studiobondurri Chapter 142: The Empire of Evil
Chapter 142: The Empire of Evil
Chapter 142: The Empire of Evil
“I know it sounds a bit boastful to say this about my own daughter, but she is a former Miss Russia. She is going to graduate from Moscow State University next year. A Russian beauty and a Korean ruler... don’t they seem like a perfect match? It would be a true union.”
He was delusional on a grand scale.
Yu Ji-ha forced a smile and cut him off.
“I have Arma.”
“Isn’t she your secretary? Stalin had several secretaries, but he also had a wife. It’s fine. Russians don’t ask about what happens under the desk.”
He might have said that to show his generosity, but to Yu Ji-ha, he looked like a fool who wasted his years.
What kind of nonsense was he saying to a foreign politician who was not even his ally?
“Maybe you misunderstood something, but Arma is not only my secretary, but also the person who will become my wife.”
“Really? How come I didn’t know that?”
“Because there was no reason to tell you.”
In fact, Yu Ji-ha had carefully planned to make himself the successor.
Arma would get pregnant this year and give birth to a healthy child.
Of course, that child would not be a normal life form, but a dummy.
Even Arma’s pregnancy was fake, since she was an android.
Everything was focused on making the real Yu Ji-ha, who was stored in a bio-bag, able to rule the United Human Federation in about 30 years.
If he didn’t know these things, he would find their relationship strange.
As the silence dragged on, Congressman Borchenko hurriedly changed the topic.
“Anyway, you have to admit that the land that Korea took is too much.”
“Let me tell you in advance. I can adjust the border line with Russia a little bit, but I can’t back down an inch otherwise. If Russia officially comes out with a renegotiation argument, I will think again.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I mean, I will treat Russia normally.”
“Ha ha... Are you trying to be gentle because of your relationship with the former president? Do you even know how much he fought because of that?”
“He gave up that much land as a condition of the deal, so he must have had a lot of disputes.”
“It was not just a lot of disputes. Seventeen people died. The parliament was almost in a state of war. There was too much opposition.”
It took a long time for the agreement to pass because President Putin needed time to sort out his internal affairs.
The land was so vast that there were no joke of people who opposed it, and President Putin must have crushed all the opposing opinions.
Yu Ji-ha remained silent and Borchenko spoke more passionately.
“We sold Alaska for a cheap price and we have regretted it ever since. But the land we agreed to give to Korea is several times bigger than that. Just for some technologies.”
“Some technologies? You are belittling the things that made Russia what it is today.”
“What made Russia today is the Russian people. Of course, technology also contributed a lot, but...”
“But isn’t it strange? Why hasn’t the average wage in Moscow changed in 10 years?”
President Putin accepted Yu Ji-ha’s technology and greatly increased Russia’s competitiveness and GDP ranking.
But it was not easy for the Russian people to enjoy the fruits of that.
It was because of the Russian-style vested interests like Borchenko and Dmitri.
What if they had nuclear fusion plants?
The companies of the United Russia Party members who swore loyalty to Putin would suck them dry in the middle.
The two Russian psychers he recruited before also complained that their salaries were too low.
When Yu Ji-ha pointed out that injustice, Borchenko’s voice lowered.
“I acknowledge your deep connection with Russia, but I don’t appreciate your interference in our internal affairs.”
“I’m just asking. Where did all that money go?”
“You seem to want to pin the blame on me, but I’m just a servant. If you knew about the former president’s hidden assets, you would be shocked.”
“I don’t care about his hidden assets. What I want to say is, we already made an agreement and it can’t be reversed.”
“It was just a verbal promise from the former president.”
“It was an agreement that passed the Russian Senate.”
“That can be reversed if the Senate decides. It hasn’t been officially announced yet.”
“What do you and Russia gain by doing this?”
“The former president was blinded by technology and gave up too much land. By the way, Minister Dmitri thinks the same way.”
“Then you have no choice but to reverse everything to before 2026. Do you want that?”
“Of course not. I just think we need some partial renegotiation.”
“I have no intention of doing that.”
“So we’re back to square one.”
“Make your choice. Either reverse everything or keep your promise.”
“I would like to choose the third option that has not been offered to me.”
“You probably want to move the public opinion in Russia and ally with the US or France to pressure me. You might also reduce the export of raw materials.”
Yu Ji-ha listed the plans that Borchenko and Dmitri had discussed, and he awkwardly cleared his throat.
“If you join hands with me, I will cancel all those plans immediately. You will get both my daughter and Russia.”
Would it really be like that in a few decades?
Yu Ji-ha could bet everything that Borchenko had no intention of doing that.
“I refuse.”
“That’s a pity. Oh, by the way, I’m not saying that Russia is hostile to you.”
They wouldn’t openly be hostile.
But they would subtly interfere with the resource exploration and give orders to the local bureaucrats.
They would also collaborate with the US or France in Aether research.
From that point of view, Borchenko was a very narrow-minded person.
He fell for France’s gravity show and wanted to cooperate with them.
He wanted to break the agreement and end the war after taking advantage of the troops gathered near Estonia.
After the call ended, Arma updated the information on Borchenko and Dmitri.
“It seems that they gained confidence in Russia’s military power after taking control of the troops near Estonia.”
“Isn’t that half of what we made?”
“People tend to forget that when they receive orders. They feel like they can do anything with the military power in front of them.”
The bottom line was that their actions were based on unfounded confidence.
He wanted to shatter that confidence, but it was not a good time to pay attention to foreign affairs.
