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Chapter 688: Special-Grade Supply Crate (5)

Thud.

The moment Dots Salzeo’s one remaining arm fell to the floor, the atmosphere in the room froze instantly.

This was because it was a completely different level of physical force from merely twisting someone’s wrist.

—Y-you truly intend to cross the line.

Dots’s subordinate stared at the severed arm on the floor with utterly disbelieving eyes, while Dots Salzeo himself also wore a blank expression for a moment.

Then soon enough.

—Kyaaaagh!

As the pain arrived without fail, he twisted his body and screamed.

—This insane bastard cut off my arm! My arm…!

Dots shrieked hysterically at his subordinate, yet the subordinate himself could not move a single finger.

Because he knew that the instant he moved, Dots’s head would go flying.

—This does not appear to be someone who came here with ordinary resolve. It would seem… nevertheless.

As the subordinate indirectly suggested handing over the emergency supply crate, foam gathered at Dots’s mouth.

—Is that really all you can say as my subordinate? Kill that bastard immediately! I said avenge me!

—….

At his lord’s command, the subordinate turned his head to look at Yeongwoo.

No, to be precise, he looked at the dark crimson demonic sword held in the other’s hand.

Anyone who had spent a lifetime training in swordsmanship could not possibly fail to sense that unique aura.

—So even a mere bandit possesses a Myth. No wonder the balance has shattered.

As the subordinate groaned after recognizing the Myth in the intruder’s hand, Yeongwoo smiled wickedly.

“Then what does that make you people, getting stripped down to the soles of your shoes by a mere bandit? If you elevate me, you rise with me too.”

—I have no desire for pointless conversation. Restore what you have done at once. You have already crossed many lines, and if you commit any further discourtesy, I too will have no choice but to throw away my life.

The subordinate’s expression as he spoke was utterly resolute.

In truth, it was no different from having already failed his duty as a subordinate, so if the situation worsened further, all he could do was fight while prepared to die.

And the reason he spoke this seriously could be heard directly from Dots Salzeo himself.

—What in the world are you doing? You’re really going to leave that bastard alone? Now that I’ve ended up like this, you’re a target for disposal anyway! So at least salvage your honor!

Target for disposal.

Yeongwoo could easily infer that those words essentially meant execution.

The subordinate who had failed the duty of guarding a direct Salzeo bloodline would not be spared execution even if he somehow survived.

At that, Yeongwoo fiercely aimed Bastard at Dots’s neck and threatened him.

“From this point on, if you say even one more word, I’ll cut out your tongue.”

The eyes of Yeongwoo as he spoke radiated an overwhelming pressure-filled glare, so for Dots Salzeo, who was no more than an insignificant creature by comparison, all he could do was shut his mouth.

And soon afterward, Yeongwoo roughly wrapped the “Slime Core” around Dots’s ankle.

“I’ve said this repeatedly, but I don’t want to see unnecessary bloodshed. If you just hand over the money, there won’t be any more violence. Fundamentally, this is business.”

Then Yeongwoo picked up Dots’s severed right arm from where it had been rolling across the floor and reattached it, causing the severed flesh to begin reconnecting rapidly.

“But I’m serious about cutting out your tongue. So keep your mouth shut.”

When Yeongwoo threateningly waved Bastard once more, Dots glanced toward the subordinate who was still unable to move.

Then he slowly nodded.

In the end, he had accepted the fact that there was not a single person left in the room capable of saving him.

At that, the subordinate reported to Dots with a devastated expression.

—I cannot move faster than that man’s sword. This is all due to my own inadequacy.

Dots, unable to open his mouth, instead sent him a gaze full of resentment, and soon Yeongwoo cast a dark shadow over the space between the two.

“Honestly, isn’t all of this because Salzeo is way too arrogant? If it were me, I wouldn’t have touched a planetary ship in the first place. After personally operating one myself, I realized this thing is no ordinary matter.”

A rare vessel that drew attention everywhere it went, while all sorts of powerful beings coveted it.

