Information is the Ultimate Weapon

"Enough. We need information right now, so speak," Chairman Yoo said calmly. There was no trace of the clueless novice he had been when he first started playing Pandemonium Online. By now, Chairman Yoo was a fully-fledged high-level player! In fact, considering his top-tier gear and outrageously expensive items, he might even be on par with a low-ranking ranker.

Having grown so much, Chairman Yoo knew this truth all too well: in a situation like this, information was the ultimate weapon! He who holds the information rules Pandemonium Online! There was a reason players spent fortunes buying and selling intel.

"There are no pirates around here, sir."

"Exactly. There used to be the Caterand Pirates, but Kim Tae-hyun wiped them out when he cleared that quest."

"I heard the local fisherman players and even some pirate players were absolutely thrilled about that."

A pirate group that occasionally spawned to terrorize players sailing the seas was never a welcome sight for anyone.

"Are you sure you didn't mistake them for Admiral Brangsong's fleet?"

"Right. I heard Admiral Brangsong's fleet was spotted nearby."

Admiral Brangsong. The noble who commanded the Atali Kingdom's 3rd Fleet. He was a noble Tae-hyun had met during the subjugation of Katerand Island.

However, the surviving players were adamant.

"They were flying a pirate flag!"

"Exactly!"

"Are you sure you didn't just missee it?"

"I'm telling you, we didn't!"

"Alright, alright. But keep one thing in mind."

Choi Min-soo, a member of the Power Warrior Guild, shrugged and boasted, "Even if they are pirates, they can't sink this ship! This is arguably the largest and most magnificent vessel ever built by players! If we run into some run-of-the-mill pirate NPCs, we can just ram right through them and keep going—"

"...What is that?"

"Pardon?"

"I asked what that is."

Chairman Yoo pointed toward the horizon with a grim expression. Something massive was undulating just beyond the edge of the sea.

"..."

"..."

It was a massive armada of dozens of ships!

"Th-That..."

"It's a fleet! Whose fleet is that?!"

"P-Pirates?!"

"What?! Why are there pirates here?! What on earth is the Atali Kingdom doing?!"

Players and NPCs alike fell into an instant panic! The surviving players turned to the Power Warrior Guild members, their voices trembling.

"Wait, didn't you say even pirates couldn't sink this—"

"Shut up! Is that what's important right now?! This is all your fault! You brought the pirates right to us!"

A display of pure, unadulterated pettiness! The players were utterly flabbergasted by the guild members' accusations.

"W-Wait... I didn't bring them here!"

"Quiet! We'll offer you as a sacrifice to save ourselves!"

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

While the ship's passengers descended into chaos, the pirate armada closed the distance at a terrifying speed. Unlike the panicked guild members, Chairman Yoo maintained his composure and barked, "Stop bickering like children!"

"Y-Yes, sir!"

"Tell me what we're going to do. Can we escape?"

"Of course we can!"

Choi Min-soo replied confidently. He held the most authority among the Power Warrior Guild members present. He was a streamer with a decent following of loyal fans, though he had admittedly ridden on Tae-hyun's coattails to get there.

"Look at the distance, sir! Even if they sail at full speed, we have enough time to take a leisurely nap before they get anywhere near us. Besides, this ship boasts one of the fastest speeds among player-crafted vessels—"

"Cut the chatter and get us moving."

"Yes, sir!"

At any rate, it was a relief they wouldn't get caught. Chairman Yoo thought to himself as he gave the order. But at that exact moment...

Crash!

Suddenly, a deep whirlpool formed nearby, and a pirate ship surged up from the rising waves.

"...?!?!"

A skill that instantly closed the distance across the sea! It was hardly surprising for a legendary pirate fleet to possess such an ability.

"What the?!"

"I-It's fine! It's only one ship so far!"

Boom! Crash!

More pirate ships continued to materialize one after another.

"..."

"..."

The players on board stared blankly at Choi Min-soo. Their eyes practically screamed, What are you going to do about this?

"I-It's fine... We can just fight—"

"Just shut up."

"...Yes, sir..."

Choi Min-soo slumped, thoroughly chastised. Seeing this, the other guild members whispered among themselves.

"Isn't he acting exactly like Cain right now?"

"Should we fight?!"

"Do you actually have the confidence to fight them?"

"No..."

"We specialize in non-combat engineering... hehe..."

The Power Warrior Guild members were brutally honest! Chairman Yoo sighed deeply.

"Forget it. I suppose this is all part of Pandemonium Online too."

Meanwhile, the secretarial staff approached him with solemn, resolute expressions.

"Chairman! We will do our absolute best to clear a path for you! Please escape!"

"...I don't think this situation warrants that level of tragic heroism."

The eyes of the secretarial staff burned with fiery determination.

We must seize this opportunity to make a lasting impression on the Chairman!!!

Their inner thoughts were painfully transparent! Chairman Yoo clicked his tongue.

"Even if I escape, where am I supposed to go? Swim? Even if we take a lifeboat, they'll just catch us immediately."

"We will lay down our lives—"

"Enough. Quiet."

"Yes... We apologize..."

"Bwahaha! This ship is ours now!"

The pirates shouted boisterously as they swarmed the deck. The players watched them with indignant expressions. This was their ship!

"Let's see what's in the cargo hold... Wait, what the?! Why is it nothing but fish and fishing bait?! On a ship this size?! Are you guys beggars?!"

