WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 259: Valley of Death (5)
──────
The task force under Gyeoul’s command occupied the Aidlin Geothermal Plant on June 1. The only enemies found in the abandoned facility were five ordinary mutants in a state of Metabolic Suppression. Jin-seok’s platoon, which had been in charge of breaching the staff dormitory, spent exactly five live rounds securing it.
It took eleven days to restart the power plant after more than a year of neglect. While the civilian technicians did their best, the task force built defensive positions with help from the engineering corps. If they had done the work by hand alone, it would have taken far longer, but proper heavy equipment was brought in and shortened the construction period.
Soon, the wide-area lure beacon would begin operation. The large antenna looked like a monster made of steel girders.
Captain Singh, who had walked up the winding access road with Gyeoul, wiped away sweat and said, “I was worried because the platoons are spaced so far apart, but with a slope this steep, we shouldn’t have much to worry about.”
Because a geothermal plant had to reinject the groundwater it drew out, the defensive line had no choice but to stretch out.
But the fact that the road was not straight meant the slope was that much steeper. To attack the plant, the mutants would have to crawl up as much as one kilometer of mountain road tilted at forty degrees. Even now, just entering mid-June, the weather was nearing thirty degrees Celsius. If anyone tried that during the operation, human or mutant, they would be cooked alive.
Headquarters had not assigned only a company-level task force, a company team, without thinking.
Gyeoul imagined how the engagement would unfold. A mountain road under the blazing sun, without a single patch of shade. Mutants dragging themselves up the heat-warped wasteland and staggering on their feet.
‘Against ordinary mutants, it’ll be almost like target practice.’
He did not think Grumble would endure it any better. The homeothermy that came from that huge body and thick hide was an advantage in the cold season and a weakness in the hot one. To survive heat close to a natural disaster, Grumble would need a wider range of Metabolic Suppression than ordinary mutants. Its physical functions would drop that much as well, and the range of its Throwing attacks would decrease too.
They only needed to be careful at night.
Gyeoul pointed at the pipe running straight down from the plant toward the valley.
“The key will be defending the southern reinjection facility. It’s the lowest in elevation and the farthest away, so I’m thinking of concentrating a bit more firepower there.”
“I agree. How about two vehicles mounted with high-speed grenade launchers? The north and west are within the other platoons’ fields of fire anyway, so strengthening the fire net only toward the low ground should be enough.”
“Let’s start with that. We can send reinforcements later depending on the situation.”
Gyeoul planned to place 1st Platoon, in other words Yura’s platoon, at the most dangerous point.
Lieutenant Murray, the intelligence officer, sounded disappointed.
“It has already been decided, but I still think it would be better to concentrate our forces at the power plant. The enemy won’t know why those pipes exist anyway.”
“They could still think to break them and use them as an entry route. They’ve only been treated against corrosion, not reinforced for durability. If something like Grumble swings at them, that’s the end of it.”
“...”
It was more than possible from the direction where the groundwater flowed in.
“Imagine acid babies pouring out of the pipes. The plant turbines getting destroyed wouldn’t even be the problem anymore. Even aside from that, we can’t use heavy weapons in the direction of the pipes, so it would be easy for mutants to use that as an attack route.”
If there was even a Beta Ghoul, it would certainly notice the gap in their firepower. Even rifles with larger calibers, 7.62mm, could not be used carelessly. If the pipes were damaged, power generation efficiency would drop sharply.
‘Just laying mines makes me too uneasy.’
Covering the shoulder-high pipes with dirt was also a problem because it would create blind spots. It would be like building an earthen wall across an emergency movement route.
Above all, the operating noise from the facilities that pumped out or injected groundwater would definitely draw the mutants’ attention. They could not bury those in dirt too, and mutants accustomed to urban environments would not simply pass by pipes going into the ground. That was assuming an intelligent individual was mixed in, though.
Boom-boom-boom!
The forest flashed without warning. A shock wave swept across the dry ground and kicked up a pale gust. Trees cut at the base toppled in a roar. The engineering corps were using explosives for logging.
“This place will definitely have a landslide later.”
That came from Lieutenant Foster, the operations officer. The forest was being removed to eliminate cover. Thanks to that, even the slope south of the valley had turned completely yellow. Excavators had been brought in to pull out the trunks as well.
A communications soldier called for Gyeoul.
“Company commander. It’s 2nd Platoon. They say smoke believed to be from a wildfire has been observed near Base Point Oscar. Ah, it just increased to two locations. They’re requesting permission to begin fire suppression.”
A base point meant coordinates set in advance for fire support in an emergency.
In other words, it was not a place where anything existed.
The weather was such that a natural fire would not be strange, but... if it was nearby, it might be better to put it out before calling aerial firefighting. Water dropped from the sky was not very efficient, and while waiting for the aircraft to arrive, the fire might grow and force them to abandon a defensive point for a while.
