Chapter 34 – Using Barbarians to Control Barbarians

I quietly watched as the Production Facility Summoning Rift steadily opened, and I casually asked Seongjae, who was with me.

“How do the newcomers seem to you?”

“They seem to be adapting quickly. It looks like there are some around my brother’s age; they’ve been seeming quite cheerful lately.”

“Did any of them have abilities that are immediately useful?”

“Ah, about that. There’s a Decay Ability User.”

“A Decay Ability User?”

“Apparently, they can cause organic matter to decay rapidly and can even set the direction of that decay.”

“Oho.”

“They might be able to make things like compost, or if we’re lucky, maybe even methane or petroleum. We’re experimenting with a few things together, but…”

Seongjae shook his head.

“It seems they had thought their ability was useless until now, so I’m guiding them from the very beginning… I think it’ll take some time.”

I patted him on the shoulder and said, “I’m trusting you with it.”

If we could obtain compost more easily, farming would undoubtedly become much simpler. And farming was the most basic of basics.

We couldn’t eat processed foods forever.

There were the greenhouses Deokchan had originally set up, but those alone were far from enough. At the very least, we had to hold out until the former colleagues who could solve these related issues arrived.

Fortunately, we had taken in about 40 people in the motel district, and all of them were providing labor and helping with various tasks, including farming.

‘Of course, they’re not as good as the Worker Bugs.’

I let out a sigh.

“Ding!”

Watching the Worker Bug work hard, whether it knew its own value or not, I thought to myself. Unlike the Worker Bugs, who could practically work for free near the Main Base’s Mana Facility…

Humans need to be fed. They need to sleep. They need clothes. Heating, leisure time, safety—they wanted too many things.

‘Still, it’s for the sake of the future…’

Of course, I wasn’t doing this out of charity.

They were all Ability Users with special powers, and as society grew larger, there were many abilities that would be helpful in one way or another.

Even if not, I could rely on the professional skills they had in their Previous Life. For instance, I had found a proper electrician who was currently carrying out electrical work alongside Seongjae and Deokchan.

Furthermore, the more they trained their mana, the more basic combat capabilities they would acquire, which would allow me to achieve the Mana Stone Economy that I failed to realize in my previous life.

‘Then the supply of Mana Stones will surely skyrocket.’

In a sense, I was purchasing their potential and investing in the future. And this was an essential task.

‘Right now, no one knows the value of Mana Stones… but later on, it will become impossible for a Worker Bug to go alone and pick them up.’

For now, I only had to extract Mana Stones from the Monster corpses strewn about, but eventually, everyone would notice the preciousness of Mana Stones, and there would be none left rolling around on the ground.

In particular, since Mana Stones from Stompers could be used without significant issues, related rumors were starting to circulate in Apoin.

So, strictly speaking, those people were nothing more than Mana Stone production units.

In any case, it didn’t cost money to produce the water and electricity essential for modern life; it was just a matter of Sua and Seongjae suffering a bit.

‘So, grow quickly, all of you.’

I summoned three more Styrofoam Magitech Armors to serve as their combat instructors, with a total of four taking turns sparring with them. I also planned to dispatch them to a Dungeon as soon as they grew to a certain level.

“Hehehehe…”

A hopeful smile naturally formed on my face.

* * *

Meanwhile, I continued my conquest of the New Downtown Area.

‘The south is mostly cleared…’

The problem was the north side of the New Downtown Area. Not only was the Line 1 railway there, but it was also a strategic point packed with shopping districts. Because it was rich in resources, a large force was stationed there.

‘Using the Assault Cannon will be difficult…’

If it were Monsters, I could just sweep them away with the Assault Cannon, but the opponents were people who possessed resources. Setting aside the lives of the Looters, I couldn’t let their food or clothing be blown away as collateral damage.

‘Especially since I need them right now.’

Since it was a resource-rich area, the amount of resources they had gathered was on a completely different level compared to Kim Cheonsu, who had been struggling to survive.

Moreover, as the number of people within the walls grew explosively, I was starting to worry about the resource supply. I had to gather every resource I could.

However, the problem was their scale.

There were at least six hundred of them.

‘I think the original population of Geumhwa New City was over 80,000…’

Even assuming at least half survived, that would be 40,000 people.

Compared to that, it wasn’t actually a large number. It meant there were still many survivors who hadn’t properly clustered together.

‘Still, compared to my forces, it’s far too many.’

The opponents were Marauders. Many of them possessed combat-type abilities, and by now, they would have gained a fair amount of experience. Thus, it wasn’t a problem that could be solved simply by sending Magitech Armor or Mountain Cavalry.

‘Of course, it’s not that I couldn’t do it if I wanted to…’

It was a problem that would eventually be solved if I sent enough quantity.

But this was a matter of efficiency. Doing so would waste time and resources. In the worst-case scenario, I had to consider the possibility of information about my machines leaking.

‘I want to reduce their numbers a bit before that… Is there any good way…?’

With those thoughts, using an Observation Probe with further improved image quality, I was searching for a way to drastically reduce the number of Looters without losing resources when I witnessed a peculiar sight.

“Oho. What’s this?”

Two squads of Looters seemed to be competing, engaged in a heated argument. The first group consisted mainly of Looters residing in a nearby middle school, wearing red bands on their heads.

“What, just get lost and stop annoying us!”

“Middle school brats in our territory again! Are you itching to die!”

The second group called the rough-looking men, who clearly looked like adults, “middle school brats.” It seemed they were doing it to provoke them.

“What, middle school brats!? These bastards, I’ve had enough!”

