Hiding a Logistics Center in the Apocalypse - Episode 30
(The Fence and the Network (1))
By the time we had all gathered and finished our meal.
My sister-in-law handed out small glass bottles to everyone.
They were ampoules containing a red liquid.
"What is this?"
"It's a potion. I combined the nutritional supplements in the logistics center with the medicines we'd brought from the hospital."
Come to think of it, my sister-in-law was the one who had awakened the
The ability to combine existing materials to create new substances.
I didn't know her level or the specifics of her ability, but if the items in the subspace could be used as materials, she would be able to demonstrate her ability to the fullest.
The potion's ingredients were also dazzling.
"I combined collagen, tryptophan... hyaluronic acid liquid, and various herbal medicines. Rather than a wide variety of effects, I focused on wound or fatigue recovery and sedation."
It was a potion through and through.
Perhaps because it was an item made with the
---
[Handmade Potion]
Grade: [Normal]
Description: [A handmade potion crafted by the Alchemist, Choe Si-eun. When consumed, it demonstrates wound/fatigue recovery and sedation effects.]
Attribute: [None]
Option: [Weak Recovery], [Weak Sedation]
---
Slosh.
I poured the beautifully swaying red liquid into my mouth.
A uniquely sweet pharmacy-strawberry flavor lingered in my mouth...
"Oh...?"
Fresh vitality wrapped around my body.
It felt as if the fatigue that had built up without my knowing had vanished in an instant.
.
.
.
After finishing the meal, I grabbed the P999K radio and went outside.
Whiiish...
Perhaps thanks to wiping out those bastards in one go, there weren't any noticeable enemies around.
Of course, all of Uijeongbu wouldn't be like this.
Since the 1st Legion had seized control of Paju, as well as Goyang and Uijeongbu.
Meanwhile, by now the government forces would likely be recapturing the Dobong-gu area I had broken through, slowly attempting to push into Uijeongbu.
To gauge the situation more accurately, I radioed the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Rrrring...
The signal tone rang, and before long, Operations Chief Yu Seong-cheol answered the radio.
I asked him about the 1st Legion's movements.
"The 1st Legion? Thanks to you breaking through the anti-air defense line, we've been able to fly drones occasionally as well. Fortunately, their forces aren't very large. Their troops are concentrated near Baeknyeonsan to confront our government forces... but they won't be able to pull the forces deployed to the front lines either. In the end, most of what's roaming around Uijeongbu and Goyang right now are goblin variants. However..."
He paused for a moment, then continued with a bitter expression.
"They're posing as the ROK Army and conscripting people."
"Posing as the ROK Army...?"
"Yes, you might wonder how goblins with goblin faces could pose as the ROK Army... but they're riding around in armored vehicles. They even have the Taegeukgi hanging in the back. Quite a lot of people came out thinking it might be real and got dragged to internment camps."
A ruined world.
Many people still held expectations.
That the nation would resolve this situation.
They were using exactly that expectation to lure people out.
To use them as sacrifices to strengthen their own power.
'Well...'
Either way, my course of action remained unchanged.
I planned to hunt goblins, liberate the internment camps, and reach Goyang where the 1st Legion headquarters was located.
I made a suggestion to Yu Seong-cheol.
"Chief, it won't be easy advancing while mopping up behind you... but please hang in there a little longer."
"...What do you mean?"
"I'm going to head for the legion headquarters starting now. I'll wipe out the 1st Legion, so keep tailing behind me and take care of the people coming out of the internment camps."
"...The 1st Legion? You mean by yourself, Mr. Jeong-gyeom?"
"We're quite a large family."
"No, but that's..."
Yu Seong-cheol looked quite bewildered.
No matter how much he knew about my abilities, facing an entire legion couldn't be an easy task.
I added one condition.
"In return, I would like you to lend me every weapon, piece of equipment, strategic material, and provision that the government forces recover this time, just once each."
"Ah..."
Yu Seong-cheol finally seemed to understand.
I was the one who had already borrowed a helicopter once.
And I was also the model borrower who had returned it in less than an hour.
He knew that I had the ability to duplicate objects.
After pondering for a moment, Yu Seong-cheol answered.
"This isn't something I can approve on my own authority. But... I'll put my name on the line and make sure it happens. Because this is a matter of the nation's survival."
The survival of the nation.
Yu Seong-cheol spoke as if the Republic of Korea was still in existence.
Unfortunately, that wasn't true... but you never know.
Though, "reconstruction" would be the more accurate term rather than "survival."
"Then."
"I wish you good luck."
With that, I finished my communication with Yu Seong-cheol.
'Goblins riding in armored vehicles, huh...'
They didn't feel like formidable enemies.
They would be a bit sturdy... but whether I dropped a helicopter on them or threw a bowling ball heated by fire, I could find a way to take care of them.
Whir.
It was when I returned to the subspace with roughly such thoughts.
It seemed he had been waiting for me in the meantime.
My older brother, who had been guarding in front of the portal, extended his hand to me.
"Jeong-gyeom, take this."
"...?"
A red stone.
"Why do you have this...?"
It was an Enhancement Stone.
.
.
.
It had been about a week since my father's countryside house had become a fortress.
They said a strange guest had visited this place.
"It was some kind of rhino-like beast. It rammed the house indiscriminately with its horn."
At first, they hadn't thought much of it.
Because the fortress's armor had firmly withstood countless monsters that had tried to enter until then.
But this one was different.
"Every time it struck, the wall caved in deeply. Explosions even occurred from that. We were on the verge of being breached..."
Fortunately, its attack was stopped.
