Chapter 266
Chapter 266
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 266
Chapter Title: 60. Highway (1)
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"Bring more money...!"
Dogo's side fell silent for a moment at Young-woo's bold demand.
[ Dogo ] “At Last, Earth Village”
<Mission> In the Pangea rewards, select Dogo as the partner company.
<Reward> 5 million Karma
The Earth Village quest that Dogo had issued remained prominently displayed in Young-woo's field of view, while Negig continued charging southward.
‘...Was I too arrogant? But trying to buy a veterinary contract endorsement for just 5 million is way too much.’
Young-woo now had a pretty good head on his shoulders and knew full well.
If the top sword of a single planet could rake in tens of millions daily, then Dogo's revenue from operating across the universe had to be hundreds, no, thousands of times that.
Therefore, handing over this contract right—which could become one of Dogo's new revenue streams—for a mere 5 million was absurd.
At least in Young-woo's mind.
“Chairman, if selecting this partner company has nothing to do with your company's profits, then I sincerely apologize. But...!”
Young-woo tilted his head toward the sky.
Flash!
“If this is a profitable business opportunity, then you ought to do business with me too!”
Boom, boom!
Negig's iron hooves thundered intensely right after Young-woo's line.
And then, immediately.
Bang!
With a powerful roar, the Dogo quest updated.
[ Dogo ] “At Last, Earth Village”
<Mission> In the Pangea rewards, select Dogo as the partner company.
<Reward> 50 million Karma
The quest reward had jumped tenfold from 5 million.
‘No way, these bastards.’
As expected, the Pangea achievement rewards were tied to the partner companies' interests.
‘Trying to rip me off—no, rip off my planet?’
Indignation surged within him, but Young-woo soon raised his finger gun toward the sky and shouted.
“「Dogo-o-o-o-o」...!”
Actions matching words.
Young-woo was fully immersed in business at this moment too.
‘Now, if the Australian continent just keeps moving, I'll pocket 50 million lying down!’
As Young-woo thought this and steered Negig's head a bit more due south, the rumbling of the earth grew even stronger than before.
Australia continent... Meganesia was proof that it was getting quite close.
“Just a bit more! We're almost there!”
Young-woo encouraged Negig by stroking its steel mane, and the beast let out a guttural roar with pitch-black glows from its eyes.
-Kreeeeeeek!
It then accelerated so fiercely that the surrounding scenery blurred for an instant.
Boom!
“Urk!”
Young-woo leaned forward against Negig's sudden burst of speed, and soon he spotted a crowd of people amid the beast's black mane.
Young-woo instinctively knew.
‘Coastline.’
And indeed it was.
“W-What's that?”
“There are tons of people...?”
“Isn't this war breaking out or something?”
Haenam locals, each clutching a weapon, were murmuring while staring at something across the sea.
They only turned their sword tips toward the approaching Young-woo and Negig belatedly.
“U-Ugh!”
“Monster!”
“Mutant...?”
Anyone could tell Young-woo's appearance screamed mutant, so most of the crowd screamed and scattered in all directions.
But even in the chaos, one person calmly recognized Young-woo.
“Huh...? Isn't that the Greatest Swordsman?”
It was none other than Haenam Greatest Swordsman Kim Hyung-beom06.
Knowing there was no one in the area who could harm him, he didn't panic at the sudden appearance of the monster.
Of course, he wasn't panicking, but seeing the publicly elected strongest on the peninsula up close still tensed him up plenty.
His right hand had instinctively moved to the sword sheath at his waist.
“......”
Young-woo stared blankly at the man's right hand, and only then did Hyung-beom jolt in surprise and quickly lower it.
“It's late, so what brings you here?”
As expected, top swords from each region didn't exactly welcome visits from even stronger beings.
To reassure him, Young-woo pointed toward the sea.
“Nothing specific in Haenam. I'm here to see the land connect.”
“Ah.”
Kim Hyung-beom wore a sullen expression.
He scratched his neck awkwardly and said.
“You're already coming and going to China, so Jeju Island approaching probably doesn't excite you much.”
“......!”
