Chapter 188: There is No Night of Sorrow
There was one thing that the 1.2 billion citizens of the United Human Federation never wished for while living in the megacity.
It was the sound of a first-class alert.
This alert was never issued for a small-scale plague outbreak.
It was a secret, but it was known to be activated when a full-scale war with the plague was about to begin.
That’s why people hoped that the first-class alert would never ring.
But that day came.
The artificial intelligence sounded the alert to the entire United Human Federation.
“Alert. Plague air raid alert. All bases and fleets of the Unified Space Force, enter the first-class alert posture immediately. Repeat…”
Almost at the same time, the megacity began to close.
The outer wall was firmly erected and the ceiling was formed, completely sealing it off.
But it was not dark inside, because sunlight was drawn in through optical fibers and brightly illuminated it.
A huge amount of optical fibers and reflectors shone light, and the inside of the megacity became as bright as day.
But the citizens were not comfortable.
It was because the drones, androids, and walkers that were roaming the streets flashed red lenses and warned them.
“A first-class alert posture has been issued. Citizens, please return to your registered residence immediately. If you violate this, CP will be deducted.”
They were so noisy and wandering around that everyone had to hurry back to their residence.
There were so many people that dissatisfaction also exploded.
“What’s going on? Why are they doing this all of a sudden?”
“Is it because of a full-scale war?”
“Even so, they don’t have to flash red lenses at us, do they?”
“They say they’ll deduct CP. This is the first time for this kind of case.”
The people were surprised not by the fact that the alert rang, but by the fact that the drones and androids flashed red lenses that they had only shown when suppressing criminals.
Aren’t the citizens innocent?
And they even said they would deduct CP if they didn’t follow the instructions, which caused a lot of complaints.
There had never been such a case before.
Voices rose here and there, but they didn’t want to lose CP, so they all followed the control.
On Meganet, the megacity’s communication network, there were some arguments in favor of it.
—A first-class alert means a situation that is no different from a full-scale war. This is not the time to argue about this and that.
—They’ll release it later when the alert is lifted. Why would they do that otherwise?
—President Yu Ji-ha will take care of it. There hasn’t been a breach in the megacity so far.
The entire United Human Federation, including the megacity, was no different from what Yu Ji-ha had created.
All 1.2 billion people had done was enter his shelter.
Some ability users helped him, but they were really a minority.
In fact, after living for more than 10 years, it was natural to have a sense of ownership, but Yu Ji-ha’s influence was so great that there weren’t many people who had big complaints.
Another interesting spectacle was that politicians who were active outside rushed into the megacity as soon as the first-class alert was issued.
The citizens were busy chewing them up.
—Why are they coming in? They should be hanging out with their factions outside.
—Factions? Aren’t they just guys who get wiped out by one walker? What value do they have?
—Numbers. And resources. When the war is over, there will be some value in using them somehow.
—They should kick them all out. I don’t know what they’re doing.
—Aren’t they rather close to the president?
Building a splendid palace and his recent offbeat behavior confused the citizens.
He imposed an excessive alert posture on them, causing them inconvenience, but he didn’t touch the troublemakers at all.
The defenders argued that there must be a reason for it, and the citizens didn’t make a big fuss about it either.
But some began to think again about the surveillance system of the megacity.
—I thought it was not a bad system, but if he changes his mind and becomes a dictator… I don’t know.
—Maybe this is his struggle because he doesn’t want to give up his power.
—I still want to trust him though.
The trust in Yu Ji-ha was so firm that it didn’t waver with just this much.
Rather, since a crisis had come, they felt that they should unite, which became an opportunity to strengthen their trust in him.
However, it was clear that a small spark had been created.
It was that he could control the citizens as he pleased if he wanted to as a dictator.
The citizens had been intoxicated by sweet dictatorship and forgot about it until now.
They realized that their helpers, the drones and androids, could become enemies.
***
Humanity didn’t know where the plague came from.
They only knew theoretically that it used a phenomenon called ether storm, which appeared out of nowhere in the inner solar system.
But as they say, a long tail gets stepped on. In the past 10 years, many places, such as the artifact analysis agency and the research institute of the Unified Space Force, have succeeded in analyzing the appearance of the plague to some extent.
Hwang Sun-young, an authority on ether research, claimed that ether storms must always accompany the appearance of the plague.
“Strong gravitational waves are detected in ether storms. That means you can tell by using a gravity radar. They are divided into first to fifth classes depending on the size, but the smaller the number, the bigger they are.”
“The plague always appears with ether storms. That means they’re not coming from outside the solar system.”
It was probably another universe.
Anyway, this time the scale of the plague was estimated to be about 2,000.
“We are currently waiting for the ether storm to subside in Jupiter’s orbit. Surprisingly, the scale is almost the same as before.”
“By saying it’s almost the same, you mean that sending the plague was a warning from the prophet.”
“That’s right. If it was a queen, she would have attacked with her nest.”
Lucia was usually joking and seducing Yujin, but she was very businesslike when it came to the plague.
