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Chapter 676: The Vast World (4)

Salzeo, Kardal, Shirach.

The great cosmic families that stood in opposition to Yeongwoo.

Among them, Salzeo was a prestigious house whose name resounded even across galaxy clusters, while Kardal was a royal family famed for its aggressiveness.

Shirach was certainly a house with potential as well, but their stronghold lay in the “Milky Way,” where the Earthship had departed from, didn’t it?

So the chances of them having a branch in the Mekio Galaxy, which lay far away from there, were not high.

In other words, if there was an enemy that possessed a planet in the Mekio Galaxy, then it would most likely be either Salzeo or Kardal.

‘Either one would be satisfying. Just make sure we catch one of them.’

As Yeongwoo stroked his chin with a pleased expression, Mantero, his face stiff, asked again to confirm.

—Are you serious…? This will cause an extremely serious problem.

Dropping hundreds of Grade-4 prisoners.

And on top of that, each of these prisoners had a different galaxy they wanted to return to, so they would each hijack different ships to make their way back.

In other words, that so-called ‘unlucky planet’ would be devastated like a field ravaged by a swarm of locusts.

“A serious problem? What exactly is the problem?”

When Yeongwoo asked calmly, Mantero looked around in confusion and spoke.

—W-well… once these individuals arrive on a planet…

Total chaos.

Total destruction.

In truth, even without Mantero pointing it out, everyone present already knew that.

“Right, a large-scale robbery will begin. And since the other side won’t just sit back and take it, there’ll probably be quite a fierce battle.”

—Which is exactly why, if that opponent ends up being Salzeo or Kardal, wouldn’t that be a huge problem?

“Why?”

—That’s… well… obviously…

“Wouldn’t it actually be better if we targeted Salzeo or Kardal if possible?”

—…?

“They’re strong and wealthy. That means there’ll be plenty of ships on whatever planet they occupy for the gentlemen here to take.”

—Ah.

Realizing that the very direction of their thinking was fundamentally different, Mantero’s mouth fell open.

“And besides, they deserve to get hit once in a while too. When else would we get a chance to mess with them like this?”

—That… does make some sense, but in the end, dealing with the aftermath will fall to us.

“Of course they’ll be furious. But aren’t they already plenty angry as it is? What’s going to change…?”

Yeongwoo spoke so nonchalantly that, for a moment, Mantero tilted his head as if thinking, ‘Is that so?’

“And more importantly.”

Then Yeongwoo pointed out the window at space as he continued.

“What happens if the target of this ‘terror’ isn’t Salzeo or Kardal?”

—What do you mean by that…?

“What if the planet we pick is small, weak, and not even evil? Then we’d basically just be tormenting innocent people, wouldn’t we?”

—But here, we already have—

Mantero glanced subtly at the ‘guests,’ who were evil incarnate themselves.

But Yeongwoo cut him off and continued.

“Just because we’re transporting criminals doesn’t mean we have to commit evil deeds ourselves, does it?”

—Of course not.

“If we present these people as a gift to Salzeo or Kardal, that becomes a good deed. Just like poison can become medicine if used properly.”

—…….

At those words, Mantero couldn’t bring himself to respond.

“Salzeo and Kardal… they’re the kind who go around beating others senseless as they please. So now it’s time for the ‘karma’ they’ve accumulated to return as a massive ‘retribution.’”

—Hmm… I can’t say I fully understand, but I do agree that this is better than sending our guests off from a weak planet.

“If you understand that much, that’s already a remarkable improvement.”

Nodding, Yeongwoo pointed to the navigation device at the center of the helm.

“Of course, all of this only works if their planets are within the Mekio Galaxy. So let’s find them quickly.”

At that, Mantero waved his hand through the air, bringing up holographic monitors.

—It’s a simple search operation, so it won’t take long. Besides, both families are so famous and influential that most of their occupied territories are publicly known.

At that, Yeongwoo suddenly grew curious and asked,

“By the way, between Salzeo, Kardal, and Shirach—who’s the strongest?”

Mantero answered without even needing to think.

—Salzeo.

“Salzeo? They’re that strong? I can understand Shirach, but Kardal is a royal family.”

—Being a royal family doesn’t automatically make their status the highest. Of course, Kardal still possesses several times the military strength of an average cosmic house.

“But Salzeo stands above even that?”

—Salzeo is a renowned great house even across galaxy clusters. Their history is deep, but more importantly, the density of their time has allowed them to grow differently. At this point, they boast a scale that is on a completely different level from other houses.

“The density of time…”

It was a phrase Yeongwoo couldn’t help but mull over, given that he himself experienced a hundred million years of growth every day.

—This planetary ship uses ‘passages’ to transcend physical limits, but with ordinary navigation, even reaching three or four galaxy clusters is the limit. And even then, the vast majority of beings never leave a single galactic group.

