Chapter 140: Episode 140

Everyone stopped talking and looked at me. Scorpion nodded on behalf of the group.

“Go ahead.”

“Punishment and damage control are fine, but they won’t change our grim reality.”

“Are you saying you know a way to change it, Hunter Kim Yusin?”

“Yes.” I clasped my hands together. “We strike the rebels. Right now.”

Everyone stared at me, bewildered.

“The rebels committed significant forces to this raid. Not just commando units, but official hunters as well. We can even presume their ace, a rank-3 hunter named White Wing, was present.”

“……That may be so, but.”

“Which means they suffered significant losses as well. The rebels will assume we’re preoccupied with damage control. They’ll never expect an immediate counterattack. We strike them where they least expect it.”

’The answer was in their history—in their passivity.’ The rebels knew the habits of their main enemy, the regular army, better than anyone. That’s why they wouldn’t expect us to move quickly.

A hunter carrying a bow spoke up. “I agree that they won’t expect a counterattack at this timing. But more accurately, it’s not that they don’t expect it; it’s that they think we ’can’t’. It would be impossible—foolish! The soldiers’ morale is at rock bottom, we have many wounded, and the city is on fire. An attack now?! A surprise attack would certainly be effective, but that’s all. They’ll have their defenses ready and counterattack within thirty minutes.”

“Then we’ll make it so they can’t counterattack,” I replied simply. “I will infiltrate the rebel encampment alone.”

“……W-What?”

“You all know what I did at Kisowa, right? Well, there are civilians, so I can’t exactly cause a volcano like last time, but I can draw the rebels’ attention and disable their vehicles, like their tanks. After that, you can lead the armored division in and clean up the mess.”

This wasn’t just about an unexpected raid. While their own hunters were exhausted and asleep, I planned to go in and neatly neutralize them.

“My, my, look at Zhuge Liang reincarnated,” Zhang Wei said with a slick grin. “I was going to treat you with respect because of your rank, even if you are young and naive, but isn’t this a bit much?”

“What is?”

“This is war, not a game. What does a guy who’s only been deployed for two days know about the situation on the ground? Do you think every problem will be solved just because you do whatever you feel like? It’s not realistic! Not realistic at all!” Zhang Wei slammed his hands on the armrests. “We lost our commander in that raid just now! Our top leader! And you saw it. The city is on fire, it’s chaos out there. How can we raise an army in a situation like this?”

I let out a hollow laugh and rested my chin on my hand. “Why can’t we? We have tens of thousands of troops. Are thirty casualties really enough to keep us from mobilizing?”

“This is why I say you don’t know the field! The atmosphere isn’t right for mobilization….”

“It’s not that you can’t, it’s that you won’t, making up one excuse after another. Just like you’ve always done.”

Zhang Wei shot up, his face flushed with anger.

“Now, wait, wait,” Marta stepped in to mediate. “I understand Hunter Kim Yusin’s opinion. But even if we agree to everything else, I’m worried about the monsters. If we leave Mtwara to strike the rebels, the monsters might….”

I silently slid a document across the table. It was data Ea had researched, which Seojin had emailed to me, and I had printed it before coming here.

“This is……”

“A distribution map of the living field. I got it from military command.” ’The living field had surrounded the city, but I knew the removal team had recently cleared all the encroaching sections nearby. The monster excuse was nothing but a flimsy pretext.’ “There. Even considering the living field’s rate of expansion, it’s impossible for them to invade the city center in the half-day we’ll be gone.”

“You really……”

’Yes, I really am dead set on attacking.’

Just then, Zhang Wei shouted, “No matter how you look at it, this is too reckless!”

“Then what the hell are we supposed to do, sit here forever?” I was starting to get annoyed. “We’ve lost Julian, our central pillar! Tomorrow will be worse than today, and the day after will be worse than tomorrow! Morale is at an all-time low, and there’s no will, no hope! A precedent has been set, so people will tremble in fear every night. Trapped by the pretense of defending the city, we’ll just waste away day by day until the monsters eventually surround us, and we all die here.”

The room fell silent.

“Tonight is the turning point. We either eliminate the rebels and move forward, or we all die here. Stop procrastinating and make a decision.”

The room fell silent. Having said this much, it seemed everyone was at least mulling over my words. But only for a moment.

“Raising troops in this atmosphere is one thing! And you infiltrating a heavily guarded rebel encampment alone is another! It’s all just impossible talk!”

“What does an outsider know about the Tanzanian front!”

