Chapter 75
Chapter 75
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 75
Chapter Title: Is This How It's Born?
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On the plains, five Gigants collapsed to the ground.
Their hatches on the chest sections were completely smashed.
Total annihilation.
No surrenders accepted.
There was no situation where they could afford to take prisoners.
After killing the enemy riders, what followed was simple.
They raced to where the enemies' trailers were parked, crushed one or two as an example, and chased off the soldiers.
The now-empty trailers were taken over by the three reconnaissance platoons that had followed Kang Geohan's unit.
“An incredible haul...!”
Loen White's voice trembled.
Sleipnir, originally assigned for supply duty, had consisted of ten units. But in a single battle, they secured thirty-three trailers of similar size. The unit's scale had more than quadrupled.
“The vehicles alone are a massive achievement, but they're packed with all sorts of mythical beast carcasses and fantasy plants!”
It was the kind of haul that would take days or weeks of hunting and gathering in the mythical beast fields to obtain.
Mythical beast carcasses and fantasy plants that could serve as food, medicine, construction materials, and crafting resources. Thirty-three trailers full of them!
It was an overwhelming victory.
Gerot White added in a trembling voice,
“And... if we call in Charon's Chariot, we can recover all five enemy Gigants intact. Just selling those parts would fund several upgrades...!”
It was all too sweet.
In contrast, Kang Geohan's group had suffered virtually no losses.
A resounding triumph!
And there was only one reason they could achieve such a great victory.
Helena glanced at Kang Geohan.
“Inertia control ability put on an amazing show.”
Kang Geohan shrugged.
“It's parts originally used by the top-tier Leviathan, isn't it? In a fight against a small unit made up of just Titans like Bayabara, it's basically cheating.”
“The fact that you can wield something like that so casually is what's impressive.”
Helena's praise.
Kang Geohan didn't bother to be modest. It was just obvious and rightful.
Instead,
“With that in mind... want to go for another big score?”
He exuded confidence.
“Another big score?”
At the suggestion, everyone snapped their heads up.
Kang Geohan nodded with a mischievous grin.
“The enemies are way too complacent. Three units gathered together, yet not cooperating at all. They have to pay the price for that carelessness.”
A very expensive and bountiful price.
* * *
The residents and soldiers of the Eastern Border Fortress, who had begun guerrilla warfare, were short on supplies everywhere.
Feeding and sustaining over twenty thousand people after abandoning their base was far more grueling and difficult than imagined.
The frontline outpost in the uncharted lands had facilities and supplies prepared for war, but they were woefully insufficient to meet the needs of twenty thousand.
Influential civilians, administrators, knights, squad leaders, and engineers gathered daily for heated debates.
A squad leader said,
“If I had to pick the most essential, it's vehicles, obviously. Without trucks, even if we have supplies, we can't transport them. We don't know how much longer we'll be on the run, so we need plenty of vehicles to feel secure.”
An engineer said,
“But we can't just conjure up vehicles out of thin air now, can we? The urgent priority—and something we can actually secure—is parts and resources for maintaining golems and Gigants. Without combat strength, guerrilla tactics or whatever are pointless.”
The Merchant Guild master said,
“We need wool blankets and food too! One month. Just one month's worth of rations left, and the winds are already turning chilly. Winter hits hard after a month, so we need blankets now!”
A knight shot back,
“One month? Reinforcements will arrive before then. When did we send the messenger to the capital...?”
The Merchant Guild master retorted,
“How can you be so sure?! We have to prepare for every scenario! Lives are at stake.”
An administrator interjected,
“Before that, I'm worried about epidemics. More and more people are falling ill from the sudden move. If we don't nip it in the bud with magical remedies, it could turn into a disaster before the month is out...”
The discussion grew bleaker. There were too many needs, and nothing among them was unimportant.
How many times had their heated arguments fizzled out into collective sighs?
“...The key will be what supplies the riders on supply duty bring back and how much.”
In the end, all their worries boiled down to the success or failure of the Gigant riders' mission.
Only the so-called giant gods—Gigants—could roam the uncharted lands freely and procure massive supplies in short order.
In such a situation,
When Rikein Gold returned—
That is, when the Gigant riders who had gone out towing eighty trailers came back loaded with edible vine plants, various magical materials, and military resources—they couldn't rejoice with ease.
Truthfully, the results were somewhat predictable.
Goblins were half-ghostly existences straddling the line between material and immaterial, so even if they were large, there wasn't much left after hunting them.
They couldn't be eaten and only yielded a few magical engineering materials suitable for military use.
That's why they brought back heaps of those tasteless, low-nutrition vines. Better than nothing, but not very substantial.
Still no materials for blankets, no spare parts, no medicine, and vehicles were out of the question...
In a situation that brought despair before hope, the adults sighed one after another. The children watched the adults' faces.
“It's so cold here... and I'm hungry. Bro, when do we go home?”
