webnovel Chapter 698
Chapter 698
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
Chapter 698: Basement Floor (3)
-Is… is this really all right? They’re saying those guys won’t protect us……?
Dots’s face, which had already gone white as it was, turned even paler.
Just coming to the Black Zone had already been the greatest crisis of his life, and now, on top of that, he was going to face an even blacker threat in the underground floor.
-Wouldn’t it be better to just go back even now? If the checkpoint is being handled by those rats, then they’re not an ordinary force, are they?
At that, Yeongwoo looked down at Dots with cold eyes.
“Since when have you ever gone around here under anyone’s protection? What are you so worried about?”
-B-but.
“If you don’t want to die on the road before meeting your brother, wear that cloak properly.”
While Yeongwoo said this and lightly tapped Dots on the shoulder, the black-horned sailboat passed beside the lighthouse of the Red Waterway.
Then, far in the distance, all sorts of lights began flashing into view.
“Is that the Red Waterway?”
When Yeongwoo narrowed his eyes to look at the lights and asked, Yenta took one step closer.
-Yes, that is correct.
“The Red Waterway itself is a city?”
-It is both an actual waterway and a city.
“Then why is it called the Red Waterway? The buildings don’t look red.”
-Because battles break out there so often that the waterway cutting through the city is frequently dyed red.
“Aha. That does make some sense.”
It was quite a brutal name.
“Then who starts those battles?”
At Yeongwoo’s question, the toad captain twitched his lips.
-Who else? Those rat bastards.
He meant the ratmen belonging to the Thousand Pits.
At that, Yeongwoo shifted his gaze to the captain.
“You’ve been calling them rat bastards since earlier, but even if this is the underground floor, isn’t that a slur?”
-I am merely using the words that suit them precisely.
The captain laughed lowly and blew out cigarette smoke.
It seemed this toad did not particularly like the ratmen belonging to the pits either.
-Of course, if you antagonize them, things become very tiring. And I do not particularly like tiring things.
As he had said earlier, it meant he had no intention of protecting even Yenta’s customer in the Red Waterway.
“Then when do we jump off this ship?”
-After the inspection begins. When the time comes, I will tell you myself, so do not worry.
“After the inspection begins? Why not now? Can’t we get off in advance and crawl into the outskirts of the city secretly?”
-That is not only impossible, it will only make things more complicated. It would be better to just listen to me.
“I see.”
Because his tone was so utterly indifferent, Yeongwoo found it more trustworthy instead.
And around this point, Yenta placed something in Yeongwoo’s hand.
-Customer, please take this. You must absolutely not lose it.
“What is this?”
When Yeongwoo opened his hand, he saw three black coins lying there.
However, for proper coins, they looked quite crude.
As if they had been personally molded by hand, the coins did not even have a proper circular shape.
On top of that, the black horn patterns engraved on the coins were all different in shape as well.
“Don’t tell me there’s no system here, so they make coins by hand too?”
-That’s right.
“Then counterfeiting should be possible, shouldn’t it?”
-That is also true, but the material used for these coins itself is extremely precious.
“Precious? What is this made of?”
-Hardened waste oil.
“What?”
-There is exactly one section where waste oil comes down from the surface floor. These coins are made by scooping up some of the oil there and hardening it.
“Then they’re not even coins in the first place. These are lumps of oil. But isn’t waste oil a kind of garbage? Why on earth is that precious?”
At that, Yenta put on a rather solemn expression.
-The passage through which the waste oil that came down from the surface floor moves is itself one of the Black Zone’s ‘facilities.’ That is why no one can drill a hole into the oil pipeline.
Then Yenta lightly raised his index finger.
-But before the ‘Great Cleanup’ happened, things were different.
“Ah, then all the coins circulating right now were made back then?”
-Yes, that is correct.
“Fascinating.”
Yeongwoo closely examined the three coins that had come into his hand.
“The pattern engraved here is… probably meant to signify this faction’s favor, right?”
-Yes. These are favor coins of my mother, Black Horn.
“So, what am I supposed to do with these?”
When Yeongwoo finally asked why the coins had been given to him, Yenta looked somewhere beyond the Red Waterway.
-When the inspection begins, please get out of the Red Waterway by any means possible and come to ‘Muro’s Roar.’
“Muro’s Roar? Where is that now?”
-It is a tavern located on the road to the black market. It is also one of the few gray zones.
“Gray zone?”
-It means a place that receives the favor of every faction. I think it would be best for you to meet me there again, then move to the black market.
“Wait, meet you there again? Are you saying that even if I beat the rat bastards of the Red Waterway, the situation won’t be settled?”
-Even if you overwhelm the Red Waterway’s inspection, you cannot face the entirety of the Thousand Pits. If you remain in one place for too long, the forces you will have to deal with will increase exponentially, so it would be best to move as quickly as possible.
