Chapter 191: For Humanity
When the legion strike fleet left for Pluto.
A strange alliance was formed in Megacity Pacific.
It was a secret meeting of Congressman Bae Seong-min and other politicians.
They went through all kinds of trouble to avoid the eyes of artificial intelligence.
They chose a place that had not been restored since the last blackout and used masks and wigs to avoid being detected by drones and androids.
Thanks to that, they were able to avoid the president, who had been nervous lately and had been pouring out all kinds of oppressive policies.
Congressman Kenneth Osborne smoked a cigarette and asked as he looked around the space where electricity was still not coming in.
“How did you choose such a place?”
“There are more places like this these days. It must be because of the damage caused by the earthquake that has not been recovered.”
“It’s been months, but this means that there are limits to Lucia’s management.”
“That is, Lucia is not omnipotent either. You can tell by how she deals with the Plague Queen incident.”
The attendees exchanged glances.
They were people living in Zone 1 of Megacity Pacific, the core of the United Human Federation, and they were the leaders of the Supreme Council and various political groups.
The racial composition was mostly white, and among them, Anglo-Americans were the mainstream.
Bae Seong-min was almost the only Asian, which told the identity of the meeting.
In fact, there were many whites based on WASP in the United Human Federation besides them.
It was because whites fit perfectly into the various conditions that Yu Ji-ha demanded in the first place.
They had been quietly living for over 10 years, trying to figure out the situation of the United Human Federation.
So the conclusion they came up with was that it was possible to take back power.
Only a few conditions were needed.
—The president will change his mind and lose the trust of the citizens.
—Lucia, also known as super artificial intelligence, will be hit and show errors.
—A huge change that cannot be handled from outside will occur and create a gap.
It meant that an opportunity would arise if all three conditions were met, which would have been unimaginable 10 years ago.
But coincidentally, the recent changes gave strength to this group.
The president was losing the trust of the citizens with his emperor play.
Super artificial intelligence was spitting out various errors as if it had been hit by an earthquake and tsunami.
And finally, the Plague Queen appeared.
The third one was decisive.
It was because the Plague Queen demanded Yu Ji-ha directly.
There were so many psychics who heard it that it was impossible to hide it, and it quickly spread throughout the United Human Federation society.
Now some citizens thought that Yu Ji-ha was the cause of the problem.
—It was wrong for Yu Ji-ha to bring ether-based technology in the first place.
—There would be no problem without Yu Ji-ha.
Of course, there was no guarantee that the plague would go away peacefully even if he was handed over.
But the huge scale of the plague army witnessed by psychics took away the reason of citizens.
—Can Unified Space Force beat those monsters? Maybe it’s impossible…
—A small fleet crushed them, but what if Plague Queen came in person? The president is also flustered and spitting out nonsense.
In some citizens’ eyes, President Yu Ji-ha was nothing but a person who gathered humanity in one place with oppressive policies and could not deal with it properly or bravely step forward.
On top of that, preparations for various emperor enthronements, including Golden Palace, caused great disappointment.
What citizens wanted was a perfect ruler who could handle things skillfully, not a jerk who wanted to become an emperor.
Anyway, these factors made it seem like it was the best situation for Holy Knights to act.
Holy Knights were a force to regain white rights centered on Anglo-American politicians.
It may sound outdated, but they claimed that it was what they needed now.
—Religion for humanity again, opportunity to accumulate wealth, freedom from surveillance.
—We need friendly politicians, not lonely emperors like Basil II of Eastern Roman Empire.
The summary is to go back to before United Human Federation was established.
Naturally, they did not completely deny Megacity system and Yu Ji-ha.
They just needed to prepare for when plague was exterminated.
While they were doing so, Plague Queen appeared in person and they thought they finally had a chance.
Congressman Osborne looked over the plan and said.
“To summarize briefly, our plan is to capture President Yu Ji-ha and send him to space monster.”
“She said she wouldn’t bother us if we returned ether as well, so there shouldn’t be a big problem.”
