Chapter 324 – The Hand of the Highest
Cans, cans, and more cans! No matter where you look, there are empty cans rolling around.
“I think this place is a mess too?”
The searcher scratching his head clearly looks disappointed.
This is a mart in Ulsan.
I was hoping that I would be able to find something since it was quite a remote place, but it seems that several people who had the same idea had already gone there.
“If you don’t know, look further. Check to see if there is something like a step on the floor that can be opened. “Employees who are tired of going back and forth to the warehouse store inventory under the floor and fill the shelves.”
“Wow, indeed a former department store vice manager!”
A dog brought by a group of searchers wandered around the dark supermarket, sniffing its nose.
Dogs, which have more sensitive senses than humans, often show unexpected performance in these fields.
It was also used to find hidden supplies or detect ambushes by infected agents or looters.
When you step on a booby trap, that one animal will save many lives.
However, you cannot take just any dog with you.
They bark recklessly, causing unnecessary battles, and without the concept of instructions and obedience, they can easily become insectivorous.
The dogs in this group of explorers are quite smart and have had vocal cord surgery, so they make no noise even when they bark.
Although it is not a tier 1 dog like a military dog or police dog, it is quite useful.
The dog eagerly looked through the rolling cans.
“Take a look around and see if there’s anything to lick. “I’d rather search through the cracks.”
An older searcher stroked the dog’s head, but the dog eagerly stuck its nose into a new can.
But there is not a single scrap of anything left.
There are only cans, empty bottles, and empty snack bags that have been neatly smeared by passengers.
Firstly, people, secondly, field mice and wild dogs, and thirdly, insects.
This is the reality that explorers in the central and southern regions face these days. Materials produced before the war were depleted.
Large-scale warlords, including military units, are stockpiling pre-war supplies to some extent, but small-scale groups like these are insignificant.
Rattling.
The dog’s nose and snout touched the empty can and made a sound.
“Seup! “Aren’t you quiet?”
Okay.
The dog was very upset after hearing that sound.
This is because I know that this is not a world where people receive unconditional love like before the war.
I instinctively knew that if I couldn’t continue to prove my usefulness, I would be immediately abandoned or worse.
“Should I go up again?”
A former department store assistant manager lit a cigarette the size of a pencil.
“Is there anything left at the top?”
The newcomer, who looked at me with envy, asked.
“If I go up a little further, I can still make a living just by searching. Although it is also dangerous. “They handle most things, so it’s easy to exchange.”
We live in an era where distribution difficulty and costs have increased astronomically. The value of the same material in Ulsan and Gyeonggi-do is different.
Difficulty of converting money, conversion rate, and even the number of things you can buy with the money you earn. There was a big difference in all aspects.
Even before the war, the country was the Republic of Seoul, but now why does it feel like it is getting worse?
“If you rummage around and find a civilian bomb shelter, it will be a huge hit.”
“I don’t even want to go that far. But if you’re really going to leave, are you going to abandon our camp?”
“Of course I’ll throw it away, so I’ll move the real estate?”
“It’s a waste. “I put a lot of effort into cultivating the garden, putting up a fence, and taking good care of it.”
Nowadays, there are not many full-time searchers. Everyone can survive only by being both a farmer and a fisherman.
Everyone knows that the police is good, but there is a reason why you cannot go to Seoul carelessly.
For those who have occupied decent land in the provinces and built up a food base, it is scary to leave everything behind.
These days, no one cares about embezzlement of stolen property. The guy who neglected it and got it taken away is just a fool.
City profit!
The dog, which had been digging hard on the floor, barked furiously in front of the door of the frozen warehouse in the livestock corner.
City profit! Sigh!
Only the sound of wind coming out through the removed vocal cords.
It seems clear that there is something inside, as it raises its claws and scratches the door.
“…”
If anything, those who reached the 100th level did not need words. They took up weapons and formed a siege with only glances and hand signals.
As always, the vanguard holding a handmade square shield stood at the front. In any group, the shield bearer is a newcomer who has just joined.
Various types of weapons were pointed behind and beside him.
“Ka.”
As instructed, Bang Bangsu opened the warehouse door. And a strong taste emanating from within.
“Ah, the fucking smell.”
“Cough!”
Inside, one of the remains was stretched out in a large shape.
It was clear that it was a walker based on its teeth, but it looked like it had been hibernating for too long, or something had gone wrong during hibernation, and it looked rotten.
While everyone was retreating and covering their noses, there was one person who was rushing forward excitedly.
Siik! Sigh!
I suddenly ran over and bit the thigh-bone and pulled it, and the bone came right out.
A dog with a happy face and a bone in its mouth sits down in the corner of the supermarket and starts eating.
“Can I eat that?”
One of the newcomers asked with a blank expression.
“Are you okay. “I’ve eaten monster meat a few times before, and it didn’t bother me.”
“No, even if he is, we don’t know what it will be like for us. If anything happens…”
There was no need to say, ‘That guy might end up in our bellies.’
“So if I boil the water, you won’t drink it?”
“Who doesn’t eat it?”
The manager, who smoked cigarettes carefully until the very end, threw away the butt with only the filter remaining.
“A fish caught in the river.”
“Yes?”
“Whether you boil spicy stew or anything else, you eat it deliciously, right?”
“That’s right.”
Fish is a key source of protein for survivors these days.
“In fact, fish eat everything that is dirty, including dirt, worms, and the feces of wild animals.”
