Hiding A Logistics Center In The Apocalypse - Chapter 75
Chapter 75: The Green Indians and the Short-Legged Blue-Collar Workers (3)
TL/ED – Miso
Piwoooong!
Kwaaaang!
A blue beam of energy shot toward the sky.
Hundreds of Dwarves’ “special cannons” simultaneously unleashed their firepower.
Piwoooong!
Piwong!
The scene itself was overwhelming enough to make one’s mind go blank…
However, Felix, the general of the Southern Army in charge of the ‘Chicago Operation’ couldn’t hide his anxiety.
“…Something feels off.”
It was an overwhelmingly mysterious great forest.
Despite pouring gas canisters into it for days, they had seen no significant effect.
On top of that,
“The infiltration team hasn’t returned yet?”
“No, sir. Every team that enters loses contact. We can’t even reach them via radio.”
All the agents who had infiltrated the great forest had disappeared without a trace.
Moreover, at this moment…
“Hey! I told you to spread the fire evenly! What the hell is that?”
“S-Sorry, sir! I did order them to spread out their shots, but…”
Kwaaaang!
Kwaarung!
They were wasting their firepower on empty targets.
“Why the hell are you shooting at nothing!?”
There was nothing there.
Just bare ground, reddened by the bombardment.
All that remained was a small circular patch of deforested land within the lush great forest.
“I told you to turn the entire area into a sea of fire! Do you not understand me?”
That had been the Southern Army’s original plan.
To strike every part of the vast great forest without leaving a single area untouched.
Then, to eliminate or brainwash any outsiders who emerged to escape the flames.
However, as if he had something to say for himself, the adjutant responded.
“We’re not doing this on purpose! Look over there, sir!”
“Look at what, dammit-!”
“Huh?”
Felix abruptly stopped.
What he saw was…
Kwaaaang!
Kwaarung!
The Southern Army’s bombardment being sucked in by an unknown force.
“…Why is it falling over there?”
Ignoring the laws of physics, the attacks were being pulled in like a black hole.
As a result, the Southern Army couldn’t inflict any damage on the great forest.
The real problem, however,
Puuuung!
Had started to explode from within their own ranks.
It was a signal flare.
The “special cannons” carried by the Elder Goblins…
Their barrels, glowing red-hot, couldn’t withstand the pressure and started to explode.
Puuung!
Pupuung!
Other cannons, overloaded, detonated in resonance,
And hundreds of brainwashed monsters nearby were caught in the massive explosions.
Zziiiiiii
Saaaa…
A chilling wind carried the eerie silence that came too late, along with the ringing in their ears.
Beneath it,
Thud.
Thud, thud.
The shredded corpses of monsters, torn to pieces, mixed with the sand as they fell.
“…What the hell is happening?”
“The cannons can’t withstand it…! This has never happened before…!”
An entire battalion had vanished in an instant.
It was impossible to tell who had even been hit by the bombardment.
No one had anticipated that the Dwarves’ cannons would cause such a catastrophic backlash.
Felix, the general, urgently ordered his adjutant.
“Tell them to stop immediately! Have them take a break before firing again!”
If overload was the problem, then they just needed to rest for a moment.
After all, the great forest wasn’t showing any reaction anyway.
However…
“T-They… They’re not stopping! The monsters…!”
“What!?”
Goblins, Orcs, Hybrid Vampires, Trolls, and Cyclops.
They were all disposable.
Brainwashed by poison gas, these creatures were meaningless whether they lived or died.
Yet now, those very monsters had begun to break free from control.
And the reason was…
Piwoooong!
Piwoong!
A sudden barrage of fire coming from the great forest.
Kwaaaang!
Kwarurung!
An attack boasting firepower no less formidable than the “special cannons”.
Sparks scattered from the warheads, showering down on the monster troops like rain.
-Kieeeeek!
-Kaaaargh!
The monsters writhed in agony.
And…
Their chosen strategy was remarkably simple.
-Kaaaagh!
The Goblins screamed wildly, pulling their triggers like madmen.
Intoxicated by the murderous energy from the drugs, the crazed monsters fired their cannons without restraint.
“Stop! I said stop! STOOOP!”
Felix, the general, shouted with a cracking voice.
His adjutant and lower-ranking officers relayed his orders without delay…
-Hihihihik!
-Hihihihihihik!
But the monsters’ feverish frenzy showed no signs of cooling down.
