Chapter 461

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Chapter 461: High-Growth Stock (5)

2, 4.

And then 8.

Everything changed with just two calculations.

—Eight… you say?

Contrary to Maon’s assumption that the penalty would accumulate at 2 billion karma per day, the head of the Renaissance family had presented a formula where the amount doubled daily.

That meant by the fourth day from the contract, the penalty would be 16 billion.

By the fifth day, 32 billion… and within a week, it would exceed 100 billion karma—a completely insane rule.

—You’re insane. Do you even know what the penalty would be on the tenth day under that formula?

“I don’t. I never intended to let it get that far,”

Yeongwoo replied calmly.

For the first time, Maon’s expression showed anger.

—What did you say?

At this rate, the negotiation was bound to collapse.

As expected, Emel had already noticed the shift in the room’s atmosphere and was now wearing a triumphant smirk.

He probably thought that this was the perfect chance to eliminate that crazy family once and for all.

—D-Do something. There's no one behind us now.

Jiseon, too, was visibly shaken by this utterly unorthodox negotiation tactic and looked around in disbelief.

Gone were Chairman Dogo and the guests who had once filled the other side’s ceremonial hall.

Currently present in Gwangjin-gu were only the heads and representatives of powerful families known across the galaxy.

In other words, if they chose to launch an all-out attack, the Renaissance and even the planetary ship would be destroyed, and Jeong Yeongwoo07’s story would end here.

And then finally—

Clack!

Yeongwoo took a step forward toward the family heads and opened his mouth.

“This wasn’t a formula meant to collect money.”

Still visibly irritated, Maon asked again,

—Then what was your true intention?

“I urge you to do your best to reduce the penalty. If the contract is fulfilled quickly, the penalty won’t be an issue at all, will it?”

—What?

Exactly.

In theory, if Jeong Yeongwoo07 could raise his prestige level by two stages in a single day, no penalty would be incurred.

And even by the third day, the penalty wouldn’t exceed 10 billion, meaning they had about three or four days to work with.

“As the family head put it, I take steps equal to a hundred million years each day. It means I go through more in a day than others do in an era.”

—And?

“That’s why I have no time. I can’t afford to wait to grow stronger.”

Yeongwoo then looked up at the sky once again.

“If there weren’t a penalty that doubles every day, how could I expect anyone to act with urgency?”

If the contract only asked for the knowledge to raise his prestige level by two stages, the process would inevitably be delayed.

Only Yeongwoo, with his limited time, would feel the pressure.

Who knows what might happen tomorrow?

Who knows when he’ll encounter an enemy far stronger than himself?

On the other hand, the family heads like Maon had a completely different perspective.

Once the contract was signed, a mutual non-aggression pact would take effect, so they had no reason to rush.

These families had existed for thousands, even millions of years.

To them, a single ‘day’ was nothing more than a fleeting moment.

“There is a phrase on this planet Earth—yeokjisasaji.”

[TL/N:"Yeokjisaji" (역지사지) is a Korean word meaning "stepping into another's shoes" or "putting yourself in another's place"]

—Yeokjisasaji?

“It means to truly understand someone, you must put yourself in their shoes.”

—Hah. So you're saying this outrageous penalty is part of that concept?

To make beings who lived for centuries or millennia feel what it’s like to live a single human day.

That’s why Yeongwoo chose a penalty that doubled daily—to create urgency.

“If you accept this condition, you’ll come to feel what my ‘every day’ is like. And then…”

—You’ll force us to do our utmost to help you grow.

Maon finished his sentence for him.

Yeongwoo bowed respectfully in response.

“That’s right.”

Maon then rested his chin on his interlocked hands and spoke.

—Yeokjisasaji, huh… Then it’s your turn to understand my position, isn’t it?

“…?”

—Why should I, someone destined to live for ages, feel your fleeting ‘days’? What urgency do I have?

He was asking why he, as someone from a powerful, long-lived lineage, should be rushed for the sake of a mortal like Yeongwoo.

The non-aggression pact with Yeongwoo was only meant to prepare for the Renaissance’s potential future strength—there was no need to hasten that timeline.

At least, not from the perspective of Maon and his family, Tisef.

“…That…”

Yeongwoo fell silent.

Everything he had said until now had been a logical twist, while Maon’s argument was just plain common sense.

—Since you cannot answer, I suppose the young heir was right—you’re an arrogant fool.

Maon had already mentioned that many families had been destroyed over matters of ‘disrespect.’

So his words just now were essentially a farewell.

Yeongwoo had crossed the line.

Crunch…!

Maon’s body, encased in a massive metallic sphere, began to expand.

His ribcage and facial structure grew larger, and the muscles in his arms and shoulders swelled to incredible proportions in real time.

Emel, too, gripped his sword tightly and glared at Yeongwoo, clearly ready for combat.

—So there is balance in the universe.

In Earth terms, it was poetic justice.

Everything had returned to its rightful order.

‘…Damn.’

Sensing the imminent destruction of his faction, Yeongwoo quickly looked to his right shoulder.

Flash!

But the Dogo emblem, which should’ve been glowing brightly, remained still and quiet.

It was a clear sign that the company would not be intervening in this matter.

