Dictator From Outer Space

Chapter 60: Another Psychic

Yu Ji-ha got off the yacht with Arma and landed on the island.

As soon as he stepped on the ground, the salty wind blew and choked his breath.

“It’s hard to use it like this.”

“The average salinity is 1.2%. It has to go down to 0.2% to be able to farm.”

“It will take a few months to remove the salt.”

Usually, they plant halophytes and wait for years for the salt to be removed.

But he had a mining plant, so he could work at night.

Yu Ji-ha looked at the area where the megacity would be built.

“Start removing the salt and laying the foundation at the same time. Hire workers from Russia.”

By workers, he meant androids.

Arma had set up a separate corporation in Russia for the development of smart farms in Kamchatka.

He planned to hire androids through that corporation and deploy them to the site.

He had no intention of hiring workers from Korea or elsewhere.

It was too much trouble.

To send workers to overseas territory, he needed a lot of paperwork and procedures.

Arma reported a few more things.

“Currently, only a few people know the location of this island, but it will soon be revealed.”

“Well, there are so many people looking for it···”

From environmental groups to reconnaissance planes from various countries.

Not to mention geological research institutes and super-large fishing boats, even yachts crossing the Pacific were expected to flock in.

It was only a matter of time before the location of the island was exposed, and he couldn’t stop it.

“Make some unmanned surface vessels that can’t enter within 12 nautical miles. As soon as possible.”

“I can do that with Silla Heavy Industries.”

“No, make it as fast as possible with the technology available in this era. Many people are using that kind of thing anyway.”

Silla Group’s defense company Fusion Defense also made sea-sword unmanned surface vessels and delivered them.

The navy was not satisfied with their performance, but they used them anyway because of the lack of manpower.

Yu Ji-ha rode a walker for a while and looked around the island.

The scenery was nothing but endless muddy land and hills, but it was his land, his country.

“It feels like it’s just starting.”

“People are mocking you for calling it a united human federation instead of a united human empire.”

“They’re not wrong.”

The new united human federation would be a hierarchical society ruled by artificial intelligence.

In fact, the United human federation of the 22nd century was not an equal society either.

It was just that the hierarchy was not fixed like in the current era’s class system.

Anyway, if you live a decent social life, you can become a free citizen.

If you go up to free citizen A class, the benefits are almost no different from those of full citizens.

The only difference was that full citizens could participate in the supreme council, which was the governing body.

Yu Ji-ha intended to introduce that system to the new united human federation as well.

“Use the data we’ve collected so far to make a filter. Don’t let anyone enter the island.”

The new united human federation wanted harmless and diligent talents.

The owner Yu Ji-ha was a harmful human being, but that was not a problem at all.

Selfishness was a basic quality of a dictator.

They started discussing how to build a megacity.

A SimCity

As the Yang’an War showed signs of prolongation, the human union declared by Yu Jiha caused a lot of controversy.

The reason why the world was interested was because Yu Ji-ha declared it.

The owner of Silla Group who started to show his prominence two years ago.

Everything he discovered and developed so far was enough to turn the world upside down.

According to some reports, the White House and Kremlin sent staff to South Korea.

They followed him around and quickly caught his words and actions and reported them because they didn’t know when he would make a bombshell statement.

What kind of place would be the united human federation made by such a person?

The media in various countries showed mixed reactions of worry and ridicule.

No matter how much artificial intelligence he had, it was not easy for an individual to create a country.

The public broadcaster in Korea invited experts with thick bones in urban planning, environment, and infrastructure to discuss the human union in a special program.

“The first thing we lack is water.”

“Water···Isn’t that water all around us? That’s what we ordinary people see.”

“We can desalinate seawater. But we need desalination facilities. And to operate those facilities? Yes, a lot of electricity is consumed.”

“Fortunately, the situation is a bit better in terms of electricity, because it is an area where renewable energy efficiency is good. Solar and wind power are among the best places on Earth.”

“Considering the geographical characteristics, the closest place is here. Midway Atoll···Yes, it has a typical subtropical climate. The characteristic of this place is that the rainy season is fixed.”

“To be more specific, it rains all year round in just two or three months. If you don’t build irrigation facilities, you won’t be able to grow crops, let alone water for people.”

The host nodded his head as he listened to the experts’ stories.

“Ah···So in summary···The environment is very harsh and the cost of infrastructure and logistics transportation is too high to build proper infrastructure···Is that your conclusion?”

“That’s right. And there is also a risk from a financial point of view.”

“What kind of···”

“How are you going to build the infrastructure on that island? It will come from Silla Group, right? But that’s a corporation. If you invest corporate money, probably in the form of bonds, in a foreign country? It could be seen as embezzlement. There’s no way to get money out of it.”

The host chimed in and the expert clapped his hands.

