WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 230: Suspended Sentence (2)

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A drone passed over the team members’ heads. Its wavering, unstable flight was not from jamming, but from its collision avoidance sensors. The unmanned aircraft, equipped with thermal imaging equipment and a grenade launcher, received orders from a mothership higher in the sky. If those orders were cut off, it was apparently set to switch to automatic flight and gain altitude. Rear support was starting to feel more and more substantial.

“They say there are no heat signatures presumed to be mutants within a 300-meter radius.”

Harper, carrying a backpack radio, relayed the message from above.

“Don’t let your guard down until I come back down. Some of them may have lowered their body temperature through Metabolic Suppression.”

After giving that warning, Gyeoul gestured to Schultz. Schultz nodded and fired the hook. He aimed higher than the branch they meant to climb. Pak-! With a burst of gas, the launched hook arced over the thick junction between the main trunk and the main branch, then fell. The plan was to drape it down both sides of the trunk serving as the support and fasten it there.

“If anyone has an axe, lend it to me.”

At Gyeoul’s gesture, the team members glanced at one another, then held out their combat axes, tomahawks. They shared their name with the cruise missiles fired the night before, but these were the original. Of course, unlike the ones thrown by Indian, the side opposite the sharpened blade had been modified for use as a pickaxe or hammer.

Gyeoul chose two that doubled as pickaxes. They were made to split mutant skulls, so they were a little heavy, but with his boosted strength, they were more than enough to use in place of ice axes.

He strapped the pair of axes to his waist, then took off his body armor and various pieces of equipment to reduce his weight. The only weapon he carried was a pistol. The branch where the acid baby was perched was that precarious. Even with its belly swollen tight, it was still a small body, and that was what made it possible. How it had climbed up there remained a mystery.

‘I did think about grazing it with a sponge round and catching it with canvas cloth...’

No one handled explosives that way. He also did not know how many acid babies were left.

Was this the effect of the death cry let out by the last Trickster? Traces of them falling to their deaths on their own were visible here and there. Compared to a machine, it would be something like a malfunction.

Gyeoul hooked the descent ring to the rope, kicked off from the base of the tree, and began climbing. A slanted sprint. Sunlight leaking through the leaves rushed toward him. It felt as if the sky were descending.

Startled by the human defying gravity, two birds took flight. The tiny gray flycatcher pair, male and female, were desperate to protect their nest. They kept fluttering around Gyeoul, swooping at him in threat displays. Early May, the season when all life was fresh. Four speckled eggs lay in a nest lined with feathers like a blanket.

Fortunately, his target was higher up. When Gyeoul passed by without stopping, the flycatcher couple returned to their nest and let out pipit, pipit roars of victory at the strongest human in the setting.

Gyeoul finally reached the height he wanted and straightened himself. Only then did he hear the sharp saek, saek of breathing. The babies were hanging limp in the same posture they had used to peer down below. He could see they had been carefully arranged to sweep a wide area all at once.

Spreading his weight across multiple branches, Gyeoul carefully pushed his foot forward. It was for his own safety, and also because he was worried the babies might fall if the tree shook. The sense of empty space underfoot and the swaying scenery made the people peeking into the afterlife scream. He could tell from how quickly the logs piled up.

At last, the living bomb was right in front of him. He wrapped rope around its short limbs and lowered it straight down.

[First specimen secured. How many are left?]

“Three more.”

Replying to Morales, Gyeoul looked down. From below, things had been unclear, but the view from up here was different. The only monster that would come up with this idea was still the Trickster.

Across twenty-six apocalypses, the plague’s intelligence had only needed caution around enhanced variant ghouls.

Even so, this world was one of the lucky ones. A major disaster had broken out, but despite the lingering risks, they had overcome it well so far. As mutants grew stronger, humanity was advancing too. Once these specimens were sent in, a response strategy would come out right away. Hope remained in this world.

After lowering all the remaining babies, Gyeoul returned to the sturdy base of the branch and descended quickly, as if rappelling. Dr. Campbell was securing the specimens. The doctor injected additional anesthetic, attached heart monitors, and carefully placed each one into an acid-resistant bag. Biohazard symbols were printed on the outside of the bags.

When the work was done, the doctor praised Gyeoul.

“That was truly incredible. When you went up, I thought I was watching a video on fast-forward.”

There was a large gap between the doctor’s reaction and the team members, who simply accepted it because this was Han Gyeoul.

The doctor was extremely polite despite being the same rank, and that was probably not only because Campbell was closer to a civilian. Gyeoul took it positively, as evidence that even people with Campbell’s tendencies were friendly toward Han Gyeoul. It was too early to generalize, though.

The bags holding the specimens looked like body bags containing rotten infants. Schultz, because he was carrying Campbell, was free from that hideous luggage. The other team members’ faces curdled.

“Do you need more specimens?”

Campbell answered Gyeoul’s question.

“Naturally, the more the better. Monkeys used in vaccine testing sometimes die by the dozens in a single day. I’d like to bring as many as we can carry.”

As expected of a doctor from a medical unit, even the things he casually blurted out without thinking carried weight.

