Chapter 54: Unconventional Defenses and Simted Showdowns
“Master, the bio-bag has been repaired.”
“What about my body?”
“It’s currently 70% restored.”
Yu Ji-ha looked into the medical room inside the Settler through a worker.
The bio-bag was one of the relics of the Prophets, a kind of artificial womb.
In 2180, most of humanity was born in bio-bags, and they were also used to rece organs or cure diseases.
Its function was iparable to the medical capsules developed by humans.
Since the appearance of the bio-bag, humanity had finally escaped from the concept of aging and was no longer afraid of diseases.
However, it was impossible to revive the dead.
He had spected that it might be possible with the soul-exchange device he had obtained recently, but the gue had destroyed the United Human Federation.
Yu Ji-ha stared at his body in the bio-bag.
“…I’ve lived for decades in this body, but it feels strange somehow.”
The man inside had his eyes closed. He was close to 2 meters tall, with a muscr physique, brown hair and eyes.
He looked like a Westerner to Koreans, but it was normal in the United Human Federation.
All kinds of races were mixed, so it was impossible and meaningless to guess where he came from.
This was Yu Ji-ha’s real body.
“It will take a month to fully recover your body, Master.”
“Well, I don’t need it right now.”
He was doing fine as a Korean Yu Ji-ha for now.
He would switch when the United Human Federation stabilized and the Korean Yu Ji-ha grew old.
“The problem is when to use this body… Would it be too much if I did it by ident?”
“By then, your position in the Federation will be absolute, so you can just say you’re passing it on to your sessor.”
“Passing on my legacy to my sessor. A fine example of a dictator.”
Yu Ji-ha had quite a few children.
Not that he had fathered them himself, but he had provided his genes, so he had many blood-rted children.
However, those children did not recognize Yu Ji-ha as their father.
In the United Human Federation, parents meant little more than gene donors.
“You can say they were born between you and me. It makes sense since we look alike.”
Arma was recognized as more than Yu Ji-ha’s secretary by the public.
There were rumors that they had something going on between them.
Rumors were rumors, but he could use them to continue his long-term dictatorship.
Yu Ji-ha had to hold on to power by any means until the gue came.
This body would make that possible.
…
The southern part of Kamchatka Penins in June was drastically different from a few months ago.
A temporary pier was built and cargo ships brought in tons of construction materials.
During the day, androids worked on the smart farm, and at night, workers continued their work.
By the time Yu Ji-ha got off the helicopter, the first smart farm was almostpleted.
“The old nuclear fusion reactor and desalination facility have been installed. The first smart farm only needs a final check.”
“That’s good. How’s Russia doing?”
“They’re not bothering us here. They even avoid sailing near us with their submarines.”
“I didn’t expect them to keep their promise so thoroughly.”
“They must secure unobtanium and ion thrusters at all costs.”
Russia had asked him if they could trade their unobtanium with other countries.
They wanted to sell it to EU at a high price.
He originally nned not to allow even a small amount of it, but Arma advised him otherwise.
―As long as you supply it to multiple countries, there will be some smuggling. EU will get some ck metal and unobtanium, not as much as they want. It’s better to let them taste it through Russia.
A thirsty person would crave more water after drinking a little bit.
What Yu Ji-ha wanted was not EU’s destruction, but their surrender.
EU would not want to give up their pride, but they would have a hard time ignoring the desperate voices of their scientists.
Yu Ji-ha pointed at the smart farm with his chin.
“You said you only have a final check left?”
“Yes, do you want me to turn it on now?”
“Let’s see how it works until trial production. I want to see if it produces anything good.”
Arma would check it thoroughly, but he wanted to see it with his own eyes and touch the meat himself.
It would be responsible for the lifeline of 1.5 billion people in the United Human Federation, after all.
A low humming sound was heard, and the smart farm woke up.
Electricity was supplied to the entire building and the equipment started to move.
Most of the processes were automated, but there were still some sections that required human intervention, and they were handled by androids.
Yu Ji-ha walked slowly to the corridor in front of theboratory where the culture fluid was extracted.
“How far has the culture fluid research progressed?”
“We can produce all parts of pigs, cows, and chickens.”
“Just do trial production and mass-produce processed meat.”
“You mean spam.”
“It’s easier to handle canned food in wartime, isn’t it?”
“It’s true that nothing beats spam for providing high calories.”
He could supplybat rations, but it was much easier and cheaper to produce spam.
And he wasn’t the only one supplying food.
