Chapter 6
Chapter 6
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 6
Chapter Title: Shark Tooth Pirates (1)
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“…Sara, what are you scheming this time?”
Shin-ju couldn't fully trust her words.
He calmly continued the conversation.
“Why go through the trouble of lying just to contact me?”
“Ha, a lie, you say?”
A video arrived on his phone.
Shin-ju looked around and went up to the rooftop.
When he tapped the link on the rooftop, a video started playing on his phone.
The video showed Bluerobic planetarians huddled together, trapped inside a steel cage.
Fear filled all their eyes.
Sara's voice came from off-screen.
- Hey, Mr. Negotiator. Don't get the wrong idea. We haven't 'kidnapped' these people. We're 'protecting' them.
“Protecting?”
Sara's voice suddenly turned serious.
- Hey, you cops. Have you messed with any owned alien beasts recently?
Shin-ju flinched and looked up.
“Alien beast?”
- Yeah. The owner is absolutely furious.
Shin-ju recalled the incident a few days ago when he had subdued an alien beast and sent it back to space through a Black Hole.
“Well, I sent one back to space, just like usual. I checked for a collar then, too.”
- No, not that one.
“Then what?”
- There was another one, wasn't there?
“Ah.”
Shin-ju realized in a flash.
The alien beast those mercenaries had caught!
“But that one didn't have a collar.”
- Are you sure you checked properly?
Shin-ju bit his lower lip slightly.
The thought that he might have been too complacent flashed through his mind.
In truth, the alien beast's carcass had been so mangled by the mercenaries' weapons that there had been no time to properly check for a collar.
Only the mercenaries at the scene would know if the collar had melted from the weapons or if it was never there to begin with.
Shin-ju's brow furrowed.
*Could those mercenaries really have killed an owned alien beast?*
*No way.*
They weren't the type to do something so crazy without a basic understanding of the rules.
He calmly gazed at the distant mountains as he continued the call.
“There must be some mistake. It was definitely an unowned alien beast.”
- Wow~ Your voice is trembling. The owners of those alien beasts must be really scary, huh?
Shin-ju barely suppressed his anger and listened quietly to Sara.
- You're practically crawling on your belly. I can hear your eyes darting around from here, heheheh.
“Stop joking. You know exactly what they are.”
- True... those 'Planet Destroyer' bastards have nasty hobbies. And I don't want to see Earth get destroyed either. There's still too much to squeeze out of it.
Shin-ju urged Sara to get to the point.
“So what is it? You must want something. Spit it out.”
- Pay up for protection.
- I said, give me the protection money.
Shin-ju's expression grew complicated.
“Haa… Let's talk about this face-to-face.”
Sara grinned.
- Oh my~ I'd love to see you, but that's such an obvious trap~.
Shin-ju sighed.
“For someone who called me so boldly, you're being awfully cowardly, don't you think?
It sounds like you want to negotiate with me... and negotiations are meant to be done in person, with contracts signed and sealed.
Especially with you.”
- Aww~ Is that so? Well, I can't help it if you want to see my face that badly... Alright! Wait a second!
*Clank, clank, clank—*
A rattling sound came from a corner inside the spaceship.
“What's going on?”
Shin-ju shouted urgently.
“What are you doing, Sara?”
- Just wait~.
Sara replied as if it were nothing, followed by the sound of her manipulating something.
A moment later, sounds of movement and chatter came through the receiver.
*Chiiiiik—*
Suddenly, static filled the phone screen.
*Flash—*
A moment later, a woman's face slowly began to materialize as a hologram.
- Can you see me?
Sharp eyes and pointed teeth.
The face of a beautiful woman, reminiscent of a shark, appeared on the screen.
Captain of the Shark Tooth Pirates
Sara Victoria
“Sara… did you… just hack my phone?”
Shin-ju's eyes, which had been filled with annoyance, suddenly sparkled as if a good idea had struck him.
- What! You said you wanted to see my face! How's that for our tech? Amazing, right? Anyway, just pay the protection money, and I'll return the refugees safely.
Shin-ju replied, as if placating Sara.
“So, you're saying you remotely rescued the Bluerobic refugee ship that crash-landed on the moon while being chased by alien beasts?”
Sara's eyes widened, and she nodded silently.
“And since you're protecting them, you want to receive fair compensation for it. Is that right?”
*Clap, clap, clap, clap—*
Sara clapped her hands excitedly.
- Heeyah— See! You get it quick!
The holographic Sara grinned and held out her palm.
- So hurry up and give me the protection money!
“Haa, protection money....”
Sara held her head high and spoke confidently.
- Well~ They're alive thanks to me, so it's only natural, isn't it? I heard you used to work as an interstellar diplomat. Wouldn't it be faster to talk to you?
Shin-ju, frowning as if tired, spoke calmly.
“How much do you want?"
- 1,000 Julas per head!
“How many refugees are there?”
- 350!
Shin-ju immediately did the math in his head.
In Korean won, that's about 50 million per person.
A total of 17.5 billion.
Shin-ju burst out laughing in disbelief.
“Sara, are you crazy? That's completely insane.”
- Kehehehehe.
Sara, finding Shin-ju's reaction amusing, laughed crudely.
Shin-ju composed himself and calmly continued the conversation.
“What planet's currency system are you using for that calculation?”
- It's just whatever I feel like!
A dry laugh escaped Shin-ju's lips.
As expected, she was just being thoughtless.
“Sara, don't you remember exactly five years ago? You kidnapped humans and other aliens living on Earth to sell at auction, and I busted you for human trafficking.”
