Chapter 186
Permafrost (7)
[Awakeners on board, we have now crossed the Korean border.]
The captain’s voice was heard through the headset on his head.
The helicopter we rode headed for a city called ‘Bikin’, which came out about 15 km north from the northern border of Maritime Province.
The son-in-law was as quiet as a rat after he dealt with the giant, who was presumed to be an earth spirit in northern Maritime Province.
No annoying monsters appeared.
[‘Baqueen’ is a city that serves as an outpost for the Defense Forces in Maritime Province of Korea. When we arrive there, we will contact the person in charge immediately.]
The captain periodically glanced at the radar while flying low in the middle to see if there was a threat we hadn’t noticed yet.
Anya, Desiree, and Elizabeth in the seats next to them each drew their weapons.
I also quietly stroked Yeriel’s restraints and threw my eyes out the window.
Outside the window, on the ground, I could see gray, the color of concrete, not the white of the snowfield, and the blue and red colors that make up the roof.
“Wow—.”
At the same time as Desiree’s admiration echoed in a daze, the captain’s words continued.
[welcome.]
He slowly looked back and smiled.
[To step into the eternally unmelted earth, permafrost-.]
* * *
I realized when I saw the scene outside the window that I had entered the sky above the city.
[Ahh. This is KAH-12 Captain Geun-Min Lee. Barqueen control room, Barqueen control room response.]
The captain’s attempts to communicate with the city could be heard through the headset.
Listening to the captain’s voice, I simply organized what I was going to do in my head.
First, stop at the control room located in the city to check your identity, and then head straight for the railroad to the north.
According to the data given by lust, the Siberian base of the Holy Apocalypse is now an abandoned city, Khabarovsk. because it will be there
This matched the information I know. Because in the original work, when the Holy Apocalypse was active in the Far East, it was the secret base that became the main focus.
The information is piling up one by one, and I have many reliable allies, so there was nothing to worry about on this side.
The question is how this case unfolds.
I couldn’t get a feel for it. It was clear what they were aiming for, but how it would proceed was not predicted at all.
“This one should be caught and interrogated… .”
with my murmur.
[Barqueen Control Room, Barqueen Control Room If you are listening, please respond quickly. This is Captain Lee Geun-min, the captain of KAH-12. Request permission to land.]
It was a coincidence that the voice of the captain, who looked somewhat anxious, overlapped.
“Is the length a little strange? Didn’t something happen?”
Elizabeth, who was seated across from me, tilted her face toward me. Her pupils were glancing forward, precisely in the cockpit area.
[Control room-. Please respond!]
The captain, trying to communicate with the city for the third time, was raising his voice as if he was getting annoyed.
The composure he showed when he first approached the city was nowhere to be found.
“Does it look fine on the outside?”
The scenery of the city I glanced out of the window was no different from the image of ‘Free City Barqueen’ that I was used to seeing through image files.
On the contrary, it amplified my anxiety even more.
If the monster attack had been taking place, the situation would have been grasped at once. Therefore, the action is also simple, just jump down and defeat the enemies you can see.
but.
There was no abnormality to be found in the appearance of the city now.
[…] … solar student. I have a problem, can you come over for a minute?]
“What happened?”
After trying to communicate like that a few more times, the captain soon turned his head and said, and I approached the seat next to him – the copilot’s seat – and asked.
He quietly took off his headset and whispered quietly so that he couldn’t be heard behind him.
“We’ve lost contact with the city’s control room.”
“… … yes?”
He was turning the steering wheel.
“Awakened soldiers belonging to the military are always stationed in the ‘Free City’ close to the border to protect them, expand their influence, and block the threat posed by monsters in advance. however… .”
“… … I’m contacting you to get permission to land, but there’s no reply from the other side. That’s what you mean.”
“Yes, I would understand if you refused with an acceptable reason, but there is no answer. I have tried to contact you several times, but the other side continues to be silent.”
According to the captain’s control, the aircraft did not move further and flew in place.
“… … hmm. Is there any possibility that you were away for a while?”
“It can’t be, because someone always has to be in the command and control room in the first place. In case of an emergency, the military has reached out to that free city and is stationed there, but if you leave the place at will, wouldn’t it be meaningless as a control room? As long as there are people in the city, the control room can never be borrowed.”
“okay.”
“It’s clear that something happened, but I can’t figure it out at all, so this is it… … .”
I scratched my forehead at his timid explanation.
Moment.
Goosebumps ran down my spine and a hypothesis ran through my head.
It’s a chaotic political situation these days. Maybe that’s why bad thoughts flashed on their own.
I removed my hand from my forehead and carefully opened my mouth.
“Hey Captain? It’s a family, but if you have close acquaintances there, I’m sorry, but if the people here… .”
“It’s okay, so tell me.”
I swallowed my saliva.
