Chapter 114 – Dragon Worm

Chapter 114 – Dragon Worm

Minju stared at Rai with a dumbfounded expression.

“Oh? You can speak Korean?”

“Yes, Boss. Korean. Little bit. Studied.”

I was glad to see her, but I also put my hand to my forehead at her way of speaking.

‘Ah… her Korean is still a bit clumsy.’

She was 24 years old.

It wasn’t an age where speaking formally to us would be awkward, but even so, ‘Boss’ felt strange.

This was because she had learned ‘survival Korean’ when she worked as a foreign laborer in Korea.

Of course, to enter Korea with a legal work visa, a Korean language proficiency test was mandatory.

It was similar to how studying English for the college entrance exam doesn’t mean you can have daily conversations with native English speakers. But now was not the time to evaluate her Korean language skills.

“Kweeeeeeeek!”

Because there were still many monsters nearby. She scanned her surroundings with a rather serious expression, then politely asked us.

“My name is Rai. Help. Help! Give me one more portion.”

He was going to anyway.

I immediately gave Minju an order.

“Minju. Send one or two squads here.”

“Okay!”

She quickly nodded and then—.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—flash!

She disappeared in an instant.

“Huh?! The woman. Did the female boss leave work?”

That’s when Rai was flustered.

Whoosh—whoosh—whoosh—flash!

…Minju returned.

But this time, she wasn’t alone.

A considerable number of Magitech Armors and Assault Cannons were with her.

“Alright, let’s begin the Village Securing Operation.”

I grinned.

Bang! Clang-clang-clang-clang!

It didn’t take long for the situation to be resolved.

* * *

The monsters soon entered a lull.

It seemed the mutants had realized that monsters of this level couldn’t breach the village’s defenses. Watching the monsters gradually begin to retreat, I nodded.

‘So there really are mutants…’

Retreat was an advanced tactic to preserve forces, something monsters without mutants couldn’t even imagine.

Anyway, a victory was a victory. I turned my head to look at Rai, and she was already lying flat on her back on the floor, panting.

Just how long had she been fighting?

The Man’s clothes were covered in the dark red blood of monsters, without a single spot missed. It looked as if his clothes were red from the start.

Even though he must have been utterly exhausted, and there was no need for him to fight once we arrived, The Man stood and fought with us until the very end.

“Grrrroooar!”

…But in the end, The Man was human too, and as soon as the battle ended and the tension eased, he seemed to have fallen asleep from exhaustion.

‘That’s… just like him.’

I instructed Minju to move The Man to a bed in the village’s private house.

* * *

It’s cozy.

How long has it been since I’ve had such a deep sleep?

It’s truly cozy.

‘Just a little more time in bed……’

Lai thought that for a moment, then-

“Gasp!”

Suddenly, he shot up.

And he…

“Where am I?”

He looked around with a bewildered expression.

It was an unfamiliar ceiling.

The room he was in was definitely not the room he usually slept in.

It wasn’t just a matter of construction materials or furniture.

It was a strange place, so restrained and clean that it seemed like someone with a compulsive disorder must clean it several times a day to keep it like this.

‘What on earth is going on?’

With a tense expression, he cautiously opened the door and stepped into the hallway. But the situation in the hallway was not much different.

‘What kind of place is this……’

It was at that moment that the man felt fear.

“Rai! Are you awake?!”

Someone called out to the man, manipulating fire.

“It seems you’ve had a good rest after a long time. That’s a relief.”

When he turned his head, he saw his Uncle, who lived in the same village.

“Uncle, what exactly is this…?”

“You seem confused.”

The man chuckled.

He began to explain everything to Rai, one by one.

The man who protected them from the Monsters stepped forward and suggested they start anew, offering to move the entire village to a safe place away from the Monsters.

The villagers, who had been on the verge of annihilation, debated whether they could trust the man. In the end, they decided that if they were going to die anyway, they might as well take a chance on hope, and so they followed him.

In response to their agreement, they had all moved here, little by little, with their belongings, through spatial teleportation.

“Oh, come to think of it, they said there’s something you need to do as soon as you wake up.”

“Me?”

“Yes.”

“Then, in which direction…?”

It was when Rai, with a confused expression, asked for water.

“Ding!!”

A Worker Bug tilted its body towards the man.

“Ding- Ding!!”

It was as if it was telling him to follow.

***

“Where exactly are you taking me…?”

Corridors intertwined like a maze.

Behind the wall in the corridor, sometimes a faint vibrating sound would echo, and sometimes a thumping sound would reverberate.

“Is this some kind of factory…?”

The man tilted his head and followed the Worker Bug.

Along the way, the man passed several doors that seemed impossible to budge, no matter what he did. But as soon as the man approached, they would open as if they had sensors.

“Another elevator?”

After walking for a long time, following the Worker Bug, Rai-

“Ding!!”

Once again, he faced a sturdy door. The Worker Bug stopped in front of the door and stared blankly at Rai.

It was as if it was telling him to go inside.

“Thank you, little friend.”

Rai greeted the Worker Bug and then-

Whoosh-

He went inside the door.

***

The door opened, and an immense light poured out from within.

“Huh?”

It was when Rai, startled by the sudden amount of light, squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them again. I smiled looking at the man’s face.

“You’re finally here. I’ve been waiting.”

Considering his terrible condition, I thought he might need a bit more rest, but the man had only rested for about six hours.

