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Chapter 697: Basement Floor (2)

The robber of the reservoir.

Just by seeing how, in this vast reservoir, only one boat owned by Yegot was floating, one could immediately understand how that nickname had come about.

Most likely, she had extorted money and valuables under the guise of a passage fee from those who fell here through the drainage channel.

“Ah… is your mother a robber too?”

-Others do call her that, but Mother herself dislikes the title of robber.

“Then?”

-Mother is a businesswoman.

“Ah.”

A violence business.

As Yeongwoo quickly understood and nodded, a small presence soon stirred from the drainage channel above their heads.

-Kraaaaaaak!

Along with a pathetic scream.

It was none other than Dots Salzeo, falling while having half-thrown off his transparent cloak.

“Ah, right. We left that bastard behind.”

Most likely, when Yeongwoo had suddenly jumped into the drainage channel, he had agonized over it for a long while before deciding to make the descent himself.

Puuuuuung!

Then, as Dots Salzeo plunged into the water like a cannonball, Yeongwoo stretched out an arm and pulled him up.

Pwaaat!

-You… you madman!

The expression on Dots Salzeo’s face as he burst out of the water was panic itself.

The drainage channel had been far deeper than he had imagined.

“Still, you somehow followed me instead of running away.”

As Yeongwoo smiled wickedly and grabbed Dots by the nape of his neck, Dots soon came back to his senses and looked at his kidnapper.

-W-Well… it’s crawling with criminals out there too.

Of course, the kidnapper in front of him was also a criminal, but there was a great difference between him and the other villains of the black zone.

At least Jeong Yeongwoo had a clear objective, did he not?

He had come here to sell the kidnapped goods to the young head of the Salzeo family.

But with the other villains of the black zone, no agreement of any kind had yet been made.

In other words, if he were captured by the others here, there was no telling whether he would be summarily executed or turned into a hostage all over again.

“Yeah, good thinking. At least if you’re with me, you can still go home.”

-…But this place looks awfully far from home. Where on earth have we come……?

Dots, who had finally taken in the absurd scale of the reservoir, looked around with eyes half-filled with fear.

Then, seeing the robber ship of Black Horn Yegot approaching from the other side, his eyes widened.

-A ship is approaching?

“You think we didn’t see it? It’s a ship operated by this guy’s mother.”

As Yeongwoo said this and pointed at Yenta, Dots looked confused.

-…So?

Was the fact that the ship belonged to Yenta’s mother important?

What mattered to Dots right now was what was going to happen next.

At this, Yenta answered in Yeongwoo’s stead.

-Normally, they would have tried to scoop us up and charge us passage fare, but I’ve already sent a signal, so they won’t treat us like outsiders.

“You mean they won’t beat us up blindly.”

-…Of course. They will probably take us near the western part of the underground floor.

“Probably? Even you don’t know exactly what happens next?”

When Yeongwoo voiced his question, Dots looked at the dark gray sailing ship that had already come quite close.

-The underground floor gets caught up in unexpected situations every day. The level of goodwill between factions changes, and sometimes a major accident occurs and an entire area is sealed off.

“So, since you don’t know what today’s underground floor is like, you can’t even know where we’ll be guided?”

-Exactly. The only thing I can guarantee is that, whatever happens, my mother will be on my side.

“There’s nothing as reliable as blood ties.”

When Yeongwoo chuckled, Dots Salzeo unconsciously lowered his head.

In truth, the reason he had survived until now and ended up in this black zone was ultimately because he had the young head of the Salzeo family as his elder brother.

Baaaaaaaaaang!

At last, the sailing ship in question approached with a horn that sounded much gentler than before, and by then, they could also see the emblem painted on the ship’s sail.

It was an emblem that anyone could tell depicted two “black horns.”

“Are those your mother’s horns?”

When Yeongwoo pointed at the emblem on the sail, Yenta nodded with a proud face.

-That’s right.

“They look about four times bigger than yours.”

-They really are.

It was an unexpected answer.

At this, Yeongwoo instead looked at Yenta with eyes widened in surprise.

“Really? Orc horns can be that big? This is the first time I’ve even seen an orc with horns in the first place.”

-…….

“Do the horns keep growing as you age? Or are your mother’s horns unusually large?”

-I don’t really know that. In any case, among our clan members I’ve seen so far, it is true that Mother’s horns are the largest and blackest.

“Looks like she really is a big shot.”

While Yeongwoo and Yenta were conversing like this, the great lower portion of the sailing ship drew close enough to fill their entire field of vision.

Then, from above the sailing ship, a savage-sounding voice rang out.

-Is that Yenta? Today is not a visiting day, so what is this sudden matter?

At that, Yenta raised the device on his wrist high and shouted upward.

-Something happened during my work on the surface floor! Please let us aboard first!

-…Something?

The voice still carried wariness, but it seemed to have considerable trust in Yenta.

Because a ladder was lowered immediately.

-Let’s go!

Yenta was the first to climb the ladder in large strides, and then Yeongwoo climbed onto the ladder while holding Dots Salzeo in one hand.

“It feels like climbing a building.”

The sailing ship, which they now had to climb onto directly through the ladder, truly boasted an enormous size.

The height of its outer plating alone was at least several dozen meters.

