Chapter 604

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 604: Common Sense (6)

A direct hit request was issued on the ship of Ashki, vanguard fleet commander of the Salzeo.

Naturally, Earth had no choice but to hesitate.

○ You ran away first, and now you want to fire the cannon? Isn’t that a bit cowardly…?

‘We’re firing because we ran away. Fighting while surrounded would be what’s truly strange, wouldn’t it?’

○ Well, even so…

‘And if we’re talking about cowardice, it’s them. Bringing an entire fleet to surround a single small ship—how does that make sense?’

By this point, the ship carrying Yeongwoo’s party had begun entering Earth’s atmosphere, and by the owner’s command, the Planet Hunter locked onto Ashki’s vessel.

○ This will be an irreversible choice.

‘Trying to kill the owner of a planetary ship—that was their irreversible choice. Commence bombardment…!’

As Yeongwoo jabbed a finger into empty space and repeated the order, Earth responded as if resigned.

○ Owner… no, Captain. I’ll follow your command.

Immediately afterward, from the massive gun port opened in Earth’s body, energy of terrifying density tore through space.

Kiiiiiaaaaah!

A super-heavy cannon capable of shattering even a planet.

Watching the radar, Kejen’s eyes went wide.

—Huh?!

“What? What is it?”

—They’re performing evasive maneuvers!

“At a time like this?”

Yeongwoo turned his head to look at the Salzeo fleet, and Kejen hurriedly projected Ashki’s ship onto the cockpit window.

Paat!

Just before being hit, Ashki’s ship turned blue and scattered afterimages in all directions.

“What is that…?”

—An emergency evasion technique that rapidly changes the ship’s position right before impact. It’s meant to avoid fatal damage, and if you’re lucky, you can dodge the attack entirely.

But it seemed luck was not on Ashki’s side.

Kwaaaaang!

The blue laser beam that had crossed space pierced through roughly eighty percent of the ship’s midsection as it passed.

—It… it hit!

Kejen gaped, and at the same time, the outside of Yeongwoo’s ship was dyed red.

Proof that they had broken through Earth’s atmosphere.

“We’re here! Let’s get out of here, fast!”

As Yeongwoo issued a shameless command into the air, the half-destroyed ship of Ashki was reflected in the window.

A massive vessel splitting into two while spewing out an enormous amount of debris.

“Think he’s dead?”

—Hard to say.

Yeongwoo wanted to issue a confirmation strike, but with a large portion of the Salzeo fleet still intact, he had no choice.

‘Initiate immediate stellar jump. Withdraw from the area.’

○ It was already running.

With Earth’s words, the entire Earth-Ship system was enveloped in yellow light, and a massive hole opened along the forward route.

A relay tunnel for stellar jumping had appeared.

○ Grab onto something. We’re making a high-speed getaway!

With that warning, the entire Earth-Ship system was sucked into the relay tunnel, and soon after, strange light poured into the interior like a waterfall.

* * *

Kuuuuung!

After landing rather roughly in Gwangjin District, Yeongwoo’s party immediately ran toward the helm.

They needed to get there to know the next route—or any plans at all.

And aside from that—

—Th… this is a planetary ship? A wonder of the universe…

—My goodness…

The advanced orcs and black goblins, seeing a planetary ship for the first time, stared around with wide eyes, completely overwhelmed.

Since they had never seen a planetary ship before, Earth-Ship naturally became their standard.

And unfortunately, Gwangjin District contained a convention hall, a wedding hall built by prison designers, a sky-high ultra-speed transit station, and the helm itself.

To first-time visitors, this bizarre combination of structures could only look like the inherent form of a planetary ship.

That included Amana, guardian of the Watcher Planet.

—Truly a wonder of the universe. So many things defy understanding.

Yeongwoo shook his head.

“This is just because it’s Earth-Ship. I don’t know what other planetary ships look like either.”

—You don’t know…? Do wonders of the universe have no interaction among themselves?

In other words—was there no planetary-ship owners’ gathering?

“I’m curious too, but I haven’t gotten any invitations or anything.”

After all, beings called wonders of the universe likely existed in vastly different eras.

Even if planetary ships appeared every few thousand—or even tens of millions—of years, that wouldn’t be strange.

“Apparently, only ten planetary ships have existed throughout cosmic history, including this one. So it’s pretty likely they never even had the chance to meet.”

Yeongwoo himself would like to find another planetary ship if possible.

But in this vast universe—especially with planetary ships being adept at avoiding pursuit—how could he possibly find one?

‘Without spare Tokens of Judgment, this would be impossible.’

Step.

As Yeongwoo stepped into the entrance leading to the upper levels of the helm, the rest of the party hurried after him.

—If we take this… where does it go?

Amana asked, looking up at the seemingly endless passage overhead.

Yeongwoo grinned.

“Where else? To the core of Earth-Ship. You’ll meet my vassals—and a star.”

—Vassals… and a star…?

Perhaps because she was inside a wonder of the universe, everything the planetary ship’s owner said sounded transcendent.

And yet, there wasn’t even a thread of exaggeration or falsehood in his words.

Shwoooosh!

As the platform carrying the group began rising toward the upper helm, Amana’s feathers bristled.

