WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 260: Valley of Death (6)
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The temperature rose more sharply than expected. As a result, the operation began ahead of schedule. David Task Force’s area of operations lay along a spur of the Northern Coast Ranges, at an elevation of more than 1,400 meters, but by late June, daytime highs had reached 109 degrees Fahrenheit, or about 43 degrees Celsius.
Part of the cause was the source of geothermal power itself. Scalding groundwater over 100 degrees Celsius was being sprayed out, artificially raising the humidity. The land already vented hot steam on its own. Terrible heat gathered in every sunken valley. Using groundwater this way would sharply reduce the entire region’s long-term power generation efficiency, but at this point, America had no room to worry about that.
Gyeoul felt a faint vibration. The monitor he was watching trembled slightly. In California, part of the Pacific Rim volcanic belt commonly called the Ring of Fire, it was an ordinary earthquake.
Intelligence officer Lieutenant Murray looked uneasy.
“Surely there won’t be a major earthquake now, of all times?”
Gyeoul shook his head.
“Don’t say ominous things.”
“I only mean the possibility isn’t zero.”
“What I mean is, worrying won’t solve anything. Focus on the current situation.”
Lieutenant Foster, the operations officer and Murray’s academy classmate, scolded him.
“You must have a lot of mental room to spare. Watched too many movies?”
“I can’t say I haven’t...”
California megaquakes were a staple of Hollywood disaster films. Good ones were rare, though.
Still, regardless of the films’ quality, there was a reason they were made so often. Even this place was the world’s largest geothermal power complex, land where magma churned underground. To the east was Yellowstone National Park, said to be the world’s largest volcano. Before the plague, it had been one of the strongest candidates for the end of the world.
Lieutenant Murray, looking embarrassed, soon pressed a hand to his headset and focused on a change on the monitor.
“Company Commander. Information from the hunter-killer drone. An enemy group moving along Sulfur Valley has passed reference point X-Ray 1-3. Alpha Battery says they’ll plant an Excalibur in it before it makes contact with David 1-1. The target is a Beta Grumble.”
Excalibur was not the holy sword from legend, but a laser-guided shell (M982) named after it. Even when fired from 35 miles away, about 57 kilometers, it landed within a 20-meter radius of the target.
“How many rounds does that make already...? David 1-1 can handle something like that on its own, so I’m almost tempted to tell them to leave it alone.”
That was what Gyeoul said. The transmission from moments ago had been a one-sided notice, with no room for interference.
“I’ll send a request to Marigold, but I don’t know if it’ll do any good.”
The lieutenant typed quickly. The command system was fully computerized.
‘Aren’t they wasting too many thirty-thousand-dollar shells?’
And that was still less than half the pre-plague price. What Gyeoul was worried about was the places that truly needed support ending up unable to receive it. For instance, the northern main force moving south from Washington and Oregon. Their fight was part of the same breath as the operation being carried out here.
Or perhaps there would simply be nothing left when it was truly needed.
America was pouring every resource it had, and every resource it did not have, into this operation like mad.
The Beta Grumble shown on the screen was hideous. It had never been pleasant to look at, but this one looked as if half its skin had melted away. Yes. It resembled the one he had seen in the sequoia forest. Back then, it had happened because Gyeoul shot the acid babies clinging to it, but...
“Ugly thing. Looks like that one got hit by spontaneous combustion too.”
Foster’s voice carried a faint lift. Spontaneous combustion. It was the weakness of acid babies, and of the gliding enhanced variant and new incendiary species that had ultimately been confirmed to exist. After prolonged exposure to direct sunlight, they burst on their own. The exact cause had not been determined yet. It might be an increase in body temperature, or chemical instability caused by lack of moisture.
Gyeoul could not simply be optimistic, though. Their lineage had branched. That meant different enhanced variants could appear from a single mutant. Even if they did not always become stronger, the increase in variability was a threat in itself.
In that new variability, different from the past, he could almost feel a systematic murderous intent.
