A small thrill of excitement.If the radio is still functioning, there’s an endless number of things we could do.‘First, we could at least reduce unnecessary casualties.’The [Wave] that had been spinning in my head until a moment ago was a prime example.If we could warn the citizens about the direction the Wave is moving, we could minimize pointless losses.“How long will it take?”“We already finished making a dedicated-channel transmitter. It was something we could do by tweaking a military transmitter a little.”Eli glanced up as she busied her hands.“The problem is that linking with the central control center — the most important one — isn’t easy.”“Why’s that?”“If we connect it through the control center to the other major facilities, it’ll be more stable… but there’s no reply from the central control center. We’re looking for alternatives for now…”So that was what she’d been fiddling with so intently.No reply from the central control center sounded serious. I considered whether Eli might have made a mistake… but that didn’t seem likely.‘If there’s already trouble at the control center… that’s bad.’I couldn’t help but worry. Ken Sasaki, someone we could ask for cooperation, was effectively in charge there.‘Actually, it would be strange if nothing had happened yet.’The central control center sits in the heart of the city. Maybe it was under attack and therefore unable to respond.‘Given the control center’s durability, it shouldn’t be an immediate problem…’But in the end that thought led to a bad conclusion.Before my thoughts could spiral further, someone opened the door and came in.Squeeeeak—“This is…?”“Benjamin.”“What are you doing here?”The sudden visit froze the faces of the communications soldiers.“Is something wrong with the equipment…?”“Ah, Mr. Howard. I was just making a military transmitter usable.”“A military transmitter?”“Ben, I don’t know if this is right…”“We really warned you not to…”Hmm.The atmosphere was tense. Since it was military equipment, they worried civilians might be chastised for modifying it. Nevertheless, Benjamin approached the modified radio equipment with a curious expression, ignoring the tense mood.“This model was about to be scrapped… you’ve got good hands.”Perhaps that reaction was unexpected. The comms soldiers brightened.“Be-Benjamin…?”“After all, they’re allies of ours. If it means one broken piece of communications equipment, it’s negligible.”Then his gaze turned toward me. “May I ask what you intend to use it for?”This was probably something Eli should answer, but she was busy with her hands.“Have you heard of radio?”“If you mean radio…”“Means a way to broadcast by voice.”“How are you going to do that ◈ Nоvеlіgһт ◈ (Continue reading) with a military transmitter…?”“It’s for the Wayless, isn’t it?”“Ah…”He understood immediately and looked at Eli with a new kind of respect. He paused for a moment, as if he had something to say. Benjamin lowered his voice.“Could we move somewhere else? I have something to tell you.”“Hmm.”‘Now you’ve made me curious for no reason.’A strange curiosity stirred. Outside the communications room, Benjamin moved to a corner with a half-collapsed table stood.Only after we reached a quiet place where nobody could overhear did he slowly begin to speak.

“There’s no better place to talk than here.”“Ah.”“Before I say anything, there’s one thing I need to be sure about.”“What is it?”“The mutated citizens… no, the monsters. Is recovery impossible?”“Yes.”“You saw them yourself.”“I asked just in case.”Mutants. All you can really say is that they are barely human. Anyone could guess recovery would be difficult.“Based on battles, I did some analysis.”“Analysis?”“Mr. Han, what do you call the monsters?”“We call them mutants.”If we classified them strictly, they’d be level-1 minions. For now, ‘mutants’ suffices — the situation hasn’t progressed enough to merit stages.“Yes. I’ve analyzed their speed and aggression. The sample size is small, so it’s crude, but as data accumulates it should become meaningful.”“Already?”Even bad intel let the key personnel reorganize their squads. Indeed, it was a quick response. And by ‘key personnel’ he meant real heavy-hitters — comparable to Mother’s guard, maybe even better.Benjamin’s voice trailed off. He seemed hesitant, as if reluctant to get to the point.“You can speak freely.”“Hmm.”That seemed to help. He wiped the hesitation away.“…”“Ammunition is terribly short.”That was what he’d been hesitating over: the most practical reality. Ammunition and weapons. In a place filled with miscellaneous soldiers, stocked military supplies and ammo were sparse.“They’re faster and stronger than ordinary people… they don’t feel pain when injured and keep charging… If you don’t kill them with a single shot, you’ll use a lot of bullets.”“That’s right. But right now, the rifle ammunition in the military base is only 120,000 rounds. There aren’t enough weapons to arm all the soldiers either.”120,000 rounds — and too few weapons to fire them. That was woefully insufficient.In this world, when an operation occurs each soldier is issued about 300 rounds. There’s no way to give five hundred people 300 rounds each with that stock.