Chapter 103. Hyper Express
Labyrinth, Day 57.
The corpse of the Mechanical Hydra.
In other words, all of the Hydra’s parts were transported to the Machine Factory.
─［Huh. Finally, all the parts are delivered.］
At the outskirts of the Machine Factory,
Omega looked at the massive warehouse filled to the brim with parts and smiled with satisfaction.
【Yumi】─It looks like the warehouse is about to burst.
【Rise Nova】─It’s not a small warehouse by any means, but with the number of Mechanical Hydra parts, it looks tiny.
【Pururu】─But in the end, the Jellyfish Princess was the one who took down the Mechanical Hydra by herself.
【Mysticism】─🤔
【Bubble Bubble】─That’s not right. The others distracted it and bought time so she could use her ultimate ability. Bastet finished it off.
【Yumi】─Exactly. And without the others, she wouldn’t have been able to get those valuable machine parts either.
【Pururu】─I see.
【Mysticism】─🧐
【Mysticism】─In my opinion…
【Pururu】─Don’t bother having opinions.
【Mysticism】─I think Jafan deserves the most credit. He gave the Princess lots of blood! 😋
【Bubble Bubble】─That’s true too.
Screech—Thud!
The massive warehouse door closed.
Omega turned around to face the exploration team.
─［Now, let’s head back to the Explorer… no, to where Gauntlet is. Huh.］
Building civilizations across the labyrinth.
Creating new machines using the parts from the Mechanical Hydra.
And studying the emotions felt by the Assisted One to understand the principles behind the powers.
Omega postponed all three of these tasks.
She said she would meet me first and take care of the task I’d requested before anything else.
The exploration team nodded and started walking back.
Seeing this, Omega tilted her head.
─［Where are you going? Huh?］
─［Aren’t we heading back to Father now?］
Arachne stopped in her tracks and asked.
Omega shook her head.
─［We’re leaving now, yes, but we won’t be walking. You didn’t think we’d walk all the way back, did you? Huh?］
─［…Well, yeah? We walked here, so I figured we’d walk back too. Do you have a monster we can ride on or something?］
─［Huh. Of course. It’s not a monster but a machine.］
As soon as Omega finished speaking,
Rumble—Whoosh!
A gigantic silver machine descended from the sky, as if it had been waiting for this moment.
The machine hovered a few meters above the ground.
Its length appeared to be around 100 meters.
It had a long, oval shape with pointed ends at both the front and the back.
The surface was smooth, with no visible seams.
There were no engines or propulsion devices at the rear.
【Pururu】─What the heck is that?
【Mysticism】─😮
【Bubble Bubble】─It’s a strange-looking machine.
It didn’t quite resemble a snake, but if I had to compare it to something, it looked like a long, flying pill capsule.
─［We will travel using this. It’s called the Hyper Express. Huh.］
So, that was our mode of transport.
Now that I looked at it more closely, its design did resemble that of a train.
─［I’ll load the necessary parts into the cargo bay first. You all go ahead and board. Huh.］
【Rise Nova】─Where’s the entrance? I don’t see one.
Zzzz…
With a smooth sound, the side of the Hyper Express split open cleanly.
It seemed that was the entrance.
【Pururu】─The door’s opening~
【Mysticism】─Pururu’s going in first~ 😃
【Yumi】─Wow. I was wondering where the entrance was, and it was hidden like that.
The now-open entrance.
Arachne carried the Jellyfish onboard first.
Due to the strain from using her powers the day before, the Jellyfish was still unable to move properly.
Following them, the other exploration team monsters boarded the Hyper Express one by one, and lastly, two Irises entered, giving us a view of the interior.
The inside was quite spacious.
It seemed several times larger than it had appeared from the outside.
It probably utilized technology related to space manipulation.
After taking in the interior, I switched the screen.
To Iris, who was trailing behind Omega.
“Omega. Isn’t that vehicle a bit too big? No matter how you look at it, it seems too large to pass through the door to the deep sea.”
─［Huh? No need to worry. The Hyper Express has size-compression technology built in.］
Listening to the explanation,
It seemed that after boarding and closing the door, the Hyper Express could be reduced to the size of Iris.
Of course,
Even though the exterior would shrink, the interior space would remain the same.
So, those already inside the Hyper Express wouldn’t be affected in any way when it was compressed.
The interior space would still be maintained.
【Pururu】─What kind of crazy technology is this? 😲
【Mysticism】─😮 Incredible!
【Yumi】─That’s real future tech. If Geon shared machines like that with Earth, we’d progress in no time.
【Bubble Bubble】─I want one too.
─［I’ve loaded everything I need… Anything else can be warped over later, so I’ll board now as well. Huh.］
Omega loaded various machine parts into the cargo bay.
