Chapter 101: The Plan for 2030
“That was worth 100,000 dollars.”
President McKinley looked at the screen with a troubled expression, resting his legs on the desk.
On the sofa next to him, his aides, including the NASA director and Humphrey, sat with speechless faces.
The screen showed the video of the Settler, orbiting around the moon.
It was clearly transmitted through a satellite, but the resolution of the video was very high.
Did they introduce some new technology?
“Moonlight Project… The media claimed it was the successor of the Artemis Program, but this is on a different level…”
The Artemis Program, which was canceled by the US leadership, also included a lunar base and other exploration missions.
But building a base that could mine helium-3, unoptanium, and ice was not part of the plan.
And above all, sending 50 civilians who had not received proper training to the moon for 5 million dollars was impossible to replicate with their technology.
“The Democrats must be watching this too… They’ll make a fuss about cutting NASA’s budget.”
The NASA director’s face turned pale.
NASA had been criticized by the US media for being Starfield’s lackey.
They were losing their leadership in space exploration and development, and only following Starfield’s lead.
The Democrats asked President McKinley and NASA this question:
—Where did the 20 billion dollars go?
If they looked into the details, they would see that it went to reasonable places, but as always, the media was focused on inciting public opinion.
They even compared NASA’s budget to that of Starfield or KARI in Korea, and ridiculed the president, the Republicans, and NASA.
“They’re telling me to endure it because it’s the end of my term… This is insane.”
President McKinley had one year left in office.
In a few months, he would enter the presidential race.
The Democrats, who were sure to elect the next president, had a clear agenda.
They had to bring Korea back into America’s embrace.
To be precise, maintain it, but anyway, they were trying to redeploy US troops in Korea.
“They were so eager to get them out… What a bunch of hypocrites.”
President McKinley turned his gaze away from the moon base made of black metal.
“Let’s stop discussing this. We’ll get our share of helium-3 and unoptanium anyway. What I’m more concerned about is how much pressure we’ll face if the Democrats take over?”
His aides spoke one by one.
“It won’t be like it is now. It will be much more hostile.”
“The Democrats hate Russia and Korea getting closer. They will use every means possible to break their alliance.”
“Don’t we have some useful friends nearby?”
“Japan? You want to raise them again and make them indirectly oppose Korea? That’s too naive. 45% of Japanese said they can’t live without Korea.”
“And 55% said they have to punish Korea. They will amend their constitution and rearm themselves. They can boost their military power significantly if they use 4% of their GDP.”
“President Yu’s achievements are impressive. But there are still alternatives at this point. The two countries have severed diplomatic relations, but Japan’s economy is holding up.”
“But when nuclear fusion power starts, the situation will change. I heard they’re planning to build an offshore plant near Tsushima.”
“The Maritime Self-Defense Force is putting pressure on the government to cancel it.”
President McKinley chuckled.
“The ghosts of the past are trying to revive.”
That meant the revival of Japan’s militarism.
It was no laughing matter, as Japan was seriously advocating for a return to the past with a party called Shin-Nippon Yushinkai and the Self-Defense Forces at its core.
They said they had to overhaul Japan from its roots, as it had been humiliated by Korea for too long.
For that, constitutional amendment and rearmament were essential.
If that became a reality, the Self-Defense Forces would be reborn as the Japanese Army with official recognition.
However, Japan’s rearmament was not something that the US welcomed.
Their biggest rival, China, had collapsed.
Russia was also satisfied with Eastern Europe in reality, and there was no country that could compete with the US in the Pacific.
The only thing that bothered them was Korea.
Especially Yu Ji-ha’s defiance was igniting fire in the US politics.
—Russia’s expansion is impossible without his full cooperation. The number of drones mobilized in this Ukraine war exceeded 200 thousand units.
—President Putin announced that he would build cities of victory around the border as a celebration of victory. He meant cities like those built on Terra Island.
—The headquarters and submarine base of the Russian Pacific Fleet are preparing to withdraw. It seems like they promised him a lot of land…
—Can we just let this go?
The Democratic lawmakers poured out their discontent with the two countries’ alliance, as if they could bite them.
It was hard to tell what they wanted.
Korea was now a country that had almost escaped from the US influence.
They had the right to conduct independent diplomacy with Russia or China, and there was no reason to intervene unless they violated a major agreement.
President McKinley was angry, but he couldn’t officially warn Korea because their status had changed a lot.
‘When they severed ties with Japan in one stroke…’
They couldn’t cut off their relations with the US right away, but they had enough possibility to prepare for it in the long term.
‘Now it doesn’t matter if he’s an alien or not. What matters is whose side he’s on.’
Maybe he needed to treat him as well as the Five Eyes, or even better.
The Democrats would refuse, saying he was not an Anglo-Saxon and he didn’t speak English.
There was also the variable of the United Human Federation, but it hadn’t shown any meaningful presence in the international community yet.
It wasn’t even a UN member state.
‘Just stay quiet for the rest of my term.’
But if he was that kind of person, he wouldn’t have to worry about this.
He declared that he would tear China apart and take Manchuria.
He had only one year left until the Democrats took over, and he seemed to be planning something.
‘Is that why Korean tanks are frequently roaming around Chinese land these days…’
They said it was a mistake or something, but there was no fool who would believe that.
He had his eyes on Manchuria.
‘He got land from Russia too, and now he boasts the largest territory in the history of the Korean dynasty. Please stay calm.’
No one knew exactly how far Korea’s territory extended, as many intelligence agencies were investigating it, but there was no way to know unless Korea announced it themselves.
And President McKinley’s wish was shattered in a few hours.
A few of his close aides, including Humphrey, opened the door of the Oval Office and entered.
“Mr. President, it seems that Korea has detonated something that matches a tactical nuclear weapon. The Geological Survey detected a strong seismic wave. It’s Punggye-ri in North Korea.”
Punggye-ri was a place name that had been mentioned every time North Korea conducted a nuclear test, and it was currently closed.
President McKinley shook his head as if he couldn’t believe it.
“Is he trying to kill me by raising my blood pressure? What is it this time? Didn’t we collect all of North Korea’s nuclear weapons?”
The only thing that could cause such a seismic wave was a nuclear weapon, and they had been collected and disposed of by the US and IAEA during the Second Korean War.
And nuclear inspections were still being conducted in Korea.
It was impossible to make nuclear weapons while hiding all the evidence.
Humphrey scratched his head unknowingly.
“It has the power of a tactical nuclear weapon, but there was no radiation leakage in the atmosphere. And the explosion pattern is quite different from a nuclear one. It seems to be a new type of explosive.”
Anyway, it seemed clear that Yu Jiha had made something troublesome again.
“Fuck.”
It was a word that the president uttered without realizing it.
***
The first fireworks of 2030 took place in Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province.
As soon as the detonator switch was turned on, the air around the area pushed out and the ground shook as if there was an earthquake.
And with an indescribable blast, sparks flew up and a huge crater was formed.
Bae Seongmin, the chief secretary, felt his heart sink as he saw the sight.
Anyone could see that it had the power of a nuclear weapon.
But the report said it was clearly a new type of explosive.
What on earth happened?
Yu Ji-ha took off his sunglasses and calmly said,
“It’s a new helium-3 explosive. It produced the expected destructive power.”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked out of curiosity,
“Mr. President, do you mean helium-3, the element used for reactor control rods?”
“Similar, but slightly different. This should be called helium-2. It can produce 300 kg of TNT equivalent per gram.”
Wasn’t that something that only appeared in science fiction novels…?
Bae Seongmin remembered that it was.
The US had researched helium bombs to replace nuclear weapons in the past.
They planned to produce helium-3 by shooting protons at tantalum, but they abandoned it because it was too expensive and not powerful enough.
Other countries also got similar results and there were no attempts since then.
But helium-2 that Yu Jiha mentioned looked different from the existing hafnium.
He looked around at the bureaucrats and soldiers and said,
“Our researchers have found out what kind of energy is needed to transform black metal. They named it Aether.”
Thanks to Plague Core starting to work, awakeners began to appear in large numbers in many countries, including Korea.