They didn’t care how they could guarantee that.
Anyway, it was clear that United Human Federation’s power was not enough to oppose plague.
Their goal was to secure Yu Ji-ha and provide him to Plague Queen.
“To do that, we need to cause chaos. Keep in mind. He is good at staging and pretending to be dead. He may escape our attack by any means.”
“We already have collaborators coming in from outside. Congressman.”
Those collaborators were self-defense groups armed with personal weapons.
The number was not much and they could hardly handle a combat walker, but they were quite useful under the premise that Megacity would be shut down.
Plague Queen would have enough ability to shut down Megacity.
“Psychics will talk to Queen and create that opportunity.”
Plague Queen was a psychic who surpassed even Yu Ji-ha, and she could talk to individuals.
Most psychics would refuse to talk to her after touching her consciousness, but the knights of Holy Knights were different.
They would convey their intentions to Plague Queen and ask for an opportunity to overthrow Megacity.
Some might feel betrayed, but they didn’t think so.
“If the president had done politics well, we wouldn’t have come out like this, right? Congressman Bae.”
“…Of course.”
The attendees looked at Congressman Bae Seong-min.
He was considered the closest aide and confidant of President Yu Ji-ha.
Even he attended such a meeting, which showed how much the president had lost his trust.
Holy Knights were able to plan this because they had information from him.
Some warned that it might be a staged play by the president, but Congressman Osborne laughed it off.
“I know very well that the president’s specialty is staging and his hobby is extortion. But why would he do that when he has all the power?”
The appearance of Plague Queen, who cornered him, also made Congressman Osborne make a decision.
“The president can’t control Plague Queen either. You don’t have to worry about that.”
The specific plan was already made and only execution and appointment remained.
Congressman Osborne took out the government appointment list he had prepared in advance.
It seemed longer and more detailed than the plan, which was not an illusion.
He ignored the hopeful eyes and announced the appointments.
“President Ceres Osborne, Director of Management Agency Harvey Retig, Mayor of Megacity Pacific Howard Raymond…”
Several appointments were confirmed and it was Bae Seong-min’s turn.
Congressman Osborne smiled at him.
“Representative Bae, I want you to continue as the chief secretary and assist me as usual. I have no doubt about your abilities, since you have been the chief secretary for over 10 years.”
“…I will do my best to assist you.”
A satisfied smile appeared on Bae Seong-min’s face as he bowed his head to the members of the Holy Knight Order.
They must have felt as if they had the whole United Human Federation in their hands.
But all this was planned by Yu Ji-ha and Arma.
The appearance of the Plague Queen and the Nest was unexpected, but it did not change their plan.
‘Wait, when you think you have everything, the counterattack will begin.’
After killing the traitors, the United Human Federation would start anew.
The first thing to do was to exterminate the Plague that appeared in the main area of Ceres, but that was not Bae Seong-min’s concern.
‘I will wait until the president returns someday.’
His goal was to keep the United Human Federation alive until then.
He was willing to use any means necessary for that.
The representatives who misunderstood his expression raised their glasses together.
“Let’s have a drink. Everything is for humanity.”
“For humanity.”
Who are they to speak of humanity as they please?
A twisted smile appeared on Bae Seong-min’s lips.
***
The Unified Space Force was completely cut off from the ground.
There was active communication within the Unified Space Force itself, but there was no connection with Earth at all.
There was no immediate problem as artificial intelligence controlled each space station and fleet, but there was nothing they could do about the confusion of troops.
The soldiers who suddenly joined the Legion Strike Fleet were at a loss.
—What is the Legion Strike Fleet and where are we going?
—What happened to my family? What are we supposed to do?
—I’ve heard some bad rumors about the president lately. He’s not going to use us…
The senior officers managed to maintain their dignity, but they could not hide their confusion either.
They thought they deserved at least some explanation.
That’s when the president’s face appeared on all screens of the fleet.
He looked very pale, but his eyes were clear.
The entire force of the fleet looked at him.
