Hiding a Logistics Center in the Apocalypse - Episode 16
(A New Phase)
"A wall?"
I asked back.
"You might not believe this, but... a massive wall was growing up, wrapping around Euljiro and Namsan. I find it absurd myself to be describing something like this, but truly, stone walls sprouted up from underground like a child cutting teeth."
It was every bit as absurd as he made it sound.
Fortress walls that were utterly useless in modern warfare—having completely devolved into mere tourist attractions by now.
And such a wall was growing from the ground?
"I barely escaped. I nearly got completely trapped inside the wall. If that had happened... I would have been parted from my mother forever."
"Was there nothing else? Something dangerous, perhaps..."
I asked, concerned.
"Although the wall had gone up, there wasn't much difference between inside and outside. Ah, though there was one thing that was a bit different. I was a little surprised after coming down here... the types of monsters were different."
Orcs and wyverns, as well as zerglings and mutant wolves.
The types of monsters we had witnessed until now had not been particularly diverse.
Song Hyeongu added one more variation to that list.
"More than anything else... there were skeletons."
From sprouting walls to skeletons.
Destruction was showing off its versatile themes like a chameleon.
The problem was that my little sister—Kim Sister No. 2—was inside that undead theme park.
Truly, our next destination would have to be Euljiro, but...
Song Hyeongu added one more concern.
"Because of the wall, it won't be easy to get across to Euljiro. It was definitely... continuing to grow right until the end. I don't know how much it has grown since then, but at that rate, it should have reached the height of a decent-sized building by now."
Building height.
In other words, don't even think about crossing by car.
A wall that actually functioned in this modern world.
Inwardly, I felt utterly absurd.
I nodded calmly and expressed my gratitude.
"Thank you for the detailed explanation. It was a great help."
"...No, I'm the one who received help."
He was someone who, ever since his brainwashing had been undone, had been unknowingly garnering support among the Awakened.
If I left the hospital, he would naturally become the leader of this place, so I supplied appropriate goods—water, preserved food, generators, and the like—with him acting as their representative.
Song Hyeongu bowed his head.
"Thank you... I will repay this kindness without fail."
"To do that, you'll have to survive."
"Of course. I'll form a new scouting party and procure magic stones as well. I'll make it through, just you watch."
My help ended here.
Now, surviving the ruined world in this place was up to them.
However, there was a need to share information with one another.
A wall erected in Euljiro, and skeletons wandering about out of nowhere.
In such a rapidly changing situation, information was power, and life itself.
So, lastly, I supplied a military radio, the P999K.
I didn't know the exact method of use, but since it was a copy of the same item, the frequency should be roughly aligned.
That was the last of it.
The gray Korando's wheels rolled, and the hospital people came out to the barricade to send us off with applause.
And so, we made our escape from Gangnam.
***
According to what Song Hyeongu had told us, the Dongho Bridge, which leads to Oksu-dong and Geumho-dong, had long since been severed from above.
Therefore, our plan had been to cross the Han River via the Hannam Bridge immediately to our left.
But before a few minutes had passed since the wheels started rolling,
my older sister sent news from inside the portal.
"He came to his senses. Charlie... was that his name?"
. . . .
While the car was racing toward the Hannam Bridge,
I entered the subspace for a moment to check on Charlie's condition.
"Thank you so much."
A man in his early forties with a wide jaw.
He bowed his head to me.
He had bandages wrapped around his head, but fortunately had not developed amnesia.
He clearly remembered my help, and fortunately had a proper name to use in place of "Charlie."
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Han Gyeongho, in command of the 50th Information and Communications Battalion of Guktongsa."
Guktongsa was an abbreviation for the Command, Control, and Communications Command.
In other words, he was an officer of the very unit I had absorbed into my subspace.
I asked.
"What was an officer of Guktongsa doing at the government complex? And in mortal danger, at that."
"The truth is..."
There was one thing I could clearly confirm from his words.
That the government had not completely washed its hands of the apocalypse.
"We were mobilizing enlisted Awakened from the Gwacheon and Anyang areas. Including reservists as well. Our battalion was in charge of communications support, and as you know... aside from the military communications network, there are no proper means of communication right now."
He continued calmly.
"The military and the administration are currently preparing a new unit composed of Awakened. To stabilize the situation as quickly as possible."
It sounded plausible, but the operation had ultimately ended in failure.
His voice screaming "Please save me, you Foxtrot bastards" still rang fresh in my ears.
Now was the time to satisfy my curiosity.
"How was the military annihilated? Guns do work on monsters, don't they?"
"For the most part, yes. But there are exceptions."
Monsters that guns didn't work on.
One of them was a creature I knew as well.
"The troops in Gwacheon and Anyang were wiped out by a single dragon. One with a black body and a lower half shimmering in rainbow colors. Bullets, shells, nothing worked on it."
And it wasn't just that.
"The cyclops that appeared in Anyang, and the giant mole that appeared in Cheonggyesan were the same. They're appearing one after another in other regions, too."
Only then did I understand.
Why the military had been rendered helpless.
But Han Gyeongho himself still wore a somewhat unconvinced expression.
"But even so... support was definitely supposed to come. We could have at least held our ground and retreated. But the support units and the command and communications room were all dead silent. If I hadn't gone up to the roof to check the radio... I would have been buried there with the rest of my comrades."
