The Golden Lord's Rage
The Golden Lord's flounder cleanup was complete. As a result, the cruise ship was naturally assigned as the zombies' residence. From now on, this would be where I lived.
“Good work. Then, let's meet at ten in the morning.”
“Yes. See you tomorrow.”
Just as the cleanup wrapped up and everyone began to disperse, Ju Giju stepped forward without reading the room. He clearly wanted something.
“Oh, my lady. Wouldn't you like a zombie to guard your side on these dangerous night seas?”
At this point, I understood exactly why I hated this guy. Ju Giju was the type who invited trouble wherever he went. Park Seona gave an awkward laugh at his words.
“Th-thank you for the offer… but I think I'll be fine. Then, see you tomorrow, Nanggun-nim.”
Once Park Seona left, I grabbed Ju Giju by the arm. The bastard dangled limply as I hauled him up.
“Penalty for spouting nonsense. One arm confiscated.”
“Eh? W-wait!”
Crack—
The arm, which Boot had casually reattached with Transfer, came off with a toy-like snap. Ju Giju pounded the floor in protest.
“I worked so hard to get that!”
“Shut up. You need to learn when to keep your mouth closed.”
I tossed the bastard into the lobby and headed for my room.
Time to check the main rewards.
I didn't consider Park Seona an enemy, but that didn't mean I could trust her completely. That was why I'd postponed examining the Fruits of Good and Evil until now. With time alone at last, I planned to properly assess the harvest.
Clatter—
I dumped the golden Fruits of Good and Evil onto the VIP room table. Two hundred and thirteen in total. The golden fruits decorated the room.
Excellent.
These would allow my legion to grow even further. It was common for summons to evolve from just one or two ordinary skill fruits. But over two hundred? I had finally reached an evolutionary singularity.
Baengnae grinned beside me. She knew it was time to feast on delicious things. She reached for one of the fruits in front of her.
“Hee-hee. Baengnae's.”
“Wait.”
I stopped Baengnae's hand as she tried to eat the fruit containing the Steel Teeth skill. There were plenty of fruits, but eating them carelessly wouldn't do. A summon's evolution was influenced by possessed skills, stats, experience, and more. Eating indiscriminately led to messy evolutions. I had to carefully decide who received which skill.
But first, there was something I needed to do.
I picked up a tomato-like Fruit of Good and Evil from the pile.
[Overgrowth]
This item was originally a third-grade Soul Engraving. I closed my eyes and focused my mind. I performed the method for reading the grade of a Soul Engraving.
One, two, three… four! There it is!
My hypothesis was correct. As expected, the grade of a Soul Engraving could be raised through blessings. I grinned at the golden tomato. With skills, there was no control group, so the blessing's effect wasn't immediately obvious. But Soul Engravings appeared as numbers. The Golden Blessing had clearly been a great success.
“Good. Now for the next experiment.”
Without delay, I gave Baengnae the Fruit of Good and Evil containing [Overgrowth]. Now a fourth-grade [Overgrowth]. I intended to attempt synthesis with the [Divided Life] she already possessed.
Nom nom—
After Baengnae ate the tomato, [Overgrowth] was added to her status. I pressed [Synthesis] without bothering to check the effect. Soon the engraving disappeared from Baengnae's status, replaced by the fifth-grade Soul Engraving [Overflowing Life].
No need to confirm this either, right?
Engravings that would never be seen again once synthesized. I synthesized the new engraving with [Regenerating Cells]. The final result:
The sixth-grade engraving [Life Cells] took root in Baengnae.
Her appearance… doesn't seem to have changed.
“Baengnae, how do you feel? Notice anything different?”
“Umm…”
At that moment, Baengnae's entire body began to twitch. She was evolving. She grew slightly taller, her hips widened as if undergoing puberty, and her chest swelled. The children's clothing she wore stretched to the point of tearing.
“Baengnae is uncomfortable.”
“Right. Let's buy you new clothes first.”
I purchased student uniforms from the [Shop] and dressed her. She now looked like a middle schooler.
“So, aside from your body, what else feels different?”
“Umm… this.”
Baengnae drew her sword and made a long cut across her palm. Blood pooled on the floor. Soon the puddle began to writhe and clump together, forming a red duplicate. The mini-Baengnae raised both hands and shouted.
“Baengnae is here.”
Oh… she can talk now?
The original Baengnae corrected the duplicate.
“No. Baengnae is me.”
At her words, the duplicate clutched its head with both hands and shook it side to side as if confused. Then, as if realizing something, it spoke.
“I am Cheongnae!”
Baengnae nodded in satisfaction.
“Madda.”
The red duplicate, Cheongnae, gradually stabilized in color until it resembled Baengnae. It could speak, and its stats seemed to have risen as well. Cheongnae, glancing around, headed to the table and picked up one of the Fruits of Good and Evil. It was the Steel Teeth that Baengnae had been eyeing earlier.