“So, as it passes through the intestines, only the nutrients go to the flesh and all the dirt is expelled, right?”
“Well said. You can think the same way about that poop puppy.”
The newcomer wanted to protest, saying, ‘Isn’t that a different case?’, But held back.
Nowadays, the number of survivors indirectly ingesting infectious agents is increasing.
Good examples include fish and crustaceans that ate the corpses of marine monsters, and crops grown in soil nourished by the corpses of infectious agents.
Isn’t it impossible to replace all the soil in the area where the infectious agent fell?
In the beginning, there were many people who considered all such things and felt a pathological reluctance.
However, in a situation where you feel like you are starving to death, you have no choice but to give in.
It is impossible to trace the entire history of the food to be consumed in the first place, or to supply large quantities of food that has completely prevented contamination.
We put them down one by one and ate them, and since there was no problem, everyone is now calm about indirect consumption.
“Come on, everyone, let’s go out!”
The store manager who announced withdrawal looked at the vaccine sprayer floating across the sky.
I know that there is nothing wrong with ingesting it indirectly, but the existence of that vaccine floating in the sky was a great comfort.
People habitually looked at the sky before eating.
It’s like a being that guarantees the safety of the food you eat.
The appearance resembled that of medieval people who would sit around a table with a family and pray before a meal.
* * *
Central control room morning meeting time.
“There is a lot of anxiety among citizens about whether it is safe to eat crops from land where infectious agents are buried. We request an official announcement from the shelter based on science and experiments.”
This is the content of a proposal sent by a commander of a garrison in the south.
When I gently threw it to the side, it fluttered and flew away, landing on a pile of proposal books.
“The body of a sea monster was found. They want to ban illegal fishing in the area, but the garrison forces are ignoring it, saying it has not been verified. Please stand in solidarity with us.”
This is a letter from a civic group calling itself ‘Safe Food’.
Recently, some private camps have begun to raise their voices by claiming to be civic groups.
“It’s illegal… Has the National Assembly ever been held to conduct legislative activities?”
Flapping.
After that, there were so many political contents that I threw them on the pile of letters without reading them all.
Camilla and Ayla in their secretarial uniforms began to collect and organize everything they had read.
They didn’t touch the letter I threw until it landed.
Even if it passed slowly in front of them, they just looked at it silently and only picked it up after it fell on the desk or the ground.
Do you think it’s rude to snatch it in the middle or something? It is a difficult etiquette for me to understand.
“There’s no need for you to read everything, right? “Even so, the workload is increasing.”
“But you can’t just not see it at all, right? It’s a story about people’s hardships, so you should listen to it at least once.”
The polis became an unrivaled city, population, and influence on its surroundings.
However, the source of that power is ultimately the shelter.
It is also a mirage-like city that could collapse overnight due to the whim of me or Artemis.
Thanks to this, the shelter gave outsiders the feeling of a secret society in movies or games, which was sometimes overly exaggerated.
-They say even dead people can be resurrected there.
-They are raising a huge army to prepare for a war of conquest.
-Don’t eat the industrial products scattered at the shelter! It contains ingredients that enslave people!
-I saw a huge robot! I heard it’s just a building?
Nonsense rumors were mixed with the truth and spread without a solution.
However, even those of us who seem to be omnipotent face many difficulties.
Simply put, it is the treatment of people coming to Seoul.
This is because when people come in one by one from all directions, it turns into a job in itself.
If it’s an infectious agent, you can easily get rid of it, but that’s not possible for those who come up because they want to live like human beings.
“Why does it feel like there’s more and more to see?”
After reading all the letters, a map showing changes in population distribution on the Korean Peninsula was printed.
This is a newly added briefing procedure from Artemis.
“I’m not planning on doing anything in particular with this. Just be aware of it. “Because in case of emergency, we can omit detailed explanations.”
“That’s because the things you need to know keep increasing one by one. “Work increases on its own, but does not decrease on its own.”
Unlike my grumbling mouth, my eyes focused and scanned the map.
Overall, you can see a lot of point-shaped camps along the sea and coast.
In the inland area, there are dots focusing on places that are good for growing fields near water sources.
Cities recaptured from infected entities are being used as destroyed ruins without any restoration.
People entered useful bases and were trying to survive individually, but they growled at each other over limited water and resources.
It was very rare for the city itself to function as a single mass.
“Is it a burden?”
“Of course. “I am only a soldier and an engineer, politics is not my area.”
Even though we have great power, we are basically a civilian group.
It could be said to be an underground club that dug into the mountains to live a safe and peaceful life.
I happened to be in a position to rally the survivors based on strong power, but governing them and monitoring the country is a different matter.
However, everyone around us is constantly asking for such a role.
The commanders leading the garrison and other warlord leaders treat me as if they are hoping for the revival of modern-day feudalism.
There is no one who can do it for me other than me, and if I don’t do it right away, there will be too much confusion.
But a burden is a burden.
“I’ve said this many times, but if you’re having a hard time, you can leave it all to me.”
“I’ve said it many times, but it can’t be done.”
It’s not because I don’t trust Artemis.
She is smart and fair.
She is not particularly benevolent, but she is not cruel either. She is always cool-headed and thinks and acts logically. You can see everything, you can think everything.
Perhaps she could be said to be the most ideal ruler.
However, the highest level of choice that determines the lives of those living on this earth.
That is decided by machines, not by human hands. I believe that that should not happen.
It is a separate issue from trust or ability.
