Leaps and Bounds

"Jinwoon-nim, Jinwoon-nim! The portals are ready. We are going to test them now." Yuna came running towards Jinwoon. Jinwoon had been explaining the situation of the sandlands to Abin. Yu Na stopped right in front of them. 

"I was wondering if you wanted to be there if we tested it. The Kin… I mean Lord Sung Hoon and Lord Sung Joon are the first to return here." Yu Na turned impatient when Jinwoon didn't reply immediately. "You don't want to be there?" Jinwoon shook his head. 

Jinwoon was thinking what to do. He didn't think it was really necessary for him to be there. He was sure that Sung Hoon would find him straight away anyway. But he knew that Sung Hoon would be disappointed not to see him there. 

"Let's go then. Elder Abin, are you coming with us?" He turned towards Abin. "Can I? I would love to see it." Yu Na and Jinwoon gave her a weird look. 'What do you mean, see?' They both thought. "Alright, let's go then." The three of them walked towards the jungle area.

They reached the portal in five minutes. The portal looked like a large table top. The side was made of bismuth elements and was given off a gently green hue. Next to stood a thin rectangular pole with a number box on it.

[Bismuth is a chemical element with the symbol Bi and atomic number 83. Bismuth has unusually low toxicity for a heavy metal.]

"We've already tested it with smaller matter. Everything went well." Jinwoon wasn't worried. From the memories given by Tae Jinwoon, he knew that Yu Na was one of the most brilliant scientists they had on Yangge. "Beam them up, Scotty." 

Yu Na turned looking confused. She looked around to see if there was anybody else but it was just the three of them and as far as she knew there wasn't any Scotty in their team. 'Is it a thing?' A frown crossed her face. "Jinwoon-nim? Who's or what is Scotty?"

Jinwoon laughed. "Never mind, it was a joke." Yu Na's frown just became deeper. 'I don't get it.' Jinwoon could see the confusion in Yu Na's face. "Let's focus on the task. One day I'll explain it to you." Yu Na gave a quick nod before turning back around.

"How does this work?" Abin was staring at the portal. Jinwoon couldn't help but ask. "Can you see it?" Abin laughed. "Seeing is not the correct word. If you asked me to describe what you look like, I wouldn't be able to tell you."

"All I can see are different kinds of, let's call them shapes with dark or light presents." Jinwoon still didn't understand it. "What about me and Yu Na?" Abin hesitated before giving an answer. "Yu Na is a small box with floating spots of dark and light light." 

"You are just a white spot. You're like a bright lamp in the dark." Jinwoon frowned. 'Is this because I'm not really from this planet?' He decided to ask Abin more in the future. While Abin had been explained, Yu Na had put in a few numbers and the portal was now glowing blue. 

Twenty seconds later the blue glowed brighter before turning back to the green hue. Sung Hoon, Sung Joon, Kuno and Kubo were standing in front of them. "That was amazing!" Kubo was looking around in shock. 

Sung Joon laughed before patting his back. "This is nothing. After we're finished you'll find this boring." Kubo shook his head. "If you say so." Sung Hoon ignored him and walked over to Jinwoon. "I've missed you." He smiled at Jinwoon before engulfing him in a hug.

Kuno was frozen on the spot. "Old man, are you alright?" Kubo looked at his grandfather with concern. Kuno's mouth opened and closed but no words came out. "I think he's just in shock from the experience. 

Kuno looked at Sung Joon and gave a weak nod. Kubo and Sung Joon took him by the arms and guided him to the others. "Your... Lord Sung Hoon, I'll give you a list of the calling sequence later. You can give it to the soldiers." Yu Na was looking pleased.

Sung Hoon turned to Yu Na. "How many portals have been installed?" Yu Na turned slightly red. "Just two." Sung Hoon blink. "We've sent all the soldiers to the Howa. The sandlands are not yet suited for a portal and we can only install ten more."

"The Elders haven't told us which villages should get one now." Abin clapped her hand. "I'm so sorry. We had already decided. We chose the villages that were the furthest away." Abin named 10 villages that were about a month away from Jamang.

Sung Hoon turned to Yu Na. "Yu Na can you work with that?" Yu Na nodded. "I'll get a few people ready. We'll take the spaceship. I think we might be able to finish today." She bowed to them before sprinting away. 

The other followed him at a slower pace. When they reached the tent Kuno finally opened his mouth. "M... My days! I can't believe I'm alive to experience this!" Everybody looked at him before bursting into laughter. Kuno felt a little silly but he didn't care.

"What have you been doing at the Howa?" Jinwoon sat down. The other followed suit. "We first learned from them and then together we decided what we could teach them. But to be honest we learn much more from them." 

Sung Joon nodded in agreement. "The Howa have a Chief instead of an Elder. The way he fights with a spear is amazing. There is a spear maker, a bow and arrow maker and a shield maker. We're planning to modify them, instead of giving our weapons." Sung Joon was getting excited. 

"We've sent video and drawings back to Yangge. They will be communicating with the Howa and the soldiers to make the best weapons. I can't wait for them to come with the finished equipment." "How has it been here?" Sung Hoon took Jinwoon's hand.

Jinwoon and Abin told them what they had been doing. It wasn't really much but still everybody was pleased with what had been done for now. They couldn't do a lot because they hadn't brought much. But next month that would all change.

A month later ten new ships arrived. These were twice the size of the ships Jinwoon and the others had taken. They were all war ships. Each ship had over a hundred soldiers and thirty extra scientists. The ships used the portals to transport the hard needed equipment to the right village.

Within two weeks of the arrival of the war ships, all the nighty villages on Pahudo were equipped with a portal. The villagers were amazed with the portal but after a week it seemed like they had been using it since years.

The Howa were also given their new spears, bows and shields. The scientist had even created special helmets. All the weapons were made of Iridium. The bows didn't need any arrows, all you had to do was pull the string and it would produce electro arrows.

[Iridium is a chemical element that shows signs of high density and a tolerance of high temperatures. Iridium belongs to the platinum group metals, resembling platinum in its look.]

The spear could be used as traditional spears but with a push of a button it would shoot lasers. The shield was light and could levitate in the air. The Howa and the soldiers were all very pleased with the new weapons. 

There were also changes in each village. The animal tents were replaced with round reinforced, self-healing concrete houses. The mines were equipped with automated drills, making it easier and faster. For food, the scientist brought extra seeds and terraforming machines. 

[self-healing concrete: When a crack forms in this new concrete, the material begins to fill in the gap itself. The process uses an enzyme found in red blood cells]

Before they knew it six month had already passed. The planet Pahudo had seen a dramatic change. Half the sandlands were again full of water. Many villages who live on and near the water had returned. 

With the help of cloning and relocating, many animals had also returned to water and the woods. The Pahudo's were thriving again. They knew that they would have to eventually fight for the planet again but with Jinwoon and the others around, the fear was much less.

Hara looked at her tablet. "Jinwoon-nim. We're actually ahead of schedule. The last ten war ships are made. With that, there will be a total of a hundred ships." Jinwoon and Sung Hoon had decided to create a fleet of warships.

There were now thirty small ones, fifty medium size and forty large ones. The plan was that they would arrive near Pahudo a week before the Jinoco arrived.  After the fight, if they come out victorious, they would travel to Jinoco to conquer them.