Empire of the Ring

Chapter 629: Legacy (1)

“Nobody would have thought there was a concrete structure there. If it wasn’t for the idea of finding a cave or structure, we could have just passed it by.”

Cho Chul-hwan was clamoring for the discovery of a concrete structure in the forest.

Finally, the Royal Bodyguards discovered one of the causes why the former regime had made the area a nature reserve.

Decades after its construction, the reinforced concrete structure was cleverly located in an irregularly scattered area of huge rocks, which was so densely wooded around it that it was hard to find.

If a guard had not gone into the woods to handle his urgent needs, they would not have been able to find it for months. Even drones could not have caught it due to the thick woods.

The concrete was discolored and covered in moss, so people had thought it a natural rock. When concrete structures were found, they searched the area for more similar facilities, but no other facilities were found.

“We should reward the guard who was in urgent need of a toilet.”

“I already promised a special promotion. But we need a welding cutter to open the iron door right away…”

“Contact Dr. Park Young-sun. The exploration team will have all kinds of equipment.”

“And what the hell would it be in there?”

“With that size of concrete, it wouldn’t be a regular bomb, would it?”

“It’s not that the former regime had nothing to do and hid the bomb in this mountain for fun. It’s definitely a nuclear weapon. I mean think about that tight seal.”

“Don’t talk nonsense. How can a country leave nuclear weapons so sloppyly?”

“Kazakhstan is that country, dumb*ss, and it’s called a tactic.”

“Do you think it makes sense unless it’s a mad organization? It probably is not a big deal if there were guards.”

Cho Chul-hwan and Park Jong-il were arguing about the existence of nuclear weapons.

“Hey, they said that they’ve been guarding it and were pulled out when the new government formed.”

“Then, that means when President Nazarbayev was in office, it used to be maintained. But look at that. Is that a managed facility? Don’t expect too much because it’s not nuclear at all.”

Cho Chul-hwan was insisting it was nonsense as it did not make sense to neglect such valuable weapons. Youngho and Jong-il also agreed, but they were certain that this was not a usual storage.

When President Nazarbayev became a president, he would have hidden all existing nuclear weapons from the Soviet era as having such power was necessary to protect the country. If the country wanted to become a member of the international community, it had to dismantle all nuclear weapons, but he might have thought that he would sneak some of them away anyway.

It was a chaotic time when the Soviet Union collapsed, so it was possible to steal a few if he wanted as it was a time when people did not know exactly how many weapons the Soviet Union had.

The heavy iron door was opening slowly.

It was the first time in decades that President Nazarbayev’s treasure had seen the light. Only a few key figures, including Youngho, attended the site.

When the iron gate was fully opened, the party went inside, each holding a flashlight.

The smell of a stale fungus stung his nose, but Youngho did not care.

Inside the 10675 sq. ft. room stood many columns densely, and between the columns were rectangular steel boxes measuring 50 centimeters by 2 meters.

The number of steel boxes was 100.

With only 100 steel boxes in such a large area, everyone looked dumbfounded as it was something they did not expect.

Although it had been a long time, the iron boxes were only covered in dust and did not even rust.

“This must be a special alloy. It’s been decades, and it hasn’t even rusted.”

“Can you open the lid?”

As soon as Youngho spoke, Cho Chul-hwan tapped the lid of a steel box and carefully lifted the lid using a crowbar.

“Why is it so easy to open?”

Then the iron lid was put aside lightly and fell on the floor with a crash, which made everyone frightened.

“Hey! Be careful!”

Park Jong-il yelled.

When the iron cap fell on the floor, dust on the floor rose, but no one was aware of it as they were nervous to find out what the boxes were all about.

“Don’t yell, man. I was scared to death.”

His voice echoed inside the room.

Still, Cho Chul-hwan, who opened the lid first, carefully lit the flashlight and looked inside the iron box and made a comment in a relaxed voice.

“It looks like a small missile.”

“Hey! Don’t touch it.”

***

“They had more than 15,000 nuclear weapons in the Soviet era. There were about 2,000 strategic nuclear weapons and the rest were tactical nuclear weapons. The tactical nuclear missiles stored here are mounted on fighter jets or helicopters.”

Park Jong-il was explaining the number of Soviet-era nuclear weapons.

President Nazarbayev’s legacy was small tactical nuclear missiles with a 10 kiloton weight of 300 kilograms.

Strategic nuclear weapons were larger than megaton-level nuclear weapons mounted on ICBMs that traveled between continents, while tactical nuclear weapons were small-scale nuclear weapons designed for local or small-scale war purposes.

“I wish it was a strategic nuclear weapon.”

