Chapter 435
* * *
Communist China is outdated imperialism where common sense does not apply.
Discussing common sense is a natural task for members of civilized nations, but Communist China lacks the capacity to do so.
In other words, they are no different from an uncivilized nation.
“When have those bastards ever listened to common sense?”
“That is true, but…”
“Besides, that guy Jang Hak-chae was someone who had a lot of interest in artificial Hunter enhancement back in our Academy days.”
“Don’t tell me.”
“If it’s that bastard, he’s more than capable of doing such a thing after rising to the position of vassal. Where do you think all those Chinese refugees went?”
Ha Jeongseok was convinced that Jang Hak-chae had done something.
As evidence, the unmanageable refugees that current China could never possibly accept had vanished at some point.
There was no way that bastard Jang Hak-chae would seriously take them in, and even if he did accept those refugees, China didn’t have the money for it.
If they had that kind of money, they wouldn’t have risked their lives trying to somehow dump their Hunter equipment overseas.
Therefore, Ha Jeongseok was certain.
That bastard Jang Hak-chae had something he was relying on.
“Isn’t that still too extreme?”
“It might be too extreme. But it doesn’t hurt to be careful. Is the United States Seventh Fleet out in that ocean to batter the Chinese cities? Or do we have our own fleet? The Western Countries will have a hard time helping us like they did during the Korean War.”
After the Great Cataclysm, the Chinese inland regions were practically chaotic in many ways, so China developed most of its major cities along the coast.
So if the fleets had truly been maintained, they could have at least prepared for a war to break out.
“That is true.”
“Anyway, it doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Where should we set up our defense line?”
“Then we should set it up at the Amnok River. Isn’t the Amnok River a natural border?”
“And if it fails?”
“I will be honest with you. We won’t know until the war breaks out.”
“Is that so.”
“Yes. Since the Great Cataclysm, there have been Hunter disputes between nations, but no wars. We don’t know what will happen, and the defense lines are different from the Cold War era.”
Ultimately, whether a war broke out or not, it would become a Hunter War.
If that happened, it would take on a completely different aspect from the days of trench warfare, or mobile warfare involving tanks and the like.
The strategies up until now would be of no use.
And that too would be heavily swayed by the abilities of the Hunters.
“I suppose so.”
“So I think it would be best to block them at the Amnok River for now. If a real Hunter battle occurs, the ROK Armed Forces will be in danger and must pull back. Above all, we need to grasp the enemy’s military strength. But if what Your Excellency says is true, we currently know nothing about China’s true capabilities.”
They needed to find out information about those Enhanced Hunters.
Of course, honestly, no matter how much they developed, with China’s level, it seemed like it would all end with Korea saying one word: “Go, Yu Jinseok! I choose you!”
“Hmm, I will discuss that matter with the military.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, and also.”
Ha Jeongseok clapped his hands as if he had remembered something.
“Yes. Please speak.”
“I’m talking about that Mutant named Baekhwa.”
“Ah, Your Excellency also knows about Baekhwa TV.”
Ha Jeongseok frowned as he looked at Choi Cheolsik, who was making an expression as if he had found a comrade for no apparent reason.
What is he trying to do right now?
Don’t tell me he’s a fan of that Baekhwa TV thing at his age.
Well, moving past that.
“Her skills are outstanding. So, is it possible to get in touch with her?”
“Well. To do that, we would first have to go into the Erosion Zone, though they say she’s recently been operating as far as Japan.”
“So it’s impossible right now.”
Choi Cheolsik nodded.
Right now, there are many Erosion Zones near the Amnok River as well, so they have to set up the defense line centered on areas without Erosion Zones.
If a war broke out, it was obvious that China would ultimately come in after removing the ridiculous buff of attacking from an Erosion Zone.
“But for now, we will try contacting her separately through the broadcasting platform. She does have an email address.”
“Right. Then do that.”
“Yes.”
With those words, the vassal left the Association.
Watching his retreating back from a distance, Choi Cheolsik turned his head toward The West, where China was located.
He didn’t know what the hell they were doing.
He just hoped that it truly wasn’t what Ha Jeongseok had predicted.
“The problem is how to call Baekhwa over.”
Baekhwa lived in the Erosion Zone, and even if they somehow connected to the internet, it was not a reliable means of communication.
Deploying Hunters en masse to the Erosion Zone just to call Baekhwa was not a viable option.
It didn’t exactly look good for their image either.
“I don’t know. I’ll just have to go for it first.”
They had their own infrastructure built up over there, too.
Then wouldn’t there be a way for them to come over here from there?
He harbored such a vague hope.
* * *
We were lounging around at that time, like any other day, after going to the Academy like a hamster and finishing the Baekhwa TV broadcast.
A strange email arrived.
And to the Baekhwa TV email address, no less. The sender indicated it was the Korean Hunter Association.
I had occasionally seen some kids insulting Mutants, including making mom jokes, or making sexual jokes about us.
But I never thought they would send an email from a national organization.
Ray, who had recently gotten a taste for computers, showed me the email while using the internet.
[We would like to invite Lady Baekhwa and her companions to the Association.]
“My companions and I? Suddenly?”
I skimmed through it again, wondering if it might be spam mail.
The fact that the sender of this email was still the Hunter Association hadn’t changed.
Then for what reason on earth did they call us?
“What on earth are they thinking?”
“They say they want to discuss the details in person, but it’s also a bit suspicious.”
“Could they be trying to kill us?”
