When I said everything was still inside the box, not only Magreta but even Soph was greatly surprised.
[To think you traveled dozens of light-years, and the items inside the box remained intact… Even I have never seen anything like this before.]
Even without Soph saying so, I could tell this was extraordinary.
Now, as long as the box’s size allowed it, I could bring anything from Earth.
And not just Earth.
It would be the same when traveling to the ruins of Trappist, going to the ice planet, or heading to Paradise or Taepyeong.
There were limits, of course, but with this much, I could practically build a civilization on Trappist all by myself.
It was that incredible, but what mattered right now were the missiles inside the box.
Six gleaming ballistic missiles.
Every one of them was equipped with a hydrogen bomb.
These hydrogen bombs were the greatest weapons and the worst bombs Earth’s civilization had ever created, but unlike the nuclear missile I had obtained last time, they could not be used immediately.
Unlike then, I did not know the self-destruct signal for these hydrogen bombs.
Back then, I had used the self-destruct signal to detonate the nuclear bomb, but I had not been able to find out the self-destruct signal for these hydrogen bombs.
Since I did not know how to activate these missiles, there was no way to use them for the time being.
That was why I had brought a nuclear technician here.
That nuclear technician was now looking around the underground ruins with a face gone pale.
The others were still retching from spatial transfer sickness, but he and the other scientists were examining the ruins while holding back their nausea.
After the sickness that had continued for quite some time finally began to subside, Magreta stepped forward.
She had been speaking with the technicians who had been guarding the ruins until now.
“We’ll have to walk quite a while to reach the surface where your families are. It may be a little difficult, but please follow me closely.”
She and I divided up the people we had brought.
The majority, the expedition members’ families, went with her toward the surface, while the rest—the nuclear technician, the scientists, Carlo’s family, and Adriana—were left here.
The place Magreta was heading to was the lake base on the surface.
Most of the dispatched expedition members were staying there, and the lake base had now become more than a base; it was serving as a city.
It was the perfect place to take the expedition members’ families.
Once she left with the people, those who remained looked at me with puzzled faces.
I said to them,
“You will be going somewhere safer, and sooner than those who went to the surface.”
Unlike the families of the expedition members who had headed to the lake base, I intended to take these people to the underground city on the ice planet.
Of course, not only the scientists and the nuclear technician, but also Carlo’s family and his lover, who had decided to follow me, had to be brought into the underground city.
However, we could not move to the ice planet right away.
It was several hours later that I took the remaining people and spatially transferred to the ice planet.
It was because of spatial transfer sickness.
Fortunately, when we arrived on the ice planet, perhaps because the distance was shorter, the sickness was less severe.
The people who came to their senses looked around and gaped.
An icy world visible beyond transparent walls of ice.
Carlo’s family was frightened by the overwhelming sight, but the two scientists were busy analyzing their surroundings.
“Judging by the quality of the ice, this seems to be a planet that’s been frozen for a very long time.”
“That ice looks like frozen water… Then that means it isn’t as cold as I thought. Could it be close to the Goldilocks zone?”
This ice planet wasn’t cold?
Even I had no choice but to throw up my hands when it came to scientists.
We waited there for a while, but the spirit did not come.
It seemed she was busy with something.
Even without the spirit coming to meet us, it was not difficult to go to the city.
I had administrator authority too.
“We haven’t reached our destination yet. Follow me.”
I took the scientists, who were practically glued to the ice wall, and headed underground.
After putting the people on the elevator and descending, exclamations of admiration burst from their mouths.
The underground cavern seen from the sky.
The interior of the cavern had changed again.
“Wow…”
“To think there’s a city this large underground…”
Carlo’s family and Adriana were busy marveling at the underground cavern and the city, but the nuclear technician and the scientists were fully occupied analyzing the cavern.
“What are those luminous bodies embedded in the ceiling? To produce this much light, it seems like they’d need to be doing nuclear fusion or something.”
The nuclear technician was entranced by the magical artifacts lighting the underground cavern, while the two environmental climatologists were busy observing the grass and trees growing inside the cavern.
“It’s not just a city. There are farms too, and trees are growing.”
“The city seems full of flowers as well… Wait, are those rabbits over there?”
At Dr. Miller’s words, I looked at the field he was watching.
Just as he said, a herd of rabbits was running around the field.
I had only brought a few, but they had already multiplied that much.
It was a number that made no sense biologically, but it seemed the spirit had used magic to increase their numbers again, just as she had increased the amount of grain.
Rabbits were not the only things running around the field.
A flock of chickens was also running across the field, flapping their wings.
A flock of chickens running across a field.
It was truly strange, but when I looked behind the running flock of chickens, I understood.
Ice golems and the spirit were herding the chickens from behind.
From here, it looked as if they were taking the chickens for a walk, but seeing the spirit enjoying herself to the fullest, I had a feeling it was not just a simple walk.
A short while later, the elevator landed in the park at the center of the city.
People were already waiting in the park.
