Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

192 – Expansion

Despite Myung-Jun’s explanation, EDA Director Yoon Se-Ah could not comprehend his opinion of searching for the other two of the Twelve Heavenly Lord, whose existence was uncertain, over the clear and present threat before them.

If they were lucky enough to discover the Twelve Heavenly Lord preparing for an invasion in a timely manner, it would be one thing. However, if they failed, they might end up catching neither of the two rabbits they were chasing.

“I’m sorry, but I disagree with you, Mr. Myung-Jun. Speaking not as someone who desperately needs the help of you and the Liberal Clan, but as the EDA Director who manages all gate response strategies of the EDA, may I share my opinion?”

“Please, go ahead.”

“Certainly, there is some merit to what you are saying, Mr. Myung-Jun. If what that parasite said is true, trying to prevent the overflow occurring in South Korea could lead to an even bigger problem. But conversely, if that information itself is a bait, humanity could lose the significant power of South Korea.”

Yoon Se-Ah interpreted the situation based on Myung-Jun’s behavior so far, not as the EDA Director.

Why did Myung-Jun make such a decision, and what did he want?

Reinterpreting the gate situation from Myung-Jun’s perspective, Yoon Se-Ah arrived at the hypothesis that perhaps what Myung-Jun was trying to do was to save humanity.

Changing the authority to strategize the gate situation from a state-led system to a civilian-led system, providing the core design of the power armor to global companies, calling the world’s talented Awakener to Liberty City for intensive training, and distributing hundreds of Strikers to each country.

Reflecting on all those actions, she concluded that all of Myung-Jun’s decisions seemed to be directed towards ‘the salvation of humanity.’

And perhaps the plan Myung-Jun had come up with now was also based on such a mindset.

‘If he judged that sacrificing South Korea was necessary to save the world, then the annihilation of South Korea would be inevitable. But if we could persuade him that the survival of the South Korean government would help in the salvation of humanity…’

Yoon Se-Ah, having thought this through, began to appeal more assertively to Myung-Jun. The precious lives of tens of millions of South Korean citizens were hanging on her every word.

“Although the land is small, the strategic value of South Korea is by no means insignificant. While the number of Awakener might be lacking, in terms of quality, we are not inferior to other major countries. Even the number of Awakener we have is enough to place us within the top ten globally. Moreover, South Korea is one of the few countries in the world capable of producing equipment exclusively for the Awakener. It is also the production base for the ‘Army Tiger’ series of South Korean power armor.”

Listening to Yoon Se-Ah’s passionate explanation, Myung-Jun noticed her misunderstanding and smiled as he spoke to her.

“It seems you are under a misconception. I have no intention of letting South Korea be overrun by the monsters.”

“Pardon? But you clearly said you would refuse the help we requested…”

“I meant that I would refuse if the request was for me to fight Banara directly.”

Myung-Jun explained. For Banara, whose abilities and strength had already been confirmed, there were plenty of ways to handle it without his direct involvement. However, to face an enemy whose specific abilities had not yet been identified, it was essential for him to step in.

“But you said that Banara, who has returned, would be stronger than before. That means the Banara appearing in South Korea would be more threatening than when it appeared in Brazil. At that time, no one but you could face that monster. If it’s stronger now, wouldn’t it be impossible to face it without you?”

“It’s not just them who have grown stronger.”

There was a note of certainty in Myung-Jun’s voice.

“The exact name of my Awakener class is Mechanic. It is a unique class of the production type, not the combat type, and it has the ability to create numerous pieces of equipment that transcend the limits of human technology. What I do is create the necessary equipment whenever it is needed.”

“With that ability, are you saying you can create equipment capable of capturing even the stronger Banara?”

“Of course, my abilities have their limits, so creating equipment that can single-handedly defeat Banara as I did before would be difficult. However, unlike in the Amazon, this time we can prepare as many personnel as we need in advance. We have the top-ranked instructors from around the world staying at the academy in Liberty City, along with promising talents sent from various countries, and numerous EDA members who would lay down their lives at your command.”

With a smile on his face, Myung-Jun spoke to Yoon Se-Ah.

“At least this time, we won’t be outnumbered.”

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***

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After concluding the meeting with EDA Director Yoon Se-Ah, Myung-Jun asked Soo-Jeong to lift the barrier around the restricted area. He then promised to send the injured infected individuals, who were wounded during the capture of the parasite, back to South Korea once their treatment was complete. After that, he boarded the Shadow Hawk and returned to Liberty City.

Upon arriving in Liberty City, Myung-Jun immediately summoned all the instructors from the academy and all the crew members of the Liberal Clan to the ‘Council’ in the center of Liberty. He briefed the gathered members on the current situation.

“Thousands of monsters are heading towards Seoul from depths that are currently impossible to explore. It is estimated that their numbers are at least twice those mobilized during the Brazil incident.”

“Is that estimate based on quantity or quality?”

The man who asked the question was Ivan Svedov, a Russian Awakener known as the world’s strongest necromancer. Myung-Jun calmly answered his question.

“I am referring to quality. Given that they planned to move underground, they likely organized the group prioritizing the strength of each individual over sheer numbers.”

Hearing Myung-Jun’s words, Orléans, the leader of the Servium Clan, wore a grave expression. The information that monsters, stronger than those encountered since the difficulty adjustment incident, were swarming in the thousands sounded extremely threatening.