Only after becoming the owner of a planetary ship himself did Yeongwoo realize that simply possessing such a ship for a long period of time was proof of strength.

And around this point, the subordinate asked as though he found something somewhat difficult to understand.

—…But have you not already shaken off our family’s pursuit twice?

“I did.”

—Then you could have continued fleeing as much as you wished, so why take such a risk?

“Risk? If it’s an opponent I’ve already beaten twice, then wouldn’t a third and fourth time be possible too? Why is this risky?” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

—….

At the utterly unimaginable answer, not only the subordinate but even Dots Salzeo himself gaped open-mouthed.

Throughout the long history of Salzeo, there had been countless times the family acted as the aggressor, but never once had they played the role of victim.

Moreover, Salzeo’s power was currently near its peak.

Yet in the midst of such a golden age, they had suddenly been attacked by some lunatic.

“That’s enough chatter. Let’s do what needs to be done now.”

When Yeongwoo looked at Dots and mimed cutting his own tongue, the controller of Planet Tsupodal finally began to move.

Step.

Dots Salzeo rose from his seat and pressed a certain spot on the floor near his chair with the tip of his foot.

Clunk!

At once, a sort of password pad composed of nine sections rose upward from that spot in the shape of a footplate.

“Ah, since the owner here only has one arm, the password is entered through foot controls. That’s surprisingly considerate for Salzeo.”

Yeongwoo was right.

In Neheren’s case, wasn’t he forced to draw patterns in the air with his hand in order to summon the supply crate?

Each Salzeo had a summoning method suited to their own condition.

Beep!

Soon, as Dots Salzeo pressed the footplate in a certain order, an emergency supply crate rose from the center of the office.

Rumble rumble!

“…Oh.”

The supply crate given to Dots, the younger brother of the Salzeo heir apparent, looked vastly different from Neheren’s right from its exterior.

Unlike the previous rectangular supply crate, this one was cylindrical.

“Have you ever opened this before?”

When Yeongwoo asked this, Dots replied with an irritated expression.

—As if I would.

“Then it’s finally become useful.”

—….

Without responding to Yeongwoo’s words, Dots silently stood before the supply crate.

Then he twisted his upper body and placed his lone arm against the crate’s surface.

“That’s enough? Didn’t only the back of your hand touch it?”

But contrary to Yeongwoo’s concern, the supply crate had already begun reacting.

A long vertical line appeared along the side of the crate, and from that point onward, the outer panels folded open to the left and right.

—This is literally an emergency supply crate. It was designed so it could still be summoned even while heavily injured.

With those words, Dots attempted to reach his hand inside the supply crate, but he could not do so because his arm had not yet fully recovered.

At that, Yeongwoo turned toward Neheren.

“How about you take things out instead? You’re both Salzeo anyway, so it shouldn’t be that different, right? Besides, you’re also in an emergency situation.”

—Being kidnapped by a planetary ship owner certainly qualifies as an emergency.

The moment Neheren arrived before Dots’s supply crate and checked inside, his eyes widened.

“What is it?”

—There’s a Rapid Recovery Device in here.

“Rapid Recovery Device?”

Then Neheren pulled out a metal rod about the length of a palm from inside the supply crate.

—It’s a type of recovery injection. If you place it anywhere on the body and hold it there for about ten seconds, it heals almost any injury.

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“There was a crazy item like that?”

It truly was an item fitting for an emergency supply crate.

—It’s probably meant for situations involving unexpected bombardment or things like that. If you want to open the emergency supply crate and escape, you first need to survive.

“Then why didn’t your supply crate have something like this?”

—Well….

Holding the Rapid Recovery Device, Neheren formed a bitter expression.

—…This thing is extremely expensive.

After handing the recovery device over to Yeongwoo, Neheren rummaged through Dots’s supply crate even without receiving any additional instructions.

—The basic contents are similar. Family currency, Palsi, and….

What Neheren pulled out next was a ship requisition certificate.

Just like before, Dots too had been provided with an emergency escape vessel.

“How much money was inside?”

—Three billion karma in family currency, and ten Palsi.

