Chapter 539

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Chapter 539: Black Customers (2)

“What… Chief Navigator?”

Mantero.

The Chief Navigator of the Delcen royal family.

When Yeongwoo learned of this steadfast retainer’s background, his jaw dropped.

‘No wonder the prince entrusted this guy with his secret escape.’

Of course—the prince only had one chance to flee.

He wouldn’t have relied on just anyone.

He chose the most skilled and loyal navigator among his retainers.

In fact, Mantero had proven his loyalty by staying behind to buy the prince time to escape.

The price he paid was to be branded a criminal of the crown and imprisoned in Lesham’s Black Iron Prison.

‘But thanks to that, he met me.’

At that thought, Yeongwoo felt as if his mind had lit up.

“Ah…!”

—…?

“By helping the prince, Mr. Mantero, you accumulated good karma.”

—R-really…?

“And now the reward for that virtue has come back to you!”

—What do you mean…?

“You’ve met me, haven’t you? I am the owner of Earthship, Jeong Yeongwoo!”

Spreading his arms wide, Yeongwoo declared proudly.

At that, Earth, who was monitoring the navigation controls, squeezed his eyes shut.

Meanwhile, Yeongwoo grabbed hold of Mantero’s forearm.

Thud!

“Mr. Mantero, I’ll cast your dream. I’ll give you the chance to become Earthship’s Chief Navigator!”

—Eh? But I never…

It was true—Mantero had never dreamed of becoming Earthship’s navigator.

But Yeongwoo’s next words sealed his lips.

“The prince is gone, the royal family still treats you like a criminal. Even if you became a free man, where would you go?”

—…

“And didn’t you hear earlier? Black Iron Prison already sent out fighters after us. Everyone here is now a fugitive.”

At this point, Earth cut into the conversation while adjusting the navigation system.

『Since we’re talking about it, we’d better depart now. Multiple crafts have been detected from Lesham.』

Indeed, fighters had been dispatched to recapture the escaped prisoners.

『Captain, please authorize departure.』

At Earth’s request, Yeongwoo nodded gravely and asked back:

“Our destination is Gadoa?”

『Yes. If we have a navigator skilled enough to pass through Gadoa, then that’s where we must go.』

As Earth spoke, he glanced at Mantero.

It was silent pressure—only if Mantero took the helm could they hope to reach Gadoa.

Earth, for his own safety, wanted a professional navigator too.

After all, while the control room was full of powerful fighters, not one of them knew a thing about ships.

“Well then, Mr. Mantero. How about a grand bit of navigating?”

A commoner, Jeong Yeongwoo, was making this crude proposal to none other than the former Chief Navigator of a royal fleet.

Mantero hesitated, glancing around.

—But this place is…

He didn’t dare voice the rest, but Yeongwoo read his thoughts clearly.

“You mean it’s a pirate ship, right? Don’t know how you guessed so quickly, but you’re not entirely wrong.”

—…!

“But let’s be honest, aren’t you a criminal now too? You’ve finally found the place you truly belong.”

The place he belonged.

Or more precisely—the place he had left.

He could never again serve as the royal Chief Navigator.

Now he was both an ex-convict and an escaped prisoner.

For the rest of his life, he would be hunted by Black Iron Prison and the Delcen crown alike.

Perhaps Earthship was indeed the only fitting place for him.

A haven of fugitives.

—Ah.

Mantero gave a short groan as if glimpsing a dark and sinister future.

Then Yeongwoo, brimming with confidence, struck the final blow.

“Mr. Mantero! For the countless fugitives who will come here in the future, take the helm of Earthship. Ensure that no one ever catches us!”

Hwat!

With that, Yeongwoo extended his hand for a handshake.

Mantero flinched and stepped back.

—Th-this is…?

“A handshake. It’s Earthship’s greeting ritual. Once you take this hand, we’re in the same boat together.”

A handshake—

Born from the custom of showing that neither side held a weapon.

Mantero had been loyal enough to be imprisoned for his prince.

If he willingly became Earthship’s navigator, he would surely protect the ship until his dying breath.

So long as Yeongwoo himself didn’t betray him, the partnership would be ideal.

“Come now, Mr. Mantero! Decide!”

As Yeongwoo shouted with his hand outstretched, Earth warned urgently from the radar.

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『In ten seconds, Lesham’s fighters will enter our perimeter. We must move, now.』

At last, Mantero clenched his jaw, stepped forward, and grasped Yeongwoo’s hand.

