EP.237 I Have Won
Bren, a Level 1 citizen living by moving cargo at the Central Station, had a secret he couldn't tell anyone.
That secret was that he was a member of the Resistance.
The Military State is harsh on failures... or rather, it has no interest in them at all. For those abandoned after merely completing their citizen registration, the rest of their lives consisted of nothing but working as laborers until they died. Bren lacked the intelligence to even attend middle school, but his future was so obvious that even he could easily figure it out.
Bren was given the life of a cog. As a cog does, Bren rolled forward without feeling any doubt.
However, humans have free will. It is a considerable free will that even allows one to believe it is merely an illusion.
The same daily routine as yesterday will repeat tomorrow. This hypothesis was inductively proven by the days Bren had lived so far. Since yesterday was boring and nothing particularly joyful happened, it was clear tomorrow would be the same. Bren lived each day feeling a helplessness beyond despair.
However, a change came to his life. The catalyst was a strange visitor.
The young visitor who came holding a bottle of beer shared a drink and talked about many things with him. The young man was cheerful, and because of that, Bren's mood gradually improved as well. Even when the quite drunk young man childishly started cursing the Military State, Bren just giggled and egged him on.
After that day, Bren became a member of the Resistance.
The reason was retroactive. After becoming a Resistance member, his life became exciting. Just imagining what noble directive would come down, and how coolly he could carry it out, thrilled him. Feeling a sense of purpose, including the appropriate tension of wondering if the public security might come looking for him.
At the very least, tomorrow was not the same as yesterday.
After becoming a Resistance member, his life changed. Every day was rewarding. Rewarding.
He wasn't an incredibly thorough and careful person, but while living as a Resistance member, he had never been caught in the Military State's surveillance network even once.
The reason was simple. It was because not a single directive had come down yet. Rather, because he worked so hard to avoid suspicion, the supervisor's evaluation of him improved... though nothing changed because of it.
However, he never doubted that when the moment requiring a great decision came, he would stand on the Resistance's side and act.
Because he had lived all this time for that very day.
It was around the time he was vigorously doing his work today. A young laborer approached from over there. A young man with a slightly dark complexion touched his shoulder and whispered.
"Mr. Bren. It's a directive."
That day had come. Bren nodded heavily.
It was a short, concise, and rushed briefing pressed for time.
The target was a strike on the Command Headquarters. Initiation was immediately upon arriving at the Central Station. The Returnee gathered everyone and calmly explained.
"The route to the Command Headquarters is packed with garrison troops, including checkpoints. The inspections are thorough too. From here on, sneaking in is impossible."
Forced breakthrough. The method the Returnee put forward was truly easy and simple.
"First, externally, we'll package it as a Resistance raid. At the Central Station, I'll subdue the station manager and the other high-ranking officials there. The rest of you head to the Command Headquarters first. I'll finish up quickly and follow."
The Central Station was the largest station among the Meta Conveyor Belts, directly connected to the Command Headquarters. It was a top-tier important facility guarded by a resident General, and in emergencies, elite troops were dispatched from three nearby units. The Returnee's words that he would subdue such a place in an instant lacked too much realism.
However... the Returnee's power was close to omnipotent. Although he hadn't reached the pinnacle, his diverse methods and his ability to wield them to the extreme were unrivaled.
"Can you do it?"
"Leave it to me."
The result brought about by the resolved Returnee was... beyond imagination.
"Emergency! Emergency! Enemy attack!"
"Everyone, run awaaaay!"
The moment they opened a container, pure white smoke burst out of it like an explosion. It was a cloud created by the Returnee.
Wind, Cloud, Rain, and Eternal Lightning.
Cheonung's essence was compressed space, and inside it, clouds and wind that only existed in the sky could be contained. The Returnee emptied one container and accumulated power inside it for several hours. And then, he released it all at once.
A localized cumulonimbus cloud loomed over the Central Station. If there was a difference from a normal cumulonimbus cloud, it was that it piled up like a tower starting right from the ground. Only the Returnee, who turned on his Seven-Colored Eyes in the fog where one couldn't see an inch ahead, walked with long strides.
