Hoarding In Hell [EN]: Chapter 200

200. The Devil Dances (1)

[This is Kang Hyun-moo, reporting as Hunter Kang Hyun-moo.]

The radio message Hyun-moo sent wasn’t just received by the Taesung communications team.

It also leaked to the Chinese military, who were monitoring the South Korean military’s communications network, and from there, to Chrome, who were monitoring the Chinese military’s network.

Therefore, Shiba Amini, an agent of the Special Oversight Department, wasn’t surprised when a Taesung representative approached her with a flustered expression.

[Team Leader Lee Ji-tae and Team Leader Park Do-ryung are dead. The rescue operation has failed. I repeat, the rescue operation has failed. Initiate the final plan. I will be buried here.]

But it was still shocking.

In a place where representatives from the Almighty, Taesung, Hwanmam, and Adam Fault were gathered, Shiba Amini played the recorded radio message repeatedly.

“When did you say this message came in?”

At Amini’s question, the head of the Taesung communications team spoke.

“Approximately 20 minutes ago. The message came through Team Leader Lee Ji-tae’s radio, so we had to discuss it with the Almighty side and verify the facts…”

Considering the various fact-checking procedures, 20 minutes was a very short time.

Perhaps the head of the Taesung communications team lightly skipped a few procedures to ensure the fastest possible confirmation.

Anyway, Amini had already heard it.

“What are you going to do?”

The question came from a representative of Hwanmam. They, too, were having a hard time believing that Team Leader Park Do-ryung was dead. They were suspicious of the situation.

“Something is strange. We could think of the Xiaojie team’s failure as a mistake caused by entering without information. But we prepared thoroughly and entered the rescue operation with safety as our top priority. And suddenly, Hunter Kang Hyun-moo is the only one alive and contacting us by radio?”

“There are some unexplained parts. We haven’t been able to reach Team Leader Lee Ji-tae at all. But suddenly, only Hunter Kang Hyun-moo is contacting us, and he cut off the communication unilaterally. Besides, he says he’ll be buried there. Why isn’t he escaping?”

Taesung and Hwanmam seemed strongly unwilling to accept it.

It wasn’t hard to understand. They couldn’t just believe that their leaders were dead out of the blue.

Amini turned her gaze to the representative from the Almighty.

It was Seo Ji-hoo, the head of Hyun-moo’s direct administrative team, and Yoo-min, a researcher who was also acquainted with Amini.

Yoo-min was fiddling with her fingers without saying a word, even after hearing that her lover would be buried in Pyongyang.

“Ms. Yoo-min, do you have anything to say?”

“Well, if my brother says he will, he will.”

Yoo-min raised her head and answered plainly.

“Rather than that, I want to ask the others.”

Her gaze turned to the members of Taesung and Hwanmam.

“If you have doubts, you’ll have to send more hunters, but who else can you send?”

“…….”

The room was filled with silence. Taesung had deployed the Azure Gold team and other top-tier hunters with Lee Ji-tae, and Hwanmam had also gone in with Park Do-ryung.

The Almighty was in the same situation. There were elite teams in the rear, but it would take time for them to join. So, the only one who could move was one person.

A Taesung representative cautiously opened his mouth.

“From Chrome…”

“No.”

Amini cut him off first. The Taesung representative wore an angry expression.

“You proposed this expedition! Team Leader Lee Ji-tae followed in the spirit of magnanimity! You can’t just abandon our leader like that according to your tastes!”

“We have returned that much profit to the Taesung Group. Ask Vice President Lee Seo-yeon how much profit you have gained. As I said, the top priority is to succeed in the conquest. Team Leader Lee Ji-tae fully understood that prerequisite before entering.”

The Taesung representative didn’t seem convinced. It was natural. It was a situation where no logic could persuade them.

Suddenly, the room became chaotic and noisy. Amini held her head and leaned back in her chair.

She knew that the situation was abnormal. She knew that Pyongyang was a situation to be very careful about, but she never thought it would flow so unilaterally. It seemed like she was missing something.

