Chapter 190
Chapter 190
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Sinking the Battleship
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After hearing about our next move, the underlings suddenly started bustling about.
It was obvious what was happening.
We had set Club Shaddai as our next target. And we'd said we needed Britain's cooperation.
Most of the British government officials no longer had the luxury to sit here laughing and eating.
Of course, that didn't apply to us. We could just eat the food they provided, chat idly, stay in the accommodations they'd prepared for us, and then hop on the ship and leave.
"What?"
The Prime Minister, who had been eating, received a hurried report from someone who rushed over and stiffened his face.
"These crazy bastards."
He muttered that and looked our way. Why? What was going on?
"The Barbary battleship is anchored near Portugal. About 850 km away."
I was wondering what the problem was when Jeong Oh-hoon spoke up.
"Those guys probably have Tomahawks."
I let out a "Huh?" at Jeong Oh-hoon's words.
"Dude, aren't those cruise missiles?"
They weren't just pirates anymore once they had a battleship, but come on—that was too much. What kind of damn pirates had Tomahawks?!
Jeong Oh-hoon replied to my question.
"Rumor has it they've recently bought a few UAVs equipped with Hellfire missiles."
Listening to all this was utterly ridiculous. At this rate, a single pirate crew might have more firepower than Britain itself.
"So what? They gonna launch or something?"
The Prime Minister answered me.
"It's well within range."
The message they were sending was crystal clear. Then someone else approached again.
"We've received a radio transmission. They're demanding communication with Headhunter."
I stood up and said,
"Patch me through. And are there any weapon systems currently in use by Britain that can intercept that battleship?"
The soldier who reported answered,
"We have the means, but they all require approaching within a certain distance."
Crazy bastards. After pondering for a moment, I let out a small sigh.
"Let's hear the radio message first. And prepare a helicopter."
A short while later, I was connected to the Barbary captain in question.
"Damn it."
My words were met with an immediate response over the radio.
I replied in a dry voice.
"Go ahead, you fucking mutt."
I laughed in disbelief and spoke into the radio.
"You thought I'd let scum like you drag me around?"
I kept talking and gestured to Jeong Oh-hoon. He stood and walked over. I paused the radio and told him,
"We'll take a chopper, light up the greatsword, and fire it off. You've done it before."
Jeong Oh-hoon nodded. No modern air defense system could handle a greatsword launched by him.
And its small size wasn't an issue at all. Jeong Oh-hoon's greatsword acted like a herald delivering Paradox Flame.
"Yeah, I know. So what do you want me to do about it?"
Some guys were still mistaken about my mindset. Well, most people probably were. It was hard to imagine the hero who took down Gonzalo caring about civilian casualties.
The problem was, I wasn't that kind of hero.
"If I let a pleasure-killing terrorist like you jerk me around, it'll just pile up more casualties in the end."
I was used to weighing human lives. I'd been through this countless times. Hesitating over sudden big losses always led to even greater ones down the line.
As we talked, Jeong Oh-hoon and I boarded the helicopter.
"You hear that rotor sound? We're chopper-bound straight for that tub you brag about."
No, we wouldn't get that close. I said to the person guiding us to the helicopter,
"Do you have any intel on the battleship's anti-air missiles?"
"We believe it's Sea Sparrows. Range is about 19 km."
I looked at Jeong Oh-hoon, and he nodded.
"I can launch the greatsword from farther than that."
That should do it. The key was how long it took to get near. I grabbed the radio and said,
"Do whatever you want. Either way, that tub you're so proud of ain't sailing home."
Even if they ran now, the chopper was faster. Ours was already airborne.
"Is that so? Do what you gotta do."
I cut the radio after that. They were probably going to launch missiles at Britain for real.
At the end of the flight, our helicopter successfully arrived near the battleship in question.
"One shot, right?"
"No worries. Once it hits, Mother Nature will handle the rest."
I said that as I wrapped the greatsword in Paradox Flame.
Paradox Flame
Target: Buoyancy | Effect: Instant combustion
Jeong Oh-hoon, aiming and charging his mana, spoke up.
"Firing."
With a whoosh of wind, the greatsword traced a dark trajectory through the sky. By then, the Barbary tub had launched 15 Tomahawk missiles toward Britain.