Murray announced a change.
“The enemy is scattering. It spotted the drone.”
The scenery on the monitor shook violently. The distorted Grumble ignored the skin splitting open all over its body and hurled acid babies one after another. They were enhanced variants with membranes grown between their arms and legs. When the giant monster threw them high, they spread their limbs and steered themselves. It worked on the same principle as a wingsuit.
Kyaaaaak-
Even in the soundless, zoomed-in image, broken by pixelation, the tiny mouths of the savage babies opened and closed, giving anyone watching a chilling auditory hallucination.
The drone, however, was a downgraded mass-production model built to quarantine war specifications, and it easily avoided the living high-speed projectiles. The furious babies failed to time their explosions properly. All the while, the infrared-guided laser fired by the drone never left the Grumble’s torso.
Flash. The Excalibur hit. A blazing black cloud exploded. It looked like a tiny volcano. As the screen zoomed out, a huge head rising through the smoke came into view.
Foster rubbed his rough chin.
“When I heard the 「Deadler」 had enhanced and branched, I was honestly pretty worried... but its flight has only increased its range. It isn’t precise. Its hit rate against moving targets is terrible.”
Deadler. A special mutant identification code meaning deadly toddler. Since they had split into acid and incendiary types, though, there was also talk that separate codes might be needed. Gyeoul still found it easier to call them acid babies.
“We don’t know what they’ll become from here.”
“Shouldn’t we make sure there is no ‘from here’?”
“Retaking the mainland won’t end the quarantine war.”
Gyeoul said that while thinking of Russia. Ground Zero on the Tibetan Plateau, where Morgellons’s original form was believed to exist. To reach it, crossing Siberia would be better.
“You don’t plan to take off the uniform even after the mainland is retaken?”
Foster’s question could not hide his surprise.
“Why do you think that?”
“Well...”
“I don’t know where you heard what, but I have a reason I can’t stop fighting this war. At least until victory is certain, I’ll keep fighting.”
Apparently, Foster had heard the rumors about Gyeoul entering politics.
“The enemy vanguard has reached the blocking line. David 1 is responding.”
David 1, Yura’s platoon, began fighting. The senior commander there, however, was the executive officer deployed to that side. Gyeoul looked at the monitors filling the situation room and felt a strange unfamiliarity. This was a command system too large for a Company-level unit. At this point, he had to regard the unit’s later expansion as all but decided. The higher his rank became, the more rear command and communications would take up his work, compared to direct combat in the field.
‘No wonder it feels awkward... I’ve never climbed this high before...’
His earlier assumption that Captain would be his practical promotion limit had also been based on experience. Unless one belonged to special forces, field-grade officers were not deployed on site as combat personnel.
Gyeoul’s future seemed to have been set at the Department of Defense and White House level as a senior commander. Of a regiment made up entirely of refugees, perhaps even a division-level unit. After that would come a move into politics. If even Foster, a front-line officer, had heard similar rumors, then most people probably knew.
But not yet. Not yet.
There was no guarantee this operation would end smoothly in the first place.
So far, there had been no major surprises, and because of that, even the officers were being colored by optimism.
Tatatat! Tatatatatat!
The sound of heavy machine gun fire echoed through the valley. Mixed into it was the ragged breathing of the camera’s owner. The name blinking in the corner of the screen was Jang Han-byul.
Because of the way sound changed with distance, the heavy machine gun’s fire sounded much brisker than it did up close. In trenches dug deep enough to fit the Humvees behind the barrier whole, Yura’s platoon poured crossfire onto the corpse-packed slope. The mines laid in that sector had long since been used up.
That was how many mutants were pushing in, crawling forward toward the antenna on the ridge.
A huge horde without any individual capable of exercising command simply clawed its way up the slope by brute force. The path was paved solid with the bodies of mutants that had died first. The earth, stripped of green and laid waste, was everywhere contaminated with black dead blood and altered animal fat. In fact, the stench of rotting corpses reached even this far. That was despite cremation work being carried out whenever there was a lull in the attacks.
