Episode 6: Mafia Game / Chapter 94: Independent Troops (5)
TL: emptycube / ED: Obelisk
{Chu Youngjin"s Protection} *Weapon of Calling
Rank: B+ Rank
Endurance: 1,000,000 / 1,000,000
Combat Endurance Ability +100 (Stamina, Endurance, and Recovery)
Earthling Chu Youngjin"s soul and retribution permeated this sword. Although he doesn"t have someone to protect, his heart, which longs to protect, permeated the sword, and it will not break or dull even if it supports a mountain. It is a Weapon of Calling, the most common type of karma weapon. As the level of its owner, Chu Youngjin, is low and the materials are slightly lacking to create a karma weapon, its performance is low in comparison to other Weapons of Calling. It can be strengthened later with more reinforcing.
It was originally an insignificant weapon made with steel, commonly found on Earth, and karma left behind by Lee Hyejin. Due to earthling Chu Youngjin"s devoted reinforcing, it has been reborn as a karma-sword, a Weapon of Calling.
"… What is this?"
The elderly alien blinked his eyes. All he wanted to do was create the best weapon a low ranked warrior could use. The materials used and the amount of effort he put in were only for that purpose. However, for it to result in a karma-sword used by those above low ranked warriors…
"… It seems there"s an extraordinary story behind it."
Mumbled the elderly alien as he took the sword out of the black pond and cleaned it. He handed it to the teary-eyed Chu Youngjin and said,
"Congratulations. Although after staying in this industry for so long I knew that occasionally incomprehensible weapons would be born… It"s my first time seeing it for myself. If it"s already like this… You might be able to complete a "Weapon of Sentiment" someday. No, no, perhaps you might even see a Weapon of Vow be born."
The elderly alien, who had been blunt until now, currently showed a somewhat careful att.i.tude.
"My name is Gallahan. Come again."
He even introduced himself in the end.
Baek Seoin, who had been watching them closely, said,
"Leader. Don"t you have a Weapon of Vow?"
Crackle!
Flames erupted above Gallahan"s head. It seemed this was how his species expressed surprise.
"Wh-what? What did you say just now?"
Astonishment filled Gallahan"s voice.
Choi Hyuk turned towards Baek Seoin as if asking why he brought up something so bothersome.
Baek Seoin quietly explained,
"Looking at the mood, it seems like he"ll treat us better if we say it. Maybe even give us a discount."
Thinking Baek Seoin had a point, Choi Hyuk briefly showed his sword to Gallahan before sheathing it.
Crackle, crackle!
Flames similar to that of fireworks erupted above Gallahan"s head.
"I am happy that rookies like you joined the alliance. I hope that you will be able to knock those d.a.m.n top 4 tribes down a peg or two."
Due to Gallahan"s aggressive discounts and advice, as well as his suggestions of other stores, they were able to successfully finish their shopping.
Before Choi Hyuk"s group left, Gallahan praised them and left them a strange warning.
"Anyways, you"re from the Virgo Cl.u.s.ter, right?"
"Yes."
"Be careful. I overheard a few things while working here, and it seems there"s something going on over there. There"s something going on, but seeing that everyone is hush-hush about it… It might be something dangerous. A wretched danger that those conducting the mission won"t know."
After saying their farewells to Gallahan and going out to the streets, they met Tangka from the Armored Soul tribe. It looked like it had been looking for Cho Hyuk"s group as it hurriedly ran towards them.
"Haa… So here you were."
When Choi Hyuk gave it a questioning look, Tangka opened its chest, and a black, 1-cubic-meter cube emerged.
"What"s that?"
Tangka replied as it handed the item to Choi Hyuk,
"I don"t know much about it either. They said it was some sort of exploration device. We suddenly got an order from the higher-ups to take it on the Cayenne exploration. Here"s the order."
Tangka"s hand was dyed in golden karma light. Tangka"s karma was originally a metallic color closer to silver. It was an order encrypted in karma form, making it impossible to fake.