“That’s salt. You know we planted halophytes on our west coast reclaimed land and waited for years for the salt to come out, right? That place is much more harsh than reclaimed land.”

“The land is also insufficient for building infrastructure. Of course, it’s not impossible to do foundation work based on modern technology, but it will cost a lot.”

“So, to summarize···It’s almost impossible to build proper infrastructure because the environment is so harsh and the cost of infrastructure and logistics transportation is too high.”

“Ah, that was another problem.”

It was a problem that arose because Terra Island was Yu Jiha’s property.

Silla Group was a corporation and it had to pay a lot of taxes to distribute its money to an individual.

But if it was invested in a foreign country, it could avoid those taxes.

Considering Silla Group’s recent expansion, it could be a serious problem in the future.

But the experts hesitated a bit.

“Well, that’s just a possibility, not that they actually do that…”

“Because the financial authorities’ judgment could be different.”

They shrank back because they knew Yu Ji-ha’s position well.

He was someone that the president trusted more than his chief of staff, as the rumors said.

No one could touch him with a microscope, not the financial authorities or the prosecution.

And there was a rumor that the opposition lawmakers who tried to meddle with Terra Island were stripped off.

It was easy to scrap bills, but they were scrapped even before they were submitted to the Land Committee.

The probability was high.

Looking at the situation at that time, the KOSPI triggered a circuit breaker as soon as Yu Ji-ha gave a signal for moving his headquarters.

If he actually moved his headquarters, it wouldn’t end with just a circuit breaker.

Now there was almost no one in South Korea who could mess with him.

…

The first thing Arma did after securing Tera Island was to bury a Titan-class Plague Core in the sea.

This core had an erosion power that was different from the Kraken-class buried in the existing world.

Plagues had their ranks and growth limits set from birth.

Titan was a rank right below Queen, which could be compared to a four-star general in Korea.

On the other hand, Kraken was at best a lieutenant colonel or a colonel.

So there was no comparison in every aspect.

Splash, with a loud sound, the huge core was sucked into the abyss.

It happened on a dark night without moonlight.

「Core landing… Expected erosion power exceeded by 4,850%. Reset required」

“Is it because it’s my first time using a Titan-class core? The ether circuit setting seems to be wrong.”

「I’ll fix it right away」

“You don’t have to hurry. I’m not teasing you.”

Arma couldn’t deal with the Plague Core perfectly either because there were too many unknowns about it.

Especially, the Titan-class core was the first one he had acquired, so everything was uncertain.

「Core reset complete. Re-launching…」

The range of seabed erosion caused by the core appeared on the hologram in the air.

Even though he minimized it as much as possible, it was much wider and faster than the existing Kraken-class.

“If I mine it properly, I can handle the world’s black metal demand alone.”

「Japan and China will show a lot of interest」

“Japan won’t be able to touch us for a while, but China is different. Keep an eye on them and eliminate any threats.”

Eliminating meant using sibiri satellites and Settler to prevent them from coming near.

China had a grudge against Yu Jiha and even committed terror attacks.

They couldn’t do anything rash now because the US Navy’s Freedom-class ships were patrolling nearby, but it would be different when they left in a year.

―A hostile microstate that is not a member of UN and has black metal buried in its territorial waters.

From their perspective, United Human Federation would look like a great prey.

“They’ll come at us openly.”

The Taiwan War showed signs of dragging on, but most circles expected it to end within a year at most.

That meant China would start picking on Terra Island in a year.

“What will happen to China when the war ends?”

「It will probably start to split. The internal conflicts are too deep to control」

It was called Farmer Gong’s Rebellion.

Three hundred million people were abandoned in large cities after the war started.

They were dying without receiving any support, including food.

It was natural that protests broke out.

And the public security and military who occupied the cities chose to point their guns at them rather than trying to appease them.

The result was looting, arson and murder.

Currently, more than 20 large cities in China were suffering from this Farmer Gong’s Rebellion.

Places like Beijing had rumors of more than ten thousand casualties. It was a mess anyway.

The world’s economic and social research institutes began to seriously mention the possibility of China breaking up.

―Farmer Gong’s Rebellion is getting sympathy from urban lower classes who are rising up. Their number is almost 500 million. It is almost impossible to appease them.

―The commanders of each front are also disagreeing and fighting. The inland factions do not want their troops to be cannon fodder.

―The moment China stops its offensive, the war is over. But the internal conflicts will not end.

―China will no longer be G2 with the internal conflicts, the meteorite damage and the huge war expenses.

They were all gloomy prospects.

But even in the worst-case scenario, China was still strong.

It could face Korea’s navy with just its weakened East Sea Fleet, so it would be a piece of cake to deal with Humanity Alliance.

“But it will be different in a year.”

By then, he would have completed the infrastructure to build a small city.

He also planned to have the power to protect Tera Island.

