Dirty Sweet Baby Chapter 106

With no information about the Ministry of National Defense’s current state or the new government’s pending issues, Heeheon could only make vague guesses. Cha Moogyul, who was staring intently at the thoughtful Heeheon, smiled with the corners of his lips raised. Then, out of nowhere, he poked Heeheon’s cheek with his index finger.

“Relax. It’ll be over soon.”

“Oh, ah.”

Heeheon moved his stiff face to reply. He was trying to hide his nervousness, but it seemed to be showing a little. Well, it was impossible not to be nervous when facing the Central Military Commander, the highest-ranking official.

Cha Moogyul lowered his head and whispered languidly in his ear. It was a low voice that couldn’t be heard by those around them.

“The Commander is on the verge of retirement. After safely completing his term and retiring, he will enter the Ministry of National Defense. A position is perfectly guaranteed for him, so if all goes as planned, he will complete his term without any trouble and step down.”

“That makes sense.”

His worries were lifted in an instant. If Heeheon himself were the Commander, he would also prefer to stay quiet and retire safely rather than create variables at the end of his term.

Heeheon, now relaxed, walked with him to the end of the corridor. In a wide-open space, a huge door was closed, and a nameplate was attached to the wall next to it.

‘Headquarters Office.’

This was a top-secret space where general-grade officers held strategic meetings.

It might be different for Cha Moogyul, a Brigadier General, but it was not a place where Baek Heeheon, a mere First Lieutenant, could normally set foot. Heeheon took a deep breath and straightened his posture. He straightened his spine and put strength in his eyes. This was no time to be nervous. He had to pull himself together.

Following that, Cha Moogyul scanned his ID tag, and the firmly closed, massive door began to slowly open on both sides.

And the interior of the headquarters office was revealed.

It was a magnificent and vast conference room, so grand it was overwhelming at first sight.

The new government’s national flag was prominently displayed on the front wall, and the emblems of the Army, Navy, and Air Force were hung from the ceiling and walls. A U-shaped table was placed in the center of the room, and from the head of the table to the foot, it was densely packed with nameplates.

Starting from the lower seats, the names of the Brigadier General-level Operations Commander, Defense Commander, Special Commander, Air Commander, Logistics Commander, Training Commander, and Fleet Commander were lined up, and at the head of the table, the nameplates of the Major General-level Army Commander, Navy Commander, and Air Force Commander followed.

At the very head, in the center, were the nameplates of the Lieutenant General-level Central Military Commander and Central Military Vice Commander on either side, and in the middle of them, he could finally find the name of the person he was meeting today.

「Central Military Commander, General Choi Yul」

Cha Moogyul and Baek Heeheon walked with disciplined steps and saluted General Choi. He was an elderly man who appeared to be in his sixties, and one could see the experience of a man who had passed through long and arduous battles to reach this position.

It was no ordinary feat to not only reach the small circle of the Center’s top brass but also to reach the very pinnacle of the Center and lead and command them. There must have been more blood-splattering years melted into him than what was visible on the surface.

“Haha, enough with the formalities. Put your hands down and relax. We have a lot to talk about amongst ourselves.”

General Choi waved his hand, smiling comfortably like a neighborhood Mister. At first glance, he seemed full of friendliness, but for that very reason, he had to be more cautious.

General Choi leisurely rose from his seat and walked to the window. In preparation for attacks from flying creatures, an artificial glass window, not a real one, was displaying a clear and bright autumn sky.

“Brigadier General Cha, you look better in person than on screen. I’d have no other wish if my grandson looked half as good as you. And First Lieutenant Baek, I heard you were sick recently? Both of you have been put on the special promotion list for this incident, so your ranks will be rising soon.”

Special promotion… is that so. Heeheon nodded inwardly. The Level 4 dispatch this time was a catastrophe worthy of it.

“Once all the troublesome matters are safely concluded, a grand appointment ceremony will be prepared.”

However, he wouldn’t have scheduled an interview just to talk about a special promotion. Heeheon’s grayish-brown eyes turned to Cha Moogyul standing next to him. Cha Moogyul seemed to have had the same thought, as he leisurely opened his mouth to speak.

“Troublesome matters… it seems there’s a headache left to be dealt with.”

“Indeed, a tricky opponent.”

A tricky opponent?

Who. No, what?