“We showed our power through Baekhwa TV. There’s no reason for them to go out of their way to try and kill us when we’re just staying still.”
The Korean Hunter Association was not foolish.
It was an uncorrupted, peak-era Hunter Organization that currently had the Yu Jinseok Generation, the protagonists of the prequel.
Such an organization wouldn’t go out of its way to dig a trap just to screw us over.
There must be some kind of reason. Since they even added an invitation, they probably had a favor to ask of us or something.
“We should at least meet them, right?”
“What should we do?”
“We can’t just be wearing masks at a meeting.”
“If we just make a slight change, we’ll look like beings who are neither Yu Eunha nor Choi Siwoo.”
Our appearances were already vastly different to begin with, anyway.
Honestly, I wondered if it even had any meaning.
If they told us to take off our masks, we could just take them off then.
What was certain was that the current government had neither the reason nor the will to dispose of us.
Because the timing for the Korea-China War to break out was right about now.
“When they tell us to take off our masks, we’ll handle it then.”
“Yes.”
“The date and time are written down.”
They said they had spoken to the Wall of Peace, the gateway into Seoul, so we could come in anytime.
After that, since we might catch people’s eyes, they said we could just get in the car they sent and go straight to the Association.
Could it be because of the Korea-China War, then?
By now, the Sin of Gluttony should have approached the vassal.
This was probably the most likely possibility. So Ha Jeongseok might be looking for us to strengthen their military power even a little bit.
“So we just have to go to the Association.”
“They sure seem to be quite a bother.”
“Well, let’s be understanding. It’s not like it’s easy for them to move around in the Erosion Zone.”
“That’s true.”
We couldn’t just enter Seoul right away.
It was as if we were going to Seoul with permission.
Our Baekhwa TV Crew filmed everything like a vlog documenting our trip to Seoul.
- for real, why did the Association call them?
- Maybe to catch them?
- If that’s true, Mommy Baekhwa is brave.
- The Association Hunters are elites, you know.
Our chirpers were consistently worried about me, but.
Would we really be attacked?
Ha Jeongseok is no fool. Especially since he listened to the opinions of the current generation. He was, in his own way, a vassal for the youth.
After all, the elderly were not of the Hunter generation, but the younger generation was, so they could become Hunters at any time. And wasn’t Ha Jeongseok himself originally a Hunter?
Right now, Baekhwa TV is quite famous worldwide.
They aren’t mentioning it, but the fact that I am a Mutant Beautiful Girl is scoring overwhelming points.
That was why Ha Jeongseok couldn’t abandon Baekhwa.
Why? She was popular and strong.
If he needlessly tore this apart, it could leave a blemish on his own reputation.
Ha Jeongseok wasn’t running a dictatorship for nothing.
His dictatorship was possible because he listened well to the opinions of the young people of the Hunter generation.
Therefore, Ha Jeongseok would try to use us through the Hunter Association.
“If it’s because of the war, then they’re probably trying to use us, right?”
“We should let ourselves be used for now. Nicely. Instead, we just need to show off an incredibly eye-catching, overwhelming combat power this time.”
“With the Black God Cult, you mean.”
Right. That very Black God Cult. We were going to use the Black God Cult.
In the war, the Black God Cult needed to play a spectacular role.
It would be perfect, especially if we even took the vanguard.
The Hunter Army that China would send wasn’t all that strong anyway.
Our future course of action was decided.
Just in time, the Black God Cult was also newly building up its forces.
To be exact, they were already forming an army according to the combat power of the Mutants gathered from all over the country.
Originally, that Black God Cult elder was organizing them as the Songdo security Defense Force.
The level was said to be higher than expected.
There were even those who had survived being beaten by peak-era Korean Hunters.
Speaking of which, we set off on our way to Seoul.
Every single one of us already boasted an immense stamina that humans couldn’t even compare to.
Even though moving via Kate would be faster, we ran directly to the entrance of Seoul ourselves.
“What the, who’s coming over there?”
“If it’s from the Erosion Zone side, it’s probably Mutants. Huh? That mask?”
“What is it?”
“It’s Baekhwa!”
As expected, even the Hunters standing at the gateway seemed to know us well.
There were even kids whose eyes sparkled as they recognized me.
Right. Is this what it feels like to become a celebrity?
“What the hell is Baekhwa, you otaku!”
“This bastard. You must not even watch internet broadcasts. No, they even told us to welcome Baekhwa when she comes, so we have to welcome her.”
“Letting Mutants in, I’ve lived long enough to see everything.”
The Baekhwa TV Crew approached the Hunters who were chatting among friends and bowed their heads.
“Hello.”
“Older Sister Baekhwa. I’m a fan! Please give me your autograph!”
I felt proud and signed the paper the fan held out.
“Here you go. Then this side too.”
“Excuse me?”
What, was he not a fan?
Since he was making a clueless face, I pulled the pen back.
- He was trying to give an autograph naturally, thinking the person asking was a fan.
- our Mutant Beautiful Girl is nothing but an embarrassment wherever you put her.
- No, it’s understandable to be mistaken when the guy asking for an autograph is right next to him.
- Still, trying to give an autograph naturally is a bit…
It was a bit embarrassing.
But that was that, and this was this.
Since it was embarrassing, we ended the broadcast, and soon got into the vehicle stationed at the gateway and arrived at the Seoul Association.
“Well now, such beauties have come to visit us like this. I apologize that we are not in a position to go to the Erosion Zone.”
But Association vassal Choi Cheolsik was coming out with quite a humble attitude.
What is this. Seriously.