A Distress Call from the Other Side
(Bai Ziye)
The "entrance" to the City School, which is the hall containing three Wormhole Generator, will be the site of a new round of unmanned reconnaissance operations.
This location was chosen for safety reasons. Even if the "The Other Side" retaliates through the wormhole, as long as we retreat to the Ring Corridor and sever the connection between the corridor and the hall, the main body of the City School can be kept safe. Perhaps an enemy witch could even fall to her death from a height of 10,000 meters... or one of our magical girls who just came through the wormhole.
Boom--
Metal was piloting the large drone, but the monitor screen shook violently amidst a flash of light and flames before losing signal completely.
As planned, the large drone connecting the two worlds by cable was shot down by anti-aircraft fire from the "The Other Side".
But it had completed its mission; the large drone crashed to the ground, its payload containing a total of twenty micro-drones.
Ceruno individually covered these micro-drones with protective films, so there's a high chance they won't be damaged;
And the hidden magic encapsulated within by Aunt Yuehan will take effect at the appropriate time.
They will spread out in silent mode and record everything they see.
"So, will we have to rely solely on the AI carried by those drones from now on?"
Don't worry.
The magical girl Hephaestus, however, seemed full of confidence.
"My design is so good, they won't be able to react at all."
I don't think people usually say things like that themselves.
But the wormhole has closed, and there's really nothing we can do right now except wait.
How long will it take?
Hephaestus replied, "Yuehan's magic can only last for a dozen minutes after the magic supply is cut off, so deploying the second drone in ten minutes is just right. As long as the first batch isn't completely destroyed, we can still gain something."
Before the second large drone is shot down, it will still need to receive information transmitted back by the micro drone. These signals may be intercepted, causing our plan to be discovered by the enemy.
Buzz--
The Wormhole Generator was idle nearby was activated, and SpiCa, dressed in bandages, walked out of it.
Hephaestus glanced at her.
You're too late.
"It's not too late. The first phase is unlikely to go wrong unless there's a mole. Otherwise, the 'The Other Side' could never have guessed this plan. The combination of Little Ceruno's and Yuehan's magic can almost make an object disappear."
I reminded them, "But it's still within reach."
"The drone's AI will avoid these contacts."
The second drone began its warm-up preparation, and Aunt Yuehan was using "Magic Encapsulation Technique" to store invisibility magic on the drone.
Hephaestus developed a special medium that delayed the effect of magic applied to it; in a more fantastical world, this would be a magic scroll, only with a shorter shelf life—once sealed, it needs to be used as soon as possible.
"Alright!"
Ceruno waved her wand and coated all the micro drones with a protective film in one go.
"Almost there, ready to deploy."
Although SpiCa arrived, Hephaestus was still in charge of the operation.
Buzz--
The Wormhole Generator in the hall was activated again, and a large drone, carrying its mission, passed through the Veil and headed towards the world " on the Other Side".
Metal reports on the situation.
"Successfully passed through the wormhole... Awakened the dormant drones... Connected to eighteen micro drones, tsk, two have lost contact? Initiating feedback reception... Transmission complete."
About ten seconds Past, the monitor lost signal again.
The wormhole closed, but the image data from the Other Side was successfully transmitted back via the cable of the second drone.
"The third unit will be deployed in ten minutes... Let's take a look first."
As soon as Hephaestus said this, everyone gathered around Metal's seat, where eighteen videos from different perspectives were playing simultaneously on the long, narrow widescreen display.
"It's still very strange... this world."
No different from the last time I saw it, it was still that strange barrel-shaped world, where everyone lived on the inner wall of the barrel, but because the barrel was so huge, the ground didn't feel curved.
"This thing must be man-made, right? What planet would look like this?"
Because of this structure, most areas of the inner wall are dark.
Some of the miniature drones landed on the buildings on the ground, giving us the opportunity to observe the "local customs and culture" on the "The Other Side" up close. It was like a small town, where the buildings looked more technological, but also colder.
"Each one of them was an iron coffin, without even a window."
"It looks like an inhabited house. Did they go to take refuge through the wormhole? The armed soldiers I saw last time weren't much different in size from humans."
Those soldiers were insignificant; they were probably not much stronger than ordinary humans.
Look this way.
Ceruno pointed to the window on the screen.
"Someone's there!"
Metal replayed the footage that Ceruno had pointed to.
In the corner of the image, a figure runs out of a large building.
She was too far away to see clearly, but she was wearing a simple light green dress and had red hair, somewhat resembling surgical gowns in this world.
Then, two men dressed as armed soldiers gave chase.
Since this is all the footage captured, it remains unknown whether the person who escaped is alive or dead...
Ceruno asked, "Is it possible that it's a modification factory for some Monster?"
Resisting being modified, he escaped and was pursued by armed soldiers responsible for security... This guess seems quite reasonable.
SpiCa said, "This is just speculation. To be more practical, based on these videos, we can sketch out a map of the area's topography, but the architecture in this world is extremely enclosed, so we have no way of determining what that large building actually is."
"So this investigation yielded nothing again?"
"How could that be? These images are extremely valuable, and besides, the drone's sensors can also monitor other data, such as air composition, atmospheric pressure, and the environment."
"Time is up."
Hephaestus kept a close eye on the process.
"Send out a third drone; let's see if the second batch captured anything."
"Okay!"
Reactivating the Wormhole Device, Miss Metal piloted the last large drone into the wormhole.
This large drone was only used to retrieve video data and did not carry any miniature drones.
"Successfully activated! Hey, the first batch of drones that lost their stealth haven't been completely wiped out yet! Are they short-handed?"
That's only natural.
I explained, "There's not enough time. The flow of time on the other side is slower than ours, so they don't have enough time to process it."
Hephaestus flicked his bangs, which were covering one eye.
"Hmph, looks like we can openly airdrop a large number of micro drones next time. They won't be able to handle it all in the limited time anyway."
"Ah!"
Ceruno gasped again.
"They're the ones who just escaped!"
A newly recovered piece of footage likely came from a miniature drone that had been deactivated from stealth mode.
Because it was being held by the person in the green shirt from before, and it seemed to be shouting something at the camera...
I can't hear it.
To ensure quiet operation, the drone was wrapped in excellent sound-absorbing bubble wrap from Ceruno.
But this person is...
"She is Miss Anjie!"