“… … For some reason, if the ‘person’ in the command and control room itself is not inside the city, wouldn’t it be impossible to contact them like now?”
“… … ?”
“As long as there are people in the city, they say they can’t rent a command and control room. The control room is silent right now, but if you think about it rather simply… .”
“… no way. Heh heh, could it be?”
“Is that right?”
Didn’t finish the speech.
Beyond the borders called free cities, there are still quite a few people living in the cities of Siberia.
It’s not like a person can evaporate like some kind of water, and even if one person disappears, the surroundings will quickly grow, but it doesn’t make sense that an entire city disappears without any sign, so I saved my back.
The captain smiled as if he was exhausted, but his smile seemed to radiate a bit of anxiety.
“Let’s go first… … . You have to figure out what happened so that the captain can report it to the upper ranks and receive additional support or not.”
“I agree with that.”
After that, I headed straight to the back seat.
“What happened?”
“They say there’s no way to know, I guess I’ll have to go and find out.”
Weiying——.
Inside the city, the military helicopter we rode landed on the heliport installed in the middle of the city with a soft landing sound.
No communication came until we had landed completely.
‘Tak-!’
Stepped on the ground through the open door.
As I was still looking around the open area, I heard the sound of children descending one after another from behind.
And soon after the engine of the helicopter was turned off, I could clearly feel the surroundings.
To sum up that feeling in one word… … .
“Is it too quiet?”
… … Elizabeth muttered as she stroked the handle of the sword tied around her waist.
It was as she said. As the helicopter engine stopped working, the air was enveloped in silence.
“Iknow, right? No one walking around… … I can’t even find anyone.”
“It’s kind of creepy. Taeyang, what can we do?”
Chevalier bent down to sweep the snow on the railing, and Anya inserted a ‘clack’ magazine into the AK she was holding.
I walked to the front of the helicopter and knocked on the door of the captain’s office.
“Captain! Are you here? We will do the investigation. If something happens while the captain is walking around, you can’t see it!”
“… … Got it. The control room is in this building itself, so please do me a favor. Right downstairs from here, in the inside office at the top of this building, there should be a black box for records. Please be sure to ask for that.”
After receiving some precautions and basic information about the city from the captain, we headed straight down.
and… … .
“This is the black box you requested… … . The building itself is empty. No, not just buildings. There was not even a peep to be found in the whole city.”
After several hours of searching—the sun was slowly starting to fall—I couldn’t get even the slightest bit of information.
No trace of the city’s citizens could be found anywhere whether they had been blown up into the sky or were blown to the ground.
At best, it was only to hand over the black box requested by the captain.
“… … What the hell happened?”
“well.”
The team members also boarded the helicopter with their bodies slumped, as if they were losing their strength in their fruitless activities.
It was the moment when the ominous predictions came true one by one.
Things have changed.
With the bigger-than-expected event, I felt compelled to change my mind.
Since it is directly related to the earth, I was going to tighten it up one by one.
I couldn’t have imagined what would happen so suddenly.
one city
No matter how distorted the climate was, and even if the population was drastically reduced due to frequent monster raids, an entire city was blown away—
“It smells, and it smells like shit… … .”
With an ominous feeling, the helicopter that picked us up turned its head towards Ussuriysk – the city where Anya’s house is located.
* * *
Arriving at the base, we headed straight to the leader.
Even though I have the right to use a helicopter, what I was about to do from now on was kind of crazy for others to see.
Something faster than a helicopter was needed.
-bang!!!
“what?! Student Taeyang Geum Say it again. You want me to lift the limit on the range of operation radius? Didn’t you realize that even the 30 km beyond the border that is allowed to you right now would be impossible in the first place?!”
There was a sound of something exploding from the desk the old leader had hit.
They must be old and sick people, but I don’t know where such strength comes from.
“I am fully aware. For that, I thank the captain.”
“Then what the hell is wrong? What the hell is wrong with needing a plane to Khabarovsk!”
“… … You must have received a report from the captain who drove us around today.”
“I know—.”
I saw the leader’s composure broken for the first time today.
He used to maintain his composure even when borderlines in all directions were invaded by monsters, but not now.
“—That’s why I oppose it. Many of my men died defending the border today. Their deaths are obviously sad. But I’m not mad at their deaths, that was their mission. Because that was their mission. but!!”
The leader looked at me with his eyes wide open, excited.
“How far can you go, what should I trust in you, an outsider, to give up one of my precious men?! If an operation is to be carried out, that is the duty of the military, and if a subordinate is sacrificed while being swayed by you, that death will be the death that arouses my wrath. No matter where you are, no matter what threats you make to me. I can’t allow my men to be killed by dogs! So-”
His face was distorted as he approached me with both hands on the desk.
“—You should explain it well.”
I did not escape the wrath of the supreme power of Primorsky Krai.