’Murmur, murmur.’

’Murmur, murmur.’

Just as I thought. People don’t change so easily. Well, I never expected to sway them with just a few words. In times like these, you have to flip the whole board….

’CRASH!’

Suddenly, the meeting room door flew off its hinges and slammed into a wall. Every window in the room shattered. Everyone stared ahead in shock.

“I can’t listen to any more of this,” a voice declared.

The red-haired woman strode into the meeting room. She was covered head to toe in soot and dirt from an explosion. The ferocity of the battle she had just endured was plain to see.

“‘We can’t because of this. We can’t because of that.’ What changes if you just keep listing off realities? Are you just comforting yourselves by thinking, ‘I’m a realist’?”

No one dared to speak.

When she lifted her head, her eyes were ferocious. Her presence dominated the room as she slowly approached and stood before them all.

“Commander Julian is dead. From now on, I am the commander of the Tanzanian front.”

“Wh-What did you say?”

“If anyone has a problem with that,”—’Shing’—the sword at her waist gleamed with deadly light as she drew it. Red mana swirled around the blade, making it seem to boil. “Speak up, right here, right now.”

The room was engulfed in silence.

’Just like her older sister. She might seem quiet usually, but that temper of hers was always there.’

“Whoa there, hold on, miss. It seems you’re a little too worked up since this is your first time in a situation like this,” Zhang Wei said, waving his hands as he approached. “Just calm down a little….”

’SWISH!’

A red flash descended in a straight line, and Zhang Wei froze, his face a mask of horror. For a terrifying moment, he must have felt his body split in two, but it was only the table beside him that had been cleaved.

“Zhang Wei, rank-4. From now on, I expect you to address me with the proper decorum in a professional setting.”

“……Ah, y-yes, ma’am!”

Everyone began murmuring, bewildered.

I could hear their timid whispers.

“Didn’t we think the next commander would be Scorpion or Zhang Wei?”

“Even if she’s rank-3, it’s a bit much to entrust it to someone who’s only been deployed for two days.”

Zhang Wei, finally snapping out of his frozen state, quickly turned his head. “H-Hey! General Augustine! Say something! This is a coup!”

He was at a loss for words.

All eyes turned to Augustine, the leader of the Tanzanian regular army. He crossed his arms. “It’s not really our place to interfere in the hunters’ affairs, but I believe we can trust Hunter Hong Yeon with this.”

“What did you say?” The hunters’ expressions hardened at the strange turn of events.

“Hunter Hong Yeon risked her life for Tanzania during the last grade-7 dungeon incident. The soldiers and the people will accept her as the new commander-in-chief.”

Hong Yeon was a hero in Tanzania. The hunters who fought the taves here might not have known, but if that grade-7 dungeon hadn’t been cleared and the monsters had gotten out, Mtwara wouldn’t be standing here so intact. ’Asking for Augustine’s opinion was a foolish choice, Zhang Wei.’

“Thank you for your support, General Augustine.” Hong Yeon gave a slight bow and then looked at the other hunters. “Instead of pathetically repeating why it can’t be done, anyone who wants to be commander over me should step forward. And then, convince me why you, specifically, must be the commander, surpassing my rank.”

The room was engulfed in silence.

“If there is anyone who can do that, I too will obey the new commander.”

The room was engulfed in silence. That was Hong Yeon for you. She had entered the meeting room in a rage, but she knew exactly how to handle the situation. These people were so steeped in defeatism that they only knew how to criticize others’ opinions; they weren’t accustomed to stepping up themselves.

Just then, Scorpion, who had been quiet, slowly raised his arm. “I agree.” He looked at Hong Yeon and said, “The next commander must be Hong Yeon, rank-3. A young hunter with both skill and prestige. There is no one more suitable to lead us than her.”

’Murmur, murmur.’

Scorpion, the most likely candidate for the next commander, had sided with Hong Yeon. Zhang Wei gritted his teeth and glared at Scorpion, but the tide had already turned.

“Then I will consider it decided. From this moment on, I will be your commander.” Sheathing her sword, she took a seat at the head of the table. The moment she sat, her entire aura shifted. “Kim Yusin, rank-3.”

Hong Yeon looked at me.

“Please continue with what you were saying.”

“Thank you, Commander.” I stood up from my seat. ’There had been a variable, but the big picture was going according to plan.’ Hong Yeon would follow my lead, and there was no one left to challenge my moves. The implication was clear.

“Time is of the essence for this operation.”

We had taken Tanzania.

* * *

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