Chapter 154
“Ah, repopulate, huh? Guess I’d better start looking for a mate to breed with if I want to follow the boss’s orders,” Sweeper said with a broad grin, clearly teasing.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
“Why, boss? Even with just one arm, you’re still plenty attractive.”
“Not interested.”
“It’s always the quiet cats who get up on the stove first, you know.”
“And the jokes about my arm are getting old. I actually like it the way it is.”
“Yeah, you’re no fun anymore.”
“Someday Jack’ll install a laser cannon on it, anyway.”
“…Oh, that’d be awesome. Hope that day comes.”
Yohan waved his hand as if telling them to knock it off.
Because he was thinking in game terms, he’d accidentally used a negative word.
“Let me rephrase. The continuation of the species.”
“Sounds the same to me,” Noah replied, making the others stifle their laughter. It wasn’t really an important point. Hajin rolled his neck as if loosening up.
“Looks like things are about to get busy.”
“Work a lot while you’re young and your body still moves well.”
“Hey, kid, is that aimed at me?” Elder Yong quipped, and Sweeper smirked as the old man spat in mock annoyance.
“As I said, the entire search team will be deployed throughout New Zealand to look for survivors. Meanwhile, we’ll select personnel from each island to form an emergency force. The squads will be split in two: Team 1 with Team 4.”
Sweeper and Elder Yong exchanged glances.
“North of Auckland.”
“Roger. Take care of me, old man.”
“Don’t slow me down, kid.”
“Team 2 with Team 3 will go south of Auckland. Your first task is to set up an advance base and make it a safe zone. We’ll establish a rescue camp for survivors there.”
Hajin and Noah looked pleased at Yohan’s words. They weren’t close, but they worked well together.
“If you and your partner disagree during the mission, the squad leaders of Team 3 and Team 4 have the final say.”
“Wow, boss, you really don’t trust us, huh?”
“Glad you noticed.”
Sweeper grumbled at Yohan’s blunt answer. They were more like a shock force than true leaders, so it made sense to have a leash on them when they got carried away.
“Everyone, be careful. Don’t die.”
It was the first time such a large-scale search team was being sent out. Usually, Yohan had always gone with them.
But this time, he had to stay behind. If most of the combat force was away, whoever was left behind would be under the most pressure. He had to protect them himself.
If this expedition went well, the number of survivors would grow. Yohan had no plans to stop there.
He was about to launch full-scale rescue operations, moving on to Australia and Southeast Asia, retracing his steps to rescue more survivors.
Everything was ready.
There were capable leaders, an organized system, and resources. Even if troublemakers appeared as the group grew, it didn’t matter.
People would adapt to the system. Even if troublemakers appeared, once stability was established, they would fall in line. He just needed a handful of trustworthy allies.
New Zealand was a perfect base camp. The geothermal and wind power systems were still usable in many places, and the food production prospects were excellent, allowing for a high rate of self-sufficiency.
If he could wipe out the mutants, there was more than enough potential to make this region a safe zone.
“Will the people staying behind be alright?” Elder Yong asked, his concern showing. Sending out all the combat teams was clearly on his mind.
“That’s why I’m staying. Don’t worry, just go and come back. If there’s any trouble, I’ll call you right away. If any of you are in danger, contact me immediately. I’ll have backup ready.”
“You can’t just clone yourself, you know…”
“You know as well as I do, this place won’t fall so easily.”
“Well, if you’re that confident…”
As Elder Yong reluctantly nodded, Yohan looked at the others.
“Any objections?”
There were none. Elder Yong’s question was just concern, not an objection. Yohan felt a sense of comfort in their unreserved trust.
“Then, I’ll make the announcement to the team.”
With those words, Yohan stepped up onto the platform in the square where the teams had gathered.
Everyone’s eyes sparkled, as if listening to a school principal’s speech for the first time in ages.
Especially the new recruits, who had only heard rumors about the camp leader, stared with curiosity and wonder as they finally saw him in person.
Yohan gave his speech, and Hajin and Noah watched from afar.
He was usually so calm, but whenever he got up on stage, it was amazing how he could deliver those stirring, cheesy lines with such confidence.
‘…That’s all. I have no doubt that your sacrifice will become the foundation for humanity’s recovery. But above all, I hope, just like always, that you return without getting hurt or dying.’
It was as corny as ever. Hajin rubbed the goosebumps from his arm and looked away.