It was just enough time for Minju to go back and forth several times, barely moving everyone to the Assault Landing Ship.

However, even amidst all this, the Fleet was constantly under enemy attack. As a result, they could barely advance, and mountains of monsters were piling up on the ground.

‘I’m sorry, but… it’s time to work.’

I didn’t know if his body had fully recovered yet, but since he was up, I wanted him to do what he could.

But Rai still seemed a bit confused. He pointed at the screens on the Bridge with wide eyes and exclaimed.

“Boss! There are so many products in the sky?!”

I couldn’t understand why, but…

Rye referred to monsters as products.

‘If only he could communicate a bit better, there wouldn’t be a nicer person…’

I pressed my forehead, frustrated.

‘Will he try to use Apoin this time?’

In his previous life, he said he didn’t like Apoin because it hurt his pride. He claimed that if he relied too much on machines, human emotions wouldn’t be conveyed.

‘No… please, practice more Korean and come back like that… ‘

It was our earnest request.

I decided to deal with that problem later.

First, I decided to tackle the urgent matter.

“This time, it’s Rye’s turn to help. Can you do it?”

When I asked politely,

he pulled a Kukri Dagger from its sheath.

And he answered me with eyes full of passion.

“Boss. Which way is the exit of this factory?”

It was a question he had asked often, his tone was quite skilled. I gestured to Minju. We had already coordinated our plan.

“Oh, Mr. Rye! I’ll show you the way.”

Whoosh- Flash!

And so, the two of them disappeared.

To the Assault Landing Ship’s Upper Deck.

***

The sky looked chaotic.

“Quack! Quack! Quaaaaack!”

From Aerial Monsters constantly screaming-

Screech-

Screech!

Even the machines making strange cries. Rai could easily guess that those machines were the Water bodies accompanying the Man.

‘I need to be careful not to let them get hit.’

Thinking that, Rai-

Squeezed-

Held the Kukri Dagger tightly.

“I’ll destroy every single one of them!”

And Rai shouted fiercely in Nepali.

And that was by no means an empty threat.

Whoosh! Swish! Clang!

Every time he swung his sword, countless Kukri sword afterimages were thrown like boomerangs.

Slash! Swish!

And the Monsters cut by those blades soon bled profusely, creating a rain of blood on the ground.

“Wow… that person is really strong, aren’t they?”

“Wow, that’s really cool.”

His strength was enough to surprise even Suana and Seongjae, who had experienced numerous battlefields. I, too, couldn’t help but smile with satisfaction.

Of course, this many Monsters was not something he could handle alone. Clearly, about 70% of them were still being dealt with by my Interceptors.

But, in other words, Rai alone contributed 30% of the Interceptors’ Firepower to my Fleet.

I watched the sky gradually clear from the Bridge-

‘It’s a relief he’s doing as well as I expected.’

I grinned.

“Uh, uh? But Siwoo, look over there? What’s that?”

It was around then that a look of bewilderment washed over Seongjae’s face.

A giant flying caterpillar, large enough to cover one side of the Bridge’s screen, began to appear! It was the emergence of the Dragon Worm, which had been previously announced to Apoin.

‘Was this why they tried to tie me down…?’

They must have been trying to keep me tied down as much as possible, accumulating Dragon Worms to deal with me all at once.

Then, as the small monsters were cleared and I showed signs of advancing, they hastily sent whatever Dragon Worms they had.

Meanwhile, Seongjae wasn’t the only one who was flustered.

“B-Boss! The product is too big!”

Rai, too, was flustered and shouting at the appearance of a Dragon Worm of a colossal size he had never imagined before.

But even as he shouted, he was doing his best to confront the Dragon Worm.

Sshhh! Whoosh! Slash! Sshhh! Whoosh!

Blade Wind spread out in a fan shape towards the Dragon Worm with the sound of cutting through the wind.

Clang! Screech!

But his blades were helplessly bouncing off the thick scales of the Dragon Worm.

Occasionally, there were Kukris stuck between the scales, but in the end, they couldn’t even inflict a wound.

But that was to be expected.

Whoosh- Screech!

The Dragon Worm’s scales were so thick that it would be useless even if an Interceptor struck it multiple times.

“What should we do with a monster like this?!”

It was when Rai, flustered by the sight, shouted in Nepalese.

Clang- Clank- Rumble-

The large ship’s cannon, which had been silent until now, moved.

“Huh?”

It was when Rai raised his head to pinpoint the source of the man’s voice.

Zzzzzzzzzzz-

For a moment, a vibrating sound rang out.

Flash!

A bright light, incomparable to the bridge, briefly blinded his eyes.

* * *

A powerful explosion.

KABOOOM!

Along with the man…

The Dragon Worm’s midsection simply evaporated.

However, perhaps its body was truly long. Only the two slightly remaining, burnt front and back ends fell to the ground.

CRASH!

The two body parts plummeted, causing no small earthquake on the ground. Their weight seemed considerable.

“Uh… th-that… Boss?”

Rai seemed shocked by what he saw, stopping for a moment.

“Rai, you don’t need to worry about that, just take care of the small fry.”

I smiled and responded to the man.

The Photon Destroyer had an opponent befitting it.

“Yes- yes! I will work hard!”

And thanks to Rai, who seemed to sense something and worked even harder, steadily projecting firepower…

“We’ve finally escaped.”

We finally arrived at the Eastern Tip of the Indian Continent.