South Korea would provide a huge amount of food, so he just had to make up for the shortage.
“China will act soon, and we’ll start soon too, so we don’t have much time. Stock up as much as you can.”
China would start a war within this year.
Jo Hyunggeun would not miss that opportunity, so he expected him to start advancing north within six months.
Of course, ording to the constitution, South Korea pursued peaceful unification.
But if North Korea provoked them on a massive scale, no one would care about such words.
For example, what if the Seoul fire threat in ’94 became a reality?
How would Koreans react if something bigger than a shell exploded, not just one or two?
They were already grinding their teeth at North Korea, so they would shout for advancing north.
War was tragic enough, and the damage would be enormous, but it was foolish to just take it.
They had endured provocations for decades, so it was time to run out of patience.
Yu Ji-ha stopped in front of the culture facility.
Modern cultured meat was produced by stacking protein and fatyers using a mold in a culture tank.
In the process, electrical stimtion was applied to create muscle fibers and reproduce the unique texture.
It was an early technology that was quite expensive and time-consuming, costing about $8 per 100 grams.
But the smart farm here used a 3D printer to stack meat chunks in an instant.
The tank in the spray gave tens of thousands of micro-electric shocks at a time, making the production speed very fast.
The level of texture reproduction and cost was iparable to modern cultured meat.
In less than 30 minutes from theboratory to here, a strip of pork belly waspleted.
Sizzle―
An android employee cooked it for him and Yu Ji-ha tasted it.
“Hmm, it’s almost simr.”
This was what you would get if you ordered pork belly at a normal restaurant.
By adding various additives to the culture medium and slightly lowering the production speed, he could produce more delicious and vorful pork belly.
But right now, quantity was more important.
He looked around the remaining facilities he maintained and asked.
“How much spam can we stockpile by next June? Including what will be sent to the North Pacific inds.”
“Calcting… We can stockpile about 300,000 tons.”
It took a lot of time to do the groundwork and increase the equipment, but production was quick.
“How much food shortage does North Korea have in a year?”
“The World Food Programme estimates about 1 million tons as of 2026. However, the information on North Korea’s food shortage varies greatly.”
“Considering that they will be devastated by war, we should expect at least 2 million tons of shortage.”
“If North Korea provokes us on arge scale and weunch a preemptive strike, the US and the UN will be passive at first.”
“But they won’t do nothing.”
“They would prefer us to stabilize North Korea.”
China was not in a position to intervene and Russia would show interest but not interfere.
The variable was the US.
They would formally criticize South Korea’s preemptive strike, but eventually intervene. The question was how far they would go.
Would they help and withdraw?
Or would they set up a separatemand like they did when they upied Japan and try to rule part of it?
The former would be a relief, but thetter was uneptable to South Korea, let alone Yu Ji-ha.
“They might try to pressure us more these days. They don’t like our attitude. China would love it if we upied the northern border area.”
“They would also try to pressure us more when they find out about the NCM bullets during the war.”
“Make a n to get rid of the US troops. As peacefully as possible.”
Fighting with the US now would exhaust both sides.
He had no choice but to coax and appease them out.
…
He visited the fusion defense research institute he maintained.
A researcher who had received instructions in advance guided him.
“Sir, it’s… done.”
The cover was removed and a vehicle connected to a container appeared.
It was a Korean-style ion beam that was developed by Fusion Defense, a defensepany affiliated with Si Group, and then discontinued.
This equipment was hastily promoted after North Korea’s second Yeonpyeongdo shelling incident in 2022.
Originally, they tried to introduce it from Israel, but they switched to self-development because it did not suit the domestic situation.
However, K-ion beam also faced a simr situation.
The researcher stood in front of him and exined.
“The output is not good enough. It can intercept shells or mortars, but it can’t cope with North Korea’s radiation guns or rockets.”
“So you’re saying that if we solve the output problem, we can use it.”
The researcher nodded hesitantly.
“The range is also a problem. The limit is about 2km, but the shells fall faster than sound. It takes about 5 seconds toser them, but we can’t handle that amount.”
To be precise, it was not enough for this size to be mounted on this scale.
The US military had already installed the Heliosser system on the Aegis destroyer.
Thisser system was for close defense, with an output of 100kw and a range of about 5km.
If he had to implement radar and fire control systems onnd, he would have to use the entire container as a generator.
In fact, what bothered the Korean military was North Korea’srge-scale radiation guns, including ballistic missiles, but L-SAM and Janggung were responsible for that.
“I see. We’ll take care of this.”