They planted themselves in place, mindlessly pulling their triggers.
Incoming artillery fire and overload-induced explosions gradually erased the otherworldly monsters from the battlefield, one by one.
“Retreat! We need to fall back for now!”
“Retreat! Retreat!”
The only ones left were the command unit.
They pulled back behind the retreating Dwarf factories, desperately trying to evade enemy bombardment…
Kwaaaang!
Puuung!
But a precisely calculated strike slammed down on their heads.
As if someone was ‘watching them from the sky.’
Whoooosh.
The Southern Army’s command unit was swallowed by flames.
No matter how often they changed positions or fired suppressing shots, nothing changed.
“It’s right there! We just need to fire there…!”
They could see it clearly.
From the heart of the great forest, the enemy’s shells were pouring out.
But no matter how much they attacked, their strikes never landed.
And so…
“Aaaaaaaaah!”
“Haaargh!”
The command unit of the “Chicago Operation” was consumed by the flames.
Their grand ambitions of becoming the new rulers disappeared without a trace, along with the Southern invaders.
They never realized.
The bombardment from the great forest,
Had never once touched the Dwarves’ factories.
***
Taaang!
Taang!
This was the Dwarves’ factory.
Along the production line, about thirty Dwarves stood in a row.
Ziiiiing-
Pshhhhhh…
It was a sight worthy of admiration.
Drrrrrrk.
The conveyor belts moved ceaselessly.
The molding press machines and plasma cutters tirelessly shaped metal,
While the induction heaters and welding machines steadily delivered perfectly cylindrical cannon barrels.
It was an almost flawless operation…
“Uuuuuuuugh…”
“Uuuuuuugh…”
But the Dwarves themselves were far from fine.
Taaang!
Taaang!
They hammered away without rest.
Dark circles drooped heavily beneath their hollow eyes, and beneath their slouched shoulders and aching backs, their bellies bulged out.
Their consciousness was slipping away.
One of the Dwarves, Cooper, muttered.
“…What are we even doing right now?”
There wasn’t even time to think.
They were being forced by the Earthlings to manufacture cannons day and night.
But another Dwarf snapped at him harshly.
“If you’ve got time to ask that, then turn the damn lever on time…!”
Though reprimanding, even his voice was weak.
He merely moved sluggishly, letting the conveyor belt carry his body.
Gulp, gulp.
The Dwarves drank the black liquid given to them by the humans.
It woke them up, but left an unpleasant bloating in their stomachs, causing them to burp constantly.
“……”
Cooper lifted his head.
Then, he looked toward the magic reactor installed in one corner of the factory.
Tstststst…
A faint blue light seeped out.
That light pulled Cooper into his memories…
But…
“Even that light doesn’t excite me anymore.”
Nothing had changed.
The humans had merely become the new invaders.
They had stripped the Dwarves of the joy of crafting.
-Stop adding useless details and just build it exactly as shown!
-Hey, you lazy bastards. Didn’t I tell you that at least 50 units need to be produced per hour?
Blueprints were carelessly tossed at them.
The design was absurdly crude, simply forcing the magic reactor’s power into output without any finesse.
A self-destructive structure that inevitably wore down its own durability.
Looking at the stack of “Magic Cannons” piled up in one corner, Cooper shook his head.
“…This isn’t right.”
The Dwarves knew.
That an item was more than just a simple object.
That history, meaning, experience, and even stories could be woven into it.
And finally, that the true talent of Dwarves lay in embedding these elements into their creations.
“Mischievous Ego Sword… The Bloodthirsty Cursed Vampiric Blade…”
Unique weapons, sometimes even legendary artifacts.
Cooper recalled the glorious legacy left by his Dwarven ancestors.
But…
“What’s the point of any of that…?”
In reality, all that lay before him was nothing but these disgraceful Magic Cannons.
And then…
At that moment.
A Dwarf who had been peeking outside suddenly burst into the factory.
“Everyone, listen up! It looks like those bastards have lost!”
“What? Seriously?”
The Southern Army, their oppressors and exploiters.
Most of the Dwarves cheered at the news of their defeat.
However…
“It doesn’t matter who wins. It’ll be the same anyway.”
Someone voiced a pessimistic view.
And the truth was, they weren’t wrong.
To invaders, the Dwarves’ skills were highly coveted commodities.
