WeTried Translations
Translator: Coughing Baby
Editor: Coughing Baby
Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried
Chapter 269: Valley of Death (15)
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Even after receiving the revised instructions, the negotiation team did not back down easily. They kept pressing Yang Yongbin about the sample’s authenticity until it grew tedious. After all, the negotiation process might be made public later, or even that very day. It had to be enough to make even the most hardline citizens start asking questions.
[Then how about this?]
As if she had never raised her voice, Green offered the proposal with a calm expression.
[Personnel from our Centers for Disease Control and Prevention come here with their equipment.]
Shangjiang Yang Yongbin played coy.
[You mean I should put them under my protection? Would that really be acceptable? Many people would object to that, would they not?]
Plainly put, he was asking whether they wanted to give him more hostages. Whether the public backlash would not be severe.
Green straightened her back and lifted her chin.
[Let’s exchange them.]
[Exchange?]
[Yes. Release as many people as we send in. Isn’t that a way for no one to lose anything?]
[…….]
[As I already said, confirming the sample’s authenticity is a basic condition for establishing negotiations. I’m proposing that we do it under your supervision, Shangjiang. There will be no chance for research data to leak outside. The researchers only need to tell us whether the sample is real or not.]
[Can I trust that?]
The Shangjiang quietly pushed back.
[For example, we could threaten the researchers and tell them to report false results.]
[You’re being stubborn again.]
A soft smile. She had to be tired, and some emotional residue had to remain, yet Green’s smile carried an unstained charm. Gyeoul judged that her selection had been aimed at the citizens as much as at the Shangjiang.
[Shangjiang. There are any number of ways to guarantee mutual trust. If you still insist that nothing is possible, then I can only assume the sample is fake. Because it’s fake, because your real objective lies elsewhere, perhaps that’s why you can’t accept even the most constructive terms.]
[Let’s say I accept.]
The seasoned Shangjiang changed the subject.
[Will the price be settled as I proposed?]
[Don’t change the subject. I told you confirming the sample is the basic condition for negotiations. In other words, the real negotiations only begin after its authenticity is determined.]
[I mean Meyer Base. The one I asked for.]
[That’s why it’s too early to discuss terms-]
[I must have that place.]
Cut off mid-sentence, Green let a measured amount of displeasure show. The Shangjiang paid it no mind.
[Tell me. Is there any chance?]
[I already said we would review it favorably.]
[Well. From where I stand, it looks as if you have no intention of accepting at all.]
The Shangjiang’s attitude bordered on mockery.
[Isn’t it terribly rude to say you will review it favorably and so on when you never had any such intention in the first place?]
[Setting unacceptable conditions and deliberately wrecking the talks would also be terribly rude.]
Green narrowed her eyes and rested her chin on a lightly clenched fist. To Gyeoul, her attitude, emotions, and posture all looked calculated. Bluntly put, she looked good on camera. The negotiation team sent with her had positioned themselves so the cameras attached to them could capture the conversation between the two of them clearly.
[Unacceptable conditions, is it... Now you are finally speaking honestly.]
The Shangjiang smiled calmly as he spoke. Green answered.
[Then you should be honest too, Shangjiang. Say that the reason you want that place transferred to you is not some empty notion of deterrence, but simply to insult this country, America, and provoke its people.]
[Am I not allowed to? Armistice negotiations are, by nature, a process that decides more than practical interests. They determine the rights and wrongs of the belligerent states, and uphold a nation’s pride.]
[Shall we reverse the positions? Suppose China, not America, were intact right now, and my side had the sample, and we proposed armistice negotiations to you. If we demanded the Forbidden City as a U.S. military garrison, would there be even the slightest possibility, truly even the slightest, that you would accept?]
[Would that not depend on the situation? No matter how historic an old palace may be, it is only a relic. If the future of humanity were at stake, I might give it up.]
It was forced logic again. Green simply ignored it.
[Of course you know this, but Arlington National Cemetery is right beside Meyer Base. It is the resting place of those who gave their lives for the country. You could say American history is buried there.]