“Don’t call it ‘this planetary ship.’ It feels distant. ‘Earthship,’ or simply ‘us,’ would be more appropriate, wouldn’t it?”

—…Understood. I’ll correct that to Earthship.

“In any case, you’re saying that to some people, Salzeo might be the strongest house in the entire universe they know.”

—That’s correct.

That was also why Mantero was concerned about escalating conflict with Salzeo.

Of course, given the nature of the Earthship, it was possible to flee to the opposite end of the universe if conditions allowed—but at the same time, it wouldn’t be strange at all if they were detected by Salzeo’s surveillance network at any time.

And then, finally—

—…Ah.

While scanning the composition of the Mekio Galaxy, Mantero let out a low exclamation.

“What is it? Nothing showed up?”

—No, the results are in.

“Then that’s good news.”

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Saying so, Yeongwoo looked at the screen Mantero had displayed.

Sss. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Inside the holographic display, a single planet appeared.

“So that’s the unlucky planet.”

—…Yes. A tactical planet owned by Salzeo.

“A tactical planet?”

—You can think of it as a forward base prepared in advance so they can provide rapid support when battles break out within the Mekio Galaxy.

“Oh… then they must have plenty of ships there.”

—They certainly should.

“Then there’s no need to hesitate.”

As if everything had become perfectly clear, Yeongwoo confidently addressed the Grade-4 prisoners.

“Alright, gentlemen. Your passage home has been prepared. Let’s head to the Mekio Galaxy!”

* * *

Salzeo’s tactical planet versus hundreds of Grade-4 prisoners.

Who would win?

In truth, it wasn’t even worth pondering—the latter.

To subdue the prisoners gathered here again would require at least dozens of Grade-3 beings, or a large-scale deployment of Kaujo, the police bureau’s strongest strike force.

‘No matter how powerful Salzeo is, they can’t be stronger than the police bureau. Today, I’ll strip their planet down to the soles of its shoes.’

With that thought, the dark expanse of the Mekio Galaxy was already spreading across Yeongwoo’s vision.

As soon as the transfer of the cannons was complete, they had headed straight for a black hole that contained a passage to Mekio, leaping across space.

—At this rate… before long, the number of pacts will reach into the hundreds.

As always, Mantero voiced his rigid concern.

In fact, there were already twelve Black Agreements, so even if they shared stories with two black holes per visit, they would still need to go around to six different locations.

【Black Agreements】

|Opening new paths gradually becomes easier.

|Agreements secured: 12

—I’m not sure whether it will even be physically possible to uphold all these pacts in the future.

“Well… but not using the passages isn’t really an option either, is it? From our perspective, and in terms of efficiency, it just doesn’t make sense.”

—That is true, but…

In truth, no one present understood the utility of these passages better than Mantero, a former navigator.

If the issue of the pacts could be resolved, then in theory, the Earthship could traverse all of space.

It was an irreplaceable power—and an experience beyond wonder itself.

People spoke lightly of the ‘universe,’ but in reality, only a tiny fraction of cosmic families could roam multiple galaxy clusters, while most ordinary families couldn’t even reach the edge of the cluster they belonged to.

And as for individual beings, many never even managed to leave their own galactic group.

Thus, the Earthship’s ability to ignore the physical distances of space and travel freely was, in itself, a blessing.

At the same time, however, it was also a disaster.

Because being able to traverse all of space also meant the possibility of causing incidents on a universal scale.

—…….

Having imagined such a terrifying possibility, Mantero unconsciously shuddered and quickly shut down that train of thought.

Then, right on cue, he turned off the monitor alarm that had begun to ring.

They had finally reached their destination.

—That is Planet Girgo. A tactical stronghold of the Salzeo family.

Outside the window, in the direction Mantero pointed, a dark red planet floated ominously.

At the sight, the Grade-4 prisoners crowded against the window, their eyes gleaming.

—Ohh… so that’s it.

—We just pick a ship from there and leave?

—At last, true freedom.

As befitted former… no, current prisoners, not a single one of them asked what position Salzeo might be in.

Naturally, they simply assumed they would go there and rob the place.

Piiiaaat!

Then, as the window of the helm flashed white, a one-sided transmission arrived from Planet Girgo.

「You have now entered the jurisdiction of the Salzeo family.」

At that, Mantero shook his head in admiration.

—They’re declaring the family name instead of the planet’s name. As expected of Salzeo.

“That probably makes things simpler for them.”

Normally, the next step would be a prompt asking the visitor’s purpose, but Salzeo’s method was different.

「Warning lights will activate sequentially from this moment. The third warning light will be the signal for attack. If you do not wish to engage, withdraw from the jurisdiction.」

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