Just installing railgun batteries on the coast would make it hard for any fleet to approach and the air defense would be covered by iron beams.

A dark night.

A cargo ship ordered by the Russian corporation approached Terra Island with a huge thud.

This cargo ship used an ion thruster and ground effect, so its cruising speed reached supersonic speed.

But it only showed that speed on the high seas and disguised itself as an ordinary cargo ship when entering other countries’ territorial waters.

「Temporary pier work is done. We will unload the cargo」

If someone who knew about black metal saw this scene, they might have fainted.

He had made a pier with that expensive and rare black metal.

Not just some equipment, but the entire pier was made of black metal.

This would shorten the period greatly, but the cost would increase exponentially.

He could make a huge profit by processing and selling black metal.

But money was a secondary issue for Yu Ji-ha and building infrastructure on Tera Island was important.

“I can’t issue residency permits without anything, right?”

「You could. We are taking pre-reservations for residency permits now and the applicants are exceeding our expectations」

“Really? How many are there?”

「More than 100,000 from Korea alone. If you include foreigners, it’s almost 400,000」

There was nothing decided except for United Human Federation name and flag.

But it was this much already.

But he had no intention of easing the conditions at all.

Yu Ji-ha watched as a Settler separated from the underwater base and a mining plant was released.

The desalination process began.

…

“Oh, you passed the first screening.”

“Where, where? Oh, really?”

“Did you apply for this? You’re really fearless, sis.”

“That’s awesome. Huh? You should treat us.”

One day in January, Silla Energy’s Pangyo Research Center was wrapped in a small excitement.

Hwang Sunyoung had passed the pre-reservation for United Human Federation residency permit.

Actually, it wasn’t a pass, but a first screening, but it was enough to draw everyone’s attention.

Why did this bookworm, who was a homebody among homebodies, apply for this?

Hwang Sunyoung wiped her glasses and said.

“Well, I don’t have any family. I thought it would be fun to live on that island.”

“But there’s nothing on Terra Island right now. What are you going to do there?”

“Don’t you have to catch fish or something? Like fishing with a net.”

“Huh? That sounds kind of nice.”

“Hey, boss, fishing is only fun as a hobby. Do you think it’s fun if it becomes your job?”

“Is that so?”

The boss scratched his head awkwardly and Hwang Sunyoung imagined her own future.

“Think about it. The owner of Terra Island is our president Yu Ji-ha.”

“So?”

“You all know his personality. He’s a meticulous and efficient person. Do you think he made a country without any plan? He must have everything planned out with Lucia by now.”

“Lucia is amazing.”

“What can I say…”

The artificial intelligence Lucia, who was said to be in the basement of Metaverse headquarters, had changed many things in South Korean society.

Now all traffic accidents, including human casualties, were judged by her and the results were reported to the insurance companies and courts.

Also, the portal sites used Lucia to detect articles that contained fake data.

She didn’t delete the articles, but they didn’t show up in the search results, so people didn’t care.

The media companies criticized this policy fiercely, but President Jo Hyunggeun pushed it firmly.

“What are you talking about? Look at the crap you wrote with magic graphs and misuse of statistics. What kind of media are you?”

Lucia’s judgment criterion was data.

There was a debate on this topic where journalists from media companies and Lucia argued, but it was a one-sided victory.

Lucia shook off the journalists with accurate data.

She didn’t spare them at all and pressed them hard because she was an artificial intelligence. The journalists who participated in the debate were so angry that they stuttered.

The people who watched the broadcast gave this evaluation.

―These bastards are making excuses after being refuted by magic graphs. They should be able to manipulate data according to their editing intentions.

―Lucia is much better than these idiots who refute their own articles.

Not only that, but Lucia also did a great job in translation.

There was no more ridiculous translation in movies.

The quality of translation improved greatly as the movie importers introduced Lucia.

She was also fast, so there was no need to use translators anymore.

Thanks to that, the translators who had been criticized for mistranslation lost their jobs.

There were also some protests about this issue, but the public reaction was cold.

―If they had any conscience, they should have quit after seeing the mistranslation they did.

―Please go away. I’m sick of your excuses.

Anyway, for Hwang Sunyoung, it was a good thing.

She could read foreign books of good quality thanks to Lucia.

There was also talk that Metaverse and the publishing industry were fighting over strengthening the fixed book price system, but she didn’t care about that.

A colleague who was fiddling with his mouse suddenly made a fuss.

“It says here that they invite people who got residency permits. Starting from next March?”

“It’s only a year and two months left. Can they do this?”

People leaned their heads on the monitor and Hwang Sunyoung had to get out of her chair.

“Hey, I’m the winner here. Why are you making such a fuss?”

“Wait a minute. Oh, you have to write in English. That’s why sis Sunyoung got picked.”

“Hey, then people who can’t speak English are all out.”

Why did Yu Ji-ha, who was South Korean, designate English as the official language?