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Of course, the scale of the reservoir that made a ship of this size look as though it were floating in the sea was even more astonishing.

Clack.

At last, when Yeongwoo climbed all the way to the top of the ladder, orcs, ratmen, goblins, and the like holding harpoon-like weapons entered his sight.

“Doesn’t seem like much of a welcome.”

After setting Dots down on the floor, Yeongwoo raised both arms slightly as though telling them to calm down.

Then a huge, heavily armed toad standing in front of Yenta puffed on the cigarette in its mouth and looked at Yeongwoo and Dots—more precisely, at Dots, whose body was only half-hidden because of the transparent cloak.

-You’ve come with some very unpleasant-looking fellows attached to you.

The toad spoke while narrowing only one eye, through the lips holding the cigarette.

At this, Yenta politely gestured toward Yeongwoo and said, 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝘦𝘸𝑒𝒷𝓃ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝒸ℴ𝘮

-He is my customer. He said he wanted to see a few items here, so I brought him in a hurry.

-Your customer? From the surface floor?

-He is a third-grade authority customer.

-Hooh.

At the words “third-grade authority,” the look in the toad’s eyes as it gazed at Yeongwoo changed.

Then it turned its cold gaze back to Dots.

-Then what’s that? That’s a Salzeo, isn’t it?

At those words, Dots, who had been somewhat cowed for a moment, sprang up and snapped back.

-You insolent thing! Do you think you can dare look down on me and remain unharmed!

Then the toad took a drag from its cigarette without so much as blinking.

-Must be your first time on the underground floor.

-…What?

-If you wanted to sell your family name, you should never have come to the underground floor. Reputation from outside does not work here.

It was such an overbearing attitude that Dots unconsciously shrank back.

And upon seeing that, the toad turned its gaze back to Yeongwoo.

-Of course, power from outside is still valid here as well. The strong will survive somehow.

Then it pointed at Dots again with a plump finger.

-Judging by the look of him, he must be your goods, but you had better guard him well. Among those who have hidden themselves here, there are many who want Salzeo blood more than money.

-……!

At those words, Dots Salzeo’s complexion turned deathly pale, and Yeongwoo answered in place of words by covering the fellow’s head with the transparent cloak.

“I’m not going to sell Salzeo here anyway.”

-Then all the more reason to guard him well.

With those words, the toad sent a signal to the wheelhouse on the far side of the deck, and the sailing ship began to turn.

Kugugugugugu!

The sound of it cutting through the water sounded like a landslide.

At that, Yenta, sensing the direction the ship was about to advance in, tilted his head.

-Captain, are we not going to Yegibos?

-Yegibos? You can’t go there right now.

-…Why not?

-A big fight broke out, and all the buildings collapsed. Right now, it’s nothing but thieves rummaging through the rubble there.

-Heavens.

Since Yenta’s mouth fell open, Yeongwoo had no choice but to ask.

“What exactly is Yegibos?”

-It is one of the major cities in the western area of the underground floor. It is also the closest to this reservoir, and above all, it was a city that had been very friendly to us.

But now it was being described in the past tense.

“Still, there’s somewhere left for us to go, right?”

As Yeongwoo looked beyond the reservoir, which seemed like a boundless sea, Yenta turned his head toward the toad captain instead of answering.

-Captain, then what is the alternative?

-We have to go to your mother. She took all the remaining troops and moved near the Red Waterway.

The Red Waterway.

At those words, Yenta’s expression stiffened slightly.

“Looks like trouble came up after all.”

-The Red Waterway is an area managed by the Thousand Pits.

“And your mother is there?”

-My mother will be fine. She is Black Horn Yegot, after all.

“…….”

Yeongwoo did not know exactly what that meant, but in any case, he roughly let it pass.

“Then what’s the problem?”

-The problem is that my customer will not receive the goodwill of the Pits. Then you won’t be able to use most of the Red Waterway’s services.

“Services?”

-Means of transportation, hiding places, even so much as a glass of water… Everything is something that cannot be provided without the other party’s “goodwill.”

At this, Yeongwoo placed his hand on Bastard at his waist, as though he still did not quite understand.

“Then can’t I just not receive the services and plunder them instead? This place is a den of criminals in the first place.”

-Pardon?

“Why do you only think about needing to earn the other party’s goodwill? If my strength is sufficient, wouldn’t the other party come to desire my goodwill instead?”

When Yeongwoo said this, the toad captain finally burst into loud laughter.

-A truly insane bastard has come.

But he was not mocking Yeongwoo.

Because the concept he had just spoken of was practically the very essence of the “goodwill” used widely throughout the underground floor.

In this place, goodwill was something the strong bestowed and the weak sought.

-We’ll soon either be clearing away a new corpse, or we’ll see the rat bastards begging for goodwill.

At last, perhaps the destination was beginning to come into view, for the toad captain looked toward the wheelhouse once more and gave some kind of signal.

Then a loud ship horn sounded from somewhere at the rear of the deck, and a moment later, beyond the distant horizon, a lighthouse that had been sunk in darkness opened its eye.

-That place is the lighthouse of the Red Waterway. We’ll be inspected by the rat bastards the moment we arrive, so prepare yourself.

“Prepare?”

-Prepare to jump off this ship. The only one we protect is Yenta. Sorry, but we cannot guarantee the safety of you or those goods.

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