Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

188 – Prime

Myung-jun brought the treated soldier to the temporary base where Soo-jeong was waiting and placed him in the last empty medical pod. Although the bionic suit had a scanner to check for injuries, it was nothing compared to the precise diagnostic capabilities of the medical pod.

After checking the soldier’s condition, Myung-jun confirmed that Seung-ho’s treatment had been successfully completed.

“Senior, now all that’s left is to mass-produce the treatment and keep the remaining infected isolated until they’re cured,” Myung-jun said.

“That’s a huge relief. I was worried things might go wrong. But what’s up with Kei?” Soo-jeong asked, pointing to where Kei sat on a box, sulking.

“I teased him a bit earlier,” Myung-jun admitted.

“Teased him?” Soo-jeong asked.

Myung-jun recounted the story of treating the soldier and how, on their way back, he had teased Kei about having a ‘fan’ and ‘merchandise’ of his own age group.

“You think you don’t have any merchandise?”

“What? I have merchandise too?”

“Most Liberal Clan members do. Soo-bin, Taylor—they all have outstanding looks and have been in the media countless times. You’re one of the more extreme cases.”

“But I’m not a celebrity…”

“It’s the Gate Era now. Awakeners are the most popular profession. It’s only natural for people to idolize you.”

Myung-jun fell silent, contemplating her words. Then, as if something had dawned on him, he asked, “Wait, does that mean you also have…?”

“You can’t even imagine how many comics featuring me as the main character are out there on the internet. And don’t even think about looking them up,” Soo-jeong warned.

“I’m a bit curious, though,” Myung-jun admitted.

“The moment you see them, you’ll want to find the authors and kill them. It’s a dark world. It’s best for ordinary people like us to stay far away,” Soo-jeong advised.

She then shifted the conversation to their current situation to divert Myung-jun’s attention.

“The immediate problem is that our search area is too wide. While Kei can track the infected from the originally quarantined unit by scent, he can’t find newly infected humans that way.”

“Hmm… The scanner we’re using detects the energy from the crystal inside the parasites, right? What if we spread it over a wide area?” Myung-jun suggested.

“To widen the range, we’d need to increase the signal strength, but then the scan wouldn’t work. The scanner is already extremely sensitive, picking up very faint signals,” Soo-jeong explained.

“Then there’s only one solution. We have to scan every person inside the quarantine zone one by one,” Myung-jun concluded.

At that moment, Kei, the only Seeker capable of performing this task, stood up with a cheerful expression and said to Myung-jun, “Leave it to me. While finding infected humans by scent is difficult, I can certainly locate all the humans spread throughout the quarantine area.”

Seeing Kei’s bright demeanor, Soo-jeong asked him, “Hey, are you feeling better now?”

“Yes. After hearing what you said, I realized that Myung-jun hyung probably has more fans than I do. He must have a ton of merchandise too,” Kei replied, his eyes gleaming with a burning determination to find the most embarrassing piece of merchandise and use it for revenge.

Reading Kei’s expression, Myung-jun sighed and said, “I’m sorry. I’ll apologize, so please let it go this once.”

“What do you mean? I’m not planning anything,” Kei responded innocently.

“You’re not planning to buy some weird dakimakura and leave it on my bed, are you?” Myung-jun asked suspiciously.

“Oh, come on. Do I look like that kind of guy?” Kei replied, feigning innocence.

Of course, Kei’s words didn’t mean he wasn’t that kind of guy. It meant that he wouldn’t settle for something as simple as a dakimakura for his revenge.

Stepping in to mediate between the two, Soo-jeong said, “That’s enough. Myung-jun, as the clan leader, has apologized, so let’s leave it at that. There are still victims getting infected out there in real-time. Even though the treatment is complete and we can relax a bit, we need to maintain a serious attitude considering the victims.”

“Yes…”

With the situation settled, Soo-jeong immediately called for Soo-bin and the EDA members. She then explained the use of the injectors and upgraded their suits.

“Kei and Soo-bin will track down the infected who are hiding and not complying with control measures, but the rest of you need to gather everyone in one place. Bring all civilians in the control area here, and treat any infected found during field scans immediately,” Soo-jeong instructed.

One of the EDA members raised a hand and asked, “Does that mean we can consider the situation to be stabilizing?”

Nodding, Soo-jeong replied, “At least for the infection among soldiers and civilians, you don’t need to worry anymore. However…”

“Please, go on.”

“The problem is that all the parasites we’ve found so far are lower-level monsters. Even the synapse monster controlling the quarantined unit was just a lower-level infected by someone else. Unless we find the ‘someone’ who caused the initial infection, we can’t lift the quarantine even if we treat all the infected within the area,” Soo-jeong explained.

Her fear was that the situation might drag on indefinitely. If they couldn’t deal with the main body that had arrived on Earth through the gate, all their efforts could be in vain. However, she couldn’t think of a way to locate the main body hiding in such a vast area.

‘Should we lift the quarantine and request additional support? No, if we lift the quarantine prematurely and the Prime monster escapes, it could lead to an irreversible disaster,’ Soo-jeong thought, troubled.

At that moment, she felt someone gently take her hand. Looking up, she saw Myung-jun, the man she trusted most in the world, holding her hand and looking at her.

“Senior.”

“Myung-jun.”

“Don’t worry too much about the Prime issue. If finding the treatment for the parasites is your role, then fighting the boss who caused all this is my role as the clan leader

“But how can we fight an invisible enemy when we don’t even know where it’s hiding in such a vast area?” Soo-jeong asked, holding Myung-jun’s hand tightly.

