Chapter 93 – Cold War

Meanwhile, at the Shopping Mall, a cold war was beginning beneath the surface. It all… stemmed from a conversation between Sanghoon and Seongjae during dinner.

“Sanghoon hyung, what are you wearing to the Wedding?”

“Ah, the Wedding? I got a new suit tailored this time. Why?”

“I was just wondering what I should do.”

“There’s a decent tailor in downtown Incheon. They use fabrics available on the market, so the price is reasonable. I even got one for Poppy; do you want to see it?”

Sanghoon smiled softly. At his words, Seongjae shook his head violently and answered reflexively.

“Po-Poppy? No. No. I don’t want to know.”

Seongjae was terrified of Poppy.

It probably… started after he tried some nonsense, attempting to measure the vibration amplitude of Poppy while the dog was barking and shaking like an aspen tree, only to get his fingertip bitten.

Of course, Poppy had more common sense than Seongjae and hadn’t bitten hard enough to draw blood; it was merely a reprimand telling him to stop doing weird things.

Since then, Seongjae tended to avoid Poppy.

Anyway, as Seongjae turned his head away.

Sanghoon, looking disappointed that he couldn’t show off something cute, let a comment slip while chatting about trivial matters.

“By the way, Seongjae. Don’t you feel like Siwoo will be the next one to get married?”

It happened in that instant.

Snap!

Twitch.

Screeech—

Seoyeon, Minju, and Sua, who had been eating quietly, all froze. However, Seongjae, oblivious to them, was simply lost in thought.

“Siwoo is next? Why? What about me?”

“Hmm… I guess there’s nothing stopping you if you want to.”

Sanghoon was equally oblivious. And… having finished the build-up, Sanghoon fired the signal flare for the cold war.

“But… I wonder who will catch the next flower?”

“Flower? What do you mean, flower?”

“You know. After the Wedding, the bride throws the bouquet. Don’t you know the person who catches it is the next to marry?”

“Ah… there’s such a thing…”

Seongjae nodded calmly. When he looked up and scanned his surroundings, for some reason, a cold chill was drifting through the Restaurant.

The cold war had already begun.

“Huh?”

He tilted his head in confusion.

* * *

Meanwhile, at the same time.

“Wow…”

Standing before the Advanced Research Facility, I was impressed. This was because the number of upgrades possible with Electric Essence was staggering.

In particular, some of them were unlocked as the Advanced Research Facility was constructed, while others opened up as Forgotten Knowledge was restored.

“It’ll take some time to research everything, won’t it?”

I quietly checked the types.

To summarize, they could be divided into three main categories.

One: Utility-type upgrades that steadily produce electricity.

Two: Defensive-type upgrades that protect against electricity.

Three: Offensive-type upgrades that trigger explosive electrical bursts.

That was it.

Regardless, most of them were useful upgrades.

They were expected to consume not only time but also a massive amount of Mana. However, I wasn’t particularly worried about that.

Since I could simply buy Mana Stones with my practically infinite supply of Worker Bug Coins and cram them into the Research Facility.

Therefore, what was more important was the priority of which upgrade to do first and the time required for those upgrades.

Of course, if I consumed even more Mana Stones, I could reduce that time as well. But looking at how the Mana Stone consumption increased exponentially to do so…

To put it bluntly, unless it was a truly urgent case, the efficiency dropped.

‘I’ll research slowly and steadily.’

And the two electrical research projects I wanted to prioritize most were the function to produce electricity alongside the Mana Facility and the ability for Worker Bugs to produce small amounts of electricity.

The power generated from a Mana Facility was enough to sufficiently supply at least 200 households. Considering the current size of My Faction, it wasn’t a huge amount.

‘Who can survive on 200 households?’

Currently, My Faction was supplying power to tens of thousands of households here and there. Even limiting it to just within Incheon, it exceeded several hundred thousand households.

Of course, the number of people per household had decreased significantly compared to the past, but it was still a considerable amount of power.

Thus, the power production that had started with the boiler thermal power generator Seongjae had whipped up had already far surpassed that level, to the point where a dedicated power department had been created within the faction.

There were even discussions about modifying and operating old coal power plants from the past.

So, 200 households wasn’t that much.

But then again, thinking about it carefully, it wasn’t a small amount either.

Especially since Mana Facilities were expected to increase steadily as My Faction expanded. Their role wouldn’t just be in densely populated areas like cities…

As we progressed and took over more land, many Mana Facilities would be built even in regions with low populations.

However, since one couldn’t just leave a Mana Facility standing alone, an Outpost to defend the facility and project influence nearby was essential.

While the Outposts bordering the wilderness were heavily weighted toward my machines, Ability Users, such as the elite members of the Volunteer Knights, also used them as bases for outward expansion.

Furthermore, many Outposts fully incorporated into the faction’s territory were protected by local residents acting as a Militia.

But as is the nature of Outposts, these places were mostly barely producing power by running simple generators.

Therefore, if a power production function were added to the Mana Facility, it could serve as power for those locations or as emergency power within the faction.

In contrast… the electricity that could be produced by a Worker Bug was a minuscule amount, barely enough for a single-person household.

As expected of a small machine, there was a limit to its output. It was barely enough to power a single outlet for a limited time or maintain something like a USB device.

