Chapter 84 – Northern Advance

After finishing his formal conversation with Siwoo, William was…

Confused once again.

“So, you’re saying this thing… grows plants, spits out concrete, and handles chores?”

“Ding?”

He was facing a Worker Bug.

“Good grief, man! Not concrete, lava!”

The market vendor shouted in frustration.

Apoin was translating his words with absolute precision, capturing every single nuance.

William flinched at the outburst, but he remained steadfast, continuing to ask the questions he was curious about.

“How much for one of these?”

“I wonder what the exchange rate is these days?”

“Exchange rate?”

“There’s a Worker Bug Exchange over there, so go there. You can exchange it for Worker Bug Coins.”

William was bewildered.

‘Worker Bug Coins? Are they using a new type of currency?’

While acting as a contact ship traveling between the UK and Australia, he had felt that all economies had shifted back to a real-asset economy.

Currency was now nothing more than scraps of paper from the past.

However, it seemed to be different here.

‘This is problematic… All I brought were bullets.’

After pondering this, William asked cautiously.

“Worker Bug Coins? By any chance, do you accept bullets?”

“Bullets? Hmm… Who uses guns these days when there’s Magitech Armor? You might be able to sell them if you go to the scrap yard back there.”

When William visited the scrap yard…

He was once again struck with astonishment.

‘What is with these prices?!’

The price of bullets was so low it was practically a dumping price!

He wondered if he was being ripped off because he was an outsider, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t the case. It seemed the scrap yard dealt in a considerable amount of ammunition regardless of who the customer was.

‘This… this is a problem.’

It was a situation incomprehensible by William’s common sense.

No matter how little ammunition had been secured, he had assumed that guns themselves would still be plentiful on the Korean Peninsula.

And for good reason; the Republic of Korea was a military powerhouse with a standing army of about 600,000. Even if not civilian firearms, he expected that looted military weapons would be circulating sufficiently in the market.

Considering hunting rifles, reserve force equipment, and police firearms… there was a significant number of guns, so he thought there would be a corresponding demand for ammunition.

‘I thought bringing just bullets would be enough…’

It was the moment his common sense collapsed.

‘But if this is the case, how do I handle logistics?’

After returning to his ship, William immediately gathered all high-ranking officers, including the Logistics Officer, to hold an emergency meeting regarding supply procurement.

* * *

The plan they eventually came up with was as follows:

Hand over the bullets to their own soldiers and officers, who could derive practical value from them, and buy up valuable personal items from them.

Then, they would sell those items at the market, and the demand was far higher than expected.

In particular, DVDs/Blu-rays containing music or movies, game consoles, and luxury goods were selling like hotcakes.

“These people… have the leisure to watch movies?”

“They even bought game consoles. Electricity must be common.”

“Why on earth would they want luxury watches when they have digital ones…?”

The mere fact that there was demand for items not directly related to survival was shocking to all of them.

Meanwhile, William was deploying troops to conduct reconnaissance on the military capabilities of Siwoo’s forces. He had a strong desire to confirm exactly how they were securing territory.

This was also one of the missions assigned to him.

When the reconnaissance personnel returned…

“They say something called Magitech Armor has replaced firearms.”

“They say bullets aren’t even necessary.”

“Mortars and self-propelled guns have been replaced by something called Assault Cannons.”

“They say it’s stronger than a tank’s main gun.”

Some of the information was reasonably convincing.

“There’s a person who goes around killing swarms of Monsters single-handedly.”

“Fighter jets that fire beams of light emerge from a massive aircraft carrier-like object that covers the sky, killing all the Harpies in the vicinity.”

“Some machine can just flip a tank over with its hands?”

There was also a lot of information that was hard to believe. However, since the reports were repeatedly cross-referenced, he had no choice but to accept them as fact.

‘This… is going to be a pain to write in the report.’

William let out a deep sigh.

* * *

And about a week later.

The USS Constitution took to the skies once more.

William seemed to have spent a very busy week.

In particular, beyond the Observation Probes, he had even asked if he could borrow about two Worker Bugs and two sets of Magitech Armor, and I had agreed to do so under various conditions.

Of course, having completed his market research, William said he would return with items that would be more helpful next time, and that he would negotiate various terms with the US government.

This wasn’t just his own decision; it was a fact he had confirmed directly with the US President via satellite phone, so it would likely be helpful.

Meanwhile, William wasn’t the only one who was busy.

“Hmm…”

I briefly examined the spherical machine, the mechanics of which—how it floated—I didn’t quite understand. It was a Large-Class unit that had been unlocked thanks to the Mana Veil Essence.

‘It seems it can also strengthen the Mana Barrier…’

Mana Barrier strengthening was a secondary function of the Observation Ship, allowing it to strengthen its own Mana Shield and further its Mana Barrier.

But this machine, the [Emitter], was different.

Although it consumed a lot of Aetherium, these things could use their own mana to strengthen the Mana Barrier of another entity, or even grant one. For example, it could wrap a thick Mana Barrier around a Worker Bug, which had a weak inherent barrier.