In general, facing a single monster of a higher grade was more challenging than facing hundreds of lower-grade monsters. Even an attack that could easily cut down dozens of minor monsters might not leave a scratch on a stronger one.

Orléans was curious about the decision Myung-Jun would make in this situation.

“So, what do you plan to do, Leader?”

“Mr. Orléans, I am not the leader of the Servium Clan…”

“While I am the leader of the Servium Clan, I am currently serving as an instructor at Liberty City under a dispatch contract. Therefore, Mr. Myung-Jun, as the head of the academy, is effectively our temporary leader. You are aware of this, which is why you summoned not only the Liberal Clan members but also us instructors, to seek our assistance in handling this crisis.”

“Exactly. If the overflow occurring in South Korea was the only issue, it might be manageable, but responding to simultaneous, massive overflows in multiple locations is beyond the capabilities of the Liberal Clan alone.”

“Then feel free to give orders as if we were your subordinates. Everyone here knows that the Liberal Clan wouldn’t exploit us under the guise of ‘saving humanity’ without offering proper compensation.”

“If you help us, I promise the rewards will be as generous as the Liberal Clan’s style.”

“That sounds good. If South Korea falls to the monsters, the threat to humanity won’t end there. It’s a crisis we have to prevent anyway, so if the rewards are certain, there’s no reason to hesitate.”

At that moment, Pereira, the leader of the Floresta Clan, who was standing next to Orléans, nudged him and whispered.

“Hey, Banara is that terrifying guy we faced in the Amazon, right?”

Perhaps it was their shared defeat against the same enemy that had made them somewhat like friends since becoming instructors at Liberty City. Orléans nodded in response to Pereira’s question.

“That’s right.”

“If it’s that guy, even before he transformed, it took you, me, and Sven together just to buy some time. And now he’s even stronger? How are we supposed to handle that without the leader?”

“That’s for the leader to figure out. We just need to follow his plan.”

“Still, we should at least distinguish between what’s possible and what’s not…”

“Do you think the difficulty of the gates cleared by the academy trainees so far has been normal?”

Caught off guard by the sudden question, Pereira fell silent and pondered. Then he shook his head and spoke to Orléans.

“Absolutely not. If it were me in the past, I would have spat and run away.”

“During those abnormal clearances, has there ever been a single fatality?”

Pereira recalled not only the groups he was in charge of but also those handled by other instructors. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t remember any reports of fatalities.

“There haven’t been any.”

“That’s my point. Every time I received information about the next gate my group would tackle, I thought, ‘How are they going to clear this?’ But they always managed somehow. The new equipment delivered each time played a significant role. From what I’ve observed, Cha Myung-Jun is not someone who recklessly attempts impossible missions. As a clan leader, his ability to gauge the limits of his subordinates’ capabilities is astonishingly exceptional.”

“So, you’re saying that if we just follow his orders, we’ll somehow manage?”

“Exactly. To Cha Myung-Jun, the crew of the Liberal Clan, as well as the instructors and trainees of the academy, are valuable resources. Knowing that, he would never drive us to our deaths.”

As Orléans finished speaking, he noticed that everyone in the Council was looking at him. The participants’ faces showed that they fully agreed with Orléans’ opinion.

“Well, this was just a conversation among us, but I believe everyone here agrees. If we follow the leader’s plan, we will undoubtedly reap significant rewards. Of course, the risks involved must be borne individually, but the greater the risk, the greater the reward, right?”

“That’s a given. There are two promises I can confidently make to you right now. One, while I can’t guarantee a perfectly safe operation, we will do our utmost to ensure your safety to the best of our ability. Two, the greater the risk you bear in this operation, the better the rewards you will receive. I pledge these two promises on my honor as the leader of the Liberal Clan.”

“For me, and probably for others as well, that’s enough. Ever since becoming an Awakener and a professional hunter, risking my life in battle has become a daily routine.”

Orléans then asked Myung-Jun for a detailed plan to confront Banara. How would they track the enemy’s movements, whose invasion route was unknown, and how would they stop them?

Myung-Jun projected a hologram of a map of South Korea onto the round table in the center of the conference room and began to explain.

“The most reliable information we have is that the monsters moving underground will attack Seoul, using the disturbance in the DMZ as a signal. However, since we have eliminated all the infected, the signal they are waiting for will never come.”

“Then will they just keep waiting indefinitely?”

“No, they won’t. The disturbance in the DMZ using the infected was merely a diversion. Once they pass a certain deadline known only to them, they will determine that the infected operation has failed and move towards Seoul. We currently have no way of knowing that timing.”

“But we can’t guard the entire city of Seoul 24/7, can we?”

“Exactly. So, we plan to lure them into attacking.”

“But didn’t you eliminate all the infected who would signal the attack?”

“Yes, but we still have soldiers. Soldiers who aren’t infected but will act as if they are, engaging in mock combat.”

Having already discussed the entire plan with EDA Director Yoon Se-Ah, Myung-Jun smiled and continued.

“The operation will commence in a week. From a week from now, there will be a large-scale local conflict in the demilitarized zone of South Korea, supposedly caused by infected soldiers. It won’t be a real conflict caused by infected soldiers, but a ‘live exercise’ conducted by healthy soldiers.”

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