Eight of them were cluster munitions to wipe out entire areas, and the remaining seven were precision strikes aimed at the harbor.
"They all missed?"
"Yeah, Sang-ah worked hard on that."
I'd told them over the radio to fire if they wanted, but I hadn't said it recklessly without countermeasures.
Han Sang-ah had used the Tattoo of Abundance she got after taking down Gonzalo to gather near-infinite mana and create EMP zones along the missiles' flight paths.
The missiles, flying gleefully, got fried by the EMPs, veered off course, and turned into duds. Most splashed into the sea, and two hit British soil—but not their intended targets.
Still, missiles had struck British mainland, causing some damage even if unintended. All we could do was take solace in minimizing it.
"You had your fun mouthing off. Now pay the price."
The cost of lobbing missiles at someone else's house wasn't cheap. They'd braced for losing a battleship.
The launched greatsword flew unhindered and embedded itself in the battleship. Black flames spread, engulfing it.
Soon after, the battleship began sinking at an insane speed. No, "sinking" wasn't right—it was like something was yanking it down.
The Paradox Flame clinging to the battleship was burning away its buoyancy.
"The battleship turned into a submarine."
It was going underwater, so submarine fit, right? The problem was it wouldn't resurface. The massive vessel plunged straight into the depths and never came back up.
"I could burn away the sea's buoyancy entirely, but..."
That would make the ocean impassable for any ship—turning legend into reality where even a feather wouldn't float.
Couldn't hurt our precious one-and-only Earth like that. One battleship wouldn't cause major issues.
"That's gotta be about 100 billion down the drain."
Seo Sin-cheol's gut was probably burning right now. He'd sent that battleship, and it went under without accomplishing squat.
I radioed him again.
"How's it feel having your tub eaten by the sea? I'd love to hear."
No response. I tapped the radio.
"Hello? Anyone there? Oh, right, you're not human. Anyway, nothing to say?"
I let out an "Oh yeah?"
"You crazy bitch sends it on your own, it ends up in the drink, and now you're bitching at me? Hey, why's this my fault?"
I didn't ask for it. Grinning, I continued,
"You fled North Africa to Korea 'cause prison scared you, became a pirate boss, and now think you're hot shit."
All they had was that damn list again. That's why you don't hand out laurels lightly.
"Oh, really? That fancy list won't cut it against my fame. You could bring a truckload of your kind, and our rep still outshines."
Rep wasn't the only thing they couldn't match.
"Skill either. Squat in your pirate den's shitter sucking your thumb, waiting for us to come slit your throat."
With that, I cut the radio unilaterally.
"Let's head back."
We chopper-ed back to the palace. The welcoming vibe from moments ago had turned into tense stiffness.
Getting preemptively punked by pirates wouldn't leave a good taste. Worse, without us, Britain would've taken real damage.
National pride was in tatters.
"Thank you for your help. We nearly had a disaster."
I shook my head at the Prime Minister's thanks.
"Glad the damage was minimal."
No need to drag out the embarrassment with more talk on the topic.
"Better to hurry, though. We minimized it, but..."
"Missiles did hit Britain, after all."
The public was already uneasy; this wouldn't help.
"We'll advance the schedule as much as possible."
After wrapping up with the Prime Minister, we exchanged farewells with the Queen again and headed to our lodgings.
"You okay on mana spent?"
Han Sang-ah nodded.
"I can still go another hour. It'll recharge after. That's what it's there for anyway."
Han Sang-ah rummaged through the liquor cabinet, let out a "Whoa," and pulled out a bottle of fine whiskey.
"Ardbeg Supernova. Didn't know they still had this."
"Famous stuff?"
Han Sang-ah replied,
"It was rare even before, but post-collapse Britain's made it near impossible to get. The distillery's gone."
Given Britain's state, a distillery still running would be the real miracle.
"Grandpa's picky with liquor, but he'd down this no questions asked."
Han Sang-ah said that, then put it back.
"You praise it that much but won't drink?"
She nodded.
"I hate the peat smell. Tried it—tastes like chewing burnt firewood."
What a description. We chatted idly for a bit, then turned in for the night.
The next morning, we heard preparations for departure were complete. Getting one-upped by pirates must've stung Britain bad.
I hadn't expected them to ready sails this fast.