Chapter 80 – Terracorp (1)
All-out war.
It refers to the concept of mobilizing all available resources to fight when a country is in danger of survival.
Korea did not engage in all-out war during the Korean War, but this war was an exception.
This is because infected entities neither surrender nor accept anything and have no concept of human rights or morality.
The alternative is either we become extinct or the other person becomes extinct.
Men, including prisoners, were sent to the front lines, while women were mobilized to the rear for medical care and material production.
Industrial facilities were also requisitioned to manufacture military supplies.
“Walkers are loitering around. “It’s not like I’m standing guard.”
The dock behind the factory seen through a telescope, there were walkers standing everywhere.
The Terracorp industrial facility, the target of this external exploration, is a civilian helicopter manufacturing plant.
The facility is not only a facility, but it is also a transportation hub as there is a canal behind the factory.
Thanks to this, it was conscripted immediately after the start of the war and used as a military maintenance shop.
Although it is quite a distance from the shelter, it is a place that we must aim for as we need air transportation for our future journey.
In addition, there were no large cities or villages along the route, so the long distance did not pose a real threat.
There is just one problem.
Ground footage sent from an aerial drone.
Kuung-! Kuung-!
Juggernaut, a gigantic mutant infectious agent that shakes the earth just by moving.
Not only that bastard, but a group of walkers that seem to number in the thousands are positioned in front of the factory.
They were all refugees at one time.
In a situation of total war, a refugee tent also means a manpower office.
At the height of the war, thousands of tents were operated on the plain outside the factory.
The government has a moral responsibility to take care of its citizens and secure a workforce.
Refugees receive at least a little better food and protection.
The interests of both sides coincided, and as a result, many such tent villages were formed around the requisitioned military factories.
Kuung-! Kuung-!
Now it’s just a nest of monsters.
Fighting head-on is suicidal.
The expedition team I led is less than a handful compared to them.
However, to enter the industrial facility, you must overcome that group.
That is, if you enter through the front door.
“Coming this way was the right answer.”
We were hundreds of meters away from the drone.
Slap-.
The canal was completed only two years ago, so it was clean despite no special maintenance.
The waterside where we are is covered with lush grass and trees, and the road is a dirt road filled with the fresh scent of nature.
In the center of the canal, two healthy mallard ducks are leisurely floating and engaged in feeding activities.
I learned that it is safe as long as I don’t go near the water.
Please-!
It looks like one just caught a fish.
The cute orange soles of my feet flutter in the air with my upper body under the water.
The sun shined on the ripples that formed, scattering a brilliant halo of light.
As long as you don’t look towards the factory, the scenery is so beautiful that it reminds you of the peaceful world before the war.
“Only 3 engagements on the way here, that’s an amazing performance.”
We came here riding Artemis’ newly developed APC.
It is slightly different from ordinary APC as it focuses on survival from infectious agents rather than war against humans.
Although its armor is weak, it has high mobility, low noise, and is extremely resistant to frontal impacts.
Thanks to this, ‘in an emergency situation’, you can pass by any obstacle, including a car.
In addition, drone reconnaissance was also provided, so we were able to almost avoid battle.
[Are you ready?]
Artemis asked.
“You only ask new recruits questions like that.”
We plan to enter the factory through underwater infiltration.
The accompanying robots don’t breathe and are waterproof, so all I have to do is prepare.
“I’ve never done underwater operations, but my body is in perfect condition. “I had enough training.”
Underwater infiltration training was repeated several times through VR training at the shelter.
[They say they don’t even handle VR training?]
Artemis lightly sarcastically said.
“Even if you don’t like it, you have to do whatever it takes when necessary. Because that’s war. In today’s world, where else would you do underwater infiltration training except in VR? And…”
I saw the all-in-one diving and immersion suit I was wearing.
This amphibious penetration suit developed by Artemis is not only great for underwater activities but also functions as a protective suit.
