Damn the World, Ride a Submarine - Chapter 210



Only Krnovel

Episode 210 – A New Plan

Director Kim Wan-jun was explaining the benefits of having the OSS take over the defense of the Republic of Kibibashi.

“We have supply bases on islands all over the Pacific, including Marshall Camp. If you would help us defend Kiribati instead!”

“noodle?”

“We will be able to exert greater influence on the island nations in the Pacific. And if we take over the defense of each island nation, we can reduce the administrative waste in many ways.”

“What about administrative power?”

“In the past, in order to build and install anything, there were frequent instances where negotiations had to be held not only with the island nation but also with the governments of Australia and New Zealand.”

“Oh, I see. You must have had a hard time, Director. Okay. Let’s do that.”

The OSS took over the defense of the Republic of Kiribati, which had been delegated to Australia. And during the negotiations on this issue, Australia also expressed its intention to join PATA.

* PATA (Pan-Asian Treaty Alliance): An alliance of nations in the Asia-Pacific region

Australia also decided to become a member of PATA because the OSS was a closer friendly military power than the United States, but also because of the ongoing trade dispute between Australia and China.

China has had an ongoing trade dispute with Australia since 2020.

In order to prevent Australia from cooperating militarily with anti-Chinese forces following the Second Taiwan War and the Vietnam War, the situation was such that the import ban on Australian coal and iron ore was once again used to pressure China.

It was a good thing that happened. OSL decided to import all of the 40 million tons of coal and iron ore that were exported from Australia to China each year. They were needed anyway, and they wanted to stockpile as much as possible.

This gave them another strong support force. In addition, the Australian coal was of good quality bituminous coal.

Bituminous coal was one of the most important raw materials for steel refining, and all of the Australian bituminous coal and iron ore exported to China were imported to Kiribati OP3.

And Australia was the world’s largest producer of iron ore, producing 900 million tonnes of iron ore per year.

ESSO and PATA did not impose any economic sanctions on China because it was too tiring and had other side effects.

However, when China tried to impose economic sanctions on a specific country, OSS stepped in and solved the problem.

When China refused to import, OSL imported, and when China refused to export, OSL distributed the resources of member countries.

In this process, PATA’s power grew further.

From Nepal in the west to Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the east, all countries have joined PATA.

And the OSS was entrusted with the defense of the Republic of Kiribati and the Republic of the Marshall Islands.

This meant that all seas west of Hawaii in the North Pacific came under the influence of the OSS.

…

Director Kim Wan-jun came to visit us on a busy winter day to prepare for an unknown future.

“CEO!”

“Yes, sir… um, judging from your expression, I guess you have something to complain about.”

“Yes. Oh, a little bit…”

“?”

“Do it in moderation… or at least give me a heads up?”

“why?”

“The OP3 island is on the verge of bursting because of the iron ore that the CEO is recklessly buying.”

“ah ···.”

“No! Not only are you importing from Brazil and India, you are also contracting for 60 million tons, which is the entire annual production volume of Ukraine…”

“…”

“Now, if we start importing iron ore from Australia, there really is no way… there is no way.”

“this ···.”

“Sir, this isn’t something that can be covered up with such a natural and innocent expression… Oh, right.”

“For now, let’s use the empty OP1 and OP2 islands. When you have time, let’s reclaim OP3 island and make a storage yard. The water depth is also shallow, so it should be fine, right?”

“I can think of a way to do that, and I have already taken action to do so.”

“As expected~ It worked out well. Haha.”

“No, what I mean is, don’t just smile like that and tell me in advance~”

“Yes, yes. Next time, I’ll definitely tell you in advance.”

“That won’t do. If the CEO makes any decisions regarding imports and exports, please make it so that he can report them to me immediately.”

“Then that will be fine. I will instruct you accordingly.”

Director Kim Wan-jun was one of the people I trusted, along with President Jin Min-gyu, Director Kim Jun-myeong, and Director Lee Shin-young.

In some ways, I felt sorry for him because he was the one who took on the dirty work.

As a gesture of trust and to lighten his load a little, I arranged for him to receive both incoming and outgoing information on all imports and exports of resources at the same time, as he had wished.

I should have done that a long time ago.

“Ugh~ You agreed so easily again. I feel like an idiot for running here in anger.”

“Haha. Cheer up, Director. Let’s go fishing together for the first time in a while.”

“I don’t have the energy to do that right now. I have to clean up what the CEO did…”

“Oh! What should I do to appease our director?”

I could understand Director Kim Wan-jun’s intentions. He wanted to make Kiribati as pretty as the game SimCity.

However, they probably did not like the fact that mineral resources such as iron ore and bituminous coal were being brought in in large quantities and piled up on the island.

“Hmm, sir!”

“yes.”