[I pay my respects.]
[That’s not all. Cross one road and you reach the Pentagon. Cross one bridge and you reach the White House. Ah, and there are also the Smithsonian Museum, the Lincoln Memorial, and the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, though those are minor by comparison.]
Minor only by comparison, that was. The Lincoln Memorial, for example, could easily be called a temple of the American spirit. The statue of the most respected president and the obelisk before the memorial had been portrayed as symbols of the nation in countless forms of media.
If the Shangjiang’s demand was accepted, all of those places would fall within range of Chinese artillery.
Green now crossed her arms and legs.
[Does America look easy to you?]
She had already been told it was acceptable to abandon the negotiations.
[Did you think the citizens would lose their minds if you provoked them with a cheap trick like this?]
[I do not know what you mean.]
Even while claiming ignorance, the Shangjiang added,
[It was not my intention, but do not try to deceive me. You people are in chaos right now, are you not?]
[On what grounds are you so certain?]
All communications leading to Calpine 5, which Yang Yongbin’s group had seized, had been cut off except for the channel left open for negotiations. So the Shangjiang had achieved his objective, but had no way to confirm the result.
Yet he said this.
[Because I believe in the barbarity of Americans.]
Gyeoul felt bewildered.
‘Is that a mistake? He shouldn’t be saying that right now.’
It was a provocation, yes, but the kind of provocation that would have the opposite effect if the goal was to spread chaos through American society.
Green must have wavered for an instant because she had thought the same thing as Gyeoul. But she did not miss the opening.
[In other words, you are saying America’s citizens are stupid and violent?]
She made it clear by stressing America’s citizens, stupid, and violent one by one, yet the Shangjiang obediently confirmed her intent.
[That is right.]
The malice remained.
[Why would they not be? It is because greedy capitalists privatized your homeland and made it a slave to money. Capitalists and entrepreneurs who hold most of the national wealth, and wealthy Jews whom even the president of the United States must visit each year like an annual event and bow his head to... When ordinary people trembled in terror of the end, those people used money and power to build sturdy walls, hired private armies to guard them, and spent the end of the century on gambling, banquets, and auctions. Surely you cannot say they do not exist.]
[Wait...]
[They were the very ones who stained education with vulgar commercialism as well. They monopolized higher education, kicked away the ladder of class mobility, divided the ruled classes, and tried to fix the inheritance of bourgeois class and privilege in place. So Americans have no choice but to be stupid. So you people have no choice but to be barbaric.]
It had never looked that way, not even during Gyeoul’s lifetime, but China had been a communist state. To them, capitalism was only a process for increasing productive power and laying the foundation for communism.
Whether they truly believed that was a separate matter.
Gyeoul remembered Green saying that Shangjiang Yang Yongbin had no Faction.
Gyeoul felt around inside his coat. A round, hard sensation. It was the feel of the beautiful pocket watch he still carried because he had found no suitable place to store it or leave it. He had thought there would be nothing he could do if it broke, but surprisingly, it had not been damaged. Since he had not wound it, the hour hand, minute hand, and second hand remained still.
‘Would Lieutenant General Xieru have laughed if she heard that?’
Whether she laughed at herself or at her homeland and the Shangjiang, she would have laughed either way. Though she was corrupt, she was a realist with quite a lot left even after subtracting evil from good.
If even people like that had been the majority, this world, and the world from his lifetime, would be very different now.
If an army Shangjiang was alive, then a navy lieutenant general might be alive too. Even if she no longer had the power to change the situation. Hatred had a long life.
‘If they edit the video... no, would that be useless?’
Gyeoul wondered about releasing only the part where Yang Yongbin insulted American citizens. But judging by the previous video leak incident, and considering Hunt’s concerns about Gyeoul, it was hard to call that a good method. Once the full recording was released, there would definitely be backlash.
The Shangjiang declared,
[I believe in the foolish acts you people have committed.]