Myung-jun smiled and replied, “That’s simple. Just like when you don’t know where an anthill is, you eradicate the ants by targeting the entire area.”

The ‘simple method’ Myung-jun referred to was to gather all humans in the area into one place and then ‘scorch’ the remaining regions.

====

***

====

‘Something’s wrong.’

Untwart had sensed something amiss for a while. The rate at which the infected were decreasing was faster than the rate at which new infections were occurring. The signals from the parasites were dwindling one by one, as if they were being hunted, ringing an ominous alarm in his instincts.

‘Even newly infected humans are being eliminated immediately. Could they have found a way to distinguish between the infected and the uninfected?’ Untwart pondered for a moment but dismissed the thought.

Throughout his countless invasions of many stars, infecting and annihilating species far more advanced than humans, he had never encountered a race that could accurately distinguish between the infected and the uninfected. His infection algorithm, perfected through the process of discarding flawed genetic information and artificially evolving new monsters, had created an almost perfect concealment system.

However, the situation of the parasites, as sensed through his sensory organs, felt as if beings with the technology to precisely identify the infected were hunting them down.

‘Even if these inferior humans possess such technology, it doesn’t affect my plan. After all, eliminating the infected means they are killing their own kind.’

He never doubted that humans could overcome the mechanism where the parasites would self-destruct along with their hosts the moment a threat was detected. Watching the infected species kill each other was, in Untwart’s view, an ideal world.

Contrary to Untwart’s belief, the parasites on the surface were literally being ‘hunted’ by EDA members wearing the bionic suits designed by Soo-jeong.

“An infected human is fleeing at 3 o’clock. Two of you stay here to move the uninfected to the camp, the rest follow me to chase the infected.”

“Evacuation of uninfected humans in Area A12 complete. Moving to Area A13.”

While the EDA members busily moved the uninfected and treated the discovered infected within the quarantine zone, Kei waited calmly with Soo-bin inside the camp. His task was to locate any remaining humans outside once everyone within the area had been safely moved to the secure zone.

As Kei and Soo-bin waited, Myung-jun and Soo-jeong were preparing to eliminate the Prime monster.

“The Prime monster is likely underground within the quarantine zone. It could also be in a deep cave in the valley. Once the operation starts, we’ll begin attacking from the top of the camp, spiraling down to a depth of 10 meters underground.”

“The problem is we don’t know the size of the Prime. The Elimination Suit’s firepower is impressive, but it’s limited to short bursts. It might not be enough to destroy the entire terrain within the quarantine zone.”

“Would it be difficult even with the Nautilus?”

“Even with energy-based weapons, it’s challenging to destroy such a vast area. Eliminating a limited number of enemies is different from obliterating the terrain itself. Moreover, the special ammunition designed to remove the parasites won’t be effective on ordinary terrain without crystal energy.”

Soo-jeong believed that Myung-jun’s proposed method was valid, but the issue was the lack of sufficient firepower to execute it.

“We’ve eliminated almost all the parasites and even treated the synapse monster, yet the Prime hasn’t made any moves. We’ve sent drones multiple times, but found no traces on the surface. If the Prime is hiding, it’s likely underground,” Soo-jeong said, puzzled.

“Why isn’t it moving? The parasites are like its offspring, right? Why isn’t it doing anything while they’re being treated?”

“That’s a human way of thinking. Many fish lay eggs in the ocean and don’t care for their offspring. The Prime could think similarly. As long as it survives, it can always produce more offspring.”

“If that’s true, it’s the worst kind of enemy. Even with the Elimination Protocol’s superior firepower, destroying this entire area is impossible. We’d run out of firepower after destroying just a tenth of it.”

Soo-jeong thought that maybe that was the Prime entity’s plan.

If the Prime monster simply scattered the parasites and hid about 100 meters underground, it would be impossible to eliminate it with ordinary firepower. And as Soo-jeong had suspected, the Prime monster’s hunting strategy was precisely to exploit this point.

Currently, the Prime monster was hiding 20 meters underground near the barrier field Soo-jeong had deployed, a depth 10 meters deeper than Myung-jun’s planned attack depth. It was a place that would never be discovered through conventional methods. In the deep earth, protected by thick bedrock, Untwart extended his tentacles in all directions, quietly waiting for the strange barrier blocking external signals to disappear.

However, what awaited Untwart was a powerful shockwave, reminiscent of an earthquake, strong enough for even humans without keen senses to feel.

‘What is this?! Did the humans set off what they call a nuclear bomb?’

Of course, Myung-jun hadn’t used a nuclear bomb. Instead, he summoned his most powerful equipment, possessing destructive power comparable to a nuclear bomb. It was a massive steel giant, 20 meters tall, created with non-human technology.

-BOOOOM!!!-

As the kneeling steel giant plunged its enormous greatsword into the ground, the solid bedrock was sliced apart like a piece of meat. Explosive energy poured out through the embedded ground.

-KWAAAAANG!!!-

In an instant, the entire area around the giant surged upward as if a nuclear test had been conducted underground. Simultaneously, shockwaves radiated outwards from the sword’s blade like waves. The powerful attack ground the solid earth, which had been compacted for thousands and tens of thousands of years, into dust in a single strike.

Sensing the impact of the attack, Untwart instinctively realized that the target of this attack was himself. It was the first ‘life-threatening’ crisis that Untwart, who had lived for tens of thousands of years, had ever experienced.