Chapter 680

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Chapter 680: The Vast World (8)

Kidnapping.

Hearing that word spoken right to his face, the young Salzeo looked at Yeongwoo with a puzzled expression.

—Kidnapping? Who…?

Even though the other had clearly said, “I’m going to kidnap you,” he still asked back.

The idea of kidnapping a Salzeo was something close to impossible itself, so he wondered if he had misheard.

At that, Yeongwoo lifted the boy into the air and said clearly, enunciating each word.

“You. You’re about to be kidnapped now.”

Then the baby-faced Salzeo let out a hollow laugh and asked back.

—…Me?

“Yeah.”

—Do you even know who I am?

Instead of answering that question, Yeongwoo threw one back at him.

“And you?”

—……?

“Do you know who I am?”

—Is that important? I am Salzeo.

In that moment alone, it felt as though the young Salzeo’s frame had doubled in size.

The fear that had lingered in his eyes had completely vanished as well.

The pride he held in his family was ‘real.’

‘Salzeo. That confidence—I really envy it. I wonder if Renaissance will ever reach that kind of stature someday.’

Yeongwoo quietly stared at him, then soon relaxed his grip.

As a result, the young Salzeo naturally dropped back onto the chair, landing on his backside.

Thud.

—What… did you change your mind?

“What mind?”

—…You said you’d kidnap me.

“As if.”

At Yeongwoo’s snort, as if asking what nonsense that was, Salzeo furrowed his brows and spoke as though wronged.

—Kidnapping me would be impossible.

“What bullshit are you talking about? Didn’t you hear your guards collapsing outside? It’s just you and me here now.”

—But I’m….

“Ah, fuck. Enough with that Salzeo crap.”

As Yeongwoo raised the hand gripping Bastard in a threatening manner, the unnamed Salzeo with the prosthetic leg flinched.

“You’re really not a combatant, are you?”

—That doesn’t mean I’m not Salzeo. I will repay this humiliation without fail.

As the other growled like a small beast while saying this, Yeongwoo scoffed.

“That’s a contradiction. Strictly speaking, you’re not the one who’ll repay it, are you?”

—……

“In the end, what you believe in is your family, isn’t it? But after experiencing it myself, it doesn’t quite live up to the rumors.”

As Yeongwoo said this and scratched his nose with the tip of Bastard, the dazed Salzeo suddenly widened his eyes.

—Don’t tell me… you’re….

It seemed he had heard about the new enemy who had provoked the entire Salzeo family.

—Are you the one who killed Ashki?

Ashki.

The vanguard fleet commander of the Salzeo family.

Not long ago, he had taken Tehen—the home planet of the Izori family—hostage, only to be blown to pieces by Earth’s fleet.

“Haven’t heard that name in a while.”

As Yeongwoo acknowledged it, the young Salzeo’s expression twisted horribly.

—Then you… you’re the Planetary Shipmaster?

A gaze that clearly said he couldn’t believe it.

Yet his body was reacting completely differently.

After all, it was true that the rumored Planetary Shipmaster had already inflicted massive damage on the family twice, so he carried an instinctive fear of him.

“You’re trembling again. But your prosthetic leg isn’t shaking. Guess the nerves aren’t fully connected there?”

As Yeongwoo said this and grabbed his shoulder, the boy jolted in shock.

Only then did Yeongwoo properly take in the young Salzeo’s appearance.

Ash-gray hair, bluish skin like seawater, and deep navy eyes.

‘He looks incredibly dull.’

Still, the colors were strangely harmonious, so a grown Salzeo would probably give off a very weighty presence.

—…What are you staring at?

“I’m checking how much money you’re worth.”

—Even if you kidnap me, you won’t get any money.

At that, Yeongwoo tilted his head.

“Why? You’re Salzeo.”

—That’s true, but….

A Salzeo with a prosthetic leg.

Though born into a prestigious family and raised with higher education, he was still a boy who hadn’t completely shed his youthful air.

His gaze unconsciously drifted toward his lower body.

—Unfortunately, I’m not the ‘Salzeo’ you were expecting.

“What does that mean? What kind of Salzeo was I expecting?”

—The family won’t pay my ransom. They’ll choose blood vengeance instead. Principles must be upheld.

The young Salzeo’s face, as he said this, was filled with helplessness.

“Blood vengeance? You’re saying the family won’t care whether you live or die?”

—……

“Why? Because of your leg? Then why does the family even treat you as Salzeo in the first place? You’ve been given this planet, and you’ve even been assigned an office with guards.”

As Yeongwoo swept the now brightly lit interior with Bastard, the boy looked around with half-dead eyes.

—Treated as Salzeo? You really have no idea what you’re talking about.

“What?”

—How do you think you managed to reach me alone? Everyone stationed here is low-level security. And I don’t even have a Subua.

“What’s a Subua?”

—My personal secretary—who should’ve stabbed a needle into the back of your neck by now.

As the boy said this and pointed to the ceiling behind the intruder, Yeongwoo didn’t bother turning around.

“Ah… so you were being treated poorly. I get the gist.”

Nodding as if he understood, Yeongwoo added,

“But even if you were a favored Salzeo, the result wouldn’t have changed. You would’ve ended up facing me anyway.”

Then he casually swung Bastard and pointed to the floor.

Sssshk.

“That Subua guy is probably smashed down there somewhere already.”

At that, as if it was truly absurd, the young Salzeo let out a hollow laugh.

—You don’t know what kind of place our family is.

“You’re the same, aren’t you? You picked a fight without knowing who I am and ended up losing that Ashki or whatever guy. He seemed pretty high-ranking.”

