Chapter 438

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 438: The Value of a Planetary Ship (4)

『Ah……!』

With Yeongwoo’s firing command, Jupiter let out a scream.

He, too, could feel the overwhelming presence of the monstrous weapon installed on Earth.

And then—

「Time to bombardment: 03」

Along with the countdown indicating the scheduled planetary kill, an enormous energy reaction began building up from the outside—strong enough that even Yeongwoo could sense it.

Energy was gathering for the activation of the “Planet Hunter.”

“What the—aren’t we supposed to be outside the universe?”

Yeongwoo recalled the strange elevator and subspace he had used to get here and asked, but Earth shook its head.

『What you saw was the relay zone. Technically, this is the core of Earth.』

“What?”

Now that he thought about it, didn’t alerts about "orbital zones" appear whenever planets approached this place?

But since Yeongwoo wasn’t a planet but a native, he had to pass through the relay zone to reach the deepest part of Earth.

“Wait, so you’re saying...”

The energy for the ship cannon was gathering right outside this space?

As Yeongwoo’s jaw dropped, the three seconds of countdown for the Planet Hunter ended.

「Time to bombardment: 0」

And in an instant—

Pop!

All lights in the chamber turned off, and from afar, a powerful roar echoed.

BOOOOM...!

The planetary ship’s main cannon, “Planet Hunter,” boasting a power output of 4100, had fired.

A massive laser beam could be seen shooting from the holographic Earth in front of Yeongwoo’s eyes.

“Cra—crazy.”

But what happened next was even more shocking.

The laser beam that had shot out from Earth quickly disappeared into a massive rift that had opened up in space.

“……?”

Then the view angle Yeongwoo had been watching shifted completely, and a hologram of Jupiter appeared.

“Oh.”

As Yeongwoo opened his mouth in realization, that same “rift” appeared near Jupiter, and the Planet Hunter’s laser beam burst out from it.

‘…Relay zone.’

Turns out, even bombardments had a relay zone.

It made sense—no matter how high-powered a laser beam was, it would still take a tremendous amount of time to cross the vast distances between planets.

‘But still, a relay zone for a beam shot? How the heck does the universe even work?’

Yeongwoo found himself in awe of the universe once again.

But only for a moment—trouble soon followed.

BOOM!

The laser emerging from the relay zone grazed the outer edge of Jupiter instead of piercing its center.

“…Oh!”

At that moment, the lights in the chamber returned, and things brightened once more.

Whirrrr...

A low machine hum was heard from somewhere, and Earth, Pluto, and Jupiter were all still in place.

But one thing had changed.

『Oh!』

Pluto’s sovereign, Svera, opened her mouth wide in shock, and Yeongwoo’s eyebrows twitched at the sight.

Because—

『…….』

A part of Jupiter’s left arm was missing.

To be exact, everything below the left elbow had been obliterated.

“What the… why is that guy suddenly one-armed?”

Yeongwoo broke the silence with those words, but Jupiter remained quiet.

As if he knew exactly what had just happened.

『…….』

Unlike his earlier rage, the planet now calmly stared down at the left forearm that no longer existed.

As Earth had explained earlier, physical damage to a planet cannot be recovered.

In other words, Jupiter’s left arm, destroyed by the planetary bombardment, would never grow back.

And finally—

『This is insane.』

Jupiter turned his head to look at Earth.

A planet.

And not just any planet—one smaller than himself—had just attacked him.

This was a clear crossing of the line.

Worse, it had caused him permanent damage.

『Do you even understand what you just did?』

Earth looked Jupiter straight in the face and replied.

『I… made a mistake.』

Earth’s voice trembled slightly.

But what followed was chillingly domineering.

『I accidentally input the coordinates for your arm instead of your head.』

Pluto's ruler, Svera, who had already been in shock, opened her mouth even wider, and Yeongwoo also looked at Earth with wide eyes.

In other words, Earth was now threatening Jupiter.

‘A-astounding! Outdoing the master!’

While Yeongwoo was mentally applauding, Earth continued calmly.

『But if you had been a planetary ship, something like this wouldn't have happened to you.』

Then, Earth looked up to the sky.

『So I’ve decided to stop being a planet. I don’t like the idea of my ending being decided by someone else.』

『……!』

Jupiter’s eyes widened.

That was essentially a reference to his own situation.

Right now, Jupiter was at the mercy of Earth’s targeting system—if Earth simply reentered his head's coordinates, it could be blown off at any moment.

As a being that followed a fixed orbit, there was no way for Jupiter to dodge the ship’s cannon.

But Earth wasn’t done speaking yet.

Shff.

At last, Earth looked at Jupiter again and spoke seriously.

『So you should stop being a planet too.』

『…What?』

『Let’s go into space together. If I become a planetary ship, then you won’t be a “planet” anymore either.』

That’s right.

In space, a planet is an environmental component that endlessly orbits a fixed path.

