Unlimited Money Shelter of the Apocalypse - Chapter 18

WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: DereKimchi

◈ Unlimited Money Shelter of the Apocalypse ◈

Chapter 18: Enigma: Become Human

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I decided to leave talent scouting entirely to Anne now that the basic framework was in place. I had realized that if a nonexpert like me tried to meddle, even things that could have worked might not.

When a leader starts forcing themself to do work beyond their capabilities, even a country that would not otherwise fall can be ruined.

What was it again? There were countless young emperors who waged wars of conquest just to “prove” themselves and ran their countries into the ground.

Since it had come to this, I decided to use the Liu Bang strategy: let talented subordinates do the heavy lifting.

Even if I lacked ability myself, wouldn't things work out somehow if I had a Han Xin android, a Xiao He android, and a Zhang Liang android by my side?

Those at the top only need to hold the center firm. As long as they do not interfere unnecessarily and constantly tell their subordinates what to do, they can at least avoid doing a terrible job.

With a renewed mindset, I asked Anne like a proper superior.

“Is there anything else you need?”

“I need personnel to conduct external talent scouting in my stead.”

In short, Anne wanted me to buy several more $1.8 billion androids like them.

I swallowed hard.

“...How many do you need?”

“At least six additional units.”

That would be $10.8 billion. Maybe because I had just spent nearly $200 billion, even a mere(?) $10 billion made my hands and feet tremble.

Why was I so nervous when I was going to spend it all anyway?

Because spending $10 billion from the funds left after the shelter was complete was on a completely different scale from spending it now, when I had not even properly built the residential facilities.

“C-can you explain why?”

“Recruiting researchers through headhunting has the highest chance of success and is the safest method. Therefore, we need two units for the Seoul area, two for the Gyeonggi Province area, and two to cover the metropolitan cities.”

There was no need to explain the universities in Seoul and Gyeonggi. The cities in the latter group were probably for recruiting talent from science institutes such as KAIST and DGIST.

It made sense.

Even an exceptional android could not make the rounds of that many universities alone in just nineteen days. Considering today was practically over, there were really only eighteen days left.

If I was investing this money in androids anyway, would it not be better to buy them all decisively now?

“Then how many would we need to make this certain, without any variables?”

“With eighteen units, we can achieve results that will satisfy you, Administrator.”

Anne, or rather the P-7 Enigma model, was an espionage android.

Perhaps it reflected my desire for everyone on “my side” to be capable of at least some combat.

Since [Research] was content that only humans could conduct, I had judged research androids useless. Anne could sufficiently fill that role anyway.

So from now on, I intended to standardize internal affairs and espionage around Enigmas, and combat around Juggernauts.

After taking a moment to steady myself, I clicked the screen.

「You have purchased 18 P-7 Enigmas.」

「Appearance settings are required.」

Just like that, $32.4 billion vanished.

‘Whew.’

The same window that had appeared when I bought Anne came up again. This time, setting their appearances was not difficult.

I had no intention of making them as eye-catching as Anne. If too many people in one shelter were unusually attractive, that would look suspicious in its own way.

So I configured these androids with the average appearances of Korean researchers, Koreans who had studied abroad, and people from multinational corporations. Not the average as Koreans imagined it, but the literal, statistical average.

Spies were handsome in movies, but I had heard somewhere that real intelligence agents tended to look ordinary instead.

Naturally, I gave them a balanced mix of genders, varied their appearances from their early thirties to mid-forties, and assigned each a different personality.

The result was six androids with ordinary Korean appearances, six with a Korean American air about them, and six sharp-looking androids who seemed like they had just stepped out of a major corporation’s strategic planning office.

But surely I did not have to name all of them myself too?

* * *

Fortunately, I did not need to name them.

Anne, my dependable secretary and senior android, began the handover on their own.

“We will divide into pairs. We will begin with Seoul. If you believe you are suited for it, step forward.”

Maybe androids had no distinction between seniors and juniors. One android with an ordinary Korean appearance raised a hand without hesitation.

“I have a question.”

“Go ahead.”

“Assuming we successfully recruit those personnel, we will need vehicles to transport them here. Can separate vehicle support be provided?”