By a griffin, a monstrous bird that appeared from the sky.
The two monsters that encountered each other fought a desperate battle for a full two days without rest.
And...
The victor, the griffin, tore off and ate the rhino's flesh, then leisurely left the fortress.
And so, the rhino's corpse that remained.
They said an Enhancement Stone was left there.
----
[Enhancement Stone (D)]
Attribute: None
Option: [Penetration], [Explosion]
----
"......"
After receiving the Enhancement Stone, I fell into contemplation alone.
"...How should I use this?"
Right now, there were largely two uses for the Enhancement Stone for me.
One was to knight the Ghost of Camelot.
And the other was to strengthen one of the items in the subspace.
My conclusion was the latter.
"Because we're not short on manpower."
From Lancelot, the all-weather knight, to Bedivere of monstrous strength, tanker Kim Sol, and healer big sister.
Though not perfect, we had something of a full party.
Only one problem remained.
"Then the question is what to strengthen..."
Actually...
The answer to this dilemma had been decided from the beginning.
I immediately entered the
And I asked Pax to use the Enhancement Stone I had just received.
And so...
That majestic object was laid out before my eyes.
---
[AGM-114 Hellfire Missile +1]
Grade: [Rare]
Description: [Failed to load information. You may enter a description directly.]
Attribute: [None]
Option: [Penetration], [Explosion]
---
"[Explosion] on a missile... I can't pass this up."
The Hellfire missile that had been mounted on the stolen Black Hawk.
Literally "hellfire" fired from portals.
The [Explosion] option was truly crucial.
While normal missiles flew at Mach speeds, the subspace's shipping speed didn't even reach half of that.
It was a situation where, even if it hit the enemy, the impact might be insufficient and it could turn out to be a dud.
But if it would [Explode] on its own, I could safely cast those bastards into a pit of hellfire.
And...
"That's not all."
----[Enhanceable Items]----
◈ Shipping Time Required [1 second]
◈ Shipping Range [50m] [+]
◈ Shipping Speed [Maximum 150km/h] [+]
-------------------------
It had been quite a while since I enhanced these.
Because I hadn't felt a particular need until now.
Moreover, the cost was considerable.
At level 3, the maximum shipping range was up to 100 meters.
At 10 Mana Stones per meter, I needed 500 to reach the maximum.
The shipping speed was up to 300 km/h, and this too cost 5 Mana Stones per km/h, totaling 750 to reach maximum.
A hefty sum of 1,250 stones.
An amount I normally couldn't even fathom, but...
[You currently possess 2,396 Mana Stones.]
I had taken the commander of the 220th Brigade's Mana Stones, and had also killed countless goblins on the way up to the house in Uijeongbu.
The fact that acquiring Mana Stones had become much faster thanks to the dimensional account was a bonus.
It was an amount I could sufficiently afford now.
Without a moment's hesitation, I paid the Mana Stones.
[Understood.]
[Received 1,250 Mana Stones.]
[Remaining Mana Stones: 1,146.]
With that, all preparations were complete.
When I informed Yi Yong-su, who was taking a brief rest, that we were departing, he asked.
"Are we going by helicopter again this time?"
"No, we have to go by car. There are many people trapped in the internment camps, so we have to free them as we go."
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
I was determined to gradually recapture the Uijeongbu area occupied by the 1st Legion.
Nibbling away from the end.
***
Kugugugu...
An armored vehicle traversing the ruined city center.
The rough engine noise was adding more cracks to the asphalt.
Kuguung.
The armored vehicle stopped for a moment.
Because the aircraft that had left for an operation far away was returning for an unknown reason.
The Taegeukgi that had been cleverly hung swayed repeatedly.
Pssshh...
Clack!
A hobgoblin poked its head out of the hatch.
To demand to know why it had left the operation area.
"Hey, what are you doing here?! Right now..."
But...
Whir.
Suddenly, four portals appeared around the approaching armored vehicle.
They were unmistakably missiles.
Sshhhhaaaack!
"......!!"
Air-to-ground missiles fired from directly in front.
Tok.
The tips met the armored vehicle...
Kwaaaaaaaang!
"Hellfire" burst up in all directions.
Whirick!
The armored vehicle's top plate spun as it shot into the sky.
The armored vehicle, now with a gaping hole.
The vehicle containing blazing hellfire slowly collapsed to the ground.
Then, the following sound.
...Kung.
"Whew!"
This time, I poked my head out of the hatch.
It was the armored vehicle I had stolen through
I didn't know its year or model, but conversely, there was nothing better for catching them off guard.
Just as they had disguised themselves as the ROK Army.
It had already been three hours since we left Uijeongbu.
Every time we encountered goblins and armored vehicles, we gave them a taste of fire with missiles, and liberated prisoners from dozens of internment camps.
Pop!
The internment camp gate opened with a satisfying pop like a bottle cap.
The imprisoned people poured out like carbonation, but unfortunately, their condition wasn't very good.
Because they had been imprisoned for quite a long time.
But...
"The potions are quite useful."
I dropped potions without rest through four portals.
Even if it wasn't complete healing, it should at least prevent their condition from worsening.
It could buy enough time until the government forces arrived.
By the time we had destroyed dozens of armored vehicles and internment camps,
we reached Goyang, where the 1st Legion headquarters was located.
Whiiish...
A gloomy sky and ominously rising smoke.
The legion headquarters was situated at the top of an uphill slope leading from the guard post.
It had been a long road.
Since the 1st Legion had been constantly interfering throughout the process of reuniting with my family.
"Let's see your face for once, Legion Commander."
Now, it was time to meet.