Chapter 598

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Chapter 598: The Great Exploration (6)

Paaaash!

The moment the barrier that had restricted movement on both sides vanished, an exit gate truly appeared at the center of the exchange.

A gray portal yawned open.

And almost at the same time, the flies began to scatter in a frantic dash.

“Judging by how desperately they’re running, they do realize they were in the wrong.”

As expected, the flies’ mobility wasn’t particularly impressive.

Which meant their mobility probably wasn’t all that special either.

Still, there were a lot of them, and they used all kinds of tools, so caution was necessary.

“Stop right there! Everyone freeze—!”

As Yeongwoo shouted this and sprinted toward the exit at high speed, the flies running from the opposite side hesitated.

Then one of them—holding the Selulite—hurriedly hid the item in a pouch at his waist and spoke.

—Hasn’t the transaction already ended?

“Yeah. The transaction’s over. Now the robbery begins.”

—What…?

Gesrak—the ones known as the cleaners of the universe.

True to those who had been through countless battles and hardships, they didn’t panic too much.

No—rather…

—……

After calmly inspecting the equipment Yeongwoo was wearing, they reached a quick conclusion.

—Short on money, were you? How much do you want?

They immediately realized he was an opponent they couldn’t beat head—on.

At that, Yeongwoo sensed that these guys would survive for a very long time in this universe.

Unfortunately for them, what Yeongwoo wanted wasn’t a few coins.

“Hand over the stone first.”

As Yeongwoo pointed with Bastard at the pouch containing the Selulite, the Gesrak he was speaking to took a step back.

—Even robbery has its own line you don’t cross.

“What kind of bullshit line is that? Robbery includes everything from assault to murder. Since when did it have standards?”

—But this was a transaction.

“If you’d named a reasonable price from the start, none of this would’ve happened.”

—…….

“Think of it as getting paid for the kind of work you do. If you hand over the item quietly, I won’t take your lives.”

At Yeongwoo’s words, the fly holding the Selulite glanced around at his companions.

—If what you want is the Selulite, will you return the transaction money?

In other words: lives mattered, so if the money was returned, they’d give up the Selulite.

But as he had warned earlier, Yeongwoo had no such thing as a ‘line.’

“What are you talking about? Hand over the Selulite and all the money you have.”

—You’re really terrible at negotiating.

The fly let his mouth droop long.

Then suddenly, with incredible speed, he drew a pistol from his waist and said—

—Then die.

Baaang!

At that very moment, his muzzle flared—and almost simultaneously, the other flies began firing their pistols as well.

Tatatatatang!

A hail of bullets, as if they meant to turn him into a beehive.

Yeongwoo hastily raised Aratubank, but he couldn’t fully cover his entire body.

Bullets grazed his shoulder and leg, leaving shallow wounds.

“Tch, their firepower’s better than I expected.”

Well, you wouldn’t come shopping for a 200 billion—credit stone without this much backing.

And there had to be a reason they’d survived while roaming the universe long enough to gather that kind of money.

‘So there really are guys whose mobility is nothing special, but who make up for it with equipment.’

Once again, Yeongwoo learned something new about the universe.

But he couldn’t just keep taking the barrage forever, so at last he began to counterattack.

‘Damn it… this no—killing policy really makes things annoying.’

He knew where the bullets were coming from, which meant he naturally knew where their heads were—but because of Amana’s special order, he couldn’t cut their heads off.

So what Yeongwoo chose to do was—

Sswaaaaak!

He swung Bastard at its maximum length, slicing diagonally through their gun barrels.

Some unlucky ones might lose the hand holding the gun along with it… but that was better than losing their heads, right?

Kwaaash!

The moment Yeongwoo swung his sword, the muzzles that had been spitting fire split diagonally and malfunctioned.

Puff—puff—bang!

The bullets that followed detonated inside the barrels themselves.

—Aaaargh!

—F—Formation three rows!

Apparently they had a Plan B for situations like this.

One of the flies shouted “three—row formation” and pulled a small box from his chest, tossing it to the ground.

Tak!

From the box stuck to the floor, a membrane—like structure unfolded into a polygon, forming a kind of barrier that enclosed both Yeongwoo and the swarm of flies.

“What the hell is this now…?”

And then—

Clack!

The flies pulled out long shotguns strapped to their backs.

“……!”

Without hesitation, they fired into empty space.

Boom!

The pellets fired into the air were blocked by the barrier and began ricocheting in all directions.

The moment Yeongwoo saw this, he realized that the so—called “three—row formation” was essentially a suicide tactic.

‘They’re going for mutual destruction. With numbers like this, some of them might survive.’

A bold and filthy method befitting the universe’s cleaners.

When faced with an opponent they couldn’t beat head—on, they’d use tactics like this to bring the enemy down somehow and save at least part of themselves.

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But ironically, what Yeongwoo wanted wasn’t just the Selulite—he also wanted the flies to leave this place alive.