“It’s funny asking a civilian collaborator this, but do you have any ideas?”“Hmm…”On this subject, the Swordsman would handle things better. Ammunition has always been in short supply in this world.As that idle thought passed, I thought it through more carefully. Could he really have overlooked the ammo shortage? Of course not.He’d already calculated many correct answers — that’s why he were looking for the Fifth Defense Force.“There is a way.”“…!?”“There are so many ways that it’s a problem.”“What ways are there?!”“If there’s nothing, steal it; if stealing gets you nothing, make it. And if you can’t produce ammunition, acquire weapons that don’t need any.”“Huh?”My answer was vague, perhaps too vague. Benjamin looked stunned.“Have you heard of the [Anthcave]?”“If you mean the [Antcave]….”Even if you’d never seen it, you’d have heard of it—anyone who’s had advanced officer training would know it as a civil defense facility.“When Gale Waylesss first designed this city, he built an interconnected underground air-raid shelter system in case of emergency.”“It’s a network of passages built beneath the major facilities and under the subway, and it’s connected to this place as well.”The reason the central control center hadn’t used the [Antcave] to reach us was simple: there wasn’t time. But now that mutants have appeared, there’s no reason not to use it. Even if travel takes longer, it’s far safer.‘Still, we can’t use it forever.’You can use it for about ten days. Since the facility is underground, maintaining it requires pumping out tens of thousands of tons of groundwater every day, and with the power lines dead now, that’s almost impossible.‘Well, if we get the nuclear plant back running, maybe we can restore it.’Even if not immediately, it should be possible to revive later.Setting those thoughts aside, Benjamin was excited.“If the Antcave connects to the Fifth Defense Force base… then other military…”“Yes.”“Hoo… thank goodness. The ammo and weapon problems can be solved easily, then.”He let out a deep sigh as worry evaporated. Watching him, something occurred to me.‘The special equipment you get while farming won’t be usable by unclassified soldiers, will it?’“This is a slightly different matter, but I’m planning to restore the soldiers to regular military status soon.”“……Excuse me?”Was my statement too shocking? Benjamin’s eyes widened.“You mean… restore them to the regular army?”“Of course, since the military leadership is in a vacuum, it might not be an official reinstatement, strictly speaking.”“H-How would that work?”A strange heat spread through the room.“I’ll change the internal military database to mark them as regulars, and if you want, I’ll request an official document from the central control center.”“You… you can really do that?”Restoration to regular military status—maybe everyone here wanted that. Naturally…“It’s possible.”It wasn’t impossible.“Oh my god….”The master key is control over every major facility. Gale Wayless isn’t called the city’s king for nothing. With the master key, converting the Defense Force into regular troops is easier than flipping your hand—if you have a programmer.‘…and Eli is here.’Eli, with her hexagonal stats.I felt a lift in my spirits. Restoring regular status was necessary. As unclassified soldiers, they couldn’t use the Defense Force’s true strength—advanced weapons.‘Even if they could use basic supply power suits, they’ll need regular status to access optical weapons or higher-grade reinforced armor.’But… what was that reaction?“Regular… reinstatement.”His clenched fist trembled slightly, and I found him wearing a look of conflicted affection he couldn’t easily explain. It wasn’t just Benjamin.“Is that… really true?”Had someone been eavesdropping? Or had a few curious people come over when they heard the commotion? That didn’t matter. What mattered was that my offhand remark had created a strange atmosphere.“Can you really restore us to regular military status?”“What? Restore to the regular army?”People kept arriving. As word spread the room filled with uneasy distrust, excitement, and expectation all at once.“That’s impossible.”“Is it really true?”“You mean we can go back to being regular soldiers? Right?”In the middle of it all, I realized something.‘Encounter completion event.’It was a veteran’s intuition. Of the three, two had been clearly completed, but the second encounter—【Defense Forces Facing the Truth】—hadn’t been completed yet and was linked. Now was the time to finish it. That’s why the ideal answer popped out.“I’m only putting back what was taken away.”Was that answer enough? Slowly, the unfinished encounters began to complete.Ding!【The Truth of the Fifth Defense Force Base】[(Announced)]Ding!【Arbitrary Crisis】[(Unpredictable choice: Exterminate)]Ding!【Defense Forces Facing the Truth】[(Unpredictable choice: Persuade)]Ding![+Trait: Charismatic Leader]‘Charismatic Leader—here?!’But that wasn’t the only reward. Something invisible yet perceptible was also gained.That the system message [+Defense Force] was hidden there.

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