Chapter 89

Episode 89. Siege of Jeju Naval Base (2)

Meanwhile, at the Foundation’s Seoul Branch.

Director Kwon of the Precognition Department stood with his arms crossed. The remote viewing team and sorcery support team were also on-site, observing the ritual.

“Uh, the number of pigs is running low.”

“Seriously. Dr. Chae said not to rush the deployment. What are they doing?”

“Hey, there’s no choice. Go get some fertilized eggs. Bring whatever you can—goats, chickens, anything.”

“Fertilized eggs…”

“Come on, the sacrificial altar isn’t a trash bin. Does that even make sense? Let’s wake up Dr. Chae and ask again.”

“Dr. Chae is using a clone technique. If we wake him, the clone will disappear. What do we do then? We have to decide among ourselves.”

“Understood.”

Director Kwon let out a sigh.

“Enough. We’ll proceed as Dr. Kim suggested! Bring goats, chickens, any red-blooded animal!”

The living sacrifices needed for the ritual.

****

I slumped to the ground.

“Advisor An, please connect me to the Foundation Headquarters.”

[Ah, that’s a landline, so it won’t work that way. Tell me what you need, and I’ll relay it.]

“Hold this phone up to the receiver.”

[Ah, got it. I’ll do it right away.]

Seems they hadn’t thought of that. A moment later, the Foundation Headquarters picked up my call.

[Hello, Director Kim. Having a good day? What do you need?]

“It’s a disaster. As you all know, the staff at the Foundation’s Jeju Island Branch are trying to kill me for some reason.”

[We already made it rain for you, but we can’t do more than that. We’ll help with the cleanup once the situation is resolved.]

I hung up the phone.

The enemy facility’s fence was topped with barbed wire. Modern military forces have many ways to remove barbed wire, and it’s not difficult.

But it all takes time.

In a situation where we’re charging into enemy territory, even a minute spent pulling out wire cutters could cost hundreds of lives. Bringing in a military bulldozer might also be costly.

That’s how it is. There are countless ways to remove barbed wire, but we need to figure out how to get over it and what’s behind it.

I waited for a moment—

“Hmm, interesting.”

I hid my body at the sound of a prickly voice. It sounded like a man wearing something metallic, probably a gas mask or something similar.

Beyond that, I couldn’t tell. The voice seemed to come from above. I looked around, and wooden dolls fell from the sky.

“I can’t see where you are, but I can sense your presence. Doesn’t seem like you’re adjusting reality, though. What kind of supernatural phenomenon is this?”

I checked the scope of the Gauss Musket again. How did they make something like this? The ammo is just standard 12.7 NATO, but the firing mechanism seems intact. Is there an acceleration spell or magnetic acceleration device along the barrel? I pondered for a moment. How much firepower does it have?

“Show your face.”

Forbes’ number one meaningless phrase of the year. Are they handing out scripts or something? How does everyone have the same repertoire?

“I am Blue Rose-12. Long time no see.”

My opponent stood in mid-air. Wearing gray military fatigues. Empty-handed. Seemed to be avoiding the rain by some method.

“Blue Rose-13. My sibling.”

Given the use of wooden dolls, they’re probably related to the anomalous artists among the hostile groups. How do I kill them? Are they a Reality Adjuster like the anomalous artist I saw last time? That would be tough to deal with.

“Friday the 13th. Your tantrum ends here. Whether alive or dead, return to Blue Rose. The Foundation wants you.”

A gesture. The surrounding objects shattered and reformed into stairs. Blue Rose-12 walked down. The dense bushes and trees crumbled to make a path for Blue Rose-12.

Hitting them wouldn’t be hard, but I’m not sure if bullets would be effective. It might just expose my position.

Should I shoot? For now, I was satisfied with aiming at the enemy’s head through the scope.

“I know what you are.”

“You may have deceived all the other humans, the Foundation bureaucrats, the scientists at the Seoul Branch, but we know.”

“Return to your rightful place.”

“Stupid thing. You vermin. You failure. What makes you think you’re so great, being transferred to another branch, acting like a director, a scientist…”

“Your outing ends here.”

“You too, like the other test subjects, will writhe in pain, bound by the Foundation’s chains, become a plaything for the white coats, and die in the lab.”

I raised my head. The cloak I wore like a poncho was pushed back.