“Sounds similar to dealing with Salzeo.”
-After you leave the Red Waterway, grab someone passing by, hand them this coin, and ask them to guide you to Muro’s Roar. Then you should be able to find the way without any major trouble.
Then Yenta pointed with his hand in one direction beyond the Red Waterway.
-The tavern is in that direction.
“But why are there three coins? One is for finding the way, and the other two?”
-One of the remaining two must be used when entering the tavern, and the other is emergency money in preparation for unexpected situations.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]
“Unexpected situations?”
-Because anything can happen on the underground floor. Especially in your case, Customer…….
Yenta glanced at Yeongwoo, then swallowed the rest of his words.
-In any case, I hope you remain safe.
Around the time Yenta recited a line that sounded like a farewell, the black-horned sailboat sounded its horn once more.
Baaaaaaaaaaang!
It was from that point on that the view of the Red Waterway’s harbor began to enter their sight.
“The security doesn’t look as strict as I expected.”
Several ships were already anchored in the harbor, but contrary to expectations, there were no troops lined up along the outskirts of the harbor or anything like that.
-There is no need for the harbor’s security to be strict. There is no chance of outside vessels appearing here.
The toad captain spoke languidly with a cigarette in his mouth.
“But you said the Red Waterway means there are a lot of fights.”
-That is because there is no problem with the vessels, but there can be problems with the people we fish up.
Then the captain laughed lowly.
-Like you.
At the same time, the sailboat lowered its anchor, and from the harbor side, ratmen wearing black uniforms came running out and began tying the sailboat near the harbor.
“When does the inspection begin?”
As Yeongwoo looked down at the ratmen who seemed as small as tiny dots, the captain took out a metal object that looked like a doorknob from inside his clothes.
-Once you go down there, it will begin immediately.
Then he pressed the upper part of the metal object firmly with his thumb.
Clack.
Then the side of the deck suddenly folded outward, creating a large downward slope leading to the harbor.
Kwaaaaaaang!
-I would like to say sorry in advance.
“I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
When Yeongwoo turned around, he saw the toad captain looking at Dots, who was wearing the transparent cloak.
-You had better put that cloak on a little more properly.
-What?
The moment Dots answered curtly at that, the captain immediately shoved Dots away with his foot.
Peeeeeok!
Toward the downward slope that led straight to the harbor, that is.
-Uh? Uwaaaaak!
Naturally, Dots could not even react properly and began rolling down the slope, and immediately afterward, the captain turned his head toward Yeongwoo.
-We have shown you sufficient favor, so you too should show us favor.
“You’re telling me to quietly let you kick me?”
-You are the most reasonable piece of cargo I have ever carried. I pray that we will see each other again alive.
With those words as the end, the captain kicked Yeongwoo in the stomach, and at that, Yeongwoo loosened all the strength in his body and rolled down the slope.
Kukwang, kukukung!
Because his whole body was clad in armor, loud noises came from Yeongwoo, and amid all this, the captain’s rough voice rang out from the deck of the sailboat above.
-As a favor to the Pits, I will voluntarily report wanted goods!
Wanted goods.
Naturally, that must have meant the outsiders the black-horned sailboat had brought.
‘It’s chaos from the very beginning.’
Finally feeling the atmosphere of the underground floor for himself, Yeongwoo observed the situation at the harbor even while rolling down a slope over a hundred meters long.
Perhaps because of the captain’s report, he could see heavily armed ratmen running from inside the city, and he could also see that someone had already arrived at the end of the slope.
And just now, Dots Salzeo, wrapped in the transparent cloak, had planted his head into the end of the slope as well.
-Ueok!
As Dots groaned and stopped after rolling across the ground, the hem of a dark-gray cloak brushed past his vision.
-……?
At that, the moment Dots raised his head, the first thing that captured his sight was a pair of blue-green lenses.
Some ratman was staring at him while wearing oddly shaped glasses.
-…Huk?
Dots, startled, let out a breath.
Then the ratman in question, who had sensed this, adjusted his glasses and murmured in a low voice.
-Wait, could this be…….
And almost at the same time.
Bbaaaaaak!
Yeongwoo, who had burst out from the slope, charged in while kicking the ratman’s head.
“Freeze! Any bastard who lays a hand on my merchandise will become a cripple!”
However, unlike Yeongwoo’s threat, the ratman sprawled on the ground showed no sign of getting back up.
Because.
-Huk?
Dots Salzeo, who happened to be facing the ratman’s head directly, backed away while sitting on the ground.
It was because the ratman’s pupils, visible beyond the blue-green lenses, had completely rolled back.
-This guy… h-he’s dead.
[Translator - Night]
[Proofreader - Gun]