Damn the World, Ride a Submarine - Chapter 62



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Episode 62 – Video 10.5 degrees

Although I expected it. Ship Hoeyoung Lee and ship number 9 had not yet arrived. I felt somewhat sad.

At the Shinheung Camp dock, national flags were flying everywhere. Upbeat, march-style music was coming out of the outdoor broadcasting speakers.

Although I felt somewhat embarrassed, I was grateful for the sincerity of the person who came up with the idea.

As I looked at the crew and OSS members standing proudly like a triumphant army on the deck of the submarine, I thought that maybe the recovery of the ARK was our little war.

As the submarine got closer to the dock, I could feel that the people who came to meet us were overwhelmed by the majesty of the ARK.

Each person pointed to various parts of the submarine with their fingers and shared their surprise with the person next to them.

This time, pilot Bae Heung-deok, exclusive to the OSS, came by tugboat and climbed onto the bridge of the ARK.

He was not particularly moved by the size of the submarine, but his eyes widened in surprise at the POD drive mounted on the bottom of the ARK.

A huge block of steel nearly 200 meters long was being moved by a small lever like a game console joystick.

“Wow, this is really amazing.”

Pilot Bae Heung-deok was constantly impressed by the technology and ideas as he watched the crew members controlling the ARK with the joystick following his instructions.

“Not just pushing, but naturally slowing down… Wow!”

Moreover, pilot Bae Heung-deok could not keep his mouth shut at the fact that there was no need for a tugboat as the fine movements were controlled.

Just like that, the ARK finished docking at Sinheung Camp. I set foot on land.

‘How long has it been since this…’

‘Is this what hometown feels like?’

I was born and raised in Seoul, and I didn’t really know the feeling of hometown that people were talking about.

But for some reason. I thought that the feeling I was feeling now was the same feeling that hometown gives me.

I was lost in thought for a moment as I was greeted by people, when I heard a familiar and welcome voice.

“Mr…. Representative!”

Kim Wan-jun was the director.

He ran towards me like a boy and hugged me. From his strong arms, I could tell how anxiously he had been waiting.

“uh! Director. “I still like women.”

“Ahh! I think I’m going to like men. haha”

“ha ha ha”

I had a happy reunion with people like that. After the brief event, we decided to spend some time on our own.

The weather in Tawi-Tawi, Philippines, where temperatures often reached 30 degrees Celsius even in winter, was quite chilly in late fall.

For a moment, I had an eerie thought. Now was the time to share the joy of reunion with people.

A feast was held in the Shinheung Camp auditorium.

Director Kim Wan-jun seemed to have prepared well. There was endless laughter everywhere.

Other agents looked in awe as they watched the saga of OSS Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie team members. It seemed like the Delta team members were especially disappointed to see that.

It seemed even more so because the Delta team was a team that played a major role in the operation to eradicate the MILF (Moro Islamic Liberation Front) in Mindanao.

Director Kim Wan-jun never ceases to brag about the farm he has built. In fact, he was a bit boring.

The Shinheung Camp residential complex, which I looked around at first glance, was decorated and looked as neat and pretty as any other country housing complex in Korea.

“Oh, indeed, director.”

“yes. “Did you find out what I asked you to do when I left?”

“ah. “You mean indoor farming?”

“yes.”

“haha. So I tried a few things myself at the farm house.”

“oh! “I’m curious.”

“First of all, the conditions I thought of were stable electricity and water supply, taking up less space…”

“…”

“I selected crops that could be harvested within two to three weeks and cultivated them myself under conditions similar to those of a submarine.”

“Oh oh!”

Director Kim Wan-jun continued his explanation with sparkling eyes as if excited.

“First, most crops that primarily eat leaves were possible. Things like lettuce, spinach, and kale. And almost all types of mushrooms grew well even in low light.”

“Hoo! Keep going. haha”

“What I was particularly interested in was strawberries. “Strawberries bear fruit better under artificial lighting than I expected.”

“Wow, that must be a really special reward for a submarine crew.”

“And bean sprouts too”

“Ah~ I guess so.”

“Root vegetables such as radishes and carrots are also possible. We need some space.”

“If you research more, there may be better crops. Please find out if there are any experts in that field. “If necessary, it would be better to hire an indoor farming expert at this time.”

“ah. all right. Oh, and herbs like basil and mint grow especially well and take up less space.”

“oh. In that case, maybe cigarettes…”

“Kkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk”

“why?”

He continued talking, suppressing laughter as if it was fun.

“No, I just thought it was a bit funny. In fact, I thought you would ask that, so I did some research.”

“oh!?”

“It is possible. “I haven’t tried it”

“is it so?”

“The conditions are a bit strict. First, the light source must be an LED with a large spectral range, and soil and some fertilizer are required. however ···.”

“however?”

He stood up, raised his palms to his chest level, and continued speaking.