"… This isn"t an order from Commander Mack?"
"Yeah. It came from the higher ups above her. When we reported that the Cayenne exploration had been confirmed, the higher ups hurriedly sent this down."
"Even Commander Mack doesn"t know?"
"Yeah. When she requested to know, they simply said it was a secret… Still, relax. They said it wasn"t anything dangerous. There were talks about how it might be for exploring whether there were any scarce resources or something."
Maybe it was because he had just heard Gallahan"s warning, but he felt uneasy. However, that didn"t mean he could refuse the order either, nor did he want to.
Choi Hyuk placed the cube in his bag.
Seeing this, Tangka suddenly seemed to think of something as he advised,
"Ah, although you guys are the ones who are going to choose the composition of your army and its numbers, if I were to give you advice… Take as many as you can. It"s not occupying a planet but a star. No matter how many you take, it still won"t be enough. Also, the more battle experience earthlings have, the better. From what I"ve heard, this mission should be easy, but you need to train in times like this."
Gallahan told them to be careful while Tangka told them to use this opportunity to train… Choi Hyuk simply grinned.
"Yeah, thanks."
"Let"s have a drink after you complete your mission."
Tangka waved his hand as he left.
They had now finished what they came to Laniakea to do.
Choi Hyuk activated the "military gate system" and returned to Earth. It was an extremely long distance teleportation from the center of Laniakea to the Milky Way galaxy in the Virgo cl.u.s.ter, which was located on the outer boundaries of the Laniakea Supercl.u.s.ter. His mind momentarily went blank, and when he suddenly regained his senses, he had already arrived on Earth. He was inside Naro"s s.p.a.ceship, which was rotating in an orbit above South Korea. Although teleportation was now much more comfortable compared to when they were Consumables, there was no helping the slight nausea he felt.
"Leader, you"ve arrived?"
The one who met Choi Hyuk"s group was Lee Jinhee, who was lying on the sofa exhausted.
Choi Hyuk asked,
"How was it on your end?"
"It went well."
The moment Lee Jinhee flicked her finger, Naro appeared and began to report,
"The deal between Director Lee Jinhee and the El tribe ended successfully. Since technicians, weapons, and resources have already arrived, we are producing our first round of equipment."
While Choi Hyuk"s group was shopping in the Laniakea Supercl.u.s.ter, Lee Jinhee alone was roaming around Dragonic and completing missions. Among them, the most important mission was a deal with the El tribe, who lived in the inverted tree.
"Wasn"t it difficult?"
Asked Baek Seoin. While still lying down, she ma.s.saged her shoulders and legs as she replied,
"It wasn"t that hard. It seemed they gave us additional points for cleaning and occupying the entire region. Since, if a strong monster strikes, it"ll have to face us first. And they can retreat in a pinch. They were also surprised by our fast growth."
Choi Hyuk nodded and asked Naro,
"Good. Then there aren"t any problems with supplying basic weapons for the Berserkers, right?"
"Yes, no problem. We can create the first round of necessary equipment in a day."
Naro"s tone, which made it sound like it wasn"t difficult to do, was trustworthy.
The El tribe"s technology was much more advanced than Earth"s. Earthlings could produce weapons with physical power as their base, but they still couldn"t create weapons containing karma. On the other hand, the El tribe possessed the techniques to ma.s.s produce 3-star weapons consistently and could even produce a 4-star weapon if they put a lot of effort into it.
Although Naro possessed knowledge of weapons used by narolings, narolings were different from earthlings in various aspects. It was difficult to adjust their weapon systems for humans. In the end, the key point of the deal this time was to receive the support of the El tribe, who were similar to humans, and for them to supply new weapons to the Berserkers.
Also, the Berserkers" side of the deal was to give them a city. They handed "Pyungryu", the slave city previously governed by Lao Ban, over to the El tribe. This was also the first step of their promise where they would allow them to come out to the surface.
"Also, I got the pledges of all the small and medium-sized clans active in our various colonized lands. Now we can dispatch their forces however we want when we go on missions."
Lee Jinhee"s speech sounded a bit boastful, "How about it, didn"t I work hard?"
She had the right to. In a single day, she had gone around to all the five colonized lands Choi Hyuk governed. It wasn"t just going around but also gathering the people in every city, bearing threats and receiving their pledges. That was why she was constantly ma.s.saging her arms and legs.
Currently, Choi Hyuk was the sole sovereign who governed five colonized lands. Including the Barhaloleun region he had governed over originally, he merged Lao Ban, Freeman, and Nasir"s colonized lands as well as Lilo"s, who had unluckily been caught up in the war. In reality, the Berserkers occupied many more colonized lands during the past war, but as there was a limit to the Berserkers" numbers, they couldn"t continue to occupy all of them. In the end, excluding those five, the rest were left as they were. There were some that were returned to their former owners, and the ones without owners were distributed between the other overseers.
"Ah, the Great Warrior of the El tribe Lantz said something strange."
"What?"
"About being careful, and that even if the colonization has been going smoothly until now, the monsters aren"t easy opponents."
It seemed Lee Jinhee didn"t find Lantz"s warning important as she told them his warning with a lofty tone. The reason was because the monsters, which felt quite strong when they first started colonizing, were now not much of a threat. This was because humans had been continuously growing stronger through repeated intense battles.
Just then, Naro said,
"I think there is value in heeding his warning. There are still places in Dragonic that haven"t been scanned by my radar. Although more people have migrated and there has been more trade between colonized lands after the war… From my calculations, the regions concentrated with colonized lands don"t make up more than 30% of Dragonic."
Naro opened its arms wide and continued,
"We don"t know what kind of monsters live in the remaining 70%."
Although it wasn"t something they could do much about right away, Choi Hyuk nodded his head.
There were too many matters to handle at the same time. They had to comfort colonized lands that had become devastated, continue colonizing Dragonic, and finish the migration of earthlings… On top of that, they had to conduct the mission given to them by the Virgo Cl.u.s.ter. Also, why were there so many people giving him warnings…
The more he thought about it, the more complicated his mind became. Choi Hyuk decided to set aside his problems for the time being as it was now time to successfully complete the first mission.
Choi Hyuk displayed his motivation,
"From now on, we cannot fail any missions. Okay? We will go towards the center."
The Virgo Cl.u.s.ter earthlings were active in was located in the utmost boundary region. For earthlings to approach the innermost core, the "Exalted Wings", and get revenge, there was only one way.
To complete each mission with overwhelming success. And make those at the center have no choice but to call for them.
Although there were some who said that the fact earthlings had become alliance members was a miracle, what Choi Hyuk sought to achieve from now on was an even greater one.
After finishing their preparations, Choi Hyuk went to battle faster than any other overseer.
The "military gate system" operated following Choi Hyuk"s will.
{Destination, Cayenne star.}
{The applicant for troop transportation, Overseer Choi Hyuk.}
{Confirming whether there is a mission in the specified region… Confirmed.}
{Please choose partic.i.p.ants of the mission.}
Choi Hyuk felt an odd sensation. After having always received missions from the system, he was now personally handing down a mission through it.
"Partic.i.p.ants of the mission are all Berserkers and all small and medium-sized clans under the influence of the Berserkers."
{Targeting complete. Please create a mission message.}
"Subjugate all monsters existing on the Cayenne star. Clans have the autonomy to command themselves."
{Mission announcement complete. Beginning to transmit.}
{Subjugation of the Cayenne Star}
Subjugate all monsters existing on the Cayenne star.
Clans have the autonomy to command themselves. - Overseer Choi Hyuk
This was the first mission announcement under Choi Hyuk"s name. The moment the announcement arrived, millions of warriors crossed through the dimension and over to the Cayenne star.