Chapter 130 – Warlord (2)
There is a saying, “Baesansimsu.” This means that when building a building facing south, the location with the mountain at the back and the water flowing in front is good.
In winter, the mountains block the cold air coming down from the north, and it is also advantageous to secure domestic water and material transportation routes through the river.
This is famous advice filled with ancestral wisdom, but it does not apply to shelters.
First, even if a river flows in front of the shelter, piping needs to be built to bring it in. However, sending a structure outside involves risk.
The best thing is if the site itself is adjacent to a water source. Our shelter is supplied with seawater through the water intake pipe of the back gate leading to the sea.
Groundwater is not a good choice for large shelters. There is a risk of depletion due to slow or no recharge, and there is also a risk of ground collapse due to the empty space created by using water.
The second would be a wilderness with open surroundings, convenient transportation, and far from populated areas.
It can prevent refugees or looters from flocking in and being a nuisance, and it is also advantageous to send out a scouting party outside in case of emergency.
Third, the ground must be stable. This is a granite stratum that can be easily found on the Korean Peninsula.
The fourth is Mt. There is an advantage to building with a mountain covered like a lid rather than digging underground and building from bare ground.
The first is the insulation effect provided by soil, rocks, and trees, and the inside of the mountain can be used as a space, and the attack route for external invaders can be limited to the main gate.
At least you don’t have to worry about an excavator coming down from overhead or being bombed. Another advantage is that the top of the mountain can be used as a helipad or observatory.
Our nest is an amazing place that perfectly satisfies these demanding conditions.
The reason I’m telling this story is that for the first time since the emergency lockdown went into effect, I’ve been considering an external intrusion.
“They come all the way here?”
One medium-sized standard enclosed vehicle, one truck, and two civilian trucks entered the outskirts of Suncheon City and robbed a gas station. This is Lee Man-cheol’s search team that departed from Goheung.
Of course, there is a long distance to our home and numerous colonies of infectious agents are blocking it.
However, as far as we have observed, this is the first time that a large-scale detachment has been active inland beyond Noisetree.
Five walkers rushed at him, but they collapsed into a hive.
[I ask the militia to remain on external guard. Active duty personnel enter the interior.]
A soldier with the rank of captain entered the store with active-duty soldiers. Immediately after, several yellow flashes illuminated the dark store.
This is a mixed unit consisting of soldiers in uniform and middle-aged men in casual clothes. The armament was different. The ROK military service rifle, the old K2, and even the M16A1 for civil defense, which is still being abused by the elderly. In any case, since it is armed with an automatic weapon, it is a firepower that cannot be ignored.
This is in contrast to the Yeosu garrison, which consisted of two infantrymen with assault rifles, an old man with an air rifle, and two unarmed middle-aged men extracting oil from an abandoned car.
[I didn’t come out with a determination to be superior. I searched for a safe route, expanding the reconnaissance range every day from as short as 200 m to as long as 1 km.]
“I thought I would suffer from the cold, but it was quite the opposite.”
When heavy snow had just begun to fall, what was seen at the survival camp was the sight of people chanting for national independence in unison.
[Because the activity of infectious agents and sense organs are reduced. When it snows, it blocks visibility and noise. Although it is difficult for people, it is much more advantageous to go outside to find supplies.]
It’s not just Goheung.
Quite a few survivor camps are aggressively sending out search teams, seeing the current snowfall as a golden opportunity.
There were quite a few search teams for military units stationed in other areas, and although they did not cooperate with each other, they did not seem to have done so with a firm will to rebel like Lee Man-cheol.
It seems to be close to the situation where the connection with the government has been cut off and each person survives half of his own will and half of others.
Lee Man-cheol appears to be eager to include them as well, but everyone shows a lukewarm attitude.
[Step back!]
[Fuck you! Leave you guys and go away!]
Civilian-centered search teams for survivors often clashed over loot.
On the other hand, when military units met, they were gentlemanly.
[Stop shooting!]
[Do not shoot.]
At the trial, two groups of soldiers pointed guns at each other, and both commanders immediately stopped their men.
The unit that arrived first takes cover at the store counter, a knocked down refrigerator, and the rooftop, and aims their guns. The unit that arrived late took cover behind abandoned vehicles outside.
A man slowly walks out of the store with his hands raised. He is the commander of the unit that arrived first and holds the rank of lieutenant. From the unit that arrived late, a man with the rank of sergeant appeared.
[Where do you belong?]
The lieutenant handed over a cigarette.
[It’s all mixed up, so what’s the point?]
The boss answered indifferently.
During the infection war, the Korean army was continuously pushed back from the metropolitan area, retreating and fighting repeatedly south and south.
In the meantime, all the units were combined into a hodgepodge and rolled south like a snowball. Leaving behind countless corpses.
Cheek!
The lieutenant covered his hand and lit a cigarette, and the sergeant happily sucked it.
After chatting for a while, the boss looks at the trial court as if he has some regrets.
[Let’s go.]
He shook his head and ordered his men to withdraw.
When soldiers encountered each other like this, they implicitly gave way to the side that came first.
They each had strong firepower, so no matter who won, the damage would be great, and they probably wanted to avoid shooting their peers who were eating together in this shitty world.
“If this continues, other groups will sneak up beyond the Noise Tree, right?”
The southernmost part was partly an infectious disease-free area, and even if you went higher, the risk was less in the lower parts of Honam and Yeongnam.
If a well-armed group is very careful, it is possible to farm supplies.
If you go any further and enter the central region, it quickly becomes dangerous, and large clusters of infectious agents appear from the northern region. Starting with Hoseo, it can be simply evaluated as ‘In-Oe-Ma-Gyeong’.
