Chapter 56: Ice-Yetis [6]

Within next few seconds hundreds of students had gathered along the shore of Eastern Antarctica, their faces filled with anxiety as they stared at the boat Alex Valor had spent four hours preparing.

Unfortunately, there was one problem.

The boat could only accommodate fifty people.

"What do you mean there are only fifty seats?!"

"Are you telling us to fight over them?!"

"Damn it! We finally made it here, only to get stuck at the shore!"

The students’ complaints grew louder by the second. Some demanded that the strongest students be given priority, while others insisted that everyone should have an equal chance to escape.

Alex stood beside the boat, his expression growing increasingly troubled.

’There are too many people here. Far more than I anticipated.’

He had spent four hours preparing the boat, reinforcing it with concealment runes to keep it hidden from the monsters roaming the mountain. He had accounted for numerous possibilities, adjusted his preparations repeatedly, and ensured that the students would have a way to escape.

Yet, despite all that preparation, he had overlooked one crucial detail.

There were simply too many students.

’How could I have missed something so obvious?’

Alex clenched his fists.

He had no time to dwell on his mistake. The Ice-Yeti horde was approaching, and every second they wasted brought the monsters closer to the shore.

"Everyone, calm down!" Alex shouted. "We’ll figure something out, so stop arguing and—"

"Hey, Alex!"

A familiar voice interrupted him.

Alex turned toward the source and saw three figures approaching from a distance.

Lorenzo Riina.

Joseph Goldberg.

And Alice Storms.

Alex’s eyes widened.

’They’re alive?’

He had expected them to struggle against the Ice-Yeti horde, especially after hearing reports about the sheer number of monsters pursuing them.

Yet the three looked surprisingly unharmed.

Lorenzo wasn’t even out of breath.

Joseph, on the other hand, wore an irritated expression, while Alice looked as though she had just finished an exhausting workout.

"Lorenzo!" one of the students shouted. "Did you escape from the monsters, too?"

"Obviously," Lorenzo replied, casually brushing snow off his clothes. "Do I look like someone who would let a bunch of oversized snowballs kill him?"

"Those aren’t snowballs!" someone protested.

"Really? They looked like snowballs to me."

The student fell silent.

Lorenzo’s ability to say the most ridiculous things with a straight face was genuinely infuriating.

Before anyone could question him further, a familiar voice rang out from beside the boat.

"Hold on a moment!"

Capone Lucas pushed his way through the crowd, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the approaching students.

"If you want to board this boat, you’ll have to pay me a hundred million credits per person!"

The entire shore fell silent.

Then—

"WHAT?!"

"Are you insane?!"

"Who the hell do you think you are?!"

Lucas ignored the furious shouts and proudly puffed out his chest.

"Don’t look at me like that! I’m a businessman. I’m simply offering a service to people in need!"

"You don’t even own the boat!" someone yelled.

"Details, details."

Before Lucas could continue his sales pitch, Joseph grabbed him by the collar.

"W-Wait! What are you doing?!"

Joseph lifted him effortlessly.

"Shut up."

Then he threw Lucas onto the snow-covered ground.

THUD!

"Ouch! You Damned—!"

Joseph ignored him and turned toward Lorenzo.

"When is the gate opening?"

"Soon," Lorenzo answered.

Joseph frowned. "Define soon."

"Five seconds. Maybe ten."

"Maybe?"

"Would you prefer I give you a precise answer and disappoint you?"

Joseph’s expression darkened.

’I swear, one day I’m going to kill this bastard.’

Lorenzo merely smiled.

Earlier, while they were still on Falcon Mountain, Lorenzo had informed Joseph and Alice that he had prepared a teleportation gate in advance. Their task had been to divert the Ice-Yeti horde and buy enough time for the other students to reach the shore.

It had been a risky plan.

Even with their combined efforts, they had barely managed to gain twenty seconds.

And now, those precious seconds were running out.

Lorenzo pulled out his satellite phone and dialed a number.

The call connected almost immediately.

"Young master?"

"Salvatore, how long?"

"Five seconds."

"Excellent. Try not to keep me waiting."

"Understood, young master."

Lorenzo ended the call and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

Then he turned toward the students.

"Good news, everyone. Your transportation has arrived."

The students exchanged confused glances.

"Transportation?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Is there another boat?"

Lorenzo pointed toward the empty space beside the shore.

"No. Something better."

The air began to distort.

A moment later, a circular opening appeared before them, its edges shimmering with magical energy. Through it, they could see the other side of the teleportation gate.

The students stared in disbelief.

"A teleportation gate?!"

"He prepared a teleportation gate?!"

"Then why did we waste all that time arguing about the boat?!"

The moment they realized what was happening, the crowd erupted into cheers.

One by one, the students rushed toward the gate, desperate to escape Antarctica before the horde arrived.

Alex, however, remained rooted to the spot.

He stared at the gate, then slowly turned toward Lorenzo.

"You..."

Lorenzo glanced at him. "Me?"

"You prepared a teleportation gate in advance?"

"Yep."

"Then why didn’t you tell us?!"

Lorenzo tilted his head.

"Huh? You never asked."

Alex’s mouth fell open.

For a moment, he genuinely couldn’t find the words to respond.

He had spent four hours preparing the boat. Four entire hours calculating the risks, arranging the transportation, and reinforcing it with concealment runes.

He had considered countless possibilities, yet none of his preparations had accounted for Lorenzo simply opening a teleportation gate.

This bastard...

Alex felt a vein twitch in his forehead.

’I spent hours preparing everything, and he solved the entire problem with a phone call?!’

Lorenzo casually patted him on the shoulder.

"Don’t worry, Alex. You did a good job."

Alex’s eye twitched.

’Who the hell are you to praise me?!’

He wanted to grab Lorenzo by the collar and shake him until that infuriating smile disappeared from his face.