I Became a Mad Scientist for the Foundation

Episode 199. The Battle for the Supernatural Space – Garden (3)

“High Priest.”

I bowed my head before Cernunnos, who was bound in chains. The air trembled with the breath of the ancient deity.

What was the title given to the great Cthulhu? The High Priest of the Great Old Ones. Not a priest who worships them, but a title signifying the leader and guide of the ancient gods.

“I smell the scent of a weapon that kills gods in the Garden. The foul stench of tearing metal. The kind that rips the sky apart with explosions.”

“Are there enemies in the Garden?”

I had considered the possibility that enemies might attack the Garden, but I didn’t expect them to have already infiltrated. I let out a sigh.

I don’t know how the imprisoned Cernunnos knows about nuclear bombs. Maybe he saw it in a dream. Or perhaps he learned through nature, or maybe a nuclear bomb had gone off in the Garden before.

If this keeps up, a nuclear bomb might drop on the facility, so we need to find it and respond quickly.

I sighed again.

In 1956, the U.S. Congress, worried about the possibility of a nuclear bomb being used in a terrorist attack in the city, asked Oppenheimer how to detect a nuclear bomb entering the city.

He thought for a moment and replied.

You can find it with a screwdriver.

Meaning, there’s no special way to detect a nuclear bomb. Of course, you could sweep the area with a Geiger counter.

I pressed my temples.

I’m angry.

We should protect what needs to be protected. Sure, we might shoot at each other under the same roof, but thinking of launching a tactical nuke? Isn’t that too much?

No choice. Let’s just focus on winning.

I turned on the facility-wide broadcast.

“Prepare the Sprinkler System and set the Reality Anchoring Device to maximum output. Move everything that can be moved underground.”

It’s difficult to enter the facility through magical means. There are magical defenses, Cernunnos, and the Reality Anchoring Device.

Still, we can’t let our guard down.

“The battle will begin soon.”

I pondered for a moment.

“Follow the training.”

“When the alarm sounds, all facility personnel must be able to put on gas masks within one minute. Combat-ready personnel should don protective suits and arm themselves. Just prepare now.”

“Then. Good luck.”

My head hurts.

It didn’t seem like more than a day had passed since the enemy Special Forces entered the Garden. They brought a nuclear warhead, so there’s no reason to wait.

The enemy Special Forces probably entered, and Cernunnos immediately said those words. The attack was likely to happen today.

Where are the protective suits?

I decided to wait for the attack fully equipped, from gas masks to protective suits. Who knows when it will come.

This is the command center of the Garden Bunker.

I looked around the bunker’s command center through the goggles of my gas mask. It seems everything is prepared, but when will the attack come?

I’ve been waiting for about an hour.

“Missile detected!”

The remaining time is probably within 10 seconds.

“Sprinklers!”

“Alarm!”

It’s a good thing we had the entire facility on standby for the bombing. The siren sounded one second after the enemy missile launch was detected, and water pillars instantly surrounded the facility.

“8,000 tons remaining!”

If you’ve ever seen footage of a rocket launch, you might have noticed water being sprayed at the launch pad the moment the rocket takes off.

There are several reasons.

“7,000 tons remaining!”

It’s to prevent the rocket’s flames from burning the surroundings and to dampen the explosion sound.

Modern warships have similar protective systems. Of course, if a warship is hit directly by a nuclear missile, survival is unlikely, so the shockwave dampening function isn’t very effective, and the primary function is to remove radioactive material.

The Foundation’s fortresses, built during the Cold War, also had similar equipment.

“6,000 tons remaining!”

A means to maximize the dampening of the nuclear explosion’s shockwave and quickly remove radioactive material from the air. The water also directly blocks the radioactive particles emitted by the nuclear explosion.

Anyway. Next step…

“The enemy probably knows that nuclear weapons can’t destroy the Foundation’s bunker. They’ll attack the facility directly now.”

“Yes.”

“Only me and Lee Se-ah will go out for now. Everyone else, protect the facility well.”

Now it’s time to fight. I checked my gas mask again and left the command center.

Two heavy explosions. The surrounding forest was engulfed in flames, and the shockwave from the nuclear explosion scattered leaves everywhere.

