Chapter 79 – May Spring Come

Chapter 79 – May Spring Come

I froze for a moment.

Even though I had used my abilities quite a lot in my Previous Life and thought about them deeply… this was also a first, just as it was the first time I had recovered more than 1/7 of the forgotten information.

‘What are you?’

[I am an Assistant AI.]

Ironically…

A short answer that wasn’t even helpful.

I decided to refine my question a bit more.

‘Like The Man, what can you help with?’

[I share general and detailed information about abilities to help the user utilize them more smoothly.]

‘Oh, I see….’

I nodded quietly.

I thought this might be a good opportunity to find out what I had been curious about all this time.

‘What is the Magitech Civilization?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

‘Does that mean I need to collect more Essence…?’

I felt impatient.

But there was still so much I was curious about.

‘Whose Successor am I?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

The Assistant AI repeatedly couldn’t answer.

It seemed I had secured too little Essence.

Thinking of the Statue of a Submarine Patrol Vessel Person, I decided to change my question a bit this time.

‘Was the Magitech Civilization indeed founded by humans?’

[That is correct.]

A brief answer.

But it was a considerable achievement.

If the other side were also people and The Men had also fought against Monsters, they might be of great help to Earth’s Humanity.

‘What kind of humans are they, and where do they live?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

But the assistant couldn’t answer.

‘Questions about the Magitech Civilization still aren’t possible, huh…?’

I decided to change the direction of my questions.

‘What exactly are Monsters like The Man?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

‘How can I prevent the Monsters from invading?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

‘Why are the Monsters invading?’

[There isn’t enough Essence to restore that information.]

‘…How do Mutants or Villains come into existence?’

[Insufficient Essence to retrieve this information.]

“Oh, come on…”

I had to suppress the urge to curse at the assistant, who similarly couldn’t answer.

Just when I thought I could uncover all the world’s secrets I was curious about, none of my questions were being answered.

‘That damn Essence of The Man!’

I felt like my insides were bursting with frustration.

“Where can I get The Man’s Essence, The Man?”

It was the moment I asked that question.

Whoosh-

A place was shown in my mind.

“Huh?”

A gigantic Nest in a forest. It was an overwhelming size that I had never seen before, including in my Previous Life.

Then my gaze slowly began to zoom out from that Nest, soon revealing endlessly stretching, rugged snow-capped mountains. And then, to its left, it showed a considerably large, long lake.

‘Where have I seen that lake…?’

I started to rack my brain, but…

There was no need. Soon, my gaze zoomed out further, showing the familiar spherical shape of the Earth. The identity of the lake in its center was clearly revealed.

“Lake Baikal.”

The very center of the Siberian Front.

In the mountain range next to Lake Baikal… there was a gigantic Nest.

***

Unfortunately, I didn’t yet have the capacity to send an Observation Ship or Observation Probe to Russia. In the end, I had to choose another method.

“This is the Master of Geography.”

A naive-looking man, accompanied by Kim Mincheol from Bucheon, stood beside him and greeted me.

“Ah, hello!”

He was a man I found after a considerable search, and it seemed he was living as a manual laborer, moving from one agricultural development to another between Bucheon and Incheon with just a shovel.

‘Well… it’s not easy to make a living in your field in a world like this.’

In fact, even before the Apocalypse, it wouldn’t have been easy to utilize a geography major. Now, the demand for civil engineering labor was the highest.

I quickly greeted the man and started asking questions.

“Do you know anything about Lake Baikal?”

“Uh… I was working on a related paper. The impact of Lake Baikal and the nearby paper industry…”

“Then you must also know about this mountain range?”

I pulled out a large map.

It was hanging in a nearby middle school, and I had asked Seongjae to find a more detailed map at the Seoul National University library.

The man looked at the mountain range and exclaimed as if he was happy to see it.

“Ah, the Yablonovy Mountains. They are sometimes considered part of the Stanovoy Mountains.”

They were unusual names.

But the name of the mountain range wasn’t really that important.

“Are there many people living in this vicinity?”

“There are hardly any people.”

It seemed it wasn’t a region taken over by monsters for no reason.

With few people and a rugged mountain range acting as a natural fortress… it must have been like paradise for the monsters.

“Then what’s the fastest way to get there?”

“Ah, there was a train route. The Baikal-Amur Railway, it was also called the second Trans-Siberian Railway.”

It seemed… there was a way, somehow.

***

I had a brief discussion with Seongjae and Yongjin. When I shared the relevant information, they seemed quite surprised.

“So the target is Lake Baikal…”

“That means we have to directly penetrate the Siberian Front.”

Unlike the serious Yongjin, who listened to my words…

Seongjae looked a little excited.

“The Trans-Siberian Railway! My Steam Locomotive will cross Siberia!”

“No… isn’t there no need to go by steam train?”

That’s when Yongjin grumbled like that.

Seongjae turned his head roughly and started to snap.

“No, this must be a Steam Locomotive. Since the railway might be broken, we can’t use high-speed rail anyway. And I can solve the fuel problem.”