Yujin also felt comfortable with that.
“In other words, it was a warning from the prophet. I should thank him again.”
He had one more reason to go to the prophet’s hometown.
But going there was after completely exterminating the plague.
He had to destroy at least the plague queen and her nest to be able to claim victory.
The current United Human Federation was not a great enemy for 2,000 beasts.
However, their scale was not very impressive compared to the whole plague.
“According to the analysis of the previous war with the plague, these 2,000 are just a vanguard. Depending on how we deal with them, the response of the main force will change.”
“Using blockers is meaningless and the queen’s intention is important.”
It was never revealed why the plague attacked humanity.
Some people cited resources as an example, but it was inefficient to fight with humanity for that.
Humanity had collapsed, but the plague had also suffered considerable damage.
They seemed to be looking for something, and it was likely to be an artifact of the prophet.
‘Maybe it’s the artifact I absorbed.’
Yujin hadn’t been able to properly identify the artifact he had absorbed on Mars because of the combat situation at that time.
But it was clear that it was a key to open a warp gate.
The plague was looking for a key to go to the prophet’s hometown.
The reason they missed Yujin was probably because he hid in the cockpit and blocked all psy-fields.
‘The cockpit’s performance can’t be that great…’
It was hard to believe that the ones who devoured planets by destroying them completely failed to detect it.
It was probably the camouflage function of the key itself.
‘It must have something to do with my ability to block psy-fields.’
In that sense, the conspiracy theorists who claimed that Yujin was the culprit who brought the plague were not entirely wrong.
But whether the plague would stop attacking if he disappeared somewhere was a separate issue.
Lucia seemed to notice his mind and tried to bury her face in his right chest, but when her glasses got in the way, she quickly threw them away and pressed her cheek against him.
“Don’t worry too much, master. I’ll help you get to the prophet’s hometown. But we’re going together.”
To be honest, there wasn’t much he could do without Lucia.
And he wanted to stay with her since they had worked together so far.
She was an android, but so what?
He was also a tool born out of necessity.
He stroked Lucia’s hair.
“Yeah, let’s go together.”
After smashing the plague horde that caused the night of sorrow.
“Let’s start with plan A. Let’s destroy them before they find Earth.”
“Yes, sir.”
Lucia’s command was delivered to all space bases and fleets of the United Human Federation.
***
The 2,000 plague cocoons that had just entered the solar system did not have individual wills, but they had a faint sense of unity.
It was formed by the psy-field of the queen who transcended space and time.
Their goal was simple.
―Find the milestone that will guide us to the land of God that is somewhere.
―And eliminate all obstacles you encounter along the way.
It was a simple command, but it was enough for the beasts with faint egos.
The cocoon horde sensed a distant psy-field and activated their bio-ion thrusters.
2,000 plagues embarked on a long journey of 600 million kilometers.
But Earth had changed completely.
They built megacities in various places to prepare for the plague’s air raid and produced as many space fleets and mobile weapons as possible.
So by the time the cocoon horde arrived at Mars’ L3 point, more than 50 fleets were waiting for them.
The cocoons were surprised and poured out beasts all at once, and Lucia controlled each ship.
「We will seal most of our weapons to quickly annihilate the plague. Intercept them with reaction bombs only.」
Using reaction bombs as soon as they encountered them was to avoid giving unnecessary information to the main force.
They couldn’t block all the information transmitted by psy-fields, but they could at least prevent their own weapon systems from being exposed.
The plagues that had appeared so far were sent by the prophet, so it was assumed that the queen’s subordinates didn’t know much about humanity.
Therefore, they had to annihilate them before they obtained proper information.
「All ships, fire reaction bombs.」
With just one more reaction bomb, the plague horde that entered the solar system was neatly wiped out.
The people of this era didn’t know it well, but they had smashed the main culprit who caused the night of sorrow incident.
The soldiers of the fleet gathered in Mars’ orbit cheered in unison.
“Yay!”
“We did it!”
「Plague horde annihilated, no casualties for Unified Space Force. Well done everyone.」
The citizens also cheered, but they couldn’t rush out to the streets because of the control.
Instead, scout ships came out of the fleet and went around collecting plague cores.
The United Human Federation’s top brass also cheered as much as anyone else.
They shook hands and hugged each other, but only one place was quiet as much as anyone else: the management headquarters, which was the tallest building in megacity.
It was because its owner, President Yu Ji-ha, didn’t come out of his office.
Bae Seong-min knocked on the door, but he only heard an artificial intelligence voice saying he didn’t want to see anyone.
He plucked up his courage and spoke again.
“Mr. President. The main culprit who caused the night of sorrow incident in your time zone has disappeared. It’s a small victory, but it’s valuable to us. So please join me…”
He just wanted to talk, but the office door remained firmly closed and didn’t open.
Bae Seong-min turned around with a gloomy face.
He had a feeling that the president had changed since some time ago, but he never thought he would refuse to talk.
Why?
‘He’s been separated from his wife lately…’
Arma, who had been Yu Ji-ha’s soulmate.