Young-woo's face flushed red for a moment before returning to normal at those words.
Hyung-beom's line meant he'd watched the yes/no poll conducted with Young-woo's pants off.
But there was another issue with that line.
“Jeju Island?”
“Yeah. Didn't you come to see Jeju Island?”
Haenam Greatest Swordsman Kim Hyung-beom pointed toward the coastline.
And there, a massive landmass was approaching at considerable speed.
With crowds packed black along the shore.
From afar, it looked like an island full of people charging into war.
Flash!
Confirming with 5x clairvoyance vision, Young-woo quickly realized.
The Jeju locals visible there were also fleeing toward the Korean Peninsula's coastline to escape something.
No doubt, what terrified them was the Australian continent hot on Jeju Island's heels.
“Ah, so you thought I came to see Jeju Island.”
Having grasped the situation, Young-woo muttered while checking his gear, making Hyung-beom twitch his eyebrow and ask back.
“Ah... not that? Then why the hell are you...”
And then, noisy voices began echoing from Jeju Island across the way.
“S-Save me!”
“Help...!”
Finally close enough for their voices to carry over.
“Save me...?”
Of course, Hyung-beom—who had no idea what was happening—could only tilt his head.
Meanwhile, Young-woo opened his mouth as if it was finally time.
“If there are any other Greatest Swordsmen nearby, bring them all.”
“Yes? I'm the only Greatest Swordsman around here.”
“Then we'll just have to go welcome them ourselves.”
“...Go where?”
“Australia.”
“......?”
As the two Greatest Swordsmen had this absurd exchange, the distance between Jeju Island and Haenam shrank rapidly.
“Grab my hand. We have to head over there now.”
“W-What do you...”
Young-woo didn't bother explaining.
A mere regional Greatest Swordsman was no more than a mouse to handle.
Crunch!
Young-woo seized Hyung-beom's shoulder and ordered Negig to leap toward Jeju Island.
Negig's eyes gleamed black as it vaulted into the sea.
-Kreeeeeeek!
“U-Uwaaaah!”
Haenam Greatest Swordsman's scream echoed over the South Sea.
Jeju beachgoers who spotted the black iron steed flying in also freaked out and fled.
“G-Greatest Swordsman! Why are you doing this to me!”
Still, Haenam Greatest Swordsman was fairly brave.
He maintained considerable composure even as Jeong Young-woo gripped his shoulder and crossed the sea.
“Once Jeju Island and Australia connect soon, Australia's problems become Haenam's too.”
“W-What's connecting?”
“Now we need to find Jeju Greatest Swordsman. That one's got fires on their feet for real.”
Of course, witnessing the Australian continent's movement took top priority over all that.
Boom!
Upon landing on Jeju beach, Young-woo tossed Hyung-beom to the back seat like luggage.
Whoosh!
“Gah!”
Thrown atop Negig like baggage, Hyung-beom soon reported to Young-woo.
“S-Someone's already riding back there?”
-Kyaaat!
-Bapak!
Referring to Young-woo's two slaves, the golden goblin and Popu Tenta.
They were glaring at Hyung-beom with extreme displeasure even now.
“No choice. Bear with it.”
If he didn't cram into the back seat, he'd have to run after them, and Young-woo had yet to see a human who could keep pace with Negig.
They could match burst speed momentarily, but now they needed to cross to Jeju's far opposite end.
-Kreeeeeeek!
Finally, Negig let out its signature screech and resumed charging, prompting Hyung-beom to scream anew.
“Uwaaaah...!”
* * *
Greatest Swordsman.
No matter how much they dominated a region, Young-woo was struck anew by how they were essentially just ordinary humans.
“P-Please go a little slower!”
Through Haenam Greatest Swordsman, who had been shrieking shrilly nonstop.
From Hyung-beom's perspective, there was no need—or even possibility—to show dignity before the peninsula's elected ‘Greatest Swordsman.’
Thus, the true nature hidden beneath the Haenam Greatest Swordsman title was inadvertently revealed.
“Almost there. Hang in just a bit.”
