Dirty Sweet Baby Chapter 80

‘The headquarters should have detected the wave of the nucleus that spreads when a gate opens.’

How could they have just stood by and let it open completely?

Perhaps a new type of gate had occurred.

Maybe a mutant gate nucleus had appeared, one with no wave, or one with a wave beyond the scope of human technological perception.

‘That’s for the researchers in the Research and Development Office to figure out. For now, exterminating the creatures must come first.’

The fact that the general residential district’s bulkhead had collapsed naturally meant there would be civilian casualties.

The eastern district. The third residential district…

‘Will Mother be alright?’

Heeheon’s family home was located in the second residential district. It was just one bulkhead away from the third residential district, the affected area.

Fortunately, there were no field reports that the second residential district had been attacked yet, and it seemed the bulkhead and protective barrier were still functioning safely, but he couldn’t completely erase his worries.

‘Above all, I hope the situation concludes without any major damage…’

The elevator descended to the basement and stopped.

A modern space devoid of any clutter and a wide hall appeared, with long corridors stretching out to the left, right, front, and back. The basement floors housed armories and barracks for the standby forces, and the structure was such that different floors were used according to rank.

Heeheon was a top-tier A-rank Guide, and Cha Moogyul was an even rarer S-rank, so the floor assigned to them was almost empty. He couldn’t even sense anyone’s presence.

Heeheon, along with Cha Moogyul, went to a long metal bench and sat down. They had to be stationed here and wait until a call came, so even though they were sitting, they could not let their guard down.

They had to constantly monitor the field situation being relayed through communications, be prepared to be deployed as immediate reinforcements at any moment, conserve their stamina, and maintain peak condition. Most importantly, they didn’t know for how many days or nights they would have to stay like this. They had to hold their position until the site was cleared and the combat units returned to the Center.

Heeheon rested his elbows on his knees, clasped his hands, and propped his chin on them. The situation being broadcast in real-time through his goggles was not good.

The number of creatures that poured out of the fully opened gate was too great to estimate, the third residential district where the bulkhead had collapsed was in ruins, and to make matters worse, since it was an area where civilians lived, they couldn’t just indiscriminately rain down carpet bombing from fighter jets in the air. It would be good if the residents had heard the air raid siren and evacuated safely, but there was a chance that some who couldn’t escape were hiding in the buildings.

Moreover, the third residential district wasn’t the only problem. The third development district was also a den of creatures, so it was inevitable that the forces would have to be split between the two areas. It was an unfavorable situation in many ways.

‘…This is not good.’

As time went on, Heeheon’s expression grew darker and darker.

It felt like all the blood in his body was boiling hot and would evaporate.

Because in this urgent situation, the best Heeheon could do was sit still and wait.

The military was a huge, organic collective, and it only functioned properly when each person performed their assigned duties in their proper place.

Heeheon was not part of a combat unit.

He was just a Guide, barely in his fifth year.

He was not in a position to step forward in a situation like this.

But Cha Moogyul…

He, if he had only awakened just one year earlier, he might have been able to turn this grim situation around in an instant, but…

‘Haa.’

Heeheon slowly wiped his face with both palms. He sighed in frustration while rubbing his dry face with his hands, which were covered in stiff combat gloves.

In any case, there was nothing Heeheon could do to solve it by worrying. His job here was to keep his head straight.

After a few hours, or perhaps a few dozen minutes, had passed like that, a familiar face appeared on the goggle screen.

‘…Esper Sung Ahwon!’

Captain Sung, his right arm severed and gone, was shouting in fury at something somewhere.

He was covered in blood, his combat uniform was torn to shreds, and his eyes were tinged with a dark blackness, likely from overusing his ability. Furthermore, black spots were starting to appear on the nape of his neck.

It was a precursor to rampage.

It was immediately clear how devastating the situation on the ground was. For him, an A-rank Enhancement-type Esper, to be in danger of rampaging, just how much had he used his ability? Moreover, behind him, a pile of what appeared to be members of his unit, the 2nd Special Task Force, were collapsed on the ground.

‘Are they dead, or…’

Heeheon bit his lip hard. Immediately after, Captain Sung in the broadcast screen was dragged away by emergency-dispatched Awoken. Guides urgently held him down and began pouring guiding into him, while other members took out emergency guiding-substitute drugs and shoved them into his mouth.

