Chapter 631

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 631: Toward the Unknown (3)

“Damn it. This just got complicated.”

The mission given by the Black Hole—find the Planet-Ship Master Phaemong.

For whatever reason, if he failed to carry this out, Yeongwoo would have no choice but to accept the covenant.

He would have to visit the Black Hole Tesache once every 100 years.

Of course, from Yeongwoo’s personal perspective alone, it was not a huge problem, but as mentioned earlier, this promise was no different from a kind of curse that would be handed down through the Renaissance family for generations.

Whether the future Earth Ship Master became Yeongwoo’s child or a new Earth representative elected through humanity’s vote, they would have to shoulder that covenant as well.

“Another embodiment of unpredictability.”

Perhaps it was the destiny of a protagonist.

● The path has opened.

Soon, Tesache said this while pointing at the ceiling covered in white.

When Yeongwoo looked that way, the surroundings were instantly dyed pure white and wrapped around everyone in the chamber.

And then—

Swaaah!

Along with a certain sense of incongruity, the surrounding scenery changed back into the interior of the control room.

“…Huh?”

They had passed through the Black Hole Tesache.

—Th… reporting. We have currently arrived in the Phemu Galaxy.

Amid the confusion, Acting Captain Mantero delivered a situation report.

“…Phemu? Ah, the galaxy where that Rieke was supposed to be?”

The Phemu Galaxy.

A place classified as an ultra-high-risk zone, to the extent that not even relay tunnels had been opened there.

They had traversed a distance that would take 120 years even with interstellar jumps in the blink of an eye.

But for Yeongwoo, that wasn’t the problem.

“The covenant… this is basically confirmed, isn’t it? Even if Phaemong is alive, there’s no way a retired old man would bother going to meet the Black Holes.”

At that, Earth nodded.

『If he’d intended to meet them in the first place, he would’ve kept the promise long ago. But dragging him out by force is……』

A being who had lived as a Planet-Ship Master for at least several hundred years, perhaps even several thousand.

Would it even be possible to defeat such an existence by force?

Even if Phaemong were alive, sending him to the Black Holes would be close to impossible.

『Still, the fortunate thing is that it’s only once every 100 years. That means your successors would only have to do it once during their term, right?』

“Well, that’s true. Though I’ve never actually asked for their opinion.”

What Yeongwoo worried about was the possibility that some unknown successor might refuse an audience with the Black Hole.

If that happened, wouldn’t they lose one of Earth Ship’s greatest advantages—cosmic jumps?

‘Then again, if they elect such a pathetic head of family, maybe it’s better for the family to just collapse.’

Come to think of it, a successor head.

Yeongwoo had never thought about anything after himself, so the feeling was strangely unfamiliar.

Of course, he might be eliminated after losing the vote of confidence in a few days, but in truth, Yeongwoo did not think he would lose at all.

He was broadcasting all the major operations he was carrying out as Earth’s representative—who on earth would take over this position?

Even if humanity did not like the current representative, Yeongwoo believed they also would not be able to think of a suitable successor.

In other words, the level of Earth Ship had risen so high that no one except the founding captain could even lay a hand on it.

“Anyway, let’s hurry to that place called Rieke or whatever. We still have to meet Phaemong, don’t we?”

At Yeongwoo’s order, Mantero took the helm and shifted his gaze outside the window.

—Then we will head toward Rieke immediately.

“Acting Captain, how long will it take from here to Rieke?”

—We should arrive in about 30 minutes.

“That’s quick.”

—Since it isn’t very far from the Black Hole… we’re extremely fortunate.

“Oh, right. You said we can’t use relay tunnels within Phemu. But why is that?”

—The navigation guide only explains that it’s because there are many dangerous regions.

“Rieke is probably one of those dangerous regions.”

—That is certain. It’s said to be a planet where a dragon resides.

“Do relay tunnels usually not get built near planets where dragons live?”

—If it’s a dragon the size of a planet, even the Space Navigation Corporation would find it difficult to interfere.

At that, Yeongwoo tilted his head.

Another unfamiliar term had popped up.

“Acting Captain, what is the Space Navigation Corporation?”

—It is a company established by the government for the comprehensive management of the universe. It mainly handles the maintenance of relay tunnels and also takes charge of related security duties.

“Ah… so it’s like a road corporation on Earth. Or a railway corporation.”

—Since it oversees the universe’s transportation network, it is famous for having a large number of very high-ranking civil servants stationed in its working staff.

“And even so, they decided to abandon the Phemu Galaxy.”

—They likely judged that even if they put in the effort to open relay tunnels, the practicality would be low.

“So there must be quite a few unsettling things elsewhere in Phemu. I doubt the Space Corporation would back off just because a single dragon lives there.”

Even an 11th-grade civil servant is considered 4th-rank under cosmic law.

Then what about single-digit top-ranking officials?

Surely above them there would also be many who ranked 3rd and even 2nd under cosmic law.

Otherwise, the government would not be able to exert power.

‘Is the reason this universe looks lawless simply because it’s just too vast? The government’s power itself seems sufficient.’

While Yeongwoo scratched his forehead, Jiseon approached and asked.

—When you meet that person called Phaemong, what are you planning to do? You’re not going to consider him an enemy from the start, right?

“That’s right, I suppose? I know better than anyone that having a Planet-Ship Master as an enemy brings no benefit.”

However, the variable was Phaemong himself.

