Chapter 47. Plans for the Future.
Chapter 47. Plans for the Future.
About four or five hours after we spotted the Gimpo sign, we finally made it back to our Nest.
"Good grief. I didn't even walk and I'm still worn out... must be getting old."
"Mr. Chu, what matters is that we got back safely, isn't it?"
People had a rough idea of our arrival time and came out to welcome us. The President, the advisors, even the survivors we'd rescued this time were all there.
"Mister Cheon, thank you for your hard work getting back. You must feel grimy. Please go wash up and rest. We'll be waiting at the village assembly hall."
We each went to our own homes, took our time washing up, and about an hour later, everyone gathered at the assembly hall. I asked people how the farming and livestock were progressing. An old man came forward, carrying a box and beaming with a broad smile.
"Representative, we have good news. The young people found and captured some wild chickens while on patrol. We set the eggs aside for hatching and put the rest in storage."
At some point, people had started calling me Representative.
'Better than something cringey like "Captain," at least...'
"Also, they're not dairy cows, but we can still secure a decent amount of milk."
You could make butter, cheese, and plenty of other things from milk. With eggs, you could even make bread. They also reported that the crops were coming along smoothly.
"That's excellent news. Please keep up the hard work. And as most of you already know, we now have a supply of fish."
At my words, a man who said he'd previously worked in aquaculture raised his hand and spoke up.
"The ocean would be ideal, but aquaculture is possible on land as well."
"Hmm... I'm no expert, so could you break that down a little?"
"Yes. The method of digging pits is called land-based seawater aquaculture. You fill them with seawater and raise the fish there. As long as you maintain oxygen levels and salinity, it's entirely feasible. Once the setup is in place, I'll do my best to make it work."
"Then I'll leave the fish farming to you. Write up a list of the materials you'll need later, and I'll assign you some manpower as well."
As the discussion went on, it turned out that most of the survivors had unexpectedly decided to stay with our side rather than the government's. After arranging their living quarters and assigning tasks to everyone, they all went outside. Now only the officers and the government people remained to discuss future plans.
They all exchanged cautious glances for a moment before the Chief of Staff finally spoke up, signaling the start of the meeting.
"We've managed to get the power plant running stably. Since this isn't a wartime situation, the social infrastructure wasn't destroyed. Our priority should be reactivating the base stations, at least within the Gyeonggi-do region. If we inspect the power grid and substations, we should be able to restore communications to some degree, though not like before."
"The water supply will need to be restored as well."
"Yes, but fortunately we have Awakened among us, so drinking water isn't an immediate emergency. To continue my earlier point, we have quite a few electrical technicians here too. If we simply guarantee their safety while they work, it's entirely doable. It's just a shame it'll take a long time."
The President, who had been seated, cautiously raised a hand to interject and spoke.
"Still, we've already resolved many major issues together. I think a day like today is one we should fully enjoy. The American side gave us a substantial amount of processed meat."
He looked at me with a sly grin and wrapped up his thought by mentioning the alcohol Commander David had given us. At the mention of alcohol, the eyes of everyone in our party gleamed, and they all turned to look at me.
"We need a day to eat some meat and get drunk, or else nobody will have any energy left to keep going."
It seemed they'd discussed this beforehand, because the President glanced at Seo Ji-hoon. Ji-hoon went into a room and returned carrying a box of liquor that Commander David had set aside for us. Naturally, my father-in-law was thrilled, and the President couldn't hide his delight either.
"Mister President... your dignity..."
'Now that I think about it, didn't the old man mention he enjoys whiskey as a hobby?'
Curious to see what kind of whiskey was inside, my father-in-law hurriedly opened the box and checked the bottles.
"Heh heh. That commander fellow knows his liquor..."
"Dad, is it good?"
"Yeah... Macallan, Fiddich, Rivet, Highland... there's everything here, and only the high-end stuff too... how in the world did he get his hands on this..."
"Honey, I can see it's good, but calm down."
'I knew he liked it, but the man's a full-blown connoisseur...'
"Then let's have the people on guard duty rotate out, share a drink, and we'll all eat together."
"Sounds good. Even on a presidential salary, I rarely got to drink such expensive liquor. Thanks to you, I'll get to enjoy a taste."
"But is it really alright for just you officials to drink like this?"
"I already told them to share it with the others. And there was a matter regarding the group I'd meant to discuss with you anyway, but let's enjoy ourselves today and talk about that tomorrow."
And so we ate and drank late into the night, enjoying the day until dawn. We carried tables out to the clearing for the first grand(?) party since the apocalypse began. Some tables were crowded with groups of their own, chatting noisily and enjoying the alcohol and meat, while others were quieter tables where couples shared an intimate drink. I also saw a few of those couples walking off hand-in-hand toward their homes(?) afterward.
