[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 500: The Chaotic Universe (7)

Gwangjin-gu’s Grand Assembly Hall.

It was a major facility Yeongwoo had constructed at a base cost of 3 billion karma.

The original purpose?

To forcibly summon influential planetary representatives.

The owner of the assembly hall was granted summoning rights to call these representatives in for “negotiations” over planetary shares.

Of course, the method of “negotiation” was essentially violence—proven by the fact that the entire structure resembled an overly large coliseum.

And now, with all disputes over planetary shares resolved…

『Don’t tell me you’re going to beat up the civil servants in the assembly hall?』

“Isn’t that what the assembly hall is for? Come on, you know it too.”

『It’s spacious because there are many ways to negotiate, not just through fighting.』

“I’m not saying I’ll beat them up no matter what. If things go smoothly, there won’t be any need for fists.”

After saying this, Yeongwoo looked toward the three representatives who had already taken a hit from him earlier.

“California never did show up.”

“Maybe they just didn’t have any complaints to file,”

Nevada said with a wry smile, shrugging.

Yeongwoo scratched his chin and murmured.

“Lucky bastard. Or maybe just smart.”

He looked out across the vast western lands.

“But California still has to do a land survey and report it. I hope you convince him properly.”

This time, Utah asked a question.

“What if he doesn’t listen?”

“Then he’ll have to meet me again—and pay the tuition fee.”

“……”

At those words, everyone clutched the one weapon they had left like it was a lifeline.

“So make sure you settle it. It’s 3-on-1 after all—whether by vote or a brawl, you’ve got a fighting chance.”

With that, Yeongwoo wrapped up his business in the West.

It was time to meet real civil servants—those from the space government.

‘I should probably leave the other regional surveys to Yechan. But can he really handle them with force?’

Kang Yechaneh was certainly strong—but not strong enough to take on the western powerhouses in multiple battles. At best, he might barely beat one.

Maybe if I lend him the Golden Trail, he could handle two?

The automatic combat greatsword, Golden Trail, wasn’t even listed in the weapon codex.

That made it perfect for lending.

It also had built-in regional sword techniques, so it was easily worth a full fighter’s contribution on its own.

‘Since Mom isn’t doing much… I can send Yechan to Europe or South America, and have Mom circle around North America.’

While Yeongwoo was organizing his plans, Earth looked up at the sky and spoke.

『Looks like they’re ready.』

“Who’s ready?”

『The civil servants from the Ship Management Bureau. Ready to meet you.』

“Ah.”

Yeongwoo lifted his head toward the sky.

“I guess it’s time to go. You gave them the location, right?”

『They’re already nearby. This is the first time our position has been pinpointed since we departed.』

“Oh really?”

『If you were a wanted criminal, you’d be under arrest by now.』

“Even if we’re pinpointed, can’t we just do a burst acceleration and run? What’s the status of our propulsion upgrade?”

『Almost done. By the time the meeting ends, burst acceleration should be possible.』

With that, Earth began walking toward the transit lift.

『Even if you're the shipowner, it’s best to arrive early to greet your guests. That’s just basic courtesy—even in space.』

“If courtesy matters so much, they should’ve come to me in the first place.”

『Well, true…』

Earth hesitated before continuing.

『But they’re civil servants. The government is the structure of order in the universe. So we do need to show a little deference.』

“I don’t know about that. Just looking at the cape the chairman gave me, there’s clearly more than one way to survive in space.”

And that was true.

The prestigious item Cosmic Etiquette, directly bestowed by Chairman Dogo, had a major effect: increased damage to civil servants.

「Cosmic Etiquette」 - ◇ Dogo Phase Armor

【20% increase in damage to government officials.】

【20% resistance to abilities】

【Dogo】

Chairman Dogo was someone who beat up civil servants, and Jeong Yeongwoo07 was a petty tyrant who had risen to become a shipowner under his protection.

With that in mind, Yeongwoo had no intention of bowing his head before civil servants.

“Civil servants aren’t sacred or anything. They get scared, dump work on others, and even take bribes sometimes.”

In short, the government was just one of many massive forces in the universe—not some absolute entity. That was Yeongwoo’s perspective.

“So let’s go have a conversation as equals.”

* * *

6:42 PM.

