Industrial Stabilization
From the second-floor railing of Industrial Stabilization Hangar, a green-haired woman looked down at the crowd, microphone in hand.
“Welcome, everyone! Oh my, most of you are familiar faces.”
The prominent chimera-related figures from West Teron glanced around with dazed expressions. The space was grand and sophisticated, clearly built with technology that could never exist in their world.
“Alright, focus up. We only rented the hangar for six hours, so I can’t talk for long. Before that, we need to run tests and assign you all grades!”
A middle-aged man in the murmuring crowd frowned and shouted. He had recognized Lura speaking from the second floor.
“Lura! Was this all your doing? I don’t know what you’re thinking, but apologize right now and send us back! What is this nonsense to people whose time is precious!”
The man wasn’t oblivious. Everyone gathered here was among West Teron’s top-tier celebrities. He had judged that stepping forward in this situation could bring a great opportunity. But Lura’s reaction was not what he expected.
“Hmm… who were you again? The professor who taught chimera taxonomy in my second year…? Was that you?”
The man clicked his tongue. “That way of speaking—!”
“It’s a bit hazy, but I remember you didn’t have much talent. I could probably just kill you without any issues?”
“What…?”
Thud— At the same moment as Lura’s words, a hole opened in the man’s body. The impact sent him flying, rolling across the floor. The hall erupted into chaos once more. Lura tapped the microphone with her palm.
Thud— Thud—
“Everyone, quiet! Don’t get worked up over one useless human dying. As I said, we don’t have much time. We’ll move straight into the tests.”
Though one professor had died, these were people who had long worked in the chimera industry. They quickly forgot the dead man and focused on Lura.
“First, West Teron has fallen! That’s not a lie—look around. If East Baliteron pushes in while you’re all here, what do you think would happen?”
Many faces hardened at Lura’s words. They had secretly hoped West Teron would send forces to rescue them. But they couldn’t refute her.
“Judging by your expressions, you all understand the situation. Now, we’ll verify your usefulness.”
Thud— Rumble— At Lura’s signal, three doors below her opened and rose upward. Each bore a label: [Production], [Research], [Management].
“You’re all sharp, so you’ve noticed. It’s not much different from what you did in West Teron. Through testing, we’ll classify you into Grade 1, 2, or 3.”
Then an elderly producer stepped forward. A renowned top-tier maker in West Teron, the old man smiled broadly as he spoke.
“Fine, I understand the situation. But in the end, you people want my skills too, don’t you? I won’t work for anyone who doesn’t treat me properly. If you want to kill me, go ahead. I’ve lived long enough and have no regrets. Heh heh.”
The old man was perceptive. Even though the country had fallen, if the work was the same, he demanded the same treatment as before. And he wasn’t alone. Other elders threatened that if they weren’t given preferential treatment, they wouldn’t take a single step. With the highest authorities acting this way, the crowd’s mood slowly shifted in their favor.
But Lura only sighed. Then, with a generous expression, she offered advice.
“There are two things I haven’t told you yet. First, this is indeed a place where you’re treated according to your ability! But old man, you’re not exactly talented, are you?”
The chimera producer who had stepped forward first scowled. He was widely recognized as one of West Teron’s greatest chimera makers. He thought Lura was making excuses to avoid granting his demands.
“Ha! Then there was no need to kidnap us in the first place. Don’t even think about playing word games!”
Lura scratched her head. Once they entered the test, that confidence would naturally disappear anyway. Instead of wasting breath explaining, she decided to tell them the second reason they were mistaken.
“Well, fine. The second thing—look behind you.”
At Lura’s words, the crowd turned. There, the professor who had just died was slowly rising to his feet. Because the bullet contained zombie poison, he had become a zombie.
“Urrgh—” Blood dripping from his neck, he lifted his head and looked at Lura. Anyone could see he was not in a normal state. Lura calmly gave the zombie an order.
“You there. From now on, you’re a menial laborer. You have basic knowledge of chimera production, so you should do fine, right?”
The zombie slowly nodded.
“I’ll dooo thaaat.”
“Good. Go inside.”
The rear door opened, and the zombie disappeared into the darkness. Lura addressed the crowd again.
“Those who don’t want to be verified don’t have to. Just remember—if you have no grade, you become a zombie menial laborer. If you want to die and become a laborer, raise your hands now. It’ll shorten the test time too, which is nice.”
Silence fell. Even the elders who had been making demands couldn’t argue against this. They had said “kill us if you want,” and she had actually killed them and turned them into slaves.
“Then enter from the front.”
Lura guided people through the doors one by one. No one voiced complaints anymore.
Naiharts Narongmeger. He was undeniably one of West Teron’s top three chimera producers. Like most chimera makers, as his body weakened with age, he had his disciples perform procedures to turn himself into a chimera. Thus, 120 years. In West Teron, where average lifespan barely reached 60, he had lived twice as long as ordinary people.