Countless birds and insects flew up in chaos, and the monsters hiding deep in the rainforest screamed in terror.

But… the expected effect didn’t happen.

There’s no mushroom cloud.

Do tactical nukes not have mushroom clouds?

But the facility didn’t seem to have exploded, and there was no sense of Cernunnos’s roar or death. Something was off from the plan.

Luna frowned and picked up her binoculars.

“This is Position-1. Requesting observation and report.”

The Walpurgis team members were also donning protective suits for the next phase of the operation. Beep. Luna’s radio made a sound.

“This is Position-1. Two nuclear warheads confirmed direct hits on enemy facility. Damage appears limited.”

[This is Position-3. Barrier around enemy facility. Seems strong enough to block a nuclear explosion.]

[This is Position-8. That’s water.]

Position-8 is the science officer of Special Forces Walpurgis. Luna chuckled inwardly.

The simplest explanation is often the truth. It must be water pillars. Probably fired from sprinklers or fire hoses.

That. To block a nuclear explosion, it must have been on a massive scale. Even if it’s just water.

“Position-1. All nuclear warheads expended. Proceeding to the next phase of the operation.”

[This is Position-2. Sending monsters.]

Arinwen held her staff.

The Garden was overflowing with monsters and beasts. The Walpurgis team had created countless monsters while waiting in the Garden…

“Recapture the Garden.”

The Druid pointed to the concrete fortress visible through the trees. The twisted monsters began moving toward the Garden’s bunker.

We never expected to win with these half-baked creatures. Luna removed her glove and drew blood from her hand, smearing it on her staff. The staff glowed with power.

The yellow quartz sphere at its center was stained red. Luna spun the staff once, and the blood formed a thin, reddish-brown film on the quartz sphere. Luna also held her staff.

“Prayer to the Moon God, who always watches over the darkness of the material world. May those who challenge the providence of the sky be killed and forgotten.”

There was no moon in the sky visible from the Garden.

But. As Luna chanted, a full moon appeared in the sky. Then. A vertical incision appeared on the full moon-

The moon opened its eye.

What the hell is that, disgusting.

I looked up at the Garden’s sky. The sky had darkened, the Garden’s sun had disappeared, and only the newly appeared full moon remained.

For some reason, I felt nauseous.

[Dr. Kim? Don’t look at the moon. It doesn’t look very healthy.]

“Yes.”

I lowered my head again.

Unluckily or luckily, the surroundings were filled with enough dust and fog that smoke screens weren’t necessary. Probably from the dirt and steam created by the nuclear explosion.

The surroundings were warm, but I tried hard not to think about why.

Am I going to die early from radiation exposure?

[Enemies.]

I raised my weapon.

Monsters were moving toward the facility. Somewhat twisted forms of insects and beasts. Normally, they’d be nothing, but with a nuclear bomb just dropped on the facility.

The defense systems probably aren’t functioning properly. Are the armored vehicles still intact?

I regretted not securing the Garden’s entrances more thoroughly. Of course, we blocked all entrances except the one from Korea.

I hadn’t considered that someone might enter through magical means. This seems to be the result.

I don’t know if there was a way to prevent magical subspace infiltration, but we could have considered it.

No use regretting now.

Fortunately, the monsters approaching now can be taken down easily with bullets. But the moment of decision is approaching.

Should we deploy more personnel?

Can Lee Se-ah and I hold them off? What if another nuclear bomb drops? How much water do we have left to spray?

Too many unknowns.

I moved forward, using the armored vehicle parked at the facility as cover. The fog and darkness made it impossible to see anything.

If not for the augmented reality in my goggles, I’d be fighting blind.

I looked around from cover to see if there were any threats. I held my breath at the sound of something with many legs passing by.

It was a completely different type of monster from what I’d seen before. A face with no mouth or nose, and something glowing like a gem embedded where the eyes should be.

Its gaze swept through the fog and darkness like a searchlight. I tried to observe the monster while maintaining cover.

Where did Lee Se-ah go?

[Wow. Dr. Kim. There’s a manual for the recoilless rifle? How thoughtful.]

“No, Director-”

Boom! I gritted my teeth at the sound of the recoilless rifle firing. Before I could even clench my teeth, the shell hit its target and exploded again.

---