Instantly, the chain of command was paralyzed.
"Waaaaaaah! It's the Resistance! It's a Resistance attack!"
"Everyone run! We're all going to die like this!"
"It's dangerous! My blood is being sucked out, I'm becoming a vampire!"
Panicking laborers, and the Resistance fanning the confusion between them. Soldiers and supervisors trying to respond urgently got mixed in, causing unprecedented chaos. If sound could at least be heard well, it might be different, but this was a station. Huge cranes and numerous laborers made different noises. Sound couldn't even travel ten steps before being buried in the clouds.
"This won't do! Bring the Manager!"
The most diligent and outstanding soldiers went to find their superiors to quickly bring the chaos under control. The Manager of the Central Station was a General. They believed that if it was a General, they could sort out this chaos and lead everyone.
The condition for the Military State to recognize someone as a General was combat sustainability. A general who must stand above everyone must not die easily. They must survive until the end and lead the soldiers.
Because of that, all Generals were strong individuals who mastered the Armor Qi Technique to reinforce their entire body. They established One Mind within their bodies to always maintain a constant state. They were truly war machines.
The soldiers urgently ran to the Manager to request that he command them, who had fallen into chaos.
"Manager! Command us...!"
However, when they, with a sense of duty, visited the Manager's office, the Manager was already unconscious, pinned under the Returnee's feet.
The Returnee, who had finished a fierce battle and was catching his breath, waved his hand at the unfamiliar guests.
"Hello."
"W-who are you...! Argh!"
Now. I, who was hiding behind the door, swung a club and struck the back of his head. Senior Supply Officer Keteren, the Sergeant, fell without even putting up a decent fight.
I put down the club, which was soaked in a lot of blood, while trembling.
"Uwaaa. I'm a non-combatant, why on earth am I working here..."
"You fight pretty well for a non-combatant."
"That's because I only picked the small fry and knocked them out from behind! Anyway, why did you specifically bring me? There are plenty of people more used to fighting!"
The Returnee spoke as if it were obvious.
"It's still daytime, so it's better to conserve Tirkanjaka's power. The King of Dogs and the King of Cats don't move well as I want them to. Then, you're the next best thing, right?"
"Next best thing?! This is too dangerous a job for an ordinary petty thief like me!"
"...I don't know what you're still hiding, but. Fine. I'll call you ordinary. Any special notes?"
"Ah, right. I saw a safe on our way here. I guess there's no time to loot it?"
"Guide me. I'll put the whole thing in my Pocket."
Even in the midst of this, the Returnee meticulously finished his farming. The safe made of Level 5 Refined Vajra went entirely into the Returnee's spatial safe, the Pocket.
That thing called Pocket is a real scam item. It might be even more of a scam than Cheonung or Jizan.
'...He's used to fighting. He's never shown any powerful force clearly, but when we fight together, it's strangely comfortable. He doesn't get in the way, he's meticulous. Or rather, he's good at pointing out the enemy's weaknesses. Let's use him often from now on.'
Don't use me! I'm asking you to save me! Think of me like a pufferfish that dies if you poke it!
After finishing a rough cleanup, the Returnee and I came out of the station office. The outside was still in a state of chaos, but within it, there was a slightly organized movement. It was a group of Resistance members trying to escape, taking advantage of the chaos the station had fallen into.
Among them, there was a young man who stood out. With the appearance of a laborer but the relaxed attitude of an officer, he naturally scanned his surroundings.
I realized who he was.
Chento, who read the wind well. A survivor of Hameln. He was one of the few among those many children, the one who had desperately scrambled out of the riverbed with the will to survive somehow.
I wondered what he was doing, and he was playing the role of searching for collaborators in the Resistance. He was taking on the heavy responsibility of an infiltration team that created many direct and indirect internal collaborators. Someone who once dreamed of being an officer is now a Resistance missionary. Should I call this a success, or a downfall?
He was leading the non-combatant Resistance members, joining up with collaborators he had scouted in the station beforehand, and getting on the belt. The North was going to be engulfed in the flames of war. The only way for the Resistance, who had to leave their stronghold, to escape in a short time was the Meta Conveyor Belt.
