Chapter 172   – Air Strike(1)

Shoo-shoohk!

When Woojin arrived at his Dimensional Domain, it looked the same as before.  However, when he exited the Castle, the town looked totally different.

Hwah-roo-roohk.

Houses were burning, and there were corpses strewn everywhere.  It looked as if they had put up a fight against the Adventurers.

The corpses had yet to be cleared away, so they were strewn in various locations.  Then there were the soldiers on patrol.  If one looked at the broken houses, one could tell the fight had happened not too long ago.

“Kiba.”

𝔫oѵ𝑒𝙡.com

[My Lord.]

Black smoke coalesced to form Kiba, and he got on one knee.

“Did strong Adventurers come this time around?”

[It was a rebellion.]

“Rebellion?”

[An uprising sometimes occurs amongst the Dimensional Residents.]

“Hmmm.”

Woojin stroked his chin.

There were several factors that could threaten a Dimensional Domain.  There was the Dimensional battle, Duel requests and the Adventurers that come through the Dungeon.

There were also the possibility of a rebellion from the Dimensional residents, who had migrated here.  Then there were the thieves that intentionally came here to steal the Domain.

The difference between a Dimensional Resident and a Dimensional lord was the fact that one possessed a Domain.  There were a lot of wanderers that were very strong.  If Woojin lost his Dimensional Domain, he would wander around doing the same thing.

Moreover, there were a lot of wanderers that banded together to form their own mercenary units.  These groups wandered around from place to place as they caused trouble.

However, there were only one reason why an uprising would occur.

It wasn’t the fact that he was weak, but…

“Do they think I’m a pushover?”

[No way! No one here would dare to think of our lord as a pushover.]

Kiba suddenly yelled out. Kiba continued to speak as he looked at the corpses.

[They were intentionally sent here.  It looks to be a mercenary outfit that took a commission from Liah.]

Woojin let out a sigh.

“Why does she keep aiming for me?”

Liah had failed in taking him down in the Dimensional battle and the Duel.  Now she was using subterfuge to take down his Domain.

She had said that he’ll never be able to protect his home planet of earth.  Her words kept ringing in his ears.

Maybe she wanted to prove her own words.  This might be why Liah kept harassing him.

If he didn’t have Death Knights like Kiba, he might have had his Domain stolen from under him.

If it wasn’t for his reliable Familiars, her relentless attacks might have worked.

“Were they a bit hard to put down?”

[It wasn’t too hard.  I barely had to replenish our forces.]

Woojin tilted his head in puzzlement.

“Then where did my Points go?”

He’ll be able to get a full accounting of how his Points were spent by sitting on his Throne.  He’ll find out what had happened by opening his Domain Management Window.

When Woojin was about to turn away, Kiba suddenly spoke.

[I want to run alongside the lord in the battlefield.]

“….”

Woojin looked at Kiba.

He could feel a desperate longing emanating from the large Death Knight.  There were only a small number of Adventurers that attacked the Dimensional Domain of Alandal through the Dungeons.

There were the occasional uprisings, but Kiba could count those instances with a single hand.

He was the Defense Commander of the Domain, and his duties were boring him to tears.  Woojin thought he had neglected Kiba for too long.

“All right.  I’ll replace you with someone else.”

[I’ll spread a carpet of blood on the lord’s battlefield!]

Undead Army.

He was the strongest Death Knight.  The declaration suited Kiba, since he was the spearhead of the army.

“I like what you are saying.”

Woojin grinned as he glanced at Kiba.

“I’ll replace you with a pinch hitter, so just wait a little bit more.  I’ll ride into the next battle with you.”

[I wait for the lord’s command!]

Woojin returned to the Throne inside the lord’s castle.

“Let’s see.”

The Points that was used to replenish the forces was significant, but this wasn’t a problem.  He was collecting taxes through his Domain and Colonies.  He was bringing in more than he was in spending on replenishing troops.

It didn’t take him long to find the source of the drain.

“It’s Bibi.”

Bibi was in charge of earth’s Colony city.  She had named it ‘Bibi’s Castle’, and he had spent a massive amount of points on the city.

However, it wasn’t a problem, since his Points would be increasing as time passed.

In the future, he’ll be able to gather earth’s Bloodstones through the Colony, so the amount of insignificant in context.

Moreover, Woojin had just spent twice the amount of Points compared to Bibi when he built the Saurus Colony.

“I’ll go see what’s going on.”

A massive amount of Points had been expended at once.  There was a small possibility that Bibi had to replenish all her troops in response to an enemy attack.  He was a little bit worried.

