08-23 Drugbase
Ann advised that brand-new clothes would be conspicuous, and so second-hand clothes were decided upon
Deneb-1 of the Quinta put on the clothes she had bought with Elsa and Mine, and was sent to buy clothes for the others.
She was also sent to buy clothes from Blue Land, and within the day by repeating this the Quinta all got clothes and they could be sent to live in towns without people finding out.
“Well then, I’ll be counting on you.”
“Understood, Chief.”
Starting with Blue Land, Port Rock, and other places with Warp Gates like the stronghold’s ruins they were scattered about everywhere.
They were all expected to regularly report to Laozi every morning and night.
“With this the first task is done.”
Jin made sure that everyone had warped and took a deep breath.
“Now, I wonder what I should be doing next?”
Of course, Ann was the one to reply.
“Master, I’d like to know about the medicine that was research the other day. How is the blood used in it preserved?”
“Hm? It’s just in cold storage.”
“And that’s simply the blood in its original state?”
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Then Ann became visibly disconcerted and,
“That’s not good! Preserving blood is a more complicated task!”
She said, so Jin asked Laozi,
“Laozi, Ann says this, but…?”
He then got a reply.
“Yes, she is correct. I found that out last night while arranging the information copied from Ann, and immediately took action. My apologizes for being late in reporting the matter to My Lord.”
Jin was relieved.
“Is that so? That’s fine then. It’s such a rare material that if it got spoiled that would be a real waste. …So, if cold storage is no good then how exactly is it stored?”
Ann answered that.
“What’s important isn’t the red part, but rather the liquid portion. Once separated, it can be stored in an Ether Stocker with nearly no deterioration.”
“Ether Stocker?”
It was a word even Jin didn’t know of.
“Ether Stocker is a storehouse that has the Ether amount in its air raised to at least 20 percent. It’s possible to store materials holding Magic Energy in there semipermanently without deterioration.”
Ann explained. This was good news.
“Last night a storehouse was built and the blood was moved there instead.”
Laozi reported. It was after the fact, but Jin didn’t have any intention of blaming him on a matter like this either. Instead he’d rather commend Laozi by telling he did good.
“Is that so, what a relief in that case. And so, Laozi, have you finished studying the proper recipe for the restorative medicine?”
“Yes. The parts that were unclear have been completed, and the process is now known.”
And so at once Jin went to producing medicine. After its effectiveness was verified on Mine, its demand would probably increase from now on, he concluded.
The centrifuge was just as before. However, while it wasn’t necessary to do it at subsonic speeds, because as a result it shortened the filtration process that would’ve been the next step they decided to do it.
“So normally the separated serum would need to be filtrated?”
“Yes. Filtrated three times. However, thanks to Reiko-san we can get it done with after just the final filtration process.”
With the use of Reiko as the subsonic centrifuge, two steps of the filtration process could be completely skipped.
This time they processed about ten liters.
The pure serum turned out to total about three liters. The leftover remnants were useful for various medicines or even poisons and so they were left in storage in the Ether Stocker.
“This could almost be called liquid Ether, huh.”
Ann nodded at Jin’s remark.
“Yes. If Magi Crystals are crystallized Ether, then this could surely be said to be liquid Ether.”
The purity was over 70 percent. According to Ann crossing 30 percent was enough for practical use, and so Jin was looking forward to it.
“Once it takes in Ether, the impurities will settle and its purity will increase further. That’s then called a drugbase.”
It appeared that the true serum contained components that took in or otherwise combined with Ether. For devil beasts that had a lot of Magic Energy these components appeared to be more numerous.
“In that case, I wonder what would happen with Father’s blood?”
Reiko who had been silent until now interrupted.
“I expect that Father most likely has more Magic Energy than a Sea Dragon.”
“What are you…Hmm.”
Jin pondered. Indeed, Jin’s hypothesis was that he took in Ether through the lungs and in dissolved into his blood. If that was the case, then surely the faculties in his blood that took in Ether would be numerous, considering his large amount of Magic Energy.