The uphill road covered in charred corpses was covered in corpses once again. The land of death, tangled layer upon layer, was a filthy swamp of heads, torsos, limbs, and all kinds of organs. The moment the laser firing system activated, one walking plague flared blindingly.
Kieeek-!
The scream cut off in an instant. An invisible beam, or perhaps a faint one scattering dust, scraped sideways across the plague formation. With a single irradiation, more than thirty mutants caught fire.
They did not burn for long, but there was no need to roast them until they were certainly dead. The ones thrashing in pain grabbed at the ankles of other mutants. On the unstable ground formed by interlocked rigor mortis, a landslide of corpses broke loose. Burned bodies, burning bodies, and unburned bodies mixed together and poured down, shrieking. It was a scene from hell.
The ones that could not stand again would die even if left alone. The summer sun in the dry sky was a radiance of death burning all day. There was still a long stretch of daylight left.
Since the operation began, it was even possible that the number of mutants killed by the sun had surpassed the number killed by the U.S. military.
The plague struggled to adapt to the deadly season. Not long ago, news had come in that the Rangers had found a Trickster reduced to idiocy. Its brain cells had been cooked by the intense heat. If left alone, it might have been fine, but because humans forced it to fight, it had moved past its limits.
That individual had been captured for research.
The communications soldier turned toward Gyeoul.
“Company Commander. Situation report. A platoon-sized friendly group with an unknown unit designation is approaching Calpine 5.”
Calpine 5, like Aidlin here, was the site of a geothermal plant, and a Company-level task force had likewise been deployed there along with a signal beacon.
“Unknown unit designation?”
It meant affiliation unknown. As Gyeoul narrowed his eyes slightly, the communications soldier gave a small nod.
“Yes sir. The report says they’re presumed to be defeated troops from Operation Manifest Liberation. For their safety, Calpine 5, 6, and 7 will suspend operation of their lure signal beacons for the next two hours.”
According to satellite surveillance, there was no threatening mutant horde in that direction. If the signals stopped, neither the bases nor the approaching troops seemed likely to be in danger.
“Wouldn’t it be better to guide them somewhere else?”
Gyeoul muttered. The battle was not over yet, but by now it was practically a one-sided slaughter. Gyeoul took the tablet from the intelligence officer. Detailed information would have been uploaded to the network.
‘No response...’
They had not responded to any communications sent from Marigold. That could happen. They might have no equipment like radios left, or even if they did, they might have lost their solar chargers. Either way, the troops in the aerial photograph looked like exhausted, miserable allies. The column included a few vehicles as well. That meant they were maintaining at least a minimal formation.
It had been a long time since this many survivors had joined up all at once. They would not be any help to the operation, though. An evacuation helicopter would come soon. In this weather, telling them to go to another stronghold would be difficult too.
At last, the battle ended. No casualties. Even Yura’s platoon’s defense zone, the most vulnerable one, was a steep 200-meter uphill climb. The mutants had not even made it halfway up the barbed-wire-laced slope, through that summer.
“Company Commander, why not get some sleep?”
Foster suggested he rest.
“The hard part will be the night fighting. Lieutenant Murray and I will take turns handling things here.”
With the executive officer out in the 1st Platoon sector, the operations officer was second in command for now.
After hearing the suggestion, Gyeoul looked at the map, where the situation updated in real time, and thought it over. These days, the fact that everything was going too well only made him more worried. With everything he had experienced so far, he could not feel at ease. From what he had already sensed in the plague and the variability of the world, it even seemed as if some transcendent malice existed.
‘Worrying won’t solve it...’
Those were the words he had said himself moments ago. Gyeoul smiled bitterly and accepted.
“Then I’ll leave it to you. I’ll be in my quarters, so let me know if anything happens.”
“Understood. Rest comfortably.”
The mood in the situation room gradually loosened. Gyeoul could not demand the same level of tension from them that he demanded of himself. Scolding worked once or twice, for a day or two, but what could he expect from endless criticism with no promise and no end?
