Chapter 242
Watching how to eat it, I saw Yadongi just gulp it down straight. He was smacking his lips like it was delicious. I gave it a try myself, but surprisingly, it wasn't that hot. It was bland like some kind of gruel, but edible enough. Still, it didn't taste good. After a few bites, though, my stomach felt incredibly full—like it was expanding inside me. It was like I'd eaten a full bowl of rice, but my belly was already bulging. Energy seemed to replenish rapidly; heat spread through my body, and I could feel my blood flowing strong.
This must be what they eat in their advanced civilization. The giants were pitiful, knowing nothing of delicious cooking. It felt like a side effect of being too civilized. Centuries from now, maybe Earthlings would eat only this stuff for health reasons.
Anyway, despite the lousy taste, it filled me up, so I wandered the ship with Yadongi, exploring. They said there were hundreds of rooms aboard. Each one was almost the size of a sports field. With hundreds like that, no wonder the ship was massive.
Peeking into them one by one, nothing was all that novel. Mostly labs and warehouses. There was a gym, too, but the equipment was way too big to even attempt. With giants nearly three meters tall, everything—tools, machines—had to be huge.
After roughly checking out a few dozen rooms, we headed back to the cockpit. Thinking about it, my giant form somehow resembled the Impressive Giant. Maybe because the Gold Bar contained that giant's genes. Perhaps even the Angry Giant's genes were inside me, causing the transformation. The Cyclops monster might have gotten them through experiments too. But I couldn't be sure.
Back in the cockpit, I started studying the giant script again. Meanwhile, the armies from various nations were busy building barracks and scouting the outside. I felt uneasy, worried they might discover this place.
"Can you make sure those guys don't find out about here? Block their radars or whatever."
With a grrr, he manipulated the controls, and a screen status board popped up. From the grrr grrr sounds, it seemed our position was undetectable. The planet itself was already under the ship's control. No electronic weapons like radar would work here. Makes sense—watches, phones, laptops all failed here. Only simple things like flashlights worked; anything complex was blocked. Some kind of setting.
So probably cars and drones wouldn't function either. Basic stuff might, but nothing advanced. Those guys would be blind as bats. No computers, no radar—they'd be screwed. Like pioneers hacking through South America ages ago, they'd suffer. That put my mind at ease. They wouldn't scout the forest easily.
I watched the armies flail around for a while, then dove back into studying the giant script. A month passed like that. During that time, I ate, slept, and studied script aboard the ship. Ship life was comfy. I had a room with a bed and shower—like a hotel. No inconveniences at all. Just that the constant gruel dulled my appetite a bit. Belly full, but so bland it felt empty.
After a month of study, I could read it decently. Not too hard, but so many words to memorize. Mastering the whole script would probably take years.
"Maybe time for a hunt."
Craving meat, I half-assed the studying and slacked off. Yadongi seemed bored with ship life too, rolling around until the hunt mention made him jump up. This guy wanted real meat too.
I headed to the giants' armory. All sorts of weapons, but the gravity gun stole the show. I'd seen giants fight with them before—knew they were killer. One shot compresses and vaporizes anything. Other weapons were simpler than expected: spears and swords, too big and heavy to wield. The gravity gun weighed over 40 kilos. Had to sling it over one shoulder to manage.
"Let's give it a go."
Slinging the bazooka-like gravity gun over my shoulder, I exited the ship with Yadongi. Heading to Forest 3 nearly killed me from the weight. Massive beasts roamed the plains. I picked one—a five-meter behemoth. Aiming as per the manual, I pressed the button. Whoosh—the beast's head flattened instantly and vanished. Completely obliterated. No scream; it just thudded down, dead in a flash.
"Insane."
This could crush tanks or armored cars flat. Curious about range, I targeted a bird flying high—not a monster, just a big goose-like thing at about 500 meters up. Aimed the slung gun and fired. Whoosh—missed. The bird flapped away in panic. Fired again and again, but no hit. Range was at least 500 meters, though; the gravity wave traveled far unless it hit something.
"This could take out all those bastards."
Wondering how to deal with the armies, this seemed perfect. Couldn't fight assault rifles and heavy weapons with swords and bows. A few gravity shots, and they'd scatter.
Dismantling the huge beast sounded tricky, so I used the gravity gun again. Whoosh whoosh—blasted spots to make a big hunk of meat drop. No spit roast, so grabbed just enough. Hauled it back to the Forest 0 camp.
Set the gravity gun aside, cleaned the meat by the stream, and roasted it over a fire. Sizzling nicely, but surprisingly tasteless. Was meat always this meh, or had the giant gruel ruined my palate? I ate a few cuts and quit. Yadongi ate less than usual too—definitely bland. Maybe that's why giants skipped meat. The gruel must affect it. Longtime vegetarians puke at meat, right? I felt bittersweet, like I'd become that. Living on tasteless mush forever would suck.
I hadn't even needed detox after. No discharge—probably fully absorbed. Even drinking stream water yielded almost nothing. Giants lived boring lives, no doubt. Boredom led to gene experiments. Feeling bored myself, I returned to the ship. Had to master the script fast.
A few days of studying revealed a new word: language translator.
"This exists too?"
Touching the screen word brought up a face-mounted translator. It showed the location. Left the cockpit for the storage room. After checking numbers and touching a wall, whoosh—out popped the translator. Back to cockpit, checked the manual. Still many unknown words, but figured out usage. Half-mask style, attached to one side of face. Pressed the ear power button—a screen appeared before my eyes.
Thousands of languages in the list. Every civilized planet's tongue, it seemed. Scanned for Earth's, but couldn't find without knowing all words. Giants didn't use "Earth."
So I tested the translator. Typed "Earth" in Korean; it output giant script. Surprisingly, there it was. Earth was "Meku" in giant letters. Clicked Meku—Earth's languages flooded the list. Korean, English, Russian, French, even minority tongues. Earth was under giant influence, confirmed.
Excitement surged. "Can I see Earth too?"
Summoned a screen in midair, input Meku. Earth appeared. Touched it—hundreds of screens lined up. Covering the whole planet. Giants were already watching Earth, just like this planet—under surveillance.
I pulled the Korean screen close. Searched for my house, zooming in until it appeared crystal clear on the screen.