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The U.S. government had officially elevated Camp Roberts’ status. Plans to increase its military presence and size by transforming it into a fortified base had already taken off.

As a result, it wouldn’t take long before it would be called Fort Roberts.

The treatment of refugees had also improved, with the construction of row houses now beginning in the refugee zone. Row houses were prefabricated buildings designed for efficiency rather than aesthetics, but they were still superior to tents in all aspects.

Refugees sent to the construction site were highly motivated. Everyone, regardless of age or gender, wanted to help. Those with architectural expertise taught them. Because they stayed up all day and night, complaints came from the engineering unit in charge, but the scheduled construction period had been cut in half.

Gyeo-ul commented, “Everyone must be happy. The refugees are building their future with their own hands.”

Third battalion commander of 160th Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Capston, agreed with him.

“Hope is a necessity in life. I think it must be very frustrating being forced into lethargy. Of course, this era is more full of misfortunes than hope….”

He glanced at Gyeo-ul, slurring his words. “Hmm?” Gyeo-ul responded curiously. The lieutenant colonel said nothing and brought up another topic.

“There are suspicions that the damage from the Christmas attack was significantly less than reported. Did you happen to know about that?”

“I guessed. There have been too few announcements since some of the garrisons were erased.”

“As expected… How’s the atmosphere among the refugees?”

“Are you afraid this will deepen their distrust of the U.S. military?”

“Honestly, I am. Trust is more important in times like this. We don’t know if or when the same thing will happen again.”

Certainly, trust was an important factor. That night, Gyeo-ul had also been wary of the possibility of the refugees panicking. In such a situation, faith was needed to suppress confusion. Confidence made people feel it was safe to follow orders.

The worst order was far better than the best chaos, at least in terms of maximizing group survival.

Gyeo-ul replied with a light smile. “Don’t worry. The refugees will have no reason or time to think about it for the time being.”

“I know there’s no time, but what do you mean no reason?”

“You know. Happiness sometimes comes from comparative advantage.”

The lieutenant colonel was not a dull man. He immediately understood what was at the core of the matter.

The incident had stabilized the refugees who had been in Fort Roberts when it was still a camp. This was because they had overcome the crisis so well compared to others.

The impoverished appearance of the newly-introduced refugees and citizens was crucial. Using them as a sample, the original refugees confirmed their luck. Those from some camps said some of them were dead; other camps had been completely exterminated. There was little or no sympathy among these rumblings. Those who were worried only cared about their own safety.

“That’s cold. They shouldn’t be happy about other people’s misfortunes.”

Hearing this, Gyeo-ul naturally thought of Capston as his brother. ‘I wish you happiness, but you won’t be happy.’ Ever since the boy had become concerned that the lieutenant colonel would be unhappy here, he’d tried to act like his normal self every time he visited. However, he felt afraid that the effort wasn’t enough.

When the boy officer’s complexion darkened, Capston, who misunderstood, encouraged him with quiet words.

“Don’t worry too much about what you can’t do. It’s uncertain they’ll still be alive tomorrow. If things change, people will get better. We’ll make it so.”

Gyeo-ul didn’t answer. The misunderstanding seemed to deepen even more.

Just in time, the loud sound of trees being felled in the neighborhood cut off the conversation. Heavy equipment made for logging operations was being used to cut down trees. When it was placed on a trailer, it was secured by a workforce and transported to a sawmill at the foot of the Black Mountain. After passing through San Miguel from Port Roberts and running about fifteen kilometers southeast of Paso Robles, a small town named Creston appeared. Nine kilometers south of that was Black Mountain.

Today’s mission was Convoy Escort. In fact, the same mission had been getting repeated since January because air transport alone could not handle the consumption of Fort Roberts’ supplies. The newly-appointed camp commander was so motivated that he declared that he would procure wood himself instead of delaying any construction work.

Refugee workers and volunteers were mobilized for the work. It would not be easy to restart the abandoned facilities, but there were many suitable engineers among the refugees. Since the power supply was resolved, it had been easy.

Someone then called out to Gyeo-ul in Korean.

“Captain! I think you’ll have to come in for a while!” It was one of the combatants from the Winter Alliance. He was panting a lot, probably from running. Gyeo-ul approached him after excusing Lieutenant Colonel Capston.

“What’s going on, Hanbyul? Why didn’t you call me over the radio?”

“I couldn’t do that…”

Gyeo-ul wasn’t worried that a mutant had appeared or anything like that. Nothing had changed in the camp’s atmosphere, and he couldn’t feel any urgency or fear coming from Hanbyul, even though he was panting. However, he did look troubled in many ways.

Hanbyul looked around and whispered, “Yura and Jin-seok are arguing, so I wanted you to stop them.”

“What? Arguing?”

“Yes. They’ve been arguing often lately, but this is worse. Oh, please keep it a secret that I told you this. Okay?

