Chapter 162 – Resume Communication (5)
The contract between the rest area and the shelter had already been coordinated in advance.
There are two things Director Kim wants.
The first is the source of supply of important materials.
At present, most technological items, including antibiotics and electronics, are rarely produced in-house.
Jeju Island is the only island where industrial activities take place on a small but meaningful scale.
Some regions, including Yeosu, are virtually shut down because even though infrastructure is in place, there is no technical manpower, power, or parts to run it.
In this situation, the private sector has no choice but to take risks and explore the outside world.
Therefore, even if it is a rest area in the middle of a trade route, the supply is never stable.
Some items were sold out for several weeks, and even with a decent number of transactions, it was not uncommon for the delivery person to disappear or die on the way.
On the other hand, shelters can provide a stable supply of quality materials regardless of type.
The second is a reliable support that you can rely on in case of emergency.
The idea is to have a supporter who is strong enough to intervene when attacked by a truly threatening enemy. Those people are not oppressive and deal in a gentlemanly manner.
It’s like living with the halo of God.
We also need two things.
The first is a communication relay base, and the second is information from local people that cannot be obtained through drone reconnaissance.
Our drones can distinguish numbers written on coins from hundreds of meters away, but they cannot see through concrete.
Refugee camps, military bases, and other settlements that are competitive in their own way.
Conversations between searchers taking a break in a mine shaft, subway, or abandoned building as the sun sets during the search.
The information circulating there can only be heard through human eyes and ears.
Moreover, there is an even more special source of information at the rest area.
Those are the ladies.
“Hey, brother. You really couldn’t help it? “What should I do when the manager suddenly tells me to cancel everything and wait?”
A charming voice was heard from the central staircase on the first floor of the rest area.
After a while, a man and a woman with their arms linked come up from the basement.
The woman was wearing a style that was popular in the past as a new city microscopic look, and the man was wearing a military uniform. He’s probably the deserter the director mentioned earlier.
“…”
There was tension on the face of the man who found me.
I stepped to the side, making as much of a ‘I’m not interested in you’ gesture as possible.
“Oppa, why aren’t you going?”
“Uh, uh…”
The woman pulls her arm and only then does she pass by me.
If you take a look at my outfit after they’re gone, there’s nothing particularly suspicious.
Since he is wearing a duster coat over the nanosuit, he appears to be a reasonably fit searcher.
[It is said that deserters are shocked when they see soldiers on leave. Could it be that they instinctively sense the officer’s energy?]
Artemis chuckled.
“No way.”
The information you can get from girls who work at night is valuable.
This is especially true in conflict areas or in a world where every day is suffering like today.
This is because men whose lives are at stake tend to speak lightly. Would you say it feels like a mixture of being pampered by your mother and confessing before death?
Such men explode with sexual desire due to threats to their lives, so places like this are like a bonanza of information.
What did the deserter earlier say to the girl next to him?
“I will guide you.”
Director Kim, who had gone to the bathroom, took the lead and went down to the basement.
The basement was similar in size to the first floor, but no goods were sold here.
“It’s a repair shop, a place that makes our rest area even more special!”
Technology was sold here.
A man soldering the missing wires from a walkie-talkie.
A man patching a hole in a bicycle wheel.
A man replacing a broken crossbow string with another string.
People with various skills were working everywhere.
“They put out job postings from time to time, and it looks like quite a few people have been hired.”
“Until recently, the thing I did the most was interviews. These days, it’s information trading.”
The next thing that caught my attention was the red-light district, which took up most of the stores on the left.
“Doesn’t it seem strange to do business with the smell of powder and oil mixed together?”
“Because night technology is also technology.”
The manager smiled and pointed upward with his finger.
“Even though we work hard to control it, violent incidents of one kind or another sometimes occur at the top.”
I nodded. I even heard a live gunfight on his broadcast not long ago.
“If the doctor you barely saved gets hit by a blind bullet, wouldn’t it be a huge loss? Although not as good as a doctor, it is not easy to find an electrician in today’s world. So, after much deliberation, we had the engineers work underground. Exceptions should be made in cases such as car repairmen. Moreover, when I tried it this way, there were unexpected advantages.”
Director Kim pointed to one side.
A door in the red-light district opened and a man wearing a faded doctor’s gown came out.
“Oppa, wait a minute!”
A white hand holding the doctor’s shoulder.
When he turned around, the young lady dressed him up and neatly trimmed his tangled hair.
Director Kim looked at me and shrugged his shoulders.
“It’s so frustrating that they provide an employee discount service! I can see the love for the company rising steadily. There is no need to worry about manpower leakage. There are many settlements targeting doctors. Well, no matter where I go, it’s not as good as here.”
“Aren’t you selling water? I think it should be somewhere like this the most.”
Director Kim firmly shook his hand.
“Water sales are done through competition at the outdoor night market. We only provide distribution.”
“Isn’t it much more profitable to sell directly?”
“That’s true, but if we monopolize everything that makes money, who would want to do business at a rest area? “I have to leave some pie for others to share.”