“There wasn’t a single thing you made that disappointed me. Cooking, equipment, procedures, training programs, anything else.”
[Of course.]
Walk into the water.
Robots painted black followed behind me.
A new model with an alloy frame wrapped in high-density plastic and the sole padded with reinforced silicone.
He is a ‘predator.’
The durability is slightly lower than the older version of the ‘Insomniac’ series, but it is lighter and more agile.
It is optimized for infiltration operations where stealth and speed are key.
Due to the small number of units produced, only 8 units were deployed, but we have no intention of engaging in an all-out war anyway.
Even if noise measures are taken, a car is still a car. If you drive more than two, it will attract a lot of attention.
“Get it.”
The robots sank due to their weight and walked along the riverbed. I followed them while holding their shoulders.
The gas mask made by Artemis was similar to the one that appeared in the movie Avatar.
The front is made of transparent material, which is advantageous for ensuring visibility, and is strong enough to block pistol bullets.
It is an essential item for this operation as it is linked to a small oxygen tank near the neck, allowing underwater breathing.
[There aren’t enough oxygen tanks. Always pay attention to the remaining time.]
I made a circle with my thumb and index finger in front of the cam camera, then raised my thumb to show a thumbs up.
I could hear her laughing.
After arriving near the pier, I looked up from below the water.
Even when viewed through a window into a shimmering and distorted world, their disgust does not fade in the slightest.
[Let’s handle it quietly according to the plan.]
Sreuk.
Only the head stuck out of the water with a faint sound.
You can see the walker’s feet in front of you.
If you take one or two more steps, you’ll fall into a position, but even with his staggering body, he never takes a step.
Human swimming is as unstable as a helicopter’s flight, requiring high intelligence to control the limbs.
If a non-intelligent terrestrial infectious agent falls into water, it would be perfectly fine to drown.
It seems that it is instinctively imprinted.
Since ancient times, the purpose of war is to exploit the opponent’s weaknesses.
He stretched out his arm and grabbed Walker’s ankle and pulled him tightly.
Plop!
I can’t even scream and sink.
The guy who was looking around underwater in confusion made eye contact with me.
“Kororororororok-!”
He immediately went crazy and tried to scream, but all that came out was the sound of water entering his lungs.
If it were a movie, I would have stabbed him a few times with a military knife and then coolly thrown him away.
But there is no need.
Hot!
When the struggling walker looks down, he sees an inorganic hand holding his ankle.
As I looked further down, there were several robots with glowing red eyes in the dark riverbed.
The robot grabbed both of the walker’s ankles and pulled them further down.
“Rororok…”
Now, as if his lungs are full of water, he spits out a few drops of foam and opens his mouth like a crucian carp.
If they had any intelligence left, they would have prioritized escape while preparing for suffocation, but they don’t have the brains to think about such things.
The limbs that were struggling to somehow attack me rapidly lost strength and soon stopped moving.
Wiggle, wiggle.
In the meantime, his eyes follow me.
Containing an abnormal level of malice and obsession towards beings other than themselves.
When one of the robots took out a knife and cut off the cervical vertebrae at the back of his neck, his eyes started rolling, and he died.
The robot pushed the finished walker toward the riverside, and the body rose diagonally.
The faint sound of splashing injuries, the body floating away.
Plop!
Plop!
It’s not just here.
At another pier dozens of meters away, walkers were dragged under the water one by one.
But no battle occurs.
The struggling walkers and the red-eyed soldiers who remain silent and do not let go of their ankles.
Its appearance reminds me of the Japanese folk monster Kappa. A monster that drags people playing by the river and drowns them.
Well, this type of riverside monster tale is a common tradition throughout the East and West.
Splash.
Splash.
It reminds me of corpses with lungs full of water and cervical vertebrae severed.
The modern tale of the riverside monster was unfolding before my eyes.
We are good monsters.
* * *
After the dock was clean, I rose to the surface.
Nearly 10 corpses are floating away.
