After apologizing to me, the unit commander set his men in motion and began destroying the remaining nuclear missiles.
“Hurry! We don’t have time!”
At the captain’s order, the nuclear technician Chen Ming and the combat engineers tore out the key components of the nuclear missiles and warheads, while the other members helped them.
I stood still and watched them work, but no one said anything to me.
Partly because of what I had done on the way here, but also because of what I was doing now.
“How much time do we have left?”
The unit commander, who had been watching his men beside me, asked.
“It looks like it’ll take them more than thirty minutes to get here. The soldiers in the base are in quite a panic. They probably didn’t expect even the emergency generators and radios to be knocked out.”
What I was doing now was monitoring how far the enemies had come.
In truth, it was the most important job of all, so no one could say a word to me.
At my answer that we had about thirty minutes left, the unit commander nodded, then asked me again.
“Which way do you think we should escape?”
It was a far more courteous question than before.
I moved my super-senses and checked the inside of the base.
There were two passages leading from this storage facility to the surface.
The pedestrian passage we had used to come in, and the large passage connected to the surface that the nuclear missile vehicles used.
“I think it would be better to go out through the main passage.”
The lights were out and communications were cut, so they could not come this way, but the route we had taken was swarming with soldiers.
Of course, the main passage had a few problems of its own, but those were things I could handle.
At my words, the unit commander nodded.
“Then I’ll ask you to keep watching.”
“Leave it to me.”
The unit commander set his men moving and quickly dismantled the nuclear missiles, and after a while, they were able to finish the job.
“We’ve destroyed all the detonators, control devices, and core components. Launching the missiles is now impossible, and the nuclear warheads will be difficult to use for the time being as well.”
At the words of the nuclear technician Chen Ming, the combat engineer beside him nodded in agreement.
The unit commander did not seem to like the phrase “for the time being,” but other than extracting the nuclear material, there was little more we could do here.
Of course, they would not be able to use the nuclear weapons until they repaired the damaged detonators, but damaged nuclear warheads were still dangerous all the same.
“We’ll have to seal off the base according to the original plan, right?”
At one team member’s words, the unit commander furrowed his brows.
“The problem is that we’ve used up all the explosives……”
The explosives they had brought to collapse the passage had already been used up to break through the control room’s blast wall.
Since we had used them all, there was no immediate way to seal off the base.
“Do we have no choice but to request an air strike?”
The unit commander seemed to be considering the final option of bombarding this base with bombs or missiles.
That was when I stepped forward.
“There’s no need for an air strike.”
Everyone looked at me.
However, unlike before, no one looked at me as if I were being absurd. They all seemed to be expecting something.
I answered that expectation.
“You know how we got all the way in here, don’t you? Collapsing a tunnel is easier than digging one through the ground.”
As I said that, I pointed my spear toward the massive door of the storage facility.
Ruuuumble.
The enormous iron doors blocking the vehicle passage began to open to the left and right.
[I’m not particularly inclined to let you use my electromagnetic magic as stagecraft for your speech.]
Even as he grumbled like that, Soph opened the door properly.
It had not opened wide enough for a vehicle to pass through, but everyone marveled at the sight of the enormous iron doors opening on their own.
“Let’s go.”
At my words, the unit commander nodded and ordered his men.
“We’re withdrawing!”
The special forces began leaving the storage facility with bodies far lighter than when they had entered the base.
The team members passed one by one through the slightly opened iron doors, and I was the last to step outside.
Once I entered the passage, I placed my hand on the iron door and closed it with magic.
I sent a current through the door and turned the electric motor attached to its end.
Creeeeak!
Perhaps the current had been excessive, because smoke rose from the gap where the motor was, and the door closed with a strange noise, but it didn’t matter since we would only use it this once.
After closing the door, instead of taking my hand away, I cast a new spell.
This time, it was earth magic cast by drawing deeply on the energy of the black stone in my spear.
[Collapse!]
Kugugugung.
From beyond the closed iron doors came the sound of stone and earth pouring down.
Drrrrrk.
Dust leaked through the gaps in the iron door, and the passage shook.
The startled people looked at me.
I explained the situation to the team members and the unit commander.
“As I said a moment ago, I collapsed the ceiling of the storage facility.”
“But just now, you said you would block the passage……”
This time, even the unit commander seemed very surprised.
Uncharacteristically, he trailed off.
But my answer did not change.
“It’s the same thing.”
Because it truly was no different.
[The scale is different, but the magic itself is the same, so it isn’t exactly wrong.]
This time, Soph agreed with me as well.
Besides, since all the surveillance equipment had been destroyed by the EMP bomb, it no longer mattered what kind of magic I used.
When I took my hand off the door and turned toward the team members, whispers rose among them.
“Doesn’t that wizard seem to pull out something new every time?”
“And judging by how the power keeps getting stronger, it’s like he has no limits.”
“Everyone, be careful. If anyone treated him carelessly, apologize. You might get cursed and turned into a frog later.”
