Chapter 359 – Exile (1)
The first gateway to Russia, negotiations with warlord Nikolai, failed. This is because the other side was very stubborn.
The section where there was a limited response was an area that had nothing to do with negotiations.
[But you’re perfect at Russian, aren’t you? Have you ever lived here? Even the accent is native.]
Nikolai asked curiously.
Foreigners who speak their native language fluently are naturally easy to like.
“We are using a high-performance real-time interpreter. “I only know spasiva and blat in Russian.”
[Hmm, I see.]
Real-time interpretation while maintaining voice is an amazing skill in its own way, but he seems confused as if he doesn’t know much about it.
I turned off the video chat and sank deeper into the chair. I can understand Nikolai’s position.
“Now I can say with my own mouth the Jeongmyeong Road that I only saw in textbooks.”
We can gather information from all directions through our own low-orbit satellites, drone carriers, and friendly camps with the police.
On the other hand, the opposing warlords’ eyes and ears are blind.
There is a difference in frustration between those who know everything and those who try to proceed in the dark.
“The problem is not just lack of information.”
Artemis pointed out something else besides this.
“Even if Nikolai himself, the head, agrees, won’t his subordinates be very dissatisfied? It’s an offer he can’t easily accept.”
“I guess so. “If you arbitrarily accept foreign troops when the Chinese have already made a fuss, you could be fragging.”
These days, where the logic of power dominates, warlord leaders wield omnipotent power.
There are those who punish and expel camp members without law or trial, or form harems with wives and concubines.
However, if the organization is at risk as much as the power, the responsibility also increases.
If members fail to respond properly when they are starving or under serious threat, they are mercilessly expelled.
In Korea, it may end with demotion or expulsion out of consideration for old ties, but in Russia, getting a bullet in the back of the head is the norm.
Since xenophobia has already become stronger, foreign troops cannot be allowed to pass through without permission.
“But I can’t just stamp my feet.”
I tapped the desk and wondered how to move on.
“Try to persuade me with something to eat? “If it were just tropical fruit or beef, there would be a lot of people who would run out and mourn their dead family members.”
“Why don’t you just send a mobile pizza truck? You saw Margarita and her group eat so happily. “If you send in the smell of bread and cheese in front of the tightly closed front door, it will open on its own.”
Artemis chuckled.
“Am I being serious?”
Artemis’ butt came up on my desk. He seems to have found the optimal position and posture after sitting down several times, so it feels very natural.
“If I do this, I can’t concentrate on my thoughts.”
His big buttocks are kneaded before his eyes, as if they are about to burst the black miniskirt. When you look at it, nothing else comes to mind unless you are a eunuch.
The hand that had been tapping on her desk stroked Artemis’ thigh. I could feel the soft skin beyond the rough texture of the stockings.
“There is also a way to just ignore it and fly by air transport. “Even warlords who inherited the military’s power cannot maintain air defenses as tight as in the past.”
Artemis’ eyes blinked and a map of the Korean Peninsula and Siberia appeared on the screen of the central control room.
The arrow that started from the shelter curved and headed north. Create a course to avoid the Russian warlords stationed in Yoyoyo.
“You may have to go back and forth, but it is possible to move without armed conflict.”
“The risk of being shot down… Must be low.”
“It would be frustrating to chase someone with a car who is traveling far away in a helicopter. Even using precious oil and anti-aircraft weapons. Moreover, the Chinese army, which prepared diligently, could not do much damage to our air force.”
Even though it was the warlord’s sphere of influence, it often passed tens of kilometers outside the actual living area.
“It would be impossible not to get caught at all, right?”
“Peddlers, hunters, and searchers are spread out widely. You won’t be able to avoid those eyes and ears. Moreover, since it is not a simple investigation and is based on the premise of a war of annihilation, traces will definitely remain.”
“If we go in without a word and set off guns and bombs, the relationship will be in shambles.”
We will be neighbors who will meet face to face for decades to come. It is right to maintain the best relationship possible.
The government disappeared, but national pride and love for one’s hometown remained.
If an army that is neither Russian nor Slavic invades the homeland at will, hostility is bound to increase.
Of course, the non-cooperation of Russian warlords is a problem that will be resolved only with time.
“If the Exiles become more powerful, 100 victims will become 1,000. “If the warlord coalition that was trying to subdue them is destroyed and unable to hold out, they will be the first to ask for help.”
Artemis said.
I have no disagreement with that realistic and cool-headed assessment.
“If that happens, you’re making the disease worse, right? “I don’t know how many there are, but it’s easiest to wipe them out before they breed.”
“This is someone that vaccines don’t work on, right? If you have to catch each one manually, it’s best to dispose of them before they spread.”