But what were the odds of fires breaking out in two places at the same time? Gyeoul worried about an ambush. Had there not been deliberate arson near the end of the Christmas Eve raid too? And after that as well.
‘The possibility of them breaking in from another direction... no. If there were a group making a detour, aerial reconnaissance would have caught them.’
With sensory correction, Gyeoul could almost certainly detect an ambush within a certain distance. Unless it was an exceptional case, like a Melville Ray beneath the water.
“Tell them I’m on my way, so wait. It could be mutant trickery. And contact Misty. Just in case, request firefighting support from Marigold.”
“Misty is already airborne. Estimated time of arrival is under two minutes.”
The communications soldier reported quickly. Misty was the call sign of an armed reconnaissance helicopter, an OH-58. It had been deployed here to support the sixteen company-level task forces.
Base Point Oscar was beyond the northern valley, barely outside the maximum range of individual firearms. The forest had not been cleared that far yet either. Jin-seok, the 2nd Platoon commander, had an overly aggressive tendency, as Captain Singh had pointed out, so they had to be careful.
“We’ll come too!”
The war correspondent shouted toward Gyeoul as he climbed into a Humvee. Gilbert Martineau and his staff had followed them all the way here from the Olema base. Naturally, that had been done with permission from above.
“It’s a little late to say this, but you could die.”
The support force was only two squads. Despite Gyeoul’s warning as he held the door, Martineau did not back down.
“I’ve already made peace with that!”
“Then get in quickly.”
The press team hurried into the special vehicle. It was a bulletproof vehicle with a crane attached. It had been specially reinforced so that, if isolated in an emergency, the people inside could wait for rescue. Even then, to Grumble, it would only be a slightly tough toy. A Trickster using electromagnetic fields would just pick the lock and come in.
The unit had many vehicles for its company-level size, so six Humvees moved out in total. They all carried fire extinguishers by default. On top of that, a water truck followed under Gyeoul’s orders. A helicopter overtook the vehicle column and flew toward the thin smoke. Large, round observation equipment was mounted above its rotating blades.
“Misty. Do you see anything?”
[This is Misty. No heat signatures believed to be mutants confirmed.]
But as the distance closed, the activated sensory correction stimulated the back of his neck. The sensation was faint. He would have missed it if he had not been paying attention.
‘It isn’t large in scale?’
The beacon had not started operating yet, so the odds of a full-scale offensive were low.
Half of 2nd Platoon’s force joined them along the route. The other half stayed behind to defend the stronghold.
Even after they got close to the valley, they could not observe the fire site directly. It seemed to be in a sunken part of the terrain. Maybe it had been bombed at some point, because the forest was riddled with sparse holes, like the scalp of someone with a skin disease.
The vehicle column stopped. There was no road deeper in. After getting out of the vehicle, Gyeoul caught a faint burnt smell. He stared silently at the quiet, gloomy forest, then gave an order.
“Vehicles with grenade launchers, suppressive fire from ten o’clock to eleven o’clock. Twenty rounds each.”
Copy. After replies came from half the Humvees, brutal firepower erupted. Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom! A rain of high-speed grenades, each one stronger than a hand grenade, tore through the silence of the forest. The spreading fragments filled the scene with snapping branches, early-summer leaves, and earth-colored haze.
After the firing ended, just as an unfamiliar silence awkwardly filled the space left by the blasts.
‘...It’s gone?’
Gyeoul unconsciously touched the back of his neck. The chilly sensory correction was no longer there.
Had he worried too much? To think it disappeared from just that... Even so, Gyeoul thought it might not be over. It was a low probability, but a mutant specialized in ambush might have appeared. A type specialized in neutralizing sensory correction.
“We’re entering on foot. Ensign Jin-seok, assign one squad to the rear.”
“Understood.”
Jin-seok immediately gestured. The area was full of obstacles, so they could not enter by vehicle.
There were two fires, but they were close to each other. The force led by Gyeoul soon reached the spot where thin smoke was rising. Strangely, the smell of grilled meat came from somewhere.
“What is that smell...?”
One soldier who had brought a fire extinguisher looked confused. There was nothing like an animal carcass.
The small fires were put out easily. Across the two sites, Gyeoul used 「Tracking」 to search the traces left on the blackened ground. His enhanced senses clearly distinguished between the smell of burnt grass and shrubs, and the smell of burning protein. After following the faint scent, Gyeoul knelt and drew his Bayonet.
“Did you find something?”
Jin-seok asked seriously. It seemed Jin-seok felt something was strange too.
What caught on the tip of the Bayonet as it combed through the ash was a tiny bone fragment. A half-cooked piece of flesh hung from it. The thin skin dragging out with it did not look like subcutaneous tissue on either side. Grease streamed out from the partially cooked center. The savory smell made it even more disturbing.
“Is it part of a mutant?”
“Probably.”
They found more similar pieces nearby. There was also something that looked like part of a tiny skull. Judging by the spread, it looked as if it had exploded. For example, an infant mutant thrown with force... Had a flammable baby appeared, rather than an acidic one?
