The mont they heard that sound, the trio naturally went silent as they waited for the device to connect. The tension in the room grew a little as they anticipated a reply.
Seconds passed and quickly turned into minutes as they all watched the device. Eventually, Talon couldn't keep his expression as he shifted his gaze to Hyun-Ki.
"Is this normal?" He asked.
"... Yeah, it takes a few minutes."
'I guess the lack of satellite connection does make it harder to contact the outside world.' Talon thought to himself as he exhaled.
"Ok, since it's going to take so ti. Let repeat what you're going to say exactly when the connection is established. I want you to first act normal and say these exact words, if you change a single word, I'm going to cut your head off. Understood?"
"Yes, yes." Hyun-Ki rolled his eyes.
"If they ask you about the current situation, say 'Everything seems fine so far. We have discovered a few groups of survivors to the north but they aren't much of a threat. We might try to integrate them into the base.' And then ask them about the current situation in Japan seamlessly. Any questions?"
"Hmm, that's clear enough. Oh, one last question."
"What?"
"Can I ask them about the progress of the plan?"
"Plan? What plan?" Hearing that part, Talon focused on Hyun-Ki.
"Oh, I didn't tell you? I have been working with Japan to establish a safe passage through the ocean."
Talon blinked in surprise. "What did you just say? Japan is trying to clear a path through the ocean to reach Korea?"
"That's what I'm saying."
"Why didn't you say that from the start?" Hyun-Jae glared daggers at the limbless man.
"You never asked ." He shrugged with his non-existent arms.
"This fucker!" Hyun-Jae clenched her teeth as she was about to grab him and beat him up. But, Talon stopped her.
"Let's calm down here." He said as he turned to the man. "Explain when and how this operation started and what the progress is."
"Sigh, and my big mouth. So, basically, ever since I was able to contact the outside world, we have been planning to reestablish so kind of way to travel back and forth through the sea. We wanted to use the air at first, but that didn't go well."
"Why?"
"Monsters… Flying monsters to be exact. They imdiately shot down all the war jets we sent. It was hectic."
'Hmm, that makes sense. The sea is probably riddled with all kinds of flying abominations.' Talon mused.
"Then, we decided that the sea is better since we can at least clear a path through it. I have sent so people to the other side of the country to work on it."
"How long has this been going for?"
"Two weeks give or take."
'Fuck, that's a long ti. I wonder if the people on the other side are already making progress.'
Even though this news was sudden, Talon could feel the weight of the problem almost imdiately. The fact that Japan was already working on reaching South Korea ant that it wouldn't take them as long as he wanted to realize what happened.
What was a few months to a year before might beco a very short period of ti. It would very much ruin his plans if things worked out to their benefit.
Rubbing his chin, Talon fell into deep thought. 'This is so annoying, tsk!' Clicking his tongue, he turned to Hyun-Jae. The girl had the sa troubled look as he was.
"How long do you think it might take to finish this?" He asked. "Or, is it even possible? I have already co across sea monsters and they aren't sothing humans could face." He said.
"I don't know, that's why I'm asking for permission to inquire about it in the first place," Hyun-Ki said.
'No matter how I think about it unless Japan has a huge group of exceptionally strong humans, they shouldn't be able to do anything.'
Even when he only fought a single sea monster, Talon almost died because of it and that was only from one single Kraken. The ocean was vast, and it certainly contained even more terrifying creatures lurking in there.
'This is a foolish plan, very foolish. But… In the off chance that it works, it might beco a huge pain in the ass!' He sighed inwardly.
Logic said that it was impossible, but Talon knew that a few months was more than enough to change many things about the world and the current situation. After all, they have barely passed the first expansion a few weeks ago and its effects are still working. The world was now way bigger than before and everyone could feel that.
It was as if they were a bunch of mice living in a giant's world.
'In any case, I need to accelerate the progress on the plans. In three… No, two weeks, Seoul must be completely cleared. Luckily, we have a bigger army now so things would go faster.'
