Black Badger - Chapter 337



Only Noblemtl

337. Money Money Money (1)

I was out of the office during a bad time.

That was the first thought that came to mind when Scar Owen returned.

When he returned to the headquarters office, an unexpected problem awaited him.

Gilbert muttered.

“The Commander must have felt your absence greatly. He said that you would have handled this situation much better than he did. That must be why Falcon let Jaeyeon loose next to you.”

“I guess that wasn’t part of their calculations.”

Scar sat back in his chair, his eyes glued to the price charts floating on the screen.

He muttered while looking at the screen with a heavy heart.

“What about the Commander?”

“Meeting with CEO Choi Hyun-jun in 10 minutes.”

Scar let out a small groan.

It didn’t seem like the current situation would be resolved by having an interview.

Ye-Hyeon must know that too. Still, she must have called Choi Hyeon-Jun to headquarters with the intention of grabbing at straws.

There have been some really colorful crises lately.

Scar opened the report submitted by the General Affairs Department and the Planning and Coordination Office and sighed.

“I heard that Hilde is still not in good health.”

Gilbert said, handing over the report.

Scar let out a small sigh.

“that’s right.”

Now, he’s no longer in critical condition or on oxygen like he was a few weeks ago.

However, his physical strength has become extremely weak. He said that his immunity has dropped to an abnormally low level, and that he often gets a low-grade fever. He is not hospitalized, so he will be discharged, but the doctor said not to give him excessive work.

“Still, I’m glad you were discharged safely.”

Gilbert muttered.

Scar answered heavily.

“Nonsense. Everyone’s eyes were half-rolled.”

I recall the scenes I witnessed at the hospital at that time.

It wasn’t a pleasant scene to recall. I never wanted to see Hildebert hanging from a ventilator, or muttering nonsense while feverishly.

There was also the sight of badgers who couldn’t even sit down in the hospital lobby or in front of the intensive care unit.

At that time, Ricardo and Jonathan barely spoke five words all day.

Ami curled up in a ball and refused to leave the hospital, so Yoon had to drag her home.

Carl Dow and Sophia Kalak were the only ones who kept their composure, and they were hardly willing to leave the hospital. Scar saw that Sophia’s lips were ragged.

The elders also sent their men to check on Hilde’s condition, so there is no need to explain how bleak the situation was.

Hildebert doesn’t know all these facts.

Scar frowned slightly as he thought of Hilde, who had not been able to walk properly until he was discharged from the hospital.

“If this is the case, then Hilde’s hard work will be in vain.”

“That is the point that is most provoking the Commander’s anger right now.”

“What if Choi Hyun-jun doesn’t have the answer?”

“I heard you were thinking about retrieving the core device of the unnecessary core.”

Gilbert said.

“And he also called Hildebert. It seems he wants to explain the situation to me in person.”

***

I received a call from Yehyun.

Did the acceptance of reality work? I was discharged from the hospital three days after meeting Kairos.

Although Samuel had repeatedly said that he was not fully recovered, I excitedly rode home in You’s car, wondering how he could sleep in the cabin without having to eat hospital food.

While replying to pending messages.

[Yoon: Contact me when you get to the cabin. Go to the Commander-in-Chief’s office at 8:50 PM tomorrow. I have something to say to you as I return the sword.]

[Sophia: Stay quietly in the cabin until your sick leave ends.]

[Deltey: Hilde!!! As soon as you get back, get rid of Igor!!!! Please!]

[Army: (Emoticon of a dancing magpie) (Emoticon of a sheep eating grass) (Emoticon of several magpies flying flowers) Are you sleeping in a cabin today? A cabin?]

[Tom/Donggibang: That’s fortunate. Still, take care of yourself for a while.]

[Hesh/Donggibang: Take care of yourself!]

[Advisor: If you are not feeling well, please do not force yourself and tell me.]

[Jonathan Kudo: Are you fully recovered? The doctor said you’re not fully recovered yet.]

[Ricardo: Throw away the frozen gnocchi I sent you a photo of yesterday. Why did you buy it? If you want to eat gnocchi, just tell me.]

[Kal: Congratulations on your discharge. For now, just focus on recovering.]

