The Genius Construction Worker Who Moved to America - Chapter 13

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 13

Experience matters, but Equipment Advantage wins the day

Squelch, squelch.

Kang Jun picked his way across the mudflat, heading downstream. A Pry Bar with a sharpened tip hung from one hand.

Leo trailed behind him, his face clouded with apprehension—caught completely off guard.

They had only just finished the upstream section and were meant to rest when Kang Jun’s expression had turned grim and he’d stormed into Blackwood Construction’s work site without warning.

“But… why are we heading into their zone all of a sudden? I mean, sure they cut corners, but they did raise the Retaining Wall. From where I’m standing, it looks pretty solid…”

Leo was right, on the surface. Fifty meters downstream, Blackwood Construction’s concrete Retaining Wall rose imposingly—poured through the night in a show of force.

But Kang Jun’s heightened senses were already sweeping across the wall’s foundation. A blue system warning flashed across his vision.

[Warning! Should the collapsed Retaining Wall section spanning 100 meters fail even by 1 meter, agent status revoked permanently and immediate death.]

“It looks solid enough. That’s what a concrete coating does for you.”

Kang Jun let out a bitter laugh.

“But Director Leo, in construction the skeleton is everything. Leave it like that and the next heavy rain will wash it all downstream.”

The moment Kang Jun and Leo crossed the perimeter into Blackwood’s site, Max the site foreman approached with a scowl. His work clothes were caked in mud, and dark circles hung heavily beneath his eyes.

“Hey, hold on! What business do you have on someone else’s site? Why don’t you two finish your little stone-stacking project. We just completed our concrete pour.”

Max’s chin jutted out arrogantly. Moments later, Mayor Scott, his aide Tom, and several city officials who’d been making their rounds gathered to observe the confrontation.

“Perfect, is it?”

Kang Jun slung the Pry Bar across his shoulder and stepped nose-to-nose with Max.

“Director Max, don’t you remember what I said yesterday? I warned you that driving metal stakes doesn’t make a foundation.”

Max’s face flushed crimson.

“Where did you crawl out of, you common laborer, to dare disrespect our construction methods? We raised that wall with laser levels and scanners—not a gap in sight! It’s infinitely stronger than your dirt walls!”

“Strong, sure. But what if the ground beneath that wall is rotting?”

“What… what are you talking about?”

Kang Jun didn’t answer. Instead, he walked to the base of the concrete Retaining Wall, where it met the earth.

[Skill Activated: Pulse of the Earth (Lv. 1)]

A soft hiss—

A cross-section of the ground beneath revealed itself before his eyes.

The price of laying no proper foundation, only H-Beams: An Underground Water Vein had carved through the unset mudflat, gnawing away at the soil directly beneath the wall.

A Sinkhole large enough to swallow three or four grown men had already formed there.

‘Exactly this spot. It’s hollow.’

Kang Jun tapped a specific point at the base of the retaining wall with the tip of his pry bar.

“Director Max. You built this without properly compacting the foundation, didn’t you?”

Max flinched, his eyes darting away as he shouted.

“What are you talking about? We drove H-Beams straight down to bedrock! That’s foundation enough!”

“Steel doesn’t matter if the soil holding it is being washed away by water.”

“You’re just a laborer—you’ve got no proof! How could you possibly know what’s underground?”

Kang Jun gripped the pry bar with both hands, his knuckles whitening.

The Craftsman’s Grip activated, veins bulging across his forearms. He twisted his torso, driving his full weight down through the tool.

“My eyes see it clear as day!”

“Hey! You crazy bastard! What are you doing to a wall that hasn’t even—”

Crack!

Max had no chance to finish. The metal head of Kang Jun’s pry bar came down hard on the lower section of the retaining wall.

In that instant, a strange sound echoed across the site.

Thud!
Booooom—

Not the sharp ring of striking solid bedrock. A hollow, drum-like resonance—the sound of empty space within.

“What…?”

