Chapter 340 – Commander’s Banquet (1)
“In one way or another, we are brother countries. In both South and North Korea, political leaders run away, and top leaders turn into walkers.”
I couldn’t help but smile bitterly at Artemis’ words.
“Don’t shoot. Stop shooting.”
I stopped the robots pointing their guns.
“Are you planning on capturing it? “If it’s a North Korean walker that was quarantined for 5 years, it’s quite rare, but it’s not particularly worth researching.”
“I thought of a more useful way.”
The robots that were ordered not to attack evaded the unique walker.
Chasing after it with both arms outstretched and shouting ‘heuhuh~’ looks like a game of tag.
The suit, which would have been tight when I was alive, is now loose, leaving room for my arms and legs. The wristwatch, which used to be really tight, now shakes back and forth depending on the movement of the arm.
“I lost weight. When I saw it on the news, it seemed like it wouldn’t be noticeable even if the inside was cut out and a person could enter like a doll mask.”
“… The expression is so barbaric.”
Artemis pinched my cheek.
“There’s nothing strange about starving for five years. It’s surprising that even after such a long time, that much flesh remains. “The hibernation efficiency of an infectious agent is greater than that of a machine’s sleep mode.”
Did you feel like you lost in a strange corner? She looked somewhat upset as she let go of her pinched fingers.
“Catch it with as little damage as possible.”
The large group of mechanical soldiers who had been avoiding them all rushed in.
[Kkueeeeek-!]
The Predator takes out two handcuffs for arrest.
“What are you going to use that for?”
“Among Korean survivors, there are many who hold a grudge against North Korea more than China.”
“Yes.”
It was a nuclear attack from China that destroyed the border defense forces, but more nuclear weapons dropped on large cities were launched by North Korea.
China was afraid of the United States, which would attack South Korea as a bridgehead while its own country was falling, and North Korea just responded by saying, “You kill me, I kill you.”
Due to the collapsed medical system, most of the hibakusha died during the infection war, but those who survived harbored deep-seated resentment against North Korea.
“Someone has to take responsibility. In my opinion, there is no one better suited than that guy.”
“If you caught it alive, wouldn’t you know it’s already an infectious agent? “Will it be effective to catch that thing?”
It seems that the rational Artemis cannot understand.
“Humans are emotional animals. If you look through history books, there are many cases where the graves of dead enemies were dug up and the bodies were taken out. A walker is a much better trophy to vent your anger on.”
“It seems like bad taste.”
“It doesn’t matter to me or your opinion. As long as people are satisfied, that’s it. Plus, it will be politically meaningful.”
“To use it as a symbol of North Korean exploration and development?”
As she has dealt with various groups in my absence, she is quick to understand her political interests.
“Because it is a barren era, there is no land to play around with. “The land is cleaner than South Korea, right?”
“That’s right, we were completely wiped out by infectious agents in the early stages of the war.”
This is a world in which everything, including chemical fertilizers, pesticides, farm equipment, agricultural machinery, various consumables, distribution vehicles, and agricultural water, is less developed than before the war.
Even though the population has decreased significantly, production efficiency has been shattered to an even greater extent.
In order to feed people and raise children, it was necessary to take over both the North’s granary and coastal areas.
“Basically, Korea has declared the entire Korean Peninsula as its territory. The North Korean leadership is an anti-state group that illegally occupied the country’s territory, and now its leader has been arrested.”
On the screen, a tightly bound unique walker is screaming.
The capture of the mechanical soldiers is so merciless that it is reminiscent of vacuum packaging. They placed him on his knees, tied his thighs and shins together, pulled his hands behind his waist, and handcuffed him.
[Kyeeeeek-! Kueh-sigh! Inhale!]
His mouth was gagged by wrapping a dining scarf lying around on the table.
“It would be okay to drag him away and try him, and it would be okay to broadcast the execution live. It will be a good performance for explorers heading north, troops stationed across the country, and the old government on Jeju Island.”
“Well, in human history, there were trials held on man-eating livestock that ate children. “It wouldn’t be surprising if Walker was the target.”
The packaging was completed by rolling up and tying the Unique Walker’s whole body with a curtain torn from nearby.
Wiggle.
Wiggle.
The search resumes again after the guy has become quiet.
Warehouses containing various daily necessities were discovered one by one, but the most important food warehouse was not visible.
“If you look at the building map, there is no place where food can be found.”
There is no self-sufficient cultivation room like our shelter here.
“Did we really have a Nazi-style last supper?”
Luxury tableware and luxury tea cups on the table, red tablecloths and colorful curtains hanging everywhere.
Artwork worth hundreds of millions of dollars hung on the walls, and beneath them, smooth, glossy pottery showed off on a wooden table.
The walkers and remains in the hall were all wearing livery or ceremonial clothes.
It was similar to the end of the Nazi upper class just before the end of World War II, when they expected defeat.
