Chapter 124: Futile Hope
Japan needed the United States to keep Korea and Russia in check.
But from the perspective of the United States, Japan was not as important as it used to be.
It was because China had lost its capacity to challenge the hegemony.
The United States had no interest or intention to enter the North Pacific, so its attention naturally diminished.
After the second Korean War, the US forces in Korea withdrew, and the US forces in Japan also decreased significantly.
The Democratic Party did not interfere much with the reduction of the US forces in Japan.
It was because the European front was more dangerous at the moment.
The US forces in Japan shrank to half of their peak size.
Later, when a grand strategy to contain Korea was established, they tried to increase their size again, but it did not go as planned.
Russia, which had swallowed Ukraine, conducted a large-scale military exercise near Estonia, raising tensions.
The Department of Defense reported that an invasion of Estonia was imminent.
—Russia seems to have given up on the Pacific completely and instead wants to consolidate its influence in the Baltic Sea. If it absorbs Estonia, it can secure ports other than St. Petersburg.
—Considering the size of natural resources in this region, it can somewhat compensate for giving up East Siberia. It is the best choice for Russia.
Russia’s southward expansion reignited, and Germany, Hungary, and Romania were tense and increased their defense spending.
In this situation, President Baldwin was not swayed by the outrageous proposal.
“You want us to hand over the North Pacific? That’s an interesting proposal.”
“President Yu Ji-ha said that if you accept this proposal, all relations will return to how they were before.”
“Is that a relief? He’s a friend who acts crazy but looks for substance.”
“Don’t tell me, Mr. President.”
President Baldwin waved his hand.
“Ah, never mind. The complete withdrawal of the US forces in Japan is not my decision. It’s up to Congress. The important thing is that they showed their willingness to negotiate.”
Maybe semiconductors were bait and this was what he really wanted.
The previous president had talked about Yu Ji-ha’s goal.
“He has no interest in anything beyond Japan. His true goal is to build an East Asian empire that encompasses Manchuria. His actions so far have been clear.”
The construction of an empire that possessed a vast land from Korea to Manchuria and East Siberia.
It was a delusional goal that seemed impossible in the 21st century, but he had brought it halfway to reality.
He did not actually rule over that wide land and its people, but he exerted some influence by exploring resources and such.
A series of circumstances made it clear that he had no interest in the North Pacific.
President Baldwin became more relaxed.
“He seems to have some restraint. Then let’s start negotiating.”
He contacted the Blue House from his office and soon the hotline was connected.
“We haven’t started our terms for long, but we talk a lot. These are my conditions. I will exempt you from tariffs worth 500 billion dollars and let the experts negotiate on the duration. And I will only comply with half of your demand to withdraw from East Asia. I won’t completely withdraw from Japan, but I won’t interfere either.”
“You mean you will maintain a minimum of influence.”
“I ask for your understanding. It’s up to Congress to completely pull out the US forces in Japan. It would be faster to make four congressmen resign.”
“Then I have to add another condition. I need food. A lot of it.”
The basket price in Korea had risen sharply and it seemed to have hit him hard.
Congress also argued that they should pressure him more with this.
But President Baldwin did not want to create a conflict situation from the beginning of his term.
“I’ll have to persuade the farmers. Let’s discuss that at the expert meeting too.”
“If you do that much, I will reverse all measures before Quantum Solution was established and entrust you with production. Of course, there is nothing I can do about the damage caused by the processor release.”
So this is how it ends.
He prevented six companies from going bankrupt, but they became complete subordinates.
Those huge dinosaurs had fallen into a situation where they had to produce according to someone else’s design.
At least Intel was better off.
AMD and NVIDIA were typical fabless companies (companies that only design without factories), so they had to acquire factories separately.
President Baldwin recalled the face of NVIDIA’s CEO who said he was confident in 130nm old process technology.
It was once an ambitious semiconductor company that expanded into the field of artificial intelligence and supplied SOC to car groups around the world…
‘It can’t be helped.’
He couldn’t ignore them anymore after confirming the ability of Yu Ji-ha, or rather, the Strong AI.
He wouldn’t criticize them recklessly like France, not knowing what else they had.
It was better to strengthen the relationship and leave East Asia-North Pacific to Korea.
It was giving them the role that Japan had in the past.
This idea had been recommended by various institutions when the previous president was in office, but it was never realized due to the opposition of the Democratic Party.
‘Now is the chance when the party is shrinking.’
The Wall Street and the citizens who were heated up by the anti-Yu Ji-ha protests also seemed to be shocked by the performance of the Eshil processor and their activities subsided.
The South… that is, places like Texas still hated him.
Anyway, it was not a bad deal for President Baldwin.
He got the title of successfully leading the negotiation with Yu Ji-ha, who was called a madman of the century.
The downside would not be known much.