I told him that Guktongsa had been occupied by organized crime groups, but he still shook his head.
"If headquarters had fallen that far, they definitely would have sent word to us as well. I think, rather than that... it felt like communications had been cut off one-sidedly. Like they were abandoning us."
He said.
"Come to think of it... where is this? I should return to my unit. If we search the command and communications room, we might find something."
"It's probably... still Gangnam. But you can see your unit."
"...What?"
"It's right here. Guktongsa."
I pointed out the window of the logistics center.
Beyond it, the guard post of the Command, Control, and Communications Command was visible.
. . .
I stopped him as he tried to dash to the command and communications room right away.
Then I asked Pax.
"Did you finish that data processing you mentioned before?"
[All data processing is currently complete. You may view all entities in Sector 2 as you would any other product.]
"Perfect. Follow me. This will be faster than searching manually."
I took Han Gyeongho and headed to the picking station.
Then I searched "classified documents" on the PC.
Class 3, Class 2, and even Class 1 security documents.
The titles of all classified documents held by Guktongsa scrolled down the list.
"Bring them all."
[Understood.]
Before long, an AGV robot brought a thick stack of documents.
Opening them, the papers inside were neatly organized by date of creation.
Watching the sophisticated AGV robots ferrying the military's classified documents, Han Gyeongho wore a bewildered expression.
"What in the world is this..."
. . .
Rustle, rustle.
Han Gyeongho silently flipped through the papers.
To confirm whether the information he had checked was true.
No, desperately hoping it wasn't.
But faced with clear evidence, he had no choice but to accept it.
He drew his conclusion.
"The 1st Corps... has staged a coup."
That was the truth of the matter.
***
I exited the portal with Han Gyeongho.
In the driver's seat, Lee Yongsu was still driving.
I seated Han Gyeongho in the back, then returned to the passenger seat.
Han Gyeongho spoke.
"This is definitely being carried out in secret. We need to report this as soon as possible."
He wanted to go to Yongsan, where the Joint Chiefs of Staff was located.
Since our destination was different, we decided to drop him off immediately after crossing the Han River bridge.
Monsters were scarce on the road.
Driving along the empty pavement, I satisfied my curiosity.
"Why would the 1st Corps, which is supposed to be in Paju, interfere in Anyang?"
"The 1st Corps likely has Awakened units under its command as well. But the Awakened gathered in Anyang and Gwacheon were all scheduled to be organized into the capital defense force. Simply put..."
He shook his head.
"...they're obstructing the government's efforts to gather troops. It seems the commander of Guktongsa sided with them as well. The world is in this state... and what they're doing is trying to seize power. I simply can't believe it."
Faced with the enemy called destruction, human society had once again split into enemies of one another.
Perhaps for them, destruction was an ally.
Like plowing a field to overturn all foundations and bring about a new beginning.
In the midst of this and that conversation, Lee Yongsu stopped the car and spoke.
"...The bridge is out."
The plan to pass through Hangangjin and Namsan No. 1 Tunnel to get to Euljiro had fallen through.
We hastily revised the plan to go through Noksapyeong via Banpo Bridge, but...
When we actually arrived, the Banpo Bridge had collapsed, and even the Jamsu Bridge was down.
After driving a while longer,
Lee Yongsu brightened.
"Ah, we can cross here."
The only intact bridge, Dongjak Bridge.
What that meant was clear.
"I suppose we'll have to go through Yongsan."
If we looped around Yongsan Park in front of the Dongjak Bridge, we would naturally arrive near the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters.
At Lee Yongsu's words, Han Gyeongho's expression brightened.
He really was an absurdly lucky man.
. . .
We crossed the Han River with our hearts in our mouths.
In the river water, bizarre creatures we were seeing for the first time were eyeing us.
Bang!
Ta-ang!
We even took down a few wyverns that flew at us along the way, but...
The most serious problem was revealed when we reached the Samgakji area after crossing the bridge.
"Could that be..."
Lee Yongsu pointed to the sky.
A truly massive structure.
Pale gray walls were drawing geometric shapes across the sky.
An overwhelming height without a doubt.
It was exactly the "wall" Song Hyeongu had spoken of.
"...There's no way we're getting past that by car."
It was around the time we were gradually approaching the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters.
As if picking his moment, Han Gyeongho made me a proposal.
"Mr. Kim Jeonggyeom, won't you come with me? The government is providing support for early growth, such as supplying magic stones to Awakened. If you were to become affiliated with the government... you would certainly receive considerable support."
He had watched my abilities since we were at the hospital.
A walking human golden carriage, with combat ability to boot.
He had every reason to want me.
But I flatly refused his offer.
"I have to go to my little sister in Euljiro first. As for magic stones, I can obtain as many as I need on my own."
I had no leisure to wrestle with unnecessary government orders.
Right now, I was moving to save the Kim family.
But it didn't look like it would be that smooth.
I paused my answer for a moment and stared blankly at the sky through the car window.
A towering wall.
An impregnable fortress sat right in the middle of downtown Seoul, permitting no intrusion.
Only then did I recall something I needed, so I asked Han Gyeongho.
"If it's the Joint Chiefs of Staff headquarters... they should have a helicopter or two, right?"
"H-helicopters? Yes, that's right."
He answered thus.