Chapter 97 – Plan

Chapter 97 – Plan

Seongjae’s energy really continued without end.

“Ah, the final destination of this train is Barcelona, Spain. We repeat to our passengers. The final destination of this train is Barcelona, Spain.”

“No… I’m not going to Spain……”

Especially when passing the sign that read [Iron Horse Wants to Run], he was so excited he was screaming, to the point that I seriously considered activating the Invisible Gladiator’s Noise Cancellation Ability.

“The iron horse runs aaaaaah!”

However, The Man’s high energy gradually changed as we entered what was previously North Korean territory. Emotions like joy and ecstasy turned into tension and vigilance.

The reason for The Man was obvious.

“Screeeech!”

It was because of the monsters endlessly swarming from all directions, hearing the train sound spreading far away.

My response to The Man was simple.

Clunk, clunk- Squeak- Clunk, clunk!

These were interceptors launching from the Aerial Mothership.

Chiiiiiiing-

As the electromagnetic cannon scraped along both sides of the railway, monsters, perfectly cooked and bursting with juices, flashed past outside the window.

The Man and The Man were truly flashing past.

Chug chug chug chug- Clank clank- Clank clank-

The train does not stop. At least where the railway is intact, it was our iron rule not to stop the train.

Thanks to The Man, the train was cutting through the monsters like a knife through steak.

Also, the assault cannons from the train’s gunports began firing, continuously shooting out nearby balls of light.

Boom! Boom!

While Assault Cannons handled the immediate vicinity, the Magitech Artillery Unit loaded on the train took care of long-range targets.

The might of the artillery shell barrage was comparable to the Gustav Railway Gun used in World War II, whose armor-piercing shells alone weighed nearly 7 tons.

Whoosh-bang! Bang! Bang!

As such, the area around the train was being devastated.

However, the train wasn’t just for offense. Covered in Adamantite, the train was incredibly sturdy to begin with.

Occasionally, the attacks from monsters, which seemed excessive at times—

Clang!

The emitter was creating a barrier to block them.

The sight of it, resembling an Observation Ship, felt truly majestic.

“It’s actually working…”

Seongjae seemed to be ecstatic that the invention he had poured his blood and sweat into was functioning properly.

“It’s a little scary, though…”

Sua seemed a bit uneasy.

However, stopping would only lead to being surrounded by an ever-gathering horde of monsters. Of course, in that scenario, they could just deploy the Colossus units, so there would be no danger at all.

The problem was time.

They couldn’t just stand there for days on end, only hunting monsters.

‘I need to finish the operation before the Mutants appear.’

Mutants are intelligent.

That is, if they see the train running along the railway, they will try their best to cut the railway. For now, there are only areas that are corroded or dented by Mountain Fortresses, but later they will try to remove the railway itself or dig traps.

This would restrict the train’s ability to travel outside their territory.

‘Of course… by then, I’d have to take something other than a train.’

It would be solved if he could get William, but in this life, he was traveling around the world operating the Contact Ship. It seemed best to let him do his best for now.

And so, the train moved along the railway, leaving a long, long trail of blood and scorched flesh. Northward, and further northward.

***

Monsters are turning into pieces of meat.

Staring blankly out the shaking car window…

I pondered my current situation for a moment.

My current territory was similar to that of the Unification Silla period.

Although the northern territory had expanded further than during Silla, it was ultimately similar considering that I hadn’t fully incorporated the southern islands or Jeju Island into my sphere of influence yet.

Of course, Choi Yongjin was doing his best to incorporate the islands by forming a detached force to clear them out and accepting refugees into the main base. It was clear that they would all be incorporated soon.

As the sphere of influence expanded, the expansion of mana facilities was also accelerated. Mana Facility Defense Battles were not as difficult as in the past. Repeatedly fighting defense battles significantly reduced the number of nearby monsters.

Thanks to this, the last few mana facility expansions proceeded without major difficulties, and currently, mana facilities have been built or are being built in Incheon-Seoul, Suwon-Dongtan-Osan, and also Ganghwa Island and Pyeongtaek.

If all facilities are completed, the number of mana facilities will clearly exceed 60.

But even so, mana was constantly insufficient.

‘Even I think it’s ridiculous…’

It was an amount of mana that would have been unimaginable before. However, my faction was essentially engaged in an endless arms race with the monsters.

It was like running on a treadmill; you had to run at full speed just to maintain the status quo without falling. So, to not fall behind the monsters, I had to keep running.

In this process, my legion had taken control of various parts of the country.

The maintenance costs alone were substantial, and on days when a fierce battle erupted somewhere, I could feel the mana draining rapidly.

‘Of course, I refill it with mana stones…’

Since the territory was already incorporated into my sphere of influence, to do anything more, I needed to significantly increase the number of mana facilities, but…

There were also problems.

‘It’s getting difficult for me to do it alone.’

Installing facilities was something I had to do personally.

Even with armored transport aircraft, Minju, the thought of traveling all over the country to install mana facilities gave me a headache.