Max’s face went blank. Even the city officials stepped back in shock. A man who’d spent a lifetime on construction sites couldn’t possibly misread that sound.

Kang Jun struck the same spot again.

Crack! Crunch!

The concrete at the base shattered, and a fissure wide enough for two fists opened between the ground and the wall.

And in that moment.

Rumble! Whoooosh—!!!

“Run! Get back!”

Kang Jun’s voice pierced through the roar of mud cascading down.

Max’s legs trembled. The undeniable reality unfolded before his eyes.

“D-Director… What should we do? It sounds like what he’s saying is right…?”

The site foreman approached with a pale, drained face and whispered. Max wiped his face with shaking hands.

Kang Jun didn’t miss the opening. He deliberately turned his head toward where Mayor Scott was listening.

“Mayor! Would you like to watch the Old Town District of Pasadena submerged tomorrow?”

Mayor Scott’s expression shifted to one of alarm as he glared at Max.

“Director Max! What in God’s name are you doing! Defective construction…. I’ll contact Blackwood headquarters immediately and hold you accountable!”

“M-Mayor! That’s not it… The ground conditions have deteriorated so badly we had no choice….”

Kang Jun stepped right into Max’s face as he began making excuses.

“There’s no time for excuses! That retaining wall—I’ll restore it for you.”

“What…?”

“My condition is simple. For the next twenty-four hours, all Blackwood equipment and personnel follow my orders. If you don’t like that, you can do prison time for defective construction.”

It was both a threat and a deal. The mayor’s angry stare. Torrents of mud pouring down.

Max gripped his trembling heart and met Kang Jun’s eyes.

In his gaze, Max felt an odd sense of relief—hope that this man might be able to salvage this nightmare.

“…F-Fine! For today, all Blackwood equipment and personnel will follow your orders. Please, for God’s sake, save this damned wall!”

Max had surrendered.

Kang Jun let out a low chuckle and turned away. Without a moment’s hesitation, he began commanding the field.

This was the moment—the true beginning of construction genius Kang Jun’s all-out equipment-driven laborwork.

“Hey, Director Max! Get every scaffolding pipe scattered around the site! Sharp angle the ends! And fire up the concrete pump truck!”

He had to forcibly create new ground to support the wall.

In Kang Jun’s mind, a crude ground reinforcement method took shape—one that would fill the sinkhole without digging.

As the workers brought the scaffolding pipes, Kang Jun climbed onto the excavator.

Using the bucket, he drove the pipes into the muddy ground around the retaining wall, driving them down to where the sinkhole lay. Dozens of pipes were driven into the earth like straws.

Kang Jun descended from the excavator and called to Leo.

“Leo! Bring every bit of quicklime we have left. Then dump the rapid-set cement into the pump truck’s mixer along with it!”

“W-What? If we’re not careful, the mixer could set solid all at once or explode!”

“The principle’s the same either way. We just blast it into the ground before it bursts!”

It was madness, pure madness—pumping the heat-generating quicklime and expanding rapid-set cement simultaneously through a concrete truck.

Yet Kang Jun was already calculating the mixture ratios, discharge speed, and friction losses in the pipes inside his head.

Rumble-rumble-rumble—Bang! Bang! Bang!

The thick, sticky paste of Rapid-Set Cement and Quicklime churned through the Concrete Pump Truck’s piping. Kang Jun connected the hose to the mouth of the Scaffolding Pipe he’d driven into the ground and cranked open the pressure valve.

Whoooosh—!! Gulp! Gulp!

High-pressure cement slurry shot down the pipe and blasted into the Sinkhole below. Blackwood Construction’s equipment married to street-level construction savvy. But this time, the scale was different.

Within minutes, the earth began to convulse.

Hisssss—!!!

“Uh—whoa?! The ground’s smoking!”

The workers stumbled back in alarm. The groundwater pooled in the Sinkhole had met the Quicklime, triggering a violent hydration reaction.

