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Last Embryo Volume 4 Chapter 6 Part 9

However, he could not help it but think whether or not hypothesizing about such thing even made sense. After all, it was a simple fact that the damage caused by the experiments that created 『The Bull of Heaven』 were worldwide in scale. Thanks to Homura’s efforts they managed to wrap the entire incident up before the damage reached unrepairable levels and worked on coming up with the countermeasures against any such happenings in the future. . . but enough has already been sacrificed in an attempt to stop the viral outbreak of the pseudo-smallpox virus. Even if it could be said that these were the necessary sacrifices. . . in Homura’s eyes, the cost was still far too great. Looking at it from such a perspective, maybe building the Enviornmental Control Tower really is not the best idea?

「I see. Well, it is not like I expected you to have some concrete solution to that problem already, so do not beat yourself up over it. Instead, let us change the subject for a bit. Let us talk about your father, Dr. Saigo. Do you know what he was working on before he began his research on Star Particle Bodies?」

「Oh. . . y-yeah, I head about that. Supposedly before he devoted his life to Star Particle Bodies, he was occupied with the study of energy reduction of the natural resources dwelling in the seabed beneath Japan.」

「Exactly. Japan has been known throughout the world as a country with rather energy resources, but that view began to change along with the evolution of civilization and the discovery that Japan actually had a bountiful supply of marine-based resources.」

「Umu. In one of his research documents, my father made a point that if only Japan could manage and process those marine-based resources – like methane hydrate for example – then it could have easily become one of the world’s leading energy resource powers.」

The ocean that surrounds the Japanese Isles Archipelago is rich with many precious metals such as gold, silver, copper and also petroleum, Cobalt-Rich Crusts, and perhaps the most valuable out of all the resources: methane hydrate. Petroleum and coal are also expected to limit their emission of carbon dioxide and reduce the amounts of damage they are doing to the environment. All in all, the amounts of stored energy resources are said to amount to around one hundred and fifty trillion yen in asset value.
That is also one of the reasons why the research of Star Particle Bodies has been approved: because the development of their technology, said to be on par with the development of space travel was supposed to help make the process of recovering those marine energy resources from the bottom of the ocean that much easier.

「「In order to bring about the advent of countries that can be both rich and disease-free, it is imperative that we hurry up and develop a technology that would be capable of the effective utilization of Star Particle Bodies」. That was one of the statements that I found while browsing through his research notes. And because the natural resources are pretty scarce all across Japan, it can only stay afloat and survive by rotating its economy at increasingly high speeds due to the increasingly harsh labor conditions and the rise of the private property. That is why fast and effective recovery of the natural energy resources should be its highest priority. . . 」

While talking about such things out loud, Homura pondered about how his father came to discover the Star Particle Bodies, and in Japan of all places. He did not know if it was more of an incredible stroke of luck or an inevitability that was bound to happen sooner or later, but the fact remained that their discovery was a very welcome surprise.

Star Particle Bodies are not a natural resource. It is a living creature, but it is unknown where exactly did they originated from, or of if they have always been present in Japan or came there from somewhere else. However, the general consensus that has been agreed upon was that since the Star Particle Bodies – and with them, The Third Perpetual Motion – were discovered by Dr. Saigo when he was researching and developing the methods of easier extraction of the natural resources from the seafloor, then the original Star Particle body must have been found out somewhere in the waters of the sea near Japan.

「Even though methane hydrate is generally said to be found on the bottom of the seafloor, it can actually be found in the general vicinity of the submerged volcanoes. Up until now it never crossed my mind to search for the 『The Origin』, but if only I did that, then maybe I could have discovered in what kind of environment it was created in.」

「 . . . . . . . . . . . . I see. *Sigh*. . . so, submerged volcanoes after all, huh?」

Izayoi pressed his fingers against his temples and grinded his teeth in anguish. Frankly put, that was a reaction that Homura did not expect from him. It was as if he knew what Homura was going to say from the beginning, but secretly hoed to hear something else entirely, only to have that hope utterly crushed before his very eyes.

「Uhm. . . . . Big Bro Iza? If you knew the answer to that already, then why did you ask me that question in the first place?」

「Because I have a mountainload of things that I have to explain to you, but now I d not know how I should go about it. I did not want to say it, but I am quite confused. . . no, on second thought, that is not it. I guess my own negligence is to blame here. I should hav realized it much sooner.」

After covering his face with his hands, Izayoi hunched forward where he was sitting and spoke the quiet words of regret. But no matter how much he regrets not doing anything sooner, it is too late to do anything about it now. No use crying over the milk that has been spilt for some time now. Instead, after a few moments of deafening silence, Izayoi took his hands off his face and asked Homura with a voice that he barely managed to squueze out of his throat:

「*Sigh* . . . . . . . Homura.」

「Yes?」

「I am afraid that I do not have the time to beat around the bush anymore, so let me just ask you about it straightforwardly.」

「O. . . . . . okay, sure? What is it that you want to ask?」

Admittedly, Homura was more than a little frightened of Izayoi right now, because he was using a tone of voice that Homura has never heard before in his life, and he also looked at him with eyes that had so much intensity in them that he was worrying he might pierce his skull through simply by continuing to stare at him like that.

「Homura, you. . . are you familiar with the words Aorta of the Stars Rupture: 『Ultra Volcano』?」

*GULP!!!*

After hearing the words that left Izayoi’s mouth, Homura swallowed his saliva in an especially loud manner, before getting lost in thoughts for a while.

Of course he knew the meaning of those words. They were the ones that came from the geopolitical scholar who was mentioned during the talk Homura and the others had this morning. At that time he did not have the occasion to talk about because Atlantis became the topic that dominated their entire discussion, but he had definitely heard about it. However, his brain was refusing to recognize in what way would that matter be related to what they were currently talking about. If the 「Hell’s Kiln」really is the origin and the root cause of everything that that has happened up until now. . . then that would mean that he completely misunderstood the reasons and motivations behind the actions of those whom he was calling the enemy forces…

As Homura continued to absent-mindedly stare into space, the expression on Izayoi’s face suddenly became even harsher.

「Homura. We are done talking. Now, pack all of your tools back into your Gift Card and come over here.」

「And why would I need to do that?」

「Because apparently I have spent more time talking with you than I should have. . . yeah, there is no mistaking is. I can feel somebody’s presence outside. And whoever they are, they are definitely coming this way.」