Behind the thick curtains, things she couldn’t understand were happening.

“Anyway, we can’t accept abandoning Team Leader Lee Ji-tae like this! Please wait at least until the rescue team arrives!”

A Taesung representative slammed the table and shouted. At that moment, with a cracking sound, the table split.

The Taesung representative who slammed the table was horrified and took his hand off, but soon, with a loud noise, the thick marble table was torn apart in all directions.

People were horrified and stepped back as if an explosion had occurred.

At that moment, a woman who had been watching the meeting from behind Amini spoke.

“The size of your voice is not proportional to your persuasiveness.”

It was Adam Fault.

People realized that Adam Fault was the one who had twisted and broken the marble like a rag.

It was an open threat. If they didn’t quietly accept the conditions, anyone could end up like the marble table.

“We will start the final plan before it’s too late. That’s how we can make the deaths of the hunters who sacrificed themselves earlier not meaningless, and it’s how we uphold their will.”

Adam Fault slowly scanned the people and declared.

“I will give you 24 hours to move away from Pyongyang. If you come up with a good idea in the meantime, feel free to come and find me. But tomorrow at this time, the final plan will be executed in Pyongyang without fail.”

“But…”

“If you have any complaints, come to my room a little later. I have a way to persuade you very quickly.”

“…….”

Everyone was speechless and silent. It was clear that the ‘persuasion’ that Adam Fault was talking about was not a pleasant method.

Adam Fault firmly nailed it down.

“Chrome is sparing no assets or effort for humanity. Be grateful for that fact.”

***

No one thought they could argue with Adam Fault, but there was one person who could.

“Why did you talk like that?”

Amini, who had left the conference room and returned to Adam Fault’s room, asked accusingly.

She didn’t say anything at the meeting because she had silenced the Korean representatives, but she couldn’t help but sympathize with them emotionally.

There were too many questions and too many talents were sacrificed meaninglessly. If they were buried roughly without even a minimal investigation, only regret would remain.

“You could have given them at least three days, right? 24 hours. Hunter Kang Hyun-moo might even come back alive in the meantime…”

“Amini.”

Adam Fault grabbed Amini’s shoulders, who was pacing back and forth.

Amini looked up at Adam Fault. Her eyes were cold and devoid of emotion.

“Whatever is inside can wipe out hunters in an instant, and considering that Hunter Kang Hyun-moo told us to execute the final plan, he was likely taken down in an instant as well. Think of it as saving countless lives with a few lives.”

“…….”

Adam Fault’s words were not wrong. If it was swept away by someone’s scheme, it would be better to bury it with the scheme itself. It was a simple but most perfect solution.

Amini eventually nodded with difficulty. Adam Fault began to speak matter-of-factly.

“Good. To use the final means, we need the approval of the UN Special Oversight Department. To request approval, I would like to briefly explain the outline of our Chrome’s final means.”

“Has this been used before?”

“It has been a few times. But this is the first time it will be used officially.”

She was assigned a burdensome role. Amini wondered what the ‘final means’ was that they were hiding so tightly.

“To put it simply, it is a technology that devastates an area by quickly slamming a high-density substance into the ground.”

“A high-density substance?”

“Think of it as hitting the ground with a staff.”

As if prepared in advance, Adam Fault brought a long, thick wooden stick from somewhere.

Then, she stood the stick upright and slammed it down on the floor.

At that moment, with a dull sound, the marble floor cracked.

Amini waited for the explanation to continue. But Adam Fault was just staring blankly at her.

“……Huh? Is that the end of the explanation?”

“Yes.”

“Wait a minute. Hit the floor with a staff? How does that become the final means?”

Adam Fault seemed to realize where the explanation was lacking. She made a slightly troubled expression and continued.

“I can’t explain the exact principle. It’s a method devised by Professor Keller… First, we create a metal rod with a highly condensed mass that can only be produced by Chrome. It’s roughly 20 meters long and 1 meter in diameter. The combination of Modified Moss and my ability creates an item-like performance, albeit momentarily.”

It was a size that should be called a pillar, not a rod.

