Genius Engineer in the Labyrinth - Chapter 40
Only Noblemtl
Apocalypse in Water Episode 40
Episode 40
Bomi asked Hoyoung.
“Oh? Really? Didn’t I say that wouldn’t work?”
“I was able to get it working thanks to the old man fixing the controller output part.”
“Oh! MacGyver, the all-rounder!”
Bomi looked back at me and gave me a thumbs up.
“Then Hoyoung, can you communicate?”
“You can hear human voices on a few channels, but they are mostly in English.”
“Okay. Let’s go up and have a look.”
We went up to the rooftop.
On one side of the rooftop was a dish-shaped satellite antenna, next to which were stacks of machines.
As Hoyoung turned the dial, he thought he heard a squeaking noise, and then he heard a voice.
– This is Pacific Carrier Strike Group. Where is Carrier Division Five… … .
What you’re talking about now sounds like the US Navy.
Since this equipment itself is US military, it is natural that US soldiers would be present.
I thought it might be a closed satellite communication system, perhaps made for military use.
I turned the dial to try another channel, but all I could hear was English, just like Hoyoung had said.
They seemed to be communicating with each carrier squadron or fleet and trying to gather somewhere for operations.
I was flipping through the channels and found something interesting, it was a Korean military communication.
The Korean soldier, who identified himself as Colonel Jang Do-hoon, kept asking the American soldiers what to do and pestering them like an ex-lover, asking if they could join him in the Pacific.
But the US military was annoyed and refused his request.
Haha. They said on the radio to only gather soldiers, but that’s great.
I immediately lost all hope I had in the US military.
Not only is our request for rescue denied, but even if we go there, the US military will not accept us.
There was no way to get to the Pacific anyway, and there was a much higher chance of survival here.
Well, it’s not that the US or Korean military didn’t understand.
Resources in the trap will be limited.
However, all the ports that could provide supplies were underwater.
As the number of people increases, the time of destruction only gets closer.
But what are the US military planning to do by scraping together the surviving troops?
I’m not sure, but it seemed like the US Navy’s power was considerably reduced as the world went underwater.
Are you planning some kind of operation to save the world?
But little information was available about the operation.
Come to think of it, America was considering Tiny Boy’s target to be a giant monster.
That means you must have been aware of the Ark Church to some extent.
In fact, the Ark Church had been conducting aggressive missionary work in the United States and had become a social problem.
Perhaps the US military’s operational goal is to use its remaining forces to strike the Ark Bridge and drain the world of its cold water.
But shouldn’t we secure communications first?
The hymns of the Ark Church, translated into English, flowed from the satellite communication.
– Oh! Ark. My World Saver Ark. Water will be… … .
How did the Ark get military satellite communications equipment?
From what I understand, there were quite a few Ark believers among the leaders of our country.
Since it was a social problem in the US, wouldn’t it be similar to Korea?
Maybe it came from the US military stationed in Korea.
After the hymn ended, the patriarch urged the American troops to surrender completely.
If he surrendered to the Ark Church, he would forgive all his previous acts of disbelief.
An American captain who appeared to be a defector came out and told me how great the Bangju Church was and that if I came there I could eat and drink as much as I wanted.
“Huh! That applies to us too.”
Bomi, who was listening to my interpretation, said something as if she didn’t like it.
I was able to communicate in English because I had previously been dispatched to the United States to receive police-related training.
Come to think of it, we don’t envy the Ark Church at all.
Stable housing, oil for electricity, and stored food.
In the long term, they even planned to provide food through gardens, fishing, and aquaculture.
It was enough to cover even if the number of people increased to a certain extent.
Hoyoung kept turning the dial to search for channels.
Most of the communications were from the U.S. fleet, and included reports of engagements in addition to operational orders.
Several fleets reported engaging in battles with large or giant water monsters that appeared before them.
They said they suffered quite a bit of damage during the battle.
In particular, it was said that the 8th Carrier Squadron evaporated in an instant without even putting forth a single effort.
What kind of monster species could possibly wipe out an aircraft carrier, its escort fleet, and a fleet of countless fighters in one fell swoop?
I tried looking through the monster guide, but I couldn’t find the right monster.
In the midst of the ongoing English communication, Korean was suddenly heard.
– This is Trash Island. Answer me if you hear me. Over.
We were delighted, as if we had found an oasis in the desert.
Bomi looked after Hoyoung.
“Answer quickly.”
After operating the machine, Hoyoung brought the microphone to his mouth.
I stopped Hoyoung for a moment.
“Wait a minute, Hoyoung. You have to be careful.”
“Huh? You say I have to be careful?”
“We don’t know who we’re dealing with right now. It could be someone dangerous.”
Then I heard Korean again.
– This is Hyunwoo from Trash Island. Answer me if you hear me. Over.
Bomi said, pointing to the speaker.
