Most of the people who had come from Earth this time were soldiers as well.
“Reporting in. Total personnel: fifty-two. Third dispatch unit: fifty. Civilians: two.”
As the soldier who introduced himself as a lieutenant reported to Captain Li Wei, there were only two people who were not soldiers.
Neither of the two was an energy user, nor even a user candidate.
They were ordinary civilians with no abilities whatsoever.
Two men in light clothing, having come empty-handed.
“What are those two?”
Seeing them, Captain Li Wei asked.
It seemed he found it as strange as I did.
“There was a test this time to see whether user candidates could bring ordinary people to this star. They volunteered for that test. Five people applied in total, but only two succeeded.”
In Paradise, a single user candidate could bring at least one ordinary person with them.
But on this star, it seemed difficult to bring even one.
It was probably because this star was farther away than Paradise.
Still, since they could bring one out of two, it was far better than Trappist, where no one but me could bring anyone along.
At the lieutenant’s words, Captain Li Wei frowned.
He said nothing, but I could more or less tell what he was thinking through Secretary Li, who muttered behind him.
“They sent an additional dispatch unit without even receiving a report from the first one, and they’re even conducting civilian dispatch experiments…….”
I knew they were in a hurry, but this was too rushed.
If I had not come with them, the third dispatch unit would certainly have been killed by the monsters the moment they spatially transferred.
[They seem to be rushing too much.]
[That must mean things on Earth are that bad.]
As Soph said, it seemed there was some problem on Earth.
Or perhaps it was a problem with the Chinese government.
I would find out once I returned to Earth.
After the lieutenant’s report ended, Secretary Li asked what the third dispatch unit had brought from Earth.
“How much water and food did you bring?”
“One bag’s worth.”
“One bag? Then did you bring spears again? Nothing else?”
“That is all.”
At those words, the people who had come earlier merely looked disappointed, but Secretary Li bit his lip with a grave expression.
“There’s far too little water. At this rate, we won’t even be able to hold out…….”
I reached into my backpack.
I opened the box inside and felt around, and my hand found the items I had placed there before.
I took bottles of water out of the box.
Ten 18.9-liter water bottles emerged one after another.
They were the water bottles I had been carrying just in case.
At first, I had packed more than fifty, but after repeated spatial transfers, this was all that remained.
It was more than enough if it were just for me or the exploration team, but not enough for all the people here.
Still, this would put out the immediate fire.
“These are what I had with me. Use these for now.”
“There’s water!”
“Thank you!”
The people rejoiced when they saw the water I had brought out.
They were simply happy that their thirst would be relieved.
Unlike them, Secretary Li bowed his head to me once more.
“……Thank you.”
After handing over the water, I headed underground with the others.
The people returning to Earth.
The only ones heading underground with me were Margreta, Secretary Li, and the soldier who had fled.
Among the people hiding in the underground ruins, there were others who wanted to return, but without exception, they were left behind here.
The others believed it was difficult to send people back to Earth.
That was why everyone thought it was only natural that they remain on this star, but the truth was different.
I could send them all back to Earth.
I told Secretary Li that, but he shook his head at my words.
“It will be better for them to stay here. If they return to Earth, they won’t be treated well.”
Well, even if they went to Earth, they would meet destruction along with everyone else soon enough.
On top of that, there was no way they would be treated well if they returned like this.
As Secretary Li said, it was better for them to remain on this star.
As we descended underground, Secretary Li asked something else.
“Will it be all right not to go down with the ruins technician?”
Among the people who had been hiding in the ruins was a technician who had learned from the Americans how to operate the ruins.
He was the person who had sent Secretary Li back to Earth not long ago, but like the others, he wanted to remain on the surface.
Of course, I could have dragged him along by force, but there was no need.
“I can operate it myself.”
There were four people returning to Earth this time.
If it were not for me, they would not all be able to return.
At my explanation, Secretary Li wore a serious expression.
“That will be a problem if Captain Hyun leaves this star. It means returning to Earth again will become difficult…….”
“You won’t have to worry too much about that.”
Secretary Li tilted his head, but I stopped explaining there.
There was no need to explain.
I intended to show him the reason directly.
Before long, we arrived at the underground ruins, and I appointed Secretary Li as the sub-administrator of the spatial transfer ruins.
I registered Secretary Li on the hologram that floated above the shelf, then informed him of the fact.
“From now on, Secretary Li is the sub-administrator of these underground ruins. You’ll be able to activate and stop them, and you should be able to move more people than before.”
Naturally, the main administrator was me—no, Soph.
“I’ve become the administrator of these ruins?”
“Yes. If we’re to meet again later, Secretary Li will need at least that level of authority.”
