Chapter 356

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Chapter 356: Supreme Armament (7)

"You're talking about evaluation peers... Basically, aliens, aren't you, Chairman?"

Yeongwoo asked, but Dogo soared into the air with the steel anchor without another word.

Charrurururut!

His ship was preparing to leave Earth.

Yeongwoo skipped many steps and got straight to the point.

"Chairman! Won't there be problems later if I harm my peers?"

However, the anchor carrying the chairman had already disappeared into the ship.

Clang!

The bottom of the ship sealed, and the hull turned a brilliant white.

Paaaaaat!

Moments later—

Pit!

In the blink of an eye, Chairman Dogo's tombstone ship disappeared from Earth's orbit.

Staring blankly at the sky, Jiseon said to her son:

—Hey, what kind of technology is that? Don’t you have something like that?

"How could a planet still struggling to develop have that kind of technology?"

A spaceship was in a completely different category of power—far beyond mythic swords or anything else.

Although Yeongwoo didn’t even own a small space vessel yet, he instinctively understood.

To own a ship, you needed a proper family or a business enterprise.

"If you want technology like that, focus on getting married tomorrow without a hitch."

—What does marriage have to do with technology?

"It matters in space."

To avoid being dominated by other planets, you needed not only defensive power but also offensive capability.

In other words, a spaceship was essential.

'Is this why I end up marrying the Princess of the Sun? Just for a good spaceship...?'

He knew parts of the future, but ironically, those glimpses made his path feel even more uncertain.

What on earth was going to happen?

—So, what’s left now? Shouldn’t we head back?

Jiseon looked around as she spoke, and Yeongwoo replied while picking up the rewards left by Lemu.

"Yes, let’s go back and prepare to pay taxes. But before that..."

As Yeongwoo registered the equipment Lemu had left into his catalog, he shifted his gaze to the violet tower in front of him.

A tooltip for this cosmic device appeared in his view—just like in Metal Seoul.

[Space Communicator]

| Connects to a space communications network within a specific range, allowing external communication.

| Communication range depends on the planet's grade. A fee must be paid to a relay station when activated.

"Wow, what? There’s a space communications network?"

A system message appeared as he checked the tooltip and touched the communicator's surface.

「Change of authority detected.」

「Would you like to issue a new access card for the communicator?」

「If a new card is issued, the existing one will be destroyed.」

The previous card seemed to have been with the prior owner, Yuto, who was now presumably dead.

‘Well, obviously.’

Yeongwoo immediately issued a new card.

A palm-sized rectangular object materialized before him.

Swaaaat!

[Space Communicator Access Card] - General Tool

| Instantly activates the connected communicator’s functions.

"Ohhh."

It felt like the communicator was an important piece of equipment.

Even the dimensional gate in Darwin, northern Australia, didn’t have such remote controls.

However, as soon as Yeongwoo tried to activate the communicator, a restriction message popped up.

「The planet is under review, so connection to the communications network is blocked.」

"Wait, these bastards cut off the internet?"

He now had another reason to finish the planetary review quickly.

‘Why did Lemu set this up then? Was he just investing for a distant future?’

It was also possible that the communicator had functioned properly before Yeongwoo initiated the planetary review.

While the communication range was tied to the planet’s grade, even a low-grade planet should have some access to the network.

‘What about the rest?’

Yeongwoo noticed icons with unique tooltips scattered throughout Tokyo.

These were infrastructures Lemu had installed while sponsoring Yuto.

[City Shuttle Bike]

| Deploys bikes that allow fast travel between designated cities.

‘Oh, this feels like a downgraded version of the high-speed transit routes.’

[Mechanical Forge]

| Mass-produces basic equipment in a short time.

‘Huh.’

This was clearly the weaponry Lemu’s faction had used during the Tsushima War.

It turned out that those weapons had been produced here.

‘This could be useful for maintaining a standing army. I should invest in this once the treasury is filled up.’

With everything checked, Yeongwoo turned his attention to the high-speed transit station installed in Tokyo.

It was time to return to Seoul to prepare for taxes and dungeon challenges.

"It’s time to head home."

—Is it really over now?

"Yes. Today’s daytime work is all done."

—What do you mean daytime? It’s 9 PM, you lunatic.

Yeongwoo glanced at his wristwatch and replied:

"My night starts at 10 PM."

With that, he walked toward the station.

* * *

10 PM.

The time when taxes—feared by every entrepreneur in the universe—were collected.

11 PM.

The start of extreme weather and nighttime dungeons, marking the real night.

As a result, Yeongwoo had almost no time to rest.

The best he could manage was a brief break between 9 PM and 11 PM after finishing most of his afternoon tasks.

—Wow, you live like this every day? You don’t even need to go to hell for this kind of life.

The current time was 9:21 PM.

Finally returning to their hotel suite in Samseong-dong, Jiseon tossed a greatsword onto the living room floor.

Jeonggu and Yechan, who were already there, wore uncomfortable expressions.

—Ah, there were people here.

Seeing Yechan, who had arrived earlier, Yeongwoo brightened up.

"Oh, Yechan! How did it go?"

To Yeongwoo, Yechan was the most anticipated person.

After all, it was Yechan who traveled the entire planet, delivering wedding invitations, risking his life to collect debts, and purchasing ability-related equipment from various merchants.

"Yes… This time, the amount collected is 240 million Karma."