They replaced the Aether circuit of the core, so the output was stronger and they appeared much earlier than in the original history.
They were currently under the protection of various countries in strict secrecy.
Some places were celebrating that they could finally get out of Yu Jiha’s monopoly.
But that was also part of his plan.
He had to show the energy called Aether to humanity in order to move on to the next stage.
“Aether…”
“More than a hundred years ago, it was briefly noticed as a medium of light. It’s a discredited theory now.”
“Mr. President, how exactly does this ether relate to helium-2?”
The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked, and Yu Ji-ha explained simply.
“We discovered that we can store Aether energy. We shoot this energy through a special accelerator at tantalum. Then helium-3 is created. It’s an element that has nothing to do with the original helium-3, despite its name.”
“I see…”
The people nodded, but they didn’t seem to understand the explanation very well.
Anyway, it was certain that the students had to study more things, such as black metal, unoptanium, and antitron.
Yu Ji-ha gathered the generals separately.
“Assume that most of the warheads will use this helium-2 and make your operational plans accordingly. It will produce almost tactical nuclear-level destruction.”
The operations chief, who had been watching the situation, asked cautiously.
“Mr. President, what about radiation…?”
“You don’t have to worry about radiation at all.”
The soldiers’ faces brightened up in an instant.
It was because a nuclear bomb without radiation had become a reality.
Currently, Korea had ratified the NPT and had not withdrawn from the IAEA.
In such a situation, developing a new explosive that matched nuclear weapons was a huge strategic advantage.
They also had antitron, so they could block the enemy’s nuclear weapons while firing missiles that were no different from nuclear weapons.
However, there was no country around Korea that could compete with it at the moment.
The Middle Kingdom (China) was half-collapsed, and Japan seemed to be burning fiercely, but the United States was unlikely to tolerate nuclear armament.
Russia? It was not an exaggeration to say that they were allies with Korea, even as a joke.
Perhaps because they were worried about this, the United States began to impose conditions on the encryption system of Link-16.
They drastically reduced the number of authorized personnel who handled the encryption that was broadcasted by satellite every morning.
This greatly limited the operation of fighter jets such as F-35.
It was a joke that they couldn’t even start the engine, but anyway, the Korean military was dependent on the United States in many ways.
They had entered into unmanned combat aircraft development with Russia in order to get out of this situation, but the United States suspected that their technology was involved.
There was no major restraint yet, but they would start to object seriously when it became operational.
Anyway, Korea and Silla Group were making tremendous efforts to get out of the current situation of dependence on the United States, and it was being realized one by one.
The GPS satellite system that would soon be launched from Starfield belonged to it.
Yu Ji-ha sent back the soldiers and called in the bureaucrats, including the secretary-general.
“We will use this hafnium-2 explosive for construction as well. We don’t need it in North Korea where there is plenty of flat land, but Mega City South will definitely need it.”
Instead of mobilizing heavy equipment to shave off the mountains bit by bit, they would blow them up with hafnium explosives.
The shock would be absorbed by the black metal barrier, so there was no big problem.
When Yu Ji-ha explained this plan, doubt rose in everyone’s eyes.
They had never heard of such a construction method.
There were no mountains in TerraIsland, but most of South Korea was mountains.
To blow them up with explosives…
Secretary-General Baek Seong-min hurriedly said.
“Mr. President, we need a very large flat land to build Mega City South as you envisioned. We also need a lot of helium-2.”
“We can supply as much as we need, so don’t worry.”
No one could argue with Yu Ji-ha’s words.
It wasn’t because he was authoritative, but because they would be fact-checked if they said anything.
The value of Yu Ji-ha’s words came out only when the staff analyzed the data diligently and applied it to the field.
It might have been predicted by artificial intelligence, but it was ambiguous to see the answers popping out on the spot.
Anyway, the bureaucrats left and only Secretary-General Baek Seong-min remained.
He was the first person Yu Ji-ha trusted after Arma.
He was awkward at first with a president who was younger than him, but after watching his re-election process, he became his most enthusiastic fan.
Of course, his identity and purpose were still secret to him.
He cautiously brought up a topic.