He had planned on returning to Alphen immediately, but he was curious as to see how much change had occurred at his Colony.  He passed through the portal to head to Bibi’s Castle.

***

Pul-luhk.

The flag with the yawning cat was billowing in the wind.  When Woojin came out of the portal, he titled his head in confusion.

“It changed a lot.”

The deck had been wide open, but now there were buildings obstructing the view.  One could call it a town.

There were some buildings that looked modern, and there were also buildings that looked similar to the ones in Alphen.  It felt as if he was walking through an unfamiliar city.

“Bibi.”

“Master!”

At Woojin’s call, a puff of black smoke appeared as Bibi appeared.

“Heh heh.  How’s everything going?”

“Well, everything is progressing as planned.”

“Heh heh.”

He thought about how Bibi had remade Alandal, so he could guess at what the Colony would look like.  However, he hadn’t given her the authority to use his Points, so Bibi could purchase cafes and stores.

“How’s our defense?”

The fact that this was a moving fortress was the most important point in making this Colony.

It was very important for it to have defensive capabilities, so it could keep everyone safe.  One couldn’t half-ass it, and Bibi was well aware of this fact.

“It burned a lot of Points.”

“….”

She was being boastful, so it seemed she must have used a lot of Points by going overboard on defense.

Of course, the aircraft carrier was much smaller than the Saurus mountain.

It is small yet she had used half the Points needed to construct the Saurus Colony.  This was why his expectation was high.

“Follow me, master.  I’ll show you.”

Bibi looked like a child that was showing off a toy she had made.

Woojin followed her up the control tower, and he came face-to-face with Jung-minchan along the way.

“K…king!”

“What is wrong with you? Are you sick?”

Woojin worriedly asked the pale-faced Minchan.  Minchan’s face crumpled up as he answered Woojin.

“M..motion sickness…”

“Huh.  You are sea sick?”

Woojin noticed the vibration beneath his feet, so it seemed the aircraft carrier was on the move right now.

“I…if it was sea sickness, I would be ok, but….Ooh-oohk…”

Minchan covered his mouth, and he quickly disappeared down the stairs.  Woojin shrugged his shoulder as he asked Bibi a question.

“Where are we headed?”

“We wanted to do the move in one sitting, so we decided to head towards Seoul.  We are currently passing by Daejun.”

“Mmmm.  It’ll be great if we could move everything at once…  Daejun?”

“Yes. Heh heh.  I fixed what was broken, so we can fly again.”

“….”

“Broken?”

This aircraft carrier was built a long time ago, but it hadn’t been broken….  Woojin arrived at the top of the control tower, and he looked out the window.

Kiehhhhhk!

The cries of the Wyverns was heard through the window.  He saw twelve Wyverns flying around the aircraft carrier as an escort.

There were beings from one of the other race riding the Wyverns.

“The Ratick race are talented riders.  We decided to always have them deployed as guards.  They are also tasked to recon the surrounding area.”

Bibi started boasting about her accomplishments.

“I also built cannons, and it can fire in all directions.   The engineer Nosam adapted earth’s technology, so there aren’t any official names for these weapons.  Why don’t master name them?”

“….”

Bibi spoke as she pulled up a hologram in front of him.  She showed him the entire design plans for the modified aircraft carrier.

There were 120 openings from front to back, and it was all equipped with cannons.

The problem was the fact that the cannons weren’t only equipped on the side of the aircraft carrier.  It was built along the keel and the hull.

It looked like a hedgehog turned over on its back.

“I also put aside a landing strip for the Wyverns.  They can be deployed immediately.”

He looked beyond the window to look at the spot being pointed out by Bibi.  There was an empty spot on the deck, and there was something that looked like a strange looking hill next to it.  Woojin could see Wyverns coiled and resting on this hill.  He could see over 40 of them with his eyes.

“How many?”

“If I include the Wyverns on patrol, we have 107 Wyverns.”

She looked up at Woojin with twinkling eyes as if to say, ‘Did I do good?’

“….”

He had tasked her to come up with the defense of the fortress, so he expected this level of defensive capability.  However….

“So we are flying in the sky right now?”

“Of course.”

Woojin’s expression did not change, so Bibi tried to bring up some of the things she had been working on in secret.

“Hmmm.  I felt as if we didn’t have enough weapons for offense, so we are developing several weapons.  Moreover, it would be a drain on our Points, but we are building a barrier that’ll activate when our enemies attack…”

“Ah.  You can stop talking now.”

Woojin placed his hand on top of Bibi’s head.

This might be an excessive investment, but this was related to the safety of his family.  This was why he welcomed it.

“You did very well.”

“Heh heh.”