If Phaemong came out hostile first, what other choice would they have?

“He’s retired, so we can only hope he doesn’t have any hostility or greed left. What I want is to take over whatever he has left.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

If he could take over Phaemong’s entire planet ship, that would be ideal, but even if not, wouldn’t there at least be some remaining ship cannons or Katangdal ingots?

And since he was a former Planet-Ship Master, he would probably have some teachings to pass on.

‘Of course, all of this is under the assumption that Phaemong is alive.’

In any case, the fact that two mythic artifacts had settled on Planet Rieke meant there was definitely something there.

—We have entered the outer boundary of Rieke’s territory.

Soon, Mantero reported in a somewhat stiff voice.

Since they did not know exactly what was on Rieke, he was extremely tense as a captain.

On the other hand, Yeongwoo stretched leisurely while sitting in the captain’s seat.

“There’s nothing showing up on the radar, right? Like another planet ship floating near Rieke or something.”

When Yeongwoo asked this, Mantero, who had been watching the radar closely, tilted his head.

—Uh… there is no planet.

“What?”

Yeongwoo’s upper body, which had been almost reclining, shot upright.

—More precisely, only coordinates exist, but there is no physical entity. Like a dead star.

“No, then something really must have happened there.”

—It is presumed that the planet was destroyed and shattered into pieces. In fact, there are numerous fragments……

Mantero, who had been continuing his explanation, suddenly fell silent.

Then he placed his hand on the radar and zoomed in on the detection screen.

—There are far too many fragments.

“What do you mean, too many?”

—Normally, when a star or planet is destroyed, its fragments quickly scatter in a spiral pattern. Eventually, the outer debris escapes orbit and disappears far away, while the rest forms a large region like an asteroid belt.

“…And?”

—But right now, Rieke… or rather, the place where Rieke used to be, has a significant number of large fragments. It’s as if the planet was split apart and left in place.

“But that can’t all be Rieke’s debris, logically.”

—That’s correct.

“Then it’s either the dragon’s corpse mixed in, or the wreckage of Phaemong’s planet ship.”

Yeongwoo could imagine it without much difficulty.

Hadn’t the planet ship that found Duke Dalqui’s territory already been in a half-destroyed state?

So it wasn’t a difficult guess that the planet ship which returned to Rieke and resumed battle might have been half-destroyed again.

—Rieke will soon enter visual range. So far we haven’t received any warnings on our communication channels… we’ll approach a bit closer.

With those words, Mantero increased thrust, and before long everyone in the control room saw it.

Far away, a rather complex celestial body slowly began to appear.

—What… on earth is that?

Jiseon muttered with a blank expression.

The object visible far outside the control room window right now looked like a shattered Saturn.

It had an enormous ring made of countless fragments, and at its center, massive chunks of celestial bodies were tangled together at random.

“No matter how I look at it, it’s not just Rieke’s fragments.”

As the distance between Earth Ship and the fragmented celestial mass decreased further, they finally saw it.

“…Wow.”

Between the celestial chunks at the center of the fragment ring, the gigantic body of a dragon was floating.

—That must be the dragon.

“When it was alive, it probably could have covered half of Rieke by itself.”

The reason Yeongwoo used the word “alive” was because the dragon’s body was also split into several pieces.

Moreover, perhaps because it had been dead for a long time, it had dried out so much that it looked almost like metal.

“Did it really perish together with Phaemong’s planet ship?”

If that were the case, it explained why no warning signals had come from that side until now.

—If it’s like this, we might just end up shouldering the covenant and rummaging through a trash heap for nothing.

Jiseon expressed concern, but Yeongwoo remained optimistic.

“Still, there are definitely mythic artifacts in there, right? Even just retrieving those would be a gain.”

Where else would they ever get two mythic-grade items at once?

An opportunity like this would surely be hard to come by again.

“Acting Captain, let’s get a bit closer. Close enough to land with the new vessel we just acquired.”

—Understood. I will move us closer.

Just as Mantero was about to add more forward thrust at Yeongwoo’s command—

Chzzzt!

Suddenly, communications connected and the control room window turned blue.

「Doesn’t it look dangerous at a glance? What kind of confidence do you have to keep coming closer?」

A tone dripping with the typical arrogance of a Planet-Ship Master.

Nine times out of ten, this had to be Phaemong.

—It’s… it’s two-way communication. I don’t know how they connected unilaterally, but……

As Mantero reported with undisguised confusion, Yeongwoo quickly spoke toward the blue screen.

“Senior Phaemong, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”

After a brief silence, the other side spoke again.

「You heard about me? From who?」

“From Lord Tesache and another unnamed Black Hole.”

A line meant to immediately imprint why he had come here.

Sure enough, an irritated voice burst out from the other side.

「Ugh, what an annoying situation. Just die for now.」

“What?”

Yeongwoo instantly sensed that the line was not a bluff.

Planet-Ship Master Phaemong was, just as everyone had feared, a lunatic.

And right after that, Mantero let out something close to a scream, completely unlike himself.

—R-Rieke! No, from inside there an enormous energy reaction has been detected! First, the shields……!

But both Yeongwoo and Mantero already sensed it was too late, and Yeongwoo blinked and shouted urgently.

“Senior! I promised to visit the Black Holes in your place!”

As if he had been waiting for those exact words, the energy reaction on the other side subsided.

「I knew it.」

[Translator - Night]

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