Giant Combat-use Claw and Railway Network System
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Translator: SFBaka
Editor: Thor’s Stone
A few days later, Jialing and Matty successfully established their respective transferee companies.
The newly revamped Fortress Area P336 had hence started its new life as an Area with a large-scale heavy industrial complex.
Matty named his Quattro Silhouette-specialized company Gallop.
Jialing took a name from Ancient Greek mythology and founded the Aegis Company, which will manufacture weapons at the behest of the Silhouette Base and Kou.
The newly reestablished Kurt Maschinenbau was represented by the B-Class Development Engineer Harald Muller who previously worked under Kurt. He will take over the manufacturing of Kurt Maschinenbau’s weapons.
Kou visited the Gallop Company which was the first one to be completed.
Matty, who was now dressed in a crisp suit, welcomed him.
「Oi, oi, what’s going on? Why is such a beautiful young man welcoming me?」
「It’s no use even if you praise me, Kou. It’s only proper for me to personally welcome the Shadow Boss.」
「Who are you calling ‘Shadow Boss’?」
「I don’t think there’s any use to denying it anymore……」
Jialing muttered in a low voice.
Quattro Silhouettes were already being assembled inside the company’s factory.
Quattro Silhouettes were originally meant as work Silhouettes after all.
「The mass production of the work type Quattro Silhouette and the combat type Epos is proceeding smoothly. Eponas can’t be solely manufactured here, so I suppose I’ll ask either Jialing or Kou for help on them.」
「The production efficiency is a level higher than that of a regular arsenal factory.」
「That’s because it specializes in manufacturing Quattros. They were developed using a work Silhouette as the base, so they need no particularly special parts or materials. But even so, it still costs 100 mina per unit.」
「Three times more expensive than regular work Silhouettes huh.」
「If we sell five units in advance for 1000 minas, I bet they’ll get sold out immediately.」
「Uwaa. Please don’t engage in any dirty business practices.」
「It’s just that much of a long-awaited and much-desired technology. Right, Aki? Did you actually explain to Kou just how amazing this all is? Or did you get yourself swept away by this guy’s pace instead?」
「The latter……」
Matt turned the conversation to Aki.
Looking at Aki and Nyanta’s expressions, Matt surmised that no matter how much excitement they felt, they failed to properly convey it to Kou.
「Look. These people are Gallop Company’s employees. They’re all Therianthropes, right? I was flooded with applications the moment the company announced it was recruiting. Even the Fortress Area P336 Defense corps has been swamped with applications.」
「I’d heard of it. I just thought ‘her’ influence is secretly spreading more and more.」
It was true that all people working in the company had animal ears and tails.
The ‘girl’ Kou referred to was Asia.
「That’s not it. Her being here is top secret. Everyone either wants the chance to pilot a Quattro Silhouette or at least get a glimpse of it. They want to get a job that’s related to it. They all assembled here with those goals in mind.」
「I’m betting some of them will even decorate Eponas with religious symbols and worship them.」
「I think so too. I’m even willing to take that bet.」
Aki explained matters to Kou, and Matty strongly agreed.
「There was even someone who tried to get their way using their connection to me and begged me to give them Quattros.」
「So, someone actually has that sort of connection with you, Matt?」
「Actually, you also know him. It’s my former Boss…… I ended up sending him three units.」
「It can’t be helped then. I wouldn’t be able to refuse him myself.」
Kou and Jialing sympathized with the exasperated Matty.
「The fact that it’s in great demand is good though. There’s no need to make any general-purpose weapons for it too. Well, apart from melee weapons, I guess.」
「The lance and oodachi seem to be very popular.」
「Actually, another weapon has been gaining popularity recently. It’s a weapon Kou’s acquaintance came up with.」
Matty led the party to a room where an Epos was standing by.
Its arm was equipped with a peculiar-looking claw weapon. It was a giant combat claw attached to a forearm armor guard.
「My acquaintance?」
「When I established the company, he sent me a list of weapons and blueprints. It’s a guy called Arges. He gave me stuff I can manufacture using this facility.」
「Arges…… He’s an amazing master craftsman to who I’m really indebted.」
Kou didn’t know Arges went to the trouble of doing something like this.
He decided to thank him later.
「So, he really was that kind of person. This combat claw is especially popular with cat-type Therianthropes.」
「I get that nyaa. I kinda want one myself, but my machine’s long-range shooting capabilities will drop nyaa.」
「That’s the trade-off huh.」
「The fact that it can also function as a shield is great nyaa.」
「So it can even be a shield!」
「It isn’t easy to break, and the Quattro has a superb balance, to begin with. For humanoid type Silhouettes, rather than equipping a shield, it would be better to equip them with thicker armor.」
「This combat is claw also very popular for use in forest patrol missions. They really like how beast-like the attacks are.」
Shield equipment for bipedal Silhouettes was actually already available in the market, but they weren’t very popular.
Only the types that could be equipped on the shoulders were widely used by melee combat Silhouettes.
「Everything’s progressing well even without my knowledge. That’s good.」
It made Kou glad that things were continuously developing even without his direct involvement.
In the first place, he wasn’t the type who could see the big picture anyway.
