Chapter 42

After cleaning myself up after my fun with 2B and getting some rest the party soon made its way north to the cleared-out nest of metal ants to finally accomplish the goal that I had come to this god forsake land for.

I frowned when using my magnetic magic as I could feel the nest was just one massive solid mass of metal and naturally a nest made by tens of thousands of ants at the minimum that even the smallest variants ended up being the size of a decent horse, meant that this nest was ridiculously large...

"I am going to have to break up this nest, it's just one solid mass and more importantly how is Commander White going to be taking all this away?" I asked already feeling the onset of mental exhaustion just mapping out the massive nest.

To say it was massive was an understatement as reached more than three hundred meters into the ground at its deepest depths and had more than a couple dozen main chambers and all the tunnels connecting to the chambers. The thing was that every inch of the nest was coated in the silver-streaked crimson metal we came to harvest so in reality I was thinking more along the lines of using my earth magic to just move all the earth burying the nest and have YoRHa try to fly the entire nest away with their anti-gravity nonsense rather than attempting to brute force a skyscraper's worth of metal with me acting as the magnet.

"Oh, Commander White is planning on using a sort of weather balloon system that will lift up the mass without the loud sounds of jets and the Maso output of the antigravity propulsion systems which could alert and attract predators that hunt by sensing the Maso within life around them," 9S answered

I nodded just throwing the magic sensing animals in the back of my mind as it wasn't all too special when you consider that there's a number of animals in normal nature that could hunt with the aid of echolocation, electric fields, and even be able to see heat signatures.

"So, should I break this apart, or would it be easier for White if the nest was in one solid piece, and I just dug it out," I asked the scout model who pursed her lips in thought.

"Let's just ask for mission clarification." 2B cut in with a no-nonsense tone even as she was still in her afterglow and was resting her head against my back and clearly taking joy in counting my heartbeats as I could feel her fingers tapping on my sides at an odd rhythm.

After sending one of the pods into the sky to act as a relay and break through the Maso flooding the air we were able to make a connection to YoRHa with White's voice coming through.

"According to the GPS on the pods, you all are at the mission target, is there a new development to report?" White asked all business.

After explaining our concerns about the proper way to handle the metal nest and its sheer size, White told us to separate and crush all the metal we could into cubes or pipes in the case of the tunnels in order to make things easier.

"Alright, White. this is likely to be the work of a couple of days so I will see you when we head back." I said stretching and delving into my earth mana but before I could begin excavating White spoke again.

"Very well. Automated transport will be ready for the materials in three days' time and will take all the materials, all you need to do is stack it up. More importantly, I do have important news that was delivered to me from my counterpart the leader of the resistance army."

My face could only twitch as Commander White continued to speak. "The resistance leader who is based on the coast of old California has warned me that the mutated animals and monsters are undergoing a series of rapid evolution with what we expect to be the Sun to be the cause. It seems that somehow the vast majority of the malignant Maso that was expelled during the White Chlorination event that attempted to spread the world and into the atmosphere was pulled by the sun's gravity and after thousands of years of refinement, the once malignant Maso has been ultra-purified into a far more powerful form and is now being naturally radiating from sun."

...

'Wait does that mean these monsters are being bootleg cultivators who are absorbing the essence from the sun.' I mentally deadpanned.

"So, you are saying to hurry my ass up and get home, right?" I groaned already able to foresee White's nods from the other end of the call.

"That's correct... We are not sure as to the level of mutations and the danger levels the new fauna and flora will bring so it's imperative that you finish your duties and retreat from the hot zone if not leave at this very moment through the Flight Units."

Even as the combat models gave me knowing looks, I shrugged replying in the negative as I at least wanted my second outing to be a success in comparison to that massive shit show that was fighting Adam.

"Very well... 2B, 6E, 9S, and A2, make sure to eliminate any life forms that approach Jake's worksite, so he can work in peace," White ordered with all the combat models that followed me on this mission acknowledging Commander Whites's order.

White then cut off the call after exchanging a couple of hushed pleasantries and I got to work shifting all the dirt around the metal nest knowing that just moving the dirt a good distance away even with my magic was going to be the work of the whole day.