Before I knew it, the number of ducks roaming the canal had increased to 7.
The sight of it approaching a corpse with its clawed feet seems quite familiar. Meanwhile, new ducks arrived one after another.
Leaving that scene behind, I head towards the back gate of the factory.
Pick! Pick!
The new silencer spit out bullets. They fly towards the anchored boat.
The sound of breaking through a boat window.
A sound that penetrates skin and skull.
The sound of a boat hitting the plywood wall.
The sound of a corpse falling down.
The bullet was fired with only a small noise compared to any other sound.
The secret is the special foam filled inside the silencer.
When the bullet passes by, these bubbles are sent without resistance like soap bubbles, but they stick to combustion gases like a spider web.
Once the slowed gas goes around the baffle course, its original speed and pressure almost disappear.
It has performance that is incomparable to that of any other silencer, but the disadvantage is that the silencer is large and needs to be replaced frequently.
“This is the US military, right?”
Among the dead walkers, there was one wearing a US military uniform.
[I’m unarmed. He probably looks like a mechanic.]
This is just a requisitioned maintenance facility. Why are US troops here?
We kept moving forward and reached the back gate.
All doors of the factory were closed, and the shutters were also down.
It seems that the survivors inside implemented an emergency blockade when the end was imminent.
If you try to force it open, a loud alarm will sound.
“You’re lucky. The inside might be clean.”
I registered my identity through the access authentication system mounted on the wall at the back entrance.
[Verification completed. Welcome, Commander Seo Jin-su.]
I unlocked the side door leading inside.
My sensitive ears heard a subtle voice coming from beyond the door.
“Ready to shoot.”
As I spoke while holding the doorknob, the robots took a shooting stance.
– Gooooong!!!
And the world slowed down.
The door, which even a child could easily open, feels as heavy as a rock.
But you can open it.
This is because the door is not really heavy.
The world has become heavier, and the door is just following that law.
The muscles of my entire body scream and I run ahead of time.
Each piece of stationary dust sequentially hits my body and bounces off.
The door opened halfway, and I twisted my body inside.
Four walkers are visible. They haven’t sensed my presence yet.
When the door was 70% open, and I was fully inside, they seemed to sense something strange.
The face of the guy on the left slowly turns towards me. The closed mouth begins to wriggle and the tips of the sharp teeth begin to appear.
The eyeball of the guy on the right, staring into space, slowly descends diagonally. I am at the end of that orbit.
The two guys in the center are in worse condition. I was looking in the opposite direction from where I was. How long would it take for him to look back at me?
My index finger has already completed four actions.
Thump!
First, two shots at the two guys in the center.
As the bullet penetrates the back of the head, the hair ripples in a circle, and the bullet hole, which contracted for a moment, expands a moment later.
Blood and brain fragments were spewed out there in a grand manner.
Disgusting bodily fluids flying droplets into the air. Unlike the brilliant drops of sweat seen during the affair with Nina, it does not reflect any light.
The guy on the right left the world, satisfied with lowering his eyes to 50 cm next to me.
Even at the moment of his death, he probably didn’t know who was killing him.
The last one on the left had a bullet lodged in his temple. He couldn’t even look at me.
Like a train passing behind a subway safety door, the movement of a bullet tunneling past an eyeball.
Acceleration was released.
The optic nerve that holds the eyeball is cut, and the eyeball falls forward in droves.
Mushroom brains flowed out of the empty eye sockets, and the guy collapsed.
[Are you okay?]
Artemis asked with a worried voice.
“It’s perfect. “Nothing better.”
The first practical use of acceleration is perfect.
“What about external movement?”
[No problem.]
It is dark inside the factory.
So much so that the red eyes of the robot coming through the side door become a light source.
But even when I was on active duty, I rarely fought in bright places.
If it’s hard for us to see, it’s hard for our enemies to see us.
I melted into the darkness along with the robots.
Just the way I was trained and the way I built my career.