He wasn’t speaking informally yet, but it was the first time for Seongjae, who used to be shy around Yongjin.

“Well… if Seongjae says so, then that’s how it is.”

Yongjin eventually surrendered to Seongjae.

“It must also be an Adamantite Steam Locomotive!”

Seongjae was even more fired up with enthusiasm.

‘I’ll start preparations quickly.’

For now, there was a lot else to do.

They hadn’t even finished the Unification of Seoul, let alone the Korean Peninsula, and they were barely maintaining the current situation, not pushing further into the Northern Region.

But a long-term goal had certainly emerged.

From vaguely ‘pushing the Siberian Front’ to removing the Giant Nest in Siberia.

“Trans-Siberian Railway! Spain, here I come!”

…It seemed Seongjae had a different goal, though.

***

Meanwhile, I looked at the newly unlocked machines.

“This one seems like a bust…”

Many of them weren’t designed for modern combat.

For example, among the small machines, there was one that would rush in and bite like a wolf. These fragile ones would clearly be accidentally killed by friendly fire when projecting firepower from a distance.

But… there were certainly some machines that stood out.

“[Colossus-Exclusive Weapon], you say?”

I couldn’t help but be quite flustered. The Super-Large Class Colossi were the machines I had used until the very end in my Previous Life.

They were machines that boasted immense attack power and defense in a gigantic humanoid form, but unfortunately, the men had no weapons.

It seemed that Seongjae from my Previous Life was quite disappointed about the lack of weapons for the men, as he tried several times to create weapons for them out of Adamantite or Mithril.

‘The larger the size, the better one should utilize the principle of the lever.’

This was the men’s logic.

However, the men’s principle of the lever was precisely what caused the problem.

Unless Adamantite was made into something like a log, there was no usable weapon for the immensely powerful Colossus.

And rather than making such a log, it was far more efficient to use those materials to create other machines.

Ultimately, the Colossi were only capable of fighting bare-handed.

‘Even so, they were incredibly strong…’

But… this time, it seemed it was going to be different.

Since they were not merely Super-Large Class Colossi, their weapons were Medium-Class, but I couldn’t help but think they would be just as strong.

‘After this Defense Battle… I’ll have to summon some Colossi.’

I grinned.

In addition to that, while examining new Super-Large Class machines that would facilitate construction and the added Shadow Essence Research…

I couldn’t stop smiling for a while.

* * *

Although there was significant progress in my future plans, such as breaking through the Siberian Front and the Colossi, I couldn’t neglect the present.

The immediate present involved the Defense Battle and the Looters of Gangbuk.

Especially, the Defense Preparation was in full swing. As Gwak Sangyong’s Faction rapidly integrated, the available combat forces and territory increased sharply, leading to more work than expected.

First, the Defensive Facility preparations, which originally encompassed only Southwest Seoul, now extended to the territory Gwak Sangyong had occupied, and it was decided to build four more mana facilities.

The plan to add 8 was expanded to a plan to add 12. On the other hand, it also meant that I had gained control of all of Seoul south of the Han River.

As such, the population entering Incheon was also exploding, and the economy felt like it was operating in a virtuous cycle.

Therefore… this Defense Battle was also expected to be very different.

In my Faction’s marketplace, this conversation was circulating these days.

“They’re not calling for a general assembly this time, are they?”

“I heard only those who want to fight need to.”

“Tsk, how many people would risk their lives to fight…?”

“What are you talking about! You still don’t know how much the world has changed!”

“Huh?”

“With the emergence of Artifact workshops, how much do you think Mana Stones have gone up in price!”

“How much can The Man be worth anyway…?”

“One small Mana Stone is worth 4 Coins! Plus, if you consider selling the materials… it’s practically like a wave of gold is coming in!”

“The Man, is it really true?”

“It is! I’ve already applied.”

“Me, I’ll go with you!”

The core of The Man was not to call for a general assembly for battle.

Previously, it was like a volunteer militia atmosphere where everyone rose to fight for the survival of the group… but from this Defense Battle onwards, it changed to voluntary participation in combat.

Now, within My Faction, those who weren’t interested in combat had the option not to fight. In other words, combatants were specializing.

This was possible because, unlike modern times, they were establishing themselves as a kind of freelance combatants, and catching Monsters was definitely profitable.

It was also much more advantageous from an economic perspective, as it didn’t involve mobilizing people working in production.

Especially with the Defense Battle approaching, the value of Worker Bug Coins was rapidly rising-

“Give me one more!”

“Ding!?”

This was because Worker Bugs played an essential role in increasing the speed of Mana Stone extraction.

The result of all these things combined was truly astonishing.

Even while preparing for an unprecedented Defense Battle, My Faction was strangely full of life.

Like a holiday or a festival.

As if looking forward to the Defense Battle.

‘This time, it will definitely be different…’

The Man and The Man were the same for me.

***

The fierce winter chill receded.

Late winter, as the weather gradually began to warm.

Bang-

12 mana facilities were constructed simultaneously-.

Whoosh-

The Defense Battle began.