation would be given to their project. <The Tree> put its capabilities to work without restraint.
First, they stockpiled supplies for the operation.
On the tract of land that had been cleared to open up the <Demon Forest>, right there at the entrance, they built a supply depot.
Huge warehouses were assembled, and supplies airlifted in by transport craft were carried in one after another. Large numbers of transport craft were mobilized, and ground-running heavy machines caught containers dropped with parachutes.
Even the Chimiya Family seemed genuinely surprised by the sight.
Using the materials prepared that way, roads for ground transport were built. At the same time, rail lines were laid in parallel. The first step was to link the rear base area with the depot and establish a supply-transport system.
For the time being, supplies would be brought in by air, so the Chimiya Family’s development work also resumed.
To re-liberate the abandoned intermediate frontier settlements, units departed carrying food and equipment supplied by <Paraiso>. Once a certain degree of safety had been secured, it would be possible to deploy the multi-legged transport machines <Backpacker> for moving supplies.
<Backpacker> was a small machine for hauling supplies across rough terrain, operated in Northend City of the United Kingdom of Aphrasia. It was a transport machine intended to move together with small human parties, and a solid record of practical use had already been built up for it. It was an excellent machine.
Using it right on the very front lines would probably be difficult, but as a hauler along the route, it should perform well.
For now, the introduction of highly offensive automated machines like the multi-legged tanks was being postponed.
To begin with, they were far too huge and conspicuous, and there was also the problem that coordinating with the Chimiya Family, whose primary means of attack was close combat, would be difficult.
There had also been a proposal to use the land battleship Jotun for escort duty along the route and for base defense, but it had been judged difficult because if it was to work alongside flesh-and-blood humans, filtering would be necessary for the heavy metals and radioactive substances emitted during operation.
Adding filter systems would place restrictions on carrying capacity, worsening cost performance. And, just like with the multi-legged tank classes, there was the same problem that they could not fight in direct coordination.
For the time being, the envisioned cooperative system was to send in multi-legged tanks operated as fixed gun emplacements as the final defensive measure. <Paraiso>, in any case, would supply materials.
Once development had progressed to a certain extent and road maintenance had advanced, railway installation would likely become possible. If that happened, armored trains could be run for defense and for supply transport.
With railways, propulsion energy could be supplied externally.
If that was done, harmful emissions could likely be held down as much as possible.
That said, safety was still far too incomplete for railways to be laid through the forest itself. It would still take quite a lot of time.
And to power automated machines like these, it would be necessary to install energy reactors on site. For the time being, fusion reactors would be used.
At present, the fusion reactors operated by <The Tree> existed in two broad types.
One was the compact fusion reactor mounted in large mobile machines, and the other was the large fusion reactor installed at fixed bases.
The large fusion reactors also handled production of tritium, which was extremely difficult to obtain from the natural environment.
The compact fusion reactors produced energy through the reaction between deuterium and tritium, but there was the problem that obtaining this tritium was almost impossible. Deuterium could be extracted from seawater, but tritium was almost nonexistent.
Because of that, it was necessary to operate large fusion reactors capable of producing tritium at the same time.
When deuterium and tritium reacted, helium and neutrons were produced. These neutrons caused activation in the reactor walls and the like, but by reacting them, for example, with lithium, it was possible to produce tritium.
Incidentally, it was also possible to use other fusion reactions, such as fusion using only deuterium or fusion using protium, ordinary hydrogen, and boron, but because the reaction conditions were severe, they were less efficient compared to the D-T reaction, the reaction that used deuterium and tritium as fuel. For the time being, tritium production would have to continue.
Several of those large fusion reactors were now being built at the entrance to the <Demon Forest>.
Once they began operating, the energy losses caused by the current microwave power supply would be alleviated. That would likely multiply by several times the number of automated machines that could be operated simultaneously.
This supply depot would continue expanding in scale and become a huge base managing all <Demon Forest> development on the northern side of the Prava Divine Kingdom. Support to the Chimiya Family would be provided there, as would housing for ordinary daily life. It was also planned that all manner of materials gathered from the <Demon Forest> would be handled there in a centralized way.
If stable collection and supply of <Demon Forest> materials succeeded, this might become the foremost front line of magic research.
And then, while passing through production bases and supply depots in various places from Yaakari Port, the railway would be connected onward. Once completed, it would likely become the main artery of the Prava Divine Kingdom. The expansion of farmland development would also improve dramatically with the introduction of automated machines. Chemical fertilizer was also spreading, so grain production would likely multiply dozens of times within a few years.
Along with supplying this enormous quantity of goods to the Chimiya Family, exports to other countries would also be carried out.
For now, maritime trade was effectively being conducted only with the Kingdom of Lepuitari, but that too would be extended to neighboring states.
If food came to reach the people of those countries, then those states’ national strength would likely rise as well. If that happened, the mining of mineral resources would also expand. Food could be converted into minerals.
Looking at efficiency alone, it was not especially good, but from a humanitarian standpoint, it was not a bad trade.
Also, if national strength rose, those states might be able to put more effort into exploration of the <Demon Forest> as well.
When it came to the <Demon Forest>, no amount of manpower would ever be enough. By supplying adventure equipment made by <Paraiso>, there was even the possibility that an adventuring fever would break out.
As for how to deal with human states, for the time being it would likely continue as a process of feeling their way forward.
As far as current observation went, the only country with national strength that could truly become a threat to <The Tree> would probably be the Forest Kingdom of Levresta. The bottom of that country still could not be seen.
That said, relations were not exactly hostile.
Because of that, they were refraining from actions that would worsen <Paraiso>’s image.
Well, if the invasion and conquest of the Prava Divine Kingdom were exposed, that could become troublesome.
But that was planned to be concealed for the time being, so it would likely not be a problem.
Related to that, something would have to be done about the fronts between the invading Prava Divine Kingdom and the various other states.
For now, the cleric-soldiers deployed to the front had been left alone, but before long they would notice that they could no longer contact the homeland. If they tried to return for the sake of communication, then they could simply be exterminated, but it would not be very interesting for those fronts to be left vacant because ❖ Nоvеl𝚒ght ❖ (Exclusive on Nоvеl𝚒ght) of that.
If the Prava Divine Kingdom had been occupied by <Paraiso>, then the expanding sphere of influence currently held by the Prava Divine Kingdom had, just as it was, become <The Tree>’s.
Shrinking that on the grounds of a cleric-soldier shortage was not especially appealing either.
In terms of the map, the current situation was that two whole countries and half of a neighboring one had already been invaded.
They wanted to avoid liberating all of that territory without receiving anything in return.
As for this, there was no choice but to deal with it while asking for the cooperation of the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
Perhaps they could dispatch troops in response to requests for aid and have them retake the controlled territories.
Whatever the case, this problem came with a time limit, so it was necessary to make a request to Duke Amajio Silverhead without delay.
