Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

Chapter 185: Relentless Pressure

Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

185 – Relentless Pressure

In an emergency meeting called suddenly, EDA Director Yoon Se-ah was enduring a tedious and seemingly pointless briefing from a subordinate officer sent by Major General Park Chan-hyung. The officer was endlessly detailing various facilities along the expected routes of the infected who had escaped the quarantined unit.

“At the small supermarket on Route 5, about ten civilians visit daily, and the owner, Park Geum-Rye, spends most of her day there…”

“Excuse me, but to be honest, I don’t understand why we need to continue this meeting.”

“Oh, I apologize. The information I’m explaining now is crucial for the agenda we’ll be discussing later, so it’s difficult to skip it. Please bear with me a little longer.”

“Sigh… Continue. Anyway, the Liberal Clan is handling the on-site response.”

As she continued to listen to the seemingly meaningless explanations about various facilities within the quarantine zone, a tremendous noise suddenly caught her attention, prompting her to stand up. Realizing she was about to leave, the officer raised his voice, trying to continue his explanation.

“Next! On Route 12, there’s a barn where, although infection hasn’t been confirmed, Grandpa Hwang Hyun-hee feeds five cows twice a day…!”

“That was just the sound of me kicking the chair during my explanation.”

“No, it was definitely a noise from outside. And it didn’t sound like a chair being kicked. I’m going to check it out.”

“Wait! Major General Park Chan-hyung will be here soon! He ordered that all area information be briefed before he arrives…”

Yoon Se-ah sensed something strange in the officer’s desperate attempt to keep her in the meeting room.

“What are you doing?”

“As I said, this is a very important meeting!”

“Whether it’s important or not is for me, the field commander, to decide. Move aside.”

“I can’t let you leave!”

In a moment of fury, Yoon Se-ah swung her right arm, delivering a powerful strike. The officer, struck by her seemingly delicate hand, was sent flying through the air, smashing through the tightly closed door.

“Arghhh!!!”

“Stop!”

“Director! Please return to the meeting room!”

Behind the shattered door and the airborne officer, Yoon Se-ah saw about five soldiers aiming their guns at her. She looked at them with a mixture of disbelief and anger.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

“Sorry, but we’re just following direct orders. We’ve been commanded to keep you inside this building until further instructions.”

“That’s a foolish order. Would you follow orders to stop a tank with your bare hands?”

“It depends on the situation, but if necessary, we would.”

“Really? Then let’s see if that sense of duty can stop someone who can destroy a tank.”

Suddenly, a snow-white bow appeared in Yoon Se-ah’s hand. She gripped the bow with both hands as if it were a club and began to beat the soldiers trying to restrain her.

-Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!-

“Aaaargh!!!”

“Open fire! Open fire!”

“Requesting support! All units, immediately join the first line of defense to prevent the target’s escape!”

Despite their desperate resistance, it took Yoon Se-ah less than a minute to incapacitate over thirty armed soldiers. As a combat-type awakened being, her physical abilities were far beyond what ordinary soldiers, no matter how armed, could handle. She elegantly dodged the hail of bullets fired at her, as if dancing, and knocked out all the nearby soldiers.

With an irritated expression, she ran outside the building, heading towards the direction where the noise had come from—the area where the Shadow Hawk was parked. Upon arrival, she witnessed Myung-jun, now clad in a massive suit over three meters tall, spewing flames from his back as he sent Major General Park Chan-hyung, along with the tent, flying.

“Myung-jun!!!”

Despite witnessing an allied general being attacked, she didn’t immediately assault Myung-jun. Observing the desperate subordinates of Major General Park Chan-hyung, Soo-jeong lying on the ground, and Myung-jun in his power armor kicking a civilian, it wasn’t hard to deduce the current situation.

Hoping desperately that the situation wouldn’t escalate further, she ran towards Myung-jun, who was conversing with Soo-jeong. To avoid appearing aggressive, she had already sent the bow she had summoned earlier back to her inventory.

Upon arriving at the scene, Yoon Se-ah listened to Soo-jeong’s account of the events, her expression turning to one of despair.

“Did Major General Park Chan-hyung really do that… No, I don’t even need to ask. Sometimes, South Korean soldiers do unimaginable, irrational things just for the sake of promotion.”

With that, she bowed at a 90-degree angle and apologized to Soo-jeong.

“Although all of this was caused by Major General Park Chan-hyung’s unilateral decisions, it’s entirely my responsibility as the field commander for failing to properly control the Ministry of National Defense forces under my command. I’m not sure if my apology means anything, but I sincerely apologize for this situation.”

Soo-jeong responded to Yoon Se-ah, who was bowing in apology.

“I prefer meaningful punishment over an apology.”

“As the field commander and EDA Director, I promise to hold everyone accountable for this entire situation.”

“How severe will the punishment be?”

“Pardon?”

“As you know, issues within the military are handled according to military law. The responsibility for violating the chain of command and obstructing operations that have a significant impact on national security is very serious. So, can I expect something as severe as execution for treason during wartime?”

“Well… that…”

Yoon Se-ah hesitated to answer. Despite being the EDA Director overseeing South Korea’s gate crisis, she couldn’t arbitrarily interfere with the military’s internal disciplinary processes. The best she could do was to strongly advocate for Major General Park Chan-hyung’s punishment through the Blue House, the superior institution of the Ministry of National Defense.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t specify the exact severity…”

“I’m joking. I know well enough that you don’t have the authority to guarantee such a severe punishment, Se-ah. Instead…”

“Please, tell me anything. I’ll help with whatever I can.”

“I’d like it to be resolved with just a demotion of two ranks.”