“What can we do? If we assassinate them, it will only make them more alert... Is there a better way?”
“I want to suggest a traditional method here. To boost our momentum.”
“Boost our momentum?”
“People like Borchenko and Dmitri tend to be obsessed with appearances. They would feel that Master and Korea have high technology, but not much overall national power.”
“They must have received the report on this war from the intelligence agency.”
“People usually pick and choose the information they want to see.”
The world media speculated that the treatment of psychers in the western countries that valued freedom and human rights was terrible, so Korea must be hell.
Naturally, they poured out their condemnation.
―We know you don’t care about human lives, but wouldn’t it be better to at least reveal the number of psychers you have?
―The facility is certainly impressive and clean in size. But no one knows what horrible things are happening inside.
―Please, I beg you, I hope it’s not human experimentation.
Yu Ji-ha did not react to the sharp criticism.
Rather, dozens of videos that refuted him poured out through platforms like YouTube.
They were videos of the lives of psychers and researchers who worked at the Aether research facility.
The people who saw the videos had various reactions.
―Are they the ones who are suffering? They all look fine.
―What are they doing? They should at least be better than the evil empire ruled by a tyrant.
―We can no longer trust the government. They must disclose all the research and facilities related to Aether and psychers.
The governments of various countries could no longer endure and came up with lame excuses.
―The cases that are happening in some research institutes are exaggerated, and they have been improved or are being improved.
―Rather, we should be wary of whAether this situation is not someone’s conspiracy.
Someone probably meant Yu Ji-ha, the ruler of Korea and the United Human Federation.
He had the world’s largest Aether research facility under his control, but he never revealed any information related to Aether and psychers.
He didn’t even disclose how many psychers he had.
This was a perfect way to attract public criticism.
The world media speculated that the treatment of psychers in the western countries that valued freedom and human rights was terrible, so Korea must be hell.
Naturally, they poured out their condemnation.
―We know you don’t care about human lives, but wouldn’t it be better to at least reveal the number of psychers you have?
―The facility is certainly impressive and clean in size. But no one knows what horrible things are happening inside.
―Please, I beg you, I hope it’s not human experimentation.
Yu Ji-ha did not react to the sharp criticism.
Rather, dozens of videos that refuted him poured out through platforms like YouTube.
They were videos of the lives of psychers and researchers who worked at the Aether research facility.
The people who saw the videos had various reactions.
―Are they the ones who are suffering? They all look fine.
―Why does it look better there to me? Where is hell?
Some media claimed that it was propaganda, but there were too many videos and testimonies.
Among them, there were many psychers from the western countries, including the United States.
“I don’t understand why everyone sees this place so badly. It’s like heaven for us.”
“If you look at the streets, you’ll see that it’s a complete melting pot of races. And yet, it’s surprisingly free and active.”
“Evil empire? I get what kind of perspective you have on this place, but there’s nothing like that.”
There were some bad reviews, but they were only about the lack of variety in products and the similar scenery everywhere that bored them.
As these testimonies continued, naturally, the mention of related issues decreased.
They couldn’t criticize their own government, so they decided not to report it as instructed by their superiors.
Meanwhile, news of a victory parade in Korea drew attention from various countries.
―They eliminated most of the war machines and yet they hold a parade that is the epitome of inefficiency. How ironic.
―They said they would abolish conscription, but do they have such an army?
But they couldn’t help being interested.
Korea and the United Human Federation had fought several wars and won every time, but this was the first time they had such a public event.
Some people even hoped that something new might appear.
And soon after, the schedule and location were announced.
A huge crowd gathered on the newly built highway between Kaesong and Pyongyang.
***
After Yu Ji-ha declared a 10-year closure, access to North Korea was completely blocked.
The military and some NGOs were allowed to enter, but people didn’t know what was going on inside.
They only heard that Mega City North was going to be built there.
But in February 2032, a highway leading to Pyongyang was opened.
This highway used to be poorly maintained and comparable to Korea’s local roads, but it was newly built this time.
It had 10 lanes each way and looked pretty cool with black metal.
People admired the long road and imagined Mega City North that would be built in Pyongyang.
“They said they accommodated even Kaesong citizens. It must be huge by now.”
“They released some photos taken by spy satellites from the US. The site is much larger than the existing Pyongyang city.”
“In a few more years, we’ll be able to go straight to Pyongyang on this highway.”
Soon after, the parade began.
The 7th Division led by K-3A2 tanks, which were called the world’s first flying tanks, showed their appearance.
Following them, the Landing Division that first entered Tokyo also marched proudly.
But what caught people’s attention was something else.
It was thousands of androids and combat walkers without skins that were quietly placed on one side of the highway.
They were the actual ground forces of the United Human Federation.
The army of machines that filled up the 10-lane highway gave an immense sense of pressure.
A murmur spread among the people.
“It looks like an Sci-fi movie when machines march like that.”
“The movements are perfectly synchronized. It looks neat but somehow it feels like an evil empire.”
“It would be perfect if they added Hell March music to this.”
Korea’s parades in the past were somewhat loose to avoid looking too rigid, but today was completely different.
And then, hundreds of KF-31 and Caliber drones flew from the distant sky and covered the air.
“Wow, can they fly that low?”
“They usually lose their substance if they are like fighter jets, but they look fine.”
But what really drew people’s attention was something else.
It was a few trains that were quietly placed on one side of the highway.
Everyone wondered why the trains were there.
“There are no rails here. Why did they bring them?”
“Well, the design is well done, but...”
Then the trains rose into the air with a roar.
People’s faces were filled with horror.