Rather than answer, Anne glanced at me.

They wanted me to buy them.

When I nodded to show I understood, an android with a Korean American appearance raised a hand.

“I understand there are no roads near here. Even if we discreetly transport the researchers in vehicles, what do we do from the point where the vehicles can no longer proceed?”

“An unpaved mining road provides access to a point approximately five kilometers northwest of the shelter. Upon arriving at the abandoned mine, you can use small vehicles stationed inside to travel approximately two kilometers toward the shelter. You should then be able to reach the shelter entrance via a vertical shaft and a separate access passage. Please note that there is a Jogye Order temple with a fair amount of foot traffic five kilometers to the south-southwest.”

I fell silent for a moment.

Obviously, there was no underground access passage around our shelter that connected to other mines. If something like that had existed nearby, I would have been the first to know.

Which meant I would have to build that myself too.

At first glance, it seemed as though Anne bore a grudge over everything I had put them through and was mindlessly dumping work on me, but that was probably a misunderstanding.

Using that method meant we could use the existing mine as a kind of underground entrance to the shelter without cutting a new road across the surface.

The shelter’s construction range had a radius of three kilometers, but the far end of the mine barely fell within that boundary. That was what made the plan possible.

But how did Anne know there was an abandoned mine nearby? It was winter, and snow lay thick even over the dirt road, so I could not see it no matter how closely I examined the satellite map.

And how did Anne know the mine had been excavated so close to our shelter in the first place?

“Did you not go on reconnaissance this morning?”

Ah.

The Juggernaut. It must have gone into that dreary mine tunnel while I was away.

That aside, if the Juggernaut could go in and out, the tunnel had to be fairly large.

“But can small vehicles travel through it?”

“Some leveling work will be required, but it will be a far simpler task than cutting a new road across the surface.”

Furthermore, the abandoned mine was deep in the mountains, where even communications networks and power supply were difficult. It had been left alone for over ten years with nothing but simple chain-link fencing and warning signs, no security cameras.

Of course, even if cameras had been installed, Anne would have dealt with them somehow.

Anyway, that more or less solved the transportation issue.

I shook hands with each of the newly purchased androids. I knew it was a formality, but they were practically founding members. I should at least remember their faces.

I held out my hand to an ordinary middle-aged businessman android who looked suitably sharp and suitably stiff.

“What is your name?”

“I would prefer not to be addressed so informally when we have only just met.”

“?”

Apparently satisfied with my reaction, he took my hand with a faint smile.

“I am joking. You may call me Deputy General Manager Lee Junsu.”

Deputy General Manager?

“If we are conducting headhunting, should I not have at least one plausible title? I just made it up.”

“Uh...”

Why was he so good at speaking? He did not feel like an android at all. He felt like a real person.

But Lee Junsu? Wouldn’t stock names like Chulsoo and Younghee be easier to remember? Basically the Korean equivalents of Dick and Jane.

“I would not mind, but names carry a certain weight in these matters. Keeping this name will be more helpful for recruitment. Besides, names like Chulsoo and Younghee stand out more than you might think.”

I went quiet.

I felt like I was only now seeing the true worth of espionage androids.

Unlike Anne, who still had a faintly stiff side that made them seem android-like, the man before me looked exactly like an elite who controlled the practical affairs of a major corporation’s executive office, brimming with confidence and pride.

If someone like this highly evaluated another person’s abilities and offered recruitment with a hefty signing bonus, who would not be tempted?

“For your information, Assistant Manager Ji Younghee and I will be going to Seoul. Please provide one new Hyundai Grandeur for business use and one transport van. I believe all we will need are mobile phones for contact.”

“I am Ji Younghee.”

“...”

The suited android beside him lowered their head, and I got goosebumps.

‘At this point, aren’t they just people?’

No one would fail to be fooled.

I did not know whether their recruitment would succeed, but it would be impossible for anyone to suspect that these “people” were not actually human.

“Wow.”

He smiled at my admiration.

“I find that reaction of yours very pleasing, Administrator.”

“I’m counting on you.”

“The feeling is mutual.”

Then a question suddenly occurred to me, and I asked him.

“...Will you need separate operating funds or anything?”

“You may speak casually, as you did at first.”

