Mercenary Black Mamba

Sun WooHyun looked alternatingly between Samdi and the fender thrown to the ground. A zombie had thrown Sun WooHyun's status into the gutters. The zombie's massive power was also unbelievable but what despaired him more was Samdi's eloquent words, possibly rivaling those of Mu Ssang himself.

A zombie looked like a human from the outside but it lacked the faculty of thought. A thoughtless being could never progress if it did not overcome the huddle of evolution. It merely repeated actions inspired by its instinct.

A sea otter could place a clam on its belly and break its shell with a stone but that was all it could do. A chimpanzee could fish termites with a twig but that was all it could do. A sea otter could never make a stone hammer. A chimpanzee could never add a fishing line and hook to the twig. A zombie was a zombie and never could be a human.

Come to think of it, Samdi's coal-black skin had turned light red. He was no longer black but scarlet. But that still did not explain his flowery words that rivaled that of a pastor. A thought flashed in Sun WooHyun's head.

'Has he gone through Bone-Crushing Rebirth?'

Sun WooHyun's imagination ran wild. Only Bone-Crushing Rebirth could bring forth such a transformation. Samdi's change was exactly the same as described in The Story of Hero Boys and Hero Girls. He became stronger and more intelligent. Wakir himself had gone through Bone-Crushing Rebirth with Combined Repetitive Expelling Theory. If Five Combined Movement was the appetizer, Combined Repetitive Expelling Theory was the main dish.

A person's thoughts swam within the limits of their experience. Their prejudice was based on their experience, but that process was unknown to the person themself.

"Could this be?"

Suspicion arose and engulfed Sun WooHyun.

In the previous year, Wakir had apparently graced Samdi with Combined Repetitive Expelling Theory. When he requested it, Mu Ssang had said a human body could not withstand such a force. Could this be?

Distrust sprouted in Sun WooHyun's heart. He was Korean just like Mu Ssang and no one even knew where Samdi came from. Mu Ssang had said that even though South Korea and North Korea were divided and opposing each other, they were the same Koreans. That proved to be empty words. Mu Ssang's betrayal hit him harder than the frustration at being defeated by Samdi.

A person's character seldom changes. Sun WooHyun's incurable flaw of suspecting someone else, shifting responsibility to someone else, and blaming someone else flared up again.

As a human, Samdi was a morally upright person. Even as a zombie, he resisted committing murder. After his humanity was restored, Priest Dae Woo had considered him as his successor for his sincerity. They said a person's habits persist well into their 80s. Their nature followed them to their grave. It was unlikely that Sun WooHyun would change. It was more likely that he would turn out to be trouble.

"Haha. Look at that bastard's face. He should have known his place and behaved. Master's words are magnificent even to my ears. I shall learn to write Korean quickly so I can organize my thoughts to use them later."

In Samdi's head, the dogfight with Sun WooHyun had already faded. He was satisfied with himself for doing awesome things and saying awesome words. Sun WooHyun would feel indignant at this too but maybe Samdi, who was always genuine in his everyday life, was the one who unlocked the secret to happiness.

Bakri and others looked at Samdi with incredulous eyes. What teachings could develop his eloquence so that his "tongue kung fu" reached such a level that matched Heaven's Willing Martial Peak?

[Reflect upon yourself whether you made someone else smile at least once a month.]

Professor Mulsoli muttered. What a poignant phrase! "Live a life of serving others. Help others. Incorporate humor in your life." Such superfluous words were not necessary. Samdi's one sentence summed it all up. That man possessed a strong physique, unparalleled power, and profound intellect. There was no finer man.

"I will ask him out this evening!"'

Professor Mulsoli's eyes emitted heart-shaped laser beams. She had already forgotten about her age. Samdi would have cowered in fear had he been aware of her intent.

Sun WooHyun, discouraged, sat in a corner. If he had acknowledged Samdi, the fight would have ended on good terms. But his sullenness ruined the good ambience.

"Wretched thing! Yeah, you are strong. So, is that lunatic his best subordinate? I might as well quit rather than endure this kind of treatment."

His grumbling had lost its spirit. He wanted to confront Black Mamba about Combined Repetitive Expelling Theory but the red-eyed brute and fearsome beast were keeping an eye on him.