“It’ll be difficult…”
The researcher looked puzzled as if he didn’t understand.
“This is something that Israel and the US have failed. The output is a problem, but it’s impossible to intercept multiple shells at once. How can you intercept all those shells that fall on Seoul?”
He sounded genuinely worried, but Yu Ji-ha sent him away.
“We’ll figure it out ourselves. Just give us some research data.”
“…”
The reason why Si Group took over K-ion beam that officially failed in development was entirely due to President Jo Hyung-geun’s intention.
He dreamed of advancing northward with the 7th Army Corps in front of him and worried about the shells that North Korea’s artillery units would pour on Seoul. He thought of ion beam.
So he casually told Yu Ji-ha.
“Chairman Yu, I’ll tell you one secret. If war breaks out, our military willunch a firepower strike against North Korea. It’s a n to annihte all the striking means, including long-range guns.”
“What does that have to do with us?”
“Let’s think from North Korea’s perspective for a moment. If you were Kim Jong-un or Kim Yo-jong, wouldn’t you be tempted to fire a shell at Seoul, that developed metropolis?”
“You’re saying that some of North Korea’s artillery will target Seoul instead of military bases or key facilities.”
“That’s why I like you Chairman Yu.”
He pped Yu Ji-ha’s shoulder and quickly said.
“North Korea’s air force is meaningless, and their artillery will be quickly swept away by the firepower strike in the early stages of the war. But they won’t be able to fire a few shells at Seoul. I can’t stand that sight.”
There are many research results that North Korea’s actual artillery firepower is not as scary as those numbers.
But even if a few dozen shells fall on Seoul in wartime, the media will go crazy.
If they hit a gas pipeline and cause an explosion, the anti-war activists might go wild.
“So I’m asking you to take over the ion beam that was developed and stopped. The one that Israel and the US failed.”
“What do you think, is it possible?”
“I don’t know… I’ll have to try.”
“What kind of answer is that from someone who is working on lunar development and nuclear fusion? Anyway, I’ll take it as a yes.”
He was a reckless person.
In fact, it was difficult with the existing power system, but it was possible with ether crystals.
However, revealing the Aetherser now would cause some problems with the roadmap.
He would miss the rise of anti-North sentiment if he blocked all of North Korea’s shelling provocations.
‘But it wouldn’t be bad if it happened.’
His influence would rise even more if he blocked all of North Korea’s shelling.
He was already treated as the next president, but he wanted more than Yu Ji-ha.
Anyway, that’s how Si Hi-Tech took over the ion beam.
He brought in arge trailer and entered the yard of the research institute, and everyone looked dumbfounded.
“President, this won’t work because of the power.”
“I don’t know, maybe if we had a nuclear fusion reactor or something.”
“I know. I’ll take care of it myself, so don’t worry.”
This was not a normal procedure for acquiring a weapon system.
It was an exceptional case that was directly ordered by the Blue House, so they only had to test it and deliver it.
The Board of Audit would probably investigate itter, but by then the war would have already broken out.
He entered his privateboratory and called Arma.
“Can you make Aether crystals?”
「I can make them anytime you order me to」
He felt a sense of awe.
When he first crashed into the East Sea, he had searched the entire nearby sea for one crystal.
Now that the Aether fusion reactor had enough output, it was easy to make them.
“I want to apply the Aetherser to the ion beam… How would it work with the minimum output?”
「Even then, the output would be too high and we would have to split the focusing lens」
“Run a simtion of shell falling on Seoul for now.”
He already had the data on how big the artillery units of the Unified Army Corps were and how many shells they could fire in wartime.
He saw hundreds of shells flying towards Seoul in the simtion.
The main target would be the Blue House, but Bukhansan blocked most of them.
Still, some shells fell aiming at the Ministry of National Defense and caused considerable damage.
Gas pipes exploded and fires broke out in Yongsan-gu and Jongno-gu areas, and citizens screamed and ran around.
“What if we use the improved ion beam here? Let’s assume we can deploy 30 units by then.”
This time, he saw a spectacr fireworks show in the simtion.
The etherser that was briefly irradiated from the ion beam container perfectly blocked hundreds of shells.
Normalsers were invisible to the eye, but ethersers appeared as golden light.
If it was night, Seoul citizens would be able to see a splendidser show.
「Except for the damage caused by fragments, Seoul’s damage is estimated to be minimal」
It was impossible to eliminate the fragments.
“This should do. Attach an android and start. Just match it to the expected time of North Korea’s provocation.”
「I will start right away」