“Mr. President, there has been a lot of talk lately. It seems like the territory has increased, but there is no substance. They say they want you to clarify it…”
“Well, there was some discussion, but nothing is certain.”
It was almost confirmed that the two dictators had discussed it.
But it was too early to announce it officially.
It was because Russia was not ready yet.
President Putin had spent a lot of time cleaning up the opposition, but it took more time to transfer the land.
They had to deal with the residents and facilities that lived on the land that was 20 times larger than the Korean Peninsula.
The mass migration of Kamchatka Peninsula residents had begun, and Primorsky Krai was also ready.
It would take at least a few years, so he needed to inform the secretary-general roughly.
“From here to here.”
As Yu Ji-ha’s finger drew a line on the map, Secretary-General Baek Seong-min doubted his eyes.
The line started from the northern part of the Korean Peninsula and reached the East Siberian Sea near the Arctic.
“This is really a huge land…”
He couldn’t help but groan at the width.
He had to calculate it to know for sure, but it looked like it was several tens of times larger than the Korean Peninsula.
“But the shape is somewhat strange, isn’t it? Here’s the problem.”
Yu Ji-ha’s finger pointed at Manchuria.
It was true.
It only looked balanced when Manchuria was included.
And further…
“The Mongolian president will visit Korea soon, right? There will be talks about economic cooperation then.”
The cooperation with Mongolia was not a recent topic, but this time it was quite large and seemed to involve some important issues.
If Yu Ji-ha’s absorption of Manchuria goes as planned, he will face a border with Mongolia as well.
―Maybe Korea could peacefully unify with Mongolia?
It was not a delusion, but a topic that was quite seriously discussed in Mongolia.
Korea didn’t seem to care much, but Mongolia was greatly influenced by Korea.
If you go to the capital Ulaanbaatar, there are quite a few areas where you doubt whether this is Korea or not.
Secretary-General Baek Seong-min was grateful that he was in the middle of this incredible history.
Yu Ji-ha emphasized.
“Don’t neglect diplomacy just because you are a small country president, okay?”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
Well, there had to be something to call diplomacy in the country.
In a country where even the US president was treated like that…
Secretary-General Baek Seong-min left as well, and Yu Ji-ha was left alone in the observation room.
“Arma. We have to move within a year.”
「We will be ready in four months.」
He had to absorb Manchuria before the Democratic Party took power in the United States.
It wasn’t very noticeable in the country, but recently there had been a lot of reactions in the US that Korea had gone crazy.
―What did they give to Russia to get that much land?
―They must have promised full-scale economic and military cooperation. There is information that a mass driver will be installed soon at the nuclear fusion plant near Moscow.
―How long will the US watch the cozy relationship between Russia and Korea?
The current US political scene was just waiting for President McKinley’s term to end.
They hoped that the next Democratic president would not be dragged around by Yu Ji-ha like his predecessor.
He could kill a few Democratic candidates, but it didn’t matter much.
The trend of the US itself was Democratic, so whoever came out would be elected.
This was probably one of the advantages of democracy.
And even if the Democrats came out, they were unlikely to have a direct confrontation.
Arma predicted that the Democrats would incite Japan.
「Japan will eventually revise its constitution and become a normal state, but not a democratic one. The Restoration Society is too closely related to the Self-Defense Forces.」
「There is currently a conflict between the maritime self-defense force and the business community over the issue of offshore nuclear fusion plants. They are likely to use military force to take advantage of this. And then maybe…」
At this point, Japan’s militarization was almost inevitable.
The hatred of Korea for blocking Japan’s nuclear possession and the absurdity of being cut off from diplomatic relations drove them to an extreme direction.
Of course, there would be opposition forces within Japan that were not so easy, but the power was in the hands of the Restoration Society and the Self-Defense Forces.
They would form a parliament somehow, but they would not follow democratic procedures as they did in the past.
“It wouldn’t be bad for us if that happened.”
It would be best if they stayed quiet, but Japan had enough national power to do otherwise.
As long as Korea continued to expand, they were bound to fight sooner or later.
Yu Ji-ha made his plans for the new year and left the observation room.
The guards surrounded him.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