Yoon Se-ah looked incredulous at Soo-jeong’s request for a mere two-rank demotion, considering the severity of the situation. However, Soo-jeong’s request wasn’t simply to demote Major General Park Chan-hyung from Major General to Colonel.

“Of course, the responsibility of the subordinates falls on their superiors, so all of Park Chan-hyung’s direct line should be demoted by one rank as well.”

“D-direct line? Up to where…?”

“To the Corps Commander.”

Soo-jeong thought that someone as obsessed with promotion as Park Chan-hyung must have gone to great lengths to curry favor with his superiors to reach his current position. If all those superiors he had worked so hard to please were punished due to his mistake, the resulting anger directed at him would be beyond what he could handle.

Myung-jun grinned, agreeing with Soo-jeong’s idea.

“Sounds good. The scariest thing in the military is getting chewed out from above. I’m curious to see how furious his superiors will be when they suddenly get demoted because of one subordinate’s mistake.”

“But demoting the superiors of the person directly at fault is unprecedented…”

“It’s equally unprecedented for someone to shoot at the Vice Clan Master of the Liberal Clan. Relay this to the Blue House: if our demands aren’t met, the Liberal Clan will mobilize all available forces to hold the South Korean Ministry of National Defense directly accountable for this incident.”

Yoon Se-ah thought that following Soo-jeong’s suggestion would at least make it seem like the South Korean government was imposing the maximum possible punishment for this incident. It would look more like they were taking control of the situation rather than being bullied by a foreign civilian clan.

“I can’t guarantee it, but I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Then we’ll decide on the responsibility for this incident based on the sincerity shown by the South Korean government. For now, shall we deliver this happy news to the General who’s passed out over there?”

Moments later, Myung-jun dragged Major General Park Chan-hyung, who had been deeply embedded in the forest, by one leg. The shield generator that Soo-jeong had attached to him had already shut down due to exceeding its capacity. Even a void shield generator capable of deflecting attacks from fifth-grade alien entities couldn’t withstand multiple kicks from Myung-jun in the Elimination Suit.

The protective barrier Soo-jeong had set up managed to shield the General’s body up to the point of impact with Myung-jun’s kick. However, it couldn’t absorb the shock from the General’s body crashing into dozens of trees in the forest at the speed of a cannonball. As a result, the General’s body, dragged back by Myung-jun, was in a terrible state.

Although he was still alive, the moment he regained consciousness, he would be writhing in excruciating pain. Without a shred of sympathy, Myung-jun tied the unconscious General to a chair and slapped him hard across the face.

-Smack!-

“Ugh… Where am I… Argh… Aaaaargh!!!”

As Park Chan-hyung regained consciousness, he couldn’t suppress the screams from the pain coursing through his entire body. Myung-jun slapped him again and spoke.

“Quiet.”

“Ugh!! Please… Please spare me! I was wrong! It hurts! It hurts so much!”

“This isn’t going to work. Senior, let’s administer some painkillers first. He needs to be able to understand the situation.”

Hearing Myung-jun’s words, Soo-jeong opened a small box attached to her waist. She took out a small, glowing syringe and injected it into Park Chan-hyung’s body. As the pain subsided, Myung-jun explained coldly to the General the punishment he would face.

When Myung-jun mentioned the two-rank demotion, Park Chan-hyung accepted it without resistance. He had known from the start that this operation was a gamble with significant risks. However, when Myung-jun mentioned that all his direct superiors would also be demoted, Park Chan-hyung, forgetting his pain, tried to jump out of the chair and shouted.

“That… That’s too harsh a punishment! I’ll take full responsibility as the ringleader!”

“That’s your wishful thinking.”

Myung-jun spoke, stating that if any of the generals facing disciplinary action attempted to retire voluntarily, he would personally ensure they were punished. Knowing the cruelty implied by the word “punishment,” Park Chan-hyung, still tied to the chair, began to cry.

“I was wrong… Please, not such a brutal punishment…”

“If you truly feel remorse, live the rest of your life with that guilt. You can say goodbye to promotions forever, so don’t overreach and torment your soldiers out of greed. Who knows? If we think you’ve genuinely repented, we might reconsider the punishment.”

“R-really? Will you really do that?”

“If you can endure the relentless pressure you’ll face until we think you’ve truly repented.”

Even as he spoke, Myung-jun thought the punishment given to Park Chan-hyung was horrifying. If he were one of the demoted superiors, he would never forgive Park Chan-hyung. The military was an organization with countless ways for one person to torment another. Enduring the wrath of superiors in such an environment was no easy task. However, considering the gravity of Park Chan-hyung’s crimes, Myung-jun showed no mercy.

“Now that the punishment for the Major General seems settled, I’ll call in the medical officer to treat him.”

With Myung-jun’s permission, Yoon Se-ah instructed the soldiers to move Chan-hyung to another tent. She then spoke to Myung-jun.

“While this whole situation was caused by Major General Park Chan-hyung’s greed, I’m more concerned about the operational gap this incident has created.”

“You mean the abandonment of the infected’s pursuit?”

“Yes. Even though there are fewer than a hundred of them, if we let our guard down, their numbers could quickly swell to a thousand, ten thousand.”

“I agree with you. But unless we’re going to gather all the infected and burn them at once, in this situation, it’s wiser to choose a different approach than control.”

“What other approach?”

“If we can’t stop the spread, we should let it spread. After all, even parasites are like diseases. If we can find an effective cure, we can easily resolve this.”

“But developing a cure isn’t that easy…”

“We can do it. Among the people we brought, we have the world’s top expert in such matters.”

The expert Myung-jun referred to was the world’s highest-ranked alchemist awakener, Park Seung-ho, who was currently making a desperate effort to synthesize a cure in Myung-jun’s subspace.