“This is comfortable for me.”

Would it not look strange for a twenty-something guy like me to speak casually to someone in their forties?

Perhaps he had read my thoughts. Deputy General Manager Lee answered in a very kind and dependable voice.

“We will handle the operating funds and signing bonuses ourselves. Administrator, you need only prepare the vehicles.”

“Oh.”

“And you mentioned needing surveillance around nearby cities and roads, correct? If you prepare the surveillance equipment, we will handle that while traveling as well.”

Honestly, he was incredibly reassuring.

* * *

I exchanged brief greetings with the other sixteen androids as well.

They said they all planned to operate in pairs and visit corporations and universities throughout the country to recruit talent.

They would also install surveillance equipment along the Yeongdong Expressway, Gyeongbu Expressway, and Honam Expressway while traveling.

Of course, since there was still no road connected to the area nearby, I had to walk to the unpaved road near the abandoned mine and “purchase” the vehicles myself.

Nine new Hyundai Grandeurs, nine transport vans, and eighteen mobile phones for contact cost a total of $710,590.

That was almost as much as I had received from winning the lottery, yet it was getting to the point where this amount barely felt like money anymore.

“Then we will return with good news in ten days.”

Deputy General Manager Lee gave me a bright smile from behind his sunglasses, then drove away.

The reason they would return in ten days was because they judged that my shelter would be roughly complete by then.

Research facilities alone were not enough to bring in researchers. We would also need accommodations, a cafeteria, and other rest facilities.

So they planned to transport the researchers here little by little from then until the final day.

“Ten days. If we exclude today, that leaves only nine days. Time is of the essence. Please go to sleep.”

“I’ll sleep after I finish this.”

Before bed, I read through the reconnaissance and surveillance report the Juggernaut had brought back.

Anne had organized the Juggernaut’s notes into an easy-to-read report format, which made it easier to get through.

And before long, I understood deep in my bones why Anne had been so determined to get me to sleep.

‘...Why is this so thick?’

When I was a military communications specialist, I had once looked through operational plans because I had nothing better to do. Reading this felt exactly like that.

“Didn’t you say your combat knowledge was lacking...?”

“It is lacking compared to my knowledge in other fields.”

The Enigma effect was certainly real.

Anyway, the report could be summarized like this.

The Juggernaut had divided the area around the shelter into three zones according to their characteristics.

Zone 1 consisted of northwestern cliffs and steep rocky mountain terrain. Lines of sight were available, but numerous caves and rock crevices capable of providing cover and concealment had been identified. The abandoned mine was located in Zone 1.

Zone 2 ran along the southeastern ridge. Visibility was relatively open, but rock crevices and underbrush made it extremely difficult to secure an approach route unless a road was used. Apparently, the Jogye Order temple was in this direction too.

It added that if enemies came to attack, they would likely swarm in through Zone 2.

Finally, all other sections were grouped into Zone 3. The layer of fallen leaves was extremely thick, causing footsteps to echo loudly during travel on foot, while the dense canopy would likely make aerial drone reconnaissance difficult in summer and autumn.

The overall assessment was that the area’s dense trees and abundant rocky cover made it favorable for long-term seclusion if resources were sufficient, but leaving the shelter would be difficult, and there was always the risk of small groups infiltrating or using the terrain as a hideout.

It also warned that there was no shortage of wildlife and signs of civilians, such as hikers.

“Measures suitable for surveillance and blocking access in each zone are listed below. However, aside from buried vibration sensors and surveillance cameras, I do not recommend installing other defensive measures at this time.”

“Hmm.”

It would be an absolute disaster if we installed attack turrets ahead of time and shot a passing hiker.

‘This is not on a scale that can be finished in a day either.’

The number of security cameras that needed to be installed immediately was already in the hundreds.

There was so much to do.

“I’m going to sleep. Wake me up at six tomorrow.”

“I will finish designing the research facilities in the meantime.”

“Sure.”

I zipped up the tent and lay down inside my sleeping bag.

Eighteen days remained.

Footnotes:

The “Liu Bang strategy” invokes Liu Bang, founder of the Han dynasty, whose success relied on key allies including Han Xin, Xiao He, and Zhang Liang.