Chapter 632

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Chapter 632: Toward the Unknown (4)

‘I… I got played!’

Yeongwoo’s mouth fell open.

With just that single threat, hadn’t he ended up blurting everything out?

Of course, if he hadn’t said anything at all, Phaemong really would have fired the main cannon.

A fellow Planet-Ship Master… no, a universally acknowledged lunatic.

That was why he knew.

Threats like that only work when they’re meant sincerely.

「By the way, seeing you panic like that, you still seem to have a long way to go, yet you’re already running into Black Holes?」

“…That’s how it turned out.”

「Come to think of it, it’s been quite a while since I last told Tesache stories of the outside. In the meantime, time must’ve gone around two full turns.」

Two cycles of the promised hundred-year interval. He was talking about two hundred years.

“He seemed pretty angry, saying you deliberately broke the promise, senior.”

At that, Phaemong on the blue screen let out a dry chuckle.

「Deliberately? Well, if you call it willful negligence, then I suppose it was deliberate.」

“What do you mean by that?”

「As you’ll see, my ship’s engine broke down. I could run around everywhere for parts, or I could steal and smash your ship to get components if I wanted, but…」

“…….”

「It’s a hassle. I’ve already retired.」

In short, with his Planet-Ship’s engine wrecked, Phaemong had also stopped going around to meet the Black Holes. That was his explanation.

He had truly retired.

“Retired… what exactly does that mean? Is being a Planet-Ship Master something you can just quit like that?”

「If you’ve settled all grudges and decide not to sail anymore, isn’t that retirement?」

“Settled all grudges……?”

This could be interpreted in many ways, and for Yeongwoo—who still had countless enemies clinging to him—it was hard to imagine.

Grudges.

There’s reconciliation as one way to resolve them, but there’s also the brutal method of simply eliminating the cause itself.

So when Phaemong said “settling grudges,” it could very well mean he had killed everyone who posed a problem.

「In any case, you’re the one who’ll have to placate Tesache in my stead, so I’ll treat you as a guest.」

Then a single line of coordinates appeared on the blue screen.

「If you get too close, the orbit will distort, so board a ship around there and come to these coordinates. I’m curious what you look like.」

* * *

An invitation from the Planet-Ship Master Phaemong.

Following his instructions, Yeongwoo prepared to sortie in a smaller vessel without bringing the Earth-Ship any closer.

He even had Salzeo’s ship, from which the beacon had just been removed.

“Looks like you’ll have to go through some trouble again.”

When Yeongwoo pointed at the arms dealer Koatu, he frowned in displeasure.

–Me again? Why?

“The deputy has to stay and guard the Earth-Ship… so among the ones left, you’re the only one who can pilot a vessel.”

–I’m not your vassal, I’m a tenant. You haven’t forgotten that, right?

“Think of this as groundwork to make the place you live in more secure. Look on the bright side.”

As Yeongwoo finished speaking and nodded, Earth opened a portal leading to Salzeo’s ship.

『You’re not going down there to cause another incident again, are you?』

“Considering who I’m meeting… I can’t really guarantee nothing will happen.”

『If your life signal weakens, should we just run for it immediately?』

“You probably should. I don’t think I’d win if I ended up sword-fighting a senior Planet-Ship Master.”

A quick admission that was unlike Yeongwoo.

But this opponent was on a completely different level from anyone he had met so far, so he had no choice.

—Don’t go spouting crazy nonsense like usual and get yourself killed. If it looks like you can’t get anything out of him, just come back quietly.

Jiseon saw him off with words that were more warning than encouragement, and Jeonggu also stood by the portal with a worried expression.

“Judging by how he threatened you earlier, that guy’s no ordinary person either.”

“He’s a senior Planet-Ship Master. Of course he’d be that much. Anyway, I’m off now. See you all later.”

After looking over the group once, Yeongwoo immediately stepped beyond the portal.

Swoooosh!

Unlike the control room of the Earth-Ship, a new scene filled his vision—one with luxurious interior decor.

He had been moved inside Salzeo’s ship.

“Those Salzeo guys… I guess a prestigious family really is a prestigious family.”

While Yeongwoo was admiring the embossed beast figures on the wall, Koatu, who had entered right behind him, turned his head and soon found the pilot’s seat.

Then he muttered something not much different from Yeongwoo’s remark.

–…As expected of Salzeo.

Even to someone like him who had piloted various types of vessels, this was clearly a high-end product.

Flash!

Soon the coordinates they had received earlier were entered into the monitor at the pilot’s seat, and Koatu tilted his head after seeing them.

–Looks like your senior just lives on a shattered planet or something?

“It’s probably a broken Planet-Ship. He’s likely staying where he originally lived.”

–Ah… even shattered, its mass is so huge that it’s still orbiting along with the reek?

“I’m not sure about that, but those coordinates are definitely a Planet-Ship. If it were me, I’d want to spend my retirement on my own ship too.”

As Yeongwoo said this, Koatu settled into the pilot’s seat and launched the vessel.

–It’s got great propulsion, so we’ll get there quickly. Let’s just hope we don’t get shot down on the way.

“We’re not enemies, so he probably won’t use such underhanded methods. Unless we end up provoking his temper once we get inside.”

