Chapter 183 – Desire to Move in
In a sense, it can be said that a military regime was established in South Korea after the Infectious War.
Due to the nature of Korea’s strict gun control and limited living space, the largest camps are often led by remaining military units.
In the name of martial law declared indefinitely, the military maintains order in each station and monopolizes and distributes the few supplies.
It was operated fairly for a while at first, but now the logic of power takes precedence over the military spirit, and evils are being revealed everywhere.
There are two ways to symbolically show this at military garrisons.
The first is informal speech.
[Notify citizens.]
A dry female voice came out of the speakers in some areas of the small city.
Her pre-war occupation was as an announcer. Even if you don’t know her name, everyone will recognize her when they see her face.
Her good voice and bilingual status helped her land the position of trumpeter for the city’s warlords.
For reference, the original broadcast opening statement of this garrison was ‘Notice to the people.’
[Smuggling of looters and unauthorized goods has been reported in this area. Citizens of the area must wait at their respective locations. Violation of this will result in at least 9 rations being suspended and up to permanent deportation.]
They are spouting oppressive informal language to citizens that would have been unimaginable in the past, but what is the problem?
There are countless people aiming for this good position. If it were to survive, he would be willing to spout even more vicious words than that.
As if it wasn’t that rare, people showed up all over the place complaining, ‘What kind of bastard is this again?’
Looking at each person holding a shovel, cleaning tool, etc., It looks like they are about to head to work to receive a ration card.
Armed soldiers are watching them from a guard post on the outer wall.
Still, the soldiers here are at least mentally alert, so they stand guard with guns in front, but in places where warlordism has progressed seriously, there are places where they watch residents with a hip-fire stance.
The second change is the flag.
This small city is surrounded by Level B fences (fences installed on playgrounds), Level C fences (military fences that can only be removed by engineers), and other barriers made by clumsily tying together containers.
At the lower entrance, there is a thick steel door that can fit two trucks side by side, a security checkpoint, and two entrance guards, and above, one designated marksman and one mounted machine gunner stand guard.
The flags fluttering above them are the unit flag and the Korean national flag.
This is in good condition, but some units have even removed the Taegeukgi and only hang the unit flag.
There are many other changes taking place, including the military’s informal language and flag. There is nothing more symbolic than these two.
There is an empty space several hundred meters long around the wall, and beyond that are ruins.
It was originally a city connected to this place, but the successive bombings during the infection war created a buffer zone that became a swampy area. This is where the separated city was fortified.
There are still some infected organisms left here and there in the ruins, but they are not dangerous enough to overrun the city.
“It appeared again.”
The machine gunner said.
Ruins beyond the buffer zone of a few hundred meters of sagebrush. A military helicopter was moving above it.
The machine gunner is a private who enlisted three months ago.
The designated marksman next to him is a sergeant who has been in the military since the Infection War. Like all other soldiers, he was forcibly promoted to non-commissioned officer, but was demoted to sergeant after being caught trafficking marijuana.
The designated gunner observed the helicopter with a scope for a moment and then disembarked. The helicopter was quite close, and an empty cockpit appeared to his eyes, which had 2.0 vision.
It’s a bizarre scene any time you see it.
“Are you from the north?”
“I guess so.”
The designated gunner held his ground. Those types of pilotless helicopters and drones are said to have ghost-like sensing abilities.
We have absolutely no intention of giving the impression that we are planning to attack from this side.
“What on earth are you looking for over there? “I saw it a few times in the morning.”
“Do you understand? In any case, superior instructions must be ignored. Even if it’s hovering over our heads, just pretend not to notice.”
“Aren’t you anxious? We’ll be in trouble over there whenever they feel like it. Either an autocannon or a missile.”
The machine gunner looked at the helicopter as if he was displeased.
“So I’m not anxious. Because we don’t have a choice anyway. If you treat your life like you gave it up, you will feel at ease no matter what you face. “You and I are already in that situation.”
I expected comfort or a scolding, but the sergeant gave me neither. It was a smile.
“It won’t be easy. When I’m high up with a machine gun, I feel at ease. Leaning against a strong wall and watching over the occasional merchant or refugee coming in is a pretty good position in today’s world.”
The machine gunner was so sarcastic that he spoke in a tone that made him sound like he was being treated like a child, so he checked the barrel for no reason.
“Just in case, don’t shoot a helicopter with that. Even if you shoot a hundred blades with 7.62 mm, it won’t penetrate.”
“I didn’t shoot…”
Quang!
The moment the exasperated machine gunner was about to respond, a loud noise rang out from the ruins.
“W-what is it?”
Unlike him, who was struggling, the sergeant had already taken cover behind the wall and was only showing his head.
Doo doo doo doo!
A helicopter was wandering around, raining down cannon fire on a building. Occasionally a rocket flew by, spewing fire from its tail.
Bang!
Windows coated with dust exploded loudly.
“Ignore. Ignore.”
Unlike the private who reflexively aimed his machine gun, the sergeant sat comfortably and lowered his eyes.
“Let’s think positively. The target they are shooting at over there like catching a rat is probably not a person. “You’re doing our work for us, right?”
The veterans guarding the lower outer entrance were also looking around leisurely, as if they were used to it.
