Silver Phantom +25
Whirr-
An unfamiliar operating hum split the dawn air over Changwon Plant No. 2.
It was not the sound of a conventional tank engine, but something else entirely, a blend of high-frequency motor noise and the steady drone of a spinning generator.
It was not a pleasant harmony.
Mechanically, though, it was a perfect frequency.
“That sound’s a strange one. It’s definitely not a tank, and it’s not an electric vehicle either.”
Manager Maeng, his head slicked with grease, muttered with hollow eyes.
Beside him, Team Leader Park straightened up from organizing a toolbox and snorted a laugh.
“And yet it’s moving. Hard to believe. To think they pulled this off in twelve days.”
At the end of their gazes stood a lump of silver.
The body’s titanium raw material gleamed in its natural color instead of being covered in paint.
Its camouflage coating and sleek, almost beautiful lines made it look nothing like an ordinary production vehicle.
What stood before us now was a rough mass of metal, with thousands of rivet marks and bolt heads left exposed.
Someone might look at it and call it unfinished.
To my eyes, though, it was pure functional beauty, stripped of every unnecessary trace.
As I watched it, I briefly looked around the area.
Was it because the engine had actually started normally?
Relief had begun to settle over the faces of the exhausted employees.
“You’ve all worked hard. I’ll take it from here.”
“Haa...”
“So we can sleep now?”
“Yes. I’ve booked lodging, so go get some proper rest. There’ll be special leave from the company as well, so take a little time to get some air nearby.”
Special leave.
Even at that magic phrase every office worker longed for, the employees could only slump weakly to the floor.
That was how exhausted they were.
It had been twelve days of war.
The real war would start now.
Just thinking about it made my head ache, and yet my chest was pounding too.
What I had built with my own hands was going out into overseas markets, and in Malaysia it would be competing directly against the Chinese.
How should I crush the bastards who had always blocked our path abroad?
While I was lost in thought, someone called out from the factory entrance.
“Excuse me. Is this where Manager Baek Gunwoo is working?”
A courteous voice came from the front gate of the plant.
A tidy old gentleman in a suit was speaking with the security staff.
The moment I saw him, I recognized him.
It was Chief Researcher Choi Hun from ADD.
“Councilor?”
As I walked over, he let out a hearty laugh.
“It’s been a while, Manager Baek. And this—sorry for dropping by unannounced. There’s been quite an interesting rumor going around.”
“A rumor?”
“That you’re stripping down a prototype from a national project and modifying it into a completely different machine.”
“...Haha. You heard that?”
I asked awkwardly, with a dry laugh.
Choi only shrugged.
“It’s an industry where word travels after only one hop. There was no way it wouldn’t reach me.”
“I see. Then your visit today is...”
When I asked cautiously, Councilor Choi broke into another genial laugh.
“I’m not here to interrogate you. That’s not what this is about in the first place. I was simply intrigued. It’s one thing to hear that Manager Baek, the same man who showed that kind of ability with Hunt-Dog, is running a project that has Hanseo Defense’s elite field engineers assembled in one place.”
As he spoke, he stepped closer to my side.
Then he looked toward the prototype inside the factory.
“I’d like to take a quick look, if that’s all right.”
“Ah, yes. Of course.”
“Mm-hm. Much appreciated.”
He slowly walked into the factory.
Then, after glancing at the researchers sprawled around the place on folding cots, he smiled bitterly and headed for the titanium armored vehicle in the center of the floor before stopping in front of it.
When he did, Councilor Choi let out an exclamation.
“...Huh.”
He adjusted his glasses.
Then, looking thoroughly fascinated, he circled the chassis at a slow pace.
From the lower suspension to the upper weapons station, he was studying every part with an engineer’s eye.
“I heard this was a series hybrid... is that right?”
“Yes.”
“The engine only generates power, while the drive comes from motors. The batteries are laid low in the body to control the center of gravity... and you’ve even reduced the weight with a titanium shell.”
He turned back to look at me.
There was awe in his eyes.
“A structure like this was considered perfect in theory, but impossible in reality. To think you’ve built it in twelve days...”
He gently ran a hand over the chassis for a moment, then took out his phone.
“Please excuse me for a moment. I need to report this.”
He went to a corner and began making a call.
His voice was low, but firm.
“Yes, Director. It’s me. ...Yes, I confirmed it myself. The rumor was true. No, it’s more than that. ...Yes. I agree. This is worth verifying in person.”
After hanging up, Choi came back over to me.
“Manager Baek. I have one request, if that’s all right?”
“A request?”
“May I accompany you to the Malaysia test?”
It was an unexpected proposal.
I made an uneasy face.