They had been living apart for some time and seemed not to communicate at all.
The megacity kept running, but in fact, the top leadership of United Human Federation was virtually on strike.
He didn’t know the main cause, but he thought he knew one of the reasons.
Some parasites in the Supreme Council.
The incompetent bunch who barely avoided losing their membership by attending and only cared about expanding their power after the war.
Bae Seong-min hated them, but there was no reason for the president to protect them.
Where did the president’s bold decision to send all those who interfered with his purpose to prison go?
He looked at the golden palace that was being built far away with a depressed heart.
It was called a palace, but it was a luxurious building that was taller than the management headquarters.
The exterior was decorated with gold all over and glittered, but in Bae Seong-min’s eyes, it looked like nothing but a symbol of vulgar vanity.
‘How can he bring such a monstrosity into the megacity that was built to prepare for the war with the plague…’
He couldn’t criticize it openly because the culprit was President Yu Ji-ha.
He walked down the stairs with his shoulders sagging.
The night of sorrow was gone, but it seemed like his president was gone with it.
***
United Human Federation won the battle with the plague.
Even ordinary citizens knew that it wasn’t all of the plague.
And that a real war would break out soon when the main force appeared.
But at the moment of victory, voices of discontent began to arise, saying that they should release the control.
―It’s not like I want to do something great, or dream of a rebellion. I don’t understand why they ban going out completely.
―Wasn’t he different before? The president was cold to the enemies, but warm to the citizens. I wish he would explain the situation on MegaNews.
Despite the many requests from the citizens, he stayed in the management headquarters and hardly showed his face.
Meanwhile, some members of the Supreme Council tried to pass a reckless bill.
They wanted to bring outsiders into the megacity.
The sponsors of the legislative committee were appalled by this.
―What are they doing? They refused to come into the megacity by their own free will. Why do they want to bring them now?
―The members are trying to create a faction centered around themselves. This must be stopped.
Fortunately, the bill was rejected by the artificial intelligence as inappropriate.
But the mere fact that such an attempt had been made brought anxiety to the citizens.
―The president is nowhere to be seen and some members are running wild. I wish someone would stand up and stop them.
―Damn, I can’t do anything I want even if I can go outside.
The citizens realized for the first time that their freedom was tied to one dictator.
And that the dictator had finally changed his mind.
―I knew this would happen.
―I never trusted a dictator in the first place.
―He said he would return the power to the citizens? I wonder if he ever had that intention.
A bold post appeared on MegaNet, saying that they just wanted to see the president’s face.
But the voices of discontent soon faded away.
The artificial intelligence deleted all the posts and froze MegaNet.
No one could post anything, and access was even prohibited.
The citizens were shocked again.
The president who had tolerated everything except for disrupting society was doing this.
Their trust in Yu Ji-ha was shattered.
But there was still no big movement.
They were afraid to step forward in a situation where he held all the power.
As the Unified Space Force was also swept by the atmosphere and became restless, Yujin contacted Bae Seong-min first.
“Uncle, how are you?”
“I wish I could say that, but unfortunately I can’t.”
“Is it because of my father? Right?”
“…No, no. I can’t badmouth my father in front of my son.”
He was so loyal that it was enough to make anyone who heard him feel sad.
After all, a huge palace that everyone in Megacity Pacific would find absurd was being built there.
How could they not be frustrated when the president didn’t even meet them, and the citizens were running wild with complaints?
Bae Seong-min vented his anger as he talked with his nephew.
He avoided cursing Yu Ji-ha as much as possible and poured out his hatred for the parasites around him.
“Those bastards should be fried and killed for Megacity to be safe. You know what I mean? They are born with no intention of living peacefully. They have to get power in their hands to satisfy their grudges.”
“I agree with you.”
“They shouldn’t have been accepted as members in the first place! But… but…”
It was a pitiful voice that made anyone who heard it feel depressed.
If Yu Ji-ha had been in front of him, he might have cried.
At such an old age.
Bae Seong-min cleared his throat, feeling ashamed of venting his anger in front of his nephew.
“I’m sorry for making a scene. Just think of it as your uncle’s drunken nonsense. Don’t tell your father.”
“I already did, secretary-general.”
Bae Seong-min’s eyes widened.
There was only one person in the world who could call him by that position.
But the young man in front of him was definitely Yujin.
A 22-year-old who looked too strong and mature for his age, unlike his parents.
“Could it be…”
“Yes. The despicable dictator who killed former President Jo Hyung-geun and took over the country as acting authority.”
He came to his senses.
Yujin couldn’t possibly know someone like Jo Hyung-geun, who belonged to history books from an old era.
And Yu Ji-ha killing him was a suspicion that only a few people, including Bae Seong-min, had kept secret and never revealed.
Yujin saying that meant…
“Mr. President…”
Bae Seong-min collapsed on the spot as his blood drained away.
A decisive remark came out from the screen.
“I’m sorry for making you suffer by putting you as a member after you retired. But there’s one more thing you need to do for me.”
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