Entering the assembly hall with Earth at his side, Yeongwoo took a deep breath of the cool air.

“Nice and quiet.”

The assembly hall, with ceilings hundreds of meters high, had more than enough space for dragons to duke it out.

“How many are coming this time? The civil servants, I mean.”

『That I don’t know. But given precedent… they’ll probably bring a decent crowd. Or maybe a high-ranking officer.』

And by now, every government agency should know that the ship Earth was backed by the universal arms manufacturer Dogo.

“Yeah. No way they’re sending some no-name guy.”

So far, Yeongwoo had only met two kinds of civil servants.

One was Jiazol, a powerless registry officer from the tax bureau.

The other: Team 9 from the planetary court’s promotion board—powerful individuals with clear authority, rated Grade 4 even by cosmic standards.

They were the kind of people who’d accept bribes from Dogo during negotiations.

So what type would the Ship Management Bureau send?

『The management bureau officials have arrived.』

Earth waved a hand to project a screen into the air.

Flash!

The screen showed outside Earth’s atmosphere—and in the center was a massive ship, presumably belonging to the officials.

“Is that… a ship?”

When Yeongwoo pointed to the center of the screen, Earth gave a nod.

『It’s closer to a battleship than a regular ship.』

The battleship carrying the Public Ship Authority’s officers looked like a pile of massive navy-blue bricks haphazardly glued together.

『Even if it looks like that, its acceleration and combat capabilities are probably off the charts. Chasing ships is basically their daily routine, after all.』

“Well, they are the Ship Authority.”

After all, in this rough universe, could every ship really be obedient?

Of course not.

Their list of targets must’ve included pirate ships, raiders, and the personal cruisers of mega-scale tycoons.

Like the Chairman’s Tomb Battleship, for example.

『Are you ready? They’ve already sent a descent request.』

“I’ve been ready for a while. Bring them down.”

When Yeongwoo nodded while looking up at the ceiling of the Grand Assembly Hall, Earth snapped its fingers.

Snap!

『They’ll be here any moment now.』

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

As Earth stepped back, Yeongwoo couldn’t help but ask,

“…Why’re you backing off?”

『The landing space they requested… doesn’t look ordinary.』

“What?”

The moment Yeongwoo’s brow twitched, a massive circle began forming on the floor of the Assembly Hall.

Ssshhh…

Its diameter easily exceeded a hundred meters.

And just as Yeongwoo realized that the edge of the circle reached right to his feet—

Rumble rumble rumble…

A tremendous vibration began to ripple down from the ceiling above the hall.

“Is that them?”

『Most likely.』

The energy radiating down was so intense, it felt like a meteorite was crashing.

Soon, the entire upper portion of the Assembly Hall turned transparent, preparing for the entry of a large object.

Shwoom!

And then, for real—

BOOM!

A colossal silhouette pierced through the clouds overhead and descended vertically into the Assembly Hall.

Ssssshhhh!

“Damn. These guys don’t play around.”

Even from their entrance alone, a fierce intensity was evident.

Every government official Yeongwoo had met so far had possessed a unique air of neatness—regardless of rank or status.

But these newcomers had none of that.

If anything—

‘They feel more like villains than officials…’

Sensing something was off, Yeongwoo narrowed his eyes.

And then, something massive, looking like a giant black sphere, pierced through the Assembly Hall ceiling and slammed into the ground.

KWA-BOOM!

“What the hell is that?”

Even as he spoke, Yeongwoo had already reached for the weapon at his waist—the Bastard.

He had instinctively realized that this enormous black orb was alive.

And then—

■ Oooooff.

The ‘black orb’ groaned.

“…?”

It was only after this that Yeongwoo realized he was looking at someone’s body—a government official’s, no less.

Crrrack…

The mysterious sphere briefly trembled, then suddenly extended two long, thin, thread-like legs and lifted itself up.

From both sides of the sphere’s upper section, a pair of equally thin arms stretched outward.

And finally—

■ Hmph. Are we in the right place?

■ Is this the meeting point?

Two entirely different voices from earlier echoed from the very top of the ‘black sphere.’

‘There’s three of them.’

Wanting to get a look at whoever was on top, Yeongwoo stepped back.

Because the black sