I Maxed Out My Luck Stat-Chapter 18: Captured

"Whoah...!"

Richard was stunned by the sights before him.

It was a colossal world filled with high mountains and vast valleys.

This was the Mountain Range just beyond the Blanc Noble House Territory. It existed on the outskirts of the City of Brilliance, but that didn’t mean it was ’close’ to that place either.

No, this was a mystical world.

That meant there were rules here that didn’t apply on Earth.

One of said rules was the concept of ’distance.’

The Vampire State was divided into nine cities, with six being under the direct control of the Noble Families. The rest were either jointly controlled or independent from Noble influence.

Apart from these cities, however, there existed places that could be said to be outliers.

They belonged to no one.

The Bloated Wasteland, for example.

It stood on the outskirts of the City of Darkness and was uninhabited.

There was also the Empty Fields, the Great Tomb Site, the Blood Plains, and so on...

This Mountain Range was simply one of them.

It was separated from the city, almost like a completely cut-off element.

If the cities were like small worlds, then these so-called uninhabited places were like the space between them. But were they really empty, void of life?

Well...

Richard couldn’t say for sure.

He looked around the Mountain Range and found it empty, just as his studies told him.

Thanks to that, his conscience was clear.

He could perform his experiment without harming anyone.

’The problem is how to return to the city...’ Richard hadn’t thought that far when he teleported to this Mountain Range, and now he regretted it.

’Well, one thing at a time.’

Without wasting any time, Richard stretched out his hand and imagined something.

The image of the atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

—Little Boy.

His memories spurred him into action as he recalled everything he learned about the Nuke during his Japan-crazed phase.

’Little Boy was a 9,700-pound gun-type atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. It was designed to fire a 64 kg load of Uranium-235...’

The precise mechanism of the atomic bomb was not lost to him either.

Richard might have been an average nobody, but he had a knack for knowing random facts.

Of course, this wasn’t enough to make him a genius or anything. Still... In this world, such knowledge gave him a major edge.

For one, it could allow him to summon such a weapon of mass destruction.

’Little Boy worked by using conventional explosives to shoot a U-235 "bullet" down a barrel into a stationary U-235 "target," creating a supercritical mass that initiated a massive nuclear chain reaction...’ He smiled at his precise knowledge.

He had learned this using Wikipedia, yet it was almost like he was a physicist himself.

"Come forth..."

Ripples began to appear in the air as he muttered those words.

For a moment, the ripples continue, warbling and expanding without any change whatsoever.

’Hmm? What’s happening?’ Richard was stunned by the delayed summoning.

This had never happened before.

’Was I really being too optimistic? I can’t summon such a thing...?’

Richard sighed deeply.

He knew it was too good to be true, being able to summon such a terrible weapon of human civilization. In fact, now that he had given it much thought, he realized how foolish it was to summon such a thing.

’How was I even supposed to escape the blast radius and radiation?’

It was only at this moment that he thought about this.

’I’m such an idiot. Due to my excitement, I teleported myself here without any plan to return. I can only hope my parents notice I’m missing and send a search party of some kind...’

Richard knew how unlikely that was, especially since he used the Teleportation Circle in the City Square specifically to avoid the notice of his parents. Even if they knew he was missing, how would they be able to discern his precise location?

There was also the issue of this bomb he wanted to summon so badly.

’Now that I think about it, was it not dropped from a high altitude? Yes, I remember. It detonated at about 600 meters above the ground. If I wanted to see the same effect while also being safe from the blast radius, I should have done the same...’ Richard sighed at his stupidity, his ignorance, and his complete lack of ability.

He was just an ordinary person—there was no way he could fly a plane.

Even if he could summon a flying vessel, he would have no way to operate it and would get stuck with the hunk of metal.

So... what now?

’I give up...’ Richard was about to drop his hand when he heard a sound from behind him.

’Huh?’

He looked back, and for a second, he saw a silhouette.

However, the next moment, everything went blank, and he found himself losing consciousness.

"U-urghh..."

Richard fell flat-faced on the ground, too unconscious to be aware of the six imposing figures that stood before his defenseless ten-year-old body.

"Hehehe... To think he actually came to our Mountain Range." The leader of the Six Eyes of Infinity laughed at the young noble’s misfortune.

This Mountain Range belonged to all kinds of people, particularly those who did not live in the city. They were exiles, infidels, criminals, and all kinds of outcasts who could not abide by the rules of the city for one reason or another.

Thus, they chose the space beyond the world that was the city.

Some of these people, like the Six Eyes of Infinity, had methods for infiltrating the city, so they often traversed both places, and they eventually made a name for themselves as the best in their craft—kidnapping and assassination.

Right now, their target was this ten-year-old kid from the Blanc Noble Family.

"Let’s take him to our base for now..."

As the group began to walk away, they noticed the distorted space next to the boy.

"Hmm... Isn’t that the effect of a Principal Disposition?"

"Yeah. It looks like [Basic Summoning]."

"Yeah. It’s experiencing lag. This sort of thing happens every once in a while, but the chances of a lag happening with a Principal Disposition are quite low. Less than one percent. To think the brat is this unlucky... pfft!"

"Do we have to worry about the thing he was about to summon?"

"Well, since it’s Basic Summoning, it’ll likely be some random useless item. I heard this kid is so untalented and unfortunate, but to think his Principal Disposition was so pathetic..."

"Yeah. It’s almost unbelievable for a Noble..."

As the Six Eyes of Infinity members were discussing, their leader stared at the ripple and sighed.

He felt a certain threatening sensation from it.

This was due to his own Principal Disposition known as [Danger Sense].

It was a Medium Rank Principal Disposition, and it allowed him to sense any immediate danger to himself or those he deemed beneficial to him.

Thanks to this special power of his, he had managed to thrive in this Mountain Range and even build his own criminal organization—the Six Eyes of Infinity.

Right now, he was sensing some bad vibes from the ripple.

But—

’What kind of danger can come from [Basic Summoning]?’ He wondered quietly.

Still, he wasn’t a careless person.

If he were, he wouldn’t have reached such heights in his career.

Thus, he made up his mind.

"You there, Youngest..." He pointed at the smallest member of their team. "You will watch over this distortion. Once the lag ends and the item is summoned, bring it to me as soon as possible."

"E-eh? But why, Boss? You said it yourself. It is Basic—"

"Just do as I say. I’m getting bad vibes from it..." His frown deepened the more he looked at the distortion, which felt like a ripple in space itself. "Since you can fly with your Principal Disposition, that makes you the best person for the job. Understood?"

"Y-yes... I understand." The thin, feeble-sounding voice muttered in silence.

"Good."

The rest of the Six Eyes of Infinity had no complaints regarding the Boss’s decision. They thought he was being overly cautious, but considering the nature of his ability and his track record when it came to leading them, they trusted his decision completely.

"Alright, don’t take too long..."

"Don’t slack off too much, okay?"

"See you soon, runt."

"Hehehe! Lucky guy... You got such an easy task."

"Pfft... Come back to the hideout as soon as the item appears, okay?"

One by one, the members of the group patted the youngster’s head or smacked his back as they walked away.

The youngest could do nothing but laugh nervously.

The Six Eyes of Infinity were a notorious bunch, and he only joined them recently after one of their members died in a recent job. There was a job opening, and since he was in a tight spot, he had to join them to make ends meet.

This was, in fact, his first job.

He had no idea what to expect, and whether he could live with the decision the group had made.

’Poor guy. They’re really going to kill him...’ He watched as they carted Richard off, a sigh leaving his thin, yet soft-looking lips.

Then, almost as soon as he had this thought, he shook his head.

’I don’t have the luxury of worrying about others now! I must focus on my task!’

That’s right!

He had to watch the ripple and then take the item to the base once it had been summoned. If it were left unattended, it could be dangerous.

’I’ll do my best in this job... and in the other jobs that come!’ His eyes blazed with determination as he endured the sickening feeling in his belly.

’Whatever it takes... I must do whatever it takes to survive! Only then can I have my revenge!’