She couldn’t even guess what kind of substance the world’s best ability group had condensed, but she seemed to get a rough idea.

Amini had already heard of a similar weapon concept.

“We lift that staff to the stratosphere. And drop it towards the target at a very high speed. The moment the metal rod collides with the ground, an enormous amount of impact is created. There are differences depending on the set speed, but it is basically set to a level comparable to a nuclear explosion.”

“……’Rod of God’ or something like that?”

The Rod of God was a weapon that the United States once created as a concept for space warfare. However, it was abandoned due to efficiency issues. But Adam Fault’s ability didn’t seem to have to worry about efficiency.

“It’s a little different. The Rod of God is like a bullet… but we are literally a staff.”

Adam Fault lifted the staff and slammed it on the floor several times.

“It might be more relatable to say that it compacts the ground rather than a single nuclear explosion. Anyway, an amount of impact comparable to a nuclear explosion occurs repeatedly in one area in a short period of time. The area is devastated. The skeleton of the building? Debris? Nothing like that remains. All that remains is a crater and a blackened carbon rod.”

Only then could Amini understand the identity of the photo she had obtained in South Sudan.

“Is that what you call the Țepeș case [named after Vlad the Impaler, known for impaling his enemies]?”

“That’s not the official name. You’ve heard of it before. A friend of Professor Keller jokingly gave it that name. It meant skewering the enemy like a skewer and displaying them.”

Amini seemed to know what he meant. The Țepeș case felt more like a demonstration than a practical meaning.

Why on earth would you have to repeatedly give dozens of impacts comparable to a nuclear explosion? She had never heard of a monster that needed such an attack.

“Then why didn’t you use it in Pyongyang sooner? Because of Hyper Flood concerns?”

“That’s an excuse. Primarily, neither the Chinese nor the Korean military wanted to have a ruined Pyongyang. Probably because if they succeeded in the conquest, a huge amount of by-products would come out. And secondarily… the aftermath after using it.”

“The aftermath?”

“The Țepeș case is not a skill that can be used moderately and stopped. And once you see this power, you will no longer feel that life is the same as before, Ms. Amini. Because you will know how thin the ice our civilized world is standing on.”

***

Under Chrome’s control, the Chinese and Korean forces began to distance themselves and move away from the plains.

The armies of both countries, which had been closely attached to enter Pyongyang at any time, hurriedly began to retreat.

24 hours was not a short time, but it was not a long time for a large unit to move.

“How far do we have to move?”

Amini said, looking down at Pyongyang with Adam Fault from the observation deck.

There was still no contact from Kang Hyun-moo. No hunters had returned either. Adam Fault closed one eye and spread her palm as if gauging the distance.

“If you move about… 5 kilometers, you will be in a safe zone. There is no fallout or radiation.”

“I still don’t know if I’m doing well.”

“Of course. So, we have no choice but to take each step as carefully as possible.”

While tapping the stepping stones with a cane.

Pyongyang was now about to be tapped with that iron cane.

Amini desperately hoped that this choice was the only way to prevent the sacrifice of innocent people.

“Then I’ll wait in the situation room and come back. If there are any changes…”

That’s when it happened.

Suddenly, Adam Fault turned her head sharply to one side of Pyongyang. Amini, startled by Adam Fault’s changed demeanor, turned her head in the direction she was looking. It was the direction of the Ryugyong Hotel.

“Adam Fault?”

The terrifying energy felt from Adam Fault was hard to see as human.

Even Amini, who was not an ability user, felt a chillingly fearful force.

But at that moment, something overwhelming spread out from the Ryugyong Hotel, completely forgetting Adam Fault’s presence.

Amini felt like she was being sucked in that direction for a moment.

A fierce wind blew. It felt like all the winds in the world were rushing towards that place.

“Adam Fault! What on earth is going on?!”

“…….”

Adam didn’t say anything.

Amini tried to ask one more question. But something happened that blew her mind away.

A huge flash erupted from the horizon.

A mushroom cloud that soared to the sky instantly engulfed the northern sky.