“You crazy bastards, d—don’t die!”

Seeing the ricocheting pellets begin to tear into the flies, Yeongwoo hurled Aratubank toward them while kicking down nearby flies.

That way, the hit surface would be smaller, and the chance of their heads getting blown open by pellets would be lower.

Faced with such an unexpected reaction, the flies froze and stopped firing.

—W—What… what is he doing?

“I told you to hand over the money. When did I ever say you had to give up your lives? Why the hell are you committing suicide, you lunatics?”

Then he showed them his cheek, which had been grazed by a bullet.

“This kind of suicide bombing won’t even leave a proper scratch on me. Can’t you see?”

The wound on Yeongwoo’s cheek was already healing rapidly, and seeing this, the flies stared blankly at the shotguns in their hands.

If even this last resort didn’t work, then there truly was no hope.

“Don’t die in a place like this. Get out there and keep living.”

Yeongwoo spoke in a tone that sounded like a campaign slogan.

And he didn’t forget the most important part.

“So now, empty your pockets completely. Begin.”

* * *

By the time Jeonggu, Kejen, Amana, and the golden goblin had swept up all 150 billion in cash and started toward the exit gate, the flies were, for some reason, standing neatly in a line.

“What’s that about…?”

Jeonggu tilted his head, and Kejen stroked his beard with a finger.

—That madman must’ve finished talking things out with the flies.

Indeed, Kejen had already seen the piles of money stacked between Yeongwoo and the flies.

And all the various weapons they’d been holding were neatly stacked off to one side as well.

When Jeonggu and the rest arrived at the scene, Yeongwoo turned around and greeted them.

“You got all the money?”

Representing everyone, the golden goblin raised his hand.

—Kiit!

150 billion—recovered in full.

Yeongwoo then pointed at another pile of high—denomination bills on the ground.

“These guys actually had more money. And all of it was in large bills.”

—How much is that?

Amana asked, looking at the second pile. Yeongwoo held up four fingers.

“Forty billion. Plus some spare change.”

—40 billion?

Which meant the flies had originally brought 190 billion with them.

They’d never intended to pay the Selulite’s true market price of 200 billion.

“Still, isn’t this enough? It’d have been nice to get all 200 billion, but… they should be grateful they didn’t lose the stone.”

At that, Amana shook her head as if something had just occurred to her.

—Where is the virtuous stone…?

“Oh, that’s already in my hands.”

—…What?

“You got the money, didn’t you? Everything’s been resolved, so I’ll take the Selulite.”

Then he pointed at the bundles of cash on the ground.

“In exchange, I’ll donate the commission I promised you. Use it for the planet’s finances.”

Yeongwoo secured the Selulite without paying a single coin.

Amana returned to planetary patrol with a total of 190 billion.

That was the conclusion of this incident.

—190 billion… it’s sufficient for now, at least.

With a troubled expression, Amana looked at the Selulite in Yeongwoo’s hand.

No matter what, it was a mineral known as the Stone of Virtue, and it bothered her that it had ended up in the hands of such a lawless man.

“Why that face? Whether I have it or those flies had it, it’s basically the same, isn’t it?”

—I suppose that’s true.

“I’m not going to use it to beat someone to death, so don’t worry too much.”

—Then what do you plan to use the Selulite for?

“Who knows. I’ll have to discuss that with my retainers.”

Renaissance might have a vulgar head, but its retainers weren’t lacking in quality.

For one, an elite former royal chief navigator was at the helm, and they could receive advice about the Earthship directly from celestial beings native to the solar system.

One of the clan’s founders had even been the CEO of a major corporation in her prime.

So for something as important as how to use the Selulite, it was wise to consult the retainers.

“By the way, what’s that?”

Jeonggu pointed at the neatly gathered weapons.

“Oh, those are the flies’ equipment. I thought about adding them to the weapon catalog, but maybe because they’re so makeshift, they didn’t even register.”

Improvised equipment without even tooltips.

This was the first time Yeongwoo had learned such things even existed.

They were so crude that the system didn’t recognize them at all.

“So… is everything really over now?”

“As long as we make it out alive.”

With that, Yeongwoo looked at Kejen, the one responsible for their escape.

“It’s time for you to earn your keep again. We’re not going to have to do anything crazy on the way out, right?”

Kejen shrugged, then looked at Amana.

—You came here on a ship provided by the planet, right?

—…That’s right. Why do you ask?

—If it was a rather eye—catching ship, someone else might’ve already taken it.

Yeongwoo’s eyes widened.

“What? What the hell are you talking about? Someone else took it?”

—Of course. You didn’t think we were the only ones who came here on one—way shuttles, did you?

Then Kejen added,

—But since we haven’t been here long, there’s still a decent chance the ship’s there. If so, everything works out.

“And if the ship’s gone?”

—Then we’ll just have to steal someone else’s ship. That’s common sense around here, so it’s fine.

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