Chapter 182
Chapter 182
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 182
Chapter Title: The Disaster Approaches Like a Tsunami (4)
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Not far from Fukushima, at the Tohoku International Airport cargo terminal.
“Whoa, that scared the hell outta me!”
*Rumble rumble boom!*
Kim Won-cheol, who had just gotten off the plane.
While chatting with customs officials at the cargo terminal for clearance, the earthquake hit.
Amid the sudden earth-shaking roar, he protected his thinning hair with the back of his hand and crouched in the corner.
“What in the world… What the hell is this? A real earthquake? Man, livin’ long enough to see somethin’ like this.”
Ceiling tiles began falling from above. With his eyes squeezed shut, he regretted his boast yesterday about wanting to go to Japan.
Kim Won-cheol recalled his conversation with President Michel at the Ammunition Precision Equipment Factory.
“Heh heh heh. No matter how I think about it, seems like I gotta go myself.”
“Pardon? You’re saying Deputy Director Kim is going to Japan in person? There’s no need for that…”
Japan was originally supposed to be President Michel’s trip.
But what fisherman who loves seafood would pass up Japan? Eyes glazed over at the thought of fresh sea bream sashimi in season during March, Kim Won-cheol pointed at a plausible excuse on his fingers.
“We need someone to keep an eye on that nose job over there, and hell, it’s been so long since I’ve seen the Chairman’s face, I’m about to come down with a bad case of boss-sickness.”
“No, the technician is a pro who doesn’t need babysitting, and what’s this boss-sickness…?”
Just slapping together any old excuse. But sometimes, in the face of iron will, excuses are mere decorations.
President Michel shook his head as if he had no choice, signaling his approval.
“Sigh, alright then. If it’s about serving the Chairman, you’d probably do better anyway.”
“Thanks! Love ya!”
And so, Kim Won-cheol boarded the cargo plane’s front seat, chest puffed with excitement.
“Heh heh heh. Gonna have a blast enjoyin’ Japan all by my lonesome, right? Just you wait, Chairman. The stylish gent Kim Won-cheol is on his way!”
Posing as a stylish gentleman while adjusting his sunglasses, he had no idea back then.
The Western technician riding right next to him—the so-called nose job who remotely controlled the armored vehicle’s robot arm—would lose his mind from the sudden earthquake.
“Holy shit! Fucking terrible! Oh my god… The earthquake will punish us!”
“Hey, just calm down a sec! What do you mean God’s punishing us all of a sudden, you crazy-nosed bastard!”
The Western technician, sprawled on the floor, foaming at the mouth while clutching Kim Won-cheol’s pant leg.
Even after the shaking subsided a bit, he was still crawling around, totally out of it.
“Uhhh… Help me god. Help me, please…!”
“Oh man, we’re in trouble. Real trouble. This country gives you a full-on disco shake the second you land…”
Once he calmed down, a thought hit him.
If this airport, built to sturdy standards, shook like crazy, then the Fukushima nuclear plant must be in a similar mess.
“Ah crap, please pick up. Come on.”
In no mood to hide his urgency, Kim Won-cheol whipped out his cellphone and dialed.
The endless busy tone dried out his mouth until finally, the voice he’d been waiting for came through the phone.
-Hello?
“Chairman! I just landed at the airport, and the ground’s shakin’ like mad. You guys okay over there?”
-…So, …it is. Pick up the technician there and …as is.
“Earthquake messin’ with the signal? Can’t hear shit! Say it again?”
Seemed like the quake had knocked out communications too. Frustrated, Kim Won-cheol pounded his chest like a gorilla.
“Argh, drivin’ me nuts. What now.”
“You’re at the airport, so we’ll bring the armored vehicle right away. Pick up the technician there and wait as is.”
“Ah, now it’s comin’ through clear… Huh?”
Turning his head, he saw his young boss right there, sweating bullets and catching his breath.
Stunned by the sudden appearance, Kim Won-cheol’s eyes went wide as he stammered.
“Hang on. Chairman, what’s this, playin’ Robin Hood? When’d you get here…? And who’s that guy next to ya?”
Kim Won-cheol pointed at the accompanying Watanabe section chief. But now wasn’t the time for explanations.
The cleared armored vehicle was already loaded onto a truck they’d somehow procured.
“No time to explain now. Let’s move. Right away!”
* * * *
“Ah, so this guy’s the plant director. And the second the quake hit, you two hightailed it straight to the airport?”
“Eh, pretty much.”
The truck raced over asphalt cracked by the earthquake. Feeling every jolt in his bones, I explained to Uncle Kim Won-cheol how we’d gotten from the plant to here.
“Section Chief Watanabe here arranged the truck. That’s how we got here so fast.”