Ever since their home planet had fallen under the Chamber of Commerce’s ‘Special Management System’, they had been shipped across dimensions alongside their factories, forced into slavery for decades.
They had never known freedom to begin with.
The only thing that ever changed was the master holding their leash.
But…
“No, this time is different.”
Cooper presented a new idea.
“Let’s make this a life-or-death decision.”
“A life-or-death decision…?”
“We’ll judge for ourselves. And if another worthless scumbag tries to act like our new master…”
Dwarves had become slaves.
But even as slaves, there was one right they still possessed.
“…Then we will destroy the reactor ourselves.”
The right to choose death.
The Magic Reactor was the very essence of the Dwarves’ worth.
Destroying it would be no different from offering up their own heads to their invaders.
“Y-You’re insane, Cooper!”
A bombshell statement.
The other Dwarves recoiled in shock, as if such a thing was utterly unthinkable.
But…
“…Then what? Are you just going to keep living like this?”
“…That…”
At Cooper’s words, everyone fell silent.
There was no choice.
A life worse than death.
That was the reality of the Dwarves.
***
Whoooosh…
After wiping out the Southern Army’s monsters with bombardment,
we quickly exited the great forest, checking the situation via satellite.
Crrrrrk!
Once again, the Druids opened a path through the woods for us.
A straight, wide road, like a tunnel formed from roadside trees.
Bwoooooom!
The motorcycle driven by Lee Yong-su sped forward,
with the Druids, mounted on deer, following closely behind.
Thus, we arrived at the desolate plains of Indiana.
Had the scattered poison gas been meant to control the monsters?
A hazy white mist lingered throughout the area, but…
Chomp, chomp.
It had no effect on us, as we casually chewed on World Tree leaves.
After taking care of the remaining monsters and Southern Army survivors,
it wasn’t long before…
“…So this is the factory?”
We finally discovered the Dwarves’ factory.
It was a truly bizarre sight.
A building lined with a dozen or so chimneys, standing in perfect rows.
Hundreds of neatly arranged legs, like a spider’s, supported the weight of the factory.
Just as the Priest had described, it really was a “moving” factory.
“Well then, let’s go introduce ourselves.”
It was finally time to meet the Dwarves.
Climbing the ladder installed at the rear, we swiftly entered the factory.
And immediately, we were met with…
“……?”
Dwarves, their heads tightly wrapped with red cloth.
Greasy hair and sunken eyes.
Yet, within those eyes burned a resolute determination.
‘…Is this really okay?’
A sudden sense of unease crept in.
We needed their cooperation, but we hadn’t yet established any meaningful relationship with them.
Moreover, these were Dwarves who had just suffered under the brutal exploitation of Earthlings.
There was no way they would look kindly upon me, another human.
Just as I was cautiously about to approach them…
“Are you the new owner of this factory?”
A Dwarf who introduced himself as Cooper spoke to me first.
“We do not know what you hope to gain from this factory. But… if you fail to meet our expectations, we have no intention of working for you.”
“…Are you saying you’re going to test me?”
“That’s right. You better answer my questions properly from now on.”
A sudden test from the Dwarves.
Even if I wasn’t their owner, I needed their cooperation in the future, so I listened carefully to what he had to say.
“First, Can you guarantee an 80-hour workweek?”
“……?”
80 hours?
I instinctively tilted my head.
Maybe it was because of my reaction, but…
“…See?! I told you we should have asked for 90 hours!”
“Ugh, you were being too greedy!”
The other Dwarves started murmuring.
Just how long had they lived as slaves?
Their concept of labor was far removed from Earth’s standards.
Cooper’s questioning continued.
“Second, Can you guarantee us a day off?”
“Oh, well, that’s…”
“Honestly, we understand that giving us a day off every week would be impossible. But we firmly believe that we should have at least one day off per month! This is non-negotiable!”
“……”
One absurdity after another.
The Dwarves’ whispers didn’t stop either.
“Is he actually insane?! A day off?!”
“Cooper, you crazy bastard! That’s seriously pushing it!”
And then…
The final question was asked.
“This is my last question! Can you…”
Suddenly, Cooper’s voice lost confidence.
As if this was truly too much to hope for, he spoke in a hesitant and cautious tone.
After a long pause, he finally asked me,
“Can you… provide wages? Any… anything will do! Like food…”
Everyone was shocked.
Both the dwarves, and me.
****
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