Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense

056 – Mother-in-law to be

While Ho-chang was putting his efforts into enhancing the combat power of EDF Team 5, Myung-jun and Soo-jeong were visiting the DARPA Gate Technology Research Facility located in Area 51 of the Nevada Desert through an invitation from her mother, Lee Jeong-hee.

Originally, the research was conducted underground in the DARPA headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, but as the scale of the research grew, they built a new facility and moved the research equipment to Area 51, a special operations area.

Area 51 was originally off-limits to civilians, but Myung-jun could visit the place thanks to the special purpose visit authorization granted by Jeong-hee.

Jeong-hee, who was in charge of the place, had an appearance that was unbelievable for a woman with a daughter in her 20s, at least outwardly.

Seeing her warmly greet Soo-jeong, Myung-jun assumed she was her sister, not even considering that she could be her mother.

“I’m Cha Myung-jun. I’ve never heard that you have a sister.”

Seeing Myung-jun’s amusing reaction, Jeong-hee laughed out loud and said to Myung-jun in a cheerful tone.

“A sister? Ahaha! I’m her stepmother, you know?”

“I know it’s nonsense, but it feels good that people still see me as young. She’s got a great boyfriend, right?”

“you’re always looking for a chance to tease me. I don’t come here often to see you because of that.”

“Hohoho. I understand. I’ll stop teasing. Anyway, Myung-jun, I’d love to chat more, but unfortunately, the purpose of today’s visit is not a meeting, so let’s save personal conversations for next time. Is that okay?”

Myung-jun nodded, and Jeong-hee looked at Soo-jeong with her eyes wide open.

“You’re very considerate…”

“Mom, if you keep making fun of me, I’ll just go back. Did you forget? Today’s meeting was requested by DARPA.”

“Well, that’s true.”

In an instant, Jeong-hee transformed back into an intellectual woman and spoke to Myung-jun in a polite and courteous manner, showing no hint of personal emotions.

“Today, we invited the leaders of the Liberal Clan to get advice on the new equipment we are developing. If possible, we’d like to exchange some technologies. Of course, we know that the technological capabilities of the Liberal Clan are far superior to DARPA’s…”

“Technological superiority and military superiority are different concepts, I suppose. We would like to obtain what we can trade for from the U.S. Department of Defense if possible. Hopefully, today’s deal will yield productive results.”

“You’re a social newbie, aren’t you? Your response is very calm.”

At this point, Soo-jeong, who was leaning on Byung-jun’s arm, shrugged her shoulders and said, “Because he’s our symbol and proud representative of the Liberal Clan.”

“More attached to her boyfriend than her mother whom she hasn’t seen in a long time?”

“I’m sorry, but I’m not sticking around just to protect Myung-jun from my mother’s schemes. Myung-jun has a naïve side, and if I leave him alone, he might fall into my mother’s malicious plans and become a pushover.”

“If it’s for your mother, I think it’s great to have a son-in-law who willingly give it without regret.”

“He may not be regret giving it, but I am. Let me make it clear, if you don’t offer a fair price on your end, we won’t be giving you anything, not even a single bolt.”

“Sigh. Did I raise my daughter wrong? This mom’s heart hurts.”

“I don’t really want to hear about the mother who stole her elementary school daughter’s research notes for the development of new weapons.”

“That ‘Death Ray’ was designed with an unreturnable structure, and the part I referred to was just a small idea inside, is that still in your mind?.”

“I’m not particularly resentful. Thanks to that, I’ve developed the habit of storing the design diagrams of everything I’ve invented since elementary school on a cloud server protected by dozens of firewalls. The accident back then was a tragedy brought about by my amateurish security concept, I think…”

Myung-jun felt the strength in Soo-jeong’s hand wrapped around his arm.

“I won’t let my things be taken away by Mom again. Whether it’s technology or people.”

“When you put it that way, how do you feel about a prospective son-in-law?”

“I’m on the senior’s side, no matter what. Of course, I don’t think my mother-in-law is a bad person, but the technology the Liberal Clan currently possesses is too dangerous for even the U.S. government to handle.”

“Got it?”

