Chapter 135 – Butterfly Effect

Chapter 135 – Butterfly Effect

The calls came almost simultaneously.

[Lord, good morning. This is Jayden from the Western Alliance. I’m contacting you because unusual movements have been reported from the front lines recently… ]

[This is Yuzuki. Lately, strange rumors have been circulating among the soldiers, and I’m contacting you just in case… ]

[Are you well? This is Chen. As I mentioned last time, the merger of the Divine Merit Party and Hong Kong is proceeding smoothly. However, I’m ashamed to say that a small problem has arisen, and I’d like to ask for your help… ]

[This is Choi Yongjin. Have you read the report that the intelligence department just sent? You might find it hard to believe, but what I personally experienced on the front lines yesterday… ]

[…Lastly, though it’s nothing major, there have been some changes in the situation on the front lines recently. It’s as if they’re mimicking our actions. The report is attached. Thank you as always, and we hope to maintain the same close cooperative relationship as before… ]

The last message was from Vietnam.

‘What’s going on?’

I tilted my head and checked the reports sent by the Men. They were all quite long and detailed, and I thought it would take a long time to read them all, but that wasn’t the case.

“The content is all similar, isn’t it?”

It was almost as if they had all conspired to copy each other’s homework. But it wasn’t school… and they wouldn’t do such a foolish thing when their loyalty and lives were at stake.

‘If they had, they would have died long ago.’

Therefore, there was only one conclusion.

“The Monsters’ behavior patterns changed instantly.”

And that too, globally, in the same way.

In the past, they pursued all-out war with a large quantity, but now they seemed to be aiming for small-scale guerrilla warfare.

‘This is uncanny.’

I was a little confused. This was because they had never acted this way in the previous rounds.

And that’s because…

‘Guerrilla tactics are the tactics of the weak, after all.’

Logically, if you can overwhelm your opponent, there’s no need for such troublesome actions. It would be enough to go all-out and crush them.

This was especially true for Monsters versus humans.

In a war within Humanity, not touching civilians was the most basic stance. And guerrilla tactics, based on this premise, were typically carried out by hiding among civilians.

That’s why ample indigenous support was provided to the locals in occupied territories to prevent guerrilla tactics. That way, it would be harder for partisans to hide among civilians.

But Monsters were different.

They had no concept of civilians. If units tried to hide among civilians, they would happily start attacking the civilians.

In other words, from Humanity’s perspective, there was a situation where all-out war was forced.

If they went into all-out war, the Monsters would have an overwhelming advantage. Of course, this is under the premise that the Monsters’ forces are much stronger.

Therefore, the fact that Monsters have resorted to guerrilla tactics, unlike in the previous round, means-.

“They’re going to back down on their own, right?”

It had an even greater meaning.

It was the result of all my efforts. In any case, there was nothing to change even if they changed their strategy now.

“Let’s play your way, then.”

I started rummaging through my machine list.

***

Meanwhile, the White House, Oval Office.

The Mutants were laughing heartily.

“Hahaha, it’s just as Yujin said, The Man!

“Well… the fighting style of those foolish lower-dimensional beings can be helpful sometimes, haha.”

They, of course, had a time when they were other races in the past. But they seemed to have forgotten that a long time ago. To become high-ranking Mutants like them, they had to survive and fight among Monsters for a long time.

Thanks to such Mutants, Yujin was, of course, the one who tried the hardest to scheme in the battle against Humanity. For example, the Oval Office of the White House, which they now occupied, was like that.

As it was a symbol of Humanity’s power, their intention was to occupy that position and break the people’s will to resist.

The proposal of Guerrilla Tactics was an extension of such thinking.

No matter how strong the US Military was, it wasn’t without defeats. For example, the Vietnam War was like that, and the Afghanistan War was like that. They adopted the commonality of these, which was the use of Guerrilla Tactics.

They thought that no matter how strong the Magitech Legion was, it wouldn’t be able to withstand persistent Guerrilla Tactics.

Of course, there were no civilians to hide among the Monsters. So they slightly changed the tactics and applied them. For example, by hiding Nest that produce troops in tunnels.

And fortunately for them, it was different from the first Castle. News of victory, after a long time, began to be delivered from various parts of the world.

‘Now all I have to do is hold out like this.’

It should have been like that.

But…

“It seems the damage in Vietnam is a bit… serious.”

“Huh?”

“Well, there’s that Capital City. If it’s just one place like Vietnam…”

But it wasn’t just one place, Vietnam.

“Just now, from China as well…”

“It’s the same with the Japanese Sword.”

News of defeat began to pour out in an instant. It was a given that all the Mutants’ expressions turned pale.

“W-what in the world is happening…?”

The Men couldn’t even imagine it.

* * *

Meanwhile, in Incheon. The Magitech Legion’s Production Facility.

The Citizens were talking among themselves, looking at the Production Facility moving much more busily than usual, as if something was strange.

For example, like these two young women stirring coffee in a messy state at the Cafe right now.

