Chapter 267

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 267: Highway (2)

‘Ha.’

Yeongwoo laughed, almost as if he had lost his mind.

Of course, he had expected that if a “List of Dangerous Companies” existed, Dogo would be on it.

But...

‘No, with only three slots available, it’s too much that two are already filled with a porn company and the King of Demons.’

And now, Dogo would soon be added to this list, completing the trifecta.

“……”

Yeongwoo, feeling his vision darken, closed his eyes tightly without realizing it.

As someone who intended to be the sole diligent taxpayer and monopolize the shares of this planet, this was quite a troublesome situation.

Among the companies set to develop Earth, there wasn’t a single decent one.

‘An indefinite development, right? Since there’s no specified term, that’s what it seems like, right?’

Of course, he could betray his loyalty to the chairman and find the most decent company to fill the last slot.

But...

‘With the state of the companies that are already in, can a righteous company survive?’

Lemu might be unexpectedly decent, but from the term itself, Mara was the very essence of a demon.

―Master of the Void, one who walks in the shadow of universal laws, King of Ten Thousand Demons.

In Yeongwoo’s limited experience, the only entity capable of contending with Mara among the alien companies was...

‘…the chairman and his underlings.’

Didn’t he witness it himself last night at the dungeon gambling house in Batum?

Dogo’s employees, not even their regular army but “Guppy Special Grade” staff, beat up and drove away Mara’s minions.

Thus, if Dogo seriously entered the planetary rights battle, they might be able to pressure Mara.

‘It’s the lesser evil. I’d rather bet on the chairman than leave Earth to Lemu and Mara.’

The chairman and Dogo’s shareholders despise Lemu as lowly.

Therefore, putting Dogo in the developer slot would naturally drive Lemu out.

The only remaining problem was Mara, the king of all demons.

‘If they couldn’t handle Mara, they wouldn’t have dared to act like that at the gambling house.’

Trusting in the myth-like chairman, Yeongwoo made his decision.

‘The company I select is Dogo.’

He decided to pour fuel onto an already burning planet.

「The company you have selected, ‘Dogo,’ is the most dangerous company. Do you wish to confirm the selection?」

The selection system questioned Yeongwoo’s choice as expected.

He nodded slightly and finalized Dogo as the last development company.

‘Yes. The third development company for Earth is Dogo.’

This moment might be the turning point of Earth’s destiny.

Fwoosh!

As soon as Yeongwoo confirmed the last company, a wave emanated from the sky, sweeping through it as if tidying up Earth’s atmosphere.

‘What was that?’

Though he couldn’t see it, Yeongwoo sensed something significant had occurred and looked up at the sky.

‘Could it be that a protective shield has been lifted?’

It seemed like a preliminary step for the selected companies to officially enter the planet.

And then...

「The development companies for Planet II42-Earth have all been selected.」

A message appeared indicating that the basic procedure related to company selection was complete.

The final company list, completed by Yeongwoo’s last strike, was as follows:

[Selected Companies List]

1- Lemu

2- Mara

3- Dogo

‘Goodness. What have I done…?’

It was a dazzling lineup that left him speechless.

But it was already done, and he had no other alternatives anyway.

‘There’s no turning back. At this point, the only option is to destroy the other two companies with the chairman.’

Lemu, suspiciously flush with cash, and Mara, whose true nature was still not fully revealed.

How exactly would these entities develop Earth?

And Dogo’s planetary development—what kind of approach would that be?

‘The world is going increasingly mad.’

As Yeongwoo was deep in planetary concerns, someone boldly tapped him on the arm.

“Hey.”

“……?”

When Yeongwoo turned his head, he saw Choi Moonsoon, the Strongest Sword of Jeju, looking at him sternly.

“What are you doing at this point? They’re already right in front of us.”

She gestured with her chin towards the sea, where the Australian continent, Meganesia, was approaching.

“Ah.”

Only then did Yeongwoo realize he had been the only one witnessing the company selection process.

It was a semi-confidential business only visible to the three people with the selection authority.

However, once the actual planetary development began, everyone on Earth would inevitably know whether they wanted to or not.

It would become clear that something monumental was happening to the planet.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...!

Of course, the immediate concern wasn’t planetary development but the rapid geographical change as the Australian continent approached at high speed.

“What do we do now? Should we draw our swords first?”

Moonsoon spoke with the momentum of someone ready to fight immediately, but Yeongwoo gestured for her to wait.

“We need to be prepared, but there’s no need to take an aggressive stance immediately. We don’t know how they’ll react yet.”

From Yeongwoo’s perspective, Australia wasn’t a continent with the best geographical conditions for human habitation.

It was about 35 times the size of the Korean Peninsula but had a population of around 26 million before the reset.

That meant half the population of South Korea lived on that vast land.

‘In reality, outside the cities, Australia feels like an apocalypse.’

The reason was its harsh soil.

A significant portion of Australia was desert, unsuitable for farming and even for habitation.

Consequently, most of its major cities were located in the southeast and some in the southwest of the continent.

The central and northern parts were almost uninhabited.

For example, Darwin, a major city in northern Australia, had a population of about 120,000, much smaller than a district in Seoul.

And crucially...

‘The part that will border us is the northern part of Australia.’

And even that was just a portion of the north.

The critical fact was the population.

“Even if we go to war with Australia right now, it won’t be very threatening. Unless they have some bizarre weapons.”

“Why?”

“Because almost no one lives in the part that borders us.”

“Still, aren’t there cities like Sydney...?”

“To get from Sydney to the northern part of the continent, they’d have to travel thousands of kilometers. Even if they started moving as soon as Pangaea was announced, they wouldn’t have arrived yet.”