“Hahaha. As if he’d really……”
When no one answered, the laughing team member stopped with an awkward expression.
After that, the team members began watching my mood.
[How curious. It seems Earthlings fear transformation magic more than large-scale destruction magic.]
[Is it possible to turn someone into a frog?]
[There were mages who researched it. Seeing as it was designated forbidden magic, perhaps someone may have succeeded before……]
Forbidden magic.
I felt I should not ask any more about that subject.
The passage leading from the nuclear missile vehicle storage facility to the surface was large and wide enough for two vehicles to pass side by side.
Of course, blast walls had been lowered at intervals along that passage as well, but they could not block my way.
I lifted the blocked walls with magic and continued forward several times before stopping in front of a new blast wall.
When I stopped before the blast wall, the unit commander asked.
“Do you want to rest for a bit?”
He seemed to think I had stopped because I was tired.
I shook my head.
“There are soldiers who came down from the surface behind this blast wall. There are soldiers with heavy weapons, and even armored vehicles.”
At my words, the unit commander frowned.
He had learned that the situation on the other side of the blast wall was no simple matter, but he did not order his men to prepare for battle.
Instead, he asked me.
“What do you think we should do?”
I showed him the answer to his question.
“We bury them.”
Along with those words, I placed my hand on the blast wall and cast magic.
Kugugugung.
From beyond the blast wall came the sound of another collapse, and screams mixed into it.
They were the screams of soldiers buried beneath the collapsing mass of earth.
Bang. Ba-bang. Bang.
There were gunshots and even the sounds of bombs exploding, but as the sound of the collapsing earth grew louder, every other noise disappeared.
A moment later, the other side of the blast wall fell silent.
Everyone stared at me with ashen faces.
Faces half-frozen with fear.
One team member even muttered, “Please, anything but a frog……”
“The passage is blocked, so how do we get out?”
The unit commander asked me with a stiff face.
“We make a new passage.”
Instead of opening the blast wall, I cut into the wall of the passage with my spear, then created a new tunnel with earth magic.
I led the special forces into that tunnel.
Like that, I continued digging out the front of the tunnel and sealing the rear with magic as we advanced for quite some time before we finally emerged onto the surface.
The place we came out was far from the base’s perimeter fence.
It was a considerable distance, but even from here, we could clearly see the commotion at the base.
Weeeeeeeng!
Sirens blared, and soldiers were running about.
At the base entrance built halfway up the cliff, clouds of dust were rising, and soldiers covered in dirt were staggering out.
They were soldiers who had been close to the surface and had not been buried beneath the earth.
The team members who had come out of the tunnel and were watching the scene stole glances at me with complicated expressions.
They looked relieved that the operation had ended safely, yet unable to accept the contents of the operation itself.
I understood those expressions, but they were not my team members, and I had no reason to make them understand.
So I looked at the unit commander, and the unit commander gave his men an order.
“Everyone, head to the helicopter.”
The team members headed deeper into the forest where the helicopter was waiting.
I also collapsed the tunnel we had come out of and followed after them.
Since I was walking at the very rear, I naturally ended up walking with the nuclear technician.
It worked out well, because I had wanted to talk with him.
I spoke to Chen Ming.
“May I speak with you for a moment?”
Chen Ming looked surprised at the sudden Chinese.
Then he glanced toward the team members ahead of us.
He did not want it known that he was speaking with me, but he did not need to worry.
“I’ve blocked sound from leaking out with magic. They can’t hear our conversation.”
Soundproofing magic was a spell Soph took pride in.
Even the team members right in front of us would not be able to hear our conversation.
“It really is a technique hard to believe in unless seen firsthand.”
As he shook his head, I asked him bluntly.
“Why did you hide the fact that the nuclear missile vehicle would be empty?”
At my question, he let out a sigh.
“So you knew I was hiding it after all. Just what is there that this magic of yours can’t do?”
“I would like to hear your answer first.”
I cast a spell to detect lies and waited for his answer.
Why had he covered it up?
Depending on that answer, his treatment would have no choice but to change.
The nuclear technician Chen Ming answered my question.
“To help you, Wise Expedition Leader.”
His words were the truth.
At the unexpected answer, I had no choice but to ask back.
“You know me?”
“I heard about you from Secretary Li.”
From his mouth came a name I had not expected at all.
“By Secretary Li, do you mean the Secretary Li I know?”
Secretary Li, the Chinese special envoy who had come to Trappist.
I had met him on the Chinese planet “Taiping” as well.
“I am one of Secretary Li’s colleagues. The reason I betrayed my comrades like this and sided with the government forces is because of Secretary Li.”
The nuclear technician let out a deep sigh and continued.
“I heard it from Secretary Li. Stories about you, stories about other planets, and even the reason the rebels must not be allowed to seize the ruins.”
As Chen Ming said that, I could sense conflict and guilt in his eyes, as well as a strong faith in Secretary Li.
The nuclear technician