Director Kim pointed to the technicians who were busy working on repairs.
“Besides, if alcohol is sold inside the building, there will come a day when those guys work while drunk. It’s definitely coming. That would damage the reputation of our products.”
“Hey…”
As I listened, I was amazed.
I thought he was very resourceful, seeing as he was able to build a business of this scale with only gangsters in a ruined world, and signed a contract with us, but it was even more than that.
“At first glance, it seemed like they stopped the ladies from doing business just because I was coming.”
“Oh, that’s it. I released it earlier. So both the deserter and the doctor from earlier had a good time.”
“Why did you stop it? I don’t really care. “If you want to make a living in a world like this, you have to do something.”
Director Kim looked at my eyes and spoke carefully.
“Well, I prepared the ladies, right? Although the manager declined. Let’s assume you enjoyed it.”
I nodded.
“As I was showing the way to the basement, I wondered if the ladies would be offended when they saw them receiving men. “Wouldn’t it be weird to see the chef go to the bathroom? Hehe.”
I stopped walking.
This guy is real. He was a true businessman.
* * *
The next morning.
Director Kim and I looked at the antenna installed on the roof, bathed in the morning sunlight.
“It’s linked to the low-orbit satellite we operate. You can also access the extranet using the laptop kept in the communications room on the second floor. From weather to satellite maps to authorized drone reconnaissance information. There are limitations, but the information that can be obtained is vast.”
The price was offset by land use fees and maintenance costs at a rest area where relay equipment was installed.
Next to the manager who keeps nodding his head, the cold-blooded man with all-white hair who guided our vehicle is holding a notebook and taking notes diligently.
“There is no need to write it down. “I also included a detailed manual with the laptop.”
“Yes, Chairman.”
The all-white head said.
“Hey, dude. “Not the chairman, but the manager.”
“I’m sorry.”
He apologized with an unchanging expression.
“I’ve always felt this, but I guess you had a sponsor before the war? “If you look at what the chairman said.”
The sponsors mentioned here are those who do business in the middle ground between the underworld and the sunny world. It is a relationship that provides funds to gangsters instead of asking them to do dirty work.
“Yes, you are correct.”
The director scratched the side of his head and said.
“Chairman Ham was a man who ran a fairly large company called Utility Construction.”
“…!”
This is someone I know.
He was the CEO of a company that was the last one among the construction companies that participated in the construction of the shelter.
I remember him as an old man who persistently came to me every time we had a regular meeting and asked to shake my hand.
Since he had won a big deal during a difficult time for the company, it seemed like he was trying to put his stamp on his face.
“He is no longer around. “You said you couldn’t give up on the company you’ve cultivated your whole life, so you held on, but you ended up taking refuge too late…”
The location of the construction company was moved to a place in the early stages of the infection war, and is now one of the largest colonies on the Korean Peninsula.
Did he treat me with no regrets when he was alive? Even though he was already dead, the director remembered him with respect.
“Anyway, I’ll trust you with the relay equipment. “It’s made sturdy, but not to the point where it can be left unattended.”
“Please leave it to me. We have two electricians. “I will look after it every day as if I were looking after a newborn’s butt.”
Chief Kim pounded his chest.
We are the only force in Korea that operates low-orbit satellites, and we deploy the largest number of reconnaissance drones.
As an information merchant, there is a means to cross-verify the information obtained.
In terms of information quality, you will be able to gain an overwhelming advantage over competing settlements.
“This is not an exclusive deal.”
“I know. However, we will do our best to ensure that you always find us first.”
“It may not be necessary right now, but in the future, we would also like to ask you to arrange for the personnel or collect genetic samples.”
There are many people in the shelter, but there is a lack of diversity in terms of gender, age, living environment, etc.
Since the rest area is a place where all kinds of humans come and go, it would be perfect for collecting genetic samples for experiments.
“The price will be as previously agreed upon and renewed at the beginning of each year.”
“I understand.”
I held out my right hand.
“Then please take care of me in the future.”
“Please take care of me.”
This time, he held it with both hands and bent his back to 90 degrees.
After solving the first objective, on the way to the vehicle parked in the parking lot, I found children squatting in the shade.
A boy wearing a fluorescent vest much larger than his body, a girl carrying a cone, and even children who couldn’t see each other.
They are all children working at a rest area.
They were squatting in a circle and eagerly tearing off the wrapping paper of something. When I looked closely, I saw that it was the chocolate I had given them.
[Look at what those ladies gave to their children instead of eating it themselves.]
Honestly, I was a bit surprised.
In an affluent society, adults give in to children, but in situations of real poverty, even adults go crazy over just one chocolate or candy.
However, the girls only smelled the chocolate and gave it to the children.
* * *
We left the rest area with the best farewell.
I rode the APC and drove through the dry land to reach the ruined city.
This is the place that Director Kim introduced me to just before leaving the rest area.
“This is a ghost town.”
He pointed to a part of the map displayed on electronic paper.
It is a city located southeast of the rest area, and it is said to have been subjected to a nuclear attack by North Korea during the infection war.