Even for Yeongwoo, moving on Negwig wouldn’t be easy.

Thus, the chances of another such entity existing in Australia were almost zero.

“Uh... then this isn’t a big deal, is it?”

Moonsoon looked somewhat disappointed at the notion of no grand war, then glanced at the swordsmen of Jeju Island, who were staring intently at the coastline.

“But we still don’t know, right?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“Yes. We can’t be complacent. They must be highly vigilant on their side, too.”

However, unnecessary bloodshed should be avoided if possible.

In the broader sense, they, too, were Earth’s taxpayers.

Contributing to the Global World Product (GWP), they were a valuable workforce.

“We’ll soon be able to see with our own eyes.”

Yeongwoo activated his ‘Clairvoyance’ to expand his view as the horizon grew darker.

Flash!

What appeared as thick lines to the naked eye now became clear outlines of the northern Australian coast.

And then...

“Huh...?”

Yeongwoo let out a surprised exclamation.

“What? What do you see?”

Choi Moonsoon’s eyes widened as she urged Yeongwoo to answer, and Yeongwoo cautiously replied, still unsure.

“Something... is a bit strange.”

Because...

‘What is that...?’

An array of unfamiliar weapons lined up along the northern Australian coastline.

They appeared to be a type of spear.

Seeing so many of them indicated they were standard equipment, but Yeongwoo had never seen such weapons before, even in the ‘Mountain of Swords’ he encountered on the first day of the reset.

Moreover...

‘Could those be war machines?’

Amidst the neatly lined-up spears, there were banners fluttering high, giving off an ominous atmosphere.

The red, tattered banners had something white stamped on them, and no matter how he looked at it, it resembled...

‘Foot... prints?’

Yes.

Those banners bore footprints.

The problem was...

‘Footprints...? If those are stamped with ink, how can I see them from here?’

The footprints were enormous.

While someone might have drawn them by hand...

‘No... you can tell. That kind of roughness comes from direct stamping.’

Thus, the conclusion was clear.

Something in Australia had feet at least ten times the size of an average human’s.

‘Then... it’s not human, is it?’

The moment Yeongwoo realized this...

“...!”

A large silhouette appeared on the northern coast of Australia, which he was viewing at five times magnification.

“Oh, my...?”

“What, what is it? What’s happening? Hey, Strongest Sword!”

Even with Choi Moonsoon shaking his shoulder violently beside him, Yeongwoo couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Right now, he was staring at a giant orc, at least 5 or 6 meters tall.

“No way, what happened to Australia?”

As Yeongwoo’s eyes widened at the unbelievable sight, the orc in question pulled a spear from the ground.

“Ah.”

At that moment, Yeongwoo realized many things.

Hadn’t he already encountered them in Mungyeong, North Gyeongsang Province?

The orc army that had a clear understanding of the concept of ‘tactics.’

One of their favored strategies was none other than...

‘A rain of spears.’

It seemed that a preference for spears was common among orc species.

The massive orc Yeongwoo was looking at had red skin.

And then, finally...

“They’re coming...!”

“What? What is?”

Within Yeongwoo’s enhanced vision, the massive red orc hurled its hefty spear.

Straight towards them.

Swooosh!

A tremendous sound of breaking air echoed across the South Sea, and even Choi Moonsoon realized that an enormous spear was flying their way.

“Oh, damn!”

She quickly readied her sword in surprise.

Creak!

The sound of a bowstring being drawn came from right beside her.

“…Huh?”

In that short time, the ‘Strongest Sword’ had pulled out a large bow and was drawing the string.

“Looks like you’ll need to prepare for war.”

As Yeongwoo said this and released the bowstring, a special arrow from Dogo flew through the air.

Whoosh!

Then, it intercepted the orc’s spear aimed at Jeju Island’s coast.

Boom!

“What the… is that a THAAD?”

[PR/N: Terminal High Altitude Area Defense or THAAD is an anti-ballistic missile system of the US army that can shoot down short, intermediate and medium-range ballistic missiles in their terminal phase.]

The spear had been so fast it was difficult to track with the naked eye.

Yet, when the Strongest Sword shot it down with an arrow, Choi Moonsoon’s gaze changed.

She realized that this man, who seemed like a rookie, was the Korean people's representative for a reason.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo turned his gaze back across the sea to observe Australia’s reaction.

Swoosh.

As the distance between the two sides had closed even further, he could see what lay behind the giant orc that had thrown the spear.

It was...

“No way...”

An army of red-skinned orcs marching in black and red masses.

These orcs, each averaging about 3 meters in height, numbered in the thousands, and each unit seemed to be assigned one of the giant orcs like the one he had seen earlier.

In other words, they were truly here for war.

“Where did all of these come from?”

While Yeongwoo was still reacting in disbelief, he soon realized their background.

One orc, in particularly flamboyant attire, emerged from among the well-organized ranks of orcs.

On top of that orc’s head was...

『Red-foot Orc Lord』

≡Invaders of Northern Australia≡

It was a title Yeongwoo had never seen before.

However, the basic format was the same as the one for the Strongest Sword.

This meant that this orc’s identity was likely...

“Oh my...”

Before Yeongwoo could even say anything, the orc lord in question brought a horn to its mouth with its left hand.

Then, a resonant sound echoed across the sea.

―I am Bantubangtong, Strongest Swordtain of the 'Red Foot'! As of yesterday, Australia has been declared an orc-autonomous territory!

―Humans must guarantee the orcs’ right to survive! If not, there will only be war!

The monster had become Australia’s Strongest Sword.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]