As Yeongwoo said this, he glanced at the opponent’s mechanical prosthetic leg, which didn’t look threatening at all.

“But just because you’re missing a leg, they treat you that badly? With Salzeo’s wealth, they could’ve easily fitted you with a proper one.”

As Yeongwoo unconsciously moved the ‘Gambler’ on his right arm while speaking, the boy replied stiffly.

—Selection and concentration.

“…?”

—Salzeo does not invest in the weak. They only hinder us from upholding our principles, rather than helping.

“Still, they didn’t completely abandon you. Even if it’s remote, they still gave you a place like this.”

—That’s because… my veins still carry Salzeo blood.

Then the boy tapped the armrest of the chair he was sitting on twice with his finger.

At that, the armrest flipped to the side, and a holographic screen projected upward from inside.

Fwaaaash!

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“Oh, this is…”

What was unfolding on the holographic screen was immediately understandable without explanation.

Because what the young Salzeo had brought up was none other than the hangar radar of Planet Girgo.

“This is a bit awkward.”

Watching the small dots scattering outward from the center of the radar, Yeongwoo scratched his cheek.

Those dots were the hundreds of Level-4 prisoners who had descended here, hijacking every aircraft on Girgo.

—There’s nothing to feel sorry about. This is because I’m weak.

“Hey, even if your legs are messed up, you can still talk straight. It’s not that you’re weak—your family is.”

Of course, even that didn’t really make Salzeo weak.

What family could possibly deal with hundreds of Level-4 prisoners from Pahalufe?

This was practically a natural disaster.

—Either way, as a result, I’ve proven my value once again. So the family won’t pay a ransom to save me.

“This bastard, seriously.”

At the repeated self-deprecating remarks, Yeongwoo felt a bit annoyed.

“Fine, like you said, they wouldn’t spend money on someone they’ve practically abandoned. But how does that become your value? You’ve never proven your value in the first place—you’ve done nothing.”

With that, Yeongwoo pulled him up from the chair.

“Get up already. You can at least walk, right?”

The boy rose awkwardly, then instinctively tried to pick up the blanket from the floor.

At that, Yeongwoo quickly kicked the blanket away.

“Don’t mess around. Cold?”

—…Just kill me. Why torment me like this? You won’t get a ransom anyway, so at least take the fame of killing a Salzeo.

“Do you think killing some trash-tier Salzeo would give me fame? Besides, you’re still useful to me.”

—What…?

While the boy’s eyes widened, Yeongwoo began patting him down all over.

—W-what… what are you doing? You insolent…!

“Don’t you have something like a wallet? If they assigned even low-level guards to you, they must’ve given you some pocket money at least.”

As Yeongwoo reached toward the mechanical prosthetic leg, the boy shrieked in near panic.

—S-stop! Please, I beg you!

So Yeongwoo stopped moving and looked at him.

“What’s your name?”

—……?

“Your name. Come to think of it, we didn’t introduce ourselves.”

The boy hesitated, then with great difficulty spoke.

—…Neheren.

“Then Neheren Salzeo? Your name sounds pretty strong.”

Grinning, Yeongwoo stepped back.

Neheren instinctively glanced toward the blanket that had been kicked far away, then tightly shut his eyes.

—What are you going to do now?

“First, let’s find the vault.”

—…The vault?

“Even if your rank is low among the direct Salzeo line, you’re still the one in control of this planet, right? So you should be able to open the vault or the armory.”

At that moment, a massive explosion rang out from far outside the building.

KWA-AAAAAANG!

Neheren turned toward the direction of the sound and spoke.

—That’s from the armory’s direction.

“Damn it. Those prisoners beat me to it.”

—What prisoners are you talking about?

“The prisoners from Pahalufe. Most of the Level-4 prisoners came here empty-handed.”

—Pahalufe….

Having heard a word he had learned about repeatedly but should never directly be involved with, Neheren’s mouth fell open.

“Ah, you didn’t know. The ones who came to your planet are prisoners from Pahalufe.”

—Pahalufe… isn’t that the police bureau’s special prison? How are they here?

“Because I broke them out.”

—……!

Yeongwoo gestured for Neheren to come over, as the boy stood there with his mouth hanging open like a baby bird.

“Alright, the armory’s gone. What about the vault?”

—If you see that I’ve been assigned here, doesn’t that tell you? There’s no vault on Girgo.

“If there’s no vault, then I’ll have to kidnap you instead. So what about your wallet?”

Neheren hesitated, his fingers twitching.

He clearly had something.

Yeongwoo glanced toward the exit and pressed him.

“No time. Hurry and take it out. If we stay here any longer, those prisoners will even take my ship.”

—But this….

“The kidnapping’s already decided. There’s no vault here. Which means we’re never coming back. Anything left behind stays behind.”

—……

“So take what you need now.”

As Yeongwoo spoke with a firm expression, as if this were truly the last chance, Neheren finally made a strange gesture in the air.

Sssk.

Then, unbelievably—

Clank!

A sound like a lock being released rang out beneath their feet, and part of the floor actually began to rise upward.

Rrrrrumble!

“What—if this isn’t a vault, then what is it?”

As Yeongwoo stepped back to avoid the rising floor, Neheren Salzeo spoke with a sorrowful expression.

—Perhaps… this is the price the family set for me.

“What do you mean?”

—This is an emergency supply crate that was sent with me when I was dispatched to Girgo. If I ever need to escape the planet for some reason, I’m meant to take this with me.

At that, Yeongwoo stared at the steel safe that had risen from the floor.

Then he blinked rapidly and muttered unconsciously.

“Then… the other Salzeo planets must have supply crates too? That’s basically a guaranteed minimum income.”

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