WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 264: Valley of Death (10)

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The air in the room where the wounded had been gathered was lukewarm. Working air conditioners were rare. At least the sun had not risen yet. They had enough spare parts, and by daybreak they should be able to restore the minimum cooling capacity needed to maintain combat strength.

Gyeoul stood watch as the bodies of the dead were placed into body bags. Some of the corpses had no visible wounds. Those were cases where dehydration, exhaustion, and heatstroke had overlapped. A military surgeon with experience at a regional trauma center entered signatures into the PDA's field medical system. Corpsmen who had once been nurses zipped the body bags shut. Either way, they were far too qualified to be permanently assigned to a Company-level unit.

The military surgeon, Captain Jo Yun-chang, turned toward Gyeoul.

"It's over."

"Over?"

"I mean everyone who was going to die has died. They were impossible to save from the start, but... if the helicopters aren't too late, there shouldn't be any more deaths. Is the scheduled evacuation time unchanged?"

Gyeoul pulled back his sleeve. A crack ran across his standard-issue mechanical watch.

"...Yes. If nothing else happens, they'll arrive in twenty-seven minutes."

"That's a relief. I was worried because we used a great deal of blood packs and IV fluids."

"Don't worry. The chance of another battle is low."

That was the conclusion drawn from satellite and aerial reconnaissance. There could still be scattered attacks by small groups that had slipped out of control, but the main force, including the special mutants, had definitely withdrawn. Gyeoul did not know how long the group that had led the attack would survive. The Air Force's bombing had been that fierce.

Looking away, Gyeoul asked, "How is Ensign Lee Yura?"

"The fractures and burns aren't serious. The concussion is the problem. I think she'll be fine, but she'll need to rest in the rear for a while. There may be a cerebral hemorrhage as well."

"Even in the worst case, her life won't be in danger, right?"

"Of course. Unless she needs surgery, she should be able to return within six months at most."

He already knew that, but concern made him check anyway. Yura was the only officer who had been wounded. Gyeoul nodded.

"Understood. Thank you for your work, Captain. Rest, even if it's only for a little while before the helicopters arrive. You must be exhausted."

The battle had been intense for the military surgeon too. He had spent the whole night running around the defensive positions. If anything, he was likely more exhausted than the enlisted soldiers, since he had not even had time to rest after the battle ended. But the captain shook his head.

"I'm still all right. In fact, this is better than when I was in Korea."

That could not be true. No matter how demanding hospital work had been, it could not compare to an intense battlefield. In the end, it was his sense of responsibility. Beyond that, Gyeoul could also glimpse a bit of calculation, an awareness of Gyeoul himself, but...

‘People are all like that.’

Gyeoul did not think badly of him. It was not actually a bad thing either.

The military surgeon looked satisfied with the promising company commander's smile. As expected of someone who had volunteered for the assignment.

Almost none of the personnel confirmed for evacuation were unconscious. Many, however, had chemical burns. In Yura's case as well, the most visible injury was a burn. Gauze covered the area from her left collarbone to her shoulder blade. Because of that, she was lying awkwardly face down on a field cot. She could not properly wear her top, so it was draped over the rest of her upper body like a blanket.

"How do you feel?"

Gyeoul knelt on one knee to meet her eye level. In front of him, Yura's face was strained, but she still managed to lift the corners of her mouth.

"They gave me painkillers, so I don't really feel the pain, but my head is foggy and I can't keep my balance well if I stand up. My stomach doesn't feel great either. It would have been much better if I'd at least been wearing a helmet."

"You survived once because of that. And you were lucky the shrapnel didn't lodge in your head even without the helmet."

From behind his waist, Gyeoul showed her the half-melted helmet. The left half had caved in, with a hole punched through the middle. A trace left by acidic bodily fluid.

"Are the burns all right?"

"The doctor... no, Captain Jo said they weren't severe. Maybe because I scraped it off with a knife when it hit me. I was a little late because I had to throw off the helmet first, though. It stung really badly at the time."

Apparently, not much had splashed onto her shoulder in the first place. The burns were not spread across one continuous area, but scattered in large and small spots. None of them had progressed to the third degree.

What had knocked her down despite her injuries was a dual-purpose round fired by the artillery, or more precisely, an anti-personnel submunition separated from it. Her new combat uniform had blocked every fragment, but she lost her balance and fell, striking her head hard. The result was a concussion and bruises across her whole body.

Yura sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I keep thinking I could have done better. No, I think I was a mess from start to finish."

"No. Ensign, you did your best. And the casualties were low, considering."

"That was thanks to Captain Singh..."

"Trust my judgment."