"We came here to fish, of course there's only fish!"

"Who on earth brings a massive ship like this just to go fishing?!"

"Shh! Quiet! Captain Gardu is coming!"

"*Gasp!*"

The rowdy pirates instantly flinched, snapping to attention and freezing in place.

Thud—

"...!"

The Great Pirate Gardu had appeared.

Gardu, a boss monster capable of making anyone's knees buckle! The players trembled as they watched their stats plummet. Only someone like Tae-hyun, who possessed Fear Immunity, could stand unfazed before such a boss. Ordinary players always had to fight through massive penalties.

"Who are you lot?"

"W-We are just innocent fishermen, Captain Gardu!"

The Power Warrior Guild members quickly prostrated themselves. Their survival instincts were on a completely different level compared to the secretarial staff! They were people who had never bothered to pack their pride onto the ship in the first place.

"Fishermen sailing a ship like this?"

"We wanted ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to catch bigger fish! Look! There's nothing but fishing gear on this ship! Oh, Captain Gardu! We are so incredibly honored to meet the great and mighty Captain Gardu—"

"Silence!"

"...Yes, sir."

"What a waste of mana. I captured this ship thinking there'd be some decent loot."

Gardu clicked his tongue. He had seized the vessel because of its grand appearance, but it turned out to be practically empty.

"Fine. If you were navy, I would have slaughtered you all, but since you aren't, I shall spare your lives."

"Thank you!"

"As expected of the great Captain Gardu!"

"I will give you a choice. Strip off all your gear and head out over there, or join my crew."

"Over... there?"

Gardu gestured toward the open sea with his chin. In other words, strip naked and swim all the way back to land!

"..."

"..."

"...I have always dreamed of becoming a pirate!"

Startled by the sudden turn of the conversation, Chairman Yoo whispered to them.

"Is it really okay to do this?"

"We have no choice! We can't just strip off all our gear and leave!"

"Can't we just buy new gear?"

"...That's way too wasteful!"

Chairman Yoo's financial sense was truly on a different dimension! Nevertheless, he decided to follow the players' lead for now. He was also quite curious: why had this pirate suddenly appeared here?

Come to think of it, I met this guy once before when we were crossing over to the Southern Continent.

The Southern Continent, the Prica Continent. He had taken a ship there with Tae-hyun to watch the arena matches. Back then, Gardu had suddenly appeared. When Chairman Yoo had cast a suspicious glance at Tae-hyun, Tae-hyun had simply said, "Haha, I have absolutely nothing to do with that guy," before climbing up to the crow's nest, shooting down Gardu's pirate flag, and provoking him. Thanks to that, they had been dragged into a forced battle...

He could still faintly recall Gardu's voice echoing from a distance back then.

"Those bastards are running away! Capture them! Kim Ta—"

"Kim Ta?"

Chairman Yoo had whipped his head around to look at Tae-hyun. But Tae-hyun had replied without a single change in his expression.

"I think you misheard."

...Are they really completely unrelated? I highly doubt it.

At the time, he had been too busy fleeing to think much of it, but now, Chairman Yoo was growing highly suspicious.

Stomp!

"...!"

Gardu stomped his foot and roared at the top of his lungs, "Enough! We don't need to waste time on these tedious tasks anymore. Bring the pirate crews and head toward Uruk!"

"Woooahhh!"

"Gathering more pirates?"

"It looks like the Great Pirate Gardu is trying to expand his forces. But this is strange. Gardu usually operates near the Espa Kingdom, and the Uruk Region is incredibly far from here..."

"I will lead those pirates to crush Count Kim Tae-hyun! That miserable bastard who insulted me three times!"

"..."

"..."

"Ah, by the way. Do you lot know Count Kim Tae-hyun, or ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not?"

"We have no idea who that is!"

"Just hearing his name makes him sound like an incredibly evil bastard!"

"You understand well."

"Phew..."

"Let's make sure we never reveal our true identities."

"Is there anyone here who follows the Archisus Church?"

Every single member of the Power Warrior Guild raised their hand.

"...We must absolutely never mention which god we worship either!"

If they had bad luck, they could easily get caught and slaughtered.

"As expected of Lord Tae-hyun! This craftsmanship is a work of art! Should we attach a bomb to it?"

"Why on earth would you put a bomb on a motorcycle?!"

If Chairman Yoo had ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠been there to hear this, he would have shrieked in terror, "Is this an assassination attempt?! An assassination attempt?!"

"Lord Tae-hyun, please listen to me seriously."

"...Go on."

"It is always better to have a bomb than ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠not to have one. That is... common sense."

"..."

"If there is a bomb, you don't have to detonate it if you don't want to. But if there isn't one? Even if a situation arises where you absolutely need to blow something up, you won't be able to. It is always better to include it."

It was surprisingly persuasive! Gabriel continued to whisper slyly by his side, looking like a tempting serpent. Swayed by his words, Tae-hyun ultimately...

"...Ah!"

Only after completing the craft did Tae-hyun realize his mistake. What on earth had he done?! Regardless of his creator's remorse, Gabriel was absolutely ecstatic. It was almost identical to the motorcycle series they had crafted last time, with the only differences being the word "Explosive" added to the name and the note: "Press the red button to detonate."

"Well, since it's controllable, it should be fine. It's not like I'm the one who's going to ride it anyway."

Tae-hyun recovered his peace of mind with lightning speed!