Chapter 34. Operation Supply.
Chapter 34. Operation Supply.
The next day, Terion began setting up defensive magic on the building. I assisted beside him while Chaeyeon watched, trying to absorb the spellcasting with her own eyes.
"Terion, this should be enough to block attacks, right?"
"I don't know about these missiles or artillery bombardments you speak of, but it should suffice to block spells like Explosion or Flare."
"That much is plenty."
"Sihu, couldn't I come along too? Bullets are..."
"You can block them, but you never know when a sudden shot might come. That's why."
"Well, then..."
Once the magic was in place, we had an early lunch and gathered the group.
"First, our preparations against an attack are complete. I'm going to go meet them now."
"I'm not worried about you getting hurt, Sihu. Take care."
"I'll talk with them, and if I judge them to be decent people, I'll bring them here so we can have a serious discussion."
"If it's you, Sihu, I'm sure you'll handle it well."
"You might be able to point out things I'd miss or overlook. Anyway, I'm off."
* * * * * * * *
I approached them at high speed. Distance wasn't the issue — only the zombies were — so I arrived faster than expected.
And what I saw along the way made one thing clear: breaking through without considerable firepower was impossible.
'With the 3rd Corps headquarters here, their personnel count must be high. And if you factor in their families...'
The sentry on duty startled at my sudden appearance and leveled his rifle at me as he spoke.
"Halt. Identify yourself."
"I said I'd be visiting soon. Tell someone named Major Lee Si-won. He'll understand."
The man, hearing my answer, immediately radioed in my visit.
Before long, a man who had to be Lee Si-won came running out of the headquarters.
"Are you the one who said you'd visit while I was on the radio?"
"Yes, I'm Cheon Sihu. I came to talk in person."
He wore a slightly dumbfounded expression. It must be hard to believe — they'd heard that someone had dropped out of the sky after cutting through all those zombies.
"Are you the one in charge here?"
"No, I'm not. Ah, this isn't the time for that. Please come this way. Since we heard you arrived, the others have been gathering as well."
We went upstairs and arrived at a place brimming with the atmosphere of an operations room straight out of a movie. There were more general officers than I'd expected, including two lieutenant generals with three stars on their shoulders.
'They must be the ones in charge.'
The two lieutenant generals rose from their seats and offered handshakes.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Lieutenant General Go Seong-hyeon, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army."
"Pleased to meet you. Lieutenant General Park Minsu, Deputy Chief of Staff of the Air Force."
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Cheon Sihu. I came because you said you wanted to talk."
"We touched on this briefly over the radio, but we're curious why you came all the way to the countryside and not the city."
"We're here because we want to resupply weapons and other materials."
"I know weapons are crucial in a situation like this. But how did you get here?"
"We walked here from Daejeon. Our Awakened have sufficient combat power; the weapons are for those who aren't Awakened."
"As you've seen, the ammunition depot and armory are surrounded by countless zombies. We lack the ammunition to clear them out."
"That doesn't matter. We can do it."
"Perhaps, some help to us..."
"First, we don't need your help. I came because I was curious what you had to say."
"..."
Come to think of it, if I were bringing only these people along, it wouldn't matter — no matter what they tried, I could fully control the situation.
"If you're thinking of having a proper conversation, I'll take you to where our group is."
"You might manage alone, but taking all of our advisors..."
"I guarantee your safety. After all, haven't you seen that I brought my people here without any incident?"
"I'll need to discuss this with the others."
I stepped out to let them talk freely, and before long they decided to come.
They boarded a military truck, with Major Lee Si-won behind the wheel. I moved alongside them, dealing with approaching zombies and occasionally sending a sword aura flying at a tentacle zombie attacking from afar, dispatching it with ease.
"I'd heard of Awakened, but... are all of them like that?"
"Every time he swings, they get sliced down like dry stalks..."
The vehicle carrying them soon arrived at our building, where our group was waiting as notified.
"Pleased to meet you. I'm Seo Ji-hoon. And this is Choi Jae-hyeok..."
