Capricorn 1 is moving smoothly across the plain.

"Oh, I'd really appreciate a hot drink!"

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The temperature in the room is set to about 22 degrees Celsius, but the extremely cold landscape outside makes us feel cold.

The Tusulu plateau is about 180 kilometers long at its longest point. There is no telling how long it will take Capricorn 1, traveling at 5 kilometers per hour, to reach Mt.

"Hmmm, why not take advantage of the clear skies?"

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It's easy to imagine that in less than half a day, another blizzard will probably block their view.

"Land 1, you have permission to proceed with the force field generator."

Are you sure?

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Are you sure? We're in the north with a high concentration of free energy. You will not run out of gas or mana.

So, Capricorn 1 uses the force field generator "Force Generator" to move forward on the snow surface. The speed was 50 kilometers per hour.

It will take a little over two hours to reach Mt.

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"Reiko, do you know how thick the free magical element (ether) is?

Jin asked Reiko, suddenly curious.

"Yes, it is at least five times greater than that of human settlements.

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"That much?"

Jin decided that if that was the case, he would be able to keep the huge Capricorn 1 flying.

Outside the window was a snowy surface, but in some places there were forests that had turned into ice trees, rocky clumps, and small mountains.

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"Kuhu, I guess we're the first people to come to this place..."

Saki muttered in a happy tone.

"Hmm. I'm not Jin, but I'm glad we came just to see this view.

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Erza, who was looking out next to Saki, agreed.

"Oh, that!"

Then, a surprised Zion's voice rang out.

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"What's wrong, Zion?"

First, Jin moved next to Zion and looked out the window.

Theon pointed at something moving.

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"...... dragon?"

It was a dragon with a white back and a brown belly. It looks like a huge iguana.

"...... a grand dragon."

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This is the dragon species that Reiko and Anne defeated before. It certainly has the same body shape, Jin thought.

"I didn't know they turn that color in winter. I didn't know that."

Grand dragons are said to be the natural enemy of the Hecaton Cale. About ten of them were stirring in the distance.

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"Let's get past them before they notice us.

They are not impossible to defeat, but I don't want to force the issue. I don't want to waste time.

That's a good idea.

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Yes, I agree.

"Yes, that's good." "Yes, that's wise."

After reaching a consensus, Jin and the others pass by, looking at the grand dragon with sideways glances. The advantage was that there was no noise since the movement was made by a force field generator.

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After about five minutes, the swarm of grand dragons disappeared from sight.

After 30 minutes, Mt. Gyeltse was getting bigger and bigger.

"I hope we can find it while the sun is shining.

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Jin muttered to himself, and this time Reiko shouted.

"Father, there's another dragon right ahead!

"What?"

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I looked over to see two pure white dragons eating something.

"No way. ......

Could those be frost dragons?

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Theon let out a pained voice.

"Is that a frost dragon?　If so, what it is eating is ......."

It might be the shell of the ancient dragon that Jin and the others are looking for.

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"Father, I'll go check it out while I use my invisibility..."

Reiko said. Certainly, in this case, the smaller Reiko would be more suitable than Capricorn 1 to approach.

"Okay, go ahead and be careful. I'm warning you, don't provoke the Frost Dragon. And take the transporter with you just in case.

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Yes, sir.

Then Jin and the others move Capricorn 1 a little further away from the Frost Dragon and pause for a moment. Reiko ran out of the airlock.

"I hope you found what you were looking for," she said.

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Saki muttered a little worriedly while we were waiting.

Ten minutes passed.

"I'm back."

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Reiko came back.

"Oh, how did it go?　...... is terrible."

Reiko's body was instantly covered with frost as she entered the room. Her hair, clothes, shoes, and other parts of her body that do not directly generate body heat.

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The frost quickly melted and turned to dew, dripping onto the floor.

"<>"

Jin quickly dried the wet Reiko with his engineering magic.

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"Thank you, father."

"So how was it?"

"Yes, I was told not to irritate the Frost Dragon, so this is all I was able to bring back.

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Reiko presented three pieces about 10 centimeters square. In short, they were scraps.

When I went there, most of them had been eaten up.

"Well, I'm sorry to hear that, but it can't be helped."

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Hitoshi patted Reiko's apologetic head gently.

"Land one, let's resume moving forward."

Capricorn 1 begins to move forward again, looking for the perfect shell.

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"...... Jin, is this really the strongest biological material?"

Saki tilts her head as she holds up one of the scraps Reiko has brought.

"It looks like it's going to tear even if I pull on it.　Besides, that Frost Dragon eats it, that means ......."

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It means that it is weaker than the Frost Dragon. That is what Jin felt too.

However, Jin had a clue, if not the answer.

"Yes, that's the thing. Yesterday, Saki mentioned something, didn't she?"

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"Yeah?　What was it?

"About the strength of metal."

Saki's face turns convinced.

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"Yes, indeed!　That's what we talked about with Mr. Alectus!"

The topic was what determines the strength of metals.

"In a word, it's the bonding force between atoms, isn't it?"

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Saki said definitively. But Jin denied it.

"No, it's not. ......No, it's not, it should be. As I recall, the bonding strength of atoms is covalent bonding > ionic bonding > metallic bonding.

Molecular, to be exact.

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"...... salt ...... sodium chloride, is it ionic bonding?"

Elsa joined the discussion. Zion, unfortunately, has roughly elementary school-level scientific knowledge and can only listen.

"Yes, I think ....... Salt crystals are hard but brittle. So you can't say that bonding strength is the only factor that determines its strength.

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"Hmmm, I see. Then ......."

There are different laws between the macro phenomena we see in everyday life and the micro phenomena that occur in the atomic and molecular worlds, and they cannot be simply compared and analogized, but they still speculate, debate, and try to get closer to the truth.

"In terms of hardness, diamond is said to be hard because the bonds of carbon are the strongest, but it is also brittle.

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When we talk about hardness or strength, we are usually talking about or .

Mohs hardness is based on the fact that when two materials are scratched against each other, the softer one is scratched. Diamonds have a Mohs hardness of 10 and quartz has a Mohs hardness of 7.

"But if you hit a diamond with an iron hammer, which has a lower Mohs hardness than diamond, it will break."

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In terms of impact resistance, diamonds are low.

"Well, it's difficult to say.

Saki held her head.

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"Then there is free magic element (ether). Neutral free-magic element (ether) can enter between any matter, molecule, and atom. What would happen if we could give direction to this free magic element (ether)?"

This is what Jin has been thinking about for a long time.

"I think the key to ultimate strength is a <> and a <>."

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"What?　Jin, you're jumping the gun!　I can't keep up with you!"

Saki screamed. But Erza seemed to have an idea.

"You mean ...... if we can deploy a barrier in any shape?"

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"Yes, that's right!　That's great, Erza."

Erza had guessed Jin's idea right on the nose.

"You mean you can make the shell of an ancient dragon have the same effect as a barrier?

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Next, Zion, who had been listening without saying a word, put it in an easy-to-understand way.

"Certainly, then it could be said to be the strongest material ......."

Saki, who had been ruminating over Zion's words, uttered the words as if she couldn't bear the feeling.

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"After all, Jin is amazing, isn't he? As expected of a magical engineer 《magicraft meister》."