[Ruta Ayer: Thank you for contacting me. I should have contacted you first. I have something to say, so contact me later when you’ve recovered.]

[Shoo: Congratulations on your discharge. I was worried a lot.]

[Barbie: Why do you always go around spreading such ridiculous rumors?]

[Lee Ho: You must be very tired, so don’t overdo it.]

[Rose: Captain♡ I’ll go back♡]

When I came to my senses while replying to this message, it was the next morning.

Igor, who was sitting in the backseat, said that I fell asleep while playing with my phone in the passenger seat. He said that he carried me to the bed in the cabin while I was still sleeping without coming to my senses.

I don’t remember.

It looks like your body is getting weaker.

I’ve never been this weak before, so I couldn’t adapt.

I originally had a healthy body that never got sick. Maybe it was because I grew up in an area with exceptionally clean air and water.

Even when the blue disease was prevalent in the empire, it was not caught until the very end.

Living with that kind of body, I got a low-grade fever once every three days, and it felt like I was going to die.

How does Deltay conduct his daily life?

As I asked her a simple question as I prepared to go out in the evening, the saint, who had been crawling around the cabin due to muscle pain, raised her head.

“I guess I’ll have to live with mouth ulcers for the rest of my life.”

Those who don’t even have time to dye their roots because of Igor’s Spartan education.

She walked over to me, shakily, and put a vitamin C in my hand.

“Now, eat it every day.”

I need to treat Delte better in the future.

I went to headquarters in You’s car, feeling the difficulties of those with poor physical strength that I had not realized, and I ran into Chairman Choi Hyeon-jun in the executive reception room 10 minutes before the interview time.

Chairman of Atec.

Yoon and Ami’s family.

“It’s been a while, Chairman.”

“Ah. Mr. Taleb. Long time no see. Are you going into the Commander’s office right now?”

“Yes? Yes.”

Why do you ask such a thing?

To my curiosity, Chairman Choi Hyun-jun grabbed my shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I know you must be feeling very uncomfortable.”

what?

“It’s not Mr. Taleb’s fault at all. The market situation is a bit… Anyway, I’m telling you not to go in and be too surprised.”

I blinked.

I had no idea what was going on.

Why is this guy here in the first place? A-Tech is a company that produces core devices.

What error occurred on your device?

There was no chance to ask. The chairman, who was obviously busy with construction, left right away. I was left alone in the reception room, and I was called back without any time to think about what the chairman had said.

I was guided into the office by the secretary.

Ye-Hyeon sitting on a chair surrounded by holographic windows.

It was the first time I saw your face since I returned to the core.

I greeted my superior, who seemed unaware that I had come in.

“Commander, this is Hildebert Taleb.”

Yehyun raised her head.

He noticed me and nodded his head with a blank expression. I could immediately tell that Ye-Hyeon was in a bad mood.

What the hell is going on?

He sat down in the chair opposite his boss, looking embarrassed.

As soon as I sat down, the manager spoke in a husky voice.

“What’s the status?”

“I’m fine today.”

“This might be a long story, so please answer honestly.”

“I’m really fine, Commander. I even got some sleep in the car on the way here.”

Even though I answered truthfully, the commander in chief just stared at my face without saying a word.

Only after some time had passed did Yehyun slowly break the silence.

“I told you before that Falcon and Sukhoi have been fighting over interests since the Territory Recapture War.”

Getting to the point.

I nodded.

“yes.”

“Do you remember that we decided to reclaim that territory because of the rare earth elements?”

“yes.”

“How much do you know about the raw materials market?”

“I had some acquaintances with some industry representatives before, but that was a long time ago.”

“Then you must be quite knowledgeable. I’ll just give you the conclusion. The rare earth war between Falcon and Sukhoi was recently decided. Sukhoi made Falcon drink water.”

I see.

I nodded obediently. I still didn’t quite understand why he was suddenly saying something like this.

Yehyun tapped the desk with her finger.

“Do you know what the Soviet grain crisis of the 1970s was?”

“Oh, yes. I have a rough idea.”

One of Bingje’s followers was a big shot in the raw materials market. I found out while studying various things.

