WeTried Translations

Translator: Coughing Baby

Editor: Coughing Baby

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

Chapter 306: Greek Islands (6)

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「While we wait, I thought we might talk briefly about this press conference. Doug, what do you think?」

The partner seated beside the announcer, angled slightly toward the viewers, responded.

「Whatever the revelation turns out to be, it seems likely to become the final variable in this presidential election. Personally, I think Candidate Kramer chose the best possible timing for a decisive move.」

「The best possible timing?」

「That’s right, Maggie. The Democratic Party’s support had been steadily declining, but it began to rebound starting with Boar Hunt. They were pushing back the contaminated zone by dozens of kilometers a day. The public was thrilled by that shocking speed. President MacMillan’s declaration that the border would be restored was truly moving.」

「That’s true. Even now, looking back on it makes my heart pound. Who could have imagined that the counterattack that started in a small town would come this far? When Manifest Liberation failed, there was practically no one who didn’t despair. There was even a sharp rise in suicides brought on by hopelessness.」

「Yes. Candidate Kramer quietly watched the Democratic Party’s celebration all that time. Judging by the circumstances, he already had a weapon in hand by then, but if he had given in to impatience and launched his attack too early, he would only have given the other side time to strike back. So he waited calmly.」

「Come to think of it, he did say there was more than one secret to reveal. Do you think the plan is to stagger the attacks and paralyze the opposing camp’s ability to respond?」

「Exactly. The best-case scenario for Candidate Kramer is for a continuous offensive to reach maximum effect just before the election. When the political clash sparked by the first revelation starts to lose steam as the other side digs in defensively, he drops the second revelation and maintains both the tension of the moment and control of the initiative.」

「Even so, the number of days left is a little awkward. 56 days. If public opinion catches fire slowly, the election could arrive before the full effect is felt. So the big question is whether the secret he’s revealing really has that much firepower.」

「There was no advance coordination with the press corps, correct?」

「There couldn’t really be. If the content itself is secret, it would be difficult to settle the questions or the order beforehand.」

「But there are cases where reporters are invited in advance and briefed. In that case, they agree to keep the secret, and their movement and outside contact are restricted.」

「So we should assume they were being just that cautious about leaks.」

「This is only an unverified tip, but apparently some of Candidate Kramer’s close aides, including campaign chief Christopher Merrick and intelligence adviser Arthur Sellers, had a serious discussion yesterday about the keyword 『Greek Islands』. I don’t know whether it has anything to do with this revelation.」

「What is 『Greek Islands』?」

「Well... I looked into related information, but the only thing that came up was an emergency continuity-of-government plan that was scrapped in the early 1990s.」

「Why was it scrapped?」

「Because some colleagues over at the Washington Post dug into it. They found a huge air-raid shelter under a luxury resort. A pointless thing to do, really... Thanks to that, the bunker that was supposed to house the wartime Congress is now a tourist attraction. Such a waste of tax money.」

「Interesting. I’d like to talk more about that, but the time has come. We’re hearing that Anton Schuttler, the Kramer camp’s media adviser, has appeared at the press hall. It looks like the candidate himself will be out shortly. We’ll switch to the scene now.」

Bzz- Bzz-

Gyeoul’s Net Warrior terminal vibrated. It was a message from Joanna.

「Are you watching?」

The subject was unnecessary. Gyeoul replied quickly.

「Yes. Have you found anything yet?」

「Nothing at all.」

A moment later, a slightly longer explanation followed.

「I did hear that orders came down to conduct an internal investigation into whether classified information had been leaked, but from what I’ve seen, no department moved aggressively. It almost feels like the higher-ups blocked it. There isn’t much room to spare for that kind of thing anyway, and emotionally, a lot of people support Kramer.」

「Why?」

「Because they’re exhausted. The workload is so overwhelming that among the rank and file, the proportion of people who support interning citizens of Chinese descent keeps rising. And there are also plenty of people who just don’t want to get dragged into a political fight. If you place the wrong bet, it’s the kind of gamble that ruins you.」

The truth was that even if they figured out what had leaked and how, there was no real way to deal with it once the media got involved midway through. And since it was such a thankless targeted investigation, the FBI’s lukewarm attitude was understandable. Gyeoul asked again.

「What about you, Anne?」

「You know how I am. I’m always on your side, Gyeoul. I won’t make a choice that disappoints you.」

A calm yet direct expression of affection.

「Thank you.」

A pause after his message was followed by another pause before the reply came back.

「:$」

Apparently she felt embarrassed after saying it. For both of them, there was more meaning in the time between the messages than in the text itself.

Gyeoul’s attention, briefly drawn away, returned to the broadcast. The man introduced as the Republican campaign’s media adviser was acting as emcee and announcing the entrance of the main figure.

