Chapter 75

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Translator: True Detective

Chapter: 75

Chapter Title: Share Carefully

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"...Lieutenant Uben. The chat says the other places have failed."

At the soldier's words about the failure, the male officer and the two Solvers turned their heads simultaneously.

"Failed? Casualties?"

"Casualties..."

As the male officer asked about the damage, a post appeared in the chat as if it had been waiting.

"Five of our soldiers and three Solvers are dead."

"... "

"... "

The male officer naturally turned to look at the Solver.

The male Solver shook his head as if it were out of the question.

"No can do. We've completed our assignment. Anything more is impossible."

"Couldn't you help us out a bit more?"

"If you had about 30 more of those glass orbs, maybe."

'Glass orbs?'

I turned to Rubyel at the mention of glass orbs.

Rubyel also pondered deeply upon hearing they needed the glass orbs.

"If I cast bug-repelling magic, can I get a nano suit too?"

"A nano suit?"

"Yeah."

"... "

Even so, a nano suit seemed like a stretch.

'She must have hated giving away the nano suit for the Awakening Stone and bloodstone at the start.'

The nano suit was valuable enough that I might not have gotten it if the bugs weren't involved.

I didn't think she'd hand over something like that for a few glass orbs, so I gave Rubyel an honest answer.

"A nano suit is probably too much. They likely gave me mine at ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠a loss already."

"What if we ask again this time?"

Rubyel suggested asking once more, unwilling to give up.

I could understand her desire for the nano suit—it had more than one or two useful functions.

"We'll wait 10 minutes."

On top of that, the male officer planned to wait 10 minutes for contact from the person providing the glass orbs.

'But 10 minutes isn't enough to make 30 glass orbs.'

From watching Rubyel, each one took about 2-3 minutes.

In 10 minutes, even at top speed, 4-5 would be the limit.

That's when Quick Fix Doctor☆ requested a 1:1 chat. I could guess why.

The male Solver wanted 30 glass orbs too.

He probably planned to throw them at every bug in sight.

'Slime devil?'

Come to think of it, how was the slime devil doing?

"... "

I was momentarily speechless at Quick Fix Doctor's reply.

In the end, there was no need for infiltration—just send the slime devil.

I thought the same as Quick Fix Doctor.

Considering the 4-channel weapons, even a slime devil shouldn't last long.

Quick Fix Doctor added another reason.

Me?

Then the answer was clear.

Ignoring this could endanger Quick Fix Doctor and Golden King later.

I'd suspected from the functions, but hearing it directly felt different.

'Slime devil or nano suit...'

Slime devil seemed more valuable.

'To brother Yoo Hyun-min... Ah, might not work now.'

Controlling the slime devil required the 5-channel witch's power.

But help was unlikely until talking to the Grand Witch.

'Either way, need to talk to the Grand Witch.'

In short, slime devil or lots of stones.

"Rubyel. I need your help."

Rubyel had been watching the chat with Quick Fix Doctor beside me, so she knew the situation.

"Don't like helping 4-channel, but... fine."

Rubyel took glass orbs from me, turned them into magic items, and passed them to Quick Fix Doctor, who relayed them to the broadcast—the male officer's hands.

"Glass orbs. We destroy the other two spots too?"

The male officer shook his head at female Solver Kanel's words.

"Just one. The liquid monster handles the last."

"Liquid monster?"

The view shifted, showing the slime devil's upper body from afar.

At nearly max 100 meters, it was visible even from here.

"Wait? Then the liquid monster alone would've sufficed."

"It'd wreck the factory too."

Kwaaaang—

As the officer finished, the slime devil attacked machines, swinging its elongated arm.

Hundreds of meters of arm shattered factories and machines with a deafening roar.

"Military didn't expect the liquid monster to be this strong."

"Got it. The orbs?"

"We'll keep supplying them."

After that, the officer and Solvers headed to the entrance with the glass orbs.

Two soldiers drawing machine attention at the entrance; the Solver cleared it by throwing orbs.

"Ha. These orbs are wild. No powder or anything—how do the bugs just die?"

From their talk, the magic effect wasn't visible.

'Anyway.'

Watching further, both slime devil and Solver sides destroyed power plants without issue.

Slime devil bulldozed in, demolishing the building mercilessly.

'Solvers used orbs and bombs like before.'

Mission complete, they quickly escaped the factory zone.

Throwing remaining orbs at encountered machines.

......

...

From the chat, bugs infecting machines were normally hard to kill.

'Orbs are great, but...'

They only lasted about 2 hours.

"Rubyel, can you make the duration permanent?"

"No way. Like I said, no tools or materials. This is only possible because it's temporary."

Rubyel boasted about creating magic items from nothing, even if temporary.

She wasn't the lying type, so this was probably true.

'Guess we have to supply them in real-time.'

Bug factory ops halted, but the overall situation hadn't reversed.

Just prevented rapid worsening—4-channel unchanged from before.

'Ask brother Yoo Hyun-min in 7-channel about a bug-eating monster?'

Unlikely, but 7-channel might have one.

'Or since Rubyel used bug-repellent magic...'

Thinking of magic-related 5-channel:

Coincidentally, 5-channel's witch, Otil, requested a 1:1.

'What's up?'

Grand Witch needed days to prepare.

Probably something else.

At Grand Witch level, she delegated.

"... "

I knew I had to meet her, but it felt burdensome now.

Deep down, I wondered how an ordinary guy like me ended up here—but that was escapism.

'Need 5-channel's help for mana potions and slime control alone.'

Decision made, I told Otil.

Otil sent an item via 1:1 trade after that.

'A ring.'

Wear and sleep to meet Grand Witch.

See you later meant I'd meet Otil too.

While thinking, the Hero Party's steps halted abruptly.

"...?"

Wondering what, I turned.

"... "

"... "

Everyone stared with expressions full of things to say.

Then I realized I'd been sharing the gallery screen with everyone for a while.