Before, he could complain and provoke Mu Ssang. That was not possible now because of the red bastard and the savage cat. Somehow, Wakir attracted increasingly powerful people. He might be soon forgotten if this continued and that made him anxious. His heyday had passed. It flew right over that ripped-apart iron plate.

'What a shame! It is the first time my evaluation of someone proved wrong.'

Mu Ssang clucked his tongue internally. Sun WooHyun had an abnormally big ego. Even though Mu Ssang survived many deaths with him, saved his life several times, and gave him a job to make a living, Sun WooHyun did not let his guard down. Mu Ssang was not sure if it was a flaw in his character or a side effect of living in North Korea.

"Wakir, Mr. Lackey did quite some work on this airstrip."

Pilot Coniye Leon gave him a thumbs-up. He apparently knew how to read the air. It was clearly to cheer up Sun WooHyun.

Leon was a captain in the 3rd Air Transport Squad in Poitou. During Operation Ruman, he manned Hercules that Black Mamba boarded. Mu Ssang was impressed by his calm situational awareness and scouted him as the pilot of Falcon. Grateful, Leon willingly joined Black Culture.

"Indeed. Lackey was clever to make such a hardy airstrip without using asphalt and cement."

Mu Ssang tramped on the asphalt. Ash-white airstrip seemed to be soft like cork and firm at the same time. With its bright color, it made a great contrast with the black basalt soil beside it, which was great for pilots.

"There is much white soil like kaolinite around here. I mixed sand in it and also tossed in the discarded cotton flowers. The well-mixed mixture was used to pave the airstrip with the thickness of 700 millimeters."

Sun WooHyun livened up. He had many thoughts yet was also simple. Sun WooHyun made the airstrip with all his might simply because Mu Ssang ordered him to.

Mu Ssang had instructed not to use cement and asphalt, if possible, when paving the airstrips in the Samaria farm and Jipoon Dari. In fact, most airstrips in Africa were simply packed-down dirt.

The soil covering the surface of Earth's crust was only several dozen centimeters to several dozen meters thick. All life on the earth relied on the thin, frail layer of soil. Humans had a tendency to abuse the frail layer that supported all life to grow. It was an act akin to strangling one's own neck.

The soil died when it was covered with cement and asphalt. As humans who relied on the earth to live, it was a disrespectful thing to do. Mu Ssang had ordered the use of as much natural material as possible in the building of Novatopia and to avoid using material that contaminated the environment.

"Kaolinite is great!"

Mu Ssang mentally added ceramics to the list of Novatopian specialties. They needed all available industries as possible. There were many ceramics artisans in Korea. In Icheon or Yeoju, half of the residents in a town were such artisans. Across the country, more than 10 municipalities produced ceramic goods.

Kaolinite was made from feldspar in rock that was chemically disintegrated by carbonic water. It was called kaolinite because it was mainly produced in the Gaoling region in the Shaanxi province, China. Unlike what some Koreans mistakenly assume, it was not produced in Goryeong, Gyeongbuk province, in Korea. It was called "white earth" in Korea.

Continual physical labor was involved in making ceramics. It was a fight against heavy earth and hot fire. Labor costs constituted 90 percent of the production cost. Africa had an abundance of cheap labor. With good earth, production was a breeze.

"Lackey, thanks to you, I got a good idea for business. Do not let the defeat bother you. A fistfight is nothing but a fistfight. If you obsess over individual win and loss, you will be confined to that obsession. To learn, you will have to acknowledge what needs to be acknowledged."

Mu Ssang advised sincerely.

"I see. I was ashamed because I'm his senior."

"Please correct the North Korean way of speaking. Will you speak like that even in South Korea?"

"Will you take me to South Korea?"

Sun WooHyun's eyes glinted.

"When the time comes, you shall. Or you shall consider Novatopia your true home."

"I get it. I do not really miss the Korean peninsula. But I think I should at least marry a Korean woman. The same people."

"A Korean woman is good but someone from another ethnicity is not bad either. Transport and telecommunication are progressing at a rapid rate. As people's zones of life expand, tribalism fades. Squirrels and red squirrels share the same common ancestor but as they were geographically divided, they developed into separate species. When division fades, the sense of alienness does too."

"Oh! Dubai is so well versed in everything. Now, we are in a geology lecture, not biology."

Professor Mulsoli said with a bit of a sarcastic tone.

"Well! I went off on a tangent. Lackey, have you taken security measures?"