In truth, none of First Platoon's members blamed their platoon leader. Considering that a direct superior was the easiest person to resent when the battle situation grew urgent, that was encouraging. The way she had fought through her injury also deserved high marks.

Yura lowered her gaze.

"I don't know... Wouldn't it have been better if I'd become a goat early on?"

The goat among the sheep. It was a story he had told her last year.

"If you want, you can still do that. That was our promise."

Discharge was impossible, but he could change her assignment. He could also place an order with the pizza place that had many secrets.

At Gyeoul's words, Yura looked gloomy.

"You'd be disappointed if I really did that."

"Yes."

"..."

"I don't think anyone who replaced you would do as well as you, Ensign Yura. People who work as hard as you are rare, and there's no one I can trust as much as you."

Her forearms, hanging down as she lay prone, plainly showed the traces of hard physical training. Her PT score was in the top five in the Company. There was even talk that Jin-seok was trying desperately not to lose to her. Her written exam results were good, and her practical application in the field was not bad either. Her shooting was good too.

All of that was Captain Singh's assessment. Singh was the executive officer who had arrived before Gyeoul and already fought in actual combat.

Yura asked with eyes that looked doubtful, or perhaps wanted to believe.

"Do you really mean that?"

"I mean it, so get better quickly and come back. I'll keep your place open and wait."

"...Won't a successor come anyway?"

"I'll pick one of the platoon cadres and temporarily promote them, then."

Gyeoul had that much authority. Officers were in short supply anyway, so the higher-ups would accept it.

"Phew... I guess I have no choice. I don't want to disappoint you either, Little Captain."

A short silence followed. Yura's gaze turned toward the remains of the dead.

"When I imagined it, I was terrified, but now that it's actually happened, it doesn't feel real... I'm not even that sad. More than sadness, I feel relieved that I survived. I'm really selfish."

"That's normal."

Yura's self-reproach carried a drowsiness. If not for the effect of the narcotic painkiller, she would have felt the sadness more strongly. She was different from cold Jin-seok. Even now, her eyes were quietly wet. Another sigh escaped her.

"What should I say to Private Mun Sang-pyo's mother...?"

That was the mother who had asked for her son to be assigned to an easy post. Only half of Private Mun Sang-pyo remained. It had been hard to recover even bones from his melted lower body.

"You'll be writing the letter, Little Captain, right?"

"Most likely."

"Somehow, I feel sorry. It feels like I'm pushing the responsibility onto you..."

"A platoon leader's responsibility is also a company commander's responsibility. It was my job to begin with, so don't worry about it."

"..."

Sometimes a platoon leader wrote the letter to the family of the dead, but in general, it was the company commander's task. Sometimes it went even higher. From the position of offering comfort, rank had to be considered. A line saying the deceased had died honorably carried a different weight when written by an Ensign than when written by a Major.

"Company Commander. The helicopters will arrive soon."

After hearing the radio operator, Gyeoul stood and brushed off his knee. Then he spoke to the wounded, who had been listening to the conversation between platoon leader and company commander.

"Everyone, you worked hard. Your bodies hurt and your hearts must be heavy, but I hope you'll think of it as simply being given leave. Take good care of yourselves, recover, and come back healthy. When we meet again, the situation will have changed a lot."

That was also what everyone hoped. It was why he did not separately mention those who had been judged eligible for medical discharge. Once the operation succeeded, they would end up meeting again under better circumstances.

He went out with the evacuees being carried on stretchers and waited for about a minute. From the east, where indigo was spreading across the sky, Pararescue (air rescue team) helicopters flew in line. Two hours had passed since the end of combat, because other bases had higher evacuation priority.

Around the time the helicopters took off, Captain Singh approached with the company staff, wearing a grave expression.

"Company Commander, over here for a moment."

Once they had put some distance between themselves and the enlisted soldiers' ears, the captain held out a tactical information tablet.

"Would you look at this? It's a video uploaded to the military intranet from Calpine 5 overnight."

"From Calpine 5? I heard communications there were down."

"I think they cut them deliberately. You'll understand once you watch."

"..."

Gyeoul touched the play button. Even after playback began, the screen remained dark for several seconds. But the person who appeared before long was someone he had never imagined seeing this way. He sat silently with his fingers clasped on the table. Only after a long while did he open his mouth quietly, his face looking a little tired, yet still showing pride alongside the fatigue.

「I will introduce myself for the Americans who do not know me. This officer is Shangjiang Yang Yongbin. As an army commander of the People's Republic of China, I am currently acting on behalf of the Central Military Commission under wartime decree.」

Shangjiang Yang Yongbin spoke in Chinese, and fluent interpretation came from offscreen. Since time had to be given for interpretation, Shangjiang Yang Yongbin spoke slowly. That slowness carried a strange weight.