“A vaccine... Has there been any progress?”

The current government had kept silent about vaccine development. Gyeoul understood it as a measure to avoid giving people empty hope, then disappointment. At the same time, if the government was operating this normally, then with systematic support, it seemed as if it should be able to produce some results, even without him providing a clue through the peak of the survival line, 「Plague Immunity」.

“I only heard about it secondhand, so there isn’t much I know for certain.”

Campbell subtly tried to back away, and Gyeoul asked again.

“Even a little is fine. Don’t think too hard about it. I’m only asking because I’m curious.”

“Well, this is...”

Campbell fell silent with a troubled expression. But he looked as if he was dying to talk. He seemed to enjoy talking with Gyeoul as much as he liked him. At last, he opened his mouth.

“It may not be true... but I heard there hasn’t been much progress so far. The general view is that it will remain difficult unless they secure the prototypes of the viruses and parasites that make up Morgellons. There is also talk of seeking cooperation from Russia on that front.”

“So that’s how it is.”

“There are rumors that they’re focusing more on developing biochemical weapons that can be used against mutants without side effects than on a vaccine. Any mutant that adapts to pathogens or toxins turns that chemical composition itself into a weapon, and even spreads its resistance, so the key will be somehow overcoming that.”

“Like anthrax-resistant mutants.”

“Ah, those are truly the worst. Every patch of land they pass through would end up contaminated...”

The doctor shook his head in disgust. An area where anthrax had spread could only be called safe after intensive disinfection and more than a hundred years of abandonment. If a person was exposed, they had to take antibiotics for sixty days from that point. Contaminated land remained dangerous even after centuries. If the area was small, decontamination was possible, but when they were talking about mainland China, that was another matter entirely.

The U.S. military made vaccination mandatory, but the only thing it definitely prevented was cutaneous anthrax. It could not block gastrointestinal infection or inhalation infection with 100% certainty.

‘This is the first time I’ve heard about Morgellons having a prototype.’

Gyeoul sank into the new information. Would the Russian army, already occupied with defense, really be able to advance all the way to ground zero, the infection’s point of origin? Aside from monsters spreading anthrax everywhere, countless other threats would be waiting. They would have to cross that land under protective measures on par with nuclear war.

“People like me are worried that some new variant might appear that synthesizes something like sarin gas. Except for fluorine, all the required components are present in the human body.”

The team members listening in made uneasy faces.

It took two hours to secure additional samples and return to the air-raid shelter. Along the way, there was a small incident where a heart rate alarm went off and they had to inject more anesthetic.

Around the time the transport aircraft started its engine, Campbell took advantage of the rising engine noise and called Gyeoul aside.

“If you happen to find a Humpback, could you capture it as your top priority?”

Gyeoul tilted his head.

“I heard the Rangers already caught one.”

That was right. News about them had been mixed in among the updates that changed every moment. After a long pursuit, they had finally succeeded. Whether Lieutenant Frey had survived to the end was another question. The survival rate had been less than half.

“It was not captured alive. Still, they secured bodily fluids at the time, so it was a major result.”

“What exactly is that monster?”

Gyeoul asked, but he had a guess. The circumstances so far were proof enough. Looking back, the surrounding forest had been severely damaged when they first encountered it. Until now, he had assumed it was broken because the monster had rammed into it, but unless the monster was insane, it had no reason to slam into random places for no purpose.

“It’s ridiculous of me to say this now, but I can’t tell you. It’s a first-class secret. The higher-ups are also controlling it strictly... I’m sorry.”

He said he was sorry, but on his serious face, there was a trace of enjoyment he had failed to hide. He was a person whose character had not kept pace with his knowledge. Not an uncommon kind.

Even though he had carelessly leaked all sorts of information, he was shutting his mouth now. That meant the true nature of the Humpback would lower soldiers’ morale that much.

“The mutant hordes we encountered during this operation had an extremely high proportion of young ones. Even if they sent the ones that were not useful in a frontal battle to the rear, there were still strangely many. Most of them were wearing nothing, too.”

At Gyeoul’s probing words, Campbell gave an awkward laugh. The brief agitation hidden behind it was enough of an answer for Gyeoul.

“Anyway, you don’t need to be sorry. More importantly, was this request approved by headquarters?”

“Not yet. They said eliminating the mutants’ command ability comes first. But I believe it’s only a matter of time.”

Then he left behind a salute ruffled by the wind.

“You were a great help today. I hope we can meet again someday.”

After Campbell shouted and climbed aboard, the ramp door slowly closed. The engine output rose. Shielding his eyes, Gyeoul stepped back from the flying dust. The transport aircraft took off, climbed a little higher, then tilted its engines from vertical to horizontal. The rapidly accelerating airframe receded toward the east.

“Major. Isn’t it about time we rested?”

Morales’s voice sounded tired. Even though Morales had taken a stimulant, Provigil, the night before, they had only gotten snatches of sleep throughout the operation, so fatigue seemed to be setting in already. Since they were staying with the rescued troops right now, they should be able to set a generous rotation. Gyeoul permitted rest.