“Quiet down, idiot.”
“Ah, why...!”
No one laughed. Nor could they vent freely.
The only thing was the heavy, stifled air drifting through the Wind Canyon where the twenty thousand had hunkered down, with a whooshing, whooshing sound.
But,
When Kang Geohan returned—
That is, when Kang Geohan, who had set out with six Gigants and ten trailers, came back having annihilated fifteen enemy Gigants and towing 127 trailers packed with mythical beast carcasses—
Everything changed.
Murmurs spread from the entrance of Wind Canyon.
At first, when the outer scouts reported the news with bright faces and excited voices, people were skeptical.
But when faint cheers from the perimeter guards reached them, their faces flushed with anticipation.
When the Gigants' silhouettes appeared between the canyon walls, they rushed out, craning their necks.
And when they finally confirmed over a hundred trailers rumbling in with their heavy wheels grinding—
They hugged each other and erupted in cheers.
“They brought that many vehicles? Hoo... now we can relax.”
“Those are loaded with mythical beast meat! Tastes great, and one bite keeps you full all day...!”
“We can make blankets from the hides.”
“Bile and horns for medicine!”
Those who had been listlessly sitting around now had tasks. Butchers fetched knives, herbalists pulled out mortars, pestles, saws, and tools for making remedies.
It felt like a festival.
A soldier shouted,
“Sir Kang Geohan White Knight! Hooray!”
A knight followed,
“Glory to Sir Kang Geohan White Knight!”
The people cheered at the top of their lungs.
“Kang Geohan White! Kang Geohan White!”
Passing through the center of it all, Kang Geohan felt a tickle in his chest.
Like coming home? Like having a home? What was this feeling?
‘The feeling... of being born?’
Maybe people can't truly say they're alive just by breathing.
Social creatures, right?
It's among those who remember you, who need you, that a person finds a real place to live.
On this unfamiliar continent of Laniakea, so many now remembered and chanted Kang Geohan's name. They needed him. They liked him.
The comfort and thrill it brought were sharper than expected.
‘Feels good. Really good.’
But one painful thing: with so many eyes on him, he was skin and bones, no muscles to show.
If he had more muscle, he could've puffed out his chest and savored the moment more proudly...
‘Gotta bulk up soon...’
Vowing once more, Kang Geohan tore into some sky ox jerky.
* * *
Rikein Gold and the senior riders, who had arrived first, had just wiped down their sweat-soaked bodies from the operation, gotten simple massages, and gathered in the tent now serving as the command post.
With hair still damp, they heard the news of Kang Geohan's triumphant return and were left dumbfounded.
He had set out with far inferior forces, yet returned with qualitatively and quantitatively superior results.
And they all saw it.
The cheering citizens, soldiers, and regular knights in the distance.
They all heard the heart-stirring chants of ‘Kang Geohan! Kang Geohan!’
One senior rider spoke up.
“...I thought he was just some cocky punk with a bit of skill...”
“...Beyond imagination.”
“Took out fifteen enemy Gigants with six? They urgently requested Charon's Chariot.”
“Crazy.”
“Must've been tough...”
“Impressive.”
As Gigant riders themselves, they knew exactly how difficult Kang Geohan's feat was.
Others might just say ‘amazing’ and move on, but they could vividly imagine the specifics.
“Even upgraded to dual-core quad-thread, it's still a Cyclops... Weaker external armor, poor joint range of motion, unstable output.”
“And yet he took down three enemy Titans—that means he freely wielded the inertia control parts, right?”
“Hah, using inertia control on a Cyclops? One slip and the output spikes could seriously injure you.”
It was like squatting on a balance ball with over 200 kilos on your back.
One misstep and you'd lose balance, crushed or snapped by the collapsing weight. Insanely risky.
Yet Kang Geohan pulled it off.
Against fifteen enemies.
“Does that even make sense...”
The image of the ‘arrogant junior’ etched in their minds had vanished.
In its place grew curiosity and awe toward this unknown monster rookie.
Someone said,
“Think about it. When reinforcements arrive in a month and this blows over, how huge will the rewards be?”
“In wartime, he could aim for super-fast promotion, right?”
“Promotion's the issue now?”
Rikein Gold spoke. He was a bit dazed.
He knew the guy was something, but this merit was off the charts—too brilliant to even nitpick.
Envy and jealousy gave way to jaw-dropped admiration.
He muttered blankly,
“Nobles... are born like this, huh.”
Rikein Gold gazed into the distance. There were countless people cheering for Kang Geohan.
For real. It might just happen.
When reinforcements arrived in a month and the chaos ended.
All merits earned in this mess would double or triple back.
“A hero is born...”
“For the next op... maybe we should plan it properly?”
The riders began shifting attitudes one by one.
Out of genuine admiration, and because they figured in a month, with reinforcements, Kang Geohan would steal the spotlight anyway.
That was the trend. The big flow.