“Sigh… Alright. Even so, if you pay a fair price, we’re willing to transfer some technology, right? Otherwise, today’s meeting would be meaningless.”

“It depends on what cards Mom presents.”

“Alright. So, before we trade, should we start by receiving some ‘technical support’?”

Jeong-hee took the two of them to the equipment manufacturing facility inside the underground research lab. There, parts of the equipment that Myung-jun had handed over were disassembled into fragments, arranged in a form that evoked design diagrams.

“I’ll apologize for making the equipment like this, but I couldn’t bring myself to give it to you without taking it apart due to the instinct of a technician.”

“Well, we expected disassembly when we handed over the equipment. Some of it will be disassembled for reverse engineering. So, how can we help you? You wouldn’t make an outrageous request like handing it over in pieces and asking for it to be repaired, would you?”

Jeong-hee had actually considered doing that, but hearing Myung-jun’s words made her feel embarrassed. In response to Myung-jun’s awkward expression, she sighed and said to him, “Electronic devices can’t be repaired without disassembly, you know?”

“I know, but how can you not do it?”

Watching her prospective mother-in-law with both hands clasped and a cute expression, Myung-jun made an embarrassed expression, and Soo-jeong, who squeezed in between the two, said, “It’s not possible.”

“Soo-jeong, now it’s a negotiation taking place between the director of the DARPA Gate Technology Research Facility and the representative of the Liberal Clan. I’m sorry, but if you could just take a brief break?”

“If Mom was just negotiating as the director of DARPA, I would have been fine, but right now, you’re subtly exerting pressure as a prospective mother-in-law. I can’t allow that.”

“Geez. Fine. What do you want?”

“Money.”

“What?”

“I need money. A lot of it.”

“Weren’t you already planning to receive $5 million for each gate-rank upgrade device on this visit? Plus an additional $5 million for the helper fee. If we visit just five gates, that’s $50 million. What on earth are you planning to do with that much money?”

“Clan operations require money. Taxes require money, equipment requires money, and even employees’ salaries all require money. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with having more money, right?”

“My daughter wasn’t this greedy, was she?”

“If it’s for Myung-jun, I’d be a miser, not greedy.”

Jeong-hee did some quick mental calculations, then turned to Soo-jeong and said, “I’ll pay $50,000 for each device.”

“Doesn’t DARPA have the highest budget allocation in the world’s richest U.S. Department of Defense? Since you’re spending it, you might as well spend a little more.”

“The budget itself may come from the Department of Defense, but the amount I can use is limited to what’s allocated to our department. Even then, I have to report all spending details to the higher-ups, and they don’t give family discounts, do they?”

“$1000,000.”

“My daugther…”

Looking at Jeong-hee, who seemed on the verge of tears, a softened Soo-jeong made a new proposal.

“Alright, I got it. You’re not asking for new equipment, just to fix the damaged equipment during the disassembly process, so we’ll take $100,000.”

“Thank you.”

“But in return, please make the payment in firearms.”

“Guns?! You mean personal firearms?”

“Yes. Once the bill related to Awakeners is passed in Korea, civilians can participate in hunting monsters. We can manufacture equipment for hunting monsters at the Clan Headquarters and sell it to civilians. So, we need guns.”

“That means you’ll need ammunition too, right? Give us a list of the types you want, and we’ll get you as many as possible.”

“Alright then. How about showing us the equipment? We want to see how badly it was damaged during the disassembly.”

Soo-jeong examined the defense parts, which were placed in a semi-assembled state. A researcher, wearing a white lab coat, approached Soo-jeong.

“We thought the gloves and connecting parts were made of Kevlar fiber. So, we cut the outer shell to remove the glove parts, but when we put them into the outer shell made of the same type of Kevlar fiber, the defense capabilities were compromised. Initially, the item we received was able to easily withstand even the claws of a monster, but it didn’t perform as expected.”

“That’s because, during the disassembly process, the energy transfer fibers were cut.”

“What’s that?”

“Basically, the Awakener’s energy is absorbed by the defense material, enhancing its defensive capabilities. Despite looking like normal bulletproof fibers on the outside, inside, every fiber is a special fiber made of monster material, roughly one out of every 100 fibers. Since you cut them, the defense capabilities were not working as expected.”