“To Malaysia? That would be difficult. This is an internal project our company is running, and there are security issues too...”
“Haha... is that so?”
Choi still wore that warm, genial smile.
As I wondered how I could possibly turn him down without creating trouble, another voice suddenly called out from the factory office.
“Manager Baek!”
Director Choi came running over in a hurry.
He was holding a phone in his hand.
“We just got a call from the Ministry of National Defense’s Acquisition Policy Bureau. They want the ADD technical verification councilor sent as an observer for this Malaysia project.”
“What? From the Ministry of National Defense?”
“Yeah. Councilor Choi Hun personally requested to go.”
Director Choi leaned in and whispered into my ear.
His eyes were glittering.
“Hey. This smells funny.”
“What smells?”
“ADD is working on the domestic version of KAAV-II right now. But it’s still at the prototype stage, and nobody can guarantee performance yet.”
“That’s true.”
“And then we go and unveil something even better under the excuse that it’s for export. How do you think that looks to them?”
Ah...
I understood at once.
“So they’re thinking of switching the domestic version over to ours too?”
“Exactly! If the performance is solid, there’s no reason to sink development costs into making something else. It’s far more profitable to buy ours and use it.”
Director Choi flashed a knowing grin and walked over to Councilor Choi.
“Councilor! Welcome. We were just in need of an expert opinion. Please come with us.”
“Mm-hm. Thank you for allowing it. I’ll keep quiet and record only what I see, so I won’t be a nuisance.”
Councilor Choi politely extended his hand.
The stakes had just grown much larger.
At this point, this was no longer a simple export consultation.
It had become a test with the future of South Korea’s next armored vehicle hanging on it.
Then another person appeared.
“Wow... Manager, what is this?”
It was Yang Seokjin from Defense Daily, whom we had brought along thanks to our previous connection during Hunt-Dog.
His hand trembled as he adjusted his camera.
“You’re going without even painting it? It looks so raw.”
“I didn’t have time to put on makeup, so I figured I’d go bare-faced. Doesn’t that make it more impactful?”
I tilted my chin toward the silver chassis.
“It’ll make for a good headline too. Something like Silver Phantom.”
“Silver Phantom... wow, that’s killer. I’ll send it off right away.”
That was everything prepared, then.
All that remained was to confirm on site, with our own bodies, that the preparation was real.
*
2:00 p.m., cargo terminal at Gimhae Airport.
The huge An-124 transport aircraft had its mouth open wide.
“Go there, don’t cause trouble, and sell it well. We’re going to sleep a little.”
Team Leader Park and Manager Maeng waved at us with dead-tired eyes.
The engineers had to stay behind to protect the production line and the headquarters channels, which were their real posts.
Thanks to that, this expedition would be boarding with the business team only.
Chief Director of Sales Choi, Strategic Planning Director Cho Yerin, Technical Verification Councilor Choi Hun, and Public Relations Reporter Lee Minseok.
Plus Deputy Director Han, the specialist test driver who could move the monster, and Manager O Jinhyuk, who would catch any system errors.
In effect, it was practically a small elite strike team.
“Let’s go. Time to plant our flag.”
Director Choi’s brief order.
We boarded the transport bound for Malaysia.
*
Heat.
The instant we descended the ramp, air like a wet sauna stabbed at my lungs.
It was the murderous humidity unique to Southeast Asia.
Even standing still, sweat ran down the spine.
“Ugh, this weather’s brutal.”
Director Choi wiped his forehead with a handkerchief.
We got into the waiting van and headed for Sungai Besi Air Base, the test site.
Kim, the executive from the local branch who had led the vehicle we would be using, greeted us with a very dark expression.
“Thank you for coming all this way. But...”
“Is the situation bad?”
Kim loosened his tie and sighed.
“It’s the worst possible. Those bastards from North China Industries have come in with everything they’ve got. They’re offering technology transfer as a baseline, and they’re saying they’ll massively expand Malaysia’s palm oil import quota too.”
“Palm oil.”
“Yes. Isn’t it the core of the Malaysian economy? Major figures in politics have been completely sold on it.”
We knew that much already.
But Kim’s story kept going.
“There’s also a rumor making the rounds inside the military that this test is just a formality. They say it’s basically a prop to create the appearance of due process before China is chosen anyway.”
I had no choice but to doubt my ears after hearing that.
At the same time, I looked at Director Choi.
He wore an absurd expression, as if he had no idea what was going on.
Cho Yerin looked no different.
I watched them for a moment, then turned back to Kim.
“So even the military has gone over to the Chinese side?”
“No, not exactly. It’s just that the Malaysian political class seems far too committed. This really doesn’t look easy.”
