The next day.
Catherine woke everyone early at dawn, and after a simple breakfast, we set out at once.
Our pace became even faster. Everyone looked dissatisfied, but no one protested to Catherine.
Thanks to our relentless hurry, we arrived before the sandy desert before sunset.
At the sight of the raging sandstorm, the others stopped in their tracks, but I did not.
Standing at the front, I leapt into the sandstorm.
Behind me, the exploration team entered the storm, and at Catherine’s urging, the other members stepped into it as well.
Perhaps because I had passed through the sandstorm so many times, finding the way now felt no different from finding the bathroom in a dark house with the lights out.
It was the first time the others had passed through a sandstorm, but with the help of the exploration team, they did not lose their way.
A short while later, we arrived at the terraforming ruins.
“So it was possible to pass through that storm. Was it safer than I thought?”
“There was a huge boulder flying right next to me. If I’d taken even one step off the path, I would’ve been swept away by the sand.”
“Who doesn’t know that?”
As we went inside, I heard whispers from behind me.
They were the members who had passed through the sandstorm.
Covered head to toe in sand, they were whispering among themselves.
They had not seen me fight either, but because I had fought the scout monster, they could not look down on me recklessly.
It was the same now.
Even after passing through the sandstorm under my guidance, they only stole glances at me and whispered.
“Welcome back. Everyone worked hard.”
Hannah was waiting for us in the lobby of the ruins.
There were other rear party members in the lobby as well, but when they saw the reduced number of main force members, they only shook their heads.
“How did you know we were coming?”
At her warm greeting, Tom asked in English, and Hannah answered in English as well.
“I saw a light from the sandy desert.”
“I see.”
Tom scratched his head with the expression of someone who had asked a pointless question.
Sand poured from his hair.
The glad greetings lasted only a moment. Catherine called Margreta and me aside.
“We need to hold a meeting, so please come straight to the office.”
She dismissed the exhausted members and headed straight for the office.
After she had gone to the office, I asked Hannah,
“Nothing happened here?”
“No.”
That was a relief.
It was only for a short while, but it seemed I would be able to rest before departing.
Lastly, I spoke to the exploration team.
“We’ll be heading out again tomorrow, so rest and get yourselves ready.”
“We’re going out tomorrow?”
Since the operation had not been confirmed yet, I had not told the members either.
I gave the puzzled team members a hint.
“Yes. This time won’t be easy, so please prepare thoroughly.”
The members’ expressions hardened.
Sergeant Woo said,
“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard you say something won’t be easy, Captain.”
I was not certain this operation would succeed either.
It was something that had to be done, and something that could only be done now, but it was difficult to give the members certainty.
“I’ll tell you the details once everything is decided.”
At my words, the members nodded with grave faces.
Only Hannah’s expression did not change.
With the same face as before, she said to me,
“You can’t leave me out this time. I’m following you no matter what.”
Just then, Tom seemed to realize something and asked Hannah,
“That’s right. Is the captain still shining?”
“Yes!”
At Tom’s words, Hannah nodded.
“Then it should be fine.”
After hearing Hannah’s words, the members’ expressions loosened.
They left with relieved faces.
After Tom and Sergeant Woo left, Hannah spoke softly into my ear.
“The strange thing is, the Americans have gotten even darker than yesterday. Is it because so many died…?”
Seeing that their numbers had decreased, Hannah seemed to have realized that people had died.
But the reason their light had darkened was not because their comrades had died.
[So it was a proper prophecy of the future. And one that did not come from outside, but was a future decided by the people concerned.]
Contrary to Soph’s words, this had not been decided by the people concerned.
Catherine had decided it.
The Americans’ light had darkened because Catherine had chosen them as bait.
After letting the members rest, I headed to the office with Margreta.
Unlike the other members, Margreta’s expression was dark.
That was because I had told Margreta about the situation in the morning.
In the office, aside from Catherine, there were two more people.
David and Sterling.
David greeted me.
“There are a lot of deaths again.”
“Yes.”
At David’s words, I only nodded.
This time, there was no need for me to explain.
“The monsters were stronger than expected. It was the first hunt, but the number of deaths was more than twice what we anticipated.”
At Catherine’s words, David’s expression hardened.
“A single death is already bad.”
“Understood.”
At Catherine’s perfunctory answer, David let out a sigh.
“I’m no longer the one in charge, but I can’t help but ask. Now that we know the scouts are stronger than expected, do you intend to keep hunting scouts like this?”
David asked with a serious face, but instead of answering, Catherine brought up something else.
“I have something to say about that.”
After pausing for a moment, she brought up the conversation she had had with me last night.
That by capturing the scout monster, my information had become trustworthy, and that I had informed her that monsters had poured out from the city ruins.
And that I would attack the city the monsters had left, and that the main force members would be used as bait.
She told them everything without hesitation.
“…That is all. For the success of the operation, I ask that you maintain security regarding what you have just heard.”
After hearing her story, David stared at Catherine with startled eyes, and Sterling opened and closed his mouth as he looked at her.