“Officers and soldiers of the Unified Space Force, this is your president. You have worked hard day and night for the peace of humanity. Before I commend your efforts, there is something I need you to do. That is to annihilate our enemy, the Plague.”
“I think you all know about the existence of the Plague Queen. She is currently located in the main area of Ceres, and she is accumulating her power by eroding Ceres and its satellite Charon.”
Yu Ji-ha’s face moved aside and showed Ceres and Charon.
They saw a clear red cloud and a cracked surface.
And around the cloud, countless Plague entities swarmed like bees.
A sound of horror came out of everyone’s mouth.
“Damn, it’s a monster that eats up planets.”
“Ceres is not a planet…”
“Anyway, it’s horrible.”
Yu Ji-ha continued his speech.
“You may not understand this situation, but you don’t need to think too complicated. Everything is ready, and all you have to do is fight the final battle with the Plague and return to Earth.”
“As the president of the United Human Federation, I will give you my last order. Go to Ceres with the Legion Strike Fleet. Destroy the Plague Queen and the Nest as you trained. Then your mission will be over.”
He bowed his head.
“To all officers and soldiers of the Unified Space Force. I wish you good luck.”
That was the end of his message.
The soldiers were dumbfounded, but at least they seemed to understand what was going on.
“So… we’re going to Ceres and fighting with the main force of Plague?”
“It’s all good, but isn’t the president coming?”
“I guess he’s too old to be a pilot.”
“What does he mean by his last order? Is he going to quit being president?”
“He’s going to be an emperor. He’ll probably create a guard army and this will be his last order for us.”
“Will he change the name of our nation to Human Empire then?”
“The Human Empire can freeze to death.”
“Come on, let me tell everyone.”
The officers who received instructions from artificial intelligence tried to turn around the atmosphere in their ships.
They were also doubtful about Yu Ji-ha’s intentions.
But they had their enemies in front of them who had been brainwashed almost like indoctrination.
They decided to deal with them first.
—We don’t know much about the size or mission of Legion Strike Fleet. But that’s not essential for fighting space monsters.
—The Unified Space Force has been trained to fight under artificial intelligence control. Nothing has changed. We just have to go to Ceres and fight.
—We’ll destroy the damn Plague Queen and the Nest and return to Earth. You’ll be able to rest in the arms of your family or lover.
There was a long wait.
The officers and soldiers of the Unified Space Force spent their training time in tension.
Now it was time to face the results of their training.
The soldiers realized that they had nowhere to run or rest.
The rest was set after the battle in Ceres, and artificial intelligence applied the famous 10-minute schedule to them.
As a result, the officers and soldiers of the Legion Strike Fleet, who were heading to Ceres at 10% of the speed of light, had no time to rest.
“Damn, we don’t have enough people! Hey! Help me check the lock bolts!”
“The captain says there’s additional work needed for adjusting the flight data of the assault armors. All pilots who are called should gather at the hangar.”
Numerous soldiers, workers, and androids were busy moving around the ship.
They were so busy that they had no fear or dread of battle or death.
Sonya quickly walked down the hallway and found Yujin leaning against the window.
He was looking outside through a small window.
“What are you doing?”
“We’re traveling through space at 30,000 kilometers per second. Isn’t that amazing?”
“Wait, what? 10% of light speed?”
Sonya became like him and stuck to the window to look outside.
She expected something special, but there was nothing.
Just dozens of warships in sight.
“Are we moving? It looks like we’re anchored.”
“It’s all because of the ether reverse field. We’re speeding through a space made of ether.”
“There’s no such function on warships.”
“He must have hidden something.”
“Yeah. No one would be surprised if he was an alien, probably.”
He was Yu Ji-ha, Sonya’s biological father and Yujin’s emotional father.
They could be called siblings in some ways, and they became close as they trained in the same squadron.
Lieutenant Rogers teased them if they were dating, but that wasn’t it.
Sonya didn’t know what kind of feelings she had for Yu Ji-ha, but Yujin could only look at her pitifully as she yearned for paternal love.