It was true that American presidents delivered thanks at Jewish gatherings every year, and it was true that American public education had collapsed. But Gyeoul thought,
‘The most dangerous lies are the ones hidden behind truth.’
Negotiation team leader Green was slow to respond because this was a moment for caution. Every word from the Shangjiang was meant to divide America. It was a trick that might never have worked before the plague, but in extreme times, extreme ideas spread easily.
She asked, only to buy time.
[That sounds more like criticism that applies to China.]
But the Shangjiang even agreed to this.
[You are right.]
Then he gave a restrained laugh.
[I admit it. The republic was a nation of barbarians.]
[…….]
At the contempt that flashed across the Shangjiang’s face, Green tried one last time to persuade him.
[Shangjiang. Let’s both stop playing games.]
[Games?]
[The China you know no longer exists. And if you keep insisting like this, there will be no new China in the future either.]
[I have heard many similar things, but China exists. The spirit of a nation does not disappear.]
[A nation is only a collection of individuals and a tool. So if there are no citizens, there is no nation. Are you denying this simple fact?]
[Of course. A nation is more than a collection of individuals. The nation exists, and therefore the people exist. A person without identity is nothing more than a beast. Society is what makes a person. And society is something that forms naturally. It cannot be said that the process of its formation was consciously controlled. Though these are not suitable things to discuss right now.]
[Fine. Then what about your duty as an officer of the People’s Liberation Army?]
The Shangjiang responded as if he had no idea what she meant.
[What are you talking about? Is that duty not why I am sitting here?]
[I know that what you are doing right now comes from emergency rules of engagement. How one should act when the state has collapsed because of some attack and normal orders can no longer be received. But Shangjiang, before rules of engagement, and apart from nationality, there is a duty every soldier must uphold. The duty to refuse inhumane orders.]
After hearing that much, the Shangjiang ignored Green and pointed to one member of the negotiation team.
[You. Would you tell me your rank and name?]
Startled by the sudden nomination and the interpreter’s translation, the man asked back,
[I’m not the representative. And why do you ask?]
[I asked because you are the only person who looks like a soldier. A soldier’s duty should be discussed with a soldier.]
[…….]
Gyeoul did not know the negotiation team’s composition, but judging by the mood, the Shangjiang seemed to be right.
[Will you not tell me?]
[Brody Avery, Air Force lieutenant colonel.]
[An Air Force lieutenant colonel. Good.]
Shangjiang Yang Yongbin nodded.
[Then, Lieutenant Colonel, let us imagine this situation. You are a control officer in an underground nuclear silo. Your homeland has already been vaporized by a nuclear attack. No higher command is responding to communications. Yet you still have orders you received before the government disappeared. A list of coordinates for the targets your base must launch missiles at when full-scale nuclear war breaks out.]
The Shangjiang waited for the translation, then spoke again.
[If you press the launch button as ordered, the destruction of humanity will be sealed. In that moment, should you press the button, or should you not? Answer with your honor and convictions as a soldier on the line.]
In truth, it was a question with a set answer. But for soldiers, it was also a professional ethic they could not deny.
Lieutenant Colonel Avery thought for a long time, glanced at team leader Liliana Green, then shook his head. And answered.
[I must press it.]
[Why?]
[Because unless it is a war crime, soldiers cannot judge orders at their own discretion. The killing of civilians in a full-scale nuclear war situation is designated as an exception to war crimes under national strategy.]
The Shangjiang turned his gaze to Green. But the lieutenant colonel still had more to say.
[But.]
Lieutenant Colonel Avery stressed the word.
[But I will not press the launch button.]
The Shangjiang answered gently.
[I understand. But you would not be able to condemn a colleague who did press it.]
Green cut in.
[Stop. That is enough sophistry.]
[You spoke of a soldier’s duty, so I asked a soldier. Why is that sophistry?]
[Because the situation is different. China was not attacked by any nation. In fact, if the sample you have is real, then the nation that developed Morgellons can only be China. So this blatant insistence is ultimately nothing more than proof that the sample is fake.]
