Chapter 100

100th Chapter.

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Before descending to the engine room, there was something to be done.

"…89 prisoners have been successfully escorted to the deck."

It seemed the ship had been mostly cleaned up.

However, the container ship was enormous. There was a high possibility that someone was hiding somewhere inside, sending a distress signal to the mainland.

So, he had prepared something for this.

"Park Junmo, come over here."

"Yes!"

Lee Hyun-wook called Park Junmo to ensure a clean suppression.

And behind him, 'Thunder's Mace' appeared.

"I'm firing now."

Paa—ji—ji—ji—ji——!

Thunder's Mace was unleashed onto the deck, where there were no clear targets. The bluish electric bolts seemed to scatter in the air… "Yaaah—!"

Park Junmo extended his hands to control them, and as he lowered his arms, a large amount of electric bolts seeped into the ship below.

Paa—ji—ji—ji—ji——!

Thus, Park Junmo controlled the electricity to crush the interior of the ship. It would exterminate any hidden bugs, much like an insecticide.

Pengtiyan clicked his tongue as he watched the scene.

"Keh— What a bunch of bastards…"

"If you don't shut up, I'll make you eat steel balls."

"…What? Damn, what are you going to make me eat now?"

Then, Xiao Jun, who had experienced it before, tried to stop him.

"Ah, Sir! It's b, better to just keep quiet."

"Xiao Jun! Why did you submit so easily?"

"…I, I didn't submit easily."

Lee Hyun-wook sighed and raised his left hand.

Then, Xiao Jun started to convulse.

"Kuaa—! Why are y, you… snif—"

"If you don't make that guy shut up, you'll be in pain."

Xiao Jun looked at Pengtiyan with bloodshot eyes.

"Keh, Sir! Please, don't say anything!"

"What? You, are you going to serve buns now?"

"Kuuu… Just shut up, you idiot!"

"X, Xiao Jun, how can you— ugh!"

Peng!

In the end, Xiao Jun punched Pengtiyan in the lips.

"Hah— The camaraderie of thieves, quite a sight, isn't it?"

Meanwhile, they collected all the items the villains had.

'Good, farming items is quite profitable.'

Especially the items belonging to the water elemental mage, Pengtian, were not ordinary.

- Name: Sage's Imitation Flower Bracelet (Hero)

- Effect: Increases total mana (+1,000), enhances control over nature (+10%), increases affinity with elementals (+10%), increases elemental growth rate (+5%)

This was clearly an item suitable for an 'elemental mage.'

'Good, I can upgrade Kim Se-hee with this.'

But the real reward was something else.

Lee Hyun-wook descended to the 'engine section' of the ship.

Rumble— Rumble—

From the entrance, a very strong magical fluctuation could be felt.

And at the center of the engine setup, he found something.

'It's the Jade King's Eight Horses.'

Unfortunately, it was not made of metal but a fist-sized glass sphere. Inside, there were eight smaller spheres, each containing tiny horses like 'amber fossils.'

At first glance, it looked quite mysterious.

Whir— Whir—

Currently, only one of the eight horses was moving, as if running.

'Still at the first stage?'

- You have obtained 'Jade King's Eight Horses (Legendary)!'

- Name: Jade King's Eight Horses (Legendary)

- Effect:

1) Absolute Ground: It exerts powerful magical 'output,' and if connected to a means of transportation, it significantly increases the speed (+50%).

Currently, it was just a high-performance mana engine, but when all eight horses inside the sphere start moving, it will unleash a god-like power.

'What should I make with this? Will it become famous if I make it well?'

Lee Hyun-wook picked it up and went outside.

On the deck, Emilia Mueller was sitting on the ship's railing. Behind her stood Peter Clark, the leader of the 'White Tree Guard.' When Lee Hyun-wook approached, he nodded and stepped aside.

"Wow, really… You've really started the counterattack?"

She said, seemingly surprised.

"Did you not believe me when I said I would create this team?"

"No, I did believe you… But honestly, it's happening so quickly."

It hadn't been long since Lee Hyun-wook proposed forming a team to fight the villains, yet they had already started to hit the villains hard.

"Indeed, you are a remarkable person. I made a good choice."

She took out a hip flask and sipped. It was, of course, whiskey.

"Still, it's too early to reveal this to the world, isn't it?"

Revealing the existence of villains, the absolute evil, to the world,

That was something that had to be done eventually.

'But… not now.'

However, the idea that the world would readily believe in the existence of villains was a foolish fantasy. As always, the world is cynical.

No matter how much fame one gains, suddenly declaring to the world that 'villains' are trying to conquer the world…

'…Some will support it, but most will laugh it off.'

Therefore, more evidence and more allies were needed.

'To create an impact that the world cannot ignore.'

Lee Hyun-wook had a strong feeling that the moment was not far off.

"Emilia, I've used the World Tree items you provided well. But… I have a lot to ask for this time."

Her eyes widened.

It wasn't out of confusion or burden, but intense interest.

"…What? You're not resting and planning something again?"

Lee Hyun-wook nodded.

"And this time, it will be on a larger scale."

Another major event was approaching.

***

The news that shook the world continued.

The Hongdo Guild and the South Korean government met to discuss the management rights of Laputa, but a battle broke out there. That was shocking enough, but it was just the beginning.

Immediately after, the Hongdo Guild's office in Nanjing exploded entirely. The cause was unknown, but the Hongdo Guild was effectively gone.

