Chapter 597

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 597: The Great Exploration (5)

Robbery.

A thief who takes another person’s property through violence or threats.

Or such an act.

To Amana, who had lived her entire life as a practitioner of good deeds, it was practically a word that did not exist.

At least, until she met Jeong Yeongwoo, the head of the Renaissance family.

—Robbery…? What are you talking about? You’re not saying you’re going to commit robbery over the Selulite, are you?

Committing robbery in front of the Stone of Good Deeds.

At the blasphemous idea—one she had never even dared to imagine—Amana’s beak fell wide open.

Of course, Yeongwoo’s hand was still resting on the green button that signified acceptance of the transaction.

“What if we don’t do it? Are you going to sell the Selulite for 150 billion? Isn’t that, in its own way, an insult to good will?”

—Th-that may be so, but…!

She was caught in a dilemma.

If this transaction was concluded at 150 billion, not only would she fail to fully repay her planet’s debt, but she would also lose the precious Selulite.

But even so, committing robbery—one of the most representative evil acts—was even more absurd, wasn’t it?

—No matter what, robbery is out of the question. I… I am—

“No, I will do it. You just have to approve it.”

—You’re telling me to approve your robbery?

“No. You’re approving the act of taking the Selulite back.”

—But isn’t that robbery?

“It depends on how you think about it. It’s not like we’re fleecing good people, and the other side isn’t exactly a bunch of saints either, right?”

—Even if they are villains, it doesn’t mean they deserve to be struck by others.

“Villains beating each other up is an everyday thing. But fundamentally, this is your transaction, so I need your approval.”

Strictly speaking, this was a workaround to prevent any possible increase in Yeongwoo’s own evil karma.

No matter how much he looted those flies, his evil karma probably wouldn’t increase much—but because Amana was a practitioner of good deeds, it was possible that evil karma could arise simply from causing her psychological harm.

“Hurry up and decide. I’m not the type to help just anyone. I’m stepping in like this because my money is on the line too.”

—…….

Amana’s gaze turned toward the swarm of flies on the opposite side.

It was true that she had felt anger every time they quoted such vulgar prices, but that did not mean she wanted to harm them.

—A difficult problem indeed.

“What’s so difficult about it? Are you going to let your planet suffer just to protect those flies? What about your residents?”

—It’s not for their sake. This is about good and evil—

“Is that damn balance of good and evil more important than your planet? If you neglect your planet just to preserve your own ‘goodness,’ isn’t that nothing more than arrogance and hypocrisy?”

—You’re trying very hard to justify your robbery.

“Whether you’re a guardian or a family head, when you represent a group, there are times when you have to put yourself aside.”

With those words, Yeongwoo lifted his hand away from the green button.

“Anyway, this is the last chance you’ve been given. What are you going to do? As far as I can tell, if not now, you’ll never get another chance to sell the Selulite. Next time, you’ll get scammed on your own.”

—…….

Because he wasn’t wrong, Amana had nothing she could say in rebuttal.

“There’s a saying on Earth: When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

—What does that mean?

“It means shut up and do what the strong say—!”

“Uh…?”

Listening blankly to the conversation, Jeonggu flinched at the rather different interpretation from the one he knew.

And in that moment, Yeongwoo was already driving his fist toward the green button.

Hwaeaeaeat!

“If you’ve come to the black zone, you follow this place’s rules. What’s with all the talking?”

Kuuuuung!

When Yeongwoo finally pressed the transaction approval button, everyone present gaped in shock.

Now there was truly no turning back.

If they weren’t going to be scammed in all but name, the only option left was robbery.

“The item is yours, but this transaction itself is being carried out using my entry ticket, so half of it is my right as well.”

—But then the only method left is…!

“Right. Robbery, isn’t it?”

The moment Yeongwoo finished her sentence for her, green text floated in the air.

Paat!

「Seller’s consent confirmed. Transaction possible.」

Then, as the barrier that had been restricting movement between both sides began to glow bluish, new guidance appeared.

「‘Stone Throw’ will now commence.」

「Both parties to the transaction must throw the transaction payment and the transaction item to the opposing side in accordance with the system’s signal.」

A completely nonsensical method—conducting a transaction by throwing money and goods at each other.

Still, it seemed there were minimal safety measures in place.

「Until the stone throw is completed, the barrier will not be lifted. Once all throws are completed, an exit gate will be generated at the center of the trading area.」

In other words, only the transaction payment and the item could pass through the blue-glowing barrier.

“Then we absolutely have to reach the exit gate before the other side.”

When Yeongwoo moved his hand to the bastard sword at his waist, Amana panicked.

—N-no killing!

“Ah, right. You’re a pacifist. You’re troublesome in so many ways.”

—Killing near the Selulite is absolutely unacceptable.

“…….”

Yeongwoo couldn’t agree with that statement, but since she held half the stake in this transaction, he decided to grant her wish.

“Fine. Whatever. It doesn’t seem all that difficult to steal the stone without killing anyone.”

「Each trader, please pick up the item to be thrown. The stone throw will begin shortly.」

As instructions to prepare for throwing followed, Yeongwoo picked up the Selulite placed on the pedestal.