After a long silence, David finally opened his mouth.
“It’s a hard story to believe. And the last part is truly harsh.”
At David’s words, Catherine asked in return,
“Do you have another alternative? If so, I’ll hear it.”
At Catherine’s words, David clenched his teeth.
“…No. I don’t.”
He rubbed his face with a weary expression.
“I’m truly glad I’m not the one in charge anymore.”
David looked as if he had aged several years in an instant.
When he stepped back with a resigned expression, Sterling stepped forward this time.
His face flushed red as he snapped at Catherine.
“No, how can you believe that just because he got one scout’s location right? Besides, it’s not as if his skills are certain either. Who knows what will happen if we send only them into the city!”
They were words that disparaged me and my team, but he did not even look in my direction.
Unlike Sterling, who was snapping at her with an agitated face, Catherine spoke in a calm voice.
“There is no need to worry. Sterling, you will participate in the group attacking the city with me.”
At her words, Sterling was rendered speechless.
“That isn’t what I wanted…”
“Then will you refuse? Wouldn’t participating in the city assault be better for your reputation than dying in the bait group, or barely surviving?”
“……”
Sterling also stepped back with a complicated expression.
Seeing the two of them back down, Soph clicked his tongue quietly.
[She’s impressive, but… she’s going to make a lot of enemies.]
Just as Soph said, it was an impressive tongue for digging into the other party’s weaknesses.
This time, those words were directed at me.
“Even if your skills are outstanding, we cannot send only you on an operation of this scale. We will participate as well.”
It was different from my plan, but it was not a problem.
There was no need to look at Margreta. Matters on our side were mine to decide.
I answered immediately.
“I have no intention of opposing it. Instead, the chain of command must be clear.”
There was no problem with going together, but I could not take orders from her or anyone else.
Catherine nodded.
“Yes. We will participate as ordinary members, or as support.”
“Such—!”
At Catherine’s words, Sterling shouted angrily.
She told Sterling the reason.
“We are not experts, nor are our skills as good as Captain Hyeon’s. It is only natural to follow his instructions in this matter.”
At her sound reasoning, Sterling fell silent again.
Once the important discussion ended, the smaller matters were decided quickly.
How many people would be divided into each bait group and where they would be sent, and how much they would be told.
How many main force members would go to the city.
How long the defensive magic of the terraforming ruins—the sandstorm—would be maintained as well.
All of them were matters that would determine people’s lives, but since the major premise had already been set, there was no room for opinions to clash.
A while later, the meeting ended.
David left first with a dark expression, and Margreta and I also came out of the office.
I turned my head and examined Margreta’s face as she followed behind me.
Throughout the meeting, Margreta’s expression had not been good.
“Did you not like the meeting?”
At my words, Margreta shook her head.
“I know that sacrifices are necessary to save the people living on Earth as well.”
“Then…”
“It’s just that, even with such sacrifices, the people who can survive will be only a handful. And even then, they will all be people chosen by them.”
The “them” Margreta referred to was surely America’s privileged class.
The true modern nobles who controlled America and decided who could go to paradise.
“The ordinary people excluded from those they choose will know nothing of either the destruction or paradise until the very last moment.”
In truth, I understood why they kept the destruction and paradise secret.
If it became known, Earth would undoubtedly fall into chaos before its destruction.
To prevent that, America had even used artifacts to control information.
I was not against hiding it either, but I did not like the fact that they were the ones deciding who would survive.
“Well. I wonder if things will really turn out that way.”
They had even used artifacts to turn it into a secret, but there was someone who had not been caught in that control.
That person possessed many black stones and even had a shelter of his own.
He intended to watch a little longer and see what they would do.
“Things almost never go according to the original plan.”
If necessary, one had to break the existing plan and make a new one.
“Still, this operation has to proceed according to plan.”
It was a double standard, but it could not be helped.
Early the next morning.
The sandstorm stopped.
The main force gathered in the lobby.
Before the people divided by hunting teams, Catherine spoke.
“The sandstorm will not stop for the next two days. Those going out this time are to camp outside for two days before returning.”
The hunting teams were carrying camping supplies.
They were items the rear party had prepared through the night.
“As I said before, if you encounter a monster you have never seen before, you may run. Buying time is more important than hunting. Instead, no matter what happens, you must not return to these ruins for the next two days.”
Catherine did not tell the main force members the truth.
She only told them there would be more danger than before, and instead of anxiety, they only became dissatisfied.
“Then, good luck.”
When Catherine finished speaking, the hunting teams left the ruins one after another.
Not long after they had all departed, the sandstorm began to blow again.
Now the sandstorm would not stop for two days.
I looked around at the remaining people.
My team members, and the five elites Catherine had personally chosen.
They were the people heading to the city.
“Let’s depart.”
Standing at the front, I gave the order.
At my words, everyone headed underground.
Unlike the hunting teams, we intended to go by spatial transfer.
Our destination was the underground of the factory city.
We planned to leap across space and launch a surprise attack from within the city.
City Infiltration (1)