However, perhaps its potential value was higher than that of the Mana Facility.

First of all, considering the number of Worker Bugs I possessed, it was natural that the number of people who could utilize them was far greater.

Especially with the Worker Bug Specialized Production Facility in operation, the number of Worker Bugs increased day by day, approaching 10,000.

And these Worker Bugs were the focal point of My Faction.

With their plant growth promotion ability, they were great at farming; they paved roads and built buildings with lava; they did all the dirty work without complaint…

They were practically the benchmark of civilization.

On top of that, they could now produce electricity.

It was certain that the value of Worker Bug Coins would skyrocket once again. Coincidentally, I planned to use a large amount of Worker Bug Coins for the upcoming Northern Advance, so this would be quite helpful.

But it wasn’t just about the link to Worker Bug Coins.

If power could be produced by mobile Worker Bugs, there would be no problem charging cellphones. And this was incredibly useful. We were already using only Apoin for military operations.

Moreover, after recruiting Seoyeon, a dedicated military operation channel was created, allowing us to use it with even more peace of mind. In other words, with just one Worker Bug, communication would become immensely convenient.

No matter where they were on Earth, as long as they had a cellphone and earphones, there was no need to carry a walkie-talkie bag, nor were there issues with communication security.

Furthermore, it would undoubtedly become possible to use electric blankets, fans, or even microwaves in the field.

‘Both are too useful…’

After agonizing over it for a long while…

“Sigh… I’ve decided. I give up on deciding.”

I declared with a sigh.

If I couldn’t choose between the two…

“I’ll just put up one more Advanced Research Facility.”

The solution was simply to choose both.

* * *

With two Advanced Research Facilities operational and two research projects running simultaneously, I felt quite satisfied.

“I should have done this sooner.”

Of course, it was true that the amount of Mana Stones being devoured was burdensome, but considering that all future research would be faster, it was a significant advantage.

However, because of this, I had consumed a considerable amount of Aetherium, and it was now nearly depleted.

“It’s a miracle I’ve managed to use this much so far…”

Recently, I had allowed the mining of Adamantite and Mithril within my Dungeon. Of course, I hadn’t handed over the mining rights, so they took the materials after paying a significant tax to me.

Since Adamantite and Mithril were essential for the development and production of Artifacts, this way was better.

Also, as Adamantite and Mithril began to circulate in the market, the prices became cheap enough to be compared to when I mined them myself.

It became more convenient for me as well.

However, Aetherium was not easy to collect. Since it was cloud-like in form, it could only be collected with special equipment. Furthermore, the refining process required manual labor.

I had delegated a Collector to gather Aetherium and an Aerial Mothership to protect it, and I had requested Choi Yongjin and the Volunteer Knights to keep procuring it, but the amount was still insufficient.

And because of its overwhelming mana sensitivity, Aetherium could be put into any machine if one had the mind to use it.

In particular, it was practically essential for increasing the efficiency of Mana Facilities, Research Facilities, and Production Facilities, as well as for machines that consumed a lot of mana, such as Observation Ships and Emitters.

Demand was high, but supply was lacking.

“Before advancing toward Busan, it would be best to secure the Aetherium supply first…”

Even if I wasn’t creating a brand new machine, but simply repairing a damaged one, the lost materials had to be restored.

And there is no situation more dizzying than running out of supplies during battle. I had to prepare in advance while I could.

Furthermore, if I could generate a massive amount of profit by selling Aetherium, which already had a high market price.

It would certainly be a great help when advancing north in the future.

Moreover, I could expect the development of Artifact Manufacturing.

‘I have just the thing…’

I thought deeply while looking at the list of new machines unlocked by restoring Forgotten Knowledge.

[Large Collector]

A Super-Large Class machine, it seemed to be a superior version of the Collector that looked like a pufferfish.

“Shall I try using this…?”

I issued a command to the Super-Large Production Facility.

Hiss— Screeech— Clang—

The production facility immediately began to move busily.

The resources going into it were also substantial.

“Consuming Aetherium to mine Aetherium, huh?”

Furthermore, since it was an aerial machine, the hull had to be made of a massive amount of Mithril, and it was a sturdy fellow wrapped in an Adamantite Deck.

The materials used were incomparable to the frail Collector that had been made of something like plastic.

As time passed.

K-boom—

The moment the completed machine soared into the sky—.

“Mom! Look at that!”

“Hmm?”

“A whale! A whale is flying in the sky!”

Everyone was surprised by its appearance. Unlike the Collector that resembled a pufferfish, the Large Collector looked like a whale.

“Ooh…”

“This looks like it’ll do the trick.”

Along with that, I headed toward the Dungeon with four Aerial Motherships.

“Shall we get started?”

Unlike last time, when I had struggled so much…

“Let’s wrap this up quickly.”

This time, it was practically going to be a ‘one-sided slaughter.’

* * *

Meanwhile, as Siwoo’s faction became gradually known to various countries through the United States, another tension began to brew.

In particular, among the approximately 10,000 Worker Bugs…

A very small number had flowed into China and Japan.

“You’re telling me this is a Worker Bug?”

It was the moment a cold war in the true sense of the word began in East Asia.