Jeong Huiwon and Tom’s younger sisters.
They had seen the elevator descend from the ceiling and run to the park.
“Welcome!”
“Welcome our home!”
At Jeong Huiwon and the sisters’ greetings, the people looked surprised.
None of them had expected a welcome like this.
I was just as surprised.
The people of the city seemed to have adapted far better than I had expected.
“How is everyone?”
At my question, Huiwon smiled and answered.
“Everyone is busy. CEO Hyun has been running around nonstop too.”
Since she said they were busy, it seemed everyone was doing well. My brother, whom I had put in charge of managing the city, seemed to be fine too.
Following the welcome, the two younger sisters said in bright voices,
“Everyone, please follow us!”
The people began moving reflexively.
As we passed through the park, I heard from Jeong Huiwon that my brother was expanding the residential area around the expedition team’s lodging.
There were not many people yet, but it seemed he intended to fill the city that way.
The place we were heading to was also where the expedition team’s lodging was located.
I followed behind the people as well, but once we left the park, I called the nuclear technician, Chen Ming.
“Let’s stop by somewhere else for a moment.”
Meeting my brother and grasping the situation of the residents and the city was important, but right now there was something I had to check first.
The nuclear technician was indeed sharp.
Seeing that I had called only him aside, he realized why I had summoned him.
“Understood.”
After telling the others to go on ahead, I headed with Chen Ming toward a building some distance away.
An empty warehouse building beside the smoking forge.
Originally, it was a building I had asked the spirit to remodel so it could be filled with grain.
This time, however, I intended to use it for another purpose first.
“The inside is enormous.”
Chen Ming looked around the interior with a surprised expression.
Since I had intended to use it as a food warehouse, it was only natural that the inside was spacious.
This should be enough.
I began taking the nuclear missiles out of the box.
What I took out of the box were six vehicle-mounted intercontinental ballistic missiles.
Once I had taken them all out, the warehouse was filled.
“You really did have them.”
Each time a missile appeared, Chen Ming swallowed hard with a drained face.
Seeing him surprised again, I asked him,
“You knew, didn’t you?”
At my question, Chen Ming shook his head.
“Knowing and seeing it in person are different. It’s hard enough to believe I’ve come to another planet, but to think you brought nuclear missiles inside a small box… My common sense keeps collapsing every time, to the point where I no longer know what common sense even is.”
It was understandable.
Even I, only half a mage, was surprised by magic every time.
But magic was not omnipotent.
“I’m amazed by magic too, but not everything can be done with magic. For one thing, I can’t use these nuclear warheads right now.”
At my words, the nuclear technician nodded.
“Of course. These nuclear missiles have many safety devices attached. Our nuclear warheads are of the Russian line, so they have fewer safety devices than American ones, but they are still nuclear weapons. They won’t be easy to activate.”
It was what I had expected, but I had no need to use these missiles properly.
“I have no intention of using the missiles. I only need the hydrogen bombs to explode at the right time.”
At my words, Chen Ming tilted his head.
“Then the difficulty drops quite a bit… There would be no need to bypass the ignition device, and no need for radar or target confirmation either… Even so, it will require considerable modification. There’s no guarantee it will definitely work, either.”
He was not saying he could not do it. That was enough.
“Tell me if there’s anything you need. I’ll prepare as much as I can.”
I took tools, various lathes, equipment, and even weapons out of the box.
They were items I had obtained from the United States this time.
I had brought them to develop the city, but they could also be used to modify nuclear weapons.
Seeing the items I had taken out, Chen Ming nodded.
“This much should be a great help. Understood. I’ll try to bypass the security, activate the detonator, and set the timer.”
It was exactly what I wanted to hear, but he had not finished speaking yet.
“However, it will take quite some time. I can’t use magic like you.”
To think I would hear from him the same thing scientists and technicians always said—that there was not enough time.
But there was a way.
“Will it work if there’s a mage?”
“You won’t have time to stay beside me and help, will you?”
After only a short time together, he had realized how busy I was.
He was right.
I could not stay by his side while he modified the nuclear missiles.
But there was another mage here besides me.
-So you were here! Sorry! I couldn’t come to meet you because I was training the chickens!
Just then, another mage appeared here.
That mage was the spirit, who appeared by passing through the wall.
-Wow! What are these? They’re huge cars!
The spirit flew around inside the warehouse, inspecting the nuclear missile vehicles.
I introduced the mage to the nuclear technician.
“This is Shamila, the spirit who manages this city. She is an excellent mage.”
The spirit, who had been looking at the nuclear missiles, heard me and landed in front of Chen Ming.
She clasped both hands together, smiled gently, and bowed her head.
-Hello. I am Shamila, the spirit of snow. I am the guardian of this city.
Chen Ming, whose mind had half left him at the spirit’s words that were completely different from a moment ago, could not say a thing.
A nuclear technician and an innocent spirit.
It was a strange combination, but they were the people I needed most right now.
Fire Golem