After brief introductions, we headed upstairs for a meeting.
"Exactly what supplies are you looking for?"
"We want firearms, ammunition, and transport helicopters. Of course, we're not asking to take all of them."
"What absurd nonsense. To civilians, of all people! These are strictly state property!"
The man introduced as the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff was the one flying into a rage all by himself. His tone was so insolent that I saw no reason to be polite, and I dropped formal speech as I responded.
"So what if they're state property? Can you go get them yourselves?"
"In wartime, all reservists are soldiers! And that makes you a soldier too — are you defying an order?!"
"There's no country left to enforce the law, and the world is already over. And make no mistake — we could just take what we want without your permission."
Showing no sign of controlling himself, he drew his pistol and aimed it at me, shouting.
"In wartime, disobedience means summary execution!!"
"S-senior...! Please, hold back!"
I carved his pistol to pieces with my sword, then pressed the blade against the nape of his neck.
"If you were hoping for even a single scrap of supplies, you should be asking, not threatening. You're lucky you only aimed. If your finger had so much as touched that trigger, I'd have cut your whole hand off."
Urged by those around him, he swallowed his rage and sat back down. Choi Jae-hyeok grinned.
"Given how things have played out, fair negotiation is out the window. As you saw on the way here, we have more than enough power to do as we please. The only reason we're bothering to talk with you at all is out of kindness."
"I'm sorry. We have no excuse."
"Haha, why is General Go Seong-hyeon apologizing? It was that man who was in the wrong. Anyway, we'll be taking the supplies. If you have something to offer that might tempt us, feel free."
"We'll teach you how to use military equipment. Electronic equipment, mortars, and other weapons beyond just guns."
Choi Jae-hyeok looked at me, checking for agreement. I met his eyes and nodded.
'It'd be good to know exactly how to use the rest of the gear.'
"The split will be 80-20. Naturally, we take the 80. The armory and ammunition depot are top priority; the helicopter hangar and food warehouse come second."
"When everything is finished, where will you go?"
"We'll find land we can farm and settle there. Why do you ask?"
"No... I only asked wondering if you might be able to lead us..."
"Hey, Go Seong-hyeon! What kind of talk is that!"
"Senior, to rebuild the nation, we need powerful force!"
"Even without civilian help, our military is enough for that! And are you seriously suggesting we hand over command to civilians?!"
"If it's necessary, that might well be the case."
With that, the half-baked negotiation ended, and I saw them off as they left.
"I've cleared all the zombies from the road, so you can drive straight back. I'll radio you when we're ready."
Terion, who'd been in my shirt pocket, poked his head out and spoke quietly so only I could hear.
"I sensed a faint aura of corruption from that one."
"I felt it too. I'll keep an eye out. No telling what underhanded thing he might try."
* * * * * * * *
After returning from the negotiation, Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff Park Minsu gathered his loyalists separately.
"That greenhorn kid thinks he can twist us around his finger. Are you all just going to sit back and watch?"
"You're right, Senior. Go Seong-hyeon is wagging his tail in front of him, fawning over him."
"Hmph. If we let them hand over command to civilians, the discipline of the Republic of Korea military collapses."
"Exactly. How tirelessly have we labored day and night to protect this country?"
"So, what should we do?"
"How about this? When they finish up and call for people to move the supplies, we send only our own men and quietly eliminate them."
"Would that be possible? Judging by his confidence, he seems like a fairly strong Awakened."
"Senior, no matter how strong an Awakened is, how can he dodge a bullet from behind? And once the ones responsible for their combat power are gone, the rest will be easy."
"But will his people just go along quietly?"
"Heh heh, if we quietly take them out and dispose of the bodies — citing infection or something — they'll have no way to verify."
"Understood. And for the record, everything discussed here must be kept absolutely secret."
"Yessir!"
'Of course, it should be someone like me who retakes the country and becomes its leader.'
He lit a cigarette with a satisfied expression, utterly unaware of how the decision he'd just made would come back to him.