“Ghost town? “Is there any radioactivity left?”
“Yes. Thanks to this, it is an area where people rarely come and there are few infectious agents. There were some walkers, but they haven’t been seen at all for a few months.”
Rest areas agreed to use the same terminology as shelter in various areas, including classification of infectious agents. This is because work efficiency increases.
“Some investigators said that the people who occasionally came out of there were covered in blood. The radiation must have cut into their bodies inside and out. However, you should be careful about some highly resistant strains or insect-type infectious agents. “It’s not a lot, but it’s not like there’s nothing at all.”
The ghost town we arrived at was completely charred.
Tik!… Tikitiki. Tik!
A new Geiger counter has started making electrical sounds.
[This is not a threatening number.]
Artemis analyzed the radiation levels.
[Stalker robots, as well as you, can move around without difficulty if your visor is sealed. If you expose your bare body for a long time, it can reach a serious level.]
“There’s nothing to get out of here anyway. “I won’t get out of the car.”
The radiation shielding of our APC can withstand even being near a power plant that has experienced a meltdown.
I slowly passed through the scorched interior of the city.
Most of the utility poles were bent and toppled, and there were more commercial signs that were off than on.
When passing near the center of the explosion, it was completely desolate.
The instrument was making crazy electric sounds like a drunk electric guitarist.
Most of the buildings were blown away except for the ugly steel columns. It’s like there’s some kind of skinny fish bone stuck in it.
After a little while, buildings appeared that were somehow still alive, but instead, things worse than rebar appeared.
Black marks in the shape of humans pressed into the walls of buildings. It was spread everywhere.
Was it because everyone was evacuating after seeing the nuclear fall?
There were only a few marks near the center of the explosion, but the further out they went, the more marks there became.
As we ventured further outside, something new greeted us.
“…”
They are dark gray statues lying on the ground.
These are corpses that have been burned in an instant by enormous radiant heat and then hardened into a fossil-like mass.
There were some who met their end while standing, but their corpses crumbled over time and left no trace.
The fossil that was standing on two legs and did not remain above the navel was the most intact.
“Artemis.”
[Yes.]
“Thank you for your consideration, but there is no need to avoid it. Just pass by.”
[Yes.]
Now that we have successfully covered the rest area, our next destination is Yeosu.
There, I planned to meet with Lieutenant Colonel Lee Seong-bong and conclude some kind of agreement.
It would be best to burn all the noise trees in the South, but realistically, that would be too wasteful.
So Artemis and I chose plan B.
After burning a specific part intensively, signals are exchanged by launching a relay transmitter on the ground and a relay airship drone in the air through that area.
Considering all communications with Jeju Island, Japan, and the United States, we selected Yeosu as the optimal location.
Goheung is also good geographically, but was excluded from consideration from the beginning.
This is because people like Lee Man-cheol, who murdered his immediate superior, staged a coup, and even forcibly mobilized the people, could not be trusted at all.
[Detection of danger ahead.]
On the internal screen, a group of walkers appeared lingering 60 meters from the road ahead.
Everyone’s body was covered in blood and their movements had no energy at all, but there was a large number.
“Don’t kill him, just take it. “Now let’s do a functional test.”
[Leave it to me.]
With Artemis’ answer, a structural change occurred in APC.
The front bumper was lowered closer to the ground, and a cover was spread at the bottom to protect the driving unit.
At the same time, the engine’s driving sound changed slightly, indicating that it had entered the so-called bulldozer mode.
40 m.
30 m.
20 m.
They get closer quickly.
“Ki. I… Ss-.”
Judging from the blood flowing from his eyes, it looks like he has lost half of his eyesight. However, relying on hearing, it reaches out and struggles towards us.
And 10 m.
The moment when the majority of them turn towards us.
Coo!
Human dominoes have begun to unfold.
Boom!
Coo!
Bang!
A refreshing sound and the sound of bones breaking reverberate from all directions and the walkers run away.
It wasn’t much fun to watch with the car camera, but the video sent from the reconnaissance drone floating in the air was very exciting.
Was it because the APC’s charge was destructive? Or is it because their bodies were torn by radiation?
It didn’t just bounce off, it broke and broke in one or two places and flew in all directions.
As the 30 walkers passed by, the car was covered in blood.
[Cleaning.]
Water was applied to the outside of the vehicle along with Artemis’ sonorous voice. Ultrasonic waves sweep over it.
In an instant, rotten blood and small pieces of flesh fell off, and the small cleaning drone disposed of the remaining bits.
So we escaped to the other side of the city.
[If I had gone round, it would have taken half a day longer.]
“If we continue like this, it is Yeosu garrison territory, right?”
[That’s right.]
So far everything has been smooth.
“I hope Lee Man-cheol doesn’t do anything foolish and waits for spring more leisurely.”
But things in this world always come to a head at times like this.
When we talk about the sixth sense, the representative sense is that of a detective, but the real one is that of a soldier.
An unknown, ominous premonition. I couldn’t shake it off.