「Before getting to the point, I must first say this. At present, this place, Calpine 5... this base, has been occupied by the People's Liberation Army. In the process, we have acquired forty-one prisoners and, in addition, taken fifteen civilian technicians under our protection. Their treatment will follow the Geneva Convention, and they will be released as soon as armistice negotiations are concluded. We will not make unreasonable demands during the negotiations. That is because I and my subordinates are not terrorists. I only hope the U.S. military authorities will not act rashly until the negotiations are over. That would bring only tragic results for both sides.」

Armistice negotiations? From the man who had said the only thing left was indiscriminate retaliation according to emergency rules of engagement? What on earth was he thinking? In extreme confusion, Gyeoul waited for the next words.

「Then I will now state the main point.」

Shangjiang Yang Yongbin took out an ampoule containing golden liquid and showed it.

「This is one of the originals of Corpse Plague, in other words, the disease your country calls Morgellons.」

"What...?"

「And we possess the other originals that make up the Corpse Plague complex as well. There is no need to say why I have this. It seems you know everything anyway. What matters is the fact that, depending on the result of negotiations, your country may acquire the key to ending this calamity. You may be able to make a vaccine, or perhaps create a weapon fatal to the monsters suffering from the plague.」

No, this was a lie. Gyeoul sensed Shangjiang Yang Yongbin's malice by instinct. One beat late, 「Insight」 and 「Perception」 stronger than ever stimulated his nerves. Yet the target of Shangjiang Yang Yongbin's malice lay elsewhere.

「The present situation was not something anyone wanted.」

Shangjiang Yang Yongbin spoke calmly. The contrast with the interpreter's seething voice was sharp.

「Send a negotiating team. I will wait until noon. I expect cautious and wise people. This will be a table upon which humanity's future rests.」

That was all. With a gesture from Shangjiang Yang Yongbin, the video ended.

========== Author's Note ==========

#Fakeout

Did you think we had gotten over one big hurdle now? Too bad! It was a trick!

In this episode, the mutants were just extras.

#Q&A

Q. Baibaksu: @ Does the nation blessed with a trillion dollars not use things like white phosphorus rounds or CBRN weapons? If it were against humans, treaties would ban them, but I wondered if it would not matter against mutants.

A. Related details have been mentioned several times in the main text. In the case of white phosphorus, it is not impossible to produce from substances that make up the human body, and other chemical weapons such as hydrogen cyanide are also possible. Since bizarre things such as anthrax-resistant variants actually exist on Chinese soil, the U.S. is being careful with the use of biochemical munitions.

Q. Hoch: @ I am satisfied with the abundant childlike innocence. If you like strategy games, I recommend Warhammer Total War. It is a game full of childlike innocence, so it is fun.

A. This is already the third time... I thought, "No more game recommendations, Naver..." but after thinking about it a little more, I realized this was the readers' consideration, telling me to take a rest period while playing games.

Thank you. I am finally going on summer vacation... T_T

Q. Sasins: @ If it is already a game the author has recommended, then I recommend other games like Angvik, Precipice, or Dead Cells! Or maybe you could wait for the next game after SWAT 4 that is in development, haha.

A. Those are games I do not know. I will add them to my wishlist and look them up after completion.

Q. Rayark: @Baibaksu Wouldn't it be because if they created enhanced variants related to those kinds of weapons, it would be a big problem? They also said there were ones in Russia that spewed radiation everywhere.

A. Yes, that is right. Some people do remember.

Q. LunarKarma: @ If the cowardly squad leader in the middle ended up with the worst injury in the squad all by himself... did he get hit with a rifle butt by a squadmate while trying to run away?

A. Hmm, first of all, 2-2-Bravo is not a squad leader. He was not hit while running away either.

Q. Calpis: @ Yoohoo, I could not read for about a month because of a business trip, and now more than ten chapters have piled up. I am a happy man. In that spirit, how about a 100-chapter mass release?

A. Even if I accepted that the quality would drop terrifyingly low, a 100-chapter mass release is impossible. T_T

Q. Andwaeimma: @ Personally, this is a work I really hope gets a webtoon or drama adaptation. If you ever receive any related offers, please tell us.

A. As for a webtoon adaptation, the publisher brought it up early on... but after they said they would choose an artist, there has been no contact for a long time. I guess it fell through.

In truth, this novel is not structured in a way that would be easy to draw as a webtoon...

I will tell you if it starts moving again.

Q. qgegegqe: @ Jin-seok ahjussi is making me more and more nervous. It feels like he is going to cause an incident. I am looking forward to the viewers' reactions.

A. I am looking forward more to the readers' reactions to this chapter.

Footnotes:

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