Chapter 85: The Crow"s warning and gift
Translator: miraclerifle
He heard the voice from around the bow of the ship.
Ju-Heon started to frown after hearing the voice. He couldn"t help but recognize this voice.
‘That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is...’
As Ju-Heon expected, there was a crow the size of an adult’s head at the bow. The Crow was extremely relaxed as if it was in its own place.
But the problem was...
Boom!
“Ahhh!”
The haughty and overbearing aura coming from the Crow was quite strong.
‘He"s at a different level.’
Even Yoo Jaeha and Irene who had the talents to be Monarchs were finding it hard to breathe. In fact, they were all sweating and shaking.
“M, Mr. Ju-Heon.”
“Captain-nim!”
“Shut up. Don’t get afraid of an artifact. Is that how I taught you?”
But they couldn’t help but be scared. However, Ju-Heon who was the only one that remained calm in this situation was even scarier!
The humans were not the only ones to be afraid. It seemed to be an Evil Divine-Grade artifact for a reason as the artifacts they possessed were extremely scared as well. Even the rope that was hanging around Ju-Heon was struggling as it wrapped around Ju-Heon"s waist.
[#$#&*!]
But its ferocious true nature as an artifact seemed to remain, or maybe because it felt a need to protect its master, it was growling at the Crow.
It happened at that moment.
[#$!]
Get rid of that crazy crow b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
[#$&!]
Get rid of that traitorous b.a.s.t.a.r.d!
The artifacts could not hide their murderous intents anymore. Most of them were Yoo Jaeha and Irene"s artifacts.
That wasn’t the only reaction.
Some people’s eyes rolled over and they were aiming for the Crow as strong Divine-Grade artifacts had a tendency to make people feel both awe and greed.
“That’s mine!”
“Move!”
“Hold on! Don"t go near it!”
However, as they ignored Yoo Jaeha and Irene’s shouts and ran toward it!
[That human is the one I have business with. Do not get in the way, unrelated humans.]
The Crow"s devil-like red eyes flashed. That was all it did but the waves suddenly became rough and the ship tilted to the side.
“Ahhhhhhhh!”
“Aaaaaah!”
The people held onto the ship while the artifacts foamed at the mouth as their bodies started to be destroyed. Irene had to suppress the artifact of dest.i.tution that wanted to run wild.
Ju-Heon sternly responded as people screamed at this sudden hurricane-like disaster.
"Stop now. Or you will never be able to see me again.”
The Crow seemed to lightly smile at that comment. But the wave started to calm down a bit. Ju-Heon started to smile while looking at it.
“Please don’t be scared. That thing is just a stalker.”
“S, stalker?”
“It’s a perverted guy that pops up every time I"m about to forget about him. Ah, maybe it’s a perverted girl?”
The Crow scoffed in disbelief as it observed Ju-Heon.
[You are still the same.]
The Crow started to speak once everyone else other than Ju-Heon went inside the ship. The Crow was as overbearing as it had been the first time they met.
[Human, I’ve been watching your actions. But it looks like you want to be a thief instead of a Tomb Raider.]
Ju-Heon scoffed while still remaining wary of the Crow.
‘Look at this punk.’
“Did you come here to say such useless c.r.a.p? I’m out of here if that’s all you want to say.”
The Crow started to speak again as if to stop him as Ju-Heon turned around without any hesitation.
[I came to see your face but also because I have something to tell you.]
Ju-Heon started to smirk after hearing that.
‘Punk. You should have acted like that from the beginning.’
“I"ll listen. What is it?”
[There will be artifacts aiming for you.]
“Artifacts don"t choose specific people to aim for like that. Why me?”
[Because you are different from normal people.]
“Oh?”
Ju-Heon scoffed but it was the truth.
[Artifacts try to trick humans. But forget listening when an artifact tries to make you a suggestion, you’re someone who would just tell it to stay in its lane and destroy it. You also have the skills to do that.]
In simple terms, he was a thorn in their eyes.
Ju-Heon was excitedly making the artifacts work to do his bidding while most people were pampering artifacts.
[There are leaders among the artifacts. They are the ones who imprisoned me. They will truly hate someone like you who ignores the authority of the artifacts.]
The Crow continued to speak.
[So, be careful. The artifacts’ movements seem serious lately. Tombs that go beyond your expectations will start to appear in the world.]
“Tombs?”
[Yes. It’ll be good for you to train the Tomb Raiding skill properly. You must do it.]
“Is that why you keep provoking me with those messages?”
The Crow laughed instead of responding to that. Ju-Heon scoffed at the fact that there will be artifacts aiming for him.
“Tombs or whatever s.h.i.t they want to do, let them try all they want. How dare d.a.m.n tools act so ridiculous.”
The Crow seemed satisfied. It seemed to like Ju-Heon who was not swayed by d.a.m.n artifacts.
Maybe that was the reason.
[I picked up something on the way here. I’ll give it to you since I don"t need it.]