As he was contemplating his future steps, Talon heard the sound of the device in his hand change. Imdiately, his unfocused eyes snapped back to reality as he turned to Hyun-Jae.
"Shhh!" He said.
Then, he slowly approached Hyun-Ki and put the speaker next to his ear. A few seconds later, a muffled voice spoke through it.
"This is the main Base in Tokyo. Nakamura Hitomi speaking. Do you copy?" The voice clearly belonged to a woman as she spoke in a monotonous tone. She seed rather fluent in Korean with a subtle Japanese accent that Talon imdiately noticed.
"This Bang Hyun-Ki from the human society in Gwangju, roger."
"Good evening, Mister Hyun-Ki." The woman replied. "What is your purpose of calling? Is there a problem?"
"No, not at all," Hyun-Ki replied in a formal tone. "I was just going to check on you guys since we didn't talk in a while."
"The next scheduled eting is in two weeks, Mister Hyun-Ki." The woman replied coldly.
"Yes, I know."
"Then, if there are no ergencies, please refrain from using these calls for unimportant talks."
Hearing that, Talon squinted his eyes. 'The way she's talking to him… She definitely has a high position.' Talon thought to himself as he continued listening quietly.
"Wait, Miss Nakamura, give a mont. I do actually have a problem." Hyun-Ki changed his tone. "It's concerning 'Project Poseidon'."
"What about it?"
"I have lost contact with my n in Busan the last few days. They have been sending pieces of information about their progress exploring the shores down there and now I didn't receive a single thing from them."
'What? Is this true?' Talon and Hyun-Jae looked at each other. The things that Hyun-Ki was saying were new to them. Hyun-Ki stared at them with a 'Let handle this' look and it only made them even more alerted.
'This bastard.' Talon thought to himself.
"Did you try to send a group to investigate?" The woman asked.
"Yes, but they're still on their way. It will take another day to reach Busan so I wanted to ask if your progress is going well so far?"
"..." The woman went silent for a second.
'Is she suspicious?' Talon frowned as he held his breath. He feared that she noticed a lie in Hyun-Ki's words. It took a nerve-wracking 10 seconds before she finally spoke again.
"We have made sure the shores of Fukuoka are safe and our teams are now slowly exploring further into the Ocean. Tsushima island is going to take a while to reach." She explained.
"Oh, there were no problems dealing with the monsters?" Hyun-Ki asked.
'Good question, shithead.' Talon nodded his head. This was sothing he wanted to know.
"The shores were safe. We don't know about the deeper ocean yet. It's going to take so ti to get clear information."
"Oh, good, good."
"As for your group, it isn't our problem that they couldn't do their job correctly. Our deal is still going. You have to clear a path to Tsushima in the period of ti given or there will be consequences."
"I know, it's just a mishap. I'm still working on it." Hyun-Ki rolled his eyes tiredly.
"Is there anything else?" She asked.
Hyun-Ki glanced over at Talon, who shook his head.
"No, that is it." He replied. "Thank you for your assistance and do tell Mr Sato to contact as soon as possible."
"Understood."
With that, the line was cut off instantly without saying another word. When that happened, Talon slowly put down the device as he exhaled a small breath.
"Good, you didn't say anything."
"Of course, my intentions are clear. I'm going to keep my word." He smiled.
Seeing that smile, Talon sighed as he turned around. 'I don't want to even know what he's thinking of. As long as he doesn't do anything, he can rot in here for a while.'
With that, he stood up. "Let's leave."
"Aren't we going to contact other countries?" Hyun-Jae asked confusedly.
"No, I decided not to. At least not now. If we contact them all at the sa ti, they might suspect sothing. We have to tread carefully." He explained as he picked up the device.
"That makes sense."
"Hey… One last thing. Can I at least get so light in here? I don't want to go blind, please." He said.
Talon turned around and stared at him before shaking his head. "No, you won't get one yet. If you continue to behave, I might reconsider."
"Oh, man!"
A//N: If you enjoyed reading, don't forget to support the book with GT and PS. Thank you!
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