“The ones we met yesterday were probably the last prey in this area. Even if an order comes down, I’ll try requesting an adjustment. I don’t think there will be any urgent missions... Two people will stand watch. Morales, set the order and report it.”

“Major should rest first.”

“I’ll decide that myself.”

Gyeoul made himself smile. Even so, the Sergeant spent a long while persuading him, asking if he meant to stay awake the whole time, and telling him to choose between the first watch and the last watch.

Because some soldiers were in poor physical condition, they lit a fire even during the day. Thanks to that, they almost had water dumped over them. Headquarters, worried about fire after the previous night’s engagement, had sent a firefighting helicopter. The helicopter that flew over after seeing the smoke received Gyeoul’s radio call and left. The soldiers whose sleep had been disturbed by the noise raised their middle fingers toward the sky.

Aside from that, it was a quiet break.

Gyeoul thought about the hunchback monster. The plague mutated its hosts according to need.

‘There is no guarantee that need is always combat-related.’

Its ultimate objective was surely the spread of infection and an increase in numbers. After individuals capable of thought appeared, perhaps it had begun attacking more actively because of the possibility that humanity might erase the plague.

While his contemplation stretched on, the PDA received a new order.

「A civilian stronghold existed on a ranch on the western bank of the Russian River near Windsor, but it has been destroyed since the mutants’ large-scale offensive began. It needs to be checked before returning to FOB Olema.」

Blockade Command seemed to have judged that the hunt in this region was almost over.

============================ Author’s Note ============================

#Q&A

Q. CommonKestrel: @Can the control personality create a body for Gyeoul with physical abilities on the level of apocalypse Gyeoul? If happy Gyeoul inside Afterlife Insurance feels strong negative emotions because of things outside, could the control personality attempt to make the outside like the apocalyptic world?

A. It is difficult to answer questions about future developments. There have been various clues so far, though. Haha.

Q. CatEyes: @Author, do you know the novel They Say I’m Parasitizing by StillUnripeApple? The protagonist is trapped in a game with only the brain and spinal cord remaining, so it resembles this in that both deal with bleak worlds, but that one is an online game, the protagonist is an “NPC” forcibly inserted into it, and while The Little Prince runs on the author’s childlike innocence, that one feeds on the author’s lustful heart(?) lol. If this is your first time hearing of it, I think it might be worth skimming once. For some reason, I feel like the two authors would get along well...

A. This is my first time hearing of it. So there was a novel like that. If I have time, I’ll take a look.

Q. Calpis: @Seeing the description of an acid baby dropping and bursting with a pak-sak reminded me of the Crawler from Tool King. Especially because of the bursting part. The world really is united through childlike innocence.

A. Oh... I searched it up, and it really is similar. I only played the first Dead Space, so I didn’t know. Watching a video of it, it is truly... splendid...

Q. awkawr: @If you say Morales, there is a famous Lieutenant medic.

A. I know as well. I play Heroes of the Storm, after all. It is nice to have Morales on your team.

Q. Illuina: @I bought Volume 2 today, but since it is for my collection, I have not opened the packaging, so I cannot tell up to which chapter it goes... Which chapter is it...?

A. I didn’t know either, so I looked it up. It goes up to the intermission, Plucking Stars from the Sky, so chapter 77.

Q. nsaen: @This might be a spoiler question, but does a final tech tree exist for zombie evolution? Like if the number of zombies passes 6 billion, they create a Marker from Dead Space or something.

A. It does not go that far. Come to think of it, I think there was also a question before about whether they could grow as large as the Titans from Attack on Titan. That is impossible too.

Q. thecrazy: @When I hear Morales, I keep thinking of the Heroes of the Storm medic... Am I already lost in the Nexus...?

A. Correct. You are severely ill.

Q. TradeWagon: @At Han Gyeoul’s level in the apocalypse, he is basically a munchkin, so personally I feel slightly disappointed that this fun novel emphasizes that he is not a munchkin by comparing him to even greater munchkins above him. And when I look around at other novels on Noblesse, I sigh at the current situation where that can actually become convincing logic... Is it because these days I have given up on finding other works on Noblesse and spend my free time sitting in the city library?

A. Hmm... Gyeoul is a munchkin, yes... but was there a point in the story where it was emphasized that he is weak compared to other munchkins? Was it in the Author’s Note?...

Q. Suangmai: @If a Melville Ray and an orca fought, who would win? I think it would be hard to beat a sea creature. If so, would it be difficult to reach other continents through the sea?

A. If it fought an orca, the Melville Ray would lose. Still, it can reach other continents.

Q. GreenTurtle: @2K22, does humanity not use WMDs against mutants? I think chemical weapons would be worth considering... Also, to what depth can a Melville Ray operate? I wondered if it would be a considerable threat even to submarines.

A. I think this chapter probably answered that to some extent. The Melville Ray is still a transitional mutant. It cannot dive to deep depths. It can temporarily go down several dozen meters, but it cannot stay there for long. It spends most of its time at depths close to the surface.

There have been many questions lately. I’ll only write this much today. :)

Footnotes:

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