Soon, the first group began to evoke their mana.

Perhaps it was a truly insignificant provocation, but for those fighting over territory, it seemed a trivial trigger was all they needed.

Whoosh—!

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

They formed a formation with an Ability User in the rear who fired pebbles like ammunition.

Whish—! Whoosh—!

And in the front, they placed a bulky man wielding a Japanese Sword obtained from who knows where.

Meanwhile, the other side didn’t just take it.

Clang, clang, clang—!

The one receiving the pebbles with his entire body was a man clad in Steel.

“Hngh—!”

As he reached out and struck the Japanese Sword…

Ting!

The blade broke helplessly and flew away.

“Damn it! I knew it looked cheap!”

The bulky man cursed. However, the tide of battle had already turned.

Grab!

“Ugh, ugh, cough, cough!”

Having lost his weapon, the bulky man’s neck was soon seized by a hand clad in Steel.

“Don’t ever show your face in this area again. I believe I told you that last time? This is the last time I’ll be lenient. You wouldn’t want to make an enemy of us, would you?”

“Fine, we’re leaving.”

The battle ended anticlimactically. Watching the scene through the Observation Probe, I pondered the situation for a moment.

“Hmm… so they don’t get along well among themselves?”

But it didn’t seem to be a severe conflict. At the very least, the situation had fizzled out without anyone dying.

That didn’t mean they were people who hesitated to kill. Human corpses were commonly seen near where they lived.

Furthermore, they showed signs of having lost their humanity, such as mutilating bodies to decorate their entrances with skulls.

Regardless, it was true that my curiosity was piqued.

“It’ll be worth checking out.”

I immediately called Sua and asked her to inquire about the relevant information from the survivors. The answer was as follows:

“Those Looters are an alliance of three groups with similar levels of power. But it seems there is some friction because they are keeping an eye on each other.”

It seemed they were having their own Three Kingdoms period.

‘This… I can make use of this.’

I began to rack my brain.

* * *

I immediately sent orders to the Mountain Cavalry.

Whish— Whish—!

The sound of wind cutting. The eight Mountain Cavalry units patrolling the vicinity immediately began to move according to my instructions.

The direction they headed was toward the middle school Looters, who were currently retreating after trespassing into the opposing territory.

‘There’s no way they acted without a plan.’

Looters weren’t fools. At the very least, this was the Republic of Korea, where most men had completed military service. It was certain that they would have reported to their superiors before heading to a specific area.

‘In other words, their leadership would have expected friction.’

Perhaps testing the waters, accepting the disputed area if there was no reaction, or ordering a retreat if there was friction—all of that might have been part of their operation.

‘Based on this… I will exploit the situation.’

I ordered the Mountain Cavalry to launch an ambush.

Swish-swish-swish-swish—!

Eight javelins were thrown instantly.

Thump-thump-thump-thump!

Four out of the five-man squad fell instantly, unable to react. The bulky man was suddenly left alone.

“Huh? Why are you guys—”

At first, he couldn’t grasp the situation, but soon he was seized by terror.

“Hieeeek!”

He pulled out his broken Japanese Sword and began looking around frantically. I had a specific task for him.

‘I feel a bit sorry.’

I ordered the Mountain Cavalry to stab the right thigh of the man who was trembling like an aspen leaf in fear.

Squelch!

“Gahhh!”

Unable to even defend himself properly, the bulky man took the hit to his thigh.

Gush—!

Blood began to pour out from the thigh where the artery had been pierced. The bulky man tried to clutch the wound, but the bleeding was too severe to be stopped by such a gesture.

‘Mountain Cavalry, withdraw now.’

Leaving the man with such a wound, I retreated the Mountain Cavalry.

“Hu, huh!? Why did you leave me?”

The bulky man was confused, but his life was in critical danger.

There was now effectively only one option left for him.

‘Yes, go home.’

His actions had already been usurped by me.

Eventually, like a brush, he left a clear trail of blood from the disputed area toward the middle school before collapsing shortly after.

It was excessive bleeding.

‘Good.’

Everything went according to my plan.

* * *

The situation progressed further about two hours later.

Those who had sent out another patrol to investigate the squad that had gone out and not returned discovered the body.

I was able to watch the scene directly through the Observation Probe.

“The direction of this blood is…”

“I can’t believe those bastards went that far.”

“K-kh! This cannot be. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. No matter how allied we are, we cannot just take this!”

“Calm down. The report comes first.”

They returned to the middle school.

“Kukukuku…”

I couldn’t suppress a smirk.

Of course, I wasn’t the type to stop at this.

After that, I continued to check various places with the Observation Probe for a while, inciting friction and sowing discord between them whenever the situation allowed.

Naturally, to erase traces of my intervention, I used various methods other than the Mountain Cavalry’s spears to create diverse wounds on the corpses.

As a result… the Looters eventually split back into the three original factions before the alliance and engaged in a bloody battle.

They began to drastically reduce each other’s numbers.

The forces, which were initially divided between the middle school, the hospital, and the city hall, were eventually unified under the middle school faction after several large-scale battles.

The number that had exceeded six hundred was reduced to barely two hundred.

‘Now it’s about time to give it a try…’

Coincidentally, the summoning of the Production Facility had just been completed.

‘Then now… we go for an all-out war of quantity against quantity.’

As long as I had the Production Facility, I could produce that amount of forces. And once the Looters were cleared away, I would be able to block the railway leading to Incheon.

‘Choi Seunghwan… this time, things won’t go your way.’

The thought of throwing a wrench into his grand plan brought a natural smile to my face.