“Ah, but we didn’t find any abnormal materials during disassembly.”

“Didn’t I mention it before? These special fibers only function when an Awakener is wearing them, you didn’t disassemble it while the awakener was wearing it, right?”

“That’s true, but…”

“The special fibers inside the defense equipment behave like regular Kevlar fibers when worn in their default state, or when worn by civilians. They feel like tough fibers that are a bit hard to cut.”

“Does that mean that the defense is weakened when civilians wear it?”

“No, when worn by ordinary people who aren’t Awakeners, the energy from the monsters that comes into contact with the fiber is absorbed, increasing its strength. Of course, it’s not as strong as when directly drawn from Awakeners, but it can still easily withstand the attacks of Rank 2 monsters. When worn by Awakeners, depending on the individual’s abilities, it can usually withstand attacks from Rank 3, and even up to Rank 4 monsters.”

Ultimately, what she was saying was that to fix the equipment disassembled by DARPA, they needed these ‘special fibers’. After some hesitation, the researcher finally spoke.

“By any chance, can we purchase equipment to produce these special fibers separately, like you did with the high-tensile coating device you provided before?”

“It’s possible, but at this stage, it might be a bit difficult for regular operation. Unlike the high-tensile coating, these special fibers require at least Rank 3 or higher monster materials to be produced.”

“That’s not a problem. After all, the Awakeners under the U.S. military have begun their full-scale attacks on the gates, and in the future, the Ranks of the gates they can attack will increase. So, even if it’s not operational right away, we can use it later.”

“In that case, we’ll include it in the order. You can pay for it in dollars, just like the consulation cost.”

Once Soo-jeong finished speaking, Myung-jun handed her a bag he had been carrying. In response, Soo-jeong pretended to reach into the bag and pulled out the special fibers, which were entangled like yarn in a pocket dimension, and handed them over to the researcher.

“This should be enough for the repairs.”

“Thank you!”

“No problem. We’re getting paid for this. Just make sure the payment goes through.”

“How should we process the payment, though?”

After hearing Jeong-hee’s question about the payment method, Soo-jeong hesitated for a moment. Probably, the items to be traded with DARPA on this visit were substantial, and even though they might receive some payment in cash, the majority of it would be in weapons. While they wouldn’t need to go through customs when returning, they couldn’t easily sneak in a significant quantity of weapons into Korea, even if it wasn’t war, but a localized conflict. Therefore, Soo-jeong had a plan to address this issue during this visit.

“Ultimately, I don’t know how much we’ll receive in the end, but I’d like to receive everything in weapons, except for the required amount in cash. Even if they aren’t personal firearms, if necessary, we want to secure items like anti-tank missiles, state-of-the-art tanks, combat aircraft, or rockets.”

“Combat aircraft? What are you planning to do with something that big?”

“We’re going to break them down for their technology and use the rest for materials. As Mom mentioned, while the equipment made by the Liberal Clan may be technologically superior, militarily, it may not be that great. What we need right now is the ‘know-how’ that the U.S. military has accumulated over the years. If we can secure that, we can create more efficient and superior combat equipment.”

“Soo-jeong, you seem to be underestimating DARPA just because you have some advanced technology. This is the ‘Holy Land of Technology,’ where the core military technologies of the U.S. are developed. Even if the Liberal Clan pays a huge price, the U.S. military will never hand over military secrets that are more valuable than their lives to private companies.”

However, Soo-jeong’s expression remained relaxed, as she believed that she could obtain everything she wanted with only a part of her technology. She extended three fingers towards her mother, Jeong-hee, and said, “30 minutes. I don’t need much. Just give me 30 minutes, and I’ll make you beg with words like, ‘I’ll give you anything, just please give that technology to DARPA!'”

With that, Soo-jeong began to summon many items she had developed in Myung-jun’s pocket dimension at a special research lab located within Area 51, which gathered the essence of U.S. military technology. To her, these were ‘failed works’ because they didn’t meet her standards for creating a finished product. However, each of these items possessed an overwhelming power that could overturn the entire ‘history of war’ accumulated by humanity.

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