Episode 161
The message was a bit of a surprise. He didn’t expect this place was connected with his residential area as he was convinced it was a different place from the Abyss. On second thought, however, it seemed to be related to his capabilities, not to the Sky Castle or the system of the Ant Cave. Anyway, it was a good thing that he didn’t have to go all the way to Jeju Island, so Jung Si-woo was willing to accept that fact.
[I will welcome you whenever you come here…Shu.]
“Shu?”
He took a shot. He didn’t expect him to retaliate by mentioning his nickname. He didn’t know this big white tiger would use this means. More importantly, however, when Jung Si-woo said it out loud, the group’s eyes glowed. Their faces were as if they saw a cute cat.
“Shu.”
“Shu…hehe.”
“No, I said no.”
Jung Si-woo frowned and denied it, but it only made the party happier! He tried to ignore the group’s gaze and gave El instructions again.
“As the first step of the plan, make sure to completely clean up the areas that are in contact with your territory, including Jeju Island. You always have to clean up your house and then your country.”
[What a profound thing to say. Leave it to me, that’s what I’ve been working on as the head of this place.]
“In the meantime, I’ll gather information from the other monster forces. I’m sure there’s a wide stretch of land under your control, but there’s a section left that it doesn’t cover.”
[Thank you very much.]
Jeong Si-woo had thousands in his ghost legions. They usually went around dealing with monsters on Earth under the command of Jung Si-woo, and there was nothing more to be burdened by leaving it to the native monsters.
It was just that Jung Si-woo’s thoughts became more painful because he had to get their reports and analyze them one by one. He didn’t do it because he was lazy, not because he was incapable. It would be very unlucky if the party heard him.
“From then on, we move together. As it is against native monsters, I will aim to subdue them rather than kill them. It’s harder than just killing them, but if we integrate native monsters on a global scale, it’s worth trying.”
[Shu…are you confident that you can finish by subduing monsters? You’ve got such tremendous power.]
“Uh…”
Jung Si-woo, who had been agonizing over the unexpectedly quick question for a while, soon responded with a smile.
“I’ll do my best!”
[That’s where we have to rely on other humans…]
“You little bastard?”
Since the distribution of native monsters hadn’t yet been fully grasped, Jung Si-woo decided to move on to the next step.
“Once the monsters are unified, our alliance will exert its true power. Man will never be able to ignore you, and they will realize that it is much wiser to leave you as an ally than to turn it against the enemy.”
[Of course.]
“Next, you need to learn the human language. It’s best to communicate with humans yourself. Of course, you’ll need to pick a highly intelligent monster out of your followers and teach them separately.”
[Hmm.]
At his words, El thought for a moment and then nodded.
[You have a lot of respect for me.]
“I don’t know why it came to that conclusion, but did you understand why?”
[Yes, I see. If you teach me, I will try my best.]
There was a way for El to choose Jung Si-woo as his spokesman, but it was possible that the monster group would be mistaken for Jung Si-woo’s corps. Jung Si-woo was too lazy to lead these many monsters and hoped to coexist with humans with their power. This was why they were able to communicate directly with humans.
“Only then will we be able to defeat the world’s monsters, the goal of our alliance…let’s go talk about this then. We have a lot of things to prepare for.”
[Clearly. Let’s keep in touch with each other closely.]
“Oh, and there’s a connection on the sea monster side, so I’ll introduce them to you later.”
[Oh, did they make a wise choice, too? It’s a good thing if our troops increase.]
To put it bluntly, they regarded Jung Si-woo as the incarnation of God, but she didn’t say much because this guy in front of her might think strangely. That was the end of the rough discussion. Jung Si-woo said goodbye to El and tried to turn around, but he remembered something when he saw his ability earlier.
“By the way, your ability to handle sand.”
[Should I show you again?]
This one was a little too friendly, even though they had the same purpose. Jung Si-woo questioned the fact, but he decided not to touch that fact because there was no harm to it.
“Yes, can you show me?”
[Anytime.]
The personality that liked to show off his strength was no different from Jung Si-woo. El lifted a paw with a pretty proud look and hit the ground hard. At that moment, a circle of about 50 meters in diameter appeared around him, and shortly after, hundreds and thousands of sand spears soared along the line drawn in the sand. Marina’s instinctively shouted at the immense majesty and monstrous mana.
“Amazing…the scale is different from ours! Oh, it might be similar to Si woo’s.”
“I can’t do this with mana.”
But this skill…I’ve learned enough about the structure of the unique ability that El was probably born with this. Jung Si-woo spoke bluntly to El, who looked very proud.
“But this can be used in places where there’s no sand.”
[I am a sand tiger born in the sand. I can’t handle something that’s not sand.]
“Well, that’s not right. To be exact, you can use it wherever you can make sand.”
