Chapter 618

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 618: The Real Job (1)

“Ah, right. I still haven’t claimed the achievement reward.”

An achievement reward.

And not just any achievement—this was a cosmic-grade reward for a planetary ship’s “Basic Armament.”

[Achievement Acquired: Basic Armament]

| Achievement Grade: Cosmic

| Achievement Rank: #10

「All basic armaments of a planetary ship have been fulfilled.」

‘In the planetary-ship category, this feels more like a beginner-level achievement.’

Still, Yeongwoo approved the reward with brimming anticipation.

After all, it was an achievement tied to a planetary ship.

‘Alright, let’s see what it is.’

The moment Yeongwoo approved the reward, his vision flared brightly.

Paaaaat!

Then, the tooltip of what was clearly the reward item began to engrave itself into his view.

「Tactical Navigation」 – Legendary Phase Relic

【Cannon Power +10%】

【Ship Propulsion +5%】

【Planetary Ship】

【Planetary Ship】

| The effects of this equipment can only be activated by one who owns a planetary ship.

“…What?”

What Yeongwoo was looking at was nothing less than the tooltip of a Legendary Phase Relic.

And on top of that, it was a ship-enhancement effect he had never seen before.

“Wait—equipment can enhance ships too?”

When Yeongwoo muttered this, Koatu tilted his head and walked over.

—What do you mean?

Apparently, even Koatu—the arms dealer—was hearing about equipment that enhanced ships for the first time.

Paat!

With a short sound, a small metallic object was formed in front of Yeongwoo.

The legendary phase relic had manifested.

“So this is it.”

When Yeongwoo caught the object in midair and opened his palm, a grayish brooch appeared.

“What is this? It looks like some kind of martial merit medal.”

The brooch consisted of two hollow triangular frames, slightly offset and overlapping.

“Do you… attach this to armor?”

As Yeongwoo said this and brought the brooch toward the left side of his chest, it firmly attached itself to the surface of the Vesedel armor.

—Uh… it really does have a ship-enhancement effect.

After checking the tooltip of the new phase relic, Koatu looked genuinely astonished.

By now, Mantero had also come down from the captain’s seat.

“Deputy, equipment with ship effects on it—this isn’t common, right? I’ve never seen anything like this.”

Mantero nodded while closely examining the legendary phase relic attached to Yeongwoo’s armor.

—Not at all… Even the royal family doesn’t possess equipment like this.

Then, while looking out toward the relay tunnel beyond the helm window, he added,

—That said, I’ve heard that some legendary captains possess special equipment. It was probably also obtained as achievement rewards.

This was something even the royal chief navigator had never laid eyes on.

“So equipment that enhances ships basically doesn’t exist, then.”

—That’s correct.

“And one of the ways to obtain such equipment is becoming a planetary ship lord.”

—The planetary ship itself is already overwhelming, but the fact that there are methods to further enhance it… that’s frankly shocking.

Normally, the only ways to strengthen a ship were to install new parts or replace cannons with better ones.

But the existence of equipment that could amplify already-installed systems… was nothing short of astonishing from Mantero’s perspective as a navigator.

“Well… we are a wonder of the universe, after all?”

Since you only recognize what you understand, Yeongwoo—who was basically an ignoramus when it came to cosmic standards—didn’t feel particularly amazed.

Instead, his thoughts drifted in an entirely different direction.

“Wait a second. Then that means past planetary ship lords must have had several of these medals, right?”

At that, Jeonggu, who had been staring intently at the phase relic, gaped.

“Yeah. That makes sense. Like some kind of general, covered in decorations.”

“On the flip side, if you see someone walking around plastered with medals, doesn’t that basically mean they’re a planetary ship lord?”

“If there aren’t medal-type items in other categories… then yes.”

Mantero quickly interjected.

—Medal-type equipment already exists. Even the admiral insignia issued by the royal family includes brooches.

“Oh, really? Then I guess you’d have to distinguish it by the specific shape of the phase relic.”

In any case, anyone wearing a brooch shaped like Tactical Navigation was almost certainly a planetary ship lord.

After all, the method of acquisition was fulfilling the basic armament of a planetary ship—and without owning one, the equipment was completely useless.

【Planetary Ship】

| Only those who own a planetary ship can activate this equipment’s effects.

“I’m really curious what kind of people the other planetary ship lords are.”

Jeonggu scratched his chin with an uneasy expression.

“Do we even need to see them to know? They’re probably all completely insane. Their firepower would be way beyond ours too… I’d rather not run into them.”

“But just like how the Black Holes turned out to be unexpectedly friendly, planetary ship lords might also be kind to fellow planetary ship lords. They’re extremely rare, after all.”

“Well… that’s true, I guess, but still…”

Even as he nodded, Jeonggu couldn’t fully agree.

At that point, Jiseon asked the question everyone was probably wondering.

—By the way, if there are planetary ship lords still alive… how old would they even be?

“Oh, that?”

Yeongwoo scratched his chin.

Then, gazing vaguely into empty space, he answered,

“Who knows? Probably depends on the species. Maon lived for a really long time, didn’t he? There might be ship lords who are thousands of years old.”

Of course—assuming they survived all that time.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

At that moment, Lady Kanaph, who had been silent until now, fiddled with her necklace and spoke up.