“Hee-hee. Cheongnae's.”
“No… give it here.”
Master and duplicate were exactly alike. Greedy little troublemakers.
“You two go play outside. I'll call you when I'm ready.”
“'Kay.”
“'Kay.”
Baengnae and Cheongnae left. They were probably heading to eat the flounders piled in the lobby. With the distractions gone, it was time to seriously consider distributing the Fruits of Good and Evil. Who should receive what?
Ah, right.
I set aside Steel Teeth beforehand. This one belonged to Baengnae.
***
The Golden Lord, one of the three rulers of these seas, was furious. Someone had dared to steal the precious Fruits of Good and Evil offered at his altar. His entire body trembled as he roared.
“How dare they!”
He had originally been in a long slumber. He would occasionally awaken to consume offerings from his followers, the fishmen. Then, an extraordinary offering had appeared. Over two hundred Fruits of Good and Evil—items impossible to find in these seas—had been offered, all of superior quality. With those, he could have finally opened the underwater gate and escaped this cursed space.
His expectations had barely begun to swell when the thief appeared, stealing every last fruit. And right after he had exhausted most of the blessings he had stockpiled to claim them.
AAAAARGH! Who was it?!
The Golden Lord was enraged, but he couldn't immediately pursue the culprit. He had overused blessings after so long and needed rest. For now, he sent his nearby followers in haste. They failed. Lower followers couldn't properly exert their power above the sea's surface.
Damn it… useless fools!
The Golden Lord's eyes rolled back in fury. The thief escaping with the items was a problem, but if the other kings noticed this existence, they would try to seize it themselves. The one to escape these seas had to be none other than the Golden Lord himself. But right now, he could do nothing. The Golden Lord suppressed his rage and entered a brief rest.
And four days later—
Rumble— Rumble—
El Dorado, submerged in the sea for a very long time, began to slowly rise. The parts embedded in the seabed were pulled free, and countless deep-sea fishmen swarmed to escort the city. On a day of pouring rain, the golden city revealed its dazzling form on the surface once more, centuries later.
“Set sail!”
The great pirate who once ruled these seas moved again to sweep across the world. It was the Golden Lord's magnificent return.
***
An island was defined as land over ten square kilometers surrounded by sea on all sides. Anything smaller was a reef. There were no islands in Stage 5, but there were many reefs. Areas where many reefs clustered were called straits by users. A terrain where a vast sea was trapped by small reefs. It was one of the few places in Stage 5 that could be called land.
We had arrived at the Stormy Strait several days ago. As promised, I began my conquest war the moment we arrived. Every day was a battle against crustaceans. One day we caught shrimp, another day creatures resembling lobsters. The battles weren't difficult. The legion's overall evolution had occurred through consuming the Fruits of Good and Evil. Moreover, this was a strait. With many reefs to stand on, there was little reason for zombies to be at a disadvantage.
While marching and slaughtering them, the shell castle that was our objective finally came into view in the distance. Park Seona muttered after confirming the castle.
“Nanggun-nim… you really are more incredible than I heard.”
Park Seona looked as if she couldn't believe she was conquering the Stormy Strait. She spoke in a daze.
“When I came here before, I was hiding on a raft, sleeping in fits, barely managing to steal a few clams and run…”
What Park Seona mentioned was the standard method for obtaining [Storm Pearl] listed on the community. Using the fact that this was a vast strait, one could sneak in quietly on a small boat without them noticing. Follow the designated route, steal the clams containing pearls, and escape—that was success.
Whoever made that strategy, it was pretty elaborate.
But it wasn't a strategy that could be used twice. After a theft, the shell castle's security would tighten and the side paths would change.
“It feels like a completely different world! I'm starting to doubt if this is really the Stage 5 I knew.”
“Quite the sentiment.”
I chuckled and prepared my gauntlets. The regular troops of the shell castle had appeared at a slight distance. Soldiers in armor made of stone with clams attached. They looked like moving suits of armor. Their notable trait was that they tasted excellent when grilled.
“Save the compliments for after the conquest. The real siege hasn't even begun yet.”
“True enough.”
She drew her dual swords with practiced ease. She still called me Nanggun-nim, but her initial fluttering impression had already vanished. Standing beside me now was the leopard pirate captain, a master of dual-wielding.
“Kids! Time to plunder!”
Grrrowl—
Leopards were predators. Unlike cats, they let out a dull yet sharp roar like tigers or lions. A cry that instilled fear in prey. A low-frequency vibration from Park Seona's mouth swept across the battlefield on the wind. A terrifying sound that made enemies' knees weak.
Grrrowl—
The blue-maned female leopard announced the start of the hunt to the pack. Then she too threw herself into the battlefield.
Yeah, yeah. Much better.
The kitten was already gone. I was conquering the strait alongside a blue beast.