Heat exceeding 100 degrees vaporized the moisture inside the cavity in an instant. Simultaneously, the expanding Quicklime and rapidly hardening Rapid-Set Cement created an explosive synergy.

Through the Pulse of the Earth skill, the view beneath the surface was unmistakable. The hollow void was being filled seamlessly—expanding heat and hardening cement leaving no gaps.

Without moving a single shovelful of earth from above, a foundation capable of supporting dozens of tons had been created beneath the Retaining Wall.

“We’re not done yet!”

To withstand tomorrow’s downpour, he needed bracing to prevent the not-yet-fully-cured concrete wall from tilting forward under water pressure.

“Max! Where are those H-Beams you pulled out of the mud yesterday? Get them here, now!”

At Kang Jun’s commanding shout, dozens of H-Beams came dragging over, hauled by an Excavator.

“What are we doing with all this heavy steel? Driving them into the ground again?”

“No—we’re leaning them against the wall.”

Whirrrr—Thud!

Kang Jun gripped each H-Beam at its midpoint with the Excavator’s jaws. He angled one end against the top of the concrete Retaining Wall and the other end down to the ground.

A perfect 45 degrees.

“Now—weld steel plates to the wall and lock it down tight! Anchor the ground end with bolts!”

Sizzle—! Spark-spark-spark!

Sparks flew from all directions as the H-Beams were welded into place, buttressing the Retaining Wall.

It was a modern construction-work version of the Flying Buttress that medieval European cathedrals had built to support their thin outer walls.

Dozens of H-Beams set at 45 degrees, spaced a meter apart.

Tomorrow, when the floodwaters struck the Retaining Wall, their pressure would flow down through the H-Beams and dissipate into the earth.

Hours passed. Finally, with all the work complete, Kang Jun climbed down from the Excavator.

After always swinging a shovel and Pry Bar with his own hands, orchestrating dozens of heavy machines and workers had given him an entirely new kind of satisfaction.

“Construction-work savvy is the best, but… huh. Equipment advantage really does make a difference.”

Kang Jun spoke in a low murmur, his gaze lifting to the sky.

The sun descended toward the west, painting Pasadena’s sky in shades of amber and rose.
Beneath that twilight, the upper Retaining Wall that Kang Jun had touched gleamed like a steadfast shield.

Crunch, crunch.

Footsteps sounded from behind him. Max, the site supervisor.

Not a trace of arrogance remained on his face. Only reverence for Kang Jun and the shame of recognizing his own ignorance.

Max extended his hand slowly.

“Mister Choi… no, Master Choi. Without you, I’d be walking into a jail cell come morning. I’ve worked construction my whole life, but I’ve never met anyone like you.”

Kang Jun studied that hand for a moment, then peeled off his dirt-caked work gloves and clasped it firmly.

“There’s no miracle here. I was just doing what needed to be done.”

“How on earth do you make those calculations? To nail the load-bearing angles with nothing but eyesight—do you have a supercomputer in that head of yours?”

At Max’s question, Kang Jun tightened his grip and let out a quiet chuckle.

“Everyone on Korean construction sites can do this much.”

The moment Kang Jun shrugged and tossed out the remark as a joke—

Patter.
Tap, tap.

Raindrops fell onto their hard hats.

Tap, tap, whoooooosh—!!!

The foretold catastrophe. A second river of sky opened above Pasadena, pouring down in torrents.

The smile vanished from Kang Jun’s lips.

[Hidden Quest: Repair the Fallen Shield]
[Deadline expired. Final judgment begins.]

“Well then… let’s see if we can hold it.”

Genius Laborer Crosses the Pacific—Episode 13

Author
Kalman
Publisher
Titan
Planning / Editing / Production
Lee Sung-guk
Cover Design
Studio Inus

UCI
G720:N+A036-20260819030.0013

ⓒ2026, Kalman

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No part or all of the contents of this work may be reprocessed in any form without the permission of the author and publisher.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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