It was up to Congress to completely withdraw the US forces in Japan, but he could redeploy them to Europe with his order.
He decided to discuss the details at the expert meeting and ended the call.
Phew…
“It’s really hard.”
Grover, the chief of staff who was listening next to him, asked cautiously.
“Are you okay? Japan will be disappointed and resentful.”
“It’s not a withdrawal, but a redeployment.”
“They won’t accept that explanation in a situation where they demand tactical nuclear redeployment. Cooperation with China will also be difficult.”
“What can they do for us?”
“…”
There was no word for a while.
President Baldwin emphasized.
“We have what they have. But Korea is different. Special. The important thing is our interest. Keep that in mind.”
He briefly forgot.
That President Baldwin was an isolationist.
He was a representative figure who argued that the United States did not need to play the role of the world’s police and just take care of its own interests.
It was a rare tendency for an American politician, and he was sometimes mistaken for a moderate.
But he couldn’t decide on such a grand strategy by himself.
The mainstream of the Democratic Party was still dog control theory.
There were not a few new isolationists who agreed with him and he planned to ally with them in the future.
“North Korea was absorbed by Korea and China also collapsed. Russia has no interest in the Pacific anymore. Why should we pour a lot of money into the Pacific in this situation?”
He emphasized that what he had to protect was Europe, a traditional ally.
And maybe Australia and New Zealand in the South Pacific.
The chief of staff Grover understood the president’s intention and bowed his head.
“I’ll start the expert negotiation.”
“He hates wasting time, right? Start right away.”
***
Dozens of metal spheres that fell on Earth a while ago were under the control of various governments.
It was hard to access without government permission, and only a few people could research it.
While the media and civic groups were making a fuss about revealing information about the spheres, an unexpected incident occurred.
The French government tried to approach a psycher to a sphere and found that his power became stronger.
The output of ether waves, which were called energy waves by the public, became much stronger and the researchers observed it with interest.
“It’s clear that those spheres have something to do with psychers.”
“Black metal transform also became much more refined. It’s interesting.”
“It’s hard to continue our research with only our psychers. We need international cooperation.”
Marine Le Pen, the newly elected president of France, shouted for the establishment of an international research organization that excluded Korea after receiving a detailed report.
“Now we are on an equal footing with them. We don’t need or accept the tyrant’s support. France will stand with you.”
She meant the countries that were willing to exclude Korea, such as France, Britain, China, Japan, and so on.
Russia and Germany, which had shown pro-Korean attitudes, were excluded, and even the United States was no exception.
Marine Le Pen answered a domestic reporter who asked her why she excluded the United States.
“The United States claimed to be the world’s police, but they did not sanction Korea at all. Instead, they tried to get out of the crisis by negotiating behind the scenes.”
She also made other remarks, but most of them implied that she no longer trusted the United States.
Germany, the neighboring country, reacted cynically.
—This has happened before. And the winner was Yu Ji-ha.
—Did she not lower her voice enough because she crossed a point of no return?
The reason for this reaction was that it was revealed that without Yu Ji-ha, the research on black metal and ether could not continue.
What’s the point of making a railgun cannon by putting dozens of psychers in it?
The lifespan was extremely short and the performance was terrible.
After Japan’s ambitious railgun cannon broke in half, many countries became more dependent on Yu Ji-ha.
Nothing changed just because a few strange spheres fell from the sky.
But the claim of Marine Le Pen and other French nationalists was different.
—This time is different.
—Japan made a Gundam with black metal. Do you see this? It’s a huge and delicate sculpture.
—In China and the United States, too, the psychers’ abilities have improved. Although we can’t compare to Yu Ji-ha, we can at least stand on the starting line.
The black metal Gundam sculpture made by Japan’s Hyperman Club was decisive.
The black Gundam, nearly 20 meters tall, completely captivated the hearts of the Japanese.
At first, they just watched because of the precedent of the railgun, but after a few days, it didn’t break at all and stood firmly.
This meant that the main producer, Sasaki, had enhanced his ability.
The people who were watching nervously finally raised their arms and cheered.
“Gundam! The best!”
“Sasaki! We believed in you!”
Before long, Prime Minister Matsuda appeared and took a picture with Sasaki, who was completely exhausted.
Japan regained its confidence and responded positively to France’s proposal.
—We like the idea of establishing an Aether research organization that excludes Korea.
—What is Matsuda doing? Stop taking pictures and approve it quickly.
—By the way, that kid is too quiet… I feel like he’s plotting something somewhere.
—Don’t let your guard down until the end. We have to make a railgun this time.
They cautiously attempted to make a railgun cannon and succeeded completely.
They didn’t hit the target ship, but the range was much longer and there was no breaking of the cannon.
Instead, there was a situation where the psychers were exhausted, but success was success anyway.
France sent a congratulatory message first.
—With this, France and Japan have become one of the few countries that have achieved black metal technology independently without succumbing to the tyrant’s oppression.
