Chapter 187
Chapter 187
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: New Exploration (3)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
"I'll decide it simply."
Tired of listening to their bickering any longer, Suhyun waved his hand and cut into the conversation. The two looked at him with expectant eyes.
"I'll do my part and leave, so you two figure out the rest on your own—somewhere I can't see."
"...What the hell is that?!"
"Uh, um......"
While Ivan hesitated slightly, Jennifer grabbed Suhyun's arm and pulled him aside.
"Hang on, hang on. You're not going to help us?"
"Did you leave it up to me?"
"Well, no, but! You're way closer to me than that Russian guy! Blue Bear, the Chairman, me...."
"That's true."
Jennifer's face lit up.
"But I have no intention of getting involved in your fight. If it were something I needed to step into, I would've talked it over with the Chairman first and gotten a firm answer."
Jennifer's face darkened again.
"Fight? You just need to give a little nudge!"
"In matters like this, that 'little' nudge is always the problem. Miss Jennifer. If you want to fight, do it yourself."
"You're not gonna help me later!"
"Have I ever gotten help from you up till now... hmm......"
"You might in the future!"
"I think I heard that before coming here. If that day comes, you'll regret it."
"What are you two talking about for so long? You didn't try to cut some backroom deal, did you?"
Ivan approached slowly after watching their conversation. A hint of light anxiety showed on his face.
"What? Are you saying Suhyun made some shady deal?!"
"Ah, no... that's not it! Kim Suhyun! That woman's slandering us!"
Ivan shouted urgently. He glanced at Jennifer to make sure she couldn't hear, then whispered to Suhyun.
"No matter what that woman offered, we can make a better offer. So......"
"You're telling me not to switch sides?"
"...Pretty much! By the way, are you making good use of what we handed over?"
Suhyun was momentarily startled. He thought they'd caught him siphoning off the crusher. His crusher was currently at the lab. He'd handed it to Seo Kang-seok's daughter, Seo Ye-na, planning to remake it into something else. Now that he had someone who could craft artifacts freely, he had no intention of letting it sit idle.
'Ah, he means the altaranium.'
He'd gotten needlessly guilty. Suhyun smiled convincingly and replied.
"Of course I'm putting it to good use."
"That's a relief. Anyway, don't forget what I said....... Don't fall for that woman's offer so easily! We can match it!"
Ivan seemed to think it was a win as long as Suhyun didn't interfere. He figured Suhyun was more likely to side with Blue Bear anyway.
"Hang on, before you go. Tell me more about the monster he had. An Earth Dragon, right?"
"It looked like an Earth Dragon, but I'm not entirely sure it was one....... I've never seen an Earth Dragon that big."
"Mutations happen all the time. And Earth Dragons are tricky because they pop out of nowhere, but they're not that threatening head-on, right?"
It didn't have strong resistance to superpowers, and aside from burrowing underground, it had no special abilities. Strip away its size and ambush tactics, and the forces here could handle it easily.
"Well... I think you have to see it yourself to know. Of course, I never thought it'd make me panic fighting something like an Earth Dragon. But that thing's size was just......"
"??"
By now, Suhyun was starting to worry a little himself. These weren't powerless rookies; they were experienced veterans......
* * *
"Another human?"
"......"
As Suhyun approached, a dwarf from the village spotted him and sighed.
"We warned you. Don't come in. Are you brainless, or deaf?"
"Keep going, dwarf. This is entertaining."
No one had threatened Suhyun like this lately. Enjoying the fresh sensation after so long, Suhyun urged the dwarf to continue. But the dwarf missed the danger signal and kept flapping his mouth.
"Looks like one of you needs a proper lesson. I'll fetch His Majesty."
"His Maj...esty?"
Before Suhyun could even scoff, the dwarf bolted into the village and vanished. Suhyun could have grabbed him easily but held back. He wanted to see what they'd do.
-Kurrrung!
A loud noise came from somewhere. It was the heavy sound of smashing obstacles as it moved. Suhyun realized this was the Earth Dragon's sound.
'This doesn't sound like the ones I know at all? The size......'
-Kwajik!
Then, in front of Suhyun, a massive pillar erupted. Suhyun's jaw dropped involuntarily. The pillar before him was... truly enormous. If he hadn't heard beforehand, he wouldn't have guessed it was an Earth Dragon.
Big enough to block the entire road in the middle of the village.
"Which bastard's causing trouble in my territory again!"
An old man whose head looked shaved for over a decade came running with a staff. Suhyun could see the aura emanating from around him.
'A superpower user?'
"I told you, but you keep crawling in. Guess I've been too nice! I'll catch you and make an example for the others......"
The old man, aiming his staff at Suhyun and yelling with veins bulging in his neck, suddenly choked and staggered. Noticing something wrong, the Earth Dragon slammed its massive bulk down toward Suhyun.
"This is a bit......"
Suhyun debated blocking or dodging. Dodging was easy. He didn't even need time acceleration; the attack was straightforward enough to evade.
But blocking something that huge made even him uneasy. No matter how strong his abilities had gotten......
