Chapter 644

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 644: Golden Nebula (4)

The frog tribe of northern Australia.

The Red-Foot tribe of Guro District, Seoul.

The Earth-Ship had already taken in two groups of alien residents.

Thus, it would not be an exaggeration to say that true spacefaring development had finally begun.

Moreover, they had discovered that the Golden Ratio Summoning across Earth, achieved through the Golden Nebula, also applied to alien tenants.

From now on, an increase in alien tenants would directly mean an increase in tax revenue, and Yeongwoo intended to accept tenants even more aggressively in the future.

‘Of course, that doesn’t mean we can just accept anyone and end up regretting it later.’

Standing in front of the high-speed transit platform, Yeongwoo watched the Tehen residents bustling about in the distance.

They were not particularly aggressive, and their ship-repair capabilities were excellent, making them practically useful as well.

In other words, they were an optimal species to accept as tenants.

That was why he had made the decision this time without much pondering, but the next time he accepted new tenants, he intended to think it through carefully.

After all, the Earth-Ship still had many days ahead of it, and land was limited.

It was important to bring in those who would not cause internal conflict even hundreds or thousands of years later.

○ So, is everything over on that side now?

As Yeongwoo stood quietly staring at hundreds of thousands of frogs, Earth spoke to him, and Yeongwoo nodded.

‘Yeah. I’m heading back to the helm. Nothing unusual happened in the meantime, right?’

○ Nothing bad yet, and there’s one piece of good news.

‘Good news?’

○ Money arrived from Doatel.

‘What? For what reason? Did we do any money laundering recently?’

As Yeongwoo tilted his head, Earth added an explanation.

○ They said a donation was sent in your name by the Miras family.

‘Ah.’

Yeongwoo’s eyes blinked rapidly.

Miras.

Was there not only one person from that great cosmic family connected to them?

‘…Alden Miras.’

The third son of House Miras, and one of its legitimate heirs.

He had already sent payment for his life once as promised, and this time he had sent a donation to Doatel to cover the cost of the “duel with the planetary ship owner” that had taken place inside the dungeon back then.

‘He really kept his promise. People who’ve been properly educated really are different.’

Even back then, he had left the impression of being an upright person, but it was truly surprising that he had kept every last promise.

○ So not everyone in space is deceitful.

‘Well… I guess people like that have to exist too for balance. So how much came in?’

○ Three billion.

‘Then that means he sent ten billion to Doatel.’

○ Since the price wasn’t fixed, he could’ve just sent a few hundred million and called it done. Isn’t this more than enough sincerity?

‘Yeah, this isn’t bad at all.’

In fact, Yeongwoo’s own balance situation was much better.

-Available Karma: 21,311,982,416

-Available Defense Funds: 75,331,608

His personal account alone had reached a staggering 21 billion karma.

Of course, this included the two transfers from Alden Miras, rewards from winning the night dungeon, and even the key money deposits from the Tehen residents, so he needed to spend carefully.

There were no obvious sources of income for the time being.

○ So, where are you planning to go now?

‘We’ll discuss that at the helm first. What happened with the ship wreckage?’

○ We sucked it all in and dumped it in Guro District. Sorting will begin as soon as the selection equipment arrives from Ijori.

‘Nice. Looks like most of what we had to do here is finished. Then wait a moment. I’m moving now.’

* * *

The helm of the Earth-Ship.

The moment Yeongwoo arrived, everyone’s gaze turned toward him.

Which made sense, hadn’t they just inflicted enormous damage on the great cosmic house Salzeo here today?

Naturally, everyone was united in wanting to leave this place as quickly as possible.

—You’re here, Ship Owner.

Acting captain Mantero greeted Yeongwoo as if he had been waiting.

Then, apparently in such a hurry that he didn’t even wait for a response, he immediately continued.

—It would be best for us to move locations quickly. It will still take time for the Salzeo main fleet to arrive… but there could always be unforeseen variables.

“Unforeseen variables?”

—Nearby planets will have noticed the clash between us and the Salzeo fleet. And by now, the news will have spread to related families…

Simply put, rumors that a planetary ship and the Salzeo fleet had clashed would spread everywhere, meaning someone might come either out of curiosity or to intervene directly.

In other words, staying here could unnecessarily complicate things.

“Well, if rumors spread that we crushed Salzeo, that’s actually good for us. Our reputation goes up.”

—Yes. I also doubt anyone nearby would recklessly attempt a surprise attack at this point. But you’ve already attracted a lot of attention, haven’t you?

“Ah, yeah, that’s true.”

Was Salzeo his only enemy?

