Empire of the Ring

“Now, Zeynep. Tell me what the heck you’re thinking.”

“Oppa, doesn’t this side dish taste a little strange?”

“Hey! Don’t keep me hanging here.”

“Oh, you too. Finish the meal first and talk.”

Youngho waited for Zeynep to come home, but she had no intention to answer him.

“I can’t focus on eating when I’m curious.”

“Hohoho… Well, I’m glad you’re showing great interest in my project, oppa.”

“Which charity group would think of creating a hospital ship? I just don’t get it.”

“I was watching the Kurdish migration this time and thought about it. Also, it would be helpful for your dream of building an ocean marine.”

“…”

“I’m sure there’s a tentative enemy at the sea, and one day we might have a battle with it.”

“Yes, there is a high probability of a naval clash in the Black Sea or the Arabian Sea sooner or later.”

“I thought that if soldiers were injured, treating them on a hospital ship would save more lives since they won’t have to go so far.”

“Okay, and what’s next?”

Youngho was satisfied with Zeynep’s answer. It was quite brilliant of her to think of something like that for her foundation and for the Kazakh Navy.

“In usual time, it can be used as a royal general hospital that travels around to help people in need. Wouldn’t that earn a great reputation for our royal family?”

“Wow, I’m impressed. I’ll make one for you right away. If you want to reduce the time to make the hull, we can even renovate an existing bulk carrier or tanker.”

“If it’s too big, maintenance costs will be high. A size that has a capacity of 300 people is perfect.”

When Youngho excitedly responded to Zeynep’s idea, Fatima burst into laughter.

“Why are you laughing? Zeynep has such a brilliant idea.”

“You’re right. So stop now and finish your meal.”

“Oh, I can’t eat now because I’m too excited. I’ll call my friends over for a drink. I’m going to have to show it off.”

“What’s there to brag about?”

“What are you talking about? There’s no one in the world who can come up with this kind of idea except for Zeynep. I’d like to give you kisses and hugs but I’m holding back.”

“No, oppa! Are you treating a grown lady like a child?”

“You are still a child in my eyes. Did you forget about the past? You used to kiss me and hug me all the time.”

“I was young back then and thought you were the most handsome person.”

“What about now?”

“Oh, come on. This palace is full of better-looking guys than you everywhere.”

“Jeez, I was considered handsome back in Korean.”

“Hahaha…”

Since Youngho suddenly called them, his friends came to the palace quickly, asking what was going on. They were surprised to hear Zeynep’s idea.

“Are you saying that Zeynep really thought of this?”

“I know, right? I was so thrilled that I had to call you at dinner time. We should celebrate tonight.”

“I can’t believe she came up with this idea. I still feel like she’s a kid, but I guess she’s grown up.”

“She’s grown into a thoughtful and mature woman.”

“It is really a great idea. It’s like a moving general hospital. It helps refugees and our soldiers and even improves our image. Man, she deserves a big prize for this.”

Park Jong-il and the others praised Zeynep in unison.

The more Youngho thought about it, the more wonderful it was. He was so happy that he drank until late that night.

It was also gratifying to think the girl he raised had grown up into an amazing woman.

***

Occasionally, Youngho came across a place that felt familiar even though he had never been there before. It was like a deja vu.

That was what Youngho was seeing at the moment.

“Have you and I ever been here together, Dr. Park? I don’t know why, but I feel like I’ve been here before.”

“Is that what you feel too? I was feeling a sense of déjà vu, too. I just thought that I’m confused because I’ve been to so many places to do geological surveys. If you feel the same way, this must be a very strange place.”

“I don’t even understand that there is a huge empty underground cave. It’s rare unless it’s a region with lots of limestones.”

Areas with limestone reserves were more likely to develop caves, but the royal territory had no limestone reserve, so if there was a cave, it could only be explained in two ways. It was either man-made or where underground water used to be.

Park Young-sun found a huge empty cave while conducting a geological survey of the newly incorporated area, so Youngho had followed him to check it out.

“How big is the cave?”

“It’s about 9 km2 in area.”

It was an unimaginably large cave, so Youngho pondered upon its size for a while.

It was amazing that it was kept intact for a long time even though it was such a huge cave. This meant that the upper part of the cave was made up of solid layers of rocks.

“Is there any way to utilize this cave at 150 meters below ground?”

“Well, we’ll have to explore it a little more, but we can possibly use it as an air-raid shelter. If it’s not connected to other areas, we can make it a water or oil tank after stabilization work.”

“I guess we’ll have to make a path for people to enter.”

“I’ll get to it as soon as the equipment arrives.”

“Is there any possibility that it was made artificially?”

“Well, that’s unlikely with technology back then. I think it must be a place where underground water used to be.”

Although Park Young-sun disagreed, Youngho was still doubtful.

People in ancient times used to dig deep and go underground to survive from outside threats such as meteor showers. His imagination was unlikely to be true, but he still thought there must be a secret to this cave because of the weird déjà vu-like feeling the cave had.

“Dr. Park, doesn’t déjà vu sound too broad?”

“There’s no other way to explain how I feel about this place. But it seems like you and I are creating an illusion because of some supernatural phenomenon. If I’m forced to explain this, I’d say maybe the magnetic field is flowing through this area.”

“Well, I guess my imagination has gone too far, seeing that you use difficult terms all of a sudden. Anyway, let’s examine this place thoroughly and decide whether it should be preserved or not.”

“Hahaha….”

Although Youngho stepped back, he believed that naturally occurring caves could not be so large. Anyway, the mere presence of a huge cave was reassuring. This could be used as a shelter in case of an emergency. With some work, a path large enough for cars to enter could be made.

When he returned to the palace, he called in Kim Chun to discover the history of the region, but he could not find an answer.

However, he learned that the place used to be a forested area and that meteorites had fallen at the beginning of this century.

Siberia and Central Asia were known for their unusually frequent meteors, but it was only more noticeable than other places because of their large area. In fact, meteors were common everywhere in the world.

“Your Highness, meteors fall everywhere, but from the 18th century, statistics show that meteors have been unusually a lot. I remember the academic report that the presence of large lakes all over the world was caused by meteorites.”

“Really? Then we need to investigate that. Couldn’t the meteors have fallen in the old days with decades of cycles?”

“I know there’s an 80-year cycle and a 150-year cycle meteor. I’ll contact the relevant department to request related information. I’m sure there’s nothing bad about investigating it.”

“Please do so. After checking out the unusually large cave, I really want to find out the cause. I have a hunch that the cave will be of tremendous help to us.”

These days, the earth’s magnetic field was causing a reversal; the news report said that it was very unusual. It got Youngho curious.

If there had been frequent meteor showers in the past, it could also happen in the modern world. It would not hurt to prepare in advance.

If a meteor fell, certain areas would be devastated, but if the royal territory was not hit directly, the cave could serve as a great shelter.

It was the same with atomic and hydrogen bomb attacks.

There was no place like an underground cave to avoid the aftermath, fall-outs, and half-life of post-explosion radiation.

So Youngho decided to develop the cave fully over time.

A total area of about 9 km2 was a space that could accommodate a huge number of people.