'They say even in the middle of a war, babies are born...'
* * * * * * * *
The sunlight pouring through the window was so dazzling it woke me up. We'd cleaned up from the day before and then had a private second round of drinks among ourselves at the assembly hall. I looked around and saw the elders had already gone to wash up. Only the younger people were left, sprawled out asleep in the hall, empty liquor bottles scattered everywhere.
'Ugh... I blocked my energy while drinking, and now the hangover's really hitting me...'
I wasn't sure when they'd gotten there, but Chaeyeon and Jia were asleep on either side of me. Then I heard noises from outside, and people who had washed up and were dressed neatly came in. Seeing me awake, the President spoke.
"Heh heh. You're up. They're cooking ramen outside. Have some and then go wash up."
As the President and the others came in, they kept glancing subtly at Chaeyeon and Jia with pleased expressions. I woke the girls, we ate, washed up, and returned to the assembly hall.
"Thanks to you, Mister Cheon, I got to drink my fill of this expensive liquor. Thank you. Haha."
"I brought it back for all of us to share, so it's nothing. Anyway, you said you had something to talk about today."
"Let's save the talk about the group for later. First, we're thinking of looking for survivors."
"You'd need a massive workforce to conduct a search. And at this point, the likelihood that survivors are still alive is..."
"No, we plan to use helicopters to drop leaflets from the air. The idea is for any surviving groups to come find us themselves."
"You're not thinking of dumping all the survivors on us, are you?"
To be honest, as long as the number of survivors doesn't explode and multiply several times over, we can easily accommodate them. The crops and livestock are growing smoothly, so if we can hold out on our stockpiled supplies until the next harvest, taking them in won't be hard.
'But palming survivors off on us like it's busywork is a different story.'
The President rubbed his face with both hands and sighed. He looked straight at me and spoke.
"Would you be willing to take in our group?"
The Chief of Staff and the surrounding advisors looked startled and asked back.
"Sir, what are you saying?"
"Please, reconsider what you've just said..."
"No matter how good these people are, running a nation is..."
I wasn't offended by the advisors' remarks at all. If anything, my opinion of them rose a little, because they weren't trying to stop the President to protect their own vested interests, and I felt no greed emanating from any of them.
'Is it a relief that there's not a single greedy pig among the people around him?'
"Take you in... Am I to understand that as your group being incorporated into ours?"
"Yes, exactly."
At his strong affirmative tone, the advisors fell silent and simply watched.
"To be frank, calling it 'incorporation' makes it sound like it's practically a subjugation. Are you truly alright with that?"
The President offered a faint smile as he explained.
"Myself and the advisors were initially wary of you, Mister Cheon. The apocalypse had already come to the world, and we assumed anyone who held such overwhelming strength would naturally move to dominate as they adapted to this new reality. But you, having already lived for an exceedingly long time, seemed to have reached a state of... how should I put it, transcendence? You didn't show the slightest hint of that impulse at all."
"That doesn't sound like your only reason."
"That may be part of it, but above all, safety is paramount, isn't it? And if beings from other worlds truly cross over, like during the Yong incident the other day, the world will face a cataclysm. That likely won't be limited to just our country. But because of your presence, we can adapt quickly."
"Will the people on the Yongsan side accept this?"
"We'll share the entire situation with them as well. Absurd as it sounds, they'll learn that people from other worlds exist, that they're crossing over, and that ultimately we'll have to coexist with them. That should make it easier for them to accept."
"Humans generally tend to be averse to those different from themselves."
"There were often people who disliked others simply for having a different skin color, but now even they are mixing into society and building communities. If people from another world truly come over, we'll have to build a community with them and live together too."
"I'll ask one more time. Are you really going to join our group?"
After confirming the President's nod, I looked at the advisors around him. Having heard his statement, they all nodded as well.
"Hoo... if that many people come here, we'll have to start thinking about the housing issue too."
Just then, my father-in-law, who had been listening, raised his hand to speak.
"Son-in-law, I once saw something back when I was running my business. Couldn't we use shipping containers to make housing?"
Come to think of it, before I was transported to Titan, I think I saw on TV that some people modified containers and lived in them as houses.
"But in our current situation, we can't exactly place an order. Is there a way to get containers?"
"What about Incheon Port? That place was bustling with domestic and international imports and exports. We can at least obtain some containers there."
At my father-in-law's suggestion, Mr. Chu, who was sitting nearby, banged on the table and chimed in.
"That's it! We can transport them just fine using the Chinook helicopters. And if we rummage through the containers, we might find tools, glass, doors, and such, wouldn't you say?"
"Then our next destination is decided..."