Chapter 108 – Departure

Chapter 108 – Departure

I quietly looked at the Shopping Mall.

“It’s changed so much…”

The Shopping Mall, surrounded by a Black Adamantite Deck, had served as my Main Base.

Inside, there were several Production Facilities. Also, Research Facilities and mana facilities, among others, could be considered the core of the Castle located in Geumhwa New City.

It was my beloved Main Base, but…

“It feels strange to leave it like this now.”

Not anymore.

Rumble!

Now my Main Base was the Assault Landing Ship, making a tremendous engine sound above the Shopping Mall. Next to the Assault Landing Ship, there was a relatively smaller Aircraft Carrier, side by side-

Vroooom-

It was using an Anti-Gravity Field to transport reserve Resources into my new Main Base. It was a considerable amount of Resources, noticeable even from a distance.

Once those Resources entered the Assault Landing Ship-

“Ding!!”

The Worker Bugs already positioned inside immediately received them and went through the process of loading them inside.

All the water from inside the shopping mall was being moved in this way, but there was enough space inside the assault landing ship.

Especially when including the hangar space.

And space wasn’t the only thing that was sufficient.

Currently, there were four production facilities inside the assault landing ship, including a worker bug specialized production facility and production facilities ranging from small to large.

There was also one spare research facility and one mana facility. The electricity produced by the mana facility could be linked with the assault landing ship and used for household appliances.

At this point, it was practically a moving city.

However, that didn’t mean a ground base wasn’t necessary.

‘Replenishing troops won’t be easy…’

Even if the Behemoth-class production facility was fine, it was particularly regrettable that there was no space to install a super-large production facility.

After all, the super-large class Colossus and Aerial Mothership were the backbone of my ground forces and air force, respectively. Furthermore, the Magitech Artillery Squad, also a super-large class, boasted considerable firepower.

But the super-large production facility was the size of four regular production facilities, so it wasn’t hard to understand.

It wouldn’t be a big problem anyway.

‘Well then, I’ll just have to carry a lot of things with me.’

The hangar space was sufficient. In fact, there weren’t enough Colossi to fill it.

Meanwhile, Kim Mincheol was looking at me with an anxious expression.

“Do you really have to go?”

He was currently in charge of all matters related to city macro management, not only in Bucheon but also in Incheon, Ganghwa Island, and other areas.

Since our faction’s core revolved around ‘me’ alone, he seemed quite shocked by my announcement that I would move the main base to the assault landing ship.

“There’s no need to worry.”

I reassured him once again.

And explained my plan.

First, Choi Yongjin.

He, who had returned from his honeymoon to the South Sea, willingly agreed to take on the protection of the Korean Peninsula with the Volunteer Knights. Not only was a considerable number of machines handed over to him…

[Repeat Production Order]

“Is this how you use this?”

The production facility located in Incheon was also handed over.

Of course, I was mainly planning to use the Super-Large Class and Behemoth-Class myself.

Starting from small Observation Probes and Magitech Armor, to medium Assault Cannons and Interceptors, and large armored transport aircraft, the Volunteer Knights’ support was sufficient.

In addition to him, the mana facilities were steadily and gradually expanding throughout the Korean Peninsula, so there wouldn’t be a big problem.

Meanwhile, unlike Kim Mincheol, who was worried, his younger brother, Kim Gyeongcheol, was enthusiastic.

“Hahaha… Don’t worry, sir. I will ensure ideal economic macro-management.”

What he was in charge of was the overall economy.

He boasted that he would show what an economy managed by an Economics Ph.D. was like.

He was also in charge of the Worker Bug Specialized Production Facility, and he planned to maintain the value of Worker Bug Coins through the Worker Bug rental service he spearheaded.

In fact, all of this was something they were already doing. In other words, it wouldn’t be a big problem whether I was there or not.

Most of the shopping mall personnel, apart from them, moved to the Assault Landing Ship with me.

They were Sua, Minju, Seongjae, and Seoyeon, but unfortunately, Sanghoon decided not to come with us.

‘I guess that’s right for him.’

His healing ability was always available.

His ability was so valuable that, if we were to consider only one person, he would be the strongest besides me, yet he focused more on saving people through his ability rather than fire manipulation.

Of course, there was insurance.

‘Anyway, if push comes to shove, Minju can just bring him over.’

Sanghoon’s location was fixed, so Minju could always bring him when needed. It was a kind of ‘life insurance.’

In addition to him, Sua’s father, Deokchan, also joined us and agreed to take on the work in the field.

As we were able to recruit several Contract Ability Users, Seongjae’s younger brother, Seongmin, who was relatively less important, also decided to come with us.

Most of the family was together, but there were exceptions.

“Minho, are you really okay?”

“Yes… I still want to learn more.”

Minho was assisting Mincheol and learning about overall city macro-management, and it seemed he was also learning economics under Gyeongcheol these days.

Although Minju was very worried, Minho was not a child but an adult, so they decided to respect his opinion.

Having entrusted the foundation of my faction in the Korean Peninsula to the man, I…

“Now that the man is here, we can set sail, right?”

I grinned.

It was time to head to India.