“What are you talking about? We can’t afford to have that anyway. Just know that this alone is stronger than the firepower of one mechanized division.”

Still, Cho Chul-hwan seemed he could not believe it.

“Think of dropping it on an industrial park or military base. Industrial parks will be in ruins, and a few divisions of military units will be disabled.”

The nuclear weapons deployed in Kazakhstan were returned to Russia in the mid-1990s under pressure from the U.S. and NATO, but it seemed like President Nazarbayev had intercepted some before they were returned.

The 100 tactical nuclear missiles seemed to be in good storage enough to be used right away. They should, of course, go through the hands of weapons experts but just looking at it made Youngho feel secure.

The question now was how to deal with the missiles.

It could neither be left there nor left to the military. It would be better to keep it a secret even to government ministers since it should not be known to the world.

“We have to develop a gold mine here right away, so let’s move everything to the royal territory for the time being.”

“How do we move them?”

Park Jong-il was worried about transportation.

“We have to use planes.”

“Then we’ll have to make a temporary runway.”

When the gold mine was activated, a simple airport was also needed to move gold.

This was because it was a whopping 2,400 kilometers from the Altai Mountains to the royal territory. Air transportation was the most efficient mean of transportation in Kazakhstan.

“I’m sure you all know this, but we’ll have to watch our mouth. Let’s just keep it to ourselves and not mention it if it’s unnecessary even to each other.”

“Of course. The problem is, I don’t want us to ever use that stuff…”

Even elementary school students knew the formidable destructive power of small nuclear missiles, although they were only tactical nuclear weapons.

If a fighter was equipped with this missile, someone would have to face a painful situation.

***

The northeastern region of the Altai Mountains was home to large cities such as Pavlodar, Semey, and Oskemen, which were located along the Irtysh River.

They were big cities in Kazakhstan, but they were not as big as Western cities. They were big by Kazakhstan’s standard.

Most cities had developed meat, milling, woodworking, various nonferrous metal smelting plants, and construction materials industries based on a wide grassland area along the Irtysh River with a population of around 300,000 people.

More than 60 percent of the residents were Russians, generally showing pro-Russian tendencies, but after Kazakhstan became a constitutional monarchy, many ethnic walls were torn down. It was because there were expectations for the Kazakh royal family.

The Russians in the northern cities were peculiarly more confident in the monarchy than in socialism or democracy.

The rise of these cities started from the Imperial Russian fortresses, and people had not yet forgotten the nostalgia of the Russian Empire.

Since they were people with such tendencies, the residents welcomed the rumor that a royal villa would be built in the Altai Mountains. They were glad that the royal family expressed interest in the northeastern region when the royal family had only been paying attention to southern Kazakhstan. The news that the royal family would build a villa in the Altai Mountains and begin a volunteer exploration traveled fast.

Youngho was asking Park Young-sun how much minerals were being produced in the Altai Mountains.

“Are they producing this much even though they are only mining based on what was investigated during the Soviet era?”

The bottom of the deposits should have appeared after years of digging already. Even though the exploration techniques of the Soviet era were poor, they still produced endless supplies of aluminum, titanium, zinc, and lead.

“It’s proof that they are buried all over the place.”

“Then there must be a lot of minerals other than gold in the places designated as the royal property.”

“We’ve already identified aluminum and titanium deposits.”

“How much are the number of deposits?”

“It’s hard to even estimate. It should be a global level. Kazakhstan is a global place.”

For Park Young-sun, who spent his life wandering the world looking for minerals, Kazakhstan was a wonder.

“So we have to have power to protect what we have. Doctor, I ask you to keep quiet about the object we found.”

What Youngho said was referring to nuclear weapons.

He and the others who knew about it including Park Jong-il and Cho Chul-hwan agreed to refer to it as ‘the object’.

“Well, at first, I was a little puzzled, but now I think we are very lucky to have such a weapon. Will China and Russia leave a country with such inexhaustible resources? I’m sure they’d want to take over Kazakhstan somehow, but we have a weapon to stop it. It’s all good.”

“I’m glad you have a positive perspective on it.”

Youngho was worried that Park Young-sun might not like the idea of having nuclear power.

“Of course. We have the power that nobody else can compare. If time permits, I’ll also look for uranium.”

“Are there any more uranium deposits?”

“The uranium we’re mining right now is all we’ve explored in Soviet times. With modern technology, we can find more mines than we have now.”

“Then we can look forward to it.”

“I expect to find not only uranium but also other special minerals.”

“For now, gold comes before other minerals.”

“Hahaha… Don’t worry because gold is always at the top of the list.”