With his swollen, torn, and bleeding face, he screamed and pointed frantically with violent gestures over the bulkhead, somewhere in the third development district. Seeing that, his mind felt like it was going blank.

However, it was impossible to know all the information just from the broadcast screen. Captain Sung’s shouts were drowned out by the continuous sound of gunfire and the roaring screams of the creatures. Cruelly, the screen switched right away, and other special task force members descending from a helicopter came into view.

‘What was Captain Sung shouting?’

Come to think of it, he had said his deployment was to the eastern district.

What had happened? What had he seen?

What on earth was in the third development district that…?

“Hyung.”

At that moment, the goggles were whipped off.

The dizzily transmitted screen receded, and the sight of the quiet underground barracks came into view.

Cha Moogyul brushed Heeheon’s frozen cheek with his index finger to get his attention. Without blinking, Heeheon turned only his eyes to gaze at him. And he made a monotonous demand.

“Give it back.”

He needed to wear the goggles to check the battle situation. Cha Moogyul must have known that. But he just watched Heeheon’s expression without any particular response.

“…I don’t want to waste energy getting angry at you right now. Give it back.”

“Your eyes look like you’ve lost it.”

Surprisingly, Cha Moogyul handed over the goggles obediently. Heeheon put them back on and tried to look at the screen. But a completely unexpected murmur snatched his attention.

“Should we deploy?”

His eyes froze. His grayish-brown pupils rolled slowly toward him.

“What…?”

“Looking at your state, hyung, I think that might be better.”

What is he talking about?

Deploy?

Heeheon frowned slightly. A thought, could it be?, did come to mind, but it was such an impossible guess, completely outside the realm of his common sense, that he couldn’t rashly be certain.

Not until Cha Moogyul operated his own goggle equipment and made a call to someone’s private line.

Cha Moogyul, with an impassive face, began to talk to the other person. The voice of the person who answered the call could be heard, albeit very faintly, by Heeheon, who was sitting close by.

“It’s me.”

—Oh my, yes, yes! Brigadier General Cha. You’ve finally called. I’ve been waiting.

“It’s nothing much. I’m in the underground barracks right now.”

—Hmm, the underground?

The person on the phone seemed to be none other than Brigadier General Kang Joongmo. Brigadier General Kang Joongmo, the commander of the Central Army Special Operations Command. It seemed he wanted to do more than just provide connections for Cha Moogyul; he now practically wanted to be his right-hand man.

—How on earth did you end up there, Brigadier General… Oh my, tsk, I see. It’s because of the system summons. I’ll have you exempted from standby immediately. You may return to your residence at your leisure, Brigadier General.

“No, that’s fine.”

And Cha Moogyul, too, seemed to be giving orders to Brigadier General Kang with ease.

“A change of affiliation, would that be possible?”

—Hmm?

“Do I have to say it twice?”

—No, I mean, which, whose affiliation, sir. Are you referring to your own affiliation, Brigadier General…?

“That’s right. To a combat unit.”

—Well, it is possible, of course. However, if you’re doing this because of the current Level 4 general mobilization, that’s a bit…

“Yes. I intend to go to the field.”

He raised his jet-black eyes and stared straight ahead. It seemed he was watching the urgent battle situation displayed on the goggle screen.

A few more words were exchanged after that, and the call ended shortly after.

“Then I’ll consider the matter handled.”

It was a bolt from the blue.

Heeheon raised his goggles and looked at Cha Moogyul with a disbelieving expression. He didn’t seem to be in his right mind.

The decision to go to the field, and the fact that he obtained it with a single phone call—his head was throbbing from the whirlwind of a situation, wondering what on earth he was trying to do. Dumbfounded, Heeheon muttered blankly.

“You… what are you doing, are you crazy? It’s only been four months since you manifested.”

Cha Moogyul smirked.

“So?”

You’re going to war?

There, now?

“The situation is completely different from the first summons! That day, it just happened to be pouring rain, and it matched well with your ability type, which is why that kind of one-sided massacre was possible, but now.”

“Now, I won’t be able to use much power?”

“Of course you won’t…!”

“I don’t know. I actually think it’s more possible now.”

He pushed himself up from his seat. His large frame rose like a mountain, blocking Heeheon’s view.

“Get up.”

With his rifle slung over one shoulder, he gestured to Heeheon with his chin. His black eyes, dark as a remote night, and a cool smile dripping with obsession, caught his eye.