Rumble-

With a massive vibrating sound, my fleet began to take flight.

***

A moment later, inside the bridge of the Assault Landing Ship.

As my fleet crossed the West Sea, the screen on the bridge floor showed the surging blue ocean.

“Wow… look at the sea.”

Seoyeon admired the sea.

The woman, who had returned to her usual pajama attire, seemed to have spent a considerable sum of money to acquire numerous anime posters to put up in her room.

In addition, she had brought a considerable number of manga, music, anime, and movie DVDs in preparation for a potentially long journey.

The result was, of course-.

“Please, I beg you, older sister…”

“Seriously, Seongjae, please stop calling me ‘older sister’!”

It was Seongjae’s persistent request.

Seoyeon had shared manga with Seongjae’s younger brother, Seongmin, but she immediately refused Seongjae, saying she felt uncomfortable seeing him drooling over manga characters.

Seongjae, asking if it was because he was older, continued to call Seoyeon ‘Noona’ and plead with her, but…

“It just makes me dislike it even more!”

It was counterproductive.

Meanwhile, Sua was carefully holding down her fluttering skirt, and Minju looked at her with a curious expression.

“Sua, why are you doing that?”

“Sister, don’t you think this will show from below?”

In response to her concern, Minju elegantly twirled around and said,

“The man, like me, should just wear pants!”

Minju enjoyed wearing pants to maximize her loyalty ability. When she used spatial teleportation to high altitudes as needed, a fluttering skirt would be inconvenient for fire manipulation in many ways.

Of course, there was no camera on the bridge floor, just that screen. It only felt like they were floating, but they weren’t actually, so there was no way anyone could see from below. When I explained this to Sua and Minju, they understood and nodded their heads.

“I must be stupid…”

Sua’s face flushed at my explanation.

Meanwhile, it wasn’t just the outside that was visible from within the bridge. When I turned the screen, I saw Seongmin and Deokchan engrossed in woodworking.

“No-o, that’s not how you do it~ Now, watch.”

Deokchan, though frustrated, was patiently teaching Seongmin woodworking skills.

In this world, he thought it might be useful to learn a craft skill when he had time, so Seongmin commendably requested it himself.

He was learning from Deokchan during the day, and then expanding his knowledge by learning theories and other things from Seongjae afterwards.

‘I look forward to the future.’

I nodded my head, watching Seongmin.

Even amidst all that, my fleet crossed the West Sea…

And was already arriving at its first waypoint.

“It’s been a long time.”

That place was, of course, Shanghai.

* * *

I immediately sought out Chen.

“Chen, have you been well?”

“I’ve been very busy. But I consider it a good sign.”

Chen greeted me respectfully. His escort, who was around Chen, looked puzzled by Chen’s behavior.

Zap!

But Chen gave him a sharp look. His escort also bowed his head towards me.

“I apologize. Their training isn’t quite finished yet…”

“Well, people can make mistakes.”

I grinned and waved at the Man’s Escort.

The Man, and we got straight to the point.

The Man, Chen seemed to have effectively retired Wang Wei.

It was a good sign.

After all, the Divine Merit Party was no longer a society based solely on military power, and the Man had lost a significant portion of his military strength.

So Wang Wei’s position could only become more precarious, and he was effectively a figurehead. Then Chen appeared like a Castle, and as planned, through his connection with me, he was stabilizing public sentiment.

Through the Man’s Railway and armored transport planes, Water transactions, troops, and Worker Bug garrisons were being established, and absorbing Allurement Essence was proving to be a great help.

Furthermore, he added that my arrival on the Giant Warship would be an enormous help in expanding Chen’s Loyalty and influence.

‘I was just passing through, though.’

Well, it was good that I could help.

As I discussed Chen’s consolidation of power within the Divine Merit Party, I also received an explanation about the situation in the South.

“You mean you’re heading South?”

“Yes, the final destination is India.”

I answered the Man casually. Chen seemed surprised, but he seriously confirmed the forces along my route.

“Currently, there’s a force centered around Hong Kong… They are expanding their diplomatic influence. They are not a bad force. It’s also where I used to live.”

“Then we’ll bypass that area. What about the Man’s South?”

“You might have to pass through Vietnam for a short while.”

“Is Vietnam a problem?”

“There’s no problem. Rather, it’s too intact.”

It was the first I’d heard of it.

“Intact?”

At my question, Chen nodded seriously.

“Completely intact. I understand the Military is fine, and society is relatively well-functioning.”

“Are there any Ability Users?”

“Ah… that…”

Chen scratched his head awkwardly.

“It’s not like there’s a separate Ability User, but it seems they’re showing tremendous defense through the Guerrilla Tactics they used during the Vietnam War.”

“Guerrilla Tactics?”

Seongjae chimed in at my words.

“Wow… as expected of Vietnam.”

“Why?”

“You don’t know about it? Vietnam, Grave of Empires. China was repelled countless times, the Mongol Empire was defeated, the Qing Dynasty was defeated, France was defeated, the Japanese were driven out, and even the United States was defeated.”

“And they’re doing well against the Monsters?”

It seemed there were other surviving nations besides the United States.