Shirach, the Kardal Royal Family, the Twelve Sword Council, and even Mohir, the mechanical swordsman whom Yeongwoo had successfully swindled in the Black Zone, would all be searching for him.

Especially Shirach and the Kardal royal family, who had likely already issued wanted notices for the Earth-Ship across the cosmos.

—If we stay in one place too long while our location is exposed, there’s a risk that even those who had been watching you may cross paths with us again.

“So you’re saying guys like Shirach or Kardal might hear the rumors about me.”

—Yes. And the enemy of my enemy can easily become an ally… so you must be careful.

In other words, one day his enemies might temporarily unite.

“Yeah… that’s definitely something we need to watch out for.”

As Yeongwoo nodded, the arms dealer Koatu added worriedly.

—You dealt too much damage to Salzeo. They’ll be searching for you with bloodshot eyes now.

“What’s the point? They can’t predict my route, and they don’t have the capability to follow me anyway.”

That was true.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

The only way to track Yeongwoo, who traveled with an entire planet, would be to spread wanted notices at places he might visit and wait for him to show up someday.

He didn’t even have a home planet he needed to visit regularly, so how could anyone possibly track Jeong Yeongwoo and the Earth-Ship, whose movements were completely unpredictable?

—The guys chasing you must be burning up inside too.

Jiseon shook her head.

—That’s why you have to be even more careful. If luck turns bad and you run into them even once…

If that happened, wouldn’t the retaliation be overwhelming?

Especially since their resentment was only growing sharper by the day.

“That’s why we need to improve our combat capability before that happens.”

—So, what are we going to do now? Everyone’s curious.

The Earth-Ship’s next destination.

It was practically the fate of everyone present, so all eyes were fixed on Yeongwoo’s lips.

“Hmmm. The next destination.”

Stroking his chin, Yeongwoo naturally turned his gaze toward outer space beyond the window.

“In a situation where we’re being chased by all kinds of trash, what do we need the most?”

Then Jeonggu answered in a small voice.

“More ship cannons…? We won the last battle, but honestly, we didn’t exactly have enough firepower.”

“That’s also true. We don’t know how large the next fleet we face might be.”

After saying that, Yeongwoo clenched his fist tightly.

“So in the end, what we need is more money.”

And through myth collection, it would also be necessary to raise his own personal survivability as Ship Owner.

After all, battles didn’t happen only in outer space.

“Luckily, we have some good friends, which means we already have a method to make a huge amount of money in a short period.”

At that, Jiseon’s eyes widened.

—What are you talking about now? The donation laundering thing?

“Ah, that’s just a side job.”

Before long, Yeongwoo wore an arrogant expression.

Then he pulled a red envelope out from his chest.

『Ah, that’s…!』

Earth instantly recognized the envelope and gasped.

It was the letter handed to Yeongwoo by Chancellor Herisa, his senior “spacefarer.”

“You still remember the coordinates, right?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Earth projected the coordinates of Planet Rijibi into the air.

〔||ll-Rijibi-044-135-4672-83〕

Planet Rijibi.

The terms of his contract with Chancellor Herisa were simple.

He just had to find an executor named Ketu on that planet and read the letter inside the red envelope in front of him.

Then the 50-billion-value bond he had received in advance would immediately become valid.

In short, reading the letter once would earn him 50 billion karma.

Of course, Mantero, who had joined after Yeongwoo met Herisa, knew nothing of the circumstances.

—…What exactly is that?

“Oh, if we go to a place called Rijibi and just read what’s inside this, we’ll get 50 billion.”

—……?

No matter how he heard it, it sounded like a scam.

Mantero pondered for a moment, choosing his words carefully, then spoke slowly.

—That makes no sense.

“Hey, it’s not exactly a scam. But yeah, it definitely smells suspicious. A mission worth 50 billion levels of suspicious.”

Not 5 billion, but 50 billion.

There was no way the contents of this blood-red envelope were ordinary.

Whatever it was, anyone who read this letter on Rijibi would likely be thrown into serious danger.

—…First, we need to check where exactly Rijibi is located.

Though bewildered by the unbelievable mission his ship owner had been carrying around, Mantero still had to fulfill his role as acting captain.

He immediately input the floating coordinates into the navigation search system.

Then—

Piaaaaat!

The navigation device at the center of the helm spun rapidly, displaying a compressed map of a galaxy located at a staggering distance.

“That’s it? The place where this planet Rijibi is?”

Mantero nodded.

—Yes. Coincidentally, it belongs to a galaxy I’m familiar with.

“Huh? How does the acting captain know that place?”

At Yeongwoo’s question, Mantero ran a hand down his face.

—Because… that entire galaxy belongs to the Space Police Bureau. Just what kind of mission did you accept?

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]