Mraaaaaow!
A shrieking cat’s cry came from somewhere. Right after, he saw a panting dog running around. Apparently, feral cats had settled in the power plant after the people disappeared, and the dog with the name of a king chased them around almost every day. Dog or cat, neither seemed to tire, since the cooling inside the facility was so effective.
Foster peeked out and clapped his hands with military precision. Clap clap!
“Come on, your highness!”
Arf arf!
“...”
The person barked, and the dog barked too. The dachshund came running at the call, turned the corner, and flopped right over. Still, it sprang to its feet, wagged its tail at Gyeoul, bounced in a circle, then dashed over to the operations officer who adored it.
Gyeoul shook his head and left the situation room.
========== Author’s Note ==========
#Q&A
Q. orWhatIsThis: @Somehow my enlistment is only 4 days away now. I’ll read hard until I enlist.
A. Oh dear. Then today’s chapter will be the last one you read before enlistment. The childlike innocence content will be higher next chapter... What a shame.
Q. Bug: @After kissing comes sex or pregnancy or
A. There is nothing after kissing. There is no way such a thing exists... hehe...
Q. Tigerhuco: @I’m a foolish reader who only just started reading this... and I’ve already caught up... Please give me salvation, author!
A. Then you can read The Wind and Star Cluster now. By the time you finish all of that, unread Ossuary chapters will have piled up.
Q. Kimnyagi: @Boris and Isolet only showed romance once after the ending too, so I’ll trust you
A. Yes, I’ll show you once near the ending. But I’m aiming for a happy ending, so I think it will be far from Boris and Isolet’s example.
Q. AntiChrist: @Every time I read this, author is so lovable that I want to lick your brain a little. Could you send me just two or three brains?
A. As I said before, I only have half a brain...
Q. GreenTurtle: @“I would build a great wall, and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me, and I’ll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great wall on our southern border and I’ll have Mutants pay for that wall.” I remember the Republican Party candidate’s broadcast came out once in San Francisco. Will there be a chance to hear the Democratic Party candidate’s broadcast too?
A. That is the august voice of the current Emperor of America. Well... it could change when I actually write it, but as of now, I have no plans. Rather than that, there will be the Republican Party candidate’s --.
Q. 14C2A58H2: @Now then, Tunguska, before discussing forty-thousand-year kiss demons, please prove first whether Silv had any romance beyond kissing!
A. Among my old novels that you don’t know about, there were plenty of romances like that. If I read them now, they would make my hands and feet curl so hard I’d feel suicidal. Thanks to my younger sibling neatly wiping them out, most of them can’t be read again, though.
Q. sosofa: @If it’s romance near the ending that will make us look for spears, doesn’t that mean it’s a death flag!!!
A. To think you have so little faith in the author... I’m sad...
Q. Jingado: @That one kiss was like a single breath taken after three minutes!
A. Or one sip of alcohol after three years...
Q. Qvex: @Author, give us romance already. I’m getting dizzy
A. There will be none for a while. Too bad. Haha.
Q. Gwangseoja: @20 sponsorship coupons full of childlike innocence... It’s only 1,400 won, but I’m sending it so you can buy one ramen
A. Thank you. I’ll buy a big cup of Buldak Bokkeum Myeon.
Q. Nyar: @Barbyeol is something I already read, and I enjoyed The Labyrinth Is a Business. Since there are surprisingly many people who pay for Nobless just to read Ossuary, I recommend “Once Again in Life” to them. Ah, I recommend it to author too.
A. Ah... Once Again in Life... It’s a good novel, but it’s a little hard for me to read... Someone told me to just endure until chapter 700, but that’s difficult.
Q. NeoGGM: @Oh great old one Tunguska. I offer coupons as sacrifice, so please bestow overflowing childlike innocence upon us.
A. My childlike innocence is already depleted, so nothing will come out no matter how much you dig. T.T Thank you for the offering.
Footnotes:
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