Yechan, whose face looked somewhat gaunt, kicked the iron box at his feet.

The box opened its mouth wide and started spitting out coins.

“I thought I might need something to carry things, so I bought a storage container from a merchant.”

It wasn’t on the level of a Golden Goblin, but it was still a storage container capable of subspace inventory.

"Wait, 240 million? That means you didn’t just travel through China, right?"

Yeongwoo, who had been silently listening to Yechan's story, asked.

Yechan nodded in response.

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“Yes. Since delivering the wedding invitations was the main mission, I went to almost every region I could immediately access.”

Then, with a horrified expression, he stared at his spear.

“But in Mongolia… the disputes were so intense I had no choice but to duel.”

“…….”

Having gone through something similar in China, Yeongwoo could vividly picture the situation.

“…Well done. You’re a true Golden Goblin.”

Yeongwoo said this while instructing the actual Golden Goblin sitting next to the sofa to collect the funds.

— Keeet!

Shortly after, Yeongwoo’s account balance reflected not 240 million but roughly 170 million.

Yechan had already taken out his 30% commission before handing over the money.

“…What about the equipment?”

Yeongwoo glanced at Yechan’s hands, just in case.

He knew Yechan had worked hard, but with such a hefty commission paid, surely something more should come out of this.

As expected.

“I thought you’d say that.”

Yechan let out a small sigh and pulled out a glove from the storage container.

“Like you mentioned, it’s true that ability equipment isn’t easy to come by.”

“Just one?”

“…Luckily, there are two.”

Yechan pulled out a pair of pants from the container as well.

“Oh.”

For the first time, Yeongwoo’s expression brightened.

「Mist’s Touch」 – Unique Glove

【Increases sensory perception by 15% when visibility is obstructed.】

【10% Resistance to special Abilities.】

“What… 10% special resistance? Are you kidding me?”

Yeongwoo’s jaw dropped.

Given his current equipment setup, the special ability resistance stat directly applied to all basic resistances.

As a result, Yeongwoo’s current resistances looked like this:

|Fire Resistance: 15% 【60% Osmosis】

|Cold Resistance: 15% 【60% Osmosis】

|Lightning Resistance: 15% 【60% Osmosis】

|Poison Resistance: 15% 【60% Osmosis】

|Special Ability Resistance: 60%

|Dragon Resistance: 10%

The effects were overwhelmingly powerful.

On top of that, the armor catalog’s progress was steadily building, and the third effect would soon be unlocked.

“What about the other one?”

Yeongwoo stretched out his hand, prompting Yechan to hand over the last piece of equipment.

「Unstoppable Stride」 – Relic Pants

【Increases physical damage by 15% while in motion.】

【Increases special ability damage by 15% while in motion.】

“While in motion? So it doesn’t apply when stationary.”

Of course, if he extended his blade for mid-range combat, the bonus would likely apply constantly.

The same went for archers firing while moving.

‘If only there was one more special ability resistance stat, it’d be perfect.’

Still, if Yechan kept working hard every day, completing the special ability equipment set wouldn’t be much of an issue.

“Tomorrow is the day to collect congratulatory gifts, so you don’t need to handle any collection tasks. It’s a tax-exemption day. However…”

“However what?”

“You need to gather equipment. Meet with some merchants before the ceremony starts tomorrow.”

The wedding was scheduled for 3:23 PM.

Assuming the various awakened individuals from each country were sorted out by 2:00 PM, that left about an hour to spare.

— Are you really going to manage time down to the second?

Jiseon, who had been quietly listening, commented.

Yeongwoo turned toward his mother.

“We don’t know what might happen after tomorrow’s ceremony. So we have to do our best to prepare in advance.”

But the truth was, anything could happen at this very moment, too.

Because—

Tat-tat!

There was a small noise from inside the room, and soon, Kim Seok ran into the living room.

“Y-Yeongwoo…?”

“Yes, Madam. Is something wrong?”

Seok was the wife of Kim Taejoon, who was trapped in the Returnee’s Room.

She was one of the few people Yeongwoo treated with utmost respect.

Yet, Seok now wore a very complicated expression.

“You need to come see this. Right now…”

She gestured toward the bedroom where the television was set up, prompting Yeongwoo to ask urgently.

“Why? Did something happen?”

He was already rushing toward the bedroom.

Fwaaah!

As he crossed the living room and central corridor into the bedroom, the large television was already on.

On the screen was the pure white Returnee’s Room.

“Representative! Are you okay?”

Yeongwoo asked urgently, but Kim Taejoon’s voice from the television didn’t sound strained at all.

— Ah, Yeongwoo. The figurehead has finally been assembled.

Contrary to Yeongwoo’s expectations, Kim’s tone didn’t suggest any danger. Instead—

— But… there’s a problem.

“Yes, Representative. What is it?”

— The figurehead won’t activate.

“What? Even though you’ve finished assembling it?”

— It requires a name. A family name.

“…!”

A family name.

As soon as Yeongwoo heard this, he felt it in his gut.

“Don’t tell me… The purpose of that figurehead…”

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened as he spoke.

Kim Taejoon then read the tooltip hovering above the completed figurehead.

— This figurehead is a fusion device capable of merging with ships. It can attach to specific objects, other ships, or, in rare cases, even planets.

“What did you say?”

— To enable interstellar travel, proof of ownership from a family or business is required. Please input the owner’s seal or family name below.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

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