Hearing Shin-ju's words, Sara's expression hardened.
Shin-ju gazed at the distant mountains, reminiscing.
“Ahh… how much were you trying to sell Earthlings for back then?”
Shin-ju's eyes widened as if he had just remembered, and he looked at Sara.
“Ah, that's right! You priced them at about 3 million won per head, didn't you?”
Sara's expression remained sour.
“You must have been very disappointed. Then again, Earthlings are like dust in this universe. Right?”
As Shin-ju continued to bring up the past, Sara got annoyed.
- So? What are you trying to say?
Shin-ju looked at Sara's displeased face in the hologram.
Of course, there was always the violent option of using the Old Book to wipe out the pirates and rescue the refugees.
However, under interstellar criminal law, a peace treaty stipulated that if the opposing alien party initiated negotiations, one must comply.
Shin-ju thought to himself.
*The first principle of negotiation.*
*If the other party's desired direction is absolutely detrimental to your side, you must never agree to the deal.*
*Because once you start giving in, you'll be endlessly devoured.*
*17.5 billion is an amount that must never be handed over.*
*Not that he ever intended to, of course.*
*But that didn't mean he had to stubbornly refuse and make an unnecessary enemy.*
The Shark Tooth Pirates were a capable group that could definitely be useful in the future.
“Alright, Sara.”
Shin-ju raised his hands as if in surrender.
“I have two conditions. First, let's decide the protection fee based on Earth's standards.”
The holographic Sara listened with her arms crossed, as if to see what he would say next.
“Because from the moment they crash-landed on the moon, the refugees became 'Earthlings' under our protection. We can't follow another planet's monetary laws, can we? The standards are too broad.”
Shin-ju held up a second finger.
“And second, the negotiation and financial transaction must take place on Earth.”
Sara listened silently to Shin-ju.
Shin-ju continued.
“If you truly want to negotiate, let's sit down at a proper table, face to face, and sign the papers. That is, if you don't want to be chased as a human trafficker.”
In other words, he was telling her to come to Earth and sign the negotiation documents if she was so confident.
Hearing the two conditions, Sara replied, refusing to back down.
- Before that, I have something to say too.
- I generally agree with the second condition, but I'll send one of my officers down to the surface, not myself.
Sara held up one finger.
- And the first one! Kehehehe.
Sara suddenly burst out laughing.
Shin-ju watched the cackling Sara with displeasure, finding the sight distasteful.
“What is it this time?”
She stopped laughing and shouted as if doing him a great favor.
- Fine! As you wish, we'll deal in Earth's currency this time.
Shin-ju remained expressionless.
*It's clearly a disadvantageous condition for her.*
He felt a sense of unease at Sara's ready agreement but didn't let it show.
“Are you sure? I'm pretty sure I said that Bluerobic planetarians who enter Earth's sphere of influence become Earthlings.”
Shin-ju quickly calculated in his head and decided on a price.
“At a maximum of 3 million won per head, that comes out to about 1.05 billion won.”
Hearing the drastically reduced amount, Sara said nothing, placing a hand on her chin with a rather serious expression.
Shin-ju quietly waited for her reaction.
*Suddenly, it didn't make sense.*
*Why did Sara call me so openly?*
*She wants to make a deal, but she doesn't want to meet in person.*
*Is it because she has something to hide, so she's trying to minimize exposure and wanted to talk remotely like this?*
- Park Shin-ju... you don't understand why I'm doing this, do you?
*Grin—*
Sara gave Shin-ju a nasty smile.
Shin-ju's eyebrow twitched at Sara's unexpected reaction.
- It's because I'm not just holding refugees, you see.
- Guess who was on that refugee ship?
“Stop dragging it out and just tell me.”
- None other than an SS-Class hero from Bluerobic was on board, that's who.
For a moment, two names came to Shin-ju's mind.
“Don't tell me...?”
Sara's shoulders shook as she held back her laughter and continued.
- That's right! The SS-Class hero of Bluerobic! The second daughter of the Tankobichi family, whose greatsword skills are said to be unrivaled in the universe! 'Sharin Tankobichi' is in the palm of my hand! Kehehehe!
Shin-ju pressed his lips together, trying his best to maintain a blank expression.
- An SS-Class hero from Bluerobic fetches any price you name at the space auctions, you know? If I had my way, I'd just—! Sell her off for a high price at an auction, but!
Sara's expression turned vicious, then suddenly softened.
- We have a history, you and I, don't we? And I don't want to make an enemy of a Bluerobic hero. Believe it or not, I'm a huge fan!
Sara narrowed her eyes and grinned.
- I thought 17.5 billion was me being generous. Should I just take her to an auction and jack up the price?
Shin-ju finally understood what Sara was plotting.
She had been planning to make up for the reduced refugee protection fee in one fell swoop with the cost of an SS-Class hero.
The name Sharin Tankobichi was certainly a difficult one for him.
Because just as Earth had its great figures who brought it glory, every alien planet had its own promising 'heroes'.
The United Galactic Government assigned them ranks and set ransoms for them, to be recruited to Earth as needed.
Especially for an SS-Class hero from the Bluerobic planet, which had close ties with Earth, her ransom would undoubtedly be an astronomical figure.
However, Shin-ju soon wore an unreadable smile.
*Of all people, it had to be Sharin Tankobichi.*
He had heard all about her heroic exploits and her brutality from Enri.
Shin-ju was careful not to let his inner thoughts show as he formulated a plan.
He maintained his expressionless face and gave a subtle nod.
*'Even better. I can work with this.'*