Rubbing his ears that were starting to smart, Young-woo gazed ahead.
“......”
Just like the rear coastline earlier, crowds lined the front shore too.
However.
‘These guys are real combat troops.’
Unlike before, these weren't fleeing from the Australian continent but guarding the border in preparation for potential battle.
“Aaah...”
Seeing people facing the sea with their backs to Jeju's interior, Young-woo spread his arms in感動.
“Aaah! You all are the true defenders of the nation!”
“......!”
Jeju's defenders whipped around in surprise, and at the same moment, Young-woo's eyes caught.
Boom rumble rumble rumble!
Meganesia, the Australian continent, blanketing the entire horizon in his view.
“W-What the hell.”
Even Haenam Greatest Swordsman Kim Hyung-beom gaped at the massive continent chasing Jeju Island.
“How is that even possible?”
Impossible by Hyung-beom's common sense, but Young-woo brushed off the question in one line.
“What's the point asking how when it's already happening? We need to think about how to respond now.”
“B-But...!”
Was this the judgment of a peninsula-elected Greatest Swordsman?
In Hyung-beom's eyes, this Jeong Young-woo seemed to not dwell on what had already occurred.
‘Not shaken at all even seeing that? How?’
As Hyung-beom wiped cold sweat from his temple, an incredibly swift presence approached from the far end of the beach.
“Oh my...!”
It was none other than Jeju Greatest Swordsman Choi Moon-soon02.
A sturdy late-40s woman whose small stature blended into her robust build.
She charged with a monstrous greatsword slung over her shoulder, contrasting her warm face, making Young-woo flinch for a moment.
“You're here to help, right? How'd you know about this?”
With the continent splitting the waves right in front, Choi Moon-soon showed no surprise at Young-woo and Negig.
“Oh, Haenam...!”
She then approached the still pale-faced Haenam Greatest Swordsman, seized his hand, and forced a shake.
“Come on in, everyone. We're not some backwater dump, as you know. See that?”
Moon-soon jabbed a thick finger at Meganesia, now even closer.
Meaning they couldn't properly host guests with Australia bearing down.
Young-woo nodded to show it was fine.
“Nothing like attacks coming from the Australia side?”
“How could they attack from that far? They're probably panicking over there too.”
Fair point, in general.
Assuming Australia didn't have laser cannons.
“Still, we should stay cautious. From their side, they've been geographically isolated until now, suddenly connecting to Eurasia.”
Meaning they'd be tense too, and thus might act aggressively.
Moon-soon muttered while scanning Young-woo up and down.
“Then it's war, huh.”
No matter how friendly she acted, she was still Jeju's Greatest Swordsman.
Sizing up Young-woo's capabilities unconsciously.
How much stronger than her?
But Young-woo himself.
Flash!
[Achievement Unlocked: Pangea]
|Achievement Grade: Epic
|Achievement Rank: #3
Was too busy checking the finally achieved Pangea achievement.
‘What? Achievement rank 3?’
Meaning two others had already completed Pangea.
And soon, the pan-universal weapons brand that had offered 50 million Karma began soliciting for partner company selection.
「Basic terrain reconfiguration of Planet II42-Earth has been implemented.」
「Accordingly, you may now select partner companies to participate in planet development.」
‘Planet, development...?’
Young-woo's eyebrow twitched at the ominous words as the system continued.
「This planet has a total of 3 partner company slots, with 2 companies already selected.」
In other words, Young-woo—who'd just completed the Pangea achievement—had snagged the last spot.
Same for Dogo.
「Armed clashes between partner companies are frequent during planet development, so please review the list of selected companies and the reference chart.」
‘Reference chart?’
Wondering what to reference, he glanced at the interface bottom, where understandable info was listed.
[Selected Company List]
1-Remu
2-Mara
‘No, these bastards.’
Two names Young-woo knew well were already on the partner list.
And below, the chart had the familiar names he'd dreaded.
[Dangerous Company List]
*Ranking of companies with histories unfit for planet development.
1-Dogo
2-Quaya's Hammer
3-Toma
4-Hexagon Society
5-Serium