Chapter 82 – Deja Vu

White House underground bunker. A white man in his mid-70s with a calm impression looked around and asked.

“What is the situation in the north?”

“Mr. President. It is not good. The Canadian forces have ultimately decided to abandon the city of Ottawa.”

“So it has come to this…”

The US President let out a quiet sigh.

Along with Toronto, Montreal, and Quebec City, Ottawa was one of the four major cities in Eastern Canada.

Because the land is so vast, it usually doesn’t show, but considering that a quarter of Canada’s population is concentrated in Toronto and an equal amount is spread across the other three major cities, it was similar to Korea.

Just as Korea had Seoul and the Gyeonggi/Seoul Metropolitan Area, half of the country’s population lived around Toronto.

Losing a part of such a city meant that the front line was retreating severely.

This was due to the [North American Front], which was similar to the Siberian Front. In uninhabited areas, monsters were building nests and launching continuous attacks.

The Canadian forces maintained a close alliance with the US military. In particular, Canada was the only ally to which the US could provide logistics support, thanks to the connected land routes.

Despite the overwhelming material support from the US and a natural aptitude for combat stemming from their hunting culture, the Canadian military had finally begun to be pushed back.

“Canada is requesting military support once again—”

“That is impossible.”

However, the US President’s stance was firm.

He could not afford to help another country while his own was under attack.

The US was currently struggling just to survive.

In the early stages of the Apocalypse Event, the US had managed to push back the monsters for a while using its massive amount of civilian firearms.

But as new monsters began to appear, that became difficult. This was especially true with the emergence of Acid Slugs and Stone Giraffes, against which the efficiency of ammunition dropped significantly.

Furthermore, after losing air superiority, it became difficult to even strike the nests. Consequently, they had no choice but to abandon a large portion of the territories in the Midwest and West, such as North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana, where population density was low.

Ultimately, logistics between the West Coast—consisting of California, Oregon, and Washington—and the East Coast, including New York, had been almost completely severed.

In short, the situation was dire.

Meanwhile, regarding supplies, there was another point to consider.

“How is the supply of .223 rounds coming along?”

“Do you mean the 5.56 rounds? They are stable. We are currently running the production facilities in three shifts. Additionally, we are expanding the large-caliber ammunition factories.”

“Well… that is a rare piece of good news.”

5.56 rounds were currently being used as currency in the US instead of dollars. This was only possible because the gun culture was already firmly established in America.

Beyond that, numerous emergency administrative measures were taken.

First, they led the modification of civilian rifles, which were originally semi-automatic, into fully automatic rifles.

In the case of the AR-15 rifles, which were widely distributed among civilians, they could be converted into M-16s simply by adding a small piece of metal.

Second, they conducted firearms training for civilians and passed on tactical theories, primarily using veterans and active-duty personnel.

Finally, the most drastic measure was handing over relatively simple infantry fire support weapons, such as mortars and grenade launchers, to civilians along with training, while overwhelmingly increasing production.

As a bonus, they announced that they would not enforce any laws regarding automatic rifles or so-called “destructive devices.”

The US had perhaps done everything that pre-Apocalypse humanity could possibly do. Yet, they were barely managing to hold the line, and even then, they were slowly being pushed back.

Therefore.

The idea of pushing the front line forward to reclaim new territory…

Had seemed like nothing but an impossibility.

Until today.

“Mr. President, this is a Stringer from under the Pentagon. I have something urgent to report.”

In his hand was a satellite photo of the Incheon night view.

* * *

Meanwhile, I was once again in the midst of managing internal affairs.

And it wasn’t just a simple administrative matter.

Since the unification of Seoul, numerous factions had been competing to propose joining my command.

Among them, the Merchant Alliance of Suwon-Dongtan-Osan, which had always been on good terms with us, joined my faction under conditions similar to Gwak Sangyong’s, leading to a steep growth rate for my faction.

Finally, my faction had begun a full-scale southward advance.

At the same time, I encountered factions that had grown in the south. The immediate opponent was the faction that had taken over Sejong, Cheongju, and Daejeon.

Their composition was quite surprising.

It was a faction consisting of high-ranking civil servants from Sejong City and high-ranking officers and generals from the Army Headquarters in Daejeon.

‘But it’s… a bit ambiguous.’

They were certainly survivors, but…

They were operating a class-based society.

‘I’ll have to keep an eye on them.’

I made up my mind. It wasn’t my first time seeing a class-based society. It was far more common in the world of the past than it is now.

The problem was deciding what to do with them. They weren’t looters, so it felt uncomfortable to simply wipe them out, but their ideology was suspicious enough to make me hesitate to accept them.

Meanwhile, I asked Seoyeon to use a private Apoin to conduct background checks on the key figures of that faction.

Other than that, Choi Yongjin was in charge of absorbing civilians while clearing out monsters and remnants of looter factions during the southward advance.

And… I was preparing for a northern advance.

‘The Colossus Legion on the ground, and the Aerial Mothership fleet in the sky.’

I grinned.

It was around that time that a peculiar movement was observed.

[Observation Ship (Unit 2): Confirmation requested.]

“What is it?”

A confirmation alert came in from the Observation Ship.

When I checked immediately, it looked like something was flying in the sky.

“Is this… a sailing ship?”

Something that looked like it belonged in the Age of Discovery…

Flutter—

It was sailing above the clouds with its sails unfurled.

“What, it’s Will?”

I grinned.

He was one of my former colleagues.