"Mohammad is in charge of the 100 subterranean water developers and farm laborers that came from the outside."

"They are quarantined in the outhouse of the manor. They are tasked with the treatment of crude oil that erupted from the oil well."

Mohammad answered.

"How much crude oil is there?"

"200 barrels per hour. We made a bank and a hole in for the oil to be directed to."

Mu Ssang did not have a sense of what constitutes 200 barrels per hour. It was the first test drilling, with one hole, and not even from the oil layer but a salt layer. It was no ordinary oil field. If Mohammad phrased it as "as much oil as to fuel 1,000 cars," Mu Ssang would have had an easier time understanding.

"Have you compensated them properly?"

"Yes. We apologized to the water developers and paid them some compensation. The laborers received a bonus worth one month's salary."

"In a week, the land rights, administrative procedures regarding the development, and probing facility set-up, will be all completed. Compensate the water developers further and hold them for one week."

"I see."

Sun WooHyun and Mohammad bowed.

"Our dear boss, Dubai, let's leave men's talk and go see the black oil."

Professor Mulsoli crossed her arm with Samdi's and led the way.

"Uh?"

Samdi, who was able to toss five-ton sarcosuchus, was dragged away without resistance.

"Samdi is quite popular!"

Bakri laughed cheerily. The Samaria farm's area surpassed 29,700,000 square meters. One had to use a vehicle to move about within it. They had to walk 30 minutes to arrive at the oil field development site. They did not need directions. The gas reeked of rotten eggs while the oil emitted an acrid smell that caused headaches.

They heard a loud sound. It was the sound of oil and gas, pressurized for eons, erupting through a narrow hole. A column of black oil soared 30 meters into the sky then fell like water from a fountain. It was an erupting oil well, the only other one in this century was the Maracaibo oil field in Venezuela.

"It's oil!"

Mu Ssang knelt and touched the sticky oil and held up his hand. Foul-smelling blackish-brown liquid. This was the best treasure of this century, which had the power to make the world smile and cry. Mu Ssang was moved. There was a great difference between hearing about it and seeing it. No Korean ever owned an oil field.

The sound of a battery-powered locomotive entering "hell" resounded in his ears. There were two kinds of cars running on the railway. The first was battery-powered locomotives that transported people and the second was mining carts that transported coal or equipment. The dark tunnel in which the battery-powered locomotives entered was referred to as "hell".

In the mine, they said there were two skies — the ceiling of the tunnel and the real sky outside the mine. When one spent the whole day erecting damp wooden columns that supported the tunnel amidst dusty air, one questioned whether one was still alive or dead.

Two oil crises inflicted great loss upon Korea. The government and people, who were accustomed to cheap oil, were greatly shocked. Closed mines were re-opened and discarded low-grade coal was refined then refined again. The miners who had left the mines returned, attracted by high salaries.

In such circumstances, Mu Ssang, aged 14, entered a mine with a pickaxe on his shoulder. By the time, the average monthly salary of public workers was 40,000 to 50,000 won. Experienced miners, if they worked for a full month, received 80,000 won. Even rookies received at least 40,000 won. There was no reason not to enter the mine.

Unreasonable measures brought unreasonable outcomes. With the government's encouragement, low-grade coal entered briquette factories. Countless people died of carbon gas poisoning. Korea did not have a single drop of oil. Everyone struggled due to this lack of oil.

'This is oil!'

Mu Ssang grasped at the stinky, slippery liquid on and on. The battery-powered locomotives, endlessly sucked into the black hole, had been replaced by equipment and pressure tweaking machines. Dinofelis hit Mu Ssang's shoulder with its head.

"Huh?"

Mu Ssang roused from his thoughts, stared at Dino. Dino pointed at the black oil covering the ground with its front paw and shook its head. The gesture meant it could not stand the stench any longer. As its faculty of smell was much more advanced, it must have been more unbearable for it. After being granted permission, Dinofelis fell back many meters.

"Wait, this isn't great."

Dino's action woke Mu Ssang into reality before his eyes. The oil developer who developed an erupting oil well was said to have cried tears of joy, covered in oil. The situation before his eyes was not such.

Hundreds of meters around were covered in blackish-brown oil and the outer perimeter of the pooled oil was rapidly expanding outward. Even if they disregarded that, what could they do with the oil erupting like a fountain?