Chapter 121

Episode 121. Clockwork Jesus (4)

****

I woke up in the infirmary of the Pine Man Ship. The Support Department Head was sitting next to the bed. How much time had passed? Did something go wrong?

“How’s the mission?”

The Support Department Head sighed.

“Dr. Kim. You should worry about your condition first.”

“My body? I even used the Popo Serum, so I won’t die. So, what happened?”

“We’re still sorting things out. The resistance from the monsters holed up at the dock was so fierce that we had no choice but to reroute to Incheon Port.”

“I see.”

“The Director can return by helicopter anytime if you wish.”

“Where are the remaining monsters? Are they still alive?”

The Support Department Head checked his phone.

“Currently, the Special Forces and the Korean military’s anomalous phenomena response unit are engaged in combat. We don’t know how many casualties there are yet.”

“Should I go join the fight? If there’s a helicopter ready on the deck, I’ll go kill them.”

“I just texted the medical staff on the deck. I told them the Director is showing signs of delirium and to come administer a sedative. Don’t even think about moving.”

I see. That’s harsh.

“Understood.”

“Right now, the research team is collecting the remains of the Clockwork Angel. We plan to seal everything except the crystal brain of that monster, the Clockwork Angel, in resin. It keeps twitching.”

Transparent resin. It’s a method often used to seal supernatural phenomena. The researchers like it because you can see what’s inside.

I nodded.

“But. What did you use to capture it? How come it didn’t die even from a nuclear explosion?”

“Ah, the Clockwork Angel?”

It was a bit of a head-scratcher.

“First, the nuclear explosion occurred underwater. Most of the shockwave would have collided with the sea surface and reflected downward. The best we could hope for was that the angel would melt from the vaporized water.”

“Right?”

“It’s qualitatively different from an atmospheric nuclear explosion. There’s almost no ultra-high temperature, and most of the shockwave is reflected or lost at the water’s surface. The direct impact on the angel would have been the thousands of degrees of heated steam it was drenched in……”

“That wasn’t enough to kill it?”

Right.

“Bizarre.”

“It’s just physics. We threw it into the sea to control the explosion’s power in the first place.”

That’s just the nature of a nuclear explosion.

Honestly, it’s a mystery why the Clockwork Angel is so strong. Did it gather many fragments of the Clockwork God? Is there another reason?

****

The Support Department Head pressed his temples.

“The Clockwork Angel. It was completely wrecked, like using a chainsaw to kill a fly. There were also a lot of sword marks on the deck, and the wounds dug into the deck. What did you use to capture it?”

Ah, that’s what he meant.

“Niguras-5. It’s an item created by the Followers of the King of Darkness. It’s hard to predict exactly, but I think at least 800 people’s worth of blood was used to make it.”

The Support Department Head pondered for a moment before speaking.

“Dr. Kim. There’s no guarantee that the blood used was from dead people, right? They might have robbed a blood bank.”

Ah, why didn’t I think of that?

I scratched my head while sitting on the bed. It could have been made with donated blood, no need to kill anyone.

“Let’s make some too.”

“Hmm.”

“Let’s make about six or seven and supply them to the Special Forces. If we use animal blood, we could make dozens. If we use human blood, it might be harder, but if we buy blood from China, we could make several without any issues.”

“Do as you please when you get back. For now, rest until we return to the Foundation facility.”

I nodded.

That makes sense.

A moment later, someone who looked like a nurse walked into the room. She was holding a syringe that looked like a sedative.

“Ah, giving injections on a rocking ship is such a hassle…… Director. Do you know who the president is right now?”

“What are you talking about?”

“It’s a delirium diagnostic tool.”

I thought it was a joke.

****

Korean Government, Emergency Committee Meeting on Anomalous Phenomena.

Emergency meeting due to the earthquake (not really).

Since the last time the Director was ambushed, the meeting wasn’t held at the Yongsan Ministry of Defense Building, whose location was known, but at a secret location. Most attendees joined via video call.

“Didn’t you say you’d restrain him?”

“Do you think Director Kim is some kind of civic group leader? He’s a demigod.”

“A demigod?”

“When that guy says ‘rain,’ it rains, ‘earthquake,’ an earthquake happens, ‘stop the rain,’ the rain stops. This is the same.”

