TL: Skye
True to form as a Korean whose international calling code starts with +82, Yu-jin moved with remarkable speed. (TL Note: +82 is South Korea's international dialing code. The number 8282 is also Korean slang for "hurry up", as it sounds like "빨리빨리" (ppalli-ppalli), meaning "quickly, quickly". So the joke works on two levels: +82 identifies Yu-jin as Korean, while also referencing the famous "ppalli-ppalli" culture of speed and efficiency that Koreans are known for.)
Dressed in a suit Isabella had picked out for him, he began his address to the nation from the press room set up in the Ministry of Defense.
"My dear fellow citizens..."
A somewhat clichéd opening. But what followed was anything but.
"I stand before you today with unspeakable sorrow and grief in my heart. Just two days ago, three innocent citizens who were our hardworking neighbors, colleagues, and family members lost their lives to violent crime."
Yu-jin continued his address while looking directly into the camera.
"This is a direct challenge to the law and order of San Marcos, and an act of terror against every citizen who dreams of a peaceful daily life. I have agonized over the root cause of this tragedy. Why must we live in fear of crime? How long must we be wary of walking the streets at night?"
His voice carried genuine conviction. Yu-jin turned to the next page of his speech.
"Therefore, as Acting President, I hereby declare war on crime. I will root out crime and the organizations that perpetrate it from this land, and build a safe San Marcos."
The air in the press room froze solid.
Yu-jin's announcement that he would eradicate the gangs was that shocking.
"However, the war I am declaring is not a purge through violence and guns. I have identified the cause of crime as a national problem. Why do you think they joined criminal organizations? Because they could not survive without committing crimes. The state must take responsibility for ignoring their desperation. Therefore, the government wishes to give criminals an opportunity."
Yu-jin let out a sigh before delivering the bombshell.
"Effective today, the government will employ all individuals who are affiliated with gangs or have a history of violent crime."
Everyone, including the reporters, tilted their heads in confusion. He declared war on crime, but now he was offering them jobs? The before and after could not have been more different.
But what Yu-jin said next filled them with shock and terror.
"And we will relocate them to the Central Basin to establish large-scale grain farms."
"...!"
The Central Basin? He was going to forcibly relocate them to that abandoned wasteland that nobody had any hope of developing and make them build farms?
While everyone stood there with their mouths hanging open, Yu-jin smiled confidently as he read the final page of his address.
"The state will provide wages to enable these criminals to become members of society, and they will escape the hellish dens of crime to receive the opportunity for healthy labor under the protection of the state."
"......"
"Of course, there will be those who refuse. But I will not give up. I will continue to provide opportunities so that they can become healthy farmers. This is both about keeping all the citizens of San Marcos safe and making our nation strong and prosperous."
Yu-jin stepped one pace to the side of the podium and bowed his head.
"I ask for the support of my fellow citizens. Thank you."
And at that moment, Pedro's martial law forces began to move.
***
Just before Yu-jin delivered his address to the nation, Pedro was in a meeting with the officers of the Armored Division.
"This isn't a simple sweep operation. Think of it as a kind of rehabilitation operation where we capture gang members and turn them into farmers."
He looked around at his tense subordinates and continued.
"There will definitely be those who resist. Some will shoot at us to avoid being taken. His Excellency said he's giving them an opportunity, but he doesn't want our boys getting hurt or killed for that opportunity either. So what should we do?"
"Suppress them!"
"Correct. If someone throws a punch, stomp them with your combat boots. If they shoot, turn them into Swiss cheese. We need to show overwhelming force and make them give up. That's how both they survive and our boys survive. Understood?!"
"Sim, senhor!"
And the moment Yu-jin's address began, the martial law forces entered the three major slums of Libertad.
Favela do Corvo. Beco das Sombras. Baixada do Esquecido. Territories completely controlled by the gangs.
To stay in these places meant they were either a gang member or at least someone who cooperated with them.
"Move it, move it!"
The soldiers moved to turn these areas into operational zones.
Armored vehicles mounted with machine guns blocked the middle of the streets, snipers who had dismounted from transport trucks climbed to building rooftops, and the majority of soldiers surrounded the perimeter.
"Wh-what?" "Why are soldiers here?" "Is this some kind of drill?"
Since Yu-jin had only just begun his address, the gangs had no information.
The soldiers charged at them and.
"Grab them!"
Swung their wooden clubs wildly.
Thwack thwack thwack!
The soldiers instantly knocked the gang members down, disarmed them, twisted their arms behind their backs, and bound them with long cable ties.
"Wh-what's going on?!" "Aaagh! At least tell us why we're being taken!" "You sons of bitches! Stop hitting us!"
With the captures complete, it was time for transport. The bound gang members were dragged away and thrown into buses that had been requisitioned in advance.
And their education to become first-class citizens began right then and there.
Thwack! Thwack!
Soldiers waiting inside the buses began beating them mercilessly with batons.
"Aaah! Aaaaah!" "P-please, spare me!"
The bus filled with screams and groans.