[Where can I make sand?]
He didn’t know why the tiger was tilting his head in confusion now.
“You can break stones and turn them into the sand.”
[If you break a stone, does it become sand!?]
Well, El wasn’t the brightest. He clicked his tongue, raised a fist, and hit the sand floor hard. Even at this moment, the destructive power of that fist was terrible even without mana!
The sandy floor rose magnificently again. It wasn’t just a rush. The sand particles, which his destructive power had beaten down, were visible as they flew through the air. As we all knew already, it was truly an absurd ability beyond the realm of cognition.
“See? The sand could be smaller. So you can think of stones as just big sand.”
“How can there be such an ignorant theorem?”
[How could it be?]
“You’ve been persuaded, haven’t you?”
The party was dumbfounded, but El nodded with an expression of enlightenment. In any case, it was necessary to teach El about turning rocks into sand, but the performance that Jung Si-woo showed just now seemed enough.
[I know what you want to say. Indeed, as you say, I can use my powers anywhere on earth!]
“Yeah. Even if it’s a pavement or a building, most of them have stones inside, so you can break them into the sand and use them.”
[Oh, my God! You enlarged my world all at once!]
[It’s like tearing it apart, not widening it.]
“Anyway, I wish it was wider.”
El, who was finally convinced of Jung Si-woo’s ignorant theory, seemed anxious to test what he realized right now. Indeed, the excitement of realizing a power that you didn’t know was beyond description. Jung Si-woo took a step back, nodding his head as if he were a teacher looking at his grown-up student.
“Slowly test this and that. Then we’ll see each other’s growth next time.”
[Okay, I’ll be waiting for the next time.]
It was a very beneficial moment for the both of them. If someone else other than Jung Si-woo could communicate with El, things wouldn’t have gone smoothly like this. Yes, the alliance could have been achieved smoothly because the two were ignorant and honest.
“Then let’s go. Everything I have to do here is done.”
“I want to try some cookies made by Luta.”
“Yes, yes, let’s go to the residential area.”
After sharing all the information he needed to share with El, Jeong Si-woo led his party back to the residential area. However, there was a man who followed them. It was none other than a squirrel.
“Who are you?”
[My name is Sarite, squeak.]
“You don’t have to introduce yourself; go back, squeak.”
[I have been appointed as your messenger, squeak…….]
Jung Si-woo decided not to bother her anymore because she looked very distressed. When he returned with the monster, Bolt, who was collecting herbs around the field, stepped back in surprise, but Jung Si-woo quickly reassured them.
“Look, Bolt, roll forward, rollback. Sleep.”
[Squeak, squeak, squeak.]
Jung Si-woo revived his experience as a guerrilla instructor in the military and instructed the squirrel. As expected, he was quick-witted. Bolt quickly recognized the harmlessness of the monster.
“Great of you to tame monsters, my lord.”
“Yeah, if you need any help, go ahead and ask.”
“Okay, he looks strong so that the Simmons will love him.”
[I didn’t follow you here to farm, but…]
“I trust you, squeak.”
[As expected, the boss chose the wrong ally, squeak.]
But as a mere pawn, he couldn’t disobey the boss’ instructions, and the squirrel Sarite had to swallow his tears. While he was at it, Jeong Si-woo stopped by the smithy to check on the production of the bullets with Beto and decided to play a little with him before leaving the area.
“Devil! Perv! Cookie robber!”
“It’s your rent.”
Of course, the party had a basket full of freshly baked cookies in their hands because they robbed Luta’s secret store in the middle of their trip. Jung Si-woo munched on cookies and looked at the lake with slightly lingering eyes, but soon turned around, sating his appetite.
“The underwater dungeon should be done with its work.”
[The master is about to enter the integrated dungeon again.]
“Bingo.”
The abyss was a place that could only be reached through deep-sea dungeons. It wouldn’t be the same place as a normal dungeon. Before he threw himself into the unknown, he had to do everything he could. Jung Si-woo decided to train in the integrated dungeon as a preparatory step.
“I’m just amazed at your idea of thinking of it as an ordinary place of training.”
“I want to go, too!”
“Nope, you need to go home now.”
Jung Si-woo gave them some tea while saying that and made them spend some time with him leisurely. To report what happened in Jeju Island and deal with Kim Ha-ryong, Seria and Marina would be kept rather busy.
“Whooo, see you later. You have to call me when you fight monsters.”
“Even if you don’t like it, you’re already part of the alliance. Don’t worry; you can’t avoid that situation.”
“I’ll see you again.”
“See you later, Si-woo!”
Marina’s party was gone. As they had been together these past days, he felt very familiar with their backs. Jung Si-woo turned around, laughing anew at that fact.
“Well, let’s get into the integrated dungeon.”
They were done with Jeju island for now.
