The Hungry Fortress Wants to Build a Battleship in Another World – World of Sandbox-Chapter 13Vol 3. : Negotiation or Invasion

Two aircraft soared above the Forest Kingdom Levresta, cruising at an altitude of approximately 25 kilometers.

Their speed exceeded 3,600 km/h—faster than Mach 3.

“Flight is stable. After completing aerial photography around the target river, we’ll turn around and begin precision surveying using the rangefinding laser.”

“Roger. Akane, Ichigo, I’m counting on you.”

“Acknowledged.”

“Understood.”

The LRF-1 Vulture units were operated via a dual-AI control system: a strategic AI for overall mission directives and a tactical AI for subsystem-specific control.

Due to their incredible speed, real-time remote control from a base was impractical. The aircraft needed to be kept in an extremely delicate equilibrium state, and even a sub-0.1-second delay could prove fatal.

Thus, a dedicated onboard tactical AI handled navigation and control.

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That said, leaving the aircraft entirely autonomous would limit operational flexibility, so command input was still required at intervals.

For this operation, Ringo had delegated overall mission control to Akane and Ichigo. She determined they were perfectly capable of handling a single mission's command structure.

“Vulture 1 has completed aerial photography over Zone G8. Passing point. Initiating course change.”

“Report: Target zone analysis complete. No noteworthy terrain detected.”

“Course change complete. Receiving footage from Zone F7.”

While the aircraft were flying in formation, Vulture 1 was assigned reconnaissance duties, while Vulture 2 provided escort.

The supersonic high-altitude recon aircraft LRF-1 Vulture was equipped with high-performance sensors and fixed-mounted laser cannons—but due to power constraints, it couldn’t operate both at the same time.

Microwave power transmission would’ve solved this issue, but if the aircraft dipped below the horizon, it would lose access to beamed power. As a result, onboard power was the only viable option.

It was a problem born of speed.

Incidentally, from a ground observation height of 1.7 meters, a Vulture flying at 25 km altitude would disappear ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) below the horizon at roughly 740 km away.

At a cruising speed of 3,600 km/h, it would vanish from sight after only 12 minutes of straight-line flight.

Even if a microwave drone were hovering at 20 km altitude, the effective range would only be about 1,400 km—still not enough, given Vulture's operational radius.

Considering its role in reconnaissance, there was no way to pre-position drones or ground facilities for power transmission. This was an unavoidable limitation.

“Completed aerial photography over Zone B3. Passing point. Initiating course change.”

Because of their extreme speed, the Vultures had enormous turn radii. To reduce airframe stress, their minimum turn radius extended up to 200 kilometers.

This made repeat surveillance over the same spot practically impossible, but it was ideal for scanning vast areas quickly.

This time, the survey zone spanned 600 kilometers north-south and 800 kilometers east-west. A mix of straight-line and circular flight paths was used to thoroughly sweep the area.

“That’s a pretty complex flight path.”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. If they fly in straight lines too long, they risk being targeted by predictive strikes. However, precision measurements require straight flight. So we randomized their routes, minimizing straight-line flight time and maximizing curved flight paths.”

“I see... Well, if the data’s coming in as planned, then we’re good.”

Vulture continued tracing looping paths across the displayed map, carefully filling in all the blanks.

Each aircraft had about two hours of flight time based on fuel load, and their flight patterns were optimized to ensure complete reconnaissance of the target region within that window.

Then, roughly 40 minutes into the operation—

“Commander Ma’am. We’ve detected a reaction that appears to be crude oil.”

“Oh! Where? Show me!”

Upon hearing the long-awaited report, she instinctively stood and leaned forward.

“Due to nighttime conditions, we can’t display a visible light image, but here’s the processed rendering.”

What appeared on screen was an image of the desert, likely post-processed to approximate visible light. In the center of the brown-toned terrain were several dark, irregularly shaped “lakes.” At a glance, they resembled ponds in a wasteland.

“Whoa... Is this all oil?”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Spectral analysis puts the probability of crude oil at over 90%. Given the volume visibly gushing to the surface, this is a very promising site.”

The oil field was located in a desert zone, with no settlements in the vicinity.

Territorially speaking, it likely fell within the bounds of the Forest Kingdom Levresta, but there seemed to be no stationed forces or signs of active control.

If The Tree were to seize de facto control, probably no one would complain.

With that thought, Commander Eve muttered:

“I want it...”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. It appears to be unused—we should take it all at once.”

Ringo responded instantly to her murmur. The moment the oil was detected, Ringo had already begun running dozens of simulations.

She plugged the coordinates into her models and immediately displayed the projected outcomes.

“You're well prepared.”

“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. With The Core’s computational capabilities, this level of simulation takes only seconds.

Using The Tree's current military strength, we’ll seize the coastal area near the oil field. Then we’ll build a fortress via workships.

Simultaneously, we’ll perform an airborne drop to advance inland and occupy the southern sector of the oil field.

If possible, we’ll construct extraction facilities on-site and lay pipelines.

The coast will serve as the base for defense units. As we expand the fortress, we’ll bring in supplies and develop the oil field.

Within a month, we should be able to finish laying the pipeline.

The total length will be about 100 kilometers. If we use narrower pipe diameters to conserve resources, our current reserves should be sufficient.”

“Hmm. If we’ve got enough resources, I’d like to start immediately. Any other concerns?”

“We’ll have to pause expansion on Fortress No. 2 temporarily, but mining operations are progressing steadily, so we can recover quickly.

Once we secure the oil, we’ll be able to manufacture resins, which will actually increase expansion speed in the long run.

The main risk is if we encounter a powerful monster or hostile external force—our ability to respond with reserves is uncertain.”

They wanted the oil.

If they’d found it, naturally they wanted to deploy troops right away. But acting recklessly while stretched thin could mean losing everything.

“Additionally, we’ve conducted a fairly conspicuous reconnaissance mission. Since it’s nighttime, visual spotting is unlikely—but we weren’t able to suppress noise. There’s a high chance our recon activity has been detected.”

“Right. That’s a concern too... A lightning-fast invasion that leaves no time for response—that’s one valid path. But preparing slowly for an unknown threat is also an option... Either give them time to respond—or don’t.”

It was a difficult question.

What they were planning, no matter how you framed it, was an act of war against a sovereign state. They had gotten excited after finding the oil, but when you stopped to think about it, it was an outright military invasion.

“Hmmmm... But even if we explain the usefulness of oil, that won’t help us. If they agree to cooperate with extraction, fine—but if they start leveraging that position, that would be irritating...”

“Commander Ma’am. If we go with a peaceful approach, we can make an offer through a diplomatic delegation. However, as you predicted, they’ll almost certainly try to gain leverage. We haven’t shown them our military might either, and formal negotiations between nations can easily drag on for years.”

“Exactly. Underground resources are literally buried treasure. Of course they’ll want to sell it for the highest price possible. Unless there’s some kind of global cartel, we’re the only ones in this area that need oil. Which means negotiations will be difficult.”

“If we want to acquire it quickly, then military invasion is our only real option. At our current pace, our oil reserves will last for about a year. Even with further tech development, nothing will yield greater results than securing that oil field.”

“Yeah, I know. We did develop tech for algae that can produce jet fuel, but the efficiency is just awful... And it's not just about fuel—crude oil is also a raw material. The ability to use resins freely is huge. And the extractable elements are valuable too.”

At this moment, Commander Eve stood at an extremely critical crossroads.