She closed the cargo door, then entered through the passenger entrance on the side of the Hyper Express.
Once the door quietly shut,
The Hyper Express began to shrink, quickly becoming the size of Iris.
Iris, who was filming this, decided to remain behind at the Machine Factory.
The Hyper Express, fully prepared, began to move smoothly and departed.
***
Passing through a desolate zone littered with mechanical debris,
Then through a narrow, long passage, we soon arrived at a gigantic door settled on the ocean floor.
It took only 30 minutes.
It was faster than I’d expected.
【Pururu】─Wow. That’s ridiculously fast. The speed is insane.
【Mysticism】─👍
The screen inside the Hyper Express displayed the outside view.
Near the enormous door,
I could see the Deep Guardian, a creature we had tamed recently, waiting.
【Bubble Bubble】─Looks like the Deep Guardian has been waiting there the whole time.
【Rise Nova】─It seems he’s marked that place as his territory.
【Yumi】─Poor thing. He’s just waiting forlornly for friends who may never return…
The Hyper Express entered the deep sea.
It grew slightly in size again, and as the side split open, a door appeared.
I wasn’t sure how the technology worked, but no water flowed in through the open door, and the Hyper Express interior remained dry.
Omega and Iris calmly walked out into the deep sea.
─［Huh. So, this is the Deep Guardian that Gauntlet mentioned.］
There was a faster way to move up from here.
A method that would take us to the surface in less than a second.
But before using that method, I needed to ask the Deep Guardian something.
“Deep Guardian, can you banish non-living things too?”
─［Yeyesss.］
“That’s good. And you can banish us to the surface of the sea instead of back along the route we came from?”
─［Yeyesss.］
The method to quickly rise to the surface.
It involved deliberately getting hit by the Deep Guardian’s banishment ability.
That way, we would instantly ascend to the surface.
Since it could banish non-living things, there was no issue using this method.
“Omega, you can go back in now. I’ve confirmed everything.”
─［Huh. Please wait for a moment.］
Omega opened the cargo bay.
She pulled out a piece of machinery and began installing it next to the giant door.
─［It’s a good idea to install one of these here as well. Huh.］
The machine was called a Warp Device.
Otherwise known as a Portal Generator.
Several identical devices were already installed in various places within the Machine Factory, and all the Warp Devices were connected to one another.
By performing a simple operation, the user could designate a Warp Device at their desired location, and when the Warp Device was activated, a portal would open to that other Warp Device.
In short, it was a machine that allowed for instantaneous long-distance travel.
Omega said they would also install one at our hideout later.
【Yumi】─Exploration will become much easier from now on.
【Pururu】─Seriously, what used to take days can now be done with a single click in a second. Amazing.
【Bubble Bubble】─It’s like a teleportation magic tool.
After finishing the installation of the Warp Device, Omega reboarded the Hyper Express.
“Deep Guardian, once Iris is inside and the door closes, banish us to the surface.”
─［Yeyesss.］
Iris followed Omega inside, and as soon as the Hyper Express shrank,
Flash!
The Hyper Express, carrying the exploration team, was banished and instantly reached the surface of a remote island.
【Pururu】─But hey, isn’t it kind of sad to leave the Deep Guardian all alone down there? Shouldn’t we take care of it, since we tamed it?
【Yumi】─Yeah, leaving it alone seems cruel.
“He can’t function properly outside the water, and he can’t use his abilities either.”
【Pururu】─😭
【Mysticism】─Abandoning the Deep Guardian. 😭
“Of course, I don’t plan on irresponsibly leaving him alone down there. I’m going to build a village in the deep sea later and appoint the Deep Guardian as its caretaker.”
【Yumi】─Wow.
【Pururu】─Whoa, an underwater city?
【Mysticism】─Ah. If you build a city, he’ll have friends, so he won’t be lonely! 😀
I had originally planned to build a sea shelter.
Or maybe a small beach shelter, similar in size to the desert shelter.
But after meeting Omega, my plans changed.
Since Omega wanted to build civilizations throughout the Ancient Labyrinth, instead of just building shelters, I decided to put in more effort and create large villages.
Naturally, I also planned to develop the desert shelter into a village.
‘And once that happens, I’ll need to station plenty of monsters in those villages… I’ll leave only a select few monsters at the main base, like an elite headquarters team.’
I spent some time organizing in my head which monsters to station in the desert village, the underwater village, and other places, and which ones to keep at the base.
About 40 minutes passed.
Ssshhh—
The exploration team, who had gone on a long-term mission, returned with the Hyper Express.
【Pururu】─Huh? I went to eat, and they’re already back.
The speed was truly astonishing.