“No, there must be a secret space somewhere. Doesn’t it make sense to build a bomb shelter of this size and then commit suicide? If I was going to die anyway, I would have enjoyed it more luxuriously with the money I spent here.”
“That’s true too.”
I pointed to the portrait of two pigs hanging at the front of the hall.
“Tear those things down and put them away. Because I don’t want to see it.”
[Roger.]
The search continued and eventually Artemis was proven right.
While searching Kim Jong-un’s residence, they discovered a food storage area. It is behind a private residence, the deepest part of the bomb shelter.
Above the large door is written ‘Juche Grace Storage.’
“I was wondering why the walkers were so skinny, and this was the cause. Since organic matter has been collected so deeply, it has no choice but to dry out.”
“It’s such a strange structure. If it is arranged this way, logistics and operational efficiency will be a mess.”
Artemis, who had been calm even after seeing the cruel battlefield and corpses, was horrified as if she had seen something terrible.
But I understood.
“Monopolizing and distributing food. That is the basis of their rule. Especially in a closed-circuit life, you probably wanted to hold on to it even more tenaciously because of the risk of rebellion.”
Ujikkeun!
The warehouse door, which had not been maintained for a long time, was torn off by the engineering equipment brought by the stalkers.
Wiggle!
Wiggle wiggle wiggle!!!
I don’t know if it was my mood, but the bundle of curtains wrapped around the unique walker seemed to be moving more violently.
* * *
“Hwiyu~! “It’s bigger than I thought?”
The food warehouse was more than I had imagined. Even compared to the Amazon warehouse I once saw in a documentary, its size is no different.
“We poured the capacity and materials to build something like this into an air-raid shelter, so it collapsed right at the beginning of the war.”
Even Artemis could not deny its sturdiness.
Well, it’s a good thing because life ended up being a blessing for us.
“Let me see, pick up that can.”
I used the touch panel at my seat to select the canned food closest to the screen.
“Potato flakes?”
Surprisingly, it was a foreign product written in English.
“Plus, there’s chicken stew, dried fruit, and processed ham.”
“They are all survival foods produced overseas. “This one is made by a Danish manufacturer, and that one is made in the United States.”
The companies listed by Artemis were 100% foreign companies.
“I thought there would be a mountain of flour or biscuits or something like that.”
“Something like that won’t last for five years at most. But those survival foods can be stored for 30 years.”
“I know. “We brought in a small amount when we were building our shelter.”
Survival food, which was made by extracting as much moisture as possible, sterilizing it, and then freeze-drying, boasted an extremely long shelf life.
“But the name of this warehouse is the main subject, right? “I didn’t know that the inside was completely filled with foreign products.”
“North Korea would not be able to make something like that with its technological capabilities, so it must have been purchased in secret from a foreign country.”
[Another hall was discovered.]
The 3 expedition teams reported.
The screen changed to display the view of the 3 team leaders. I was entering by pushing two large oak doors.
“This is a liquor warehouse.”
Unlike the place where the banquet was held, there were only two walkers in military uniforms and one ashes in a butler’s uniform.
In Walker’s case, he was so weak that he could not stand up even after waking up from hibernation.
“Whiskey, sake, champagne, wine, vodka and even brandy. “It’s so piled up.”
“It’s impossible to produce it ourselves like we do. “If we are stuck in isolation and will have to lift the blockade, these are the best items to barter with external forces.”
Alcohol was a great alternative currency, more than ammunition.
In the post-destruction world, there were not many products that could satisfy thirst, pleasure, disinfection, and long-term preservation.
Anyway, it was ironic that it was written as a Juche warehouse and filled with foreign food. Even more than half of the preserved food came from the United States.
[An armory was discovered.]
Another team reported.
“If the Chinese soldiers had seen it, wouldn’t they have been disappointed?”
It was clearly a huge amount of military supplies by the standards of a single warlord, but it was not an amount that would satisfy a brigade-sized Chinese army.
Moreover, since most of them are North Korean standard weapons, their performance does not seem to be very good.
There was also a large aquarium, perhaps with the intention of using it as a food source, but of course, all the fish inside were dead.
It is natural that oxygen, food supply, and water changes have stopped.
[A material warehouse was discovered.]
[Entering the medical compartment.]
After that, places that might have important materials or technology appeared one after another, but I wasn’t very satisfied.
This is because most of the technologies we already have or are backward compatible with.
However, there was only one field that surpassed Korea.
“You did a lot of human experiments.”
In the terrible world situation right before the infection war, North Korea’s execution sites and political prison camps always collapsed.
It appears that some of the victims were secretly sent to a medical research institute.
“Looking at the records, it appears that research materials were traded behind the scenes with several Eastern Bloc countries. “With those funds, we were able to build this bomb shelter.”
Artemis quickly scanned the documents with the eyes of robots.