Woojin patted Bibi’s head, and he looked out at the view.  He looked beyond the flying Wyverns, and he could see sunlight peeking out through the clouds.

He had no idea how she came up with the idea to make a flying fortress….

Woojin smiled.

“I really like it.”

Wasn’t it better to fly away in a dangerous situation?  They wouldn’t be constrained by the sea now.

Bibi also laughed when she heard Woojijn’s praise.

***

Saurus Colony.

Most of the nearby monsters had been exterminated, and the survivors in the nearby gathered to grow the Colony.  As more people came in, Sunggoo and Jaemin had less things to do.

They weren’t needed for hunting down weak monsters.  It was the job of the inexperienced Phantom Unit and the people of Alphen to hunt down the scrubs.

During the dangerous battle, they had always pined for free time.  Once they got their free time, they were bored now.

“Ah.  When will hyung-nim get back here?”

“I have no idea.  I guess Sunggoo hyung-nim is now accustomed to all of this.”

“No way.  I’m not accustomed to it.”

Sunggoo felt a chill at the tip of his nose, so he rubbed his hand against it.

Jaemin continued to speak.

“I read this in a book.  If a slave is suddenly made a free man, the slave would be unable to get used to the outside world, and he would put the shackles back on himself.”

“So I’m the slave?”

“I’m not saying that, but…”

“Dude.  You’ve come a long way if you can speak those kinds of words to me.”

Jaemin had an apologetic expression when Sunggoo spoke.

“I didn’t say it to make you feel bad.”

“Ha.  Now that I think about it I do want to see Jaenis-nim.”

“….”

…he really was the slave in the story.

Jaemin was dumbfounded as he stared at side of Sunggoo’s face.  He had been subjected to near-death dangers, yet he still wanted to see Jaenis…

Was he a masochist?

“Ah.  I want to eat ramen and kimbap.”

“Seriously.”

Jaemin agreed with Sunggoo’s words.  It was as if Alphen’s food wasn’t edible.  Moreover, they were able purchase food through the Colony, and it was decent.

However, Sunggoo and Jaemin were natives of Korea.  At times, they thought about eating rice.  Their mouths watered especially when they thought about ramen.  It was something they ate quite often.

“Should we go to earth for a brief moment?”

“Woojin-hyung might discipline you.”

“…let’s just be patient.”

When Kahng-woojin returned to Alphen, he wanted permission to be able to frequently visit earth.  He was told to clear the nearby monsters, and now he felt like a student that had finished all his homework.  There was an empty feeling inside him.

At that moment, Elf Lord Latasha approached the two.

“What are the heroes of earth talking about?”

Latasha was wary and abrasive towards Woojin.  However, her attitude was a bit better with Sunggoo and Jaemin.

It was actually quite favorable towards them.

“Ah, Latasha.  We are talking about ramen.”

“Ramen?”

“Yes. It is a noodle type food, and it is incredibly delicious.  It is an earth cuisine, so we aren’t able to acquire it here.”

“Hmmm. I heard the synchronization with the planet earth isn’t finished yet.”

“Yes.”

“I heard you’ll be able to buy Items from earth when the Synchronization ends.”

The Dimensional Store had everything.

Since the Synchronization hadn’t ended, they could buy anything from earthy.  They could only buy Items from Alphen.

Of course, there were similar Items, but….

“Uh? Once the Synchronization ends, we’ll be able to bring earth items through the portal.”

“I guess?”

At Jaemin’s words, Sungoo tilted his head.

“Wow.  What would hyung like to bring here?”

“I want a car.”

“I want a computer.”

When Latasha heard their conversation, she asked with curiosity in her eyes.

“It seems earth has many wondrous things.”

“Of course.”

“When the time comes, I would like to taste the cuisines of earth.”

“At that point, I’ll treat you to some ramen.”

“Oh! I will look forward to the ramen.”

Sunggoo let out a wicked laugh as he looked at Latasha’s excited face.

“There is a fantastic ramen called the Fire Chicken Fried Noodles.   I’ll treat you to it.”1

“….”

Jaemin was taken aback by Sunggoo’s words, and his eyes shook.  Jaemin discreetly glanced at Latasha, and she still had an excited expression on her face.

Jaemin looked at Latasha, who was laughing without any pretense.  He contrasted it with Sunggoo’s face, which was filled with pretense.

“I really want to eat it.”

“Hoo hoo.  I will make sure you’ll get to eat it.”

Evil.

Sungoo-hyung had become a demon.

Jaemin shook his head from side to side.

Translator’s Note:

 Fire Chicken Fried Noodles = the ramen used in the spicy/fire noodle challenge.