In the end, his competitive spirit won out. If he couldn't block it, he'd dodge right after. Suhyun layered telekinesis to form a barrier.
-Kwakwakwakwa-kwang!
The sight of the massive Earth Dragon's body twisting in midair was bizarre. It had slammed so fiercely that the following shockwaves were no joke. The Earth Dragon staggered, unable to recover. It seemed to have taken a concussion.
Suhyun savored the heavy feedback in his hands and clicked his tongue. He'd never seen an Earth Dragon this big. How the hell did they produce a mutant like that?
Suhyun leaped lightly. Behind it, he saw the old man flailing, throat gripped. Catching the owner while it staggered was easy.
"Gurk!"
"Hey, calm that Earth Dragon down."
The superpower to control monsters was extremely rare. He'd read records of a few other races having it, but he'd never seen control this precise.
Not taming or training—domination. This was superpower territory.
"Don't try any tricks. If I want, I can snap your neck in one second and walk out. Don't get cocky thinking your Earth Dragon will save you. I don't want to play around with you."
"Y-You insolent bastard......"
"I'll give you three seconds. 3, 2, 1......"
"Down! Get down!"
The staggering Earth Dragon slowly withdrew into its hole. Suhyun released the old man's throat. He collapsed coughing.
"Y-You bastard, I'll see you hanged for this......!"
"What the hell's this guy saying?"
Louiril asked as if baffled.
"I'm pretty baffled myself right now. His Majesty? What majesty?"
"Your Majesty!"
As if to satisfy Suhyun's curiosity, some dwarves and humans rushed over to support the old man. A couple were superpower users. Seeing them gather energy for an attack, Suhyun struck first.
"Keurk!"
The human slammed heavily into the ground and groaned.
"Let's start with a few warnings. You're all suspects for forcibly driving out an orc tribe. That means... I could kill you all and claim self-defense, and no one would bat an eye. So don't provoke me needlessly. Especially not sneaky superpower ambushes like this guy just tried......"
"Ugh!"
"Yeah, now someone explain. What's with this 'Your Majesty' crap? This old guy's clearly off his rocker......"
"How dare you!"
"Such insolence toward His Majesty!"
"......"
* * *
After a few rounds of carrot and stick, Suhyun finally got the story.
"Uh... a kingdom?"
"Yes, the kingdom founded by Lord Samuel!"
After hearing their defense, Louiril whispered softly.
"They seem a bit unwell."
"I'm thinking the same."
"We're not unwell! Cameron is a vast, blessed land! There are endless untouched places, and priority goes to the first arrivals. So founding a nation isn't a problem, right?!"
"Even on Earth, people set up micro-nations, so that's not my business. The issue is you built a 'nation' that's just one village and attack anyone who approaches. Plus, why gloss over expelling the orc tribe?"
"A nation needs defenses......"
"So this is you losing a war? Where do these lunatics even come from......"
The group of dwarves and humans truly believed they'd founded a country. They protested vehemently against Suhyun.
"Ugh......"
"Lord Samuel! Are you alright?!"
"Execute this insolent fool at once!"
"What will you do?"
Regaining his senses, Samuel looked around. His minions were all down, and the superpower user from earlier had him squarely targeted. Even calling his monster wouldn't be faster.
"Hey, Samuel......"
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"
"Ah, shut up."
"Keurk!!"
"Good. Your Majesty Samuel, you've got two choices right now. Explain why you did this and convince me not to take you in, or get cuffed by the arms and dragged off. If you'd played kingdom in your corner, I wouldn't care—but you've already caused trouble all over, so I can't let it slide."
"Founding a... kingdom isn't illegal."
"I'm no legal expert, so who knows. Ask the Union. But what I said was about expelling the orc tribe. That's definitely illegal."
"So what if we chased off a couple orc scum? It's not like it causes any problems!"
"Yeah, say that to the judge in court. Alright, story time's over. Everyone up......"
"Wait, wait! I'll explain properly!"
Samuel had been a mercenary working in the Americas. Not a successful one—just your run-of-the-mill day-labor merc scraping by.
Then luck struck in his life. He awakened as a superpower user. He was overjoyed at first, but it didn't take long to realize his luck was worthless.
He could subdue and control monsters, but only one at a time, and only certain ones. And he couldn't instantly subdue charging monsters, which tanked its value even more.
In the end, he had to admit it: his superpower was useless. If he could at least subdue a variety, he'd have been useful anywhere.
Laughed at, he left the mercenary company. He wandered, risking his life. Searching for a useful monster—one whose wavelength matched his for subduing.
Finding the sleeping mutant Earth Dragon was pure luck. Subduing it made him as ecstatic as awakening. But sick of human society after the company, he wanted no part of it anymore.
He gathered a few merc acquaintances and a dwarf tribe he'd met traveling, and built a village. Controlling a massive Earth Dragon was a huge edge against other races.
His minions teared up listening. But Suhyun asked indifferently.
"So how does that relate to expelling the orc tribe?"
"Y-You heartless bastard...!"
"I told you clearly: convince me not to take you in. I didn't say spin a sob story. If you can't, no choice. Everyone up. Time for jail."