The next day, the South Korean government announced that the Hongdo Guild had colluded with the Black Oak Kingdom to attempt to conquer Laputa. As evidence, the completely shattered body of a Black Oak was revealed.

With such a series of crazy events, it was natural for the world to be in shock.

"Insane, colluding with monsters? That's something a madman would do."

"Wow— What a bunch of trash…"

The world pointed fingers at the Hongdo Guild's atrocities.

However, with the Hongdo Guild effectively gone, the Chinese government, somewhat unusually, issued a rebuttal statement.

- Chinese Government's Unusual Proxy Statement: South Korea Fabricated the Incident!

- China: "Hongmuzhangcheng is solid." No collusion with monsters.

- Hongdo Guild incident escalates diplomatic tensions… even fears of war?

But almost no one believed it.

China, which had long been an 'international enemy,' became a target of criticism again due to this incident.

Thus, international politics began to turn turbulent…

Lee Hyun-wook did his job amidst the chaos.

'…There's too much to do.'

First, he received the item as promised by the Koo Group, and at that time, Koo Hyo-min came to see him personally.

"I wanted to meet and thank the person who saved my life."

Lee Hyun-wook spent quite a long time talking with her.

'This woman will become a master alchemist in the future.'

Therefore, he made efforts to gain her favor…

"And I heard you're running a guild. If there's anything I can help with, please let me know. I'll support you without hesitation."

Thus, he did not miss the opportunity she offered.

"Ah, I do have a favor to ask."

"Ah! What is it?"

"Only Dr. Koo can do this."

"Is that so? Great!"

She was delighted at the thought of being able to help. However, after hearing what followed, she couldn't help but look skeptical.

"…I'm trying to set up an alchemy research lab."

The Koo Group's alchemy research team in Gangdong had been temporarily shut down due to the previous incident. The world-class alchemy facility had stopped, and the employees there suddenly became unemployed.

Lee Hyun-wook planned to take advantage of this opportunity.

'Alchemical industry will soon become a golden goose.'

If alchemy is to life sciences what magic engineering is to mechanical engineering, both will lead the future world.

And the item Lee Hyun-wook had stolen, the Nectar of the Gods… it needed alchemy to process it for human consumption.

"This is not to take the Koo Group's pie but to set up a research lab for item studies. But I don't know much about it."

Koo Hyo-min couldn't refuse her savior's request.

"…Alright. I'll support you."

Thus, he laid the foundation to expand his business into alchemy.

Three days later, he received a call from Ko Jin-hwa in Redhole Village.

- Mr. Lee, we're finally starting to mine adamantite!

'Good, it's time to arm ourselves with adamantite?'

The next day, 1 kg of adamantite arrived at the Hope Guild. Due to its extreme hardness, the daily mining output was less than 1 kg.

To distribute the adamantite, Kang Jung-doo's workshop and the Gray Dwarves met. Initially, they were wary of each other due to overlapping territories.

"Hmm, humans are doing something… but they're quite clumsy!"

"Tsk, dwarves, not very delicate! This will break soon!"

However, they gradually began to recognize each other's skills and started to cooperate. The turning point was, amusingly, when Kang Jung-doo bought canned beer from a convenience store and shared it with the dwarves.

"Keh! Human beer is quite drinkable?"

"Oh, dwarves can drink too?"

Kang Hee-sul often had heated arguments with the dwarves…

"Ugh… Dwarves, you talk too much!"

"You human girl, you're the noisy one!"

Given that she would later work synergistically with the dwarf craftsmen and be known as 'Snow White,' there was no need to worry.

Meanwhile, Lee Hyun-wook continued to focus solely on 'absorption.'

- Metal absorption remaining (unknown).

…It had been 11 days since he swallowed it.

"Phew— Now, tomorrow…"

If the absorption is complete before the incident, it would be good… but given its enormity, there was no news.

Finally, the last day arrived.

And finally… the incident he had been waiting for happened.

- …Breaking news! A massive dome has appeared in the southeastern region of Okinawa, Japan. The dome is estimated to be 10 km in diameter, raising suspicions of a 5th Wave.

Lee Hyun-wook watched the news from the Hope Guild office.

'No, it's not a 5th Wave.'

- …The dome has been identified as the largest-scale 'Unlucky Event' in history, with an entry level limit of 65, according to a report by Japan's Sakura News. The Japanese government has decided to deploy three S-rank players for this Unlucky Event strategy…

"Wow… Three S-rank players are being deployed…"

Park Chul-soo, who was watching the news with him, muttered in surprise.

There were only 31 known S-rank players worldwide.

In other words, 10% of them were being deployed.

However…

'…This strategy will fail.'

Even worse, one S-rank player will die during the operation.

'I know… why they failed.'

That's not all.

'I also know why the next strategy will fail.'

Therefore, he planned to step in when the first strategy fails and the Japanese government requests support from other countries.

He had been preparing for this over the past few days.

'Of course, it won't be easy for me…'

Diving into that small hell was an extremely dangerous task.

But, he couldn't afford to miss it.

The rewards from there were simply enormous.

'No less than… Mjolnir will appear.'

However…

- Metal absorption is complete. (Magnetar Crust Piece)

* The weight of controllable metal has increased: 89 kg

Finally, he had 'absorbed' that god-like item.

'…What perfect timing?'

Then, various system messages popped up, filling his vision. It was a lot for just one item.

Looking at them, Lee Hyun-wook was pleasantly surprised.

"…If this happens, things will get much easier?"

It seemed the time had come to cause a great upheaval in this world.