Chapter 682: The Vast World (10)

The emergency supply Neheren possessed even contained requisition rights for warships.

Even medium-sized vessels cost at least several billion, and once you got into the semi-large class, the numbers jumped into the tens of billions. It was no exaggeration to say the cache contained an absurd fortune.

“No matter how I think about it, this makes no sense. Are you really being mistreated by your family?”

-…These are items prepared under the assumption of the absolute worst-case scenario. If I had lost my life here today, the supply cache wouldn’t have opened in the first place.

So according to Neheren, everything inside this cache was, strictly speaking, for the sake of the Salzeo family’s prestige.

“…What’s that supposed to mean? This is for your family’s prestige?”

-What do you think would happen if rumors spread that a Salzeo had fled outside the universe to escape some threat and was wandering around penniless? There’s no way the family’s dignity would remain intact.

“Even so, they buried this much money in a box just for that possibility……?”

-Still, it was something they only needed to invest in once per family member.

“Hm. Running a family sounds complicated.”

-If I had died here today, the family would have recovered my supply cache later. Then there would’ve been no real loss.

“I guess. If they really cared about you, they would’ve spent the money used on this cache to strengthen your security instead.”

When Yeongwoo glanced toward the direction where he had fought the low-ranking guards, Neheren made a sullen expression.

-One receives treatment appropriate to one’s value.

“Quit saying that crap before I chop your head off for real. Your family’s just twisted in the head.”

At that, Neheren reflexively asked back.

-Then what about you?

“…What?”

-What’s your family like? You’re strong too, so in the end, that’s why you’re dressed like this…….

Neheren trailed off as his eyes swept up and down over the equipment Yeongwoo was wearing.

In other words, because he too was a highly valuable powerhouse, his family acknowledged him and equipped him with such gear.

Yeongwoo immediately frowned deeply.

“What the hell are you talking about, you bastard? You think my family gave me this equipment? Do you even know who the head of Renaissance is?”

-Who is it?

“Me.”

-…What?

Neheren’s navy-blue eyes widened.

Then he shook his head as though he couldn’t believe it.

-That’s impossible. A family head is…….

To Neheren, a family head was a godlike existence whom even members of the family could not casually meet.

With just a few words of command, they could crush entire planets, so they truly were little different from gods.

Which was why a family head personally involving themselves in trivial matters was impossible, and therefore someone doing menial work could never be the head of a family.

Like the captain of a planetary ship standing before him now.

-Wait, you’re a planetary ship captain.

“Yeah. And I’m also the head of Renaissance. Looks like you didn’t study up on me at all.”

-But if you truly are a family head, there’s no way you could possibly be in a place like this.

Neheren went right back to repeating himself.

So Yeongwoo pressed a hand to his forehead and pointed toward the supply cache with the tip of his bastard sword.

“That’s only true for lofty family heads like yours. I’m different. I don’t have the luxury of throwing my weight around. Hurry up and take out the next item.”

Even at this very moment, Earthship and Renaissance were being pursued by countless enemies.

So if they wanted to fight off foes who could attack at any moment, they needed to save every second possible to earn money and strengthen their armaments.

In other words, he didn’t have the spare capacity to swagger around calling himself a family head like those prestigious houses did.

Rustle.

At last, Neheren reached beneath the display shelf of the supply cache and pulled out a silver-white vambrace.

-This is the final item.

“What’s this? Equipment?”

As Yeongwoo held out his hand as if telling him to hand it over immediately, Neheren silently passed him the vambrace this time.

-You really are greedy.

“You’d have ended up just like me if you didn’t have the Salzeo background.”

The vambrace he finally received was none other than a legendary piece of equipment.

「Asceticism」 - Legendary Vambrace

【All Damage Reduction 10%】

【All Basic Resistance 25%】

【Salzeo’s Protection】

【Salzeo’s Protection】

|This vambrace substitutes for the Salzeo insignia.

“Oh ho.”

Since Yeongwoo had already solved his resistance problem through “Osmosis,” the basic resistance stat meant nothing to him, but all damage reduction was tremendously valuable.

“Looks like they packed this in so you could endure getting beaten longer.”

-…….

“No, but if they were going to do that, shouldn’t they at least have packed a proper weapon too?”

-What would a cripple do with a famed sword?

“Then at least a combat prosthetic leg.”

Well, considering Neheren had failed the qualification exam long ago and been exiled to the frontier, it wasn’t like he could have mastered any extraordinary martial arts.

-Anyway, now that the supply cache is empty… what are your plans moving forward?

“To kidnap you.”

-…What? Like I said before, it’ll be impossible to use me to demand ransom money, and besides, you already took more than enough money.

As Neheren pointed at the now-empty emergency supply cache, Yeongwoo shrugged.

“Who says it’s enough? And from what I can tell, getting ransom money for you isn’t ‘impossible.’”

-……?

“It all depends on how you do it. There’s skill involved in collecting ransom money too.”

Then Yeongwoo briefly turned his gaze toward empty space.

“And what are you going to do if I don’t kidnap you?”

-What’s that supposed to mean?