“Didn’t you say one Palsi was worth three hundred million? Then combined together, that’s around six billion.”

At Yeongwoo’s calculation, Neheren’s expression darkened.

After all, this was more than three times the nineteen-billion escape budget that had once been invested into Neheren herself.

—The fact that they included this many Palsi means they considered numerous special circumstances. It means the heir apparent was deeply worried.

“But so far, it doesn’t look like his concern was deep enough. Isn’t there anything else?”

In Neheren’s case, after the ship requisition certificate, a Legendary Vambrace had appeared.

So shouldn’t a supply crate filled with the heir apparent’s concern contain something more?

At that, Neheren tilted his head and reached inside the supply crate once more.

—This is the last item. But no matter how I look at it, it doesn’t seem to be equipment.

With those words, Neheren pulled out a small turquoise-colored orb.

—…What is this? There’s no tooltip.

“No tooltip? Does that even make sense?”

At those absurd words, Yeongwoo snatched the orb from Neheren’s hand.

However, Yeongwoo also could not see any tooltip whatsoever.

And around then, the subordinate, having sensed something, suddenly widened his eyes, while the mysterious orb began emitting light.

Piaaaaaat!

“What’s with this thing? It suddenly activated.”

Thinking it might be a bomb, Yeongwoo placed the orb on the floor, and soon a beam of light shot upward from it, creating a holographic screen.

Swaaat!

Then from within it appeared a man with long ash-gray hair flowing downward.

「Of all times, this had to activate now.」

Ash-gray hair, dark navy pupils, and skin carrying an enigmatic hue like seawater.

No matter who looked at him, the man on the screen was clearly Salzeo—and not just an ordinary Salzeo at that.

The instant he appeared, both Neheren and the subordinate flattened themselves against the floor.

—Young Master!

—We greet the Young Master…!

Then Dots Salzeo approached the hologram with an expression of utter disbelief.

—B-big brother?

「Ah, so you’re safe. What in the world happened for the supply crate to be opened? Don’t tell me it’s that man from Girgo.」

The moment the heir apparent mentioned Girgo, Yeongwoo pulled Neheren and Dots Salzeo into his arms and stepped before the screen.

“Unfortunately, it is indeed that man from Girgo. So you’re Salzeo’s heir apparent? What exactly is this communication?”

At that, the heir apparent within the holographic screen calmly observed Yeongwoo.

「So you are the planetary ship owner in question.」

“Correct. And I’m also the one holding a blade to your younger brother’s throat.”

Shhk.

Yeongwoo immediately put his words into action, yet the heir apparent continued speaking without batting an eye.

「To state this in advance, this is an unofficial communication that has not received the family’s approval. This conversation is being conducted entirely at my own discretion.」

“You sure used a lot of words just to say you’re overstepping your authority.”

「I will not deny it. But precisely because of that, this is a safe conversation. It means there is no need for you to become agitated. I am not speaking as Salzeo’s heir apparent, but as that boy’s elder brother.」

Among all the Salzeo Yeongwoo had encountered thus far, this was the calmest and most articulate one.

As expected, not just anyone could become the heir apparent.

However, Yeongwoo’s style of conversation was a little different.

“Really? Then don’t get agitated and wait a little longer. I haven’t kidnapped him yet.”

「What…?」

“Doesn’t a ransom negotiation only become valid after the kidnapping happens first? So I’ll make sure to complete the kidnapping before anything else.”

As soon as Yeongwoo finished speaking, he covered the orb with the sole of his foot, cutting off the connection with the heir apparent.

—W-what… what the hell are you doing?

The moment his older brother’s image disappeared, Dots convulsed in panic.

At that, Yeongwoo subdued Dots with a lightning-fast punch to the abdomen before slinging him over his shoulder.

Thump.

Then he tilted his head toward the subordinate, who still could neither act nor decide what to do.

“Hey, get up. You’re a kidnapping target too.”

—…What?

“You’ll get executed for failing your guard duty if you stay here anyway, won’t you? Since your life’s doomed either way, you might as well become a passenger aboard Earthship too.”

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