Soon, once the gang members' eyes had grown docile, the soldiers set the bus in motion.
"Shut up and stay still! Anyone who moves even a little will get their bones broken!"
Of course, not all the prospective farmers went quietly.
Bang! Bang bang bang!
Gang members who saw their comrades being subdued armed themselves and began fighting back.
"Get the guns!" "Bring everything we've got!" "I'd rather die than get dragged away!"
But Pedro remained resolute.
"They are traitors defying the state. Show no mercy. Open fire."
He gave those who raised guns the opportunity to become Swiss cheese.
Brrrrrrrt—!
The machine guns mounted on the tactical vehicles spewed fire, and smoke rose continuously from the rifles of snipers positioned in nearby buildings.
When the front-line soldiers also opened their eyes wide and sprayed their rifles.
"W-we surrender!" "Please, spare us!"
The resistance stopped as if by magic. The gang members, realizing they were hopelessly outmatched, began raising their hands in surrender.
'We need to show overwhelming force and make them give up. That's how both they survive and our boys survive.'
Pedro's words became reality in that moment.
"What are you standing around for! Round them all up!"
The soldiers began harvesting healthy farmers in droves.
*
Meanwhile, as the military frantically harvested gang members, the second phase of the operation was underway at Libertad National Stadium.
Gang members, hands bound with cable ties, were forced to kneel on the grass field, sorted by district.
Soldiers mechanically received buses carrying the "volunteers".
By this point, everyone had figured it out.
The state was trying to wipe out the gangs!
How else could all three major gangs of Libertad have been rounded up?
'I-I need to escape.' 'Who knows what'll happen if I get taken from here.'
But how? Soldiers with rifles were watching with eyes wide open. There was no way to escape.
In the end, there was only one thing they could do.
Deny that they were gang members.
"This is wrong! I'm not in a gang! I was just drinking there!" "I'm not a Corsario, so why did you bring me here?!" "Get me your superior! Get him now!"
But the interviewer before them was no ordinary person.
Lucio Caravallo. As the Intelligence Director of SIA, he used a tablet linked to the criminal database to expose the criminal history of each interviewee.
"It wasn't me! Please! I just work at a bakery!"
"Paco Rodriguez. Says here you work as a baker at Del Sol Bread. Is that correct?"
"Y-yes! That's right! I just bake bread..."
"Give me a break."
Lucio swiped to the next screen and showed it to him.
"You think I don't know you're a member of Los Muertos? Your main job is extorting protection money from nearby shops, and the bakery is just a front. Isn't that right?"
"H-how did you...?"
When the gang member fell silent, Lucio pulled out a document.
[Employment Contract.]
"Well well, society's trash is getting a salary and moving up in the world. Here, check your wages and sign."
"Wh-what if I refuse?"
"Then there's no choice. You'll have to undergo reeducation."
Lucio glanced behind him, and a soldier twirled a wooden club.
"B-but even so, there are human rights..."
"Human rights? Does trash like you deserve such a precious word? Choose quickly. Reeducation or signature?"
"Urgh..."
In the end, Paco had no choice but to sign the contract through his tears.
Lucio gestured to a soldier.
"Next."
As he collected signatures one by one, Lucio trembled with exhilaration.
'This is justice.'
He had realized something. Justice is not achieved through ideals, but through power.
"Hehehe, ahahahaha!"
The prospective farmers trembled at the sight of Lucio laughing like a madman.
*
The farmers who signed contracts were immediately loaded onto military trucks and transported without a moment's rest.
Their destination was the Central Basin, known as San Marcos's hell.
Surrounded on all sides by high mountain ranges, they arrived to face a despairing reality.
This was no farm.
"Everyone out!"
It was hell.
Soldiers roughly kicked them out, rolling them onto the ground.
Pedro's adjutant approached them.
"By the merciful will of His Excellency, you have been hired as proud farmers of Tortilha Farm, effective today!"
When the adjutant finished speaking, soldiers began tossing supplies from the trucks.
Thud. Thud. Thunk.
What they were given was a military tent, three sets of uniforms, one canteen, and one shovel and pickaxe each.
One of the gang members asked blankly.
"Wh... what are we supposed to do with this...?"
The adjutant pointed to the ground and proclaimed in a clear voice, as if reading from Yu-jin's national address.
"From now on, you will establish a corn farm here. Food and water will be provided daily at 0700 and 1800, and wages will be calculated monthly and deposited into your individual accounts. As stated in your contracts, you will receive one day off per week."
"......"
Everyone fell silent at the shocking declaration.
Wait, they were handing them shovels and pickaxes and telling them to build a farm here?
What's more, they couldn't even escape.
"Oh, and just in case anyone's wondering, don't even think about trying to slip away. By His Excellency's orders, machine guns have been specially positioned to protect you."
Soldiers with rifles were deployed all around them.
"Now then! Commence work! Get moving, no dawdling!"
It was the moment Tortilha Farm, spelled "Tortilha Farm" but pronounced "gulag", opened for business.