Thud!

—Set the destination. To Gadoa. I may be piloting a planet-ship for the first time, but it will make excellent practice.

* * *

The Dead Star, Gadoa.

Orbiting at the edge of the Milky Way, it was a fragmented star, with massive rocky chunks spinning rapidly.

That’s why even Koatu had only approached his vault with a mid-sized ship.

Yet now, Mantero insisted it was possible with a planet-ship.

—How do you dodge debris in something this massive? You might avoid a few, but hundreds will be coming at once!

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Koatu’s doubt was perfectly reasonable.

A normal ship, with a skilled pilot, could weave between debris with acrobatics.

But this was a vessel the size of a planet.

It was like Earthship trying to dodge a meteor falling on Eurasia, only to be struck instead in Africa.

Perhaps it was simply too big to dodge at all.

But Mantero answered calmly, without a hint of panic.

—Any debris already within our perimeter can’t be avoided.

“What? Then what do we do?”

—Ships of this scale must be navigated with foresight. You must never be in a position where dodging is required.

Rather than steering reactively to visible debris, you had to predict the paths of all fragments filling the space.

“…How’s that even possible?”

—Every ship has detection systems. They can extract velocity data of debris.

From that, a skilled navigator constructs a predictive model that matches the near-future almost exactly.

—Ah, so it’s like jump rope?

Miraculously, Jiseon grasped his point.

“Jump rope?”

—When we jump rope, we don’t actually watch the rope every time, do we? We just know the timing.

“Well, that’s because I’m the one swinging it.”

—Even when someone else turns the rope, isn’t it the same? You might glance at their arms, but mostly you just feel the timing.

That ‘feel’ comes from past experience, the sound of the rope, and subtle cues.

In other words, even jump rope is a kind of short-term prediction.

Of course, guiding a planet-ship through stellar debris was incomparably more complex.

『We’re almost at Gadoa.』

Earth announced as the surrounding transit field began to blur.

Fwaaash!

“By the way, why is the dead star still orbiting?”

『Because it hasn’t yet encountered another body massive enough to capture it. Someday it will join another orbit—or get flung away to wander again.』

As Earth finished his bitter explanation, Gadoa’s form finally appeared outside the viewport—pitch black.

Kwaaaah…

The Dead Star Gadoa resembled a vast black cloud.

Occasionally, from within, flashes like lightning revealed themselves—

—Those luminous bursts inside the gas layers are fragments of the star. Ordinary ships deform just by approaching them.

Hearing Mantero’s explanation, Yeongwoo shuddered.

“Then we shouldn’t get close.”

—That depends on where exactly the vault lies.

He turned toward Koatu.

—Now, tell me the precise location of your vault.

Koatu waved his hand, summoning a keypad inscribed with alien symbols.

Paaat!

He tapped in the code.

—Luck matters. The vault’s location changes every time.

Beep!

As the final input went in, Koatu’s secret vault emitted a unique signal, which Earth instantly detected.

『Vault location confirmed. But it’s… huge.』

Earth projected a holographic model of Gadoa into the control room.

Swaaash!

At the very center of the black cloud, a red dot gleamed.

“…That’s the vault?”

『Looks like an enormous machine.』

“How enormous, exactly?”

『About… the size of Jeju Island.』

“What?”

A vault the size of Jeju Island?

For a moment, Yeongwoo thought perhaps Koatu was far more formidable than he had realized.

Just then, Mantero loosened his shoulders as if warming up.

—If it’s that big, it should be easy to find.

He approached the captain’s chair and looked at Yeongwoo.

—Pardon me, may I borrow this seat? It seems to control all major systems.

“Oh, of course. That’s the captain’s chair.”

Yeongwoo quickly vacated the spot.

Mantero gently caressed the armrests, then sat down with great care.

He pressed a hidden button on the inside of the armrest.

And then—

Clank, crunch!

A loud sound of locks releasing came from beneath the chair.

“…Huh?”

Yeongwoo had never heard such a sound before.

The chair rose about 1.5 meters on a silver-white column.

From the floor beneath, a complex handle emerged.

“What the hell is that?!”

Gawking, Yeongwoo was left speechless.

Mantero leaned forward slightly, peering down at him.

—Is this your first time seeing it?

“…Of course! Until now, I just said where I wanted to go, and it always took me there.”

Mantero gave him a baffled look.

—I’ll handle the vault, but you must find yourself a capable captain quickly. This ship is far more extraordinary than you realize.

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