“You picked up something? Did you bring something shiny for me?”
[It’ll help you out.]
Ju-Heon wanted to ask something else but the Crow disappeared after saying that. Some large spheres fell in front of him at the same time.
[You have received????.]
It was larger than a child and seemed to weigh at least 100kg. However, Ju-Heon looked confused as he looked at it.
It was because...
“...Gourds?”
The things in front of him looked like gourds from the Heungbu and Nolbu story.
However, Ju-Heon laughed with joy after seeing the three large gourds in front of him.
[Heungbu and Nolbu"s Gourds that a Crow brought over instead of a Swallow (S-Grade - Consumable Artifact)]
- Remaining Uses (1/1)
It truly were the gourds from the Heungbu and Nolbu story. These treasure chests were so precious that even the auctions sold them at extremely high costs.
The ones in his memory were B-Grade and lower in rank, but these were S-Grade! Ju-Heon was curious to know what amazing stuff would come out of it.
But he couldn’t help but worry.
‘This is an extremely great artifact but it is a random box of both wealth and disaster.’
The chances were 50/50.
Heungbu"s gourd would give unbelievable wealth while Nolbu"s gourd would give unimaginable disasters.
That was why Ju-Heon was happy but concerned.
He could safely sell it for a lot of money but it seemed like a waste to do that while he didn"t want to make others do it either.
‘What should I do? Do I crack these open? Do I not?’
He could just leave it to Irene if she could use her power of wealth.
But at that moment...
Yoo Jaeha, Irene, and George Holten who came out after the crow’s aura disappeared dropped their jaws in shock.
“My goodness, what are those things?”
“What are they? The Crow dropped some precious gourds as it left.”
“......Not a swallow?”
It happened as Ju-Heon laughed at that comment.
Irene, who was shocked by the size of the gourds, asked her brother for help.
“Bro, please move those to Mr. Ju-Heon’s penthouse.”
“What? Why should I?”
George pouted but he submitted to Irene"s gaze and said that he would do it. However, Ju-Heon waved him away saying it was unnecessary.
“No. I don’t need your help.”
“W, what? Are you going to make that rope move it?”
The rope’s eyes seemed to sparkle after hearing its name but both Ju-Heon and Yoo Jaeha started to laugh with their hands over their stomachs.
“There"s no need to use the rope for such a thing.”
“Then how...”
“Hey number 1.”
“Yes sir.”
Yoo Jaeha soon took a postcard out of his notebook. Then something shocking happened once he channeled a small amount of Dominance into it.
“Huh? That!”
A familiar painting appeared in front of Yoo Jaeha.
[Vincent van Gogh"s incomplete painting (S-Grade: Legendary Hero Grade - Consumable Artifact)]
- Remaining Uses (475/500)
It was van Gogh"s incomplete painting they thought was burnt away after sucking in Keira’s group!
They couldn’t help but be shocked.
“Didn’t you say that you burned that thing?”
“Yes. It did burn completely. Well, the fake one did.”
George Holten"s jaw dropped after hearing that statement.
"What? It was a fake?”
Ju-Heon smiled disgustingly at that question.
"Do you really think I"m crazy enough to use the real thing to get rid of them? I"m not crazy enough to waste a S-Grade artifact like that.”
“Ho...!”
It was true.
The artifact they had used against Keira was a fake that Yoo Jaeha had cleverly made. It was just a lesser version that was either A-Grade or B-Grade.
“That is why normally we would not have been able to suck Keira in with a fake.”
Keira’s Dominance was quite high.
However, her Dominance was shaken because the TSOF b.a.s.t.a.r.ds had shot her and they were able to take care of Keira with the fake.
They had earned this useful inventory just as Yoo Jaeha was complaining that it was hard to carry all the consumable artifacts around.
“Okay, I put them all away!”
But the rope artifact that wanted to be praised started to berate the S-Grade painting artifact once van Gogh’s artifact was used to store the gourds.
[#$&!]
Why did you steal my job! Why did you steal my job!
It seemed to have forgotten that it was just a C-Grade artifact.
It was at that moment.
“Oh, Mr. Ju-Heon, this came for you, but......”
The bikini-clad Irene handed him an international party invitation. It was a large party sponsored by the different governments of the world.
“I looked into it and global corporations, countries, and excavation teams are all gathering together. They said they’re gathering artifact users to entertain us, but...”
“But?”
“Chairman Kwon was the person who sent this invitation.”
Yoo Jaeha gasped.
“Why is that old man sending you an invitation?! It’s a VIP invite at that!”
But Ju-Heon just laughed.
‘Look at this old man trying to use his head.’
It wasn’t written on it but he was certain this was a party being sponsored by Pandora.
‘It’s because they ate so much s.h.i.t trying to forcibly grab artifact users.’
That was the only reason they were now using such a carrot type of method.
As for why he had received an invitation?
It was obvious. Chairman Kwon was saying they should be allies instead of enemies.