“Well, that’s a relief at least. Still…”
A desolate landscape visible through the window. Staring blankly at the earthquake-ravaged village, Uncle Kim Won-cheol suddenly let out a deep sigh.
“Oh man, what a mess. Was lookin’ forward to stuffin’ myself with sea bream sashimi in Japan, but boom—earthquake the minute I arrive.”
“That’s why I told you to stay in Korea… Guess at this point, chalk it up to fate and help me clean up.”
“Clean up? What clean up?”
Uncle Kim Won-cheol still seemed clueless about the situation.
Well, can’t blame him. Most folks would think one big quake wraps it all up.
But… the real disaster is just beginning.
I parked the car on a high hill and pointed toward the coast. At the distant, slowly approaching wave of death.
“That clean up. After that thing passes.”
“What the hell does that… Eek!”
A wave.
Not a metaphor—a real wave.
In my life. Hell, even in any video I’ve seen, nothing like this house-sized monster.
Actually, “house-sized” might even be underselling it.
The tsunami approaching now… was as tall as a decent 10-story building, and spanned a width like a folding screen.
“That… that thing. It ain’t movie CGI, right?”
“Wish it were.”
“Then… what happens if that hits the nuclear plant?”
“What do you think? We get a front-row seat to the end of a global-scale disaster. And.”
Of course, a plant that could tank a missile or fighter jet whole wouldn’t collapse.
But the underground power systems? No way they avoid flooding from the incoming seawater.
Every safety system controlling the reactor core cooling, all of it.
“That’s why we’re up here, so we don’t see that shitshow unfold.”
Even from the hill overlooking it, the tsunami’s majesty was overwhelming.
Spewing white foam atop blue waves, the tsunami soon knocked on the shoreline, swallowing everything in its path.
“It’s started. Once the tsunami recedes, we launch the op right away. Armored vehicle, robot arm tech—good thing we’re not late.”
“Uh… Chairman, we got a problem.”
A theoretically perfect plan.
But the world’s full of wild cards.
Scratching his head in dismay, Uncle Kim Won-cheol silently pointed to the back seat.
The white technician dude, eyes half-rolled back, yelling his head off.
“What? Are you fucking mad? I… I can`t do that! I never go there, never!”
“That… nose job bastard says he won’t go even if we beat him to death.”
The technician had crossed his arms in an X and hung his head, eyes shut tight.
He’d seemed off since the airport, but this? Total no-go.
“Offer him an extra 100 grand a day. Money breaks most folks.”
“He says he’d rather roll in shit than go, sigh… This is the problem with nose jobs. No damn grit.”
Real problem.
Grit or no grit… we’re fresh out of pilots.
* * * *
Tokyo, Prime Minister’s Official Residence.
He hadn’t even had time to change clothes. Ink stained the sleeves of his white yukata here and there, but he strode down the hall without a care.
Heading to the bunker connected to the residence basement, he received a report from the Cabinet Intelligence Director.
“The situation is dire. The entire Tohoku region has collapsed from the earthquake.”
The tablet PC the director pulled out showed footage of the disaster site.
Utility poles snapped like matchsticks. Houses crumpled like paper.
On cracked asphalt roads, hundreds of cars lay tangled in chaos.
The prime minister frowned and asked the director.
“Infrastructure’s probably obliterated by now, and the biggest worry is… Fukushima. How’s the nuclear plant?”
“The seismic design is flawless, so it’s prepared for a massive quake like this. But the real issue is.”
The director hesitated, as if loath to say it himself.
Squeezing his eyes shut, he finally continued.
“The follow-up tsunami. That’s the biggest concern.”
“Tsunami… What’s the Meteorological Agency saying? Any contact with TEPCO?”
“The Agency reports a maximum 15-meter tsunami inbound. TEPCO… sigh.”
Shocked by the massive 15-meter scale, the prime minister. But there was more to shock him.
“No word from President Nakamura at all.”
“That guy?”
With potential disaster at Fukushima, the absence of President Nakamura, who should take overall command.
Of course, right now he was dead drunk in dreamland. The man had zero sense of responsibility anyway.
“No contact since he went to the Fukushima plant two days ago. And.”
Pressing his brow hard as if it ached, the director added a diplomatic headache.
“Ammunition Group Chairman Han Seo-jun. Isn’t he at Fukushima right now too?”
“That’s right…”
Arriving at the underground bunker, the prime minister.
Waiting for the ministers and key figures, he downed the water in his cup in one go.
“Phew, things are spiraling out of control. Still…”
The thirst didn’t fade even after the water.
Was it the instinct honed over a lifetime in politics? One face popped into his mind right now.
Stroking the ink-stained glass unconsciously, the prime minister muttered under his breath.
“Han Seo-jun… that guy acts like he prepared everything just for this moment. Of course… that’s a ridiculous assumption.”