The Exile accident sites shown on the map are still located in northern Siberia.
It was a very rough place for people to live now that civilization had stopped, so there were few large-scale warlords.
Otherwise, it would have been suppressed a long time ago or, on the contrary, a resurgence would have occurred, making cooperation easier.
“But there are no similar cases in other countries yet.”
This is my question.
In Korea, quarantine measures are so strict that Exile is not found, but isn’t it different in other countries?
There was no praise for Exile not only across the water in Japan, but also in the current situation in the United States that I heard from old man Hudson.
I looked up at Artemis with expectant eyes.
“Do you want a hypothesis?”
“Yes.”
A beautiful doctor in a white gown brushed his hair over his shoulder. It’s a gesture that looks good anytime.
“I think the key to this unique mutation is cold.”
“It probably only occurred in cold places?”
“The vaccine destroys infectious cells fiercely and rapidly. It is incomparable to things like cancer metastasis. Even entities perverting in their cocoons cannot avoid the blade.”
Two holograms appeared before my eyes.
One is a cocoon on a savannah grassland, and the other is a cocoon on a snowy field amidst a blizzard.
It is not known to what extent the cocoon has a constant temperature function, but the difference in the penetrating cold will certainly be significant.
“Life always finds answers, but it takes time. Here, temperature has an absolute influence on the activity of materials. Even vaccines are no exception.”
Golden eyes look at me warmly. As if asking me to continue next.
“So… The process by which the infectious agent inside the cocoon is reborn as a separate species in order to survive the vaccine. Did the cold buy us time there?”
As soon as I finished speaking, the cocoon on the meadow in the hologram rotted. On the other hand, the cocoon that is buried in the snow is alive and well.
“There is something similar in cancer treatment and augmentation procedures. If you take a drug that changes your body drastically in a short period of time, your organs won’t be able to withstand it. At this time, the body changes while minimizing metabolism through low-temperature sleep.”
“Was that method used on me too?”
“No. Freezing and thawing people has its own side effects. Jinsu: I adjust your body one by one with love, so there’s no need for that.”
I kissed Artemis’ thighs that I was stroking. Then, a sound of laughter is heard from above.
“If that were true, would there be an uproar in Canada? If they multiply across the sea, there will be no answer.”
She rested her cheek on her thigh like a pillow and looked up to see the bridge of her nose. My wife even has pretty nostrils.
“The key is probably how much cold is needed to withstand the Exile mutation. Siberia is the worst frozen land after Antarctica. There are times when the temperature drops to minus 70 degrees. In Canada, minus 40 degrees is the Maginot Line.”
“Is that even worth having hope for?”
“There is no other way for now, so we should focus on solving the problem at hand.”
As Artemis said, we cannot worry about the entire Earth. For now, we need to focus on the Russian issue, which is adjacent to us by land.
“Good. Prepare three things.”
“Just give me the orders.”
“The first was the Siberian Expeditionary Force, and the second was the bribe given to Russian warlords.”
“What about the third?”
I grinned.
“More bribes.”
It is time to respect Russian traditions that have continued since the former Soviet Union.
* * *
As Shelter prepared for a new war and diplomacy under Jinsu’s orders, Siberian warlords also made their move.
It can no longer be dismissed as a ‘minor trouble’ or an ‘attack by some mutant infectious agents.’
The forces located in central and northern Siberia began to recruit their own troops and form investigation teams.
It’s an investigation team, but its composition and level of armament are no different from the military.
The warlords who originated from the former Russian Federation Army began their activities independently due to their large size.
On the other hand, camps that started from the private sector formed alliances with friendly neighboring powers.
Pyotr is the leader of the latter joint investigation team.
“It’s dangerous to travel alone. Please keep in mind that a camp of dozens of people evaporated without a trace. That’s not easy even if we here point the gun and try.”
Everyone nodded at Pyotr’s words.
He was a soldier who had served for 20 years and had a great reputation, so no one was dissatisfied with him taking command.
This is Russia, where many guns were released and corruption and chaos were rampant.
Although they started out as a civilian group, their level of armament was different from the Korean camp. There is not a single person who does not carry an automatic weapon.
However, the types are truly different.
You can see everything from modern Russian regular army equipment to World War II-era military uniforms and people holding assault rifles.
Three types of bulletproof helmets and equipment that Russia changed over the decades of military reform are also gathered together.
It almost feels like a recreation of a Russian war history museum.
“If everyone is gathered, let’s go.”
A militia group of 15 people began to advance under the leadership of Peter, who was at the forefront.
Their destination is a cooperative village that they have not heard from for two weeks.
It was a week ago that we lost any news from the four advance team members who set out to investigate there.