—Rather than the original ship lord still being alive, wouldn’t it be more likely that the family maintained the planetary ship across generations?

Then she got to the real point.

—More importantly… when exactly are you sending me home?

Mantero quickly returned to the captain’s seat and checked the monitors.

—We’ll enter Planet Tehen’s territorial space in about fifteen minutes.

—Oh… really?

Fifteen minutes until entering Tehen’s domain.

Which meant that in fifteen minutes, Duke Dalqui would become aware of the “uninvited guests.”

“Ma’am, what’s your brother’s personality like? He’s not the type to fire cannons on sight, right?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Lady Kanaph pondered seriously.

—I’m not sure. I’ve never seen how he behaves in external affairs. He’s very cautious and steadfast, though.

“Steadfast…?”

Among all the steadfast people Yeongwoo had met, had even one of them been normal?

“Tch. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”

After all, Lady Kanaph wasn’t a combatant—there was no way she’d know Duke Dalqui’s diplomatic style.

“Looks like we’ll just have to see what happens.”

When Yeongwoo muttered this while staring at Lady Kanaph—whom he planned to sell at a high price—Earth asked worriedly,

『If Duke Dalqui tries to take her back by force, what will you do? You’re not seriously planning to fight him, are you?』

“Huh? Then what, not fight back?”

『Now that we have shields… don’t we have enough leeway to try resolving things through dialogue?』

“You’re a combat planet now—aren’t you being a little naïve?”

『Strictly speaking, Duke Dalqui isn’t our enemy. If anything, he’s closer to a customer.』

That wasn’t wrong.

After all, he was the one who would ultimately pay Lady Kanaph’s ransom.

The problem was that their profession happened to be robbery.

『If we start using force, negotiations themselves might collapse. You can demand the ransom you want—but you should act a bit more like a gentleman.』

“A gentleman robber? You actually think that makes sense?”

As Yeongwoo said this, Mantero reported,

—We’ll enter Tehen’s territorial space in three minutes.

At the same time, the Earth Ship exited the relay tunnel and began crossing open space again.

Lady Kanaph hurried to the helm window.

Thump!

—I’ll finally see Tehen with my own eyes again.

For her, it must have felt like a dream.

Thrown into a dungeon by kidnappers and left to die—only to be discovered by some lunatic and carried home aboard a wonder of the universe.

—Please don’t trouble my brother too much. When I return with you, he’ll be greatly shocked. He might react aggressively.

“If he reacts aggressively toward a planetary ship, that’s more an intelligence issue. Even if not today, he’d have gotten a harsh lesson sooner or later.”

Clicking his tongue, Yeongwoo looked out the window alongside Lady Kanaph.

Before long, a tiny dot appeared in the distance.

It was Tehen.

A dark blue planet—the territory of the Izori family.

“What? The planet’s color looks kind of dull.”

A planet’s color is closely tied to its atmospheric properties.

But Tehen looked harsher than expected—and in fact…

—Tehen is always plagued by rain and storms. That’s probably why it looks so murky.

“Always rain and storms? Is that because it’s a planet of frogs…?”

As Yeongwoo blurted out this prejudice-laden remark, Mantero—who had been focused on the monitor—looked up.

—Tehen has detected us.

“They know we’re a planetary ship, right?”

—Uh… at the very least, they’ve clearly recognized that a celestial body is approaching.

If the other side had no understanding of planetary ships, they might not even be able to guess what this thing was.

On radar, it would just look like a celestial object approaching at an impossible speed.

—Should we request communication first? They haven’t responded to us at all yet.

“Sure. If we put Lady Kanaph on screen, they’ll react somehow.”

As Yeongwoo nodded and was about to approve the communication request—

Suddenly, the entire helm window was dyed blue.

Paaaaat!

“What’s this?”

—Tehen is broadcasting a wide-area transmission.

In other words, they had initiated a one-way announcement.

And soon, what appeared on the screen inside the bridge was—

Papat!

—O-Older Brother!

Judging by Lady Kanaph’s reaction, it was undoubtedly Duke Dalqui Izori.

「Can you hear me? I am Dalqui Izori, Duke of the Ryuupa Galaxy and Lord of Planet Tehen.」

The figure on screen was a frog clad in ornate armor.

“Huh? Looks like he can’t see us. Is this one-way communication?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Mantero nodded.

—Yes. This is a unilateral broadcast transmitted throughout the area.

Then, Duke Dalqui Izori spoke words no one there had expected.

「What business does a planetary ship have with Tehen? I do not wish to suffer unnecessary hardship again. Especially when we are already deep in mourning.」

Yeongwoo’s eyes blinked rapidly, his mouth falling open.

“Did he just say ‘again’?”

That implied Tehen had encountered a planetary ship before.

Which also meant—

Tehen was a planet that had survived an encounter with a planetary ship.

Swoosh.

Duke Dalqui coughed on screen.

「Cough… The weather is poor today. We have little to offer, so do not expect much. If you require repairs, however, we may be able to assist with that.」

Rather than fear, his voice carried resignation.

Whatever had happened in the past, it was clear that Tehen had learned one thing well,

A planetary ship could not be defeated by force.

At that, Yeongwoo grabbed Lady Kanaph by the nape of her neck and stepped in front of the screen.

—Deputy, connect us to them. It’s time to start the real job.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]