‘Well, this is my own fault!’

Then what should he do?

“……”

Yeongwoo’s eyes scanned the galaxy’s family heads standing nearby.

By some miracle, Bioto and Zeana had yet to show any intention of fighting—but Maon and Emel alone would be more than enough to pose a threat.

Enough to wipe out the Renaissance family right here, right now.

‘Two against one? I can barely win a solo fight — is this even possible?’

No.

It's not.

Yeongwoo reached a swift conclusion and moved immediately.

Whoosh!

With incredible speed, he threw himself flat to the ground.

Boom!

—What the...

Emel, startled by the sight of House Leader Jeong Yeongwoo07 suddenly slamming his head into the ground, looked over at Maon with a confused expression.

He saw that Maon, who had been ready to engage in battle, was now peering down at the new family head with an oddly intrigued look.

As expected, the old head still had some interest in this bizarre family that only appeared once in a galactic cycle.

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—A truly unpredictable creature. What are you plotting now?

As Maon loomed over Yeongwoo with his grotesquely inflated body, Yeongwoo slightly lifted his head.

"Then, Lord Maon, how about I give you a compelling reason to help me grow quickly?"

—What?

"Mutual non-aggression during my term, and…"

Yeongwoo gulped hard.

He knew full well that once uttered here and now, his words could never be taken back.

But without a first investor, there would be no second.

Without one, there would be no future.

Because he would die here.

So Yeongwoo unfolded the future that was about to collapse.

"Mutual defense."

—Mutual defense?

"By tomorrow, we’ll be stronger than Satral. By the day after, we might rival Shirach. And the day after that…? We’ll be a formidable ally to your great house."

With no escape behind him, Yeongwoo threw out his lines with reckless abandon.

Maon burst out laughing.

—To dare mention Shirach in front of the vice head—how truly insolent.

But this time, the tone of "insolent" carried a different nuance.

Unlike Emel, whose face now looked as if he'd bitten into a sour bug, Maon was now laughing heartily.

—Very well, you lowly and brazen one. If you’ve got that much spirit, growing that small body of yours shouldn’t be a problem.

It meant Maon knew a way to help Yeongwoo's prestige leap two levels.

—Draft the pact. I shall make a vow to be upheld during your brief lifetime.

Finally, as Maon agreed to Yeongwoo’s proposal, Emel, marked with the "General" symbol on his forehead, clenched his jaw.

If things went this way, his visit to this planet would amount to nothing but disgrace.

Meanwhile, behind Yeongwoo, space split open and Renaissance’s administrator, Kubu, opened his eyes.

—Lord, the vow and the treaty documents are ready.

“What? Kubu, you were watching all this time and didn’t make a sound?”

Yeongwoo frowned, but Kubu didn’t reply.

Instead, he conjured the Renaissance artillery seal in the air.

Flash!

This was the temporary pact to be signed with House Tisef.

—The mutants will appear soon. I suggest you hurry.

Prompted by Kubu, Yeongwoo reached out and touched the artillery sigil.

Tap.

The symbol was absorbed through Yeongwoo’s fingers, then imprinted onto his palm in radiant light.

“W-What is this?”

—A handshake. Every family has different contract laws, but due to the urgency, I set this one myself.

“Handshake? Oh…”

Upon seeing his own palm, Yeongwoo finally understood Kubu's intent.

The handshake, which in the reset Earth was a way to befriend mutants, had now been adopted as the method to form pacts within the Renaissance.

“Well, not a bad idea.”

Swish.

With the artillery symbol branded on his right hand, Yeongwoo looked toward Maon.

Maon, in turn, glanced down at Yeongwoo’s palm.

—Why is the pact seal in your hand?

Usually, the pact seal would hover in midair between the parties, to be jointly activated — hence his question.

Yeongwoo extended his right hand toward Maon and answered.

“Mutual defense is essentially having each other’s backs, right? So, before that, shouldn’t we try holding hands? It’s the way we do it on Earth.”

Maon glanced down at the mechanical arm attached to his spherical body.

He understood that a handshake via mechanical arm wasn’t what the other party wanted.

—You people sure have a lot of demands.

Maon rolled the sphere forward, lifted his massive upper body, and reached out with a colossal arm.

Crack, crackle!

As Maon's muscle-laden arm moved, a sound like twisting wood came from beneath his skin.

Then finally—

Thump!

Maon grasped Yeongwoo’s right hand — along with the pact seal — in his massive grip.

—It is done. The pact is now in effect. Peace shall reign during your tenure.

As he spoke, a radiant energy burst forth from their clasped hands.

Flaaash!

Tisef and Renaissance.

The pact between the two houses was now etched into the cosmic ledger.

At that exact moment, a massive energy began to surge from the top of the bluish pillar of light cutting through the sky.

It was time — the monsters had begun their descent.

—What the…?

—Huh?

Sensing the ominous energy, the other house leaders all drew their blades.

Even Maon, who had just concluded the pact, raised his head toward the sky.

—What kind of planet is this…?

Then Yeongwoo, drawing his bastard sword from his waist, answered politely:

“Lord Maon, let us show you how we’ve managed to survive so far.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]