* * *

Will was a nickname for William, and he was American.

Specifically, an officer belonging to the Pacific Fleet.

His ability was exactly as it appeared. He could strengthen the sailing ship he operated with mana and make it fly in the sky.

Not only was it his profession, but his original hobby included sailing yachts with sails and even making sailing ships inside beer bottles.

He was a true sailing ship geek.

The US military, noticing his ability, promoted him from Major to Brigadier General in one leap and gave him the sailing ship he wanted.

And until the US government and military collapsed, he had continued to serve as a Naval Officer.

‘I guess things are getting urgent in the US too.’

I thought as I watched him.

Will had mostly operated as a contact ship traveling between Australia and the UK. Since a sailing ship isn’t a container ship, significant transport of materials in the modern sense couldn’t be expected.

What he could do was exchange essential personnel or artifacts.

However, he hadn’t been able to visit Korea or Japan, fellow allies, because the leadership of East Asia had been eliminated in an instant for some reason.

His coming to Korea was something that had never happened in the previous history.

‘I can assume he’s definitely coming to meet me.’

I pondered for a moment on how to welcome this unexpected guest.

* * *

Meanwhile… the sailing ship USS Constitution, flying through the air.

A United States Class frigate, built in 1797, it was a sailing ship that the US Navy had operated right up until the modern era.

It was also the oldest ship currently afloat in the world. Although it was a wooden sailing ship on the level of a floating museum, that didn’t mean its equipment was from that era.

In the captain’s quarters, William muttered to himself while gauging the distance to the next destination using a GPS flight chart.

“Hmm… where on earth should I land?”

Selecting a landing spot was a major problem. Since his ship was a sailing ship and not an airplane, it needed to land on water.

But landing on water inevitably brought concerns about underwater monsters. Previously, he had only landed in reservoirs where safety was guaranteed and pre-designated.

But this operation was different.

The opponent was a civilian faction with no established communication network.

He didn’t know how they would react to seeing his sailing ship. In the worst-case scenario, he was even considering the possibility of combat.

It was natural to be worried.

‘I hope we can talk things through…’

For this operation, he had even brought along the best second-generation Korean interpreter officers. He also carried several high-value goods that could be used for exchange.

‘Surely… they aren’t looters?’

He was well aware of how other countries, where the security situation was worse than in the US, were faring.

In particular, the aggression of civilians, which had developed excessively quickly, was something the Pentagon guarded against to the point of creating a specialized intelligence analysis department.

‘I heard they’re even expanding their territory… if we fight, will I even be able to return home?’

It was at that moment he was worrying. Something was detected by the radar network hastily installed atop the mast.

Not only was it of a size he had never encountered before, but its speed was also considerable.

“A new species of monster?!”

William was shocked.

But the reaction from the observation team was even greater.

“Based on the thermal imaging equipment, it appears to be a metallic object!”

“Then it’s a machine?”

“Yes! But—”

“But?”

“A person! It appears there is a person riding it!”

That was, of course, Choi Yongjin.

* * *

A war of nerves ensued for a while.

Choi Yongjin indirectly expressed that he was not a threat by flapping his wings here and there. Only after a long bout of maneuvering was he finally able to land on the deck of the sailing ship.

Thump—

The impact naturally caused all the crew members to stir.

“What on earth is that?!”

“A dragon? He came riding a dragon?”

“I heard it’s a mechanical dragon!”

“What, that’s even cooler!”

“Damn, can’t I get a mechanical dragon too?”

William was flustered once again upon seeing Choi Yongjin descend from the mechanical dragon. Not only because of his massive, muscular build, but also because he was wearing armor like a medieval knight.

Choi Yongjin had accumulated enough mana to graduate from Magitech Armor, but he continued to wear it for the sake of uniformity and identity with the soldiers.

“That’s knight armor!”

“A knight who rides a dragon?”

“My god… I’m glad my wife isn’t here. She would’ve definitely been stolen away!”

While everyone was buzzing, a voice rang out.

“Who is the captain here?”

Choi Yongjin asked in English. His English wasn’t that fluent, but for some reason, he seemed familiar with military terminology.

“My name is William. I am the captain of the USS Constitution and a Brigadier General of the US Navy.”

William stepped forward and answered without backing down.

Choi Yongjin gave a smirk.

“Reminds me of the Ulchi Exercise. Nice to meet you. I used to be an Army Captain of the Republic of Korea, but now I serve as the Commander of the Volunteer Knights. I am Choi Yongjin.”

“Volunteer Knights? Is that the name of your faction?”

“No… I am under the Lord.”

“Lord? What is the official name of the faction?”

“Huh? That’s a good point. The official faction name…”

Choi Yongjin’s eyes widened as if he hadn’t thought of it.

“I’ll have to ask about this.”

He quickly used Apoin to ask me. I, who had been watching all of this through the observation probe… pondered for a moment.

‘Come to think of it, our faction doesn’t have a name.’

For a while in the past, humanity had operated as the Last City, but that wasn’t an official faction name. Especially as time went on, there had been neither the reason nor the leisure to have a faction name.

‘But this time will be different.’

A name is our identity.

I looked around my surroundings for a moment. The economic structure run by Ability Users, Magitech machinery, and mana stones, and the artifact workshops constantly emitting smoke.

Seeing all that, a name suddenly sprang to mind.

“[Magitech Civilization] would be a good name.”

Not the Successor of Magitech Civilization…

It was the moment I took a step toward becoming a true Magitech Civilization.