「Now entering is the Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Edgar Kramer. Distinguished guests in attendance, and members of the press, please welcome him with your applause.」

The door opened amid ceremonial applause, and Edgar Kramer strode in. His long, forceful gait and expression that always made him look angry were practically the candidate’s trademark. From what Gyeoul had heard, his supporters liked the impression of strength and decisiveness he gave off.

Perhaps because of that, Kramer standing tall at the podium had an unusually strong presence simply by being there. His thick neck and large build did not lend themselves to elegant tailoring, but that very awkwardness instead created an intense, almost positive tension.

Standing with the Republican Party flag bearing the elephant and the Stars and Stripes behind him, the candidate opened his mouth in a rough voice.

「Respected citizens, and dear members of the press! Today, I stand before you to accuse the current administration of one grave! One extremely grave breach of trust!」

The room flashed several times. The flashes came from newspaper photographers. Amid the silence, broken only by the clicking of shutters and the clatter of keys, the curtain rose on the full-scale revelation.

「The name of the secret conspiracy they devised is none other than 『Greek Islands』.」

The candidate raised a hand to suppress a few small ripples of agitation.

「I know. Twenty-four years ago, a secret bearing the same name, Project Greek Island, was exposed. It was a plan to move the Senate and the House into the hidden air-raid shelter beneath the Greenbrier Hotel in the event of a nuclear strike from the Soviet Union, or from China.」

He nodded slowly.

「At first, I was mistaken as well! I came across the keyword 『Greek Islands』 through various channels, but given the state of the times, I assumed they were merely reviewing an old plan. But! That very misunderstanding was exactly what the current administration intended. While plotting their conspiracy, they deliberately attached the name of an already existing plan to it. In the event that a clue leaked outside, it would confuse anyone trying to piece things together. Their trick was effective. If it were not for someone who felt a pang of conscience and came to me for help, I too would still be standing here without knowing the true nature of this plan!」

Bang! A huge fist slammed down on the podium. The microphone shook. Kramer, whose face already looked harsh to begin with, scowled even more deeply.

「Now I will tell you the truth! The ugly naked face of the current administration!」

What followed was something Gyeoul had once expected, and yet at the same time, it went beyond even that.

「The Patrick Henry-class, those enormous nuclear airships, were not originally built for military use! When the blockade line collapsed and the entire mainland fell, they were created as arks, meant to carry members of the administration, personnel necessary for the reconstruction of society, and ‘certain’ chosen citizens, drifting through the sky for a long time! Until safe land could be found!」

Since they did not require runways to take off or land, they were certainly well suited to serve as arks.

After a brief pause, he continued.

「The first problem with this plan is that those chosen citizens were, every last one of them, wealthy elites! I ask you! Why must only the powerless and the pitiful be swept away by the flood and die? Is an insufficient bank balance a crime? Are the poor unworthy of seeing the dove return with an olive branch in its beak? No! God did not build this nation that way!」

The talk of the dove was a reference to Noah. When the world was submerged in the great flood, Noah released a dove from the deck of the ark. After several attempts, the dove came back carrying an olive branch, and only then did he know that dry land had begun to reappear.

「An even more shocking fact is this: when this 『Greek Islands』 plan was activated, nuclear missile sites in various places were scheduled to launch neutron bombs across the world, including the U.S. mainland! And to that end, these special nuclear weapons were being produced continuously! In other words, even citizens who miraculously survived on the fallen mainland were fated to die with their flesh peeling away and nausea wracking their bodies!」

Gyeoul narrowed his eyes slightly. Up to this point, nuclear strikes against the plague had been used only very reluctantly, and only in extremely exceptional circumstances. That was because people believed that nuclear explosions, in one way or another, spread infection. China’s quarantine front had in fact collapsed that way. Therefore, in North America, the tactical nuke that detonated near Sacramento had been the first and the last.

However, there had always been something questionable about that existing understanding. How did the Morgellons complex survive within the area affected by a nuclear blast? And how did it endure drifting around until it came into contact with an infected person’s lesions or mucous membranes? The Great Plague was not a disease capable of airborne infection.

The U.S. government must, naturally, have been studying this.

And yet even Gyeoul, who had gone through twenty-six apocalypses, had never once encountered the answer.

‘There were rarely conditions stable enough for research to progress properly...’

If something had indeed been discovered, then there was a high probability it was one of the changes unique to this world, which had changed in so many ways.