Now Gyeo-ul could see why he hadn’t used the radio. If he had, Yura and Jin-seok would have heard him, and they wouldn’t want Gyeo-ul to see their fight. This also meant that they wouldn’t want to tell Gyeo-ul about it. Perhaps they had even already asked their team members not to say anything. The man in front of him immediately showed signs of that.

‘I knew it was getting worse, but…’

He had been reading the atmosphere through memos from the disabled community. However, there was a limit to what they could find out, as well as a shortage of numbers in the first place.

If it were a fight that would end soon, Hanbyul wouldn’t have come like this. Gyeo-ul went to comfort him.

“You did well to tell me. Relax, I’ll keep the secret for you.”

“Oh, thank God.”

“Go ahead. If we show up together, it’ll look suspicious.”

“Yes! Come on in!” Brightening up, he began to run back.

Gyeo-ul walked in a slightly different direction. Soldiers and volunteers who were standing on the outskirts of the work site looked a little surprised to see him and said hello.

“Are you on patrol?”

“Something like that. Take it easy.”

As he progressed, he began to hear the sounds of a quarrel. Both sides were raising their voices in earnest. They had apparently judged that the noise from the logging operations could not be heard far away.

Gyeo-ul approached from behind the two of them. His arrival was visible to other nearby groups, though, so he signaled them to keep quiet—as if they didn’t know to.

Yura had her hands on her waist as she continued to argue with Jin-seok.

“…So?! Why do you care about other people’s groups?”

Jin-seok seemed to be full of irritation. “How many times do you need me to say the same thing?! I can point out if you have a bad working attitude! That’s what the army is like! What are we doing right now? You’re standing guard! You’re protecting people! Are you going to take responsibility if a mutant shows up? Huh?”

“Who the hell said I let my guard down? Did I doze off or start playing around? I can lean on a tree or sit on a stump for a while! I have to watch properly! Is there a law that says you have to stand still to do that? I’m not a mannequin!”

“Your mind is the problem! This is the middle of a polluted area! You should always be alert! Don’t you understand that if your attitude is bad, your mindset will also be unfocused? I don’t think you realize because it’s your first time in the military, but discipline is important!”

“What about stamina? I can do it for an hour or two. But it’s the whole day! How exhausting it is for a person to stand all day long! If you need to fight, wouldn’t it be advantageous if you had a little more stamina? And the same for your concentration! I think you can stay focused longer if you feel comfortable. The mind and body are the same!”

“Oh my God! Think about the way it looks to other people! Are we the only ones here?”

“You’re just thinking of your pride?”

“Pride is pride, but I’m saying we should be considerate of the people who are working! Those tree-cutters, they trust us to do our job, and if we look disorganized, they won’t feel very confident in us! It’s also part of our job to reassure them!”

It was only a trivial matter, but each of them was saying something reasonable. Yura valued efficiency; Jin-seok emphasized discipline and responsibility. From the beginning, he could not allow people to bother each other.

Gyeo-ul found it novel in itself that a fight had formed. He understood the integrity of being strict with others as he was strict with himself, but it was unexpected to have to fight against Yura, who had a soft personality.

No matter her personality, though, Yura’s relationship with Jin-seok, who always said hateful things, had always been bound to be bad. But that alone was not enough. In Gyeo-ul’s opinion, Yura would have avoided a fight if she had been alone.

Perhaps it was due to a sense of responsibility.

When she had been entrusted with the first combat team leader, she’d said she would do her best not to disappoint Gyeo-ul. Similarly, perhaps she felt responsible for her teammates now?

Thinking about stopping the fight, Gyeo-ul instead decided to wait and see what happened. They both seemed to be offended anyway, and at least they were getting it off their chests. When a person was angry, he or she was still bound to be honest.

Of course, what they said could still be twisted by their anger, so one had to filter it carefully.

Watching the ensuing fight, Gyeo-ul realized two things.

The first was that Jin-seok recognized Yura. If he had kept his first impression of Paso Robles, he would have given up the conversation or made personal attacks, saying that she was such a nuisance. However, he wasn’t. He was angry but still stating his opinion to the end.

The second was Yura’s increased confidence. In the past, she had often shrunk because she blamed herself for not being able to do her part. It was different now. It had been worth training her.

“That’s enough out of both of you.”

Jin-seok and Yura were horrified to hear Gyeo-ul’s voice.

Jin-seok stammered, “H-how long have you been there?”

“Is that important?”

Jin-seok was embarrassed again by the simple rebuttal. The boy relieved him with a smile.

“I’ve listened to you seriously. I think both sides are somewhat correct. Which means there’s only one conclusion. Jin-seok’s battle group will do things Jin-seok’s way, and Yura’s battle group will do as Yura says.”

Even though Gyeo-ul hadn’t taken sides, Jin-seok still didn’t seem satisfied.

“But…”

“This is my final decision.”

Jin-seok shut his mouth respectfully. Gyeo-ul had the right to shut him down, and he had an obligation to follow him. It was what their positions dictated, and Jin-seok clearly understood it.