“The problem is that even the short dwarf breeds require a lot of space. Definitely…”

“…”

“It takes anywhere from several weeks to several months to dry tobacco leaves. “We were able to get the tobacco leaves we wanted.”

“Ah… it’s so inefficient.”

“Here, you are satisfied with the 100,000 sacks you have accumulated. ha ha ha”

“yes. ha ha ha”

…

Meanwhile, Deputy Director Lee of the headquarters (National Intelligence Service) happily resigned and came to Tawi-Tawi. He said his family was also preparing to move immediately.

There was another reason for waiting for him to come.

It was because I wanted to hear your opinion about Alexei (code name Dnepr).

I explained to him the circumstances that led to hiring Alexei and bringing him here.

“I want to hear what Deputy Director Lee thinks.”

“Well… I don’t think it’ll be a problem. “I think it will be helpful to this flagship project.”

“Please tell me in more detail.”

He cleared his throat once and continued speaking with a serious face.

“First of all, there are many such unofficial assets among the professional workforce. And even more so if it is a submarine nuclear reactor in that field.”

“ah ···.”

“I don’t know, but there must have been ties to Russia. “It’s useless now that your identity has been exposed.”

“I just need a reactor engineer. What does it mean to help my business?”

Deputy Director Lee seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment.

“That’s right, the hottest place in this industry these days is the Ukrainian SBU.”

“?”

“The CIA and MI6, who usually have difficulty finding contacts due to the war, can make connections through the Ukrainian Security Service.”

“I guess so.”

“At the top is Daddy Bear Ghost Bear. If you have Dnepr with you, you will be able to gain his trust even more. Of course, I left the company because of that person. haha”

“okay. “What about Daddy Bear?”

“That’s a nickname we gave ourselves. “Papa Bear is in charge of operations against Russia, and Mama Bear is in charge of intelligence in other regions and within the country.”

“Then is there anything I need to be careful about while continuing to use Alexei (Dnepr)?”

“If CEO Lee keeps his job, both Dnieper and Daddy Bear will be grateful.”

He paused for a moment and seemed to gather his thoughts.

“The Dnieper’s identity has been exposed and its base has been lost, so its value as an information asset has almost disappeared, so its future will be uncertain. but!”

“but?”

“You’d better be very careful about handling secrets.”

“I’ve been thinking about that.”

“Give one and take one is the courtesy of this industry, but they don’t pay for something you pick up for free. And you never know how information will flow through the SBU.”

“ah. “Thank you for your words.”

Deputy Director Lee looked around with a serious expression and spoke again in a low voice.

“And this is…”

“?”

“Now that I’m your person, I think it’s better to tell me and move on.”

“which?”

“You know Paperclip, right?”

“Yes, I checked after Operation Taiman.”

Deputy Director Lee bowed his body and lowered his voice even further as he spoke.

“A separate high-level list was created and updated. “You and everyone involved with the OSS were in there.”

“yes?”

“It means it has been classified as an important management resource. Nothing to worry too much about! The person in charge is my junior. “I think I’ll join that list now.”

“ah ···.”

“And actually, no matter how dishonorable my retirement is, it doesn’t make sense for me to get re-employed at OSS.”

“But how?”

“Head office sent me as if they were planting me as a backup resource at OSS, which was having a hard time managing it.”

“That’s true…?”

Deputy Director Lee looked me in the eye with an unusually serious expression and continued speaking.

“I don’t want to lie to you again.”

“…”

“And I have faith that you will not do anything that is against the national interest. haha”

“Then what about dishonorable retirement?”

“Shipa! It’s real. “When I told them to resign and say I was going to OSS, they pretended to be generous and classified me as an unofficial asset.”

“ah ···.”

“Actually, deep down, I thought it went well. You acted like your pride was crushed. ha ha ha”

“okay. Anyway, since the days are getting colder, I hope you can have a relaxing time here.”

“Draw it, draw it. “Thank you.”

OSS continued to refer to him as Deputy Director Lee. His official title was Information Advisor, but he was more comfortable calling himself Deputy Director Lee.

…

It has been a long time since I felt the peace of daily life at Tawi-Tawi Sinheung Camp.

The news that the Lee Hoe-young and the 9th ship would arrive in a few days awakened me with joy. In that awakening, something happened that made me come to my senses again.

It was a sign that real winter was coming.

I checked the temperature as the weather had become quite chilly.

Tawi-Tawi is the southernmost part of the Philippines and is a warmer place, so the temperature was recorded at 17 degrees.

However, the temperature in Manila, Philippines dropped to 10.5 degrees Celsius.

Although it was only the beginning of winter, it was the lowest temperature in Philippine history.

The lowest temperature recorded was in the Manila port area on January 11, 1914.

It was truly an uproar. Verb verbs were appearing all over the Philippines. I didn’t understand the idea of ​​freezing to death at 10 degrees Celsius, but it was true.

I checked today’s date and it was December 7th.

‘If it gets colder than this…’

…

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