Master Smith Under Ministry of National Defense - Chapter 88

088 – Liberator

In the middle of the Pacific, about 2,000km east of Tokyo.

Even when looking around from a high vantage point, there was nothing but the vast and endless ocean in the middle of the boundless sea.

The members of the Liberal Clan, observing the scene on a large screen installed by Soo-jeong, were shocked as they saw the message on the monitor confirming their arrival at the destination. They were furrowing their brows in disbelief.

“Is this the destination?”

“There’s nothing here?!?”

Listening to the clan members, who naturally assumed there would be a small island that could serve as their new base at the destination, Myung-jun opened his mouth.

“We didn’t come to the wrong place. This is our new base for the Liberal Clan.”

At that moment, a female clan member who was responsible for product explanations in the lobby raised her hand cautiously and spoke.

“Uhm… Can this clan headquarters currently floating stay airborne indefinitely?”

“No, it can’t.”

“Then how much longer can it fly?”

“If we consider the power used from Sejong City to here, the weight of the equipment inside, and the weight of the building itself, even if we maximize the anti-gravity device, it would be about an hour.”

“So… does that mean the building will sink into the sea after an hour?!”

“Does this building have navigation capabilities?”

“The water won’t leak in, but since the building is so heavy, if the power runs out, it will keep sinking until it reaches the bottom. Without recharging the power to rise again, it won’t come back up.”

A murmuring sound echoed among the clan members.

However, it wasn’t confusion born out of panic in the face of impending death. It was confusion arising from curiosity about what measures Myung-jun would take in this situation. The trust in Myung-jun was so absolute that not a single person among the gathered members thought that Myung-jun brought them all the way here just to sink into the sea.

And as if to return their trust, Myung-jun clapped his hands, focusing the attention of the clan members on him.

“Now, I’m sure you’re all curious. Suddenly facing the crisis of becoming criminals in a newly born country, even being attacked by our own country’s military, flying on a building 2,000km away from the land in the middle of the sea, and hearing that this is our destination. But don’t worry. There’s more to this place than meets the eye.”

As Myung-jun nodded towards Soo-jeong, the screen that had been illuminating nothing but the sea revealed a different image.

It was a blueprint of a massive ship resembling an aircraft carrier, previously shown only to the crew by Soo-jeong.

“As you all know, my Awakener class is a mechanic. I don’t have the speed to run like other Awakener individuals, the superpower to spew fire from a sword, the defensive ability to block bullets with my bare body, or the power to bend steel with my bare hands. Instead, I can create something.”

Above Myung-jun’s back, pictures of numerous equipment he had created flashed across the screen.

Weapons and armor, all created by Myung-jun’s abilities through Soo-jeong’s design and Myung-jun’s processing of materials. Each of these extraordinary pieces of equipment exhibited tremendous power, melting steel, parting rivers, and breaking mountains the moment they were wielded by an Awakener.

“I claim this. With this hand holding a hammer, shaping the form. From swords to armor, fighter jets to clan headquarters. My ability allows me to create anything needed. And right now, what you and I need most is waiting for us on the sea, created by my abilities.”

Myung-jun nodded at Soo-jeong, and as she walked forward, she shouted.

“New Frontier Protocol Initiated.”

<Confirmation of ignition command. Execute reservation procedure.>

At that moment, with the sound echoing from the building speakers, four drones installed on the clan headquarters rooftop soared into the sky. They deployed a massive field projecting holographic images into the air, preventing satellite monitoring of their current location.

<Installation of satellite interference field completed. Hull camouflage field deactivated.>

Suddenly, something enormous began to reveal itself above the previously empty sea.

As if it had been waiting for them right there from the beginning.

Slowly manifesting in a completely transparent state, it had a form that couldn’t be precisely defined.

“A battleship? Aircraft carrier? No, a submarine? What on earth is that?!”

Judging by its size, it seemed like an aircraft carrier, but it lacked a runway on the deck to be defined as such. Looking at the fully covered top, it resembled a submarine, but it was too large to be considered one.

While the overall shape resembled that of a battleship, it lacked cannons that battleships usually had. It was an object on the sea that didn’t resemble any ship they had seen before.

“What… what is that exactly?!”

In response to the shocked question from an employee, Soo-jeong smiled brightly.

Then, in a tone as if proudly showcasing a newly released model, she energetically exclaimed.

“It is a multi-purpose factory ship that can repair and manufacture all special equipment inside the ship and immediately eject the necessary equipment to the desired location. And the ship that will become the new headquarters of our Liberal Clan is this ship, the Liberator!”

“Wow!!!”

“As you can see, thanks to its enormous size, all the facilities for your convenience are fully equipped inside!”

“Wow!!!”

“Moreover, using the ship and transport pods inside, you can have any equipment delivered and arrive at the site within 30 minutes at Mach 15 speed, even on the opposite side of the Earth!”

“Wow!!!”

“Plus, being outside of South Korea, you can freely access prohibited overseas sites without a VPN!”

“Wow!!!”

The last cheer was mainly from the male employees.

Excited by the employees’ response, Soo-jeong switched the screen to show the interior of the hull.

Matching its overwhelming size, it featured sports facilities such as an indoor swimming pool, golf course, and tennis court. A restaurant where you could eat any menu for free just by pressing a button. Support drones guiding the comfortable life of the crew and a spectacle of futuristic equipment worthy of a sci-fi movie. The clan members couldn’t contain their excitement.

As the explanation continued, Myung-jun, who had been silently watching the increasingly enthusiastic Soo-jeong, raised his hand to her shoulder and quietly intervened.

“Senior… it’s time to…”

“Oh, right. I got too excited without realizing it”

Myung-jun know how much effort she put into making this ship, but if she didn’t dock the headquarters building soon, there was a risk that the entire building would fall on top of the well-built ship.

Besides, clan members want to see the facility with their own eyes.

Soo-jeong smiled brightly, spreading her hands wide.

“Well then, let’s enter this wonderful new base right away!”

Then, as if making a declaration, she shouted with a vigorous voice.

“Multi-function Factory Ship Liberator! Control Tower Docking Protocol Initiated!”

At that moment, on the lobby monitor, the image of a square-shaped, massive hatch in the center of the giant ship opened.

Numerous metallic exoskeletons, seemingly launched from the clan headquarters, began to find their positions and assemble one by one. It not only meant that the ship was transforming but also that the clan headquarters itself was changing shape. Unable to see the transformation through internal cameras, clan members eagerly looked around, wanting to witness how the building they were in was changing.

Observing the clan members’ reactions, Soo-jeong smiled and snapped her fingers. At that moment, the perspective switched to cameras attached to the ship, revealing the transforming clan headquarters on the monitor.

“The bridge! The clan headquarters is transforming into a bridge!”

“No wonder we couldn’t see the bridge in the new base!”

“Wow, transformation complete! Transformation complete!”

Finally, the transformed Liberal Clan headquarters, now resembling the bridge of a space battleship, stood before them. As if it had been originally designed for such a purpose. Soo-jeong proudly gazed at the fully transformed clan headquarters.

‘It was really challenging…’

The most challenging part of the production process was the fact that, unlike Myung-jun’s sub-space ‘Factory,’ which automatically completed anything with inputted blueprints, this ship had to be assembled with materials on Earth. While using Myung-jun’s sub-space would have made production faster and more convenient, it would have been impossible to retrieve the completed factory ship from the spatial ‘Factory’ even if all the points from capturing Banara were used.

So, Soo-jeong devised a method to produce the ship step by step. First, she completed the camouflage field generator to hide the workspace from satellite surveillance, spreading it in the middle of the sea. Beneath it, she placed a discarded cargo ship. Then, she constructed a facility to produce working robots and another facility to produce more robots using the robots produced.

After filling the required quantity of working robots, Soo-jeong duplicated Myung-jun’s equipment manufacturing facility from the Factory and started placing them one by one on the prepared base. She then meticulously assembled each part produced by these facilities, tirelessly operating thousands of working robots until the gigantic ship took shape.

‘There were times when I had to pause due to a shortage of materials…’

Seeing all the materials obtained by Myung-jun from hunting 6,000 monsters in Manaus, Soo-jeong couldn’t help but scream with joy. If she used all these materials, there would be more than enough to complete the ‘Floating Factory’ she had always wanted to create.