But if Earth were to deviate from its original orbit while dragging the Sun—the current center of the planetary system—then the other planets wouldn’t be able to maintain their own orbits either.

Because all planets revolve around the heaviest object in their planetary system.

But is that all?

The “no longer being a planet” state Earth mentioned meant more than just deviating from orbit.

『I don’t want to fight you. My essence is Earth of the Solar System. So…….』

To preserve its essence, Earth also needed the Solar System to stay intact.

Not just the only star of this system, the Sun, but also all the other planets that once orbited around it.

『If you support me, I promise. You’ll also live the life of a planetary ship.』

It was Earth’s promise to treat Jupiter as a part of the planetary ship.

That it wouldn’t just sit back and watch the predetermined end play out like just now.

But Jupiter, who until recently was the strongest among the Solar System’s planets, didn’t look pleased at all.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

『And if I refuse?』

At that moment, Jupiter’s gaze was fixed on his now-gone left forearm.

『…….』

In response, Earth shut its eyes tightly, and over that, Jupiter’s heavy voice fell.

『You’re saying if I become part of the planetary ship, my fate will no longer be decided by others? Don’t make me laugh.』

Then Jupiter moved his left shoulder and pointed at Earth with what was left of his left arm.

Swish.

『In the end, isn’t it you who decides the propulsion path of the planetary ship? Then the fate I’ll have, being dragged along your designated orbit, is still in your hands, isn’t it?』

‘Fuckl, that bastard is damn smart.’

Yeongwoo was inwardly impressed by Jupiter’s words.

Because not a single word was wrong.

If Earth became a planetary ship and the new center of the Solar System, the rest of the planets would experience the rare event of deviating from their original orbits.

But that’s still just another orbit—none of the planets would have sovereignty.

Say someone fires at Jupiter, Earth, as the planetary ship, might perform an evasive maneuver and move Jupiter along an unpredictable route.

But is that really Jupiter’s will or power?

No.

In the grand scheme of things, Jupiter is still just another planet bound to a given path.

『I will stand on the side of order. You will not gain the support of the Solar System, not from me.』

Jupiter looked down at Earth with a steadfast expression.

In response, Earth clenched its teeth and shouted.

『Voltu! Please think again. I won’t make a “mistake” next time!』

『I also have no intention of siding with the Solar System’s mistakes. Fire.』

『You……!』

In the end, Earth turned to look at Yeongwoo.

As if asking if there was any other way.

At this rate, they’d have to kill Jupiter, whose mass was far from insignificant in the Solar System.

And even Earth didn’t know what would happen as a result.

『Jeong Yeongwoo……!』

As Earth urged him by calling his name, Yeongwoo finally let out his signature evil grin.

“Honestly, I’d love to commit planetary murder right now. On Earth, we say sometimes the few must be sacrificed for the many.”

Then he pointed Bastard at Jupiter.

“But you make a valid point. And if the other planets feel the same, a new planetary system centered around Earth-ship would just become a cosmic windmill of misery.”

At that, Earth looked stunned.

『Wh… what are you saying?』

But instead of answering, Yeongwoo continued.

“But we can’t go around shooting every planet that complains… and besides, we haven’t even gotten the Sun’s permission yet.”

As soon as he finished saying that, an orbit alert appeared as if it had been waiting for this moment.

Whooosh!

「l||-Moro has entered the orbital zone.」

The Sun, Moro.

The being still considered the master of this planetary system was finally approaching.

『Mo-Moro…….』

As Earth sensed the Sun’s presence and trembled, more orbit alerts popped up in succession.

Peeping, pinging!

「|I||-Satus has entered the orbital zone.」

「I|lI-Meren has entered the orbital zone.」

Satus, Mars.

Meren, Saturn.

Other planets were also lining up just beyond Earth’s orbital zone.

In line with the Sun’s arrival, all celestial bodies of this system were gathering around Earth.

Yeongwoo re-sheathed Bastard at his waist and muttered.

“My in-laws… whoever they are, the cosmic soulmate the universe has arranged for me is arriving.”

Then, raising his head again, he addressed Jupiter.

“I’ll give you what you want—sovereignty.”

『What?』

“I’ll give existing Solar System members the right to help determine the course of the planetary ship.”

Earth’s eyes widened as it stared at Yeongwoo.

『A-Are you crazy? What are you talking about?』

“We can’t move without the Sun anyway. The planets only ever follow the Sun… So really, we only need to make a deal with them.”

But the question was whether the Sun wanted to leave its path.

Even if you gave decision-making rights, if they didn’t want to use them, it would be meaningless.

“Anyway, we’ll know soon enough. What kind of being the Sun really is.”

As Yeongwoo finished speaking, the sky above began to glow a bright yellow.

“Ah.”

Sensing something, Yeongwoo looked up and saw Jupiter, who had been floating midair, finally descending.

『Moro. The true ruler of the Solar System has arrived!』

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]