“I don’t think I’ll be surprised no matter what I hear now. “I looked around and saw so many things.”
I have already been properly vaccinated by Bloodtech.
“Shall we form a transport unit? There are so many things to carry.”
“Do not mobilize workers as radioactivity remains.”
“Yes.”
I drank all the remaining coffee.
This is what I felt while seeing all kinds of messy things in the central control room, and it seems that bitterness is better than sweetness to shake off unpleasant feelings.
* * *
After a few more days, all the garrison troops defending the truce line returned to their original positions.
If we hadn’t stepped forward, I think a very uncomfortable coexistence with our new neighbors to the north would have begun by now.
The captured unique walkers created a temporary altar on the outskirts of the police and displayed it for a week.
[Kyeeeeek-!]
Numerous people came to see the monster running rampant in a 3 square meter tempered glass container.
“Fuck, that’s a body that’s been starved for five years? “He’s chubbier than I?”
“Kim Jong-un is a dog! If she was going to die, did she have to go nuclear and die alone?!”
“I thought you were going to suffer from diabetes like your father, but you ended up becoming a walker.”
The reaction was very violent, and throwing stones and other trash was also permitted.
[The use of firearms is strictly prohibited here. Please only insult me with eyes, spit, and rocks. Hehe.]
Kids shouted among the angry crowd.
Although she has the voice of a child, she is the most famous and loved by the public on the Korean Peninsula.
There were more than one person making a living thanks to this apocalyptic national idol’s information sharing.
Because there was pressure from the stalkers guarding away from the podium, the crowd followed instructions well.
“I came all the way from Busan because of you, you pig!”
An egg thrown by an old woman hit the glass wall and broke.
Eggs are an essential element in cooking, but these days, they are valuable items that cannot be thrown away carelessly.
I could see how angry people were.
“What the fuck are you doing if you don’t shoot that thing and kill it?”
“Put the container away! “I’ll crush your head with this Ohhamma!”
“Why are you protecting me when you have to take me out right away?”
There were many people who were angry and criticized.
[I will kill you, everyone. I will definitely kill you. Yes! I have to kill him!]
The people’s outcry was weakened for a moment by the bloody lines spoken in a bright child’s voice.
The people who were clamoring to kill him also looked slightly embarrassed.
[But the one in front of you is no ordinary villain 1. He is the second most serious criminal in the history of the Korean Peninsula, having killed so many Koreans through nuclear fire. They will be executed through proper procedures and processes. It would be difficult if I died from being hit by your stones before that.]
The boy hired for 2000 credits aimed the sprinkler and sprayed water.
Sigh!
Dirt, sand, eggs, and other foreign substances were washed away by the strong stream of water. Accordingly, the unique walker contained within glowed.
[Of course, in my personal opinion as a public relations person, I think it is okay for people to be stoned to death. In the future, it will be the perfect illustration to decorate a page of a history textbook.]
When the sprinkler stopped, it returned to a clean glass container. Although there are scratches everywhere.
[However, it is the execution by firing squad that can strongly instill the feelings of ‘justice has been served!’ And ‘now the knot has been resolved!’ Rather than beating someone to death with a rock, watching the execution ceremony will help you break the knot in your heart.]
After that, the kids didn’t open their mouths anymore.
People still got angry and cursed, but at least they didn’t demand that the tempered glass be removed.
* * *
By the time Unique Walker’s exhibition was over, the battle with the Chinese army and the discovery of a secret bomb shelter had already been remembered by the public.
At Artemis’ suggestion, I invited the garrison commander and his family.
“Isn’t there usually a banquet after victory?”
“Honestly, they didn’t do anything in particular.”
“Know. But this is not an event to praise them, but to further subordinate them. “Leave it to me.”
The garrison commanders with whom we usually interacted crossed the main gate of the shelter with their families in groups of three or five.
They were taken to the lower leisure area by cable car near the main entrance.
It is a place where facilities such as restaurants, movie theaters, and shopping malls for workers and their families living in the shelter are concentrated.
“Ahahaha!”
The children had fun shaking their legs on the cable car.
It is a world without much entertainment. Riding a cable car and passing through a huge underground secret base was a great activity in itself.
“Why don’t you be quiet? “Don’t shake your leg.”
“You promised mom when you came! “You have to be quiet!”
On the other hand, mothers showed a lot of discipline and scolded their children.
The lower leisure area is mostly unused and unlit, but one large store opened for business today.
As the cable car slowed down, expectations beyond tension began to appear on the faces of the guests.
“Hey, Ashling?”
There are many cultures that have disappeared from people’s minds after the infection war, but there is one that is unique.
Buffet!
Isn’t it the product of a civilization most unsuited to the apocalyptic situation?
The buffet, which had been completely forgotten about its existence, was resurrected and appeared before the eyes of the commander’s family.