‘I was an authority on chimera studies since before the division. What? Just a laborer? These youngsters these days…’
He was from the Baliteron era and had witnessed the East-West split in real time. Therefore, he held no particular patriotism. He had simply followed West Teron because they supported his chimera work, which had been a minor field during the Baliteron period.
‘Still, better than being captured by East Baliteron, which suppresses chimeras? Sigh… what a hassle in my later years.’
Grumbling all sorts of complaints in his heart, he walked toward the door marked [Production]. He didn’t know what the verification would entail, but it wouldn’t be difficult. He had already mastered chimera production. Which parts to handle, which creatures to combine, what side effects to expect, which creatures were compatible—along with countless other pieces of chimera-related knowledge. He was a walking textbook.
And what appeared before him was a creature with a monkey’s head and enormous pincers. Naiharts was shocked. The creature he had thought was a mere mishmash chimera began speaking to him. An entity without any human elements possessed intelligence.
“Oh, you’re here? Alright, take this one and go into that room. Write down every characteristic you can figure out. Then come back with at least three modification proposals.”
The monkey was the supervisor. Naiharts felt a shiver run through his entire body. The monkey supervisor before him was a chimera capable of a second mutation. A chimera that, despite not being human, possessed intelligence and had achieved the second mutation he had pursued his entire life but never reached.
‘How… how is this possible?’
Whether Naiharts was shocked or not, the monkey handed him a small cage. It contained the chimera for the test. But Naiharts only stared blankly at the pincer-armed monkey. The Double Monkey urged him with an annoyed expression.
“Hey, what are you doing? Move it! There are people behind you.”
Naiharts felt uncontrollable excitement slowly rising from deep in his stomach. New creatures, new research. The thrill of knowledge from realms he had never reached lying scattered about.
‘Heh…? Heh heh heh.’
Naiharts was seized by the same feeling that had drawn him to the wonders of chimeras a hundred years ago. Carrying the cage as if walking on clouds, he stepped into the designated room. There was no more irritation. Naiharts’s body and mind had already moved to the Equator.
‘Is everything going smoothly?’
I asked Patel through the jar’s opening. During repairs, entry was disabled, but light communication like this was still possible. Patel’s reply came immediately.
‘Everything is proceeding without issues. Absorbing the Lobster General’s chimeras and facilities has been a great help.’
Items I had stockpiled in the warehouse, thinking they might be useful someday. Their purpose had arrived sooner than expected. The chimera industry should stabilize within a week.
‘Smooth sailing.’
Now chimeras could escape being mere zombie attachments and stand as a proper, independent military branch. And another emerging branch was also rising—the ghost shamanism of the seahorses. The seemingly useless fish-humans possessed aptitude for ghost shamanism. Accordingly, I had established a ghost academy. Since we didn’t know which individuals had talent, they would attend school while helping with farming.
‘How are things in the Ghost Realm?’
‘The Ghost Realm has also stabilized considerably. The fish-humans are still struggling, but some seahorses are completing the full curriculum. It might be good to consider the university-level courses you mentioned before.’
‘University, huh…’
University level dealt with top-tier ghosts. But as seen in the [Replicated World], at the top-tier ghost level, elder-class ghosts who had committed suicide could appear. Even skilled shamans could be devoured in reverse.
‘Hold off on ghost university for now. Focus on the chimera industry. Handling too many things at once will cause problems if something goes wrong.’
‘Understood.’
After finishing matters in West Teron, I headed straight to the Southern Plains with the secret police. East Baliteron, having grasped what happened to Lagoladon, had ended the cold war and immediately launched an attack on West Teron’s border. To avoid getting caught up in the war, we were detouring south on our return. And since we were already at the Southern Plains, I planned to collect a small additional profit available here. Industrial development was best done one at a time, but profit was simply better the more there was.
If East Baliteron completely conquered West Teron, what would happen next? Their ambitions wouldn’t end with West Teron. Once the war was over, East Baliteron would definitely turn its eyes elsewhere, and the target would most likely be the Southern minority tribes.
“So. What, you want us to form a tribal alliance and fight East Baliteron?”
The chief of Balibol, facing me, raised an eyebrow. I chuckled and corrected him.
“I think you misunderstood. It’s not ‘let’s try forming a tribal alliance.’ Start the tribal alliance right now. If you don’t want to die.”
The chief pondered briefly before answering.
“The guardian gods won’t permit it.”
The reason Baliteron had failed to conquer the Southern Plains in the past. Guardian gods existed here. The red pheasant that swallows the sky. The blue hawk that cleaves the sea. The golden rooster that crushes the earth. These were the additional profits I intended to collect this time.