“Blue Rose-12. I surrender. Come down.”

“Hmm. This is also interesting. You’d better not play any tricks. You know, I’m a Reality Adjuster, and your little pea shooter can’t—”

Pea shooter? Really.

One, two, three.

“Hyaaaah!”

The trees shook from the wind pressure. A moment later, Blue Rose-12’s body was sliced into six pieces and scattered in all directions.

At the center, Nanami’s black Uncheolseok Greatsword flashed. Should’ve stayed in the air instead of coming down to monologue.

Nanami was crazily smashing Blue Rose-12’s head with her sword.

“What are you doing?”

“They might come back to life.”

“…”

There’s a chance they could.

“Understood. Let’s move.”

Our target is right in front of us. No matter how many people Nanami has killed, nothing can stop us now.

“We didn’t even get to hear what their ability was.”

“What does it matter? Let’s go.”

The wooden dolls, now without their puppeteer, staggered aimlessly. Who knows? Do they collapse without someone controlling them?

****

The storm was growing fiercer. Lightning and wind raged madly in the sky. It could be called a tempest or thunderstorm.

Most of the troops guarding the facility had been dealt with. Only the main facility remained. We looked around the facility again.

“The defenses are standard. There are turrets, security teams patrolling, and the main entrance is guarded by some kind of… mech.”

I looked at the main gate through the scope.

“It’s real.”

A massive walking tank-like machine was guarding the gate. A bipedal robot the size of a forklift.

“How do we break through that?”

“Not sure.”

“Should we try the windows?”

“Unless the enemies are idiots, the windows are probably blocked. Important areas don’t even have windows, and their command staff has likely retreated to the underground bunker by now.”

“The rooftop?”

“Same deal.”

Besides, this is a naval base.

It’s built to withstand naval gunfire or missile strikes. Going through the main gate is our best bet.

“Let’s go in.”

The Director’s Office—or is it the Commander’s Office here?—is probably deep inside. We’ll have to fight our way through the Foundation facility for a while.

Let’s move in.

“Let’s keep it simple. I’ll smash everything, so Dr. Kim, run to the command building as fast as you can. Try to get in first if possible.”

The wind blew, and fog enveloped the area. Dr. Chae’s clone must still be alive. That’ll make getting to the command building easier.

“Then. Let’s go again.”

I reloaded my weapon. Nanami charged ahead with her greatsword. We’ll use the darkness to our advantage and move to the main gate. I’ll stay hidden behind Nanami.

Boom!

Explosions followed.

At this point, the enemies should just give up.

It seems like the enemies aren’t communicating well. If they knew their opponents were a human who cuts ships with a sword and another who killed over a hundred humanoids at Yulje-myeon.

They might have run away already.

The walking tanks’ chain guns targeted Nanami. The barrels spat fire, and sparks flew everywhere the bullets hit.

Blue flames engulfed the area.

Horrifying. I moved along the edge of the base with my weapon. Nanami was going absolutely berserk.

The mechs used flamethrowers to block Nanami’s approach and chain guns to limit her movement, but it didn’t seem very effective. One mech was sliced apart.

How do you even take down something like that?

As a Foundation employee, I’m mostly immune to the poisons and cognitive disasters the Foundation uses. Heavy equipment can’t stop it, humans can’t stop it…

Well. Let’s just do what I need to do.

The command building was guarded by Foundation security teams. Since they didn’t need to march, they were equipped with heavy armor and gear.

Wow…

The rooftop, the perimeter. A significant number of soldiers were guarding the building. Can the Gauss Musket take them out?

I hid behind a concrete ventilation shaft. They haven’t spotted me yet. I’ll need to think about how to handle this.

Should I kill the two guarding the entrance? It’s annoying to have to aim around ballistic shields, but taking out those two should let us in.

Bang!

I quickly took down the two soldiers. Bullets rained in my direction, but I ignored them and rushed to the entrance.

Getting in shouldn’t be too hard. I’m a Foundation Director. The facility’s security isn’t designed to exclude me.

Especially if the enemies don’t know who I am. I touched the keypad at the command building’s entrance, and it lit up with a mechanical voice.

[Please identify yourself.]

“Kim Bari. Doctor. Director.”

[Confirmed. Enjoy your visit.]

The command building’s door opened.