The search team members all looked deeply moved as they gazed at Yohan. The effect was excellent.
“Wow. That’s really cheesy.”
Noah grumbled as if reading Hajin’s mind, and Hajin immediately agreed.
“Same.”
“My friend really went all out.”
From the search routes to the speech, every detail was planned. This wasn’t something decided in just a day or two.
“What do you think he’s planning?”
“Who knows… hmm…”
Noah pondered for a moment, then just blurted out whatever came to mind.
“Maybe he wants to be king or something.”
Even Noah chuckled at his own joke.
How silly.
Hajin crossed his legs. On the seat opposite sat Elder Yong and Sweeper.
Sweeper was digging in his ear, looking bored, while Elder Yong smiled with satisfaction as he watched Yohan.
It was the kind of smile you’d see on a grandfather watching his grandchild’s talent show.
Then, perhaps embarrassed, Elder Yong cleared his throat a couple of times. Seeing this, Sweeper, still grinning, nudged him and teased,
“Hey, old man, need anything?”
“Mind your business.”
“You look like you need a camera, with that face. What’ll you do when your grandkid leaves and you’re all lonely?”
“Quiet, you cheeky brat.”
“Why? Want me to go get you a camera?”
“Forget the camera. What you need is the sense to know when to keep your mouth shut.”
“Man, you’re a real grouchy old guy.”
“Shut it, will you. My mouth’s getting tired.”
Hajin looked away.
Their bickering was worthless. Sweeper looked endlessly bored, and the old man gazed at the camp leader like a doting grandfather—neither of which Hajin could understand, nor did he want to.
Hajin’s gaze shifted to Noah in the next seat.
Noah was calmly listening to Yohan’s speech.
A normal person.
Normal people should stick with other normal people.
Sensing Hajin’s gaze, Noah looked back, then gave an awkward smile and said,
“Even between friends, that look is a little embarrassing.”
Hajin decided to take back what he said about him being normal.
Of all the camp’s squad leaders, Hajin was sure he was the only normal one.
“When did we become friends?”
“Hmm… maybe since we ended up in the same boat?”
Noah’s bright smile made Hajin frown. There was something annoyingly pleasant about that smile on a guy’s face.
A guy, smiling like that…
Sometimes Hajin felt like quitting everything and joining the production team on an island.
—
Vrrr—clank, clank!
The sound of the mountain mini trucks echoed noisily up the mountain road. At the front of the search team’s convoy, fat-tired mountain bikes led the way, followed by three or four mini trucks chugging up the rough mountain path.
Riding out ahead of the group on the lead bike was Noah.
“Stop.”
Noah called for a halt, removed his helmet, and checked the map. The rough off-road ground kept jostling his backside, so he stretched out his aching lower body and confirmed their location.
After carefully checking the crudely drawn map, Noah folded it and put it away.
The route was accurate. It was a hand-made map based on helicopter scouting—crude, but very easy to read.
“Let’s go.”
Their first destination was the southern sheep ranch—the key base Yohan had marked for the southern search.
The members crowded in the trucks stared out the windows. Despite the apocalypse, the peaceful, pastoral scenery seemed almost too idyllic to believe.
Occasional zombies jumped out, but fell victim to crossbows. People took them down as casually as moving rocks off the road.
“Stop!”
Noah called out a stop signal from the front, his voice more tense than before.
Hajin got out of the vehicle and walked forward. At the front, Noah had his foot up on a pile of smashed logs blocking the road, frowning.
“What, did a typhoon hit?”
“No, this wasn’t caused by nature.”
Noah pointed at the ends of the trees. The ends were ragged and torn, as if something had bitten through them.
“Not done by people, either.”
“Mutant?”
“Has to be.”
If this was a mutant’s doing, it was probably their first time encountering this type.
There’d been no record of a mutant that cut down trees. Mutants with unpredictable patterns were a serious emergency. Hajin immediately called the communications officer and ordered a report to Yohan.
“Clearing this… would take forever.”
They were logs that had been there for decades. They’d have to cut all the branches before they could even try to move them.
They couldn’t bring in heavy machinery, and the road was too rough for big vehicles anyway. Hajin kicked a random branch and asked Noah,
“How far to our destination?”
“About 30 kilometers?”
“Let’s walk.”
“Knew it would come to that.”
Hajin nodded. The forced march began immediately.