—Long live great France! Long live Japan!
When this news was reported, international cooperation finally began to take shape.
France took the lead in establishing an organization and countries that had been out of Yu Ji-ha’s sight joined forces.
It was a force that could not be ignored with EU, China, Britain, Japan and so on.
Even some Middle Eastern countries joined in and quickly grew in size.
But in places like the United States, they didn’t think that group would work well.
—Marine Le Pen is anti-EU and nationalist. She seems to have established that organization out of hatred for Yu Ji-ha. It won’t last long.
—Many psychers have appeared so far, but none of them have reached Yu Ji-ha’s toes. Will this time be different?
—There is a possibility that the alien artifact is beyond our imagination. We should also have a foot in the door.
The United States managed to send a few people to the research organization led by France.
Marine Le Pen looked at them with disdain, but she accepted them anyway because she needed money.
Thus, the Ether International Research Institute was born in Paris, France.
Many countries sent delegates to congratulate France on its great progress.
***
At that moment, when the world was buzzing with the alien artifact and psycher research,
Korea was doing its best to restore its economic stability, regardless of the atmosphere.
To exclude someone, one had to accept being excluded as well.
As a result of the hatred of many countries, the food prices skyrocketed.
Especially, China, which had completely turned its relations with Korea, started to control its exports.
They made an excuse that they added an inspection process to renew their image, but it was doubtful when they saw the food piled up in the warehouse.
“So they’re not going to export?”
“They seem to have given up on improving relations and are going all the way. They are also counting on the international research institute led by France.”
“They are harboring vain hopes.”
In fact, the ether core that fell to Earth this time was something that even Yu Ji-ha didn’t expect.
Psychers would appear one after another from now on, and this would surely boost the pride of countries like France.
But there was a trap in there.
The psychers’ ether sensitivity had increased, but the capacity of the circuit remained the same.
It was like having a computer with a high-performance processor but a hard disk instead of an SSD.
Arma showed him a video.
“Japan is literally grinding psychers to make a railgun cannon. They seem to be very unhappy.”
“They have to transform without resting, so they can’t help but be annoyed.”
It was a vain hope created by the insufficient capacity of the circuit that couldn’t support the ether sensitivity.
To correct that, they needed a surgery to implant mithril into their bodies, and the Settler and mining ships that went to Mars were preparing to build a base.
He planned to try the surgery experimentally when Fatima became an adult.
Yu Ji-ha looked at Sasaki, who collapsed on the bed as if he was exhausted.
“By the way, did you say he was interested in me?”
“Yes. He is very interested in Megacity. And he also has a lot of admiration for Master. He must have heard a lot that he is great but not as good as Master.”
“Leave me alone.”
He was the best among Japanese psychers.
But he was so popular that it was hard to bring him over.
If he ever became dissatisfied with the Japanese government’s treatment, he could sneakily lure him over.
If that didn’t work, he could use coercive means.
Yu Ji-ha nodded his head as he asked about the situation of the psychers who gathered in Megacity.
“They seem to be adapting well so far.”
“They don’t want to leave Megacity because they lived in such bad places.”
“People’s minds change easily, so give them some convenience within reason. Use drugs if you have to.”
Yu Ji-ha turned his attention to the food problem.
Korea’s food self-sufficiency rate was already low, and it worsened in 2031.
As aging and urbanization progressed simultaneously, the countryside became empty and Seoul became literally overcrowded.
This population density could be solved by Megacity later, but the food problem had to be dealt with right away.
Now there was a fuss at the mart because they couldn’t get pork.
Both domestic and imported products were out of stock.
“Did they say they would export food from the United States?”
“Yes. The working-level meeting concluded negotiations on exporting 500,000 tons of food.”
“Leave that to Secretary Bae Seong-min. And I want to bring in smart farms. Are you ready?”
Arma had set up huge smart farms on Kamchatka Peninsula and Terra Island using separate corporations.
This contributed decisively to feeding the residents and prisoners during the Second Korean War, and it was still producing various foods.
“We can bring them in right away. But there is still opposition…”
Yu Ji-ha laughed sardonically.
“Don’t worry about it. Set up a corporation and proceed. Cut down the meat prices by half or less by the end of this year.”
The price of domestic pork belly 100 grams was close to 10,000 won.
That wasn’t enough, and it was soaring every day, causing a lot of dissatisfaction among the people.
Secretary Bae Seong-min reported that there was a trickery of distributors behind these expensive prices.
“It’s true that production costs are high in Korea, but whenever something happens, the distributors hoard the goods and don’t release them. They have the distribution network of the whole country in their hands, so we couldn’t touch them.”
“Then we have to make a new distribution network.”
It’s free to have vain hopes, but it’s also free to break them.
Yu Ji-ha decided to fix the expensive basket prices of Korea.
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