Chapter 68
Chapter 68
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 68
Chapter Title: Transplanting and Compassion
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Kuuu…!
“Yeah, just like that. Ooh…! Hey! Don’t use too much force! You’ll ruin the good parts! That’s right. That’s right. Nice and gentle, like petting it.”
Perched on the shoulder of the colossal golem—whom I’d named Titan—I was yelling my instructions at the top of my lungs.
Kuuu…!
Following my orders, it extended a gentle touch. Even so, with its merciless strength, it effortlessly uprooted the mana grass with a series of cracks and pops.
With a single motion of its hand, a good bunch of mana grass came out roots and all.
And at the same time—pat pat pat!
“Whee! Whee! Whee!”
The mini golems who’d been playing on top of Titan’s head scampered along its arm and charged toward the mana grass.
“Whee!”
The tiny things started working with the precision of expert assistants demonstrating a technique.
Snap—they picked the fruits and harvested the usable parts.
“Whee!”
Anything useless got ruthlessly tossed to the ground. Then they carefully detached the base and roots.
They dumped all the collected mana grass fragments into the Molangtori.
Then—pat pat pat!
This time, they climbed up Titan’s arm, leaped off—
“Jump slowly! You’ll fall!”
—and dove through the window into the factory’s second floor, heading for the prepared space.
That space was the mana grass cultivation houses I’d set up in advance in a few empty rooms on the second floor.
Mana grass grew mindlessly with just a bit of mana, but it was possible to cultivate it more delicately and precisely—using specialized mana grass cultivation devices.
With those, the mana grass wouldn’t grow wild anymore.
They said the fruits would ripen fuller, too.
Same principle as pruning grapes or watermelons—removing the worthless small fruits to funnel all the nutrients to the promising ones.
Of course, in terms of pure efficiency, it wasn’t strictly necessary.
But if you shifted perspectives, it was absolutely essential work to make use of that gate up in the sky.
“You get the hang of it now, right? Mind putting me up on the roof?”
“Wheeee!”
Titan let out a cry that was similar to the minis’ but more majestic—and somehow cutely incongruous—before picking me up in its hand.
……Honestly, it was a little scary. I was half-convinced I’d pop like a balloon.
There was that one famous comic where the little brother turned into a giant and accidentally squished his big brother who was riding on his shoulder… I didn’t want to end up the same way.
Plop.
But luckily, Titan was a surprisingly delicate guy. Even though I was all squish, it set me down neatly on the rooftop of the attic room. Its fingers felt soft rather than hard.
“Where is it…….”
My view was one floor higher than usual. I pulled a pair of binoculars out from the inner pocket of my crossbody bag.
Then I peered through them at the T-4 Gate—and the scene right below it.
It was quite a distance, but the binoculars were high-quality; people’s figures appeared crystal clear.
Yeah, people. Specifically, the construction workers dispatched by White Night.
They’d only started work yesterday. Building an elevator straight to the gate.
The guild that built the best elevators among the Five Skyscrapers. They were the ones who’d made even me tremble in fear.
“Hey, kids! No slacking—hurry it up! Time’s short.”
So before that elevator construction reached a decent height—before it got high enough to spot my factory—I had to finish transplanting the mana grass.
‘Around the 20th floor, and they’ll be able to see this place.’
Otherwise, the workers might catch on that this was Molangmol’s base for no good reason.
Of course, once it was complete, no need to worry.
‘They’re walling off this side completely.’
White Night’s pride and joy was the all-glass elevator, but this time, only the Five Skyscrapers side would be glass.
And honestly… what was there to see here anyway? Just one factory and a mountain.
It was way more profitable to just soak in the views of Korea’s landmark Five Skyscrapers.
Tap tap.
[WantToRaiseADragon: How long until completion?]
[WhiteNight: Probably about a month. Could be faster if the weather cooperates.]
They were building fast. I’d heard of methods stacking a floor every three days, but this was way quicker.
Most of the workers were Awakeners, and they were building an elevator, not a full structure—that explained the pace.
Anyway.
In the meantime, the monsters’ outings outside the factory would be strictly prohibited.
“Whee! Whee!”
Actually, if it weren’t for these mini golems, I wouldn’t have to worry.
Pudding slimes didn’t particularly enjoy playing outside.
“Whee! Whee!”
