[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 685: Special-Grade Supply Crate (2)

―…….

Poachi, whose body had suddenly turned about seventy percent transparent in an instant, looked down at himself with a bewildered expression.

―You’re telling me to fight while hiding my body like this? What a cowardly thing to do.

At that, Yeongwoo pulled up the hood attached to the cloak and placed it over Poachi’s head as he shamelessly replied,

“How can something done to save lives be cowardly?”

In the meantime, Poachi’s figure had almost completely vanished from the bridge.

Only bits of his armor visible through the front opening of the cloak, part of his knees, and the tips of his feet could still be seen.

“As you said, sir, if the Salzeo family learns of your existence, they’ll seek terrifying revenge. So be careful not to reveal your identity.”

After saying that, Yeongwoo turned toward Neheren.

“And this time, you’re coming down with us too.”

—…What? Why me?

“You said that one-armed guy is someone the Young Patriarch is personally looking after, right? Then the size and structure of his office will be completely different from the place you had. So we need you.”

—I still don’t understand the reason.

“At the very least, you’ll know your way around better than I do. And at minimum, we can make use of that unique code of yours.”

In truth, Yeongwoo intended to drag Neheren along so he could use him as a hostage if things went south, but he did not bother voicing that aloud.

“Alright, time to open the portal now.”

As Yeongwoo said this, Earthship looked through the window toward Tspodal.

『The Salzeo vessel is under repair right now anyway, so we’ll have to use drop pods.』

“This time we know the exact landing location. I don’t mind.”

At Yeongwoo’s words, Earthship looked toward Neheren with worried eyes.

After all, there was no way a noble heir who depended on a prosthetic leg had ever ridden something as cheap as a drop pod before.

『Will… he really be alright? The impact upon landing is going to be considerable.』

Earthship whispered lowly while glancing sidelong at Neheren, and Yeongwoo casually rubbed beneath his nose.

“It’ll be a good experience for him. If not now, when else would he ever get to ride a drop pod?”

『Who knows.』

In the end, Earthship opened a portal leading toward the drop pods as though there was no helping it, and the tip of Yeongwoo’s Bastard pointed toward the portal entrance.

“Everyone, hurry up. Let’s finish this quickly and come back.”

* * *

Jeong Yeongwoo, head of Renaissance.

Poachi Shalmoram, the sword that saves lives.

And Neheren Salzeo, one of the direct descendants of Salzeo.

The three beings, all with different origins, dispositions, and circumstances, each boarded their own drop pod and gazed out at space through the small windows.

“So far, it doesn’t look like they’re preparing to fire.”

Yeongwoo spoke while awkwardly folding himself inside the cramped pod, and Neheren’s voice came through the communication device.

—Well, of course. They’re probably still in the middle of assessing the situation. And the fact that you people didn’t strike first probably had a decent effect too.

Then he continued.

—But it’ll happen soon enough. The stance of our family is that “there will be no ransom negotiations,” so before long, orders will be sent down to Tspodal’s side.

“What orders?”

—Fight with pride.

“…They’re insane. That’s practically ordering them on a suicide mission. The opponent is a planet ship. And wasn’t the one controlling Tspodal supposed to be the Young Patriarch’s younger sibling?”

—Even the Young Patriarch can’t go against the will of the family. That’s why they instead put effort into the younger sibling’s security and supply crate quality.

“I really do feel good every time I hear that story.”

—…….

“Anyway, that means Tspodal still hasn’t fully settled on its position yet, and as long as the ambush succeeds, we won’t get hit by anti-air fire.”

—For now, yes.

While Yeongwoo and Neheren conversed like this, the windows of the drop pods began to glow red-hot.

They had finally entered Tspodal’s atmosphere.

“The moment we land, we’re crashing right in front of the one-armed guy’s office. So watch yourselves.”

No sooner had Yeongwoo spoken than bluish atmosphere filled the view outside, and sharp tearing sounds scraped across the outer hulls of the drop pods.

Kkiiiiiiik!

—What’s that sound? It feels like the ship’s about to break apart!

“Now do you get it? Space travel was always dangerous.”

—N-no, seriously, the noise is terrifying!

Neheren Salzeo’s commoner experience did not last very long.

Because moments later, the three drop pods crashed into the ground one after another.

KwaKwaKwaKwang!

And as always, the drop pods shattered apart in all directions, launching their passengers upward.

Paaaang!

—Uwaaaaaaah!

Experiencing such a dismount for the first time, Neheren screamed rawly while being flung through the air, and Yeongwoo hurriedly dashed over and grabbed him by the shoulder.

Kwak! 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

The bastard had been plummeting headfirst toward the ground.

“Are you trying to die? You can’t even keep your balance?”

—…Aren’t you overestimating me too much? It’s already been years since I properly used my body. And even before that, I’d never done anything like this.

Then Neheren stared at the utterly wrecked drop pod in horrified disbelief.

—Why in the world would anyone ride such a deranged thing……?

“Well, not everyone has a ship requisition permit tucked away in their supply crate like you do.”

After hauling the half-collapsed Neheren back to his feet, Yeongwoo looked toward the dark blue building towering barely ten meters away.

“So that’s the one-armed guy’s office. Definitely bigger than the place you stayed in.”

—…Which means there’ll be more guards too. Your whole plan might completely fall apart. Even a planet ship master can’t be invincible, can he?

“Ah, about that.”

Just as Yeongwoo was about to answer, the entrance to the building in question split open to either side, and silver-white armored knights poured out from within.

“There’s quite a lot of them.”