“So, will you go? It is a VVIP invite.”
“Tell him to get lost.”
Of course, it was a great opportunity. He could hire some people he met at this thing, but most importantly, the monopolizers of the past, the Monarch-grade individuals might show themselves.
‘It’s a great chance to go check up on the future hindrances, but...’
“I can understand getting an invitation but something feels iffy about the fact that he sent a VVIP invitation. It feels unlucky.”
Ju-Heon was going to ignore it because it seemed like he was being openly invited to a trap.
But at that moment...
“Hmm?”
Ju-Heon who was about to rip the invitation couldn’t help but become wide-eyed.
The reason was simple.
‘What the h.e.l.l, why is this punk here?’
He was looking at the schedule of events written on the invitation. The problem was that a familiar name of a person who used to be on his excavation team was on there.
He was an extremely important person in the future.
‘Unbelievable, is it someone with the same name......?’
“Captain-nim? What’s wrong?”
Ju-Heon thought for a moment before smiling wickedly instead of responding.
“Hey number 1, get ready to go.”
“Excuse me?”
“I changed my mind. We are going to the party.”
“What? Really?”
“Yes. We can’t turn down their generous offer for us to eat some fancy food.”
Of course, the person who invited them might end up telling them to leave.
“You made sure to send the invitation to Seo Ju-Heon in Chairman Kwon’s name, right?”
“Yes, young master-nim.”
The young man smiled in satisfaction at that response.
“But really, Keira that stupid woman. Why did she have to be taken out by such a weird little kid? I worked hard to get her up to that position.”
Austin Rockefeller.
He was a person from the Rockefeller family that ended up making one of the future Four Emperors. He, the son of one of the wealthiest petroleum industry families in the world and someone who had a Divine-Grade artifact, was talking s.h.i.t about Keira and Ju-Heon.
It was understandable as he was the one who had let that woman borrow van Gogh’s painting artifact.
“I let her borrow it because she said she was aiming for the Holten family, but that moron.”
Not only did she lose someone else’s artifact, she couldn’t even finish the Holten family in the process.
“What the h.e.l.l was Chairman Kwon doing? Why can’t he get rid of such b.a.s.t.a.r.ds? I gave him a VVIP invitation this time so tell Chairman Kwon to take care of things properly this time.”
Austin Rockefeller’s secretary looked upset at his annoyed expression.
“We worked so hard to get the Holten couple sick but it was all for nothing.”
The Russian secretary who said that was surprisingly someone Ju-Heon had run into before.
She was George Holten’s servant, the same one who had ma.s.saged Ju-Heon on the Holten plane.
“We even planted you as a spy to George Holten to see what was going on in the Holten family.”
This was the truth. One of the perpetrators who had gotten the Holten couple sick through the artifact was Austin Rockefeller.
The reason for it was simple.
‘I can’t let the Pandora system artifact choose the Holten family.’
The Pandora system artifact was the core artifact that was supporting Pandora. That artifact was selecting wealthy families who would help grow the future Monarchs. Basically, it was choosing families to support it. It was telling them to create talented artifact users who would go on to be called the monopolizers in the future.
However...
‘We are enough to sponsor the artifact users.’
They had to gobble up all the artifacts that the Pandora system artifact provided them.
“Anyway, it was my mistake. My apologies, sir. In the end, Seo Ju-Heon managed to save the Holten family...”
“It’s fine. Nostradamus prophesied the Holten family will be chosen as a supporting family as well so I was giving it a go...wait, what happened to the necklace artifact I gave you?”
The secretary then touched her neck and became anxious.
“That...I don’t know if it was stolen but I lost it. I think it disappeared when I was on the Holten family’s private plane......”
Austin was extremely shocked. Just who could have done it?
‘I made sure to hide the artifact’s aura thoroughly as well......!’
Just who could have done it?
It was at that moment.
Boom!
“Ow!”
“Ah, I’m sorry.”
Someone had run into Rockefeller who was standing at the entrance before walking past him.
Rockefeller turned around to see what kind of crazy b.a.s.t.a.r.d this was to see Ju-Heon who was wearing a fancy suit lightly wave his hand before entering the party hall.
Austin Rockefeller quietly cursed.
“Stupid b.i.t.c.h, he should be looking where he’s walking.”
Indeed, this was the international party hall sponsored by Pandora and Rockefeller was here at the Pandora party as one of the sponsors.
“This is the VVIP Caucasian only section. Why is a Mongoloid over here...!”
He was about to call the guards when the secretary stopped him in shock.
“Please wait, young master-nim! That person just now was Seo Ju-Heon! That person is the one who destroyed Pandora, revived the Holtens, and got rid of Keira...!”
“!”
Austin was completely shocked. Maybe it was because Ju-Heon had not been around for very long or because he didn’t have any clear pictures of him, but he had not recognized him.
“Why are you only telling me that now!”
He quickly ran into the party hall.