I ran a few more tests.
First of all, when a poison sting is embedded, the time it takes to transform into a bug is proportional to the amount of meat.
That means if I want to make an enormous bug using a ridiculous amount of meat, I will need sufficient time.
"What is this, seriously."
In truth, it does not seem like a major problem for me. I just need to stick the poison sting into a lump of meat, wait a bit, and at the moment it looks like it is about to hatch, put it into my inventory. It is the same principle as pulling the pin from a grenade in advance and storing it in the inventory.
When the moment comes, I take it out and throw it. That is all.
"It looks like there is friend-or-foe recognition."
I hatched two bugs at the same time, and they attacked me together. It seems they clearly recognize each other as allies.
And then....
Depending on the amount of meat, it does not seem that they simply get bigger. When more meat is used, their carapaces grow thicker, they move faster, and their scythe-like blades become sharper.
Next, I checked the weight of the bugs I had gathered from the contaminated zone, and they were roughly around 200 to 250 kilograms. That means I need that much meat to create bugs at the level of the ones we fought.
"Maybe it would be best to use them as meat shields under normal circumstances."
If I just stab them into corpses indiscriminately, they all turn into flying bugs of the same weight. Even if there were no friend-or-foe distinction, they would still be sufficient for buying time.
"And the bugs created with this poison sting also have poison stings, but...."
Unfortunately, those bugs' stings were not for creating more bugs, but stings that contained actual poison. Well, it would make no sense for a poison sting obtained by destroying a contamination source to be the same as other bugs' poison stings.
Lastly, there was one more thing I needed to confirm.
Does this count as a contaminant as well?
Beef and pork were not brought from the contaminated zone. However, when stabbed with this poison sting, they transform into bugs that were in the contaminated zone.
If this is indeed considered a contaminant, then I have created a method to produce contaminants infinitely using meat.
"...."
There is a way to check. When the Korean government comes to collect the contaminants I secured, I can mix in the corpses of the bugs I artificially created and then check their reaction.
-A truck has been sent to collect the contaminants. It should have arrived by now.
A message came from Woo Gil-young. Right, it is scary how fast things move. When I stepped outside my residence, I immediately knew which truck Woo Gil-young had sent.
If you ask how I knew, it was because there was a large Mugunghwa flower painted on the truck. You could feel how high their expectations were for the contaminants I had brought back this time.
"Kim Sang-seon, apprentice cleaner."
A man guarding the front of the truck approached me.
"Contaminants?"
At my words, he nodded and opened the cargo door of the truck.
"Please carry out the work inside."
I looked around the truck bed and replied.
"I think you will need one more truck."
As I said that, I went into the truck and pulled out a bug corpse, setting it down as I spoke.
"There are about thirty of these."
The man checked the corpse and the truck bed, then nodded.
"If you continue working, an additional truck will arrive."
I immediately started unloading the cargo. While I was in the middle of unloading, another truck arrived.
After filling both trucks to the brim, I climbed down from the cargo bed.
"The total is 2,680 kilograms."
Roughly about 90 kilograms per bug. This seems like a pretty decent result.
"Thank you for your hard work and dedication."
After checking the weight, the man bowed to me. I spoke right away.
"Please replenish any consumables used as quickly and generously as possible."
The more weapons and ammunition, the better.
You never know when you might need to go cleaning again.
"Yes, we are on standby. We can replenish them immediately."
I recalled what I had in my inventory, restocked ammunition and grenades, and replaced the sentries with new ones.
The used sentries can be returned after maintenance. It is a kind of shift rotation.
I, a human, cannot work in shifts, yet machines can rotate shifts.
"Now, please sign here."
He said that and held out some documents. Sign, huh.
I checked the contents of the documents. They certified that the contaminants had been transferred and that the Korean government had received them without issue.
"We have received the full amount without any problems. Thank you for your efforts, cleaner."
After finishing his words, he bowed and got into the truck. With the sound of engines, the two trucks drove away.
After returning to my residence, I yawned once, took the pager out of my inventory, and waited until midnight. The Korean government was not the only one I had promised to hand over bug corpses to.
As a bonus, I checked the companies that had signed insurance contracts with Blue Barrel. Blue Barrel is a famous insurance company, and having a contract with them is like a guarantee that your business site is safe.
"Ha."
Before long, it became midnight, and the pager in my pocket vibrated.
Feeling the vibration, I took out the pager and checked the numbers.
"Is this really okay."
The coordinates pointed to a cafe near my residence. Are they really conducting a deal at a cafe? I was a bit taken aback.
I checked the coordinates several times, but the pager still pointed to a small private cafe near my place.
"...."
Well, what can I do. To be blunt, the one at a disadvantage here is not me but Blue Barrel. If they gave the wrong coordinates, then our deal would simply be off.
I went outside and headed toward the cafe in question.
"It is open."