“Needless worry is poison. For someone who is about to be promoted.”

“No, no. Not at all. What is there for a backroom old man who is about to step down to do but worry.”

“Dear me… You should be more discreet.”

“An unexpected variable has arisen. The situation on our end has also changed.”

“…”

Cha Moogyul stared intently at General Choi standing by the window. General Choi also stared at Cha Moogyul with a stern gaze. The roundabout conversation and the quietly exchanged glances felt like a battlefield. It was as if blue sparks were flying between the two men.

In the end, General Choi burst into a hearty laugh and conceded a step.

“Enough, give me a break. I’ll be too embarrassed to face my successor.”

Cha Moogyul clicked his tongue as if displeased.

“I can’t give you my word, but I’ll hear you out.”

“As expected, I can talk to you. If only my grandson took after half, no, a quarter of you…”

“Just get to the point. Your headache, Commander.”

Heeheon was just bewildered. What kind of exchange had just taken place between the two of them?

However, he could be certain of one thing: an unexpected variable had arisen, and the situation had suddenly changed.

“Now. Allow me to introduce it.”

General Choi took a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. The artificial panoramic window that had been displaying the bright autumn sky switched to a strategic and tactical screen.

A large red circle was marked, centered on the damaged areas of the 3rd Eastern Pioneer District and the 3rd Residential District. And around it, a dotted line was drawn, tracing the tracks of something.

“An α-creature. The culprit that caused this Level 4 disaster.”

An α-creature is a unique monster that inhabits the inside of a gate.

While β-creatures are mere replicated monsters that mimic the appearance of existing life forms on Earth, α-creatures are original monsters with completely different forms and unique abilities.

“The R&D Department has given it the individual name ‘α—93362pe4x,’ but at headquarters, we call it α—stealth for convenience.”

“Stealth, you say. It seems it cannot be detected.”

“Exactly. The unique wave it emits is disrupting the headquarters’ detection system. That is why it was not detected until the gate entrance was fully opened.”

Heeheon’s face instantly turned cold as he listened to the story.

Disrupting the detection system?

If so, doesn’t that mean that not only the α-creature itself but also the gate that is its mother and cradle, and the β-creatures pouring out of it, cannot be tracked?

“It’s alive somewhere underground. Somewhere in the tunnels that extend like an ant’s nest from the sinkhole in the 3rd Pioneer District. If we leave it as it is, we don’t know when a swarm of creatures might break through the ground of a general residential area again.”

The α-creature was the master of the gate. Unlike β-creatures, which indiscriminately seek out and kill living things based on their killing instinct, α-creatures generally do not go outside their territory and only roam around it. They may not even come out of the gate at all, preferring to live inside their cozy interior.

Unless it was the time for the periodic monster wave, or ‘creature wave,’ the α-creature would surely be located somewhere near its mother gate.

“We need to catch it as soon as possible. And… the R&D Department wants it captured alive.”

Wait. Captured alive? Heeheon’s eyes widened. His hands, clenched into fists, tightened.

Capture alive an entity that can’t even be tracked, and an α-creature at that, not a β-creature? Isn’t this an insanely difficult mission?

“I know. It’s difficult. Close to impossible. However, the fact that a loophole has been found in the current central detection system means it’s a problem that cannot be overlooked. We need to study the wave of that α-creature to fix the loophole, and for that, the core must be intact, so we have no choice but to set the condition of capturing it alive.”

“Ha…”

“It would be an easy story if it were about killing it, but the number of personnel capable of a capture mission can be counted on one hand. Among the S-ranks, Brigadier General Cha, you are the only one.”

Indeed, Cha Moogyul might be able to control his electric shocks to knock it out. There are powerful S-rank personnel skilled in using their abilities, but it meant that Cha Moogyul was the most suitable for a capture mission.

Moreover, every awakened person was trained with the goal of annihilating creatures. The option of keeping them alive didn’t even exist. For the awakened, a capture mission would be a very unfamiliar and difficult task. A slight mistake could lead to killing it, and conversely, a slight mistake could lead to getting killed.

“What do you think? Isn’t my headache quite a handful?”

General Choi smiled leisurely and operated the remote control. The large strategic and tactical screen that had been displayed turned off, and the peaceful autumn sky was shown again. The staged image of a single bird flying leisurely was strangely beautiful.

“It’s a disastrous situation.”