Kramer declared,

「From what I have learned! The plague, when exposed to lethal radiation, produces a certain toxin in the process of being destroyed. That’s right! What spread after the nuclear strike was not the Morgellons complex, but fine toxin dust! Like zombie drugs, or perhaps worse, it must have driven the victims mad and made them rampage! In the chaos, we were unable to distinguish it from actual plague infection!」

The zombie drug he used as an example was a drug that made people behave like zombies. Tearing at other people’s faces with their teeth, and so on. Since his remarks about the effects of the toxin were speculative, it seemed Kramer himself did not know the full story either.

「Everyone! I have my suspicions! Why was the government keeping facts like these secret? I hope President MacMillan will answer that question, and I hope there is not yet another conspiracy behind it all!」

He then presented internal documents as evidence. On the projector screen, paper after paper stamped with classified seals passed by in sequence.

Gyeoul organized his thoughts.

‘It sounds plausible, but there are too many parts that don’t quite sit right.’

For the moment, the possibilities being presented did carry a certain degree of persuasive force.

But Gyeoul himself had fought urban warfare in Sacramento. He had been only a few dozen kilometers from the hypocenter of the tactical nuke. There had also been any number of units even closer than that.

Did such a toxin really exist? And if it did, had it naturally broken down over time, leaving no effect?

The more Gyeoul turned it over in his mind, the more the suspicions surrounding the nuclear weapons and the suspicions surrounding the Patrick Henry-class airships felt mismatched, like oil and water.

========== Author’s Note ==========

#Q&A

Q. UnlimitedOne: @When a quiet person or someone who usually lets things slide gets angry, they’re scary(...) / So what exactly is the dirty secret the Republican candidate brought out? Will it be the trigger for a childlike innocence kind of development, or a failed Trump...? / Honestly, if you really think about it, Trump does seem competent. I think it just got buried because Hillary was too stupid...

A. I imagine a lot of people probably saw the airship part coming. / Trump isn’t an incompetent person. For one thing, his business sense is fairly solid.

Q. Strawberry Munch Munch: @Steam, huh... You must not lay hands on things that should not be touched. Your bank account will turn into an empty shell!!

A. I’m being careful already. Even when there’s a sale, I rarely buy games that cost more than 5,000 won. And it costs less money than Nexon games.(...)

Q. Third_Wing: @Statement from the Republican candidate: The Ossuary will continue serializing foreeeever! So stop worrying and get back to work, citizens!

A. Nope... I want to finish it within 400 chapters...

Q. NeoGGM: @"ㅎ." Is this a typo, or was it intentional?

A. It was intentional. Does it seem very strange?

Q. Calpis: @Escaping impotence is important. It’s something like a rite of passage into adulthood. If you use Steam, have you tried Dark Souls? I heard it’s fun.

A. I promised a happy ending. By the ending, Gyeoul will no longer be bound by trauma. Of course, that does not mean there will be a bed scene. :)

Dark Souls ended up in my hands because a villain who insists they’re my friend gave it to me as a birthday present... I did finish it, but it’s not a game I ever want to touch again.

Q. Deathandeath: @It really is important for Gyeoul to escape impotence... because that means overcoming his trauma and forgiving.

A. As I said above, the happy ending will be a happy ending for Gyeoul too. So readers, you can relax and keep reading the novel.

Q. 14C2A58H2: @I pray, I pray, Great Old Tunguska, please scold Author Royumi for that gieokhwa that keeps making only Han-byul look like Hang-byul. I pray, I pray.

A. Even if you tell me that... I’m not sure how I’m supposed to react.

Q. wnsdlfh: @So the ending isn’t going to happen within a few months... Even so, I enlist next year, so it should be over by the time I come back, right... sulk... I’m apologizing in advance that I won’t be able to follow it to the very end, and I’ll stay with you through the time I have left before I go!

A. I’m sorry to hear you’re enlisting... If there’s a legal way not to go into the military, then not going is best...

Q. Kyogre: @There was an awards vote, so I voted for this on Noble and voted for Silv in the general category / Please accept this vote and live long and healthy

A. Even if you vote for me, there’s no chance I’ll get picked.ㅠㅠ It would be better to give it to another author.

Q. Bug: @Author, do you like canned food? / Instead of one year, how about serializing like a constellation? The Gyeoul Saga

A. I’m not really sure what “serializing like a constellation” means. Since I don’t know, I won’t do it. Ah, you don’t need to explain it to me. :)

Q. Hauiimyeon: @Every time I read this, your psychological descriptions are truly superb, Author... And beyond that, the level of research on weapons, tactics, and strategy is seriously... I think you’d do well even if you wrote a separate military novel someday... Do you have any plans to serialize something after this?

A. I have various ideas, but none of them are military. Among the things I mentioned before, Night Dreaming of Gaebyeok does come close to a premodern war story, but...

Still, there are times when I find myself wondering whether I can really keep being a writer.

Footnotes:

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