By the time I arrived, it was close to 1 a.m., but the cafe was still open. Is it a 24-hour cafe or something.
"Welcome."
When I opened the door and went in, someone who looked like the owner greeted me. I swept my gaze across the cafe interior.
There was one man sitting there, newspaper spread open, cigarette in his mouth, exhaling smoke.
Hair slicked back with pomade, a shirt printed with palm trees, and a thick gold necklace around his neck. Sunglasses covering his eyes and several gold rings on his fingers.
One thing was certain. He was not Korean.
"Kim Sang-seon?"
He lowered his sunglasses, tossed the cigarette from his mouth into a coffee cup, and asked me. I briefly checked the cafe owner's face.
From the looks of it, they were on the same side.
"I am Kim Sang-seon, but who are you?"
At my words, he grinned and replied.
"Enrique Sanchez Pedro. That thing.... translator. Use. Korean no good."
At that, I obediently activated the translator and put on the in-ear device. Well, in this day and age, who bothers learning foreign languages. Just turn on the translator and it is done.
As soon as the translator activated, the guy disappeared from in front of my eyes.
"I am here at Railin's request."
He appeared behind me and spoke. Was that teleportation? Or was he simply so fast that I could not perceive it.
"I came to move you to the meeting point."
"Ah, so it was teleportation."
It was not all that shocking. In a world where some people can use one second like an entire day, teleportation is not so rare as to be mind-blowing.
"Let's move immediately."
He said that and placed a hand on my shoulder. When I opened my eyes, I was standing somewhere else, not the cafe.
"This place?"
"Japan, Madarashima Island."
I let out a sound of disbelief at his words. What should I even say to this.
"I do not even have a passport. Is this really okay?"
"This much is not a problem."
Railin's voice came from ahead. In the dim surroundings, her blonde hair shimmered faintly under the lights.
"So, should I put it out here?"
At my question, Railin nodded. I took out all the contaminants I had left after providing them to the Korean government.
"Wow, it is real. How is this even possible?"
Enrique, who had been watching from the side, looked at me in admiration.
"Is it impossible even with teleportation?"
"I cannot. When you enter a contaminated zone, the range you can move with teleportation is limited to inside the contaminated zone."
To go in and out of a contaminated zone, you must cross the wall of the zone with your own two feet.
Even though Enrique could teleport from the middle of Seoul to Japan, it was impossible for him to teleport items from inside a contaminated zone to the outside.
This ability I have is the only means of taking something out from within a contaminated zone.
"So then, are you willing to continue the deal?"
At my words, Railin swept her gaze over the piled bug corpses and said.
"We could become good business partners."
I think so too. And in that sense, there is one thing I want.
"Among the companies contracted with Blue Barrel, there are some related to the livestock industry."
At my words, Enrique made a sound of surprise.
"Why livestock all of a sudden."
"I have come to need meat."
Quite a lot of it. It is possible to get it from the Korean livestock industry, but compared to the United States, the difference in scale is unavoidable.
"Meat?"
"Do you really need to know the details?"
At my words, Enrique made a thoughtful sound and shook his head.
"Not really."
"In exchange for providing contaminants, I want to receive meat. Preferably cattle, and I would like them provided whole, slaughtered but not butchered."
From what I looked up, a cow weighs roughly about 450 kilograms. If I stab each one once with a poison sting and put it into my inventory, it would be perfect.
"Does the quality of the meat matter?"
"No. The quality does not matter at all. As long as it is above a certain weight, anything is fine."
It is not like a top-grade Hanwoo would produce a better bug.
"I will contact the senior director first. He will probably approve it."
Compared to providing cutting-edge equipment, sending slaughtered cattle probably does not seem very difficult.
"You will need to prepare several hundred head."
Otherwise, there would be no reason for me to bother asking an American company to slaughter cattle for me. Honestly, if it were up to me, I would like to stab poison stings into thousands of them and stuff them all into my inventory.
"I will make sure to convey that clearly. Then, going forward?"
At Enrique's words, I nodded.
"Going forward."
With this, I have secured enough of what I need from Blue Barrel's side. Later, if something more useful than poison stings appears, the items I demand will naturally change.
For now, this is sufficient. The cattle that Blue Bottle plans to prepare will be loaded onto container ships, and Enrique will handle it by teleporting me.
After completing a satisfying deal, I returned to my residence with Enrique's help.
"Teleportation really is nice."
Thinking back to the days when I suffered like a dog commuting to work, it is nothing but envy.
On the way home, I stopped by a fishing supply store and bought fishing line. According to the shop owner, you could even catch tuna with it.
I do not know if that is true, but it should be fine for tying up the poison stings I have secured.
"...."
As soon as I arrived home, I immediately tied the fishing line tightly to the tip of a poison sting. After repeatedly throwing it and pulling the line back to retrieve it, I nodded with a satisfied expression. This should be enough.