Lee Man-cheol’s search team only moved in the lower part of Honam and did not penetrate above it.
Rather, they showed a move to make a U-turn there. No matter how you look at it, there is only one goal.
“Are you targeting Yeosu?”
[It’s probably not simply due to personal enmity between the commanders. Yeosu is home to huge oil plants, fertilizer plants, and other chemical plants. It is a very valuable place strategically.]
“The defense is decent.”
You can cross directly through the southern bridge, but if you try, Lee Seong-bong’s Yeosu garrison will immediately blow up the bridge.
In the end, even if it goes around, it looks like it will attack through the land route from the north. They won’t launch an attack with that number, and the purpose now seems to be reconnaissance.
[I wonder if this will lead to fratricide.]
“It is a more terrible tragedy. “It would be better if they split up like South and North Korea, and their own soldiers shoot each other.”
I don’t think it will go that far, but if the world itself is going away, you don’t know what will happen to the people who live in it.
Phase 1, which collapsed society with an infection rate that was close to a catastrophe, is over.
Even if it is rotten, an army is still an army, even if it is weakened and divided by repeated defeats. It is the Korean military that had one of the most powerful military forces in the world.
It would also be possible to form a new government by swallowing up the entire southern region under the leadership of the troops stationed in Goheung. That is, unless the infectious agent colony suddenly moves south.
That’s not all.
[These warlords are quiet in the corner right now because they are busy trying to survive, but once we win the war against the infection, they will immediately become a threat.]
“For those noblemen, this place is like a treasure trove.”
Artemis seemed to have imagined humans storming into the shelter, armed with weapons and wearing dirty military uniforms.
We were horrified as we talked about our nest being looted and desecrated. However, my thoughts are a bit different.
“I guess there’s no risk of looting, right? The higher-ups probably want to move in here, right? You don’t want any supplies leaking or your facilities being damaged during the looting process. “When the world was fine, advertising was a big hit.”
Anyone who wants to have a little money, i.E. A bureaucrat, politician, or rank-and-file officer, has probably heard of this place at least once.
There are countless cases where you may be involved, such as whether you saw an advertisement, were filmed using content from a streamer or broadcaster, or have legal issues, including taxes.
Because so many jobs were created here during construction, many local politicians came and went.
What if they are alive now?
‘Is everything okay there now?’
‘I should have run and seen it without hesitation.’
Of course, you’ve probably thought about this at least once.
In any case, the survivors in the South are good news and hope, but they are also a potential threat.
Humanitarian support will need to be provided to places where people are dying immediately, like Yeosu, and exchanges with other organizations will also be carried out.
But the poor survivors! And you shouldn’t treat it with only pink thoughts.
[All the tasks we are doing now are aimed at eradicating all infectious agents from this land, right? In other words, the moment our goal is achieved, this risk scenario also satisfies the trigger conditions. Because the gap between them and us will be wide open.]
Just as Artemis said.
They are more passionate about eliminating infectious agents than anyone else, but the thought of ‘I can’t come anyway because of the infectious agents’ is incoherent.
“You can shoot, bomb, burn, and even gasse infectious agents without hesitation, but it’s a bit more difficult to deal with people.”
It doesn’t even seem like they will send only soldiers.
According to our reconnaissance, the southern warlords, and even the government of Jeju Island, seem to have no hesitation in attacking the people.
With various temptations and threats, we will raise our guns and advance on starving child soldiers and heads of families who have no way to feed their children without rations.
It’s still an incredibly unlikely scenario, but it’s not something to ignore altogether.
“My headache hurts.”
So far, the focus has been on securing technology and resources immediately, driving out infectious agents from our territory, and eradicating them in the long term.
But now the problems beyond that are starting to hit us.
“If I say this too loudly, I could hear you calling me a traitor, right?”
I’m not kidding. Without having to go to a military base, the Jeju Island government can order the requisition of this shelter in the name of the country.
These concerns were not limited to the leadership alone. Surprisingly, residents also had many negative opinions about external survivors.
[Are you going to give it to me obediently? Our city, including me.]
“Absolutely. It won’t work!”
I could hear her laughing.
[You are a traitor!]
I looked up at her with her crooked eyes.
“Isn’t this the right time to talk about other people? Do you want to see old politicians, administrative officials, and their families popping up in the upper residential areas? Are you going to smoke and spit everywhere? When a wife walks her dog, she may spill dog poop on the street, and there will be empty coffee containers left here and there. “
[Oh…]
Artemis closed her mouth as if imagining a terrible scene.
We continued to look at observation videos of the south.
Even though it is winter on Jeju Island and the water temperature is relatively mild, even the female divers actively dive into the sea.
On the other hand, most fishing activities in the southern region were halted. Because with the bitter cold and constantly pouring snow, going into the sea now would have been suicidal.
Only the brave search teams ventured deeper than usual, covered in snow.
The remaining people gathered in small groups in tents, survivor camps, basements, and buildings with shutters down.
She made a bonfire to warm her hands and put food on them. Food varies greatly depending on the circumstances of the survival camp.
Dried fish and canned food were common, and there were also places where potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn were roasted. In poorer areas, we shared a mulgun stew containing an unidentified root and a handful of rice.
“Ha, which of the two is more pitiful?”
What made me sigh was the sight of several adults opening several bags of snacks and sharing them. It looks like we’ve run out of things to stock up on. It was difficult to tell who was more miserable compared to those who ate the stew.
What we eat is different for each person, but what we do while eating is the same. They prayed for the safe return of their colleagues.
The scene was far from the civilized society of the 21st century. It was like something from the primitive era, farther away than the Joseon Dynasty.
Stepping out of the cave was risking one’s life, but the survival of the family depended on it.