She paused for breath and said,
[Change your mind, even now. Release the prisoners and hand over the sample. Then there will still be a chance to dream of the future. Even if that sample isn’t real, at least your subordinates will have that chance. You may be able to keep your life too, Shangjiang. I am proposing a plea bargain.]
The Shangjiang was silent for a moment, then whispered something to the interpreter. The interpreter then approached Green and whispered quietly enough that no sound escaped. A shadow fell over Green’s face.
[It has grown late. I have heard many fine words. Let us end here for today.]
Shangjiang Yang Yongbin rose from his seat and half-turned away. It was a one-sided declaration that he would no longer respond to the conversation. Green, who had been glaring at the Shangjiang while seated, only slowly stood when he was about to leave. Then she gave an empty farewell to his back.
[It can’t be helped. I’ll see you again tomorrow.]
But tomorrow would not come for the Shangjiang, who would face the night of the sweep operation.
“What did that whisper just now say? Huh? Was it important?”
The question from the noisy situation room rode the radio waves into the negotiation team’s in-ear receivers. Before long, a reply came back.
“He said he hopes she gets through the crisis well... Is he mocking her?”
Someone complained. But Gyeoul thought that, too, might have been the Shangjiang’s sincere feeling. Considering the contempt that had flashed by when he spoke of China’s barbarity. People changed from stage to stage, and any number of contradictions could coexist in a single heart.
Gyeoul said to Hunt,
“There really is nothing for me to do here.”
Although he had been given a seat, full speaking rights at a table where even the president sat did not extend to a mere Major. Besides, stars were lined up everywhere else. This on-site situation headquarters felt more like a relay station, or a branch office, for Washington D.C.
Hunt grinned.
“Why? Does Major Han want to go in with the strike team?”
“If we’re only considering combat capability, I think that would be better.”
If someone else had said it, they would have been accused of overconfidence. But Hunt nodded seriously.
“That’s true. But Major, you’ll have to get used to it. This is part of you becoming more and more important. I guarantee it. Many of your seniors must have felt the same way.”
“My seniors?”
“The patriots of this country whose courage and devotion were recognized.”
Then he cleared the table. “We’ve been wasting our time until now,” he muttered. Then he told Gyeoul a story.
“Do you know this? Even in the middle of all this, the combat record from the battle you fought last night surpassed ten million views within an hour of being uploaded. In other words, even the people rioting are stopping in the middle of their anger to watch the video. They say the access pattern on the Pentagon’s official channel is extremely even by region. During that playback time, the police and military will be able to catch their breath. The person who decided the upload time must be pleased too.”
“…….”
“Have you ever heard the story about a civil war in Africa temporarily dying down because of a soccer match? This is exactly that kind of case. Major, you can take pride in the fact that you are a human being greater than the Super Bowl or the World Series. How much do you think the war bonds sold thanks to you are worth? Haha!”
As Hunt laughed at his own words, Gyeoul asked,
“How are the operations in other regions going?”
“Why are you asking that in particu... Ah, right, the intranet is a mess right now.”
The only place still accessible was the online PX, and the laptop assigned to Gyeoul was likewise connected only in a limited way.
“Fortunately, they are proceeding successfully. The front line is calling it Boar Hunt.”
“Boar Hunt?”
“It seems the mutants are planning to leave for South America entirely to preserve their population. A one-sided chase is underway along the Pan-American route.”
“That’s... fortunate.”
“Yes. It is fortunate.”
The smile vanished from Hunt’s face.
“Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for the Lord is with me. It seems God has not yet abandoned humanity.”
“…….”
“But if you die, then the story changes greatly. Because we will have given up helping ourselves. They say God helps those who help themselves, do they not?”
The words gave Gyeoul a sense of déjà vu. He clearly remembered the conversation he had shared with the chaplain. Hadn’t the chaplain said they had helped themselves enough?
He truly could not predict where things would go.