Gyeoul scraped together whatever traces he could and put them into a body bag. It was only a handful, but there was nothing else to put it in.
Martineau, who had been unable to bring himself to follow and had remained with the vehicle column, wanted a close-up shot.
“Could it be a new mutant? Is there no chance it’s a wild animal?”
“Marigold will make the judgment, but... is there any animal similar to this?”
“Well, if I had to force a comparison, a flying squirrel might be the closest...”
“...”
The reporter had probably only said it offhand, but Gyeoul frowned slightly. Tiny biological bombs were unfamiliar even to him. He also did not know how enhanced variants changed.
“Do you regret coming all the way here?”
On the way back, Gyeoul gave Martineau an empty seat in the Humvee. The reporter laughed as if amused by the question.
“How could I? This is a chance to monopolize coverage of you, Major.”
“That’s impressive professionalism. Even after going through that.”
At those words, the reporter laughed again.
“It’s embarrassing to say in front of soldiers, but even among war correspondents, there are people who find it hard to adapt to ordinary life. Strange people who go through insane fear, then after a little time passes, somehow end up going back to dangerous places.”
“...”
“And when I’m with you, Major, I don’t really feel like I’m going to die. That made the competition even fiercer.”
“Competition? The higher-ups didn’t decide where you’d be dispatched?”
“They don’t decide things like that. We decided among ourselves with poker.”
“...Poker?”
“Isn’t it the scoop of a lifetime? It was a gamble with our lives on the line, literally.”
“You should have seen the faces of the people who lost,” Martineau said with a laugh, and his face was strangely free of shadow.
========== Author’s Note ==========
#Biological Bombs
The description that the tiny biological bombs were an unfamiliar type means that he had never had a chance to see enhanced variants before.
#Q&A
Q. LifeSaver: @When romance gets added to childlike innocence, the explosive effect is truly like nitro haha
A. I now understand very well that the readers are kiss demons that have been aging for forty thousand years. Haha.
Q. Eloar l Lu l Krantz: @As expected, the followers of Slaanesh worship Tunguska... But Han Gyeoul should become Khorne’s champion!! Blood for the Blood God!
A. Gyeoul is nice. He is not a violent child.
Q. Kimnyagi: @Why do you hate romance so much? Something heartwarming and just tearful enough, like the farewell scene between Boris and Isolet at the ending of Jeon Min-hee’s Children of the Rune: Winterer. I think you’re the only author on Joara who can write that kind of romance, so please make this old child cry with a scene like that.
A. The next romance will appear only when the ending is near. And at that point, there is a high chance you will not be shedding tears, but looking for bamboo spears.
Q. Eeiko: @They say gifts shine brightest when given while avoiding unlucky days haha. I’m leaving all my manuscript fee support coupons here.
A. Thank you. In reality, there was no one else who gave me gifts. I wanted to give myself a week-long summer vacation as a gift, but if I did that... haha.
Q. LewdDemonF: @I thought about what TV program it was. Is it TeleXbbies?
A. That is correct. It is that program with the chubby antenna people who look similar to my fingers.
Q. DeliciousSceneRamen: @There isn’t enough childlike innocence! I offer 20 chapters, so please give me childlike innocence! The scream of a Trickster should be about right! If possible, something that makes it easy to imagine the leg side, like claw-pulling or a Lego attack! PS. A vehicle attack would also be nice.
A. Unfortunately, this childlike innocence does not belong to the Trickster.
Q. ChocoChipCookie: @It’s not enough for you to eat chicken, but I’m leaving 27 chapters! This is a very good novel to read while eating chicken gizzards with beer haha. Author, keep writing well!!
A. Chicken gizzards with beer... I’m jealous because there’s nowhere around here that sells gizzards. No, not just gizzards, but even common things like hamburgers... Please, I’d take even a Lotteria... TT.
Q. Nanananyang: @I sent coupons. Because of The Little Prince in the Ossuary, I’m finally buying Noble again...
A. Uh... if you’re really only reading this, unless you pay for one day and binge it, the Naver side is cheaper.
Q. UnlimitedOne: @Psalm 23. Thanks to the subtitle, I looked up the Psalms in the Bible again after a long time. It’s a good passage. The place he has to go, too...
A. I think the first time I encountered that passage was through the comic Priest. Priest... the next volume that never comes out... tears...
Q. DawnMara: @Oh, I finally caught up. My Mana evaporated by almost 20,000 getting here... I fell asleep with about 30 chapters left... Ha... Anyway, as another useless person with literary ambitions, I learned a lot beyond simple enjoyment. Especially the kiss scene. I never knew the saying “hunger is the best sauce” could be used at a time like this.
A. Because Gyeoul’s situation is what it is, I described it extremely dryly, but the kiss demon readers still showed a heated response.
I feel awkward and embarrassed when you say you learned from it. Tremble tremble...
Footnotes:
Join our discord at https://dsc.gg/wetried