The air in the van sank heavy and still.
Cho Yerin stared at me for a few seconds before speaking.
“If the performance gap is overwhelming, they won’t have much choice either, will they?”
“There’s a chance.”
I answered briefly.
Once the discussion turns political, we have little to offer.
So here, we had to make our strength unmistakable and use the superiority of our technology.
As I was thinking that, Kim cautiously asked,
“Things seem to be going well back home... what do you think, Manager?”
He asked cautiously again.
In terms of rank, he was far above me.
But perhaps because I was in the chairman’s inner circle, or because of Director Choi and Cho Yerin, he treated me with an almost excessive level of courtesy.
“I think we’re in good shape. The performance should be beyond comparison.”
“...Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“It’s not just anyone saying it, either. It’s coming directly from you, Manager Baek... That does put me a little more at ease. Haha.”
Kim’s expression seemed to relax a little.
I gave him a light smile and leaned back in my seat.
It wasn’t a passenger plane, but an An-124 cargo transport, and I hadn’t slept a wink on the flight over.
On top of the fatigue I’d already accumulated in Korea, I needed to rest my eyes for even a little while and recover.
With that thought, I closed my eyes for a moment.
By the time I came to, we had already arrived at Sungai Besi Base.
*
“We’ve arrived.”
At Kim’s voice, I opened my eyes to hot sunlight pouring in through the window.
It was the waiting area at one side of the runway at Sungai Besi Base, set aside for participant companies from different countries.
Turkey, Indonesia, and France had originally been scheduled to take part as well, but now only the Chinese North China Industries team occupied their enormous tent and displayed their full confidence.
“Where did the other teams go? Didn’t Turkey or France show any interest?”
At my question, Kim smiled bitterly.
“They withdrew from the business. Their equipment never even came.”
“Never came?”
“They were quick to read the room. They found out the Malaysian government had cut a deal with China over the palm oil quota. Why spend billions of won airlifting equipment into a game that’s already fixed?”
Kim pointed his chin toward the Chinese tent.
“On top of that, they lobbied hard enough to move the test schedule up by fifteen days. It was ruled a forfeiture for failing to meet the schedule.”
“I see.”
That meant their situation had been similar to ours.
In the end, the only ones left on this broad runway were China, already drunk on victory, and us, who had arrived late to the fight.
“Tch.”
Well, that wasn’t bad for us.
If we crushed China here, the Malaysia contract would be ours for certain.
As I was unpacking with that thought in mind, someone tilted his chin and said,
“The man coming over there... isn’t he the chief acquisition officer?”
It was Councilor Choi.
A middle-aged man in military uniform and sunglasses was walking toward us with aides in tow.
Zulkifli, the acquisition chief of the Malaysian Ministry of National Defense.
He was the one with the real decision-making authority in this project.
He didn’t even glance our way, heading straight for the Chinese team’s booth instead.
“Chief! Greetings.”
Then one of the North China Industries personnel ran over speaking in English.
It was Wang Hao, the project manager for North China Industries.
The one supposedly in charge of this Malaysia export project.
The acquisition chief folded his arms, gave him a brief look, then shifted his gaze back to China’s main armored vehicle, the upgraded HB-08.
He was studying the HB-08 very carefully.
Interesting.
What exactly were they saying to each other?
I strolled casually in the direction where I could hear their voices.
“Is everything ready? Tomorrow’s swamp test won’t be easy.”
“Don’t worry, sir! North China Industries’ technical capability is already world-class. Would you like a demonstration? Let us show you the powerful heart of our armored vehicle.”
Wang Hao shouted with absolute confidence.
When Chief Zulkifli nodded, he signaled one of his subordinates.
“Start it up!”
The engineer climbed into the driver’s seat and turned the key.
But.
Krik, krik, krik-
Instead of a crisp exhaust note, there was only the feeble sound of the starter motor.
Wang Hao’s expression froze.
Seeing that, I could only laugh in disbelief.
The Malaysian heat was nearly forty degrees at ground level.
And the engine block had been heated to the limit from idling for show until just moments ago.
Red haze roared up fiercely around it.
The problem was the thin pipe running through the middle of that hot red blur.
The fuel line that was supposed to deliver diesel to the engine.
Under normal conditions, a clean blue current should have been visible inside it, as smooth as clear water.
The bus I had arrived on was like that, as were countless other vehicles.
But what I saw now was not blue.
A bubbling black void.
And the shape of a crimson blockage, swelling in the heat and sealing the pipe shut.
Gas was blocking the path of the liquid.
The fuel, which should have remained in liquid form, had boiled in the high temperature and vaporized, and the resulting bubbles had jammed the line.