“Ah, ahhh! I’m so tired.”

“You? That’s unusual.”

“Don’t even get me started. I was up all night, you know?”

“What? What happened?”

“What do you mean, it’s because of the Production Facility.”

“That’s right, you live near the Production Facility…”

Her Friend agreed.

That was because the Production Facilities were making such loud noises that they could be heard even at the Cafe.

Thump. Thump. Thud! Crash!

Even though the Cafe and the Production Facility were quite far apart.

Of course, everyone knew the importance of the production facility, so no one complained.

Living in a Fortified City was, in itself, a declaration to live a life closely intertwined with machines.

Rather than that, what was being made at the Production Facility was the core of their conversation. In this world, information helped everyone.

“So, what are they making so diligently?”

“Oh, about that…”

And the woman lowered her voice a little.

The woman whispered something, as if she had something she really wanted to hide, and the woman on the other side gasped dramatically.

“What?! All of that was an observation ship?”

“Shh, keep your voice down.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!”

The woman was working as a newspaper reporter, and she happened to be eager to publish a related article.

Of course, it was information that everyone who knew about it through Apoin already knew, but she thought it wouldn’t hurt to be careful.

“Anyway, that’s how it is!”

“What are they going to do with so many observation ships?”

“There’s a strange rumor going around these days…”

They talked for a long time, unaware that their coffee was getting cold. The most interesting rumor in the world these days was none other than the current situation of the Magitech Legion.

* * *

On the other side of the planet.

I grinned as I looked at the steadily accumulating observation ships.

“This is almost like map hacking.”

I had felt a similar sensation when I started deploying observation probes before, but then and now were different.

Not only did the observation ships have much superior capabilities than the observation probes, but the area under my influence had also expanded significantly.

The observation ships were diligently rolling their mana lenses from high altitudes, finding every single hidden monster stronghold without exception.

This was because the mana lenses could even detect the flow of mana, so hiding underground or anywhere else was useless.

“They’ve hidden so many.”

I grinned as I looked at the red dots representing the underground nests. The nests whose locations were identified were simply destroyed by the merciless artillery barrage of the Magitech Artillery Squad or the Photon Destroyer.

Hiding underground made little difference in the face of firepower that could even remove the ground itself.

Furthermore, my legion was identifying and eliminating even the scattered small units that appeared intermittently…

“Isn’t this actually a good thing?”

Unlike before, the monsters were dispersed into smaller groups, making them much easier to eliminate.

The strategy of The Men was actually helping me. I snorted as I looked at the troops and the Monsters.

“Since there are no civilians, we can force an all-out war?”

It could be said to be a strong point of Monsters, but…

“I can do that too, you know.”

Because now, I won’t be pushed around in a test of strength.

Meanwhile, that wasn’t just a distant story.

I looked at the mountain where Monsters had built a nest, which was also observed around me, and quietly murmured.

“I don’t like that mountain.”

It was the day Monsters were going to hell.

***

Meanwhile, back at the White House.

It didn’t take long for the Mutants to realize that their strategy was going wrong.

That was because they could see the units being destroyed and their numbers plummeting.

The Mutants, as if they had never praised Yujin-

“No, why on earth such a low-level tactic!”

“That’s what I said from the beginning!”

They were filled with rage and anger.

Yujin seemed unable to maintain a calm demeanor any longer.

“Damn it, hell!”

She, who had been quiet until now, was now spewing obscenities.

“I thought I could hold out a little longer. It doesn’t make sense that they can respond so quickly…”

The Mutants seized the opportunity and began to taunt her.

“If it came to this, I would have rather fought honorably. What a pathetic sight, fighting while hiding underground…”

“The country of DangLoyalty, which struggled because of such a trivial strategy, doesn’t seem so great either. Well, it was just a world without mana in the end.”

“The Man, so the words of the lower dimensional beings-“

Whoosh-

Yujin drew upon his Loyalty mana and silenced them. It was exactly as The Man had said.

“6th Circle. Area Silence.”

Swish-

As silence fell, the Oval Office became as quiet as a mouse.

However, it didn’t cut off the flow of mana or prevent the activation of abilities. It merely sealed their mouths so they couldn’t cast spells. In a way, it almost seemed like a conceptual error.

But this was, perhaps, natural. After all, his abilities were originally derived from the Archmage in the online game he enjoyed.

If Yujin’s own mouth were sealed and he couldn’t cast spells, his abilities would have been sealed.

‘Of course, there’s no reason to reveal this information.’

This was also something only Yujin knew. He silenced everyone and began to make a declaration.

“At this point, it’s all or nothing.”

“Mmph!”

“Ugh.”

He said to the mutants who couldn’t answer.

“Lord, we must personally step in and eliminate him.”

“U-mmmph!”

“Mmph! Mmph mph!”

“If you have any objections, speak now.”

Yujin scoffed at the sputtering mutants.

* * *

Meanwhile, even amidst all this……

[Rate of Fire Amplification Research in progress… 59%]

The research was steadily progressing.