Scouting

(Sun Yao)

[Magical Girl Association - Sky Branch]

[B3 - Operations Command Center]

To avoid being late, my mother and I arrived at the command center, located on the third basement level, very early.

It's only a little past nine in the morning.

It wasn't until SpiCa took the time to explain the details of the operation to me privately that I realized Miss Sirius had been talking nonsense in many parts last night.

For example, there is no Future Magic Company; the military provides the prototypes for military drones.

After being modified at headquarters, this nearly seven-meter-tall behemoth was transported overnight to the Sky Branch by transport plane and is currently deployed in a hangar forty meters underground.

Despite being called a drone robot, it's not actually a humanoid weapon like Gundam. Its design is more like a mealworm or a giant bus lying on the ground. Instead, it's an automated weapon platform equipped with heavy firepower and armor. Not only are its weapon systems enhanced with various forms of magic, but even the armor it wears is made by magical girls. Theoretically, it possesses the ability to kill and defend against Monster.

Even so, it is still unknown how much combat power such a drone can exert. Therefore, its core area is indeed equipped with a nuclear reactor, which is not only its power source but also its trump card, in order to take a few Monster with it when it self-destructs.

This experimental weapon, which was modified with a great deal of financial and material resources, is named [Magic Titan MK1].

Despite this, people actually lack confidence in this thing.

After all, even the magical girls of seven years ago couldn't accomplish much; a self-destructing drone could at most annoy the enemy and show our determination to fight to the end.

But...

"Mom, why did you bring the Doggy along?"

The mother was accompanied by the Golden, which was very well-behaved, but having Doggy in the command center always seemed out of place.

"It's so pitiful to leave it alone at home."

"We're not here for a picnic... Couldn't we at least let it go play with Miss Zara?"

Zara, the maid Miss Sirius brought, is in the lounge next door; she'll surely be happy to keep the Golden.

The mother, however, defended the Doggy, replying, "It's alright, look, it wasn't planning on running away, was it?"

"Woof!"

"Why do you spoil it so much..."

A series of sparse footsteps came from behind, and the execution team led by SpiCa officially entered the command room. These people were all elites of the Tactical Division, with minds capable of making calm and correct judgments in times of crisis.

Just as we agreed, Ms. SpiCa did indeed bring the entire team from headquarters for my sake.

"Prepare to deploy the first batch of reconnaissance drones. Ceruno, go to the hangar and prepare."

"Yes!"

Upon receiving the direct order, I couldn't help but feel nervous.

What exactly is the scene on the Other Side?

This long-standing question may finally be answered today.

Take the elevator down to the lowest level of the branch. Inside this huge underground cavity, more than ten meters high, is the largest Wormhole Generator to date, capable of allowing even behemoths like the Magic Titan to pass through smoothly.

"Antarctic Star, Miss Thunderous Resonance... are you here to help too?"

The elevator doors opened, and inside the hangar, several familiar faces appeared. Besides the magical girls from Skyreach City itself, even "outsider" like Antarctic Star had been brought over to do manual labor.

She explained, "We're responsible for adding magical effects to the weapons. The Association has developed a technology that can encapsulate rapidly decaying magic, allowing conventional weapons to effectively kill Monster."

"Wow, magical encapsulation?"

As technology continues to advance, magical girls will simply need to sit safely in the back and create magical bullets, right?

Miss Thunderous Resonance, who was standing next to her, shook her head.

"Ceruno, I know what you're thinking, but the so-called encapsulation only slows down the decay process. It's impossible to deploy it on a large scale to the troops. It's only suitable for situations like today—encapsulating it before deployment and sending it Past for free fire."

"Ceruno, there's no time for small talk now. Go and set up the protective shield for the reconnaissance drone."

SpiCa's command came through the headset again.

"Oh well!"

A total of ten reconnaissance drones.

It's the same model as the one that was abandoned on the beach of Nabu Island. The multi-million dollar investment bought it some wormhole resistance, but it's nowhere near as good as my protective shield...

From this perspective, the Association should also offer me a reasonable compensation for the Bubble Membrane.

"Huh? Miluno!"

Just as the drones were wrapped in Bubble Membrane, a familiar figure walked in from the elevator entrance of the hangar.

"I came with Yin Wei to check on the situation. Is there anything I can do?"

She was also wearing a walkie-talkie.

SpiCa replied in the channel, "Your magic cannot be encapsulated, but considering the different time flows in the two worlds, you may need to adjust the drone's time flow by touching the signal line."

Because of signal interference inside the wormhole, the drone was still directly connected by a signal cable, and my Bubble Membrane covered the cable. Even though the drone traveled through two worlds through the wormhole, it never actually left my bubble, so it was not affected by external factors.

"They didn't notify me beforehand, and then assigned me tasks as soon as I arrived on site?"

"Anyway, if Ceruno comes, you'll definitely come too."

Miluno glanced at me, did not deny it, and sighed as she walked onto the drone platform.

"Send the drone Past before 10 o'clock, and start deploying the wormhole now."

Buzz--

The enormous mechanical ring began to emit a blue light, and ten large hexacopter drones soared into the sky, a truly spectacular sight. Miluno was standing right next to me... Let's reinforce the Bubble Membrane the drones a bit more.

"The drone is operating normally."

"The panoramic camera is working properly."

"The Wormhole Generator is operating normally."

"Alright, the artificial wormhole will be fully deployed in three minutes. Once the ammunition is loaded, begin warm-up. We will depart promptly at 10:00 sharp."

"Yes!"

The hangar began to bustle about, as heavy bullets, loaded by the magical girl, were stuffed into the body of the large black mealworm.

Buzz--

The buzzing sound intensified, and the wormhole fully unfolded.

Ten drones, trailing cables, entered the wormhole in pairs and disappeared behind the deep, Veil. Inside the wormhole, a wheel spun rapidly, turning and releasing cables hundreds of meters long.

"We can already see the Veil of the wormhole's exit."

"The imaging results are normal."

"All jets, standby. We are about to enter the gravity environment through the Veil. Prepare for impact. 3, 2..."

The hangar also has a large screen used to display footage taken by reconnaissance drones. The swarm bursts out from the end of the twisted wormhole, followed by a dizzying, indistinct spin. Only after the thrusters stabilize the aircraft and restart the six-rotor propellers can we see the scene on the 'The Other Side'...

Despite this, the entire hangar was unusually quiet.

"Gravity direction confirmed, low gravity environment, initiating flight attitude correction... This, this is..."

The images transmitted from the screen are astonishing.

Below is land;

But there's land above us too.

The Other Side of the world is like a giant circular pipe, where even the direction of gravity points towards the outer wall of the pipe.

"Ring World."

Miluno murmured.

Is this the true face of "the Other Side"?

It is completely different from Earth.

Even the structure of the world is different.

Bang--

A dull thud as if struck by something.

All ten drones lost signal simultaneously.