Season 2 Chapter 493
The 4th of October, dawn.
The Omega successfully landed on a snowfield so white it seemed to freeze the vision of whoever saw it.
“There are certain areas where the fluctuating climate caused by the Great Fusion has not recovered. This place is probably the same. This snowy field hasn’t melted in the slightest in the last four seasons.”
Lukas had a subtle feeling.
When he’d seen the map, this place had been covered by a black stain. That was why he’d believed that this place had already died or been devastated, but when they arrived, the scene was the opposite.
“Huu...”
With every breath, it felt like his lungs would freeze.
Although it was only the beginning of autumn, in this place, it was already winter.
“Although, geographically, this place was probably classified as [Inner Mongolia]...”
The reason Dok Go-yun used past tense was probably because he wasn’t sure just how many regions had been mixed into this place.
Letting out a breath, Dok Go-yun continued.
“...to be precise, this place isn’t the Next Stage.”
At those words, the members of the party all looked up towards the sky at the same time. In fact, they weren’t just looking as everyone noticed the presence of that thing.
In this region, even if the sun was in the middle of the sky, it would probably be difficult to notice. This was because of an array of metal that covered the sky.
Part of the reason the snowfield refused to melt might be because the sunlight was blocked.U//ppTodated fr/o/m nô/v/e/lb(i)n.c(o)\/m
“As I mentioned earlier, the Next Stage is an extremely large artificial island.”
“Wow. It’s big.”
Pale tilted her head back 90 degrees. As a result, her waist gradually bent backwards like a bow until she fell flat onto the snowfield. Buried in the snow, Pale burst out laughing. Not knowing why, the girl in Pale’s arms simply looked up at her.
Although he didn’t express it, Dok Go-yun appeared to marvel at the size of the island, and even Yang In-hyun seemed surprised.
Lukas didn’t have much of an impression.
He had visited universes with even more advanced scientific power, and the Sky Continent in the ‘Great Field’ was so huge that this artificial island could not even compare.
Instead, Lukas paid more attention to the surrounding geography.
“There is a city at the bottom.”
“Ah, yes.”
“It seems inhabited.”
“...that’s right.”
Yang In-hyun spoke in an absurd tone.
“Those people don’t have any sense of crisis. If that island were to fall by chance, they would all be annihilated.”
Dok Go-yun smiled bitterly.
“Moreover, it’s dozens of times more dangerous to live in the area outside than to be crushed to death by the island. At the very least, as long as the ‘Next Stage’ remains in the air, there is no force big enough to touch this place.”
In this era of countless groups and organisations, very few organisations were as influential as the Great Galactic Alliance. And even fewer were reckless enough to wage an all out war against them.
Of course, it wasn’t clear whether the city beneath the Next Stage was actually a part of their alliance, but the simple fact that they were related to the Great Galactic Alliance was enough to prevent invasions by over 90% of external forces.
Hearing this series of circumstances, Lukas nodded.
When it came to issues or information about this chaotic world, Dok Go-yun was pretty well informed. He’d brought him along simply to use him as an excuse to participate in the VIP’s general review meeting, but he’d turned out to be surprisingly helpful in many other areas as well.
“Then let’s go to that city first.”
“Yes. We should obtain information about the Next Stage.”
Lukas looked at Pale, who was still laying on the snowfield.
“Pale, let’s go.”
“Mhm. Help me up, Butterfly.”
What was Butterfly? That was simple, it was the name of the monster girl.
Of course, she hadn’t introduced herself as that, and it was Pale who had named her arbitrarily. Butterfly couldn’t speak. This didn’t mean she wasn’t intelligent though, as she actually seemed to be very quick witted and able to understand what they said.
Even at that moment, she hesitantly got up from her seat and reached her hand out to Pale.
Pale seemed to like Butterfly very much. Lukas wondered why.
Did she simply sympathise with the fact that she was starving? Or was it Butterfly’s appearance that greatly shook Pale?
He couldn’t tell at that moment, but one thing was clear, Pale was beginning to care more and more about that girl.
* * *
The correct name for the region was [Manjuri City*, Inner Mongolia]. It was the place where Russia, China, and Mongolia met.
The basic foundation of the city was modern. Of course, this was according to Earth’s technological standards. Unlike Kazan, where there were almost no natives, there were well built streets in this place which seemed to be performing their roles properly. Cars were driving smoothly on them.
“There’s nothing to do.”
The expression of Pale, who seemed to have grown tired of the bed and was rummaging through a drawer, suddenly brightened.
“Ah. There is trump here t-”
“I won’t.”
He immediately rejected Pale’s proposal.
...He decided to take a break in the hotel since the sun was still up. It would be better to go out once it had become dark and Pale had fallen asleep.
As he sat on a chair with a sigh, Pale, who snuck up to him, stretched out something to his chin.
“Tired?”
“A bit.”
“Drink this.”
As she said that, she held out a drink in a glass bottle.
“What is... this?”
“Hmm? If you drink this, your fatigue should go away.”
“...”
It had a wrapper with the name ‘Bacchus*’. The words were neither Chinese nor Mongolian. He was certain that the text was Korean.(*: A South Korean energy drink aka Bacchus F and Bacchus D.)
Why were there Korean products in the supermarket?
“The name seemed similar to Lukas’, so I bought it!” (*: 루카스- Lukas 박카스 – Bacchus. Although the author censored bacchus(박○스) for some reason)
“...ah. Right. I’m so grateful I could cry.”
“Hehe. No sweat.”
Pale raised her thumb with a triumphant expression.
* * *
In an underground building in Manjuri City.
In a place where hundreds of monitors covered the walls, Gentleman began to report.
“Confirmed. A total of five individuals.”
Gentleman’s eyes busily moved back and forth across the screens.
“The middle aged Swordsman who destroyed the Infernal Heaven, a dark blonde man, a blue haired woman, a red skinned girl, and the Heavenly Demon. The Heavenly Demon probably chose to follow them after losing to the Swordsman.”
There was no response from the radio, but Gentleman continued his report as if he was used to it.
“Their current place of residence is unknown. But we will learn it soon. Please understand why the confirmation is delayed. If we try to check with our naked eyes, our traces might be found.”
Gentleman glanced at his missing left arm. The martial prowess displayed by Yang In-hyun had reached a level so high that he couldn’t even imagine it.
If his goal hadn’t been to capture him, he probably wouldn’t have been able to escape.
“They probably intend to participate in the general review meeting, but their exact goal is unknown. I will report as soon as the information is updated.”
Then, he was done.
He turned off the radio after speaking briefly.
Burying his back in the chair, Gentleman narrowed his eyes. Then, they widened slightly as his gaze turned to one of the monitors.
He could see a man walking through a dark alley like fog.
...Heavenly Demon.
He seemed quite confident in his covert actions, but he failed to notice the Great Galactic Alliance’s ultra small cameras.
‘Should I deal with him?’
Gentleman narrowed his eyes before eventually shaking his head.
The Heavenly Demon’s value to the group was probably not high. His goal was likely that of a guide.
The same was true for the red skinned girl.
The girl was their latest addition. She hadn’t been with them when they left ‘Kazan’. Then, that naturally left one person.
The woman with blue hair.
It seemed that the two unordinary men treated the woman with great care. It seemed that her weight in the party was different from that of the Heavenly Demon and the red skinned girl.
“...kidnapping and threatening a weak woman goes against my aesthetic, but...”
It couldn’t be helped.
Before being a gentleman, he was a member of VIP.
(TL:...RIP)