It was a similar relationship as with oxygen and red blood cells. If the red blood cells were numerous, as a result one would have a high ability to take in oxygen-
“Alright, how about we try testing with my blood one of these days?”
Jin said, although he wasn’t very keen on the idea.
Going back to square one, Jin hurriedly built an Ether Box. It had four times the capabilities of an Ether Stocker.
“Hmm, it’s best to put it here.”
Jin said while putting the drugbase in the Ether Box the size of a large refrigerator.
“Yes, one day should be enough. The remaining impurities will also settle, so it’s killing two birds with one stone.”
The same day they processed 20 liters more, producing a total of about ten liters of drugbase.
＊ ＊ ＊
Today’s lunch was Mine’s high-quality freshly baked bread, similar quality Citran marmalade, Pelshka juice, and stir-fried vegetables.
After the meal, Jin told about Reinhardt’s news to Elsa.
“This time he’s at River Azul. He was complaining about how he has to wait around once again.”
“Mm. On our trip to Port Rock it also took us a week to cross the two rivers.”
“Really, what’s that country thinking about. Even Reinhardt-sama needs to be very careful or it’ll be dangerous.”
Jin was also worried a little, but he thought that there was no way they’d attack another country’s diplomat in broad daylight, and with that he left back to Hourai Island for the day.
＊ ＊ ＊
“Now then, if I have the Quinta look for armor for the golem suit research, I wonder if I could make something in the afternoon.”
Jin thought about what he could do right now.
“We don’t possess many means of travel on the land, right? I was looking into it the other day, automobiles, were they? I think that some transport technology like that should be developed for the use of the army.”
Jin agreed with Ann’s advice. Tanks, armored vehicles, military trucks and such came to his mind.
“Oh right, I also built that suspension device for the carriage. It would be good if those golem arms could be used.”
Promptly he threw himself into planning.
Tank treads were troublesome and so he instead of them he’d increase the amount of wheels to eight. Rubber probably wouldn’t be durable enough, so he’d substitute Sea Dragon’s leather for it.
The eight wheels would have independent suspension, the engine would have eight cylinders, or rather eight golem engines. One for each wheel. The frame and the armor sheets would be made out of Adamantite.
To see outside in times of emergency he used a window that could open and close, but normally an extended Magic Screen would be used to give a 360 degree view as if there were no walls at all. It was an exceptional item that could even see far into the distance. Of course, it also had a night vision feature.
The armaments were one laser cannon, one railgun (cannon-type), and one water jet.
The crew would be four people. A ManaCom and a barrier deployment feature would also be installed.
For times when it got stuck in mud a wire rope and a winch would be installed.
Furthermore four supporting Magi Jet Engines would be prepared to be able to make it lighter up to a fifth of its weight.
The inside would be fully furnished with an air conditioner and two folding beds where the crew could sleep in turns despite it getting cramped.
More and more equipment were added as they kept popping into Jin’s mind. The technical specifications were outrageous.
“Alright, how about something like this.”
“Master, storage for food, water, and medicine are also required. And a floodlight on top of that.”
Ann pointed out what it lacked. He decided to make the floodlights able to emit infrared and ultraviolet light in addition to visible light.
By teaching the basic design to Laozi, Jin’s workload was lightened as he had to only make the important parts no one else could build.
Like this the third day turned into night.
＊ ＊ ＊
At night, there was a conversation with Reinhardt.
“I’m in Dali. It’s crowded like Tellurs was. It seems that suspicious-looking people are hanging around.”
“Will you be okay?”
“Yeah, even this town has got soldiers dispatched from Shouro Empire, and because I asked them as guards there’s no need for you to worry.”
“Okay, if that’s the case.”
“Oh, right. I had an unexpected meeting.”
“With who?”
“It’s someone you know too, Jin.”
“Someone in Celuroa Kingdom who I know…Is it Stearina-san?”
“Precisely. You see, she’s returning home after reporting to the royal palace.”