Hiding a Logistics Center in the Apocalypse - Episode 24
(The Knights of Camelot (1))
The true identity of Camelot Castle,
and having learned the Knight King's objective, there was nothing left to hesitate about.
The reward I had saved at Level 3.
With that reward, I chose this very Camelot.
Camelot.
A truly malicious thing that creates resources at the cost of lives, but...
'That function is fine as long as I don't use it.'
As the bastard said, if this castle was a type of 'item', I would be able to use it according to my will as the new owner.
Even if there was some kind of connection to the Knight King, the energy from the outside would be blocked through the portal.
At least it was clear that I could completely wrest Camelot from the Knight King.
Rumble...
It shook.
"Ugh...!"
Camelot, the Knight King's well-fermented kimchi jar.
Feeling that sweet and sour taste, I endured the sudden, intense pain with all my might.
Meanwhile, the Knight King merely looked around in a fluster, feeling an ominous foreboding of unknown origin.
And when I opened my eyes not long after.
Hwaahk!
We faced the brilliant midday sun.
The city bathed in light.
The city that had cast away the dark shadow called Camelot was surrounding us.
The Knight King gazed at that sight with hollow pupils.
"Impossible......"
I had removed the grotesque kimchi jar that had enveloped the heart of Seoul.
No, I had swallowed it whole, jar and all.
The bastard began to go mad.
He seemed to have realized that ownership itself had vanished from him.
"My Camelot! My Camelot that I burned my entire fortune to buy!"
As if mocking his shouting, a red cape fluttered.
The pouring sun was like the dawn light of a casino waking emaciated gambling addicts.
"How dare a lowly Ninth-rank slave...! Right now—"
Srring!
The Knight King drew his sword and charged at me, but...
Kaaang!
Someone blocked that attack.
An unfamiliar back clad in silver armor.
Blue cloth attached to the helmet draped down over the broad back.
The Knight King let out a bewildered voice.
"......Lancelot?"
"How insolent. Show respect to the master of Camelot."
Lancelot, the skeleton knight who had served the Knight King's command.
He was now serving me as his liege.
It was proof that ownership of Camelot had completely transferred to me.
"Lancelot! You ungrateful bastard!"
Kaaang!
Though it was supposedly the 'Knight King's' attack, strangely, he was no match for Lancelot at all.
Lancelot exchanged blows leisurely and asked me,
"My liege, please give the order on how to dispose of this one."
"...Kill him."
The bastard's plan to soak innocent people in a jar and consume them came to mind.
And that it had been to increase his own fortune.
There was no reason to let him live.
"By your command."
Lancelot answered,
Whir!
And the Knight King's head flew off immediately.
Crunch!
Lancelot stomped on the bastard's spine once more.
To destroy the core of regeneration.
Lancelot, who had slain his former master in an instant...
Click!
held the loot taken from the bastard's corpse and prostrated before me.
From resolving the situation to executing the culprit.
It was the moment everything was settled for now.
.
.
.
But when I actually received the loot, I somehow couldn't hide my disappointment.
"...This is all?"
Unbefitting the name 'Knight King', only a single yellow-tinted Enhancement Stone rested in Lancelot's hand.
Then, Pax spoke to me.
[Jeonggyeom-nim, I have something to tell you.]
[Currently, a dimensional account has been opened.]
"...Dimensional account?"
[The Knight King's dimensional account has been transferred in ownership to Lancelot.]
[Furthermore, as Lancelot's owner has been confirmed to be Jeonggyeom-nim, you have been finally confirmed as the nominal owner of the dimensional account.]
"What is that...?"
Like a lawyer delivering news of a distant elder relative's death, Pax continued on indifferently.
As if there was still more for me to receive.
[The dimensional account was a feature to be opened later through the Awakening System, but it has been opened early due to the ownership transfer.]
[Would you like to check the account details?]
The situation was this.
What the old man Knight King left me...
was not just the desolate Castle Camelot.
"...How much is in there that you're like this?"
I hadn't known.
The old man Knight King who handed over a business item to me.
[3,086 mana stones.]
That he would leave behind business capital as well.
***
I first returned to the subspace with Lancelot.
To check on the newly acquired Camelot.
"...I hope it doesn't get mixed up with the original space for no reason."
Though I had obtained Camelot, it was too early to be happy about it.
Not only was its size unnecessarily large, but the ominous function of human sacrifice was also extremely unsettling.
I looked around the windows of the logistics center.
The newly entered Camelot Castle should be filling the background.
But...
"Where is it?"
No matter how I looked around, I couldn't see anything like castle walls anywhere.
Then, Lancelot, who had entered with me, picked up something that had fallen on the floor.
A crown of a dull gray hue, an insipid appearance.
It was clearly Camelot.
Lancelot said,
"This is Camelot's original size. However, my liege can install it to whatever size you wish."
"Ah... so that's how it is?"
Only then could I check the information on the item 'Camelot'.
----
[Camelot]
Grade: [Unique]
Description: [The palace of cursed knights. It can be installed at the desired size, and an installation cost proportional to the size is consumed.]
Attribute: [Special]
Options:
[Blood Sacrifice]
-The vitality contained within can be 'aged' or 'extracted' to produce Enhancement Stones (random).
[Specter Summon]
-Specters of Camelot can be summoned.
[Knight Appointment]
-Specters can be appointed as skeleton knights. Related costs are consumed.
----
[Blood Sacrifice] through Camelot's size settings.
It was an item that allowed for surprisingly strategic utilization.
Make it small to aim for petty gains, or make it large to aim for a jackpot.
In other words...
"The Knight King was incredibly greedy..."
"That is correct."
The majestic size that covered Seoul was proportional to the Knight King's avarice.