Did the children who were born using his genes also crave paternal love?
‘Live freely and don’t look at someone like me.’
That’s what Yujin wanted to say, but Sonya seemed oblivious as she tucked her hair behind her ears.
“What do you think, lieutenant?”
“About what?”
“About the fact that the Plague Queen needs our dad.”
“Sorry, but I’m an only child.”
“Let’s just assume that and talk. You’re his son, so you must have heard something.”
“Well… we weren’t very close. I haven’t heard from him since I came up to space.”
“Koreans are supposed to be affectionate, but you have a cold father-son relationship.”
“Where did you hear that?”
“It was written on a snack I ate when I was young.”
“Oh. That chocolate snack.”
They both lost their words for a moment.
Sonya seemed to remember something and asked.
“We’re going to fight the Plague soon. What do you want to do after the fight is over, lieutenant?”
“I might go on a trip.”
“A trip?”
“There’s a place I want to go. It’ll be a very long journey.”
“In this day and age, what’s a long trip? It doesn’t take more than a few hours to go around the Earth.”
Yujin smiled and kept his mouth shut.
There was no need to tell her that his destination was another dimension.
Sonya looked gloomy and said.
“Actually, I wanted to contact my dad before I left. I would have been happy if he just said something warm like ‘have a safe trip’. But…”
“The communication was cut off?”
She shook her head.
“Even if it wasn’t, I know he doesn’t care about me. I’m just one of the people who inherited his genes.”
Her voice was choked with tears.
Yujin wondered if he should comfort her, but he closed his mouth.
Nothing he said here would be comforting.
If he revealed his identity, maybe she would be happy for a while, but she would soon realize that they had to part.
It was better to pretend not to know.
Sonya sniffed and wiped her eyes with her sleeve.
“I’m so pathetic, showing tears in front of my subordinate.”
“If my father saw you now, he would have said something.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t remember raising you as a crybaby.”
“…”
Sonya stared blankly and then clenched her teeth.
“Do you think you have the right to say that? Don’t delude yourself.”
“No. I do have the right.”
“Tell me why you think so.”
“Because…”
Yujin closed his mouth.
He didn’t think it would help her if he revealed his identity here.
He waited for a while and then said.
“No, it’s nothing.”
“You’re lame.”
Sonya said she had a lot of work to do and walked away quickly.
Yujin stood in the hallway and listened to Lucia’s report.
「Currently, Ceres and Charon are exposed with their core nuclei and surrounded by intense red clouds.」
「The size of the Nest is growing and many Plagues are being born.」
「The main fleet will be ready for battle in about 30 hours and will enter Ceres in 43 hours.」
‘We’re finally going to meet.’
The Plague Queen gave him a month’s deadline, but Yujin had no reason to wait until then.
The Legion Strike Fleet had ether blockers installed, so they could move without being detected by the Plague.
They could strike directly across the solar system.
‘Nothing can stop us.’
He didn’t know what plan the Plague Queen had, but it was impossible to stop this fleet.
The flagship Settler was not a real warship, but it could maneuver the entire fleet with a huge ether reverse field and had a number of reactive bombs that exceeded imagination.
The nearly 200 warships and cruisers carried dozens of assault armors each.
They were not all well-trained pilots, but they were more than enough to destroy the weak Nest and Plague Queen.
‘We lost 25 years ago. But now we will win.’
Yujin recalled the path he had walked for 25 years.
After falling into the East Sea, he woke up from being a vegetable and pretended to be a tycoon until he finally became the president of Korea and committed countless atrocities.
He deceived many people and sometimes committed unspeakable crimes.
But he did not regret it.
‘I have no regrets or fears.’
Even if he went back to the past, he would do it without hesitation.
Not because it was right, but because it was necessary.
‘For humanity.’
Yujin swallowed that one sentence in his mind.
If he could ever return to Earth, he wanted to say this to the people.
I did my best for humanity.
But that would never happen.
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