Ssk.

At that moment, the tooltip for the mysterious stone appeared in Yeongwoo’s field of vision.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

「Selulite」 – Legendary Mineral

【A sense of benevolent will can be felt.】

【Ultra-high-density energy】

‘This is a stone that trades for at least 200 billion…?’

At a glance, it was hard to understand, but since it was said to be widely used in ship construction and modification, as well as equipment manufacturing, he simply accepted it.

“It won’t explode or anything if I throw it, right?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Kezen shook his head.

—Unless you stab it with your mythic weapon, it won’t explode even if it collides with most ships. It’s famous for being incredibly durable.

“That tough…?”

—That’s exactly why it’s worth 200 billion. Think about it—if you were going to pay 200 billion for something, how much functionality would it need to have? And this is just a mineral.

“The tooltip doesn’t show anything special. Looks like it only becomes useful after processing.”

Yeongwoo examined the Selulite in his hand from various angles.

“Think it could reinforce the planetary ship?”

—No reason it couldn’t. Ask Earth when you get back.

Moreover, the Earth ship had Mantero, a former royal chief navigator.

Even if Earth didn’t know how to use Selulite, wouldn’t Mantero know?

After all, he must have handled all sorts of expensive ship-related equipment.

「Throwing will begin in 3 seconds. Please stand by.」

Soon, the instruction to prepare for throwing was displayed, and Yeongwoo, holding the Selulite, looked toward the opposite side.

There, he saw the flies aiming strange, trumpet-like guns diagonally into the air.

“…Don’t tell me they’re going to shoot the money with those?”

That was probably exactly what they intended.

And then, finally—

Piiiiiiik!

With a long signal tone, the stone throw began.

「Throwing initiated.」

Tututung!

The first to begin throwing were the flies, who had acquired the Selulite at a bargain price.

As the guns in their hands spewed fire, objects trailing yellowish flames flew in parabolic arcs.

Hwi-aaaat!

In the blink of an eye, they landed at Yeongwoo’s feet, releasing gray smoke.

“What on earth did they fire?”

As Yeongwoo tilted his head and looked down at the object shrouded in smoke, he saw a half-burnt fiber package gaping open inside it.

And inside were orange coins, each worth 30,000 karma, packed full.

“Pulling this crap again.”

Once again, the entire payment was in cash.

Of course, unlike the Mohir incident, it didn’t seem intended to trap the other side—it looked more like they genuinely only had cash.

—They’re probably planning to make a safe escape while we’re busy collecting the money.

Kezen muttered, nudging the pile of coins at his feet with his foot.

And around that time, after confirming that the first thrown items had arrived safely, the flies began pouring down a full-scale barrage of money.

Tutung, tututung!

They started firing bundles of coins at a much faster rate than before.

Sshiaaaaat!

At that moment, a separate guidance message appeared on Yeongwoo’s side.

「Please throw the transaction item.」

It was urging him on because he still hadn’t thrown the Selulite.

“Ah, right. If either side doesn’t finish throwing everything, no one can move, can they?”

At first, he had planned to throw the Selulite after all the money had come over, but thinking about it again, there was no real need.

He could leave the money collection to the rest of the party and just sprint for the exit gate himself.

“It’s time to trade.”

When Yeongwoo took a throwing stance with the Selulite clenched tightly in his hand, the flies on the other side prepared to receive the item.

Two of the flies stepped forward and spread out a net.

In response, Yeongwoo hurled the Selulite with all his strength toward the net the flies had deployed.

Ssswaeaeaeat!

The Selulite, fired off at high speed, tore straight through the net and embedded itself in the ground behind it.

At that, the flies momentarily stopped sending money.

They had realized that the trading partner they had assumed to be a gentle practitioner of good deeds might, in fact, be something else entirely.

But unless they paid the full agreed amount, the exit gate wouldn’t appear.

Soon enough, the flies hurriedly resumed firing coins, and Yeongwoo’s side was quickly buried under piles of currency.

“So what’s the plan now? You’re already receiving the money, and you’ve taken the Selulite back too. Are you taking everything?”

As it seemed like most of the money had already crossed over, Jeonggu asked, and Yeongwoo replied as he drew his bastard sword.

“For now, I’ll take the Selulite, and as for the transaction payment… Amana has expenses she needs to cover, so I should yield it to her.”

“…Yield?”

At such an uncharacteristic line from Yeongwoo, Jeonggu’s jaw dropped open.

Of course, from Yeongwoo’s perspective, since he was bringing back the Selulite without spending a single coin, it wasn’t really yielding in the first place.

“But if the money coming in is 150 billion, isn’t that still way short?”

Yeongwoo pointed Bastard toward the flies on the opposite side.

“That, we’ll have to check their pockets for. I said I wouldn’t take their lives—I never said I wouldn’t take the rest of their money, did I?”

And right on cue, the final system notice appeared in the air.

Piiiiik!

「All transactions have been completed successfully.」

「An exit gate has been generated in the central area. Have a safe journey.」

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]