Chapter 768

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 768: A Great Story (8)

The survival of the exchange employees.

Aside from a moral standpoint, it actually wasn't any of Yeongwoo's business.

Because friction with the Hezara government was practically guaranteed since he had already fired the ship's guns.

‘Of course, if all the employees are dead, things will get a little annoying. I need to know the location of the safe to get my scrap metal money, after all.’

As Yeongwoo thought this and poked his head out of the Kenicsita, the sight of the thoroughly ruined exchange entered his vision.

Unsurprisingly, not a single employee could be seen outside.

"I feel like I saw a few guys running inside the building earlier."

As Yeongwoo muttered this, a red targeting line stretched out from the exterior plating of the Kenicsita, pointing toward a dome structure in the distance.

Mushio, in the cockpit, was pointing out the direction where the employees could likely be found.

-It should be inside there.

"Ah, I think you're right."

At this, Yeongwoo jumped down from the Kenicsita and began walking toward the structure in question.

Then, from around his feet, a loud metallic noise would occasionally rise, mixed with the wind.

Clang, clack.

It was the sound of the scrap metal, smashed into the ground by the Earth Ship's bombardment, coming into contact with the soles of Yeongwoo's boots.

"Well, it looks like things on this end were handled well according to plan."

Yeongwoo nodded with a satisfied expression, then looked at the dome structure he had drawn close to in the meantime.

Perhaps as an aftermath of the continuous bombardment, the outer wall of the structure was gruesomely torn apart by scrap metal sent flying by the shockwaves.

Even so, the structure itself hadn't collapsed, making him think that perhaps there might still be survivors left.

"Hey, is everyone alive?"

As Yeongwoo said this and kicked the giant steel plate that appeared to be the structure's entrance, there was a sound of crumpling metal along with a presence stirring inside.

-Aargh!

It was a voice distinct to machines.

At this, Yeongwoo tilted his head, placed his shoulder against the half-bent steel plate, and pushed it forcefully.

Ruuumble!

Then, the thick door broke off entirely and was pushed inward, and soon the interior of the structure came into Yeongwoo's view.

Along with the sight of a massive robot that had been pinning the door with its body from the inside, and three exchange employees.

"What, you were all alive after all?"

No sooner had Yeongwoo spoken as if surprised, than a portion of the ceiling, which had been precariously dangling and torn to shreds, came pouring down to the floor.

Craaash!

Seeing this, the massive machine moved swiftly, positioning its body right above the exchange employees' heads.

It was some sort of security robot.

Furthermore, it seemed to have quite the ability to discern its opponents, as it even looked at Yeongwoo with a terrified expression.

It instinctively realized that if the intruder in front of it targeted the employees, it wouldn't be able to fulfill its duty.

So Yeongwoo slightly raised both of his arms and spoke as if to reassure it.

"Don't worry. I don't go out of my way to assault amphibians and machines first."

Then he glared at the exchange employees, who fell under neither the amphibian nor machine category.

"Since you've saved your lives, hurry up and get to work. You need to fork over my scrap metal money, don't you?"

At that, one of the employees reflexively looked up at the gruesomely torn ceiling.

His body language was effectively saying that, in truth, the ones who should be receiving money were the exchange.

However, his reasoning was working perfectly well, so his mouth said something entirely different.

-O-Of course. We will activate the scanner right now and appraise the total value of the goods you brought.

"Oh, and you have to pay the resolution fee too."

-...Pardon?

"That metal typhoon from earlier. If I hadn't bombarded it and put it to rest, wouldn't it have completely ground this exchange to dust?"

-No, but...

Wasn't that metal typhoon caused by Jeong Yeongwoo in the first place?

Of course, it wasn't that Yeongwoo was unaware of that.

"But since I'm somewhat at fault there as well, I won't take the full resolution fee. I'll just take an additional 20% of the sales price."

-.......

It was practically robbery, but there was absolutely nothing the exchange employees could do.

The Godial ship this guy arrived in, and that ridiculous bombardment they had witnessed earlier.

And above all, because the Hezara government's official mark attached to this robber bastard signified a great deal.

Though the official of the Hezara administrative district hadn't revealed it to Yeongwoo at the time, the official mark granted to him bore a slightly different nature from the standard ones.

Because this mark contained the message: 'Avoid friction if possible and let him pass.'

Beep-beep.

Following that, an alarm rang from the exchange employee's wrist.

The scanner, having finished sweeping the half-ruined exchange, had reported the investigation results.

-...The quantity is quite massive.

"The quality should be good too. Since I shot down a pretty expensive fleet."

-The Katangdal has been somewhat damaged due to the high pressure and high heat. Therefore, it will need to go through several refinement processes, so the appraised value will come out lower than you might think.

Because the exchange employee said this while heavily tensed up, Yeongwoo casually placed a hand on the 'Bastard' at his waist.

"My intuition will judge whether the price is appropriate or not. So tell me the truth."

At this, the employee pulled up a hologram window in the air and began calculating.