“His name is ‘Hyunwoo’, and he’s a kid who hasn’t even had his voice changed yet, and he looks like he’s about the same age as Hoyoung. Is a kid like that dangerous?”
“It could be a new type of voice phishing from the apocalypse that’s underwater. They’re trying to find out where we are and come to loot us, or they’re trying to get us to come to their side and kill us.”
“I guess it’s because he’s a police officer, but he’s suspicious from the start.”
I shrugged and said,
“Thanks to that, we can survive like this.”
“That’s true.”
Bomi nodded as if she agreed, and Hoyoung asked me.
“Then should I hang up?”
“No. Don’t hang up. Let’s figure out what’s going on there. But you can’t give out any information about us.”
“Then what should I say?”
Hoyoung looked at me and asked.
Whenever I had informal contact with a suspect, I would create a fictional character in my head and act it out.
“Hoyoung went fishing with his uncle, but the world went underwater and he drifted away.”
I used that experience to create Hoyoung’s character.
Hoyoung tilted his head and asked.
“I came here to go fishing, how do I use satellite communication?”
“They say the satellite equipment floated down the coast in a wooden box.”
“Hey, who would believe that?”
Bomi presented a counterargument.
“In fact, satellite equipment from a crashed transport plane was carried by the current to the apartment.”
“But what is that? It feels like a writer, or something artificial.”
I shrugged again and said,
“Even if it’s a true story, it definitely feels that way when you hear it as a story. However, the Garbage Island is probably an island made up of things that were washed up by the current. There must have been satellite equipment among that garbage. Otherwise, how could someone like Hyunwoo use US military satellite equipment? Or, maybe he was a pirate and attacked and robbed the US military?”
Bomie couldn’t come up with any more counter arguments to my logic.
“Okay, I’ll contact you.”
Hoyoung spoke into the microphone.
“I am Lee Ho-young. Over.”
– Wow! I’m Korean. Hi, I’m Ji Hyun Woo.
Hyunwoo from Trash Island also greeted me brightly, as if he was happy to hear Korean.
– Did you say Hoyoung? Where is that?
“I don’t know. I went out fishing with my uncle on a boat and drifted. I’m just floating in the ocean. There’s water everywhere.”
Hoyoung played the character cleanly.
I winked at Hoyoung.
Hoyoung nodded and asked.
“But where is Trash Island?”
– I don’t know. This garbage island keeps moving with the strong currents. My father said that even if the garbage island was fixed in one place, how would you know where it is when the whole world is underwater? Hehe.
“Now that I hear it, that’s true, haha. It seems like it’s floating around the sea like the Parrot Island from Generation X.”
– Oh! I also played in the Generation of Discovery.
“Oh! Really? Then you know Midland too?”
– Then. Midland is a hidden continent that only those above level 35 can land on… … .
The two quickly became close through the game.
However, I couldn’t understand the game-related story between the two at all.
“Have you ever tried the generation of Daehangyeodo?”
“No, but I have a rough idea what kind of game it is.”
I sent a look of urging to Hoyoung, who was chatting excitedly.
He winked at me to quickly gather information, not because he felt alienated or had a generation gap.
Hoyoung nodded and started asking Hyunwoo.
“By the way, Hyunwoo. What kind of place is that trash island?”
– Here, literally, it’s an island made up of all kinds of trash… … .
As I expected, the garbage island was created by the current.
The current was so strong that it was said to have dragged a tower crane along.
Almost all man-made objects were said to be floating, tangled together, destroyed by the water, including submerged cars, torn-off bridges and sunken ferries.
– Here, the Namsan Tower, split in two, is also stuck.
“Wow! Awesome! Then how big is the island?”
– My father said that it wasn’t as big as Yeongjongdo, but it was as big as Ulleungdo. And because the currents keep bringing trash, it’s getting bigger.
It is said that Garbage Island is roughly divided into four sections.
In the North, criminals live, enslaving the humans who land in their territory.
The east has become a desert-like space where no one lives, filled with garbage so dangerous that it is hard to live there.
And it was said that the west was where the mermaids lived.
I was reminded of the mermaid tribe in the Aquatic Monster Encyclopedia.
Did they use Trash Island as a spawning ground?
The South was not ruled by any power or person.
It was said that people who accidentally landed on Trash Island are surviving through self-help and cooperation.
– My father and I live in the south. This place is like the free city in the Age of Sail, where trade is incredibly prosperous. Not only refugees, but also armies and ark churches come to barter.
Hyunwoo cited the proliferation of religions as a representative characteristic of the free city.
– There are all kinds of religions, from cathedrals to churches, temples, mosques, and new miscellaneous religions. The most popular one is the Ark Church. If you attend the service, they give you a glass of water. And there is a rumor that a priestess performs miracles. She is an older sister who looks like she is in high school…
Hyunwoo describes the priestess.
This somehow felt like a delay.