========== Author’s Note ==========
#ebook Volume 9, physical book Volume 3
It seems ebook Volume 9 came out on the 7th. I didn’t know either, and only found out yesterday.
As for physical book Volume 3, honestly, it should have come out around now. The reason it still hasn’t is that the publisher requested a short extra story to include as a physical book bonus.
They will probably start printing as soon as I hand over that manuscript.
So I think it will take a little longer.
#Q&A
Q. Calpis: @If you say polonium... that must be the precious ingredient in the black tea that Tsar Poo gifts only to his very close friends. As expected, Author is great. And to think there was someone other than me who knew Lady Solitaire’s name... I was not the only RiceB fanatic. Praise Skarlochen...
A. What part of that is great? That is just an outrageous ship.
Q. ConceptPorridge: @Author, from what I see, each chapter of your writing has a lot of volume. Isn’t that disadvantageous in terms of view counts? And why did you start serializing on Joara of all places?
A. As far as I know, the standard Noblesse one-chapter serialization length is 13.4 kb. So I am not uploading all that much.
And the reason I started on Joara... Back then, I thought Joara’s operating mindset was better than Munpia’s. Not that it was clean or anything. Just relatively speaking.
Of course, not now. It feels like comparing devils and Satan.
Q. NariBrother: (Omitted) Is what Yang Yongbin is aiming for basically, China is ruined anyway, so America, you go get ruined too? Looking at how he spread in advance on the internet (?) that he had occupied the place and had the original virus, then set absurd conditions to wreck the negotiations, it seems that way...
A. The objective itself is that. The psychology is a little difficult for me to explain. Interpretation belongs to the readers.
Q. Qvex: @Come to think of it, I feel like it was mentioned before, but how old are you, Author? It’s personal curiosity, but...
A. 40K+31... is a joke. I am 31 years old by international age.
Q. AntiChrist: @Everyone, this author is making Skarlochen readers who were made to swallow a zombie story, and injecting childlike innocence into readers who saw the romance of a sip of water drunk after three days by one wandering in the desert, while promising only some happy ending someday again. What a dreadful and terrifying Old One this is.
A. What am I supposed to answer when you put an @ on a comment like this? I do not look like Won Bin, so I am neither dreadful nor terrifying.
Q. Deathandeath: @Author, when we find out the truth, I think you will be writing Ossuary with your left hand and Seal(Rice)breaker with your right hand while singing the Dona Dona song.
A. Tunguska’s childlike innocence gets used up as soon as it forms. Please somehow make that childlike innocence abundant. Dona dona dona, dona dona dona...
Q. Refreshing Rain: @(Omitted) Is it possible for Gyeoul and the other people interred in the ossuary to find bodies using replacements? If so, do those replacements also have “selves”? Or are they just living protein dolls? Or do they have consciousness, but because they cannot keep up with the body’s growth that happened in an instant, their selves are castrated? (Omitted) + If there is music you listen to while serializing, could you tell us? I want to share a small part of everyday life with you too, Author. Haha.
A. Clone bodies for whole-body transplantation are grown to adulthood without ever being awakened after they are created, that is, in a state like a person in a vegetative state. So I suppose they have consciousness before it becomes a self. Ethical issues have been mentioned in the story too.
And there is no music I listen to while writing. I am an Old One with inferior concentration, so if I put music on, I cannot write properly.
There is far too much music I just listen to for me to write it all here... If I had to choose one, search for Playing for Change. There should be quite a few good things in the playlist.
I will recommend other music one by one in the future.
Q. qgegegqe: @The mood feels like a final boss raid. It also feels like there is still a long way to go before completion, but if the sample is real and they recover it successfully, that is the completion angle.
A. The sample was real! The Little Prince in the Ossuary, the end!
There is no such thing as a final boss in this novel. In a certain sense, the Star Child might be called the boss... though of course they do not fight or anything...
Q. RUINTING: @The mood keeps going down without end.
A. It only goes down until this update. Probably. Trust the author. :)
Footnotes:
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