But even that was not free.
"The larger you make it, the more mana stones it takes?"
"That is correct."
"How much did it cost to erect what the Knight King built?"
"I do not know for certain. But it must have cost at least tens of thousands."
An enormous amount.
Indeed, the Knight King's words about burning his entire fortune were no bluff.
"I don't particularly need it to be big. It would just be inconvenient for no reason."
It was true that Enhancement Stones were tempting, but it wasn't as if I could gather people in droves to sacrifice them like the Knight King.
Moreover, according to Lancelot, it was entirely possible to retract it later and reinstall it.
Though it would cost anew each time it was installed.
Of course, the crown-sized version as it was now would be insufficient.
Since new residents had come to the subspace.
I asked Lancelot,
"How much would we need to use for you all to live in?"
"Ah... for that size, about 300 should be sufficient."
Lancelot, who was now my subordinate.
Moreover, Camelot still included 'specters' who had not yet been appointed as knights.
My sisters and I Yongsu probably wouldn't have much issue, but his wife O Jisu and daughter Yu Jeongi would definitely faint if they saw them.
So, I planned to arrange Camelot as something like a haunted house attached to the subspace.
"Good. Then let's go with that size."
The location was beside the National Distribution Center guard post.
It didn't directly touch the logistics center, but it was close in distance.
My two sisters and I Yongsu were bewildered by the fact that we had escaped the castle, but gladly participated in the completion ceremony upon hearing that a new building would be erected.
Following Lancelot's explanation, I spread 300 mana stones on the ground and tossed the crown-sized Camelot on top of them.
Squirm squirm.
Camelot, which had been moving slowly like a living creature...
Crunch crunch!
began to devour the mana stones ravenously.
Then it hid its traces into the ground...
Drrr...
and soon walls began to rise from below.
Perhaps because it was much smaller than in the Knight King's time, the speed at which it grew was considerably faster.
Kugugung.
Before long, Camelot Castle was completed.
The castle I erected was neither an antique European-style fortress nor a toy-like miniature.
A modest size, about that of a small villa.
It was as if...
"...It looks like a motel."
"It is a motel."
Everyone said in unison.
That peculiar cheap sensibility lingered around Camelot Castle.
Meanwhile...
"How could we occupy this castle while leaving our liege behind!"
"No, you guys use it..."
"My liege!"
Lancelot jumped up in alarm.
I had told them I would give Camelot as a dwelling for Lancelot and the specters.
A castle that devours lives.
Honestly, I didn't want to go near it.
"My liege must take the throne...!"
Lancelot was completely oblivious.
***
Those trapped in Camelot were not only Gim Sol, my second older sister who had been cursing her head off.
There were also innocent citizens, and troops dispatched from the Joint Chiefs of Staff for reconnaissance who had been isolated mid-mission.
Everyone welcomed the returned sun, and cheered seeing the monsters crumbling in its light.
Faith in public authority still remained.
The isolated JCS soldiers controlled the people and gave a simple briefing on the current situation, the government's response, and Awakened recruitment.
"Take this."
To help out, I dispatched one P999K communicator.
In any case, being able to contact headquarters would help lead the citizens here.
The officer who received the communicator made a bewildered expression, but saluted sharply.
There was probably nothing more grateful to them right now than this.
It was time to depart now.
Having destroyed the Knight King's castle, the next destination was my eldest brother's newlywed home.
The location was Banghak-dong, Dobong-gu.
It was not far from Uijeongbu where my parents would be.
Just as I was about to dispatch a new helicopter and begin moving, the officer who had received the communicator earlier ran up to me.
"...I think you should take this for a moment. It's the Operations Commander."
Contact came for me.
.
.
.
What Operations Commander Yu Seongcheol told me was news of the 1st Corps.
To be precise...
"The 220th Infantry Brigade has joined the 1st Corps."
220th Infantry Brigade.
According to Yu Seongcheol, it was the unit responsible for Dobong-gu, where I was heading, as well as Seongbuk-gu and Gangbuk-gu that I would have to pass through.
Originally a unit focused on reserve forces, it wasn't particularly exceptional in combat power, but...
"They seem to be receiving various equipment support from the 1st Corps. The air defense base on Bukhansan has also fallen to them."
In short, Yu Seongcheol's conclusion was simple.
"You must not go over by helicopter. You will definitely be intercepted mid-way. Even if you go, you must take a long detour. Honestly, it's hard to recommend that either since the units in the Namyangju area are in an unclear situation, but..."
He had contacted me out of worry that the helicopter I was in would be attacked by the air defense base.
I asked,
"How large are their forces?"
"I'm sorry. We have no idea at all. Since satellite information is unavailable right now... the reconnaissance aircraft and drones we send up are being shot down every time."
Yu Seongcheol was predicting the fate of the helicopter we would ride from those drones.
He added meaningfully,
"It's clear they're up to something beyond that. They're blocking reconnaissance quite aggressively. Bullets fly the moment you approach by land."
"...I see."
I could feel they were hiding something.
It wasn't good news.
Of course I had to get over there, and it meant my eldest brother and his wife, and my parents, could be in danger.
They might be better than monsters, perhaps, but they were ones staging a coup in these times.
Anything could happen.
Of course, detouring toward Namyangju as he said was possible, but I no longer wanted my search for family to be hindered.
If the situation was urgent, even more so.
I answered Yu Seongcheol,
"It's fine."
"Jeonggyeom..."
"I will scout before going. I've gotten something better than drones."
I had just returned from checking Camelot's functions in the subspace.
And Camelot was also equipped with incredible reconnaissance tools.
"Well, they can't shoot down ghosts, can they."
Camelot's specters.
It was time to use them.