‘It was also a problem in the previous timeline…’

One of the biggest reasons for my defeat in the previous timeline was the failure to secure enough mana. I was facing enemies that were even stronger and more numerous than now, and I couldn’t even secure as much territory as I have now.

‘Well, I can only hope that something will happen when knowledge is unlocked.’

I had some faith.

It was thanks to the question I asked the Assistant AI at the very beginning.

-Is it true that the Magitech Civilization was founded by humans?

-[That is correct.]

If humans had founded it, they would have thought similarly to me.

Even the Colossus’s weapons were referred to as The Man. I believed that what I found lacking, others would also find lacking, and if that were the case, The Man would have tried to resolve The Man problem somehow.

As I was pondering The Man for a long time,

Screeeeeech-

The Train came to a stop with a loud metallic screech.

“Huh?”

“We’ve arrived. This is Hamhung.”

Seongjae smiled brightly.

It was the northernmost point of My Faction’s territory.

***

The Railway repairs were completely finished up to Hamhung, which had already been incorporated into my territory a long time ago. However, unfortunately, from this point on, things were different.

“It won’t be easy from now on, will it…?”

Seongjae muttered to himself.

It was as The Man said.

Even getting to Hamhung involved battling a vast number of Monsters, but even The Man number had already been significantly reduced.

North of Hamhung, not only were the Monsters not cleared, but the Railway itself was not intact.

However, even The Man was only occasionally traversed by Monsters, causing minor damage. The greatest damage, in fact, was in Hamhung City. The Railway here, which had suffered a massive Artillery Barrage, was almost completely destroyed without a trace.

In other words… the path for the Train was cut off.

Water, I had already thought of all The Man solutions.

“Well, this is where the real start is.”

I retorted to Seongjae’s words with a grin.

“Colossus, disembark.”

Whoosh- Crash!

At my command, the Colossi disembarked from the Train, sending heavy impact sounds in all directions. They were so heavy that I could somehow feel the Train lighten.

But it wasn’t just the men who were getting off.

“Also the rough terrain pioneer and the Worker Bug.”

“Ding!!”

The equally heavy rough terrain pioneer and the Worker Bug, which had been loaded in a defensive form, rolled up into a ball, also disembarked.

As the men lined up at the front of the Train, then-

“Alright, let’s start the work.”

I gave a light command.

But the men’s response was not light at all.

Screech- Clank!

The Colossus immediately began moving heavy materials. And some of them also used the Demon-Slaying Blade to build a foundation with soil.

Hiss-

And each of the Worker Bugs took a position and began spewing Lava, solidifying the ground with the rough terrain pioneer.

But it wasn’t just the machines working.

Clank- Clank- Clatter-

The Production Facility, neatly loaded on the Train, was also continuously extruding Railway like taffy.

Screech-!

And with a strong cutting sound, the Colossus repeatedly cut the Railway with the Demon-Slaying Blade and moved it forward.

Seeing the Railway gradually being put together like that…

I smiled contentedly.

“This should be finished in half a day, right?”

The Legion’s engineering capabilities were the strongest in the world.

If the Roman Legion advanced by paving roads…

We advance by paving the Railway.

***

Even though trains are efficient means of transport, they couldn’t possibly bring all the construction materials that were constantly being consumed.

Of course, there was a way to handle that too.

Screech-

Similarly, a train came to a stop with an unpleasant metal screech.

It was the follow-up train assigned to Deokchan, and while its armament and amenities were far inferior to the train at the front, it was definitely designed for heavy cargo.

Since we were clearing the path, there was no need for heavy armament. And since it was only an occasional trip, many amenities weren’t necessary either.

Later, they even planned to go further and build defensive outposts along the path the train cleared.

That’s how they would advance north along the railway.

Meanwhile, Deokchan, who arrived late, couldn’t hide his surprised expression.

“Oh, wow, you’ve already finished this much work!”

Deokchan was certainly a foreman, a veteran who had overseen considerable engineering work in various places. But even to him, the construction speed of my Engineer Corps seemed enormous.

He eyed the Colossus, licking his lips.

“Hey, could you… lend me about two of these?”

“Elder… I think that might be difficult.”

But I shook my head with a smile.

The Colossus was, by name, a colossal machine. Naturally, it could often exert more power than a large-class terrain pioneer.

However, it also consumed a lot of mana, so it was much more efficient to use terrain pioneers equipped with excavators or similar tools for specialized tasks, rather than using the Colossus for odd jobs.

But even mobilizing such Colossi…

After half a day.

“Railway connection complete!”

Screeching-

Clank-clank- Clank-clank-

Once again, the iron horse began to run.

***

This railway runs along North Korea’s East Coast.

And this railway was as good as mine.

Once Deokchan finished transporting troops and resources with follow-up vehicles and securing the area, it would become even more certainly mine.

In other words, this operation was both an advance towards the Siberian Nest and a process of reclaiming part of North Korea’s territory.

“Just like this… we’ll pass Chongjin and Rason.”

I grinned.

To me, Unification was a [plan], not a [dream].