For Yeongwoo, it actually felt easier to relax, since he could just infer the other person’s thoughts by comparing them to his own.

‘How can he act exactly like me? Are all Planet-Ship Masters like this?’

If that were true, it would mean the universe was saddled with ten enormous headaches.

–See that blue fragment over there? That’s the planet your senior lives on.

At last Koatu pointed to a blue planetary fragment in the distance.

The fragment in question, split off in a fan shape, looked to be about thirty percent of a full planet’s original size.

Even so, it was nearly as large as the Earth-Ship.

[Translator - Night]

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‘It must’ve been an incredibly huge planet to begin with.’

–We’ll be entering its atmosphere soon. Whatever happens, hold on tight.

With Koatu’s warning, the ship adjusted its flight angle and entered the atmosphere.

Rrrrrrrk!

As if considerable pressure was closing in from the outside, the ship’s outer hull tensed—something they could feel even from inside.

Then after a while.

Shhh!

The pressure squeezing the vessel disappeared, and the scenery outside the window became much gentler.

A bluish atmosphere spread in all directions, just like Earth.

Soon a cloud-filled atmospheric layer appeared, and beneath it an expansive landmass revealed itself.

“…Wow.”

Perhaps ancient Earth had once looked like this?

The sight of forests and fields stretching endlessly in green was both familiar and unfamiliar to Yeongwoo as an Earthling.

–See that fortress over there? The coastline in front of it is the coordinate point.

Where Koatu pointed stood a fortress with dark-gray spires and turrets rising in a balanced mix, and in front of it lay a white sandy beach and a wide ocean.

“A castle in front of a beach… that’s way more sentimental than I expected.”

When Yeongwoo let out a hollow laugh, Koatu shrugged.

–Seems perfect as a retirement spot.

Soon Koatu lowered the ship’s altitude and entered above the sandy shore.

Kwoooosh!

As the underside of the vessel scraped across the sand, it sounded like scooping up wet sand with a shovel.

And then finally.

Hisss!

The outer hull opened to the left and right, drawing in the outside air.

They had arrived at Phaemong’s Planet-Ship.

“This is my first time landing on a beach.”

As Yeongwoo leaned out beyond the opened hull, he saw a tall, silver-haired man walking out from the fortress in the distance.

Pale blue skin, white eyes, and brilliantly shining silver hair.

It was none other than the Planet-Ship Master, Phaemong.

“What the… he’s just wearing a pair of pants?”

Phaemong was dressed in nothing but a pair of shorts like someone strolling through a resort, and he didn’t even carry a small dagger—completely unarmed.

–Because this is his own territory? Still, coming out bare-handed to meet a Planet-Ship Master… impressive confidence.

While Koatu admired Phaemong’s self-assurance, Yeongwoo tucked Bastard at his waist and only wore Aratubank on his arm as he stepped forward to greet him.

“Senior……!”

Phaemong brushed back his hair fluttering in the sea breeze and slightly furrowed his brow.

–Why exactly am I your senior?

“You launched your Planet-Ship before I did, so of course you’re my senior, aren’t you? I still have a lot to learn.”

–If you’re already meeting Black Holes… haven’t you learned enough?

As he said this, Phaemong lifted his head and looked at the sky.

Yeongwoo followed his gaze, and beyond the sky he could see the corpse of a dragon.

Just as Earth has a moon, here a dragon’s corpse floated outside the sky.

“Looks like you finally won the final battle.”

–I lost a large portion of my Planet-Ship because of it… can you really call that a victory?

“Then did you have no choice but to retire?”

–No. I was planning to spend the rest of my life here anyway.

By the time the conversation reached this point, a strange phenomenon occurred in the sea before the sandy shore.

Ssssss…….

Bubbles suddenly formed on the surface of the ocean, and extremely fine droplets of water began rising into the sky.

“……?”

As Yeongwoo looked surprised, Phaemong sat down on the sand and said,

–Ah, first time seeing it? It’s the circulation system here.

“A circulation system, you say……?”

–A sort of auxiliary device to maintain that sea. As you saw, my ship is no longer truly a “planet.”

“Ah.”

In other words, on this fan-shaped, shattered Planet-Ship, the sea was being maintained artificially.

“Then the mountains and fields I saw earlier are all…?”

–Those are all real. They’ve been there from before. I may look like this, but I’m pretty nature-friendly.

Phaemong seemed to take a certain pride in the natural features filling his Planet-Ship.

‘Come to think of it, I don’t think I’ve seen any collision scars here either.’

Among the ten Planet-Ships, only one had not achieved the achievement of star-collision marks.

And Yeongwoo began to wonder if he had just found that very Planet-Ship.

–Now it’s your turn to talk. Why did you come looking for me? And after even promising to visit the Black Holes in my stead.

“Well… because you’re my senior? One of the only ten Planet-Ships in the universe is here—why wouldn’t I come take a look?”

Phaemong snorted.

–Stop talking nonsense you don’t mean and act the way you usually do, brat.

“The way I usually do?”

At that, Yeongwoo immediately drew Bastard like lightning and aimed it at Phaemong’s neck.

“Hand over the money. And the myth that’s somewhere around here too.”

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