“Of course, there’s not much reason to use it on a Worker Bug…”

“Ding?!”

The greatest advantage of this was that it could cast a barrier over humans as well. This meant that casualties in the area where an Emitter was located could be minimized.

‘Which means insane troop preservation is possible.’

But that wasn’t all.

Space was also included as an ‘entity.’

In other words, the other ‘entity’ didn’t necessarily have to be a physical object like a person. That is, it could create a barrier in mid-air to block attacks.

‘I’ll stop the Civilization Bulldozer with this.’

I grinned.

It was then that Choi Yongjin called me.

“Siwoo, there’s a report that the movements up ahead are strange.”

It seemed… it was finally about to begin.

* * *

In Paju City, which was responsible for blocking the southward advance of the Siberian Front north of the Han River, something terrible was happening.

Sizzle— Hiss— Hiss—

Acid Slugs, which melted everything around them and emitted toxic smoke as they moved. Previously, they had appeared with a frequency similar to non-special entities that only showed up occasionally.

But this time was different.

“Ugh… it’s like a swarm of maggots.”

A swarm of Acid Slugs, so numerous it made the heart sink, was advancing as if to melt and erase every object in sight.

The characteristic of the Acid Slug was that its own body was acidic, making it difficult for attacks to land.

Whoosh— Bam bam bam!

Occasionally, rocks were thrown or bullets hit them. But the creatures continued to crawl southward as if it meant nothing.

“Damn it! Why won’t they die!”

“You country bumpkin. Is this your first time seeing an Acid Slug!”

“Your ability isn’t a good match! Stop wasting time and save your mana!”

Consequently, only Ability Users with powers like fire or electricity, who could counter the Acid Slugs, were able to step forward and fight. But the problem was… it wasn’t just Acid Slugs approaching.

“Kieeeeeeek!”

Acid Moths filled the sky.

Krrrk— Krrr-krrrk— Krrrk—

And behind the slugs, Acid Spiders were gathering and advancing.

The world was about to change once again.

* * *

Splat! Splat! Splat!

Acid continued to pour out.

Chirrrr—

Even their attack patterns were different from before.

Previously, they had simply followed instinct to hunt and kill humans… but now, they were displaying a much more aggressive demeanor.

Whether humans were visible or not…

They attacked buildings unconditionally. They turned everything—cars, roads, fields, and railroads—into a chaotic mess.

“No, why the perfectly fine rice fields!”

“Is someone inside that house?”

“My god, that sports car! I had my eye on that!”

Everyone was shocked by the destructive sight.

And that emotion soon turned into despair.

“This… this is…”

“They’re trying to erase every single trace of humanity…”

“No… this can’t be happening…”

A war with Monsters is not a war with humans.

It is not a war to steal what the opponent has or to utilize the opponent’s assets.

It is simply a war for survival.

A war of either killing or being killed.

It was perhaps obvious, but many ordinary people were only now realizing it.

* * *

The battle continued for a while.

Those in charge of Paju City were doing their best, but…

There was clearly a limit.

“Damn it! We have to stop the advance!”

“We can’t retreat!”

“B-but if we do, we’ll…!”

It was just as everyone was in a panic.

Vroooooom—

Boom—

Screeeech—

The cry of Interceptors echoed across the battlefield.

The Monsters’ front line began to collapse under the Photon Autocannons.

But that wasn’t all.

Fwoooooosh—

Along with a massive amount of mana, a barrier was cast in front of them.

Splat— Splat— Splat—

A vast amount of acid poured onto the barrier, but…

Vroooooom—

The Mana Barrier was effortlessly neutralizing the acid.

The city had begun to be protected.

Furthermore—.

Whirrr—

Several Armored Transport Planes were flying in, struggling to carry Colossi with the legs attached to their undersides.

And as they dropped the Colossi at the front—.

Whoosh— K-boom!

The Colossi landed, kicking up massive clouds of dust.

Then, as the Armored Transport Planes landed, Assault Cannons and members of the Volunteer Knights began to pour out from the inside.

“Fire! Fire!”

The tide of battle was turning in an instant.

“They’re here.”

“Finally…”

“The Legion of the Magitech Civilization has arrived!”

Everyone naturally erupted in cheers.

* * *

I looked on with satisfaction at my machines defending Paju City and then shifted my gaze. Paju City wasn’t the only place I was protecting.

As a result of running the Large Production Facility without rest for the past few days.

A total of 12 Aerial Motherships were floating across the entire Korean Peninsula. Each of them had their own operational radius, blocking the southward advance of the Civilization Bulldozers.

While many of them were engaged in combat within the forests of Gangwon Province…

I placed one Emitter in every major city to prevent damage, and deployed Assault Cannons and Colossi along the roads to block the enemy’s advance.

They were also slowly advancing.

At this point, it was confusing whether this was a ‘defense’ or an ‘attack.’

Of course, it was intentional.

“They say ‘lunch in Pyongyang, dinner in Sinuiju,’ right?”

I grinned.

“Just like this, we push forward.”

The Northern Advance had begun.