Chapter 192
Chapter 192
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 192
Chapter Title: Sierra Leone Standoff
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Anyway, thanks to Jeong No-hun's vaccine-style anti-air system, we were able to approach Freetown far more safely than expected.
"They're putting up fierce resistance."
When dealing with a large number of weak enemies from a distance rather than a powerful few, Jeong No-hun's efficiency was overwhelmingly superior.
He'd pull out all sorts of bizarre gadgets from his subspace and scatter mana shells everywhere, sending the pirates tumbling down like flies hit with insecticide.
Hundreds of them couldn't stop just three of us. The speedboat we were on docked at Freetown without a single scratch.
The enemies who had been desperately attacking us moments ago were nowhere to be seen. The harbor was wrapped in eerie silence.
"Hic... sob..."
A sobbing sound reached my ears. Turning my gaze, I spotted a boy trembling under a collapsed wall.
He was curled up tight, staring at us with eyes filled with terror. Sierra Leone's official language was English.
"Kid. That grenade pin you're hiding in your arms? Pulling it won't make a difference."
The three of us standing before this little guy weren't weak enough to die from a grenade.
Despite my warning, the boy yanked the pin on the grenade.
The grenade exploded. The boy died, and we were fine. If meaningless death took physical form, wouldn't it look just like that boy's end?
After the blast swept through, I brushed off my shoulders and spoke to Jeong No-hun and Han Sang-ah.
"You probably know this already, but ditch the morals and common sense."
There was a newborn baby sucking at a breast that would never give milk again, refusing to leave its dead mother's arms. A few knights approached to rescue the child.
A magic trap planted on the corpse detonated, blowing up the newborn and the knights along with it. Things like that happened as if it were nothing.
When comrades who'd been fighting alongside you just moments ago die like that, everyone on the battlefield starts ignoring anything that could stir human emotions.
People have a knack for painting scenes more hellish than hell itself. When those experiences repeat, emotions eventually wear down.
It'd be nice if there were a switch in people's heads to turn sympathy on and off like a light.
"Let's go."
The guys who'd been raining bullets on us from the harbor were hiding somewhere. And they'd definitely try any dirty trick to inflict even a little damage on us.
"It blew up."
For example, intact-looking drums or roads would explode, or windows would suddenly shatter, spilling out steel balls.
"Man, everything in sight seems to be exploding."
Jeong No-hun muttered in a bewildered tone. Just as he said, everything visible to us was detonating as we passed by.
"We can prevent most of it by blocking the electric signals."
Han Sang-ah said. And with her abilities, that was entirely possible.
"Mana's too precious for that."
The road ahead was long, and this would keep happening the whole way. Keeping electric signals jammed constantly would drain Han Sang-ah's mana nonstop.
"They can't inflict any real lethal damage on us anyway."
And it's not like we couldn't detect them. To plant bombs without a hunter noticing, you'd need another hunter's abilities.
Just rigging IEDs like Middle Eastern terrorists do against the U.S. military wouldn't cut it for detonation.
— Ah, can you hear me? Headhunter. We are Barbaria.
A voice boomed from a nearby abandoned radio. It was a bit clumsy, but it was Korean. Spoken just loud enough for us to hear.
— We've taken 500 women and children hostage in a nearby village. If you stay in Sierra Leone, we'll execute one brutally every five minutes!
A hostage threat. If you don't want innocent casualties, get out of Sierra Leone now.
The terrified voices of the captured hostages were broadcast over the radio.
"I can pinpoint the location."
Han Sang-ah could track the transmitted electric signals. Guessing the direction of the hostage site from that wasn't hard.
"It's a trap."
I nodded at Jeong No-hun's assessment.
"Obviously a trap."
We didn't even know if those supposed hostages were real. Even if they were, the place holding them was probably rigged with bombs wall-to-wall.
Time to make a decision.
"So, head there anyway, or ignore it and push on to Dakar?"
I answered Jeong No-hun.
"Common sense says you'd pick one of those."
But I'm the kind of guy who thinks beyond common sense. Cute little bastards, trying to threaten me.
I sauntered over to the radio and spoke leisurely.
"You know what we'll do the moment you kill a hostage?"
— What, kill us all?
"Nope."
I grinned.
"The second that happens, not a single diamond mine or oil field in Sierra Leone will be left standing, and all your drug fields will turn to barren wasteland."
I'll scour every inch of Sierra Leone I come to, find every precious metal mine, and turn them into no-go zones with Paradox Flame that no one can enter.
"Kill even one, and I'll pour time and effort into cutting off every single one of your money lines. The hostages might take a bullet, but you'll starve to death."
When negotiating with lunatics, you fight crazy with crazy. These guys value money over human lives anyway. Which means this threat will work.