Soo-jeong persuaded Myung-jun to input all the processing recipes for the materials into the ‘Floating Factory’ on the sea, and without her command, the ‘Floating Factory’ relentlessly completed itself at an incredible speed.

To fully provide all the functionalities Soo-jeong desired, and to manufacture and repair all necessary equipment on Earth without relying on Myung-jun’s power, the ‘Floating Factory’ needed to be completed. Although the large robot manufacturing facilities added with the unlocking of the Knight Protocol were too numerous to fit into this massive factory ship, and the performance of the factory ship fell short of completely replacing Myung-jun’s abilities, Soo-jeong was extremely satisfied with its current functions and performance.

The true purpose of this ‘Factory Ship’ was not to create something but to freely operate the 20-meter giant robot, <Knight>, that Myung-jun had newly opened his ability for, on Earth without consuming points. Hence, despite being named a factory ship, the equipment on the completed ship focused more on transportation, operation, repair, and maintenance than production.

“Docking process complete. Opening the connecting hatch. Welcome, crew members, to the Liberator.”

“Wow! Finally!”

“Can we go see now!?”

“I’m hungry! I want to go to the restaurant first!”

Amidst the cheers, just as everyone was about to rush out of the lobby in excitement, an employee spoke up. It was the crucial question that everyone, caught up in the excitement, had blacked out and forgotten. Myung-jun noticed an employee timidly raising their hand and signaled for Ho-chang to address them. Ho-chang stepped forward and shouted loudly,

“Everyone, hold on a moment!”

The interior quickly fell silent. Myung-jun looked at the employee who had raised their hand with a gentle smile and asked,

“Do you have a question you’d like to ask?”

“Well… um…”

“Don’t hesitate, feel free to ask.”

Encouraged by Myung-jun’s words, the employee, identified as Kim So-yul from the Liberal Clan’s 2nd floor, responsible for office accounting, spoke with some hesitation.

“I… I’m Kim So-yul, who joined the clan as a regular member about six months ago.”

“I know. You were recruited as a regular clan member about six months ago, right?”

“Yes… Honestly, like everyone else, I want to run outside right now to see our new home. However, I couldn’t shake off one question that kept bothering me. It’s not just for my curiosity but a question related to the future of all clan members.”

“What’s your question?”

“A while ago, the leader and miss Soo-jeong mentioned that this ship we’re on will be our new home. They also said that we’ll continue clan activities inside, like before. Does that mean we’ll continue raiding gates and taking requests for equipment production?”

As Myung-jun nodded, she continued,

“But isn’t the ship’s design too combat-oriented for that purpose? When I first saw the ship, it reminded me of the clan headquarters building, which had a completely different design from other buildings and left a strong impression on me during my first interview. The appearance of the Liberal Clan headquarters, surrounded by all kinds of special armor like it’s decorating the outer walls, could easily be mistaken for a hero base from a movie. It even played the role of a tourist attraction in Sejong City, attracting numerous visitors as soon as it was erected. However, going through this incident, I realized that the many special armors surrounding the building weren’t just decorations. During the confrontation with the Korean government, the clan’s armors blocked numerous bombardments, and without those armors, we could never have arrived here safely. Even the thick and sturdy special armors seen on the outer walls of the factory ship introduced this time appear to be designed for direct combat, as if preparing for a nuclear war or something. Even though they’re hidden behind external armor, I’m convinced that powerful weapons beyond human comprehension are concealed inside. What kind of enemy are we preparing to fight against?.”

Taking in her question, Myung-jun paused for a moment, then smiled and responded,

“Yes, that’s correct. In reality, the Liberator is both a factory ship, a transport ship, and a warship.”

“Warship… But now, can’t we go to the land for a while? We can’t drag this massive warship up to the land, and we can’t fight these monsters on the sea. Was it necessary to create such a powerful warship?”

“Of course, there won’t be any battles against monsters on the sea. However, it doesn’t mean we won’t be fighting them.”

Saying so, Myung-jun reached out his hand.

“Most likely, our formidable adversary for the next battle is right below us.”

With these words, Myung-jun’s index finger pointed below the ship’s deck, indicating the deep sea depths, several thousand meters below.

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