They would flee, but the Military State wouldn't be able to chase them. They wouldn't have the spare capacity to pay attention to them.
Just then, the Returnee noticed another presence and spoke.
"They're coming. It's the troops from the nearby units."
"Good. Let's pull back too! If we head south toward the Command Headquarters, they'll chase us!"
"Just pull back? That's a bit disappointing."
The Returnee held Cheonung and Jizan crossed. The Returnee, who placed the two blades against each other at a single point, slowly slid Cheonung's blade over Jizan's body as if polishing a blunt blade. Then, a slightly special friction occurred where the two blades met.
Originally, if you rub blades against each other, the metal crumbles and creates sparks. Then what happens when the Sword of the Sky and the Sword of the Earth rub against each other?
I don't know. Because it's my first time seeing the Sword of the Sky and the Sword of the Earth. But I have learned what happens when the sky and the earth rub against each other.
The roar of the Heavenly God. Lightning.
Bzzzzt.
An enormous amount of lightning poured out from the ends of the two treasured swords. Even from this distance, I could feel a tingling sensation all over my body. A bright yellow crack formed in the air, and lightning flowed out from it as if a faucet had been turned on.
The lightning that seeped out like that seeped into the clouds that filled the surroundings. The clouds the Returnee had summoned above the ground gradually darkened and let out an ominous rumble. Even in a dry sky, lightning strikes, but originally, lightning is only complete when there is earth.
The Returnee, holding the writhing lightning in his hand, muttered, intoxicated with a sense of omnipotence.
"Cheongigeomgon. Lightning Sweep."
"He says the name of his ultimate move with his own mouth. If you explain from the attribute to the attack form, wouldn't everyone dodge it?"
"S-shut up! The power is weak and the motion is big, so it doesn't work well against strong people with good intuition!"
"Ah. So it's a 'strong-weak, weak-strong' technique."
"It's a wide-area technique!"
Outer coolness aside, the Returnee's swordsmanship was a demonic sword that swung his own magic added to it, using the treasured swords as a medium.
When the Returnee forcefully pulled Jizan, dozens of streaks of lightning digging in swung across, scraping the ground like a giant claw.
"Kuwaaaaagh!"
"Geuheoooogh..."
The ground was flipped over entirely, and the soldiers in that area fell, their bodies trembling convulsively. The Military State now had to deal with the wounded at the same time as attacking the enemy.
The overturned ground, the clouds flashing with lightning, and the people who had fallen from electrocution inside. I witnessed a disaster so massive that it was hard to believe it was caused by a single human.
"...I'm getting cognitive dissonance over whether Mr. Shea is amazing, or whether there's nothing much to the station. I wish the Command Headquarters were this easy."
"You just have to be careful of the Six-Star General and the Generals. Since a pretty large number of them are outside right now, there won't be much difference."
"Well, Mr. Shea is the one fighting. If you just use your strong-weak, weak-strong technique well, you'll be able to take down everyone weaker than you! Keep it up!"
"I said it's a wide-area technique! You're the one who should start fighting properly! How long are you going to slack off?!"
I'm already giving it my all. Grow your eye for seeing people!
Looking roughly, only soldiers or convulsing wounded remained at the station. Most of the laborers had fled, and it seemed the Resistance had boarded the belt and left.
Just when it reached the point where it was hard to find enemies, a military corps appeared from over there to support the station. It was a war-ready unit evenly equipped.
"Alright, let's really pull out now. If we get too excited and waste our stamina, we'll be in trouble."
"You're aware you were excited, and you were aware it was a waste. If you knew and still did it, aren't you already in trouble?"
"You're so chatty and noisy! Whatever, just grab my hand! If the Demonic Corps intercepts us, it'll be annoying, so I'm going to fly at full speed before that happens!"
"Wait. Why do I have to hold your hand to fly? Don't tell me... no! I'm hanging from Mr. Shea's hand and flyinggggggg!"
And of all things, it's one hand! I don't even hang from a pull-up bar with one hand!
Hanging from the Returnee's hand, I dangled back and forth, updating the new record for a one-handed hang.