Natives of the Watcher Planet possessed exceptional energy perception by birth, and she was already sensing the celestial bodies residing in the helm above.

—Wh-what is this… size?

Amana gaped, blinking.

She instinctively understood that stars truly resided within the helm, just as Yeongwoo had said.

And finally—

Paaaat!

The wonder of the universe—the helm of Earth-Ship—revealed itself before their eyes.

—H-huh?!

Amana, possessing the sharpest senses among them, collapsed flat onto the floor without realizing it.

She was overwhelmed by the explosive energy of the Sun, Moro.

“…What’s wrong?”

—You… you’re fine with this? There’s a star in front of you!

“Well, that’s my mother-in-law over there. I see her almost every day.”

For the first time in a long while, Moro showed a pleased expression at what she considered a “normal” reaction.

『So there are some who aren’t completely ignorant. Raise your head. You may now look upon me properly.』

Moro subtly drew her radiance back into herself.

『This is the first time you’ve brought guests, isn’t it?』

Moro muttered while glancing at Yeongwoo.

Then Earth tilted her head while looking at the rest of the group.

『But… doesn’t it feel like there are more people now?』

“Oh, they’re friends who’ll be staying here for a while.”

『Staying? Until when?』

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Earth was already overwhelmed just dealing with Yeongwoo, the weapons dealer, and the great blade.

Seeing goblins and goggle-wearing orcs only made its head throb.

“Until we return them to where they belong.”

『Wait, we’re running from the Salzeo fleet right now. And now we’re taking on taxi service too?』

“You really do understand quickly.”

Yeongwoo nodded with a grin.

Just then, the weapons dealer Koatu quietly approached and began inspecting Yeongwoo.

—My slush fund? You didn’t lose it all in the Black Zone, did you?

“Come on. Of course not. I cleaned them out.”

At Yeongwoo’s signal, the golden goblin poured an endless stream of coins at Koatu’s feet.

Chrrrr!

“That’s your promised slush fund. Whatever else happens, I always keep money-related promises.”

As coins flooded the floor and the new guests looked around in amazement, Earth-Ship turned into a marketplace.

Earth herself shouted.

『Everyone stop! Let’s organize this for a moment!』

The chaos instantly fell silent.

『So, what we need to do right now is flee the Salzeo fleet while also escorting your new guests home, correct?』

“More or less. Taxi service isn’t the top priority, though. First, we need a safe place to hide. And second—”

『Second? There’s more than taxi work?!』

“Ah.”

Yeongwoo awkwardly pulled out a piece of Selulite from his clothes.

A mineral whose ominous nature was obvious at a glance.

『Good heavens… what is that? What did you bring back this time?』

“This isn’t really your domain—it’s something Mr. Mantero should look at.”

At that, Mantero, who had already been watching keenly, left the captain’s seat and approached.

—Could that be… Selulite?

“Yes. As expected. I hear it can do a lot.”

—It’s the most powerful propulsion material there is. Normally the problem is finding a hull that can contain it—but we’re a planetary ship. That won’t be an issue.

“Then what can we do with it?”

—Almost anything ship-related you desire.

“For example?”

—Advanced propulsion, stronger shields, instantaneous maneuverability… even enhancing the main cannon.

“So almost everything. But not all of it, right?”

—With only one Selulite, you can do just one.

“Hm. That’ll require discussion.”

Yeongwoo rubbed his chin.

Then, as if remembering something, he pulled out another item.

“Then take a look at this.”

What he produced was none other than the legendary cosmic artifact, The Great Exploration.

The mythic map.

—What is this?

Still only a small jet-black sphere, even Mantero—once a royal navigator—couldn’t guess its nature.

But when Yeongwoo projected the map into the air—

Paaaat!

—…Gasp?

Awe filled Mantero’s eyes.

—This is… could it be…?

“You already know what this map represents?”

Mantero gave an unexpected answer.

—This… is a black hole map.

“What?”

Black hole map.

While black holes were indeed embedded in the background, Mantero was the first to identify it this way.

“Why a black hole map?”

—…Isn’t it? If not, there’d be no reason to show their locations in such detail…

Mantero trailed off, reaching toward one of the black dots as if entranced.

Tap.

In that instant—

Shwaaaaash!

Like constellations being traced with light, silver-white threads briefly connected the black holes before vanishing.

“…What was that?”

Yeongwoo blinked.

Mantero looked between Yeongwoo and the map, unsettled.

—It likely indicates routes between black holes. This map is for those who intend to use black holes as passages.

“Routes between black holes? Aren’t black holes supposed to have no exit…?”

—But according to this map, there are passages between them.

After gesturing for permission, Mantero tapped another black hole.

Tap.

A white line shot out, connecting to a black hole unimaginably far away.

Meaning—by using black holes, one could traverse cosmic distances.

At speeds incomparable even to stellar jumps.

“Black holes… were meant to be used as pathways…?”

Still incredulous, Yeongwoo’s eyes drifted to the tooltip appearing beside the map.

「The Great Exploration」 – Legendary Universe Artifact

【Myth Tracking】

【Explorer】

【Myth Tracking】

|Shows the location of all existing myths through various methods. Can be used to find forgotten myths.

【Explorer】

|Many paths will open for you.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]