“Couldn’t you have asked him?”

“Even during the internal fight on Jeju Island. We naturally tried to deploy our allies, Korean military aircraft, to assess and control the situation. Do you know what happened?”

The Director of the Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau vented his frustration.

“What happened?”

“A sudden typhoon blew in, and not only could the Korean military aircraft not deploy, but even the warships couldn’t properly position themselves. And that’s not all, do you know KakaoTalk services were suspended today? They said it was due to a traffic surge from the earthquake.”

“Did they cut it off for information control?”

“There were monster sightings on the west coast. I think it might have been part of the Foundation’s information control operation.”

“I see.”

The Director of the Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau pressed his temples.

“But today, there was something. They gave us some kind of secure communication terminal called a hotline. I’ll try connecting it now.”

Static. Crackle.

Pop. The tablet PC turned on.

[Connecting……]

[Connecting……]

[Connecting……]

[Connected.]

“Are you from the Foundation? We’re contacting you about the earthquake. What on earth happened?”

Some rustling sounds.

[Hello, I’m Director Han from the newly established External Communications Department of the Foundation’s Korean branch. Nice to meet you, government officials.]

“Why did a nuclear bomb go off?”

Han Seo-ha pondered for a moment.

[Ah. There seems to have been a miscommunication.]

[The nuclear explosion occurred during the Foundation’s operation when we encountered a monster and had to use maximum firepower to deal with it. We apologize. We’ve already handled the aftermath.]

“What kind of monster was it?”

[It has been dealt with. If you wish, we can cooperate with local—no, government scientists in the field investigation and research of the monster’s remains.]

The Director of the Anomalous Phenomena Response Bureau sighed.

“Director Han. It seems we’ll be in contact often. Can we meet in person?”

A moment of pondering.

[Ah. Sure. Let us know the place and time, and we’ll do our best to accommodate.]

****

[Dock Battle Record]

[Author: Catfish Team Leader]

[I thought I was going to die. It’s a miracle our entire unit survived. There were some casualties in other units deployed for the operation. My heartfelt condolences.]

[The dock was occupied by several humanoid anomalous phenomena from the Machine Church. Plus a forklift.]

[The followers of the Machine God used trucks and forklifts to damage fences and walls around the dock and invade.]

[What was unexpected was this.]

[I thought we’d be fighting humans, but most of what we fought today were beings so blessed by the Machine God… that you couldn’t even call them human anymore.]

[I kind of expected it. That’s why we prepared anti-materiel rifles for situations like this.]

[It’s ridiculous to fight with that. It feels like being a British soldier with a musket.]

[Anyway. The enemies we fought today were mostly those who had received the Machine God’s blessing, turning into something like cyborgs.]

[They kept fighting even with limbs blown off. Bullets to the head half bounced off.]

[If we had used slightly smaller bullets, or if the enemies had bulletproof gear, it might have been better to fight with hammers.]

****

[Dock Battle Record. Reply]

[Author: Kim Bari]

[We’re reviewing the battle record. Sorry I couldn’t be at the dock. The battle at sea took longer than expected.]

[We’re still reviewing. We’re investigating how the Clockwork guys responded so quickly and where they were hiding.]

[It doesn’t seem like we’ll get answers easily. But we did recover several crystals. You know, the ones that contain souls.]

****

[Taean County Earthquake]

[Author: External Communications Department Han Seo-ha]

[This is no way to work.]

[It’s my job to coordinate with the government, but on my first day, a nuclear bomb goes off? What kind of place is this? I might get a warrant at this rate. Isn’t the NIS going to come after me?]

[Handle that kind of work directly from the Director’s office. This is insane. No, think of it as another company. You join the customer support team, and bam! A nuclear bomb goes off in front of the customer’s house!]

[Ah. I’m not coming to work starting tomorrow. Hire someone new or whatever, just reinstate me to my original position.]

****

[Taean County Earthquake. Reply.]

[Author: Personnel Department Head Min A-ri]

[Ah, after reviewing the incident, I fully understand why you’re angry. But could you reconsider resigning just once?]

[I’ll talk to the Director about other matters. Please don’t resign, and again, I apologize.]