Ch.230The Road to Harpoon Bay (1)

Harpoon Bay.

In truth, the name contained an extremely obscene hidden meaning, befitting the birthplace of Seong Ae-shin.

Harpoon refers to something sharp and long that is rapidly fired, while bay means an inlet—a concave coastal area.

A concave area and something sharp and long being rapidly fired… When you combine these two, doesn’t something come to mind?

“I’m corrupted.”

“Hehe.”

Actually, I’ve been corrupted for quite some time now.

Since I began establishing my sense of self, I’ve seen naked prostitutes and pierced male prostitutes on the streets by the docks.

I learned the reason behind the moans heard every night much later, but it wasn’t particularly shocking.

After all, someone who kills people for money can hardly criticize someone who provides sexual services for money as “immoral,” can they?

Well, many might think losing one’s chastity is more immoral than killing someone, but that wasn’t my opinion.

Honestly speaking, a pierced hymen can just be regenerated, and that’s that.

While we’re replacing arms and legs, why make such a big deal about a first experience?

Anyway, I was now heading to the training room to observe the soldiers’ training.

“My lord.”

“Keep up the good work.”

Soldiers who encountered me along the way saluted me, and I acknowledged each salute until I got tired of it and started responding with a casual raise of my right hand near my head.

Of course, since I was their lord, the soldiers had no complaints.

When I finally arrived at the training room, the battalion commanders who led each unit under the brigade commander were already there.

“There was no need for everyone to gather.”

“Please don’t say that. Everyone has worked hard for this observational training, so they deserve to see Your Lordship’s noble face.”

When I made a casual remark, the brigade commander bowed at a 45-degree angle and replied.

The battalion commanders were bowing so deeply they couldn’t see my face, and so were the soldiers gathered in the training ground.

In reality, this was just like the empty formalities of nobles—reciting pre-planned lines.

I had indicated that the battalion commanders didn’t necessarily have to attend, but in the military world, saying “you don’t have to come” is equivalent to saying “I’ll fire you if you don’t come.” When you think about it, aren’t the military and society quite similar?

“You speak truly. As commanders of the army serving the Sun, you certainly deserve to see me. Isn’t that right? All of you, raise your heads and answer.”

“””Yes!”””

“Excellent spirit. Surely the Sun has heard your determination.”

“””Long live the Sun!”””

There was no soul in their spirited cheer for the Sun.

I had no intention of pushing them.

It’s been 50,000 years since the Sun and Moon ceased to touch this earth.

During that time, the Four Great Gods have bound humanity’s souls instead, and it would take a similar amount of time to break that bondage and bring back the rule of the Sun and Moon.

Even if they had witnessed the miracle I performed, they would have seen the apostles of the Four Great Gods at least once in their lives.

Considering that even I remain at the gold rank because I’m drawing divine power through what amounts to a loophole, I was well aware that I couldn’t match the strength of the apostles who shine brilliantly like jewels beyond metal and have literally transcended humanity.

That includes my subordinates.

*

“Good. Let’s begin now.”

“Yes! Everyone stand! Our master wishes to observe your training! Give it your all!”

“””Long live the Sun!”””

After the soldiers responded, the training room’s equipment began to activate.

Training using virtual reality and augmented reality was very intuitive and easy to understand, with the tremendous advantage of being close to reality, allowing for quality troops to be trained in a short period.

The only issues were the high maintenance and management costs, as well as the very large initial investment.

But with the Sun’s blessing, fortunately, our party and my army had never experienced financial problems so far.

“Enemy sighted!”

“12 o’clock direction! 450 meters!”

“Each platoon prepare to engage!”

The battalions forming the brigade took their positions in an orderly and disciplined manner to face the holographic enemies.

They established firing positions and sent forward the vanguard.

One could call them toy soldiers who had only practiced against limited environments and limited enemies, but not many people knew that in actual combat, even those toy soldiers would be invaluable.

Soon, medium machine guns and field artillery loaded with training dummy warheads began firing, and shortly after, the discharge sounds of submachine guns and shotguns could be heard.

“Prepare for close combat!”

“””Prepare for close combat!”””

As they entered the close combat phase, soldiers drew swords, spears, and blunt weapons, waiting for orders from their non-commissioned officers and platoon leaders.

As the holographic enemies approached, whistles from officers and NCOs were heard.

“Break formation! Attack!”

“””Commence individual combat!”””

Thus began the ridiculous yet serious battle with massless enemies, and it took about an hour for the blue holograms to turn red and disperse.

The total training of about three hours ended that way, and the officers—under the tremendous psychological pressure of being observed by the Sun’s Apostle who paid their salaries—were so tense that some collapsed on the spot when the end-of-training bell rang.

In fact, this itself wasn’t much of a problem.

After three hours of intense combat, it was normal for some soldiers to faint, and with proper support, it wasn’t difficult to get them back into fighting condition.

Indeed, those who collapsed were quickly supported by their comrades and taken to the medics.

“What’s wrong with those soldiers?”

“P-probably just too much tension. It happens. Especially when officers are observing.”

But it would be a shame to end the training like this. Come to think of it, while the soldiers’ discipline has been well maintained, I’ve been a bit lenient with the officers, haven’t I?

Just as screws need to be tightened periodically, there’s a need to maintain discipline among the officers.

With that thought, I smiled slightly and began to put pressure on my subordinates.

“Even so, a soldier who collapses while still supposedly in enemy territory can only be described as lacking in basic physical fitness. Which unit does that soldier belong to?”

“The… 4th Battalion, sir.”

“I see. 4th Battalion Commander. What do you think?”

“Yes! 4th Battalion Commander! Lieutenant Colonel Meyers Holden! To prevent such incidents in the future, I will implement enhanced basic physical training and special warrior training for all battalion members!”

When I called on the 4th Battalion Commander, Lieutenant Colonel Meyers Holden sprang up from his seat as if his legs had springs attached and rattled off his improvement plan like a machine gun.

Though invisible, his back was undoubtedly getting soaked with sweat.

“Haha. You’ll kill all your soldiers that way. Don’t you think?”

“Well… that…”

“Not everyone can become a special warrior. There are limits to basic physical training too. Spending all day on physical training makes one a bodybuilder, not a soldier. Do it in moderation. In moderation.”

“Yes! I will humbly obey your command!”

With those words, the 4th Battalion Commander, who had given a respectful salute, sat back down.

“Good! Very spirited!”

I gave a thumbs up and rose from my seat.

The training was over, and the soldiers returned to their barracks.

All that remained was my evaluation as the final decision-maker and commander-in-chief.

“So… how was it, my lord?”

“It was excellent training. While they may not achieve the same results in actual combat as in training, they have at least proven to me that the Sun’s soldiers can fight whether above the sky or below it.”

In reality, my army had defended the Sky Warden under extreme conditions where a quarter of them died.

Considering that the existence of tactical objectives serves to secure strategic value, it could be said that we had given up victory at the tactical level to achieve victory at the strategic level.

Even with 2,500 new recruits, nothing had changed.

They were my army, and I was the Sun’s Apostle.

“I expect you to continue to strive for excellence, my army.”

“We are your army. As long as you lead us, we will serve you with loyalty.”

“Even if your pay is delayed?”

“Ah, then we’d have to resign.”

After this very sensible exchange of question and answer, I left the training room, giving the officers some breathing room.

By the way, putting pressure on subordinates was… more fun than I expected. This must be why those noble young ladies at Parsifal picked on me, who seemed easy to bully.

Well, I found it more enjoyable to cut off their limbs and burn them.