* * *
“The people there must have been surprised by the aerial bombardment from only 462 meters away from the entrance.”
[No, administrator!]
The central control room screen had been changed to long-distance video communication mode.
Beyond him is a man in his 50s with a friendly smile.
[I am just grateful that you cooperate day and night to ensure the safety of our citizens.]
He is the commander of a small isolated city next to the ruins.
“The mutant species we were tracking for research has sneaked nearby. If he had been left unattended and crossed the city wall under cover of darkness, a lot of blood would have been shed.”
[If we had sent a search party to the ruins to catch him, he would have gone to the Nether Road one after another. Thank you again.]
No matter how much of a difference in power there may be, he is the commander of the military, and I am the commander of the civilian force. Even though he has no reason to stoop to this level, there is a reason why he does this.
“I’m glad there was no misunderstanding on both sides. Then, I’ll see you again at the next regular contact.”
[Now, wait a minute.]
He stopped with a puzzled look.
“What’s going on?”
[Oh, that’s it…]
“Is it about the city?”
[… That’s not it. Thank you for your hard work.]
It seems he understood that my question was a congratulatory message. The city commander smiled awkwardly and didn’t take anymore.
“That too.”
When the video communication ended, his appearance disappeared from the screen.
“I’m just honestly begging them to let me move in, not spinning around.”
Artemis appeared from behind and wrapped her arms around my body.
“Still, I’m the commander of a unit, so it would be embarrassing to ask him to abandon everyone and accept only his family.”
“If you show off like that, you’ll be pushed out by your competitors.”
A strange movement occurred in Artemis’ golden eyes, and several recording files appeared on the screen.
These are communications from a group of survivors with whom we had some minor interactions for one reason or another.
The senders are made up of high-ranking people such as former politicians and executives of large corporations.
Perhaps because of his resourcefulness, he is making quite a splash by leading his followers in the camp even in a world that has been destroyed.
“What are you doing with these if you have no intention of accepting them anyway? “You said you don’t like men.”
Artemis was verifying mythological traditions even in useless places.
“That is a gentle rejection of a useless man.”
Artemis snapped her white fingers next to my eyes.
“There’s no sound?”
However, she is not good at doing anything with her body.
I liked the finger snap from a movie we watched together recently, so I practiced it constantly, but I wasn’t making much progress.
Perfect!
She pretended not to hear me and snapped her fingers again, and her speakers made a lively sound.
At the same time, each voice record is instantly converted into text and listed in order.
The first thing that caught my eye was a person who identified himself as Lee Se-hwan, Vice Chairman of Daepung Products.
There is no trace of it now, but it was a large company that was quite famous before the war. I remember it clearly because it was covered in the news as a black company that achieved the highest death rate from overwork for two years in a row.
If a person is not part of the owner’s family and has risen to vice president, his resourcefulness and desire for promotion without blood or tears deserve recognition.
‘If you accept me, I am confident that I can increase production no matter what you ask me to do. If you try it and don’t like it, you can kick it out!
I, Lee Se-hwan, am a fighter who joined the company with his bare fists and turned a small company into a leading conglomerate!’
Fighting spirit is admirable, but squeezing machines doesn’t make them more efficient.
We already have the best factory manager named Chloro.
“Next.”
The second applicant was a person who identified himself as a former representative of a minor political party. Surprisingly, he is quite young.
‘I want to contribute to building a new political order there.’
He was pouring out idealistic theories.
‘If we work together, we will be able to form a true new government even in the midst of a crisis.
A government that never abandons its citizens and runs away under any circumstances!
Please accept the help of me and my comrades and join us in making that place into a new government.
I have unwavering faith and qualities in democracy.
We must join forces for the future of Korea!’
Is it thanks to the fact that he is leading people even in the current situation as a rookie politician?
He had great confidence that his proposal would be accepted.
“Sorry, you have great spirit, but our city is a theocracy.”
Artemis waved her hand as if waiting for my words. The data of representatives of minor political parties was immediately deleted.
Other communications generally had a similar feeling.
These are people who win over their followers with charisma in a crisis situation.
“As we discussed before, we do not have the capacity to accept additional personnel at this time. To be precise, you can receive it, but the more you receive, the slower the great work will be.”
It is said that the limit capacity is at the town level, but this is only a theoretical capacity.
We are running the shelter in a way that does not fit its original purpose of ‘being locked away forever and doing nothing.’
We operate a variety of robots and autonomous weapons, and after numerous trials and errors and waste, we gain access to new technologies and knowledge.
In this way, we are fundamentally looking for a way to win this endless war.
The operation currently being prepared to cross the ocean and search for alien survivors in Japan is part of this.
In the era of the manor economy, how many farmers’ worth of supplies and money did it take to maintain one knight?
“How are the preparations going?”
“82% complete.”
Along with Artemis’ answer, the Shelter Arsenal appeared on the screen. Robots and drones are busy moving.
I nodded.
If we keep this pace, we will be able to leave soon.
The next operation will take place in a foreign country across the sea.
It may contain greater value than any other operation we have undertaken so far.
An alien survivor who left us a message. If he were still alive there, there are a lot of things I would like to ask.
USS Enterprise.
We will leave there soon.