— You think that ridiculous bluff will work?
"I'm not bluffing. I follow through. Doubting my follow-through? Hole in your head or what?"
Guess they'd forgotten who took the lead in crushing Gonzalo.
"Oh, and one thing I'm curious about. If we go to Qatar and wipe out Seo Shin-cheol and Barbaria's top brass, your bosses vanish... so who owns Sierra Leone then?"
Silence from the other end. Exactly. These idiots' heads are empty except for money. Hit that, and you're golden.
— That's...
They hadn't thought that far? Figures. No pirate thinks that deeply.
"Last warning. Cooperate, and we won't touch a thing in Sierra Leone. But if you're uncooperative, it'll become a barren rock not worth a dime."
After a brief silence, I continued.
"The guys controlling other North African spots will snatch up the lands they managed once Barbaria's heads roll. You'll be left sucking your thumbs."
It's not mutual destruction. Just the ones managing here go down. These money-grubbing worms from head to toe will find that harder to swallow.
"So..."
I took a deep breath and delivered the finale.
"Shut your traps and stay put. That's all from me. Your answer?"
Silence on the radio. Probably frantically calculating which choice makes more cash.
"Answer, damn it. Don't keep me waiting. I'm busy."
— Got it. We got it. Keep your promise not to touch anything.
I said "OK" and ended the transmission.
"..."
"What? Why the look?"
Jeong No-hun replied.
"That worked?"
"I told you not to think in our terms. These guys put price tags on human lives."
Not a military option. Hostages could still die, that's a fact.
They'd negotiate to save as many hostages as possible, not counter-threaten by targeting the enemy's cash flow.
What if a hostage dies by mistake? Someone has to take the heat if it goes south even slightly.
"Reminds me of the old days."
"Old days? What old days?"
When Jeong No-hun asked, I gave a vague answer.
"Something like this happened when I was ruling Seonhyeon in Gonzalo."
Not actually from Seonhyeon. But if there's something the enemy values, threatening it always works.
Mages once tried blackmailing me.
And I threatened to burn down their grand library with 5,000 years of history and vast archives. We ended up going "Ahaha, sorry!" and compromising.
"Let's move."
Hope this stops anyone from messing with hostages.
"Sierra Leone aside, what about Dakar?"
If Seo Shin-cheol's minions can pull this, he sure as hell can too.
"From here on, we move stealthily."
They can't pull this crap again if they don't know where we are.
"Staying undetected is simple. Spot them first, and we're good."
If we notice them before they notice us, we won't get caught. Jeong No-hun looked ambiguous at my words.
"Don't I have a lot on my plate lately?"
"You said you wanted work."
He scratched his head at my response.
"True, but now that it's piling up, it's getting annoying."
"A harpoon through the head might cure the annoyance. Want help?"
He shook his head with a pitying look.
"Threatening your teammate."
"Fine, then move it, human radar."
Grumbling, Jeong No-hun took the lead.
"I'll give you a chocolate bar later."
He let out a small sigh at Han Sang-ah's words.
"Do I look like a kid to you?"
"Then you won't eat it?"
"No, that's not it."
Damn it all.
"Just hurry up and move."
With that, we started moving quickly. Since we'd decided on stealth, we had to avoid combat as much as possible.
Fighting would reveal our position, and if our location got out, we might face another ridiculous hostage stunt.
"So, why do you think that kid really pulled the pin?"
As we walked, Jeong No-hun spoke in a slightly stiff voice. The opposite of his cheerful tone from moments ago.
"He was born here, grew up watching adults like that his whole life."
To that kid who blew himself up, dying like that was normal. He'd been raised seeing such scenes, taught that's how to live.
"Common sense isn't some grand thing. The world you grow up in becomes your common sense."
That kid just acted according to Sierra Leone's current norms.
"Don't overthink it. It'll just mess with your head and hurt your feelings."
Couldn't save him, he's dead, end of story. Shove it down and bury it.
Dwelling on every failure just invites creeping misery.
"Better to just spout nonsense like before."
Jeong No-hun responded.
"Ahead, northeast. Armed groups gathering. Distance... about 12 km."
Yeah, focusing on the job's good too. We lowered our stances and moved per Jeong No-hun's report.
But our pace was fast.
The path ahead was incredibly long. We'd cross at least four national borders.
And time wasn't unlimited.
"Someone must've tipped off Barbaria about us coming."
I named the suspects that came to mind at Han Sang-ah's words.
"Descendants of Dangun."
Highest probability.
"They didn't just tip them off."
From their perspective, we're thorns in the side, and the Korean government probably wants us dead too.
Better to brace for direct confrontation.