When I visited this star again, if I wanted to meet Secretary Li, that much authority seemed necessary.
Entrusting him with the role of sub-administrator was the minimum safeguard for keeping my promise.
In addition, it was because I was curious to see how he would proceed.
I was curious what the outcome would be when a little power was added to the conviction of a man who had said he would sacrifice himself for others.
When I came to this star later, I would find out the result.
After granting Secretary Li sub-administrator authority, we headed for Earth.
The soldier who had been dragged along wrapped tightly in the whip and Margreta crossed the portal first, and then Secretary Li and I leaped across space.
After a bright light appeared and vanished, I knew we had returned to Earth.
The first thing I saw after returning to Earth was the soldier who had acted as a spy throwing himself down from the altar.
Crash!
He launched himself over the altar as if flying through the air, but he soon tumbled downward.
The soldier lay sprawled on the floor, wearing a bewildered expression.
“What happened? Why is my strength gone?”
Hearing his confused words, I understood what had happened.
The moment we returned to Earth, Margreta’s whip, which had been binding him, came undone, and he had tried to use that instant to escape.
There was no dark energy on Earth.
It was only natural that Margreta’s whip would return to normal once we came back to Earth.
At the same time, just as the whip returned to normal, it was natural that his power would disappear as well.
But he had not known that.
There were various people and soldiers around the ruins, but faced with the absurd situation, everyone was at a loss.
In that situation, Secretary Li stepped forward.
He explained the situation loudly.
“That man is a spy from the regional army. Captain Li Wei confirmed it as well.”
The watching soldiers raised their guns.
Their muzzles pointed at all of us.
Not only at the soldier sprawled on the floor, but at me, Margreta, and Secretary Li as well.
A tense situation unfolded, but I was not worried.
Secretary Li moved again.
He quickly found the senior officer and ran to him, explaining the details.
He told the officer what had happened so far, then spoke a few unfamiliar phrases.
Perhaps it was a countersign arranged in advance, because after hearing the phrases, the officer signaled to the soldiers.
The gun muzzles aimed at us were lowered, and the soldiers dragged the clumsy spy away.
Under the soldiers’ escort and surveillance, we also headed out of the ruins.
Both the ruins and the passage leading outside were extremely crowded.
Soldiers guarded the passage with loaded guns, and many people were moving equipment and supplies into the ruins.
As I had seen on the other star, the Chinese government was moving with no way back.
When we came out through the crowded passage, it was still dark outside.
There was still a long time before sunrise.
After calculating the time, I realized that half a day had passed since we had gone to that star.
In half a day, we had gone to another star, killed a control entity and monsters, explored the ruins, and returned to Earth.
After checking the time and looking back at my companions, I saw that both of them had dark shadows under their eyes.
“You look tired.”
At my words, Margreta glared at me.
“When I return to Earth, I’m an ordinary person. Of course I can’t help but be tired when the time difference shifts this much.”
It seemed I had said something unnecessary.
If I said something like that, it amounted to nothing but teasing.
I pretended not to know and turned my head away.
When I turned, I saw a general running toward us.
It was the senior general who had seen us off yesterday.
“What happened? What is the situation over there?”
Perhaps he had woken from sleep and rushed over after hearing the news, because the clothes he wore were a mess.
When he arrived, panting, Secretary Li explained what had happened.
That I had dealt with the monster occupying the ruins, that the soldier who awakened an ability had been a spy, and that we had found a large amount of materials in the destroyed ruins.
The general’s eyes shone when he heard that I had dealt with the monsters, and he frowned at the story of the spy, muttering softly.
“This is troublesome……. We’ll have to clean this up quickly.”
No one else would have heard it, but to my enhanced ears, it came through clearly.
“……We did not see any more monsters, but we also could not find water. Captain Hyun provided a little of the water he had with him, but until we find a proper water source, we need more water.”
Secretary Li finished his explanation by bringing up the water.
Unfortunately, the general showed no interest in Secretary Li’s words.
Instead, he thrust his head toward me and asked earnestly.
“Could you sell the black stones you obtained from killing the monsters to China?”
It seemed the black stones I had obtained were more important to him.
That was only natural.
Countless people had to cross over to that star.
China needed more black stones.
The one fortunate thing was that he did not seem to intend to take them by force.
However, China had nothing worth trading for black stones.
“I doubt you have anything I’d want to buy.”
“With money……. Ah, that won’t work.”
The general was also someone who knew Earth was doomed.
I took out one black stone and showed it to the disappointed general.
“However, there are a few things we can trade for.”
Just as I had obtained things from the American government, there was surely something I could obtain from China as well.
However, the person to negotiate that trade with was not the general before me.
I needed someone higher up.
Korea (1)