“Hey! I told you dropping them ruins them! Mini! I said to keep the kids in line.”
…“Whee!”
These puberty-struck punks were the only problem. They listened, but only halfway. Overflowing with energy that gave me headaches.
Golems were supposed to be slow and sluggish.
‘What, did the soul of a bored Border Collie that died on a walk possess them?’
They could work eight hours and still have eight hours’ worth of play stamina left—terrifying creatures.
They’d learned playground games from tablet videos, but after breaking a few factory lights, I’d banished them outside.
Not satisfied, they begged for days, so I installed basketball hoops and soccer goals. On my dime, naturally.
“Whee!”
Anyway, I was issuing a no-outings order until the elevator was done.
They might protest it was monster abuse, but it wasn’t a big deal.
‘I’m dispatching most of the mini golems into the gate anyway.’
They had a separate mission.
Only ten minis would stay at the factory—the minimum for Molangtori and Molangtex production.
‘No worries about shell supply anymore.’
Thud! Thud!
About five minis were clinging to Titan’s leg, peeling something off.
Golem shells. Exactly the same composition as the minis’. And harvestable once a day, no less.
‘That’s enough for forty Molangtex per day….’
In conclusion, Titan alone covered it.
A-grade-or-higher armor didn’t have insane demand anyway. Only hunters above B-rank bought it.
Tap tap!
[WantToRaiseADragon: When’s the overseas certification coming?]
[WhiteNight: Should be soon. Probably passes in three days… Then we’ll contact distribution guilds.]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Oh ho.]
[WhiteNight: They’re partnered with Hunter Gallery, so contracting shouldn’t be hard.]
So we were paving the way for overseas expansion.
Sales would be direct overseas shipping. For speed, partnering with a distribution guild that could ship anywhere worldwide in five days max was essential.
Ding!
[WhiteNight: How’s the interior construction going?]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Starting soon.]
[WhiteNight: You sure you don’t need real help?]
[WantToRaiseADragon: Yep.]
As I mentioned earlier, the minis excluding those ten—plus any additional golems summoned—were all gate-bound.
There were preparations to make for squeezing money out of the gate. That’s what the elevator was for, too.
Having sketched out future plans in my head for a moment, I pressed the binoculars to my eyes again.
“…No, they’re seriously fast.”
How much time had passed? Already the first floor was going up. Small elite crew doing the work. With Molangtori and Molangtex support, no holds barred.
Meanwhile, our cuties were—
“Whee! Whee!”
“You gonna finish today like that? Quit playing and focus!”
For their first full-group joint operation, they were too busy squealing excitedly.
Sigh. Today’s a bust.
I hadn’t expected to wrap up today anyway.
Whatever. I’ll just lie down and rest…
Ding!
[WhiteNight: You see this? Just-breaking news.]
[WhiteNight: (Video link)]
That instant, a new message from WhiteNight dropped from above.
What big news? It was rare for them to do this—my heart skipped for no reason.
Squeeze.
Clicking the link started the news playback.
[We’re under attack from a—a massive A-rank monster. Flame Lotus dispatched A-rank hunters to exterminate it, but the situation is more serious than expected……]
The gate over the sea that Flame Lotus had bid on before. Seems a monster escaped from there.
“Oof…….”
They hadn’t built the barrier yet, so the damage hit the under-construction bridge full force.
The attacked section collapsed outright. Only the end got wrecked—not the whole bridge—which was lucky for Flame Lotus, I guess.
[Goooaaaaah!]
The problem was the monster. Only its grotesque head poking above the surface.
In theory, A-rank hunters could take down an A-rank monster without much trouble.
Except.
It was completely in the monster’s home turf. The vast ocean cradling it gently.
Unless you had a hunter with specialized abilities, facing it there would be tough.
You couldn’t even stand on water, and luring it onto the bridge would spell bigger disaster.
“…Tsk tsk tsk. Should’ve lived a good life.”
Half pity, half schadenfreude, I was about to close the news when a scene caught my eye.
“…….”
Construction workers flailing in the sea. Ordinary day laborers just doing their jobs for pay—the winter-cold ocean devouring their lives bit by bit.
No rescuers for them, unfortunately.
[Goooaaaaahhh!]
No one but hunters could even approach.
Police and fire trucks wailed sirens, sure, but all they could do was control ground personnel.
“…Screw it.”
In the end, I shot to my feet.