「I’ll test out lots of concepts on the Quattro and consult you about them later, Kou. The more the users increase, the more feedback we can get.」
「I’m gonna consult you too! Or rather, there are seriously too many things I need to consult you about!」
「I’ll be waiting, you two.」
The reason why the A-Class Development Engineers were rather close was probably because they often talked a lot with each other.
They were comrades who performed bricolage together. Kou thought that was something really precious.
Voy was currently quite busy.
The Drill Formation was currently excavating a tunnel from the Silhouette Base to Fortress Area P336 in order to lay the foundations for a full-scale railway network.
In addition to the rail tunnel, a similar secret passage for Silhouettes was also being created. This tunnel was going to be operated under complete secrecy. It was a completely different line from the railway tunnel.
The rail tunnel will serve as an alternative route to the Silhouette Base. That’s because it could serve as an invasion route for the enemy if it was discovered.
Double-track railway. It wasn’t a circular railway line, but it was planned to have inner and outer lines.
Its primary purpose was to serve as a freight line so that goods can be exchanged between the two bases faster.
Unlike the Silhouette Base, Fortress Area was open to the public and wasn’t concealed at all.
The transport of goods to and from it was relatively smooth.
However, it was still just starting out, and being able to bring machine tools that can’t be made without Asia’s permission to it directly from the Silhouette Base was significant merit.
The problem was making a railway line aboveground.
The line had to take many detours. There were many perilous spots such as mountainous areas and sharp curves.
And when Metal Iris announced recruitment for its construction, it was flooded with applications.
Many of them claimed to be veteran railway engineers, staff related to railway systems, or railway enthusiasts.
Even Jenny was a bit put off by their burning enthusiasm.
She tried to leave everything to Fuyuki, but he was also having trouble himself.
「How many people came to apply anyway? We’ve already recruited at least 80 people.」
「There are at least 2000 applicants present.」
The former Japanese railway official Fuyuki recruited replied. Tanaka Tetsuya. He was a good-natured middle-aged man.
「Can we pare that number down?」
「I’d actually like to secure all former railway personnel if possible. That’s just how knowledgeable and experienced they all are.」
「Even when we’re using technology from the far future?」
Kou was the one who raised a question.
「Shouldering infrastructure means shouldering a country. There are plenty among them who’d very much like to be involved in railways again. Having future technology is just another way to improve the system for them.」
「Even Japanese railways are already managed on a minute-by-minute basis.」
「If we employ future technology, the lines will be even more safe and stable. We especially want to secure people with experience in track laying.」
「Can’t we hire at least half of them?」
「But once this project is completed, there might no longer be any demand for them.」
Fuyuki joined in on the discussion and gave his opinion. Suddenly hiring a thousand people was too reckless.
「Can’t we just create demand? Why don’t we make use of their railway network expertise to engage in a proper business?」
「That could actually work. I see. That’s also an option……」
Fuyuki pondered Kou’s suggestion.
「We might be able to secure another huge source of funds. Where did you get such an idea, Kou-kun?」
「From the milk run.」
Milk run. It was a cargo collection system format. The name is said to have come from the distribution of milk bottles by a milkman and is also referred to as pick-up logistics.
It’s mainly used in the automobile industry and was a distribution format similar to the Kanban system.
「Right now, machine tools manufactured in the Silhouette Base are collected and transported by the Aristides, right? The effective range of a milk run is about 5 km. A great person once said anything longer than that would be inefficient.」
「It’s logistics know-how employed by the processing industry, right?」
「The collected cargo will be transported via freight train all at once. There’s only one stop after all. I just want to expand that network further.」
「In that case, let’s establish a department specialized in rail transport. I think there will be a great demand for railway transport between Fortress Areas.」
Tetsuya decided to accept such an undertaking. The possibility of spreading the railway network on Planet Asia. He wanted to realize it.
「Transport aircraft and ships are our only means of logistics right now. Though Fortress Areas and Defense Domes do tend to independently settle their needs by themselves.」
That’s also one of the problems faced by the Nemesis system.
Because Fortress Areas and Defense domes tend to be self-dependent, it was difficult for those living in them to relate to what was happening to other distant human settlements.
They couldn’t cooperate properly with one another, and unless the threat of the Stones come directly breathing down their necks, they would act like any incident that happened to other areas wasn’t related to them.
「Since the car size will use Silhouettes as a standard metric, we’d have plenty of leeways when it comes to available space.」
Tetsuya reviewed the proposal and confirmed its feasibility. He was glad that the train cars were designed with Silhouette size as a basis since that would allow for more cargo to be carried inside them compared to the freight train cars on Earth.
「They’re about three meters wide on Earth. Oh. What’s this, Kou-kun?」
「I was wondering if we’d be able to transport tanks via rail as well. I remember hearing that they used to transport tanks via freight trains.」
「They did. But tanks had become so large that they moved on to transporting them via trailers or ships.」
「Since we’re gonna use Silhouette size as the basic metric, the cars are gonna end up being at least 4 meters wide anyway. I was wondering if a height of 15 meters would be fine.」
「Shall we promote this as the new standard, Tetsuya-san?」
「Sounds good. It would be easier to explain it when it gets popularized.」
Even though Asia’s railway network began its development through such an event, it will eventually make great contributions to Fortress Areas that are gradually increasing their population and manufactured goods.
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