“I’m asking what you’re planning to do on this wrecked planet without any bodyguards. If you’re unlucky, you’ll run into some ‘real bandits’ and lose your head.”

At that, Neheren let out a harsh breath with an incredulous expression.

-What kind of nonsense is that? Of everyone I’ve met in my life, you are by far the most lawless and wicked. And if this isn’t banditry, then what is it?

Neheren pointed at the completely emptied emergency supply cache.

Yeongwoo scratched his cheek and replied.

“I’ll admit I’m somewhat lawless, but I absolutely can’t agree with the ‘wicked’ part. You don’t know anything about this universe.”

Of course, Yeongwoo himself was also an ignorant bumpkin when it came to the universe, but wasn’t everything relative?

What was certain was that this young master before him had never truly experienced the universe firsthand.

Though naturally, the man himself refused to acknowledge that.

-I don’t know anything about the universe? That’s the kind of thing you can only say because you have no idea how advanced Salzeo’s education is. Those shameless words themselves prove your ignorance!

“That’s just stuffing your head with knowledge, you idiot. What do you actually know in practical terms? You don’t even know how to fight properly, and you got all the money in your hands stolen.”

-What?

The moment Neheren narrowed his brow and asked back, Yeongwoo moved like lightning and twisted Neheren’s wrist.

-Ugh, aaagh!

The Salzeo-exclusive coins and armwatch he’d been holding scattered onto the floor, and Yeongwoo promptly snatched up the high-value coins as though he’d been waiting for this.

“As originally intended, this’ll be used for your fare.”

-Fare……?

“You’re getting on my planetary ship and going somewhere with me anyway, right? Then you’ve gotta pay to ride. Don’t feel cheated. You’re not the only one who paid fare.”

He was referring to Tiape Delmir and Poachi Shalmoram, who had boarded Earthship long ago.

Hadn’t even those benefactors been denied free passage?

“Now then, let’s go.”

-W-Where to?

“What do you mean where? I told you we’re moving aboard my planetary ship.”

As Yeongwoo said this and looked up toward space, Neheren’s eyes reflexively widened.

A planetary ship.

One of the wonders of the universe.

Though he had only learned about the universe through books and records, that very fact made his fantasies and awe toward such wonders even greater.

Moreover, hadn’t Jeong Yeongwoo’s planetary ship even killed Ashki Salzeo, commander of the vanguard fleet?

Meaning that unlike the things written in books, this wonder truly existed in reality.

-I’m… going to board a planetary ship?

“Yeah.”

Unlike the indifferent-looking Yeongwoo, Neheren appeared extremely tense.

-…According to what I learned, it’s a celestial body itself. One that abandons its natural orbit and moves according to free will.

Hearing Neheren’s explanation, Yeongwoo recalled the moment of the “Solar System Reconstruction,” which already felt like something from ages ago.

“It’s exactly as you learned. With Earthship at the center, the remaining stars, planets, and satellites orbit around it and follow along.”

-A ‘system’ with a planet at its center…… It completely defies the cosmic order. But I suppose that’s why it’s considered a wonder.

“To be honest, I don’t know about it being a wonder. It’s more of an unbelievable clusterfuck. Isn’t it obvious from the fact that I personally came all the way here to make money?”

Had the other planetary ships that once existed also gone through impoverished and precarious times like Earthship?

“…….”

Yeongwoo wrinkled his nose for a moment before turning his head toward the office exit.

“Even if you’re the weakest Salzeo around, you can still walk with that prosthetic leg, right?”

-…Of course.

“Then stop whining and follow me. My ship’s waiting outside.”

* * *

When Neheren stepped outside the office following planetary ship captain Jeong Yeongwoo, his jaw dropped open once more.

Because the ship this bandit bastard had arrived in was none other than property belonging to the Salzeo family.

-This is… our ship.

“Well, since you’ve temporarily become part of Earthship too, I guess it is our ship.”

-No, what I mean is…….

“Quit talking and get in there. Why are you so damn chatty?”

As Yeongwoo pointed toward the Salzeo ship with his bastard sword, Neheren simply stood there blankly, blinking.

-But the ship’s entrance is stuck in the ground?

Well, of course it was.

When Yeongwoo first arrived here, hadn’t he botched the landing and slammed the ship into the ground?

“Ah.”

At that, Yeongwoo circled around to the opposite side of the ship and stood before a split opening.

“Forgot about that for a second. You can get in through this gap.”

-Good heavens.

Only then did Neheren truly realize he was being kidnapped, and his face turned miserable.

Then he shoved himself through the violently split hull plating.

-You came to kidnap me while riding one of our family’s ships… This goes far beyond mere lawlessness.

“No, but from your perspective, isn’t it a good thing that it looks similar to the ships you normally ride?”

-You… is something seriously wrong with your head?

While Neheren stared at him with an expression bordering on terror, Yeongwoo was already pulling out a Return Stone from his coat.

He had never intended to actually fly this thing in the first place.

“So, know what this is?”

-…What is it now?

“A button that leads to one of the universe’s wonders.”

As soon as Yeongwoo finished speaking and pressed the Return Stone, a strange radiance extending from Earthship swept through the area.