“About 10,000 pyeong on the main island···.”

“No, what is it? What are you planning to make…?”

“So. How about you create a personal farm or garden on about 10,000 pyeong of land?”

“Oh, are you giving me 10,000 pyeong?”

“Yes, yes. Of course. Haha.”

“Hmm, well, that’s what it is anyway. I feel a little better now.”

Director Kim Wan-jun’s face brightened. He thought it was a small reward for all the effort he had put in.

“But. Sir!”

“Yes. Go ahead.”

“Why are you so obsessed with iron ore? There is too much of it.”

“Oh, I really should tell you in advance.”

I thought it was time to tell Director Kim Wan-jun about the plan I had been vaguely imagining to myself for a long time.

“Ah~ I have some other plans···.”

“Yes. This is something I planned in my head alone. The director will be the first to hear about it.”

“I’m a little scared. What is it?”

“We plan to push forward after our aircraft carrier, which we are currently building, is completed. Once the things currently in progress are completed···.”

“What if I get out?”

“I plan to build a fortress or base that floats on the sea.”

“Ah… how much do you think about it….”

“First of all, the minimum requirement is that the runway must be large enough to accommodate a general aircraft landing.”

“Are you saying that we will build a base that floats on the ocean like an airport?”

“Yes. Considering various conditions, the length must be at least 3.5 km for all aircraft to take off and land.”

“Huh~?! What, what… So you’re saying you’re building a ship that’s 3.5km long? An aircraft carrier is 2,300m long… Is that even possible?”

“Yes. I thought everyone would react that way, so I just kept it to myself.”

“If the representative wants to do something, he’ll do it. I have no doubt about it, but… 3.5km… If I just imagine it….”

Director Kim Wan-jun’s gaze turned to the left side of his forehead, as if he was imagining something.

“An aircraft carrier is 300m long… If there are 10 ships and 5 ships wide… 50, 100….”

“…”

“Hehehe~ Are you saying you’re going to build a ship that’s 50 or 100 times the size of an aircraft carrier? Ahhh···.”

“I’ve imagined it hundreds of times too. Haha.”

“But I think it would be difficult to build a dock that could accommodate that size of ship…”

I had to explain in more detail to Director Kim Wan-jun, who was speechless with surprise.

“It would be difficult to build that big ship in one go. The dock alone would be an unimaginably large civil engineering project.”

“Then how?”

“We plan to build them one at a time and connect them like blocks. We are thinking of making each block weighing about 100,000 tons.”

“So, you’re saying that you’re building a ship that weighs 5 to 10 million tons?”

“If you roughly calculate it, it should be at least that much.”

“I understand, but have you checked to see if it is technically possible?”

“Yes. President Han Gyu-dong said that it is possible to build a method of connecting blocks. However, he does not know yet whether there will be dozens or hundreds of them.”

“Haa~ Anyway. This is the most surprising story I’ve ever heard from you. Wait a minute···”

“…?”

“One aircraft carrier can accommodate about 5,000 people… 50 ships can accommodate 250,000 people.”

“…”

“100 ships, 500,000 people… This is not a ship, it’s a floating city. A city!”

“That’s what it is. Anyway, it’s a secret.”

“Yes, yes. Even if I tell you, you won’t believe me.”

“It’s still a long way off, so don’t worry.”

“Okay, thanks for letting me know in advance. I’m glad I was the first to know about it. Haha.”

It was the task of building a floating city on the sea, something I had vaguely fantasized about as a child.

In some ways, it felt more unrealistic to have acquired such power without even knowing it than to make such imagination a reality.

…

As the fifth winter arrived, the winter plunder season was coming to an end.

In the Northern Hemisphere, the weather was continuing to be such that just setting out on the road was a life-threatening situation. In such circumstances, going out to pillage meant that if you couldn’t find something to pillage, you would freeze to death in the terrifying winter that had come.

On the other hand, many people died in various places because they could not secure enough food and fuel during the plundering season.

The media also did not tally the number of deaths, as it was not only unconfirmed but also meaningless.

Although the looting had disappeared, human-on-human conflict continued, especially in winter shelters for the poor and homeless.

Although the forms were different in each country, those who could not survive the fifth winter gathered in shelters.

Shelters to avoid the extreme cold were designed to increase energy efficiency through communal heating, but they were also a means to trap the body heat radiating from the people they housed.

Anything that had the temperature of the image was considered energy, and was used to cover the shelter.

In China’s winter shelters, even human waste was not disposed of until temperatures dropped below freezing.

There was even a bizarre scene where people tried to hug each other with containers containing feces and urine, which had a body temperature of 36.5 degrees Celsius.

In harsh environments, livestock manure was also a source of heat energy, and it served as a means of maintaining human body temperature until just before freezing.

…