Just as Neheren had said, Tspodal’s level of security was incomparable to Girgo’s.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

There were already twelve visible guards alone, and the aura each of them emitted did not seem ordinary.

‘They look at least two levels above the ones back in Girgo.’

It was also peculiar that every guard had a long feather attached to the top of their helmet.

Probably some kind of rank insignia.

And Neheren, who had also noticed the “feathers,” stepped backward with a deathly pale face.

—I think we m-made a mistake.

“What are you talking about?”

—The Young Patriarch invested far more heavily than expected.

“You mean those guards?”

—Yeah, those are… Hisera.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

—Our family’s high-ranking guards.

The moment Neheren muttered lowly, one of the Hiseras, having confirmed his pale skin and ash-gray hair, respectfully lowered his upper body.

—Lord Neheren, despite there being a designated docking site, you came here directly.

The tone was exceedingly polite, yet at the same time carried an icy feeling.

No matter who the other party was, they could not warmly welcome people who had barged unannounced before the office of the planet’s controller.

As a result, Neheren, inexperienced with sudden situations like this, merely opened and closed his mouth awkwardly.

—T-that is, well…….

At the same time, his dark blue eyes darted back and forth between Yeongwoo and the twelve Hiseras.

From the very beginning, he was neither fully on the Salzeo family’s side nor entirely on the side of that damned robber bastard, so he could not figure out how he should act.

Thus, Yeongwoo stepped forward first.

“We came because we have something to discuss with your leader, so open the way. We’re not here to fight.”

At that, the Hiserra standing at the front of the security formation placed a hand on the sword hanging at his waist and sharply replied,

—Those who are not Salzeo cannot issue any command to us.

Then he shifted his gaze back to Neheren and spoke again in the same cold tone.

—Lord Neheren, please proceed to the docking area first. We shall escort you there.

It was at that moment that the other eleven Hiseras simultaneously drew their swords.

Shwaaaaaat!

The “escort” they spoke of also included eliminating all visitors other than Neheren.

“They really are competent.”

Startled by the murderous pressure of the Hiseras, Yeongwoo stepped one pace to the side and glanced behind him.

Toward none other than the direction where the Grade-3 Virtuous One, the sword that saves lives, Poachi Shalmoram, stood.

“Sir, it’s about time you started saving lives.”

As Yeongwoo pointed toward the Hiserra formation with a vicious grin, Poachi, completely covered from head to toe in the transparent cloak, let out a faint sign of presence.

―Typesetter must surely be witnessing all of this clearly. This is shameful beyond words.

At that, the Hiseras realized there was another intruder present and shifted their formation into a semicircle, entering a state of alert.

—There’s someone concealed! Find the target!

And at the same moment as that shout, a small metal sphere shot out from inside the Hiserra formation.

Paaat!

“Ah.”

The instant Yeongwoo instinctively realized it was some sort of detector—

Hwat!

Poachi extended an arm from outside the cloak and lightly clenched his fist.

Immediately, the metal sphere tracing an arc through the air crumpled on the spot before it could even activate.

KwaJik!

—Th-that…

—No way.

Seeing the detector crushed without any contact whatsoever, the Hiseras immediately understood.

—A Grade-3…!

For the first time, a trace of fear seeped into the Hiseras’ voices, and immediately afterward, Poachi Shalmoram began displaying the kind of power befitting a “Great One.”

The moment he spread open the hand he had extended outside the cloak, the formation held by the twelve Hiseras collapsed as though it had exploded apart.

PuhUhUhUng!

An invisible force scattered the Hiseras in every direction, and then Poachi, his body hidden within the transparent cloak, burst into the middle of the battlefield while radiating overwhelming might.

Kwaaaaaaaat!

‘T-this is insane. This is what a Virtuous One is?’

Their bodies half-paralyzed, the Hiseras helplessly crumpled under Poachi’s attack, and around then, three more Hiseras came rushing out from inside the dark blue building.

Since the commotion outside was not ending easily, reinforcements had arrived.

Seeing this, Poachi shouted toward Yeongwoo.

―The inside should be empty now! Hurry!

“Ah, right.”

If the one-armed bastard realized the situation had gone terribly wrong and issued a bombardment order, wouldn’t the Earthship suffer considerable damage?

After confirming Poachi slam even the newly arrived Hiseras into the ground, Yeongwoo swiftly hoisted Neheren onto his back.

Hwaeak!

—W-wait, what are you doing?

“Just from the look of things, it doesn’t seem like these guys are the only ones protecting the one-armed bastard.”

—…What?

“You said it before, didn’t you? That not even a Subua had been assigned to you.”

Subua.

Exclusive secretaries and assassins assigned to the Salzeo family’s direct descendants.

—Huh.

At the robber bastard’s excellent memory, Neheren’s jaw dropped open.

And soon Yeongwoo’s shadow fell across Neheren’s darkened face.

“Unlike you, it feels like that one-armed bastard probably has one of those Subua things assigned to him.”

—Even so, what does that have to do with me?

When Neheren asked back like that, Yeongwoo stepped into the dark blue building and answered,

“At the very least, a Subua wouldn’t cut down a Salzeo like you, right? So you’ll have to become my meat shield.”

—M-meat shield…?

Hearing such a vulgar term for the first time in his life, Neheren looked on the verge of tears, but Yeongwoo did not care in the slightest as he shifted him onto one shoulder.

“Just make sure to protect your neck. Arms can be reattached if they fall off, but I can’t guarantee anything if it’s your neck.”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]