There were also many interesting materials on United Human Federation website.

“The currency is only electronic money called credit. Is 1 credit worth 1,000 won?”

“All data is managed by Lucia… Wow, this is a country completely ruled by artificial intelligence.”

“They assign jobs even if you don’t have any special skills? That’s kind of weird.”

They were all used to Lucia’s work instructions, but that didn’t mean they liked it.

They felt like they were moving like accessories of artificial intelligence.

But no one quit their job and left.

It was a luxury to have a job that paid regularly in this world.

Anyway, Hwang Sunyoung was very positive about United Human Federation.

“I’m really going there. I can live there for the rest of my life as long as I have internet access. They’ll take care of the food somehow.”

“But how can you live like that? What if you get sick or something?”

“Won’t the infrastructure be built soon?”

Everyone shook their heads.

“When will that be?”

“It takes years just to desalinate the water.”

“Don’t get your hopes up too high. The experts say that the actual move-in will take at least 10 years.”

“Then it’s not possible.”

While this conversation continued, the foundation work on the island went on.

Heavy equipment came in and drove piles into the ground to stabilize the ground.

A sturdy road began to be laid on the compacted ground.

A small city was being built on Tera Island.

…

A year ago, the Settler crossed over to the future Earth and brought back the Prophet’s artifact and a mining ship.

The mining ship was deployed in the asteroid belt to mine resources and build the third mining ship.

And the analysis of the more important Prophet’s artifact had just finished.

Arma brought the artifact to the Settler’s bridge and reported.

“This artifact can detect Psychic from a long distance.”

“Is that possible from such a distance…”

“It’s the Prophet’s artifact. Nothing would be surprising about its abilities.”

As she said, the Prophet’s artifact often had levels that surpassed United Human Federation technology, or even incomprehensible ones.

This Psychic scanner was probably one of those kinds.

“How far is the range?”

“About 3,000km. If we sail with the Settler, we can scan the whole Earth.”

“Then let’s start with Japan slowly.”

The possibility of an alpha-level or higher Psychic appearing in this era was extremely low.

Because they were exposed to ether for a short time.

But it wouldn’t hurt to scan the whole Earth as a test.

“I detected people with ether sensitivity near Hokkaido and Tokyo in Japan.”

“Those are probably the ones who bragged on Japanese TV. How sensitive are they?”

“They are nowhere near alpha-level.”

“I see.”

The reason why he needed alpha-level or higher Psychic was because he found something in the data of the knowledge box.

The next-generation Psychic plan that United Human Federation had been doing was wrong from the root.

Yu Ji-ha was shocked when he confirmed this.

“My genes were all wasted? And my children too?”

“That’s the result. Your Aether sensitivity is too high compared to other Psychic ether circuits. That’s why.”

“The male side gives the gene that determines sensitivity.”

“And the female side gives the gene that determines the circuit. Your children had high ether sensitivity, but their Aether circuits were too low.”

If 1kw of electricity flows through a single wire, the result is obvious.

“I wondered why my children were so weak…”

At that time, the children who inherited Yu Jiha’s genes received a lot of expectations.

It was a combination of an omega-level Psychic and other female Psychic. It was a really amazing thing, right?

Surely, even if they weren’t as good as Yu Ji-ha, they would be great psikers.

Everyone expected this, but the reality was that most of them were in poor health.

Three of them died as soon as they were born in bio bags and the rest didn’t live long either.

And they didn’t even recognize that Yu Jiha was their father.

Only one person ended up wearing an assault armor.

But even he died in battle against Plague.

Yu Jiha looked at the main screen with a complicated eye.

“I wish we had a little more time.”

“But we wouldn’t have been able to stop Plague’s offensive anyway.”

“That’s right… That’s why we have to make next-generation Psychic.”

If there were no Psychic with ether sensitivity, they couldn’t operate assault armors that could act in the Great Plague War.

According to Arma’s calculations, if they had 200 Psychic above beta-level, they could lead a war equal to Plague.

If they could preserve more than 1.5 billion people of United Human Federation, it was possible to completely annihilate Plague Legion.

If there was someone like Yu Ji-ha  who was omega-level, the conditions would be much easier, but that was too much to ask for.

He was an out-of-spec existence that humanity had barely produced after being exposed to ether for over 100 years.

“200 Psychic, 1.5 billion humans.”

The latter was definitely possible, but the former was a bit vague.

He thought that Psychic couldn’t be artificially created.

But now that he realized that United Human Federation experiment was wrong, he just had to change direction.

Yu Ji-ha ordered Arma.

“Scan the whole Earth every 10 years. If a Psychic is born, secure them by any means necessary.”

He was about to board an exploration ship when Arma reported.

“Master, gamma-level Psychic detected.”

This fast?

A golden dot shone in Afghanistan in Central Asia.