Ye-Hyeon nodded with a face that said that her efforts had been relieved.

“You can think of Sukhoi as doing something similar to what the Soviet Union did back then.”

“aha.”

Sukhoi bought up rare earth elements.

As rare earths dry up in the market, prices will likely soar.

“The problem is that without those rare earths, we can’t make the core device.”

So that’s why Choi Hyun-jun came.

“We’re running low on core devices. We don’t even have enough for the mission.”

“Didn’t you already have a purchase contract with ATAC?”

“It seems they are complacent because this has never happened before. ATAC has surrendered. Core device production has been halted and will remain so for the time being.”

This isn’t a good situation.

But is this really a big deal? Isn’t Black Badger preparing for a war to reclaim territory right now?

“I planted micro-bombs inside Kyle’s territory.”

The question was resolved in the following explanation.

“Just like the Titans scattered the seeds of space travel within their cores, we also tried to use bombs to drag the enemy out of the barrier. We set up a core formation surrounding the enemy camp, and then detonated bombs all at once to drag the enemy out of the magic barrier.”

“But there is no core device to create the gin.”

“That’s right. What’s the point of planting micro-bombs inside enemy territory? Even if you lure the enemy out of the perimeter, it doesn’t guarantee victory. As time goes by, the enemy will find all the mines planted in their territory.”

“Can’t we get rare earth elements from Sukhoi?”

“He said he had no one to give it to because he was going to use it all.”

Yehyun responded cynically.

The boss didn’t even frown, but his anger was palpable.

I understand. Ye-Hyeon is right. The enemy’s area was smaller than the center core, so unlike us, they might have had time to clear mines and bombs.

“There is almost no chance of defeat.”

The commander-in-chief recited with a blank expression on his face.

“They’re saying they won’t pay attention to the Titans running wild outside because Hildebert and the obedient Commander-in-Chief will take care of it. I warned them that if they let their guard down, disaster might happen, but they’re too busy fighting for their own power to listen.”

The man rested his elbows on the arms of his chair and leaned his face against his hands.

“Old raccoons. It would be a relief if Kyle’s blade cut off their necks side by side.”

I blinked.

There was no significant change in expression or tone, but I had never seen the commander-in-chief so filled with anger.

He was so angry that he became calm.

It was understandable, since the preparations made at such a great risk would end up being in vain.

I asked my superior, who seemed to be barely holding back the urge to throw the papers down.

“Do all the elders know about Kyle’s movements?”

“Yeah. But right now, we’re more of a threat to each other.”

Yehyun responded coldly.

I barely suppressed the urge to sigh.

If it weren’t for the circumstances, I would have been happy to hear about two raccoons fighting each other. But given the circumstances, I couldn’t be happy about it.

“Do you know where Core 15 is?”

They were thinking that if they could just kill each other, there would be nothing more they could ask for, but Ye-Hyeon changed the subject.

“I don’t know.”

“It’s a small island. It’s used as a vacation spot for the rich. The entire core is a private retreat for the rich, and only those with membership can enter.”

There are places like that too.

Nodding, I thought I had a rough idea why Yehyun had changed the subject.

“Are you trying to retrieve the core devices installed there?”

“During the Second War, the core device was often moved, but after the war, it never happened again. However, the land was not valuable enough to be protected by the core. That’s why it was often controversial. Even though the members paid all the maintenance costs of the core, there was no reason to recover the device.”

It looks like each core is paying for the maintenance of the core device.

While Ye-Hyeon was putting the new facts into her head, she continued explaining.

“But now we need to seriously consider the survival of Core 15. If its value drops, the rich will buy back the core devices no matter what they say.”

“yes.”

“But before that, I wanted to send you and Samuel there.”

…hmm?

Even if I say so, why on earth is Samuel?

“There’s a rumor going around that there’s a legendary doctor there.”

It became even more incomprehensible.

“I’m going to have you examined by that doctor under the pretext of checking the condition of Core 15.”

As she said that, Ye-Hyeon smiled pleasantly for the first time since I entered the conference room.

It was not the gentle smile of a private person, but a cold smile of an empty space.

“I’m back from my business trip, Hilde.”

***

A week later, I stepped foot into Core 15.