No matter how hard the fuel pump coughed and sputtered, the oil trapped by the gas bubble could not reach the engine cylinders at all.
A textbook design flaw.
They must have copied the old Russian engine design exactly.
In places of deep Siberian cold, designers deliberately press the fuel line close to the hot engine block to prevent diesel from waxing and freezing.
It was a makeshift way to warm the fuel and improve starting performance.
But this was the equator.
That same makeshift solution here was suicide.
“What are you doing? Start it again!”
Krik, krik, krik...
Still the engine remained silent.
Under the blazing sun, the Chinese engineers began to panic, opening the hood and scrambling around.
“Huh? It worked a second ago. Is it the battery?”
“No! The voltage is normal!”
“Then why won’t it start?”
Zulkifli’s brow furrowed.
“Is this the reliability you’re so proud of? Is this how it behaves in actual operations too?”
“N-no, sir! It’s just the weather being hot for a moment... We’ll fix it right away!”
Wang Hao was drenched in sweat as he offered his excuse.
Watching that, I went over and grabbed a cold bottle of water from our tent.
“Stop cranking the starter. You’ll burn out the motor too.”
When I spoke in English, Wang Hao jerked his head around.
His face twisted when he saw me.
“Who the hell are you? Get lost!”
He shouted harshly, but I ignored him, gave Chief Zulkifli a slight bow, and pointed at the engine bay.
“You copied the Russian design exactly.”
“What?”
“Russia and northern China are cold. So to warm the fuel, they deliberately lay the fuel pipe right against the engine block. That way it starts more easily.”
I pointed up at the sky.
“But this is the equator. Ground temperature is hovering above forty degrees.”
“So the design meant to prevent waxing in the bitter cold is actually boiling the fuel here?”
“Yes. And bad luck piled on top of that. Do you know what vapor lock is?”
“Hey!”
Wang Hao snapped, his eye twitching.
But when Chief Zulkifli fixed him with a hard stare, Wang Hao had no choice but to grit his teeth and shut up.
After sorting through the situation, Chief Zulkifli said,
“It’s when diesel boils inside a pipe heated by engine temperature and fills the line with bubbles. I know.”
“That’s exactly what’s happening in this machine’s heart right now. It was already sweltering, they ran it at idle until the engine was hot, then they shut it off and tried to start it again.”
“Then it’s a kind of mechanical air embolism. Blood flow gets blocked, and the body goes into shock.”
“Yes. The fix is simple, though. May I borrow this for a second?”
“What?”
As Wang Hao was in the middle of reacting to my words, I poured the cold water over the scorching fuel pipe they had left exposed.
“You insane bastard! What happens if water gets into the electronics?”
“Don’t worry. I only poured it on the pipe and avoided the wiring.”
“This barbarian...” Wang Hao was frothing at the mouth. “Call security! Drag this guy out now!”
He was practically losing his mind.
To him, pouring water on advanced equipment must have looked no different from sabotage.
But I paid no attention, took a towel hanging nearby, soaked it with the remaining water, and laid it flat over the pipe.
“This isn’t the time to check the ECU. Touch the pipe. You won’t even be able to put your hand on it.”
“What?”
“Let it cool for one minute like this, then start it. It’ll fire up.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. Just because you splash a little water on it...”
Wang Hao was still huffing in anger, but with Chief Zulkifli watching, he had no choice but to signal one of his men.
“Try it. Just try to make it fail.”
And one minute later.
“Start it.”
Krik- Krrrrooom!
As if to mock them, the engine came to life with a rough, ragged breath.
Gasps rippled through the Chinese engineers.
Wang Hao’s face turned bright red.
Chief Zulkifli looked at me with open interest.
“What’s your name? Are you with the Korean team?”
“Baek Gunwoo. I’m from Hanseo Defense.”
The chief gave the Chinese team a look of utter disappointment, then turned back to me.
“Impressive technical insight. But does your vehicle not have this problem? Korea has four distinct seasons too, and summer gets hot, doesn’t it?”
It was a sharp question.
I smirked and pointed my thumb behind me.
The silver titanium armored vehicle standing quietly beneath the tent.
“We’re fine.”
“Oh? That’s a lot of confidence. Did you install some special cooling system?”
“No.”
I looked Chief Zulkifli straight in the eye and answered.
“Our vehicle doesn’t use fuel when it starts.”
“...?”
“A ghost that moves in silence, even when its engine is off. That’s our concept.”
Chief Zulkifli lowered his sunglasses slightly.
Amid the noisy roar of the Chinese team’s engine, I was certain of one thing.
In that instant, the board had just turned over.