And not long after, he looked at Yeongwoo once again.

-.......

"How much did it come out to?"

-20.8 billion Karma.

"20.8?"

Yeongwoo barely stopped his mouth from sliding open.

It was because the amount was far larger than he had expected.

‘Wait, it's not like I brought the ships in whole to sell, I just scraped together some of the debris, yet it's 20.8 billion?’

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Blinking his eyes, Yeongwoo feigned composure as he continued speaking.

"Then how much is the resolution fee?"

At that, the employee didn't even pretend to calculate and immediately gave an answer.

-4.16 billion Karma.

"Hmm. It isn't enough, but considering my fault in the matter, it's not bad."

Yeongwoo nodded.

In truth, the reason he had demanded the resolution fee was because of the 20% debris sorting commission he had to pay to the Red Foot Brothers of Guro-gu.

"I normally sell Katangdal at 1.5 times the cosmic market price. But since you guys will also incur costs to fix this smashed-up shop, I will show some mercy."

-...Th-Thank you.

At Yeongwoo's words, the employees bowed their heads in unison, and soon after, a metal card containing a total of 24.96 billion Karma materialized in the air.

"You don't do direct transfers here."

As Yeongwoo muttered this and reached to snatch the card, the exchange employee quickly added.

-This is a direct debit device whose payment is guaranteed by the Hezara Autonomous Government. It can be used identically to cash anywhere in the universe, but if used within the Hezara Galaxy, you can receive a 5% cost reduction benefit in most situations.

"In Hezara? Well. I don't plan on staying here for long, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to see those benefits."

As Yeongwoo picked up the high-value card after saying this, the employees bowed their heads again and spoke cautiously.

-All transactions have now been completed. Thank you for visiting Sanmie.

"You're really good at empty pleasantries."

Yeongwoo nodded, tucked the card into his breast pocket, and looked back.

"What happens now? After I leave here, will the cops chasing me bust in? I used naval guns here, after all, and I extorted money too."

At that, one of the employees slowly raised his head and surprisingly spoke the unvarnished truth.

-Since you carry a high-grade mark, it is difficult for us to judge. However, we believe it is highly likely that rather than the government stepping in directly, they will pass the resolution off to a Sheriff.

"You've surprisingly got quite a bit of nerve. Thanks for the honest opinion."

Coincidentally, the last region he was to visit happened to be one of the jurisdictions of a Sheriff.

Just as the anti-government pistol had said earlier, it looked like he was going to end up putting a hole in a Sheriff's head.

"Anyway, it was a good transaction. Let's see each other again if the opportunity arises."

When Yeongwoo, having finally finished all his business, waved his hand and left the building, the massive security robot hurriedly blocked the entrance back up.

Returning to the Earth Ship with the money extorted from Sanmie's exchange.

Yeongwoo, who had rushed straight into the helm, sought out Earth the moment he arrived and handed over 4.16 billion Karma.

"Pass this on to the brothers. It would be great if you could give it directly to Grand Hero Bang, if possible."

『What is this? The commission, by any chance?』

"Yeah. I can't break a promise I made to the brothers."

Then, this time, Deputy Mantero chimed in with exactly what was expected.

-Since you struck a major facility of Sanmie with naval guns, the Hezara government will surely take action. Because it's a matter of authority.

"The people at Sanmie said the exact same thing, actually. But they said there's a higher probability that they'll leave it to a Sheriff to handle rather than the government stepping in directly."

-That might be the case, but... that scenario might actually be more problematic.

"Why is that?"

-Because if the government is delegating the disposal of a Planetary Shipmaster, it won't be an ordinary Sheriff.

"Well, even so, it's not like we can give up on the Great One's legacy, right?"

As Yeongwoo scratched his cheek and looked out at the space outside the window, Mushio Tare, who had parked his rear in the combat navigator's seat in the meantime, opened his mouth.

-I saw that there's a Planet Hunter on the Earth Ship's naval gun list.

"Right. Though I didn't use it earlier."

-The number one duty of all Galactic Sheriffs is the peace of the galaxy. And this 'peace' naturally includes the structural maintenance of the galaxy.

"Structural maintenance?"

-It means that the planet Pareshik must not disappear from the galaxy.

"Oho."

In other words, Mushio was now saying they should aim the Planet Hunter at Pareshik in an emergency to threaten the Sheriff.

At that, the Sun, Moro—who rarely raised objections to the Earth Ship's actions—stepped forward with a furrowed brow.

『You would kill a celestial body out of fear of a mere Sheriff? That, I cannot tolerate.』

"Ah."

Before being Yeongwoo's mother-in-law, Moro was also a stakeholder of the Earth Ship.

And she was also an existence that received the blind support of all the celestial bodies comprising the Earth Ship System.

So Yeongwoo quickly changed his stance.

"Right. We're robbers, not pirates, are we? There won't be any need to go so far as harming a planet."

Then he looked at Mantero and gave an instruction.

"Head straight for Pareshik. Today, we're going to commit robbery fair and square."

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]