“It’s time to decide who must come along.” First, Eli and Benjamin have to move together—no question. Eli for technical reasons. Benjamin because he must oversee the escort operations that will occur while we restore the external power lines and the substations. Who else do I need…? “Tyrone.” It would be appropriate to bring him along; he’s stayed quietly in his place until now. We’ll be swinging by the 7th Defense Force base… He’s the sort of pilot whose real skill only shows once he’s in the cockpit. Bringing him along felt like the absolute minimum. Aside from the smallest essential team, this place must remain as the base camp. That should cover it. I pinched my throbbing temples and took a breath. There was a lot to prepare. More things to worry about than I wanted to count. This operation would be larger in scale than the last extermination mission. We’d have to mobilize not only the Ark unit members but hundreds of ordinary civilians as well. So the plan had to be bulletproof. ***Some time passed. When I glanced around, an odd stillness had settled. Night was quietly creeping in. Had a whole day already gone by? I should go see Benjamin soon. I rose, dusting myself off — I needed to brief him before it got any later. My knees ached from sitting so long. “Hmm.” Fortunately, he was easy enough to find. Far off I could see the familiar silhouette and a trail of cigarette smoke. But someone unfamiliar stood beside him; the posture between them felt slightly awkward. Is Melanie talking with him? Both their faces were set as if discussing something serious. Benjamin sensed me, tapped ash from his cigarette, and saluted. “Commander, you’re here.” “Benjamin.” “Yes, go ahead.” “I mustn’t have interrupted. Come back when you’ve finished.” “No — we’ve just finished an important discussion.” He looked a little embarrassed. Melanie, uncomfortable, whispered in a small voice, “I’ll be going first, Commander.” She left with the hurried gait of someone who’d been caught doing something. “Benjamin.” “Yes?” “Is something wrong?” “Well… no.” He dodged the question with a complicated expression. I didn’t press further and got straight to the point. “It’s nothing else — I want you to take part directly in this operation.” “Directly?” “With Commander Tyrone and Eli as well. Add those two as key personnel.” “When do you plan to carry out the operation?” “Eli and I will move first. I want you to take charge of directing entry as soon as the civilians and the squad members are ready.” “Understood.” We continued to discuss how many people were needed and how the operation would be carried out. Time felt short because, faster than expected, the sun rose. [Day 9 since the mega-flare occurred]

The unit that had shed the name “5th Defense Force” and been reborn as the Ark Unit looked noticeably different; their eyes were sharper. Their hard military discipline gave observers an eerie chill. Behind the soldiers lined up like rulers stood a few awkward civilians, but even that was acceptable. They’ve improved a lot in only a few days. Benjamin and the other commanders performed the roll call and personnel checks, so I didn’t need to step forward. I watched the sequence of events with mild detachment. Soon the core personnel had gathered and the briefing began. Benjamin started. “Roll call complete. Currently there are twenty-two people who need treatment and rest; those will be isolated and treated.” Next, Melanie. “We excluded about a hundred workers for barricade work from the operation, as requested.” Lastly, Tyrone. “I’ll prepare two hundred personnel and arm them.” A few issues were exchanged, but nothing noteworthy. I waited silently for the briefing to end and collected my thoughts. It was time for the important part. “We’re going to restore the nuclear power plant.” Clack—! The commanders snapped to attention without answer. I fixed my gaze on them and continued in a low voice. “Anyone opposed to the operation?”“No.”“No, sir.”“None here.”“There might be some who are skeptical, so I’ll explain the importance of this operation.” I tied up the loose ends of the thought that had been lingering and sat back for a moment. This needed to be explained to them — restoring a nuclear plant wasn’t a simple matter, and they had to understand that. “We’ll restart the reactor, secure water through the [Ant Cave]’s purification facilities, and then activate the [cultured meat cultivation complex] to supply food. That’s the gist of this operation, correct?”“Yes, that’s correct.”“Does anyone know why we’d take on such a troublesome task?”As everyone concentrated, trying to grasp my meaning, Yevgeniya nodded and offered an opinion. “Well… isn’t it to supply what’s necessary for long-term survival?” That was likely what most of them thought — a half-right answer. “This operation isn’t for patching immediate shortages. Even if water is scarce, we can solve that by pumping groundwater.”“Commander, so there’s another reason?”They looked at me with question marks on their faces, surprised.“This operation is more about securing means.”“Hmm!” Water, food, shelter — those are means. Reactivating a power plant is overkill if it were only to save roughly nine hundred people. “What if we had water and food in one hand, and the Ant Cave — a safe dwelling — in the other…? What would people do when they heard that?”“Well, they’d probably approach the unit. It gives them a survival advantage.”“Right. They’d flock here.” Here — the Ark Unit’s stronghold. Many would head this way. “We can use the people who come with what we hold.”“Use… meaning?”“More precisely: turn them into collaborators.” The moment you clutch essentials for survival, many constraints disappear. “If we didn’t have four hundred civilians, we would have had to move the supplies from the logistics warehouse ourselves.”“Yes, fortifying the base… the unit members would’ve suffered.”“Those who need food will move the logistics, surviving doctors will treat patients for a comfortable shelter.”“So in the end, Commander, the picture you see is…” Their pupils flickered. Now that they understood the real reason for this operation, their reactions were visible. “As I said, we can’t carry everything alone. So we find people who can carry it for us.” The Ark Unit’s purpose is extermination. To handle miscellaneous tasks, they needed both carrot and stick in their hands.“What a person can do alone is limited. So is a group… that’s why humanity developed by cooperating.” Human strength lies in cooperation. Not everyone farms but everyone eats agriculture products; not everyone hunts but everyone eats meat — that’s because people build domains and cooperate. Humanity, an intelligent species, built civilization that way. “Securing these means lets us set the stage for focused elimination operations. Yes. In a way, this isn’t simply resource acquisition. “The clue to rebuilding the city — that’s why this operation matters.” It’s a step toward an ending where we rebuild the city, something we haven’t seen before. “That’s all.” Benjamin, as chief of staff, and the commanders raised their hands in a vow, full of resolve. “This is why the operation matters.”“Eli…” She imitated my grave tone and gave me a thumbs-up. I couldn’t help a wry smile. “I didn’t lower my voice that much.”“Right.”“Well…” When she stared at me with those big eyes, it felt oddly intense — almost frightening. She burst into a soft laugh and continued. “But I understand now why we’re doing this.”“Good.”“What should I prepare?”“Hmm.” In this operation, she and I would be like Hansel and Gretel. We decided to move ahead first so we could hang lamps along the route and prevent people from getting lost. The Ant Cave is a literal maze. A small wrong turn could easily create stragglers. We also need to check how many of the creatures are at key points and whether there are survivors. 

Reconnaissance is another important mission. It might look odd for the unit leader to do reconnaissance personally, but I didn’t care about appearances. I would simply take the most rational role for the current situation. Luckily, it didn’t take long to get Eli to understand. Her assessment after hearing everything was simple. “A rather dangerous adventure, isn’t it?”“It won’t be easy.”“Mr. Han always does what he thinks needs to be done, right? I understand everything you said.” Eli agreed and began to prepare her pack. But then, as if something suddenly occurred to her, she cut the flow with an everyday-sounding question. “By the way.” Did she have something to say? She smoothed the skin at her throat and pressed her lips together. “What about Beizen Pharmaceuticals? Isn’t that not planned?”“Oh.” I kept an easy smile but I couldn’t hide my emotions completely. Her wavering eyes looked a little sad. That name — I’d forgotten it for a moment. The absolute presence of this city. Gale Wayless. “That part… not yet. I’m sorry.” She’d asked with some difficulty, but I had no intention of rushing to revive him right away. There was still too much we weren’t ready for. “No, it’s fine. I just asked because I was curious.” She turned away. She still pretended to be cheerful, which made her seem even more pitiable. “Eli.”“Yes?” I told her what I hadn’t yet told her. “To wake Mr. Gale, there are prerequisites.”“What kind?”“Have you heard of clones?”“Clones? You mean clones — duplicate humans? I’ve heard they’re being researched somewhere… surely not?”“Not yet. Maybe after more time passes and the situation calms, ✪ Nоvеlіgһt ✪ (Official version) we’ll revive Director Wayless through cloning. That has the highest chance.” I reached out and wiped a small black smudge off the bridge of her nose. She flinched, surprised — not for any big reason, only because the smudge bothered me. “That’s not like you, keeping things hidden in plain sight.”“Thanks.”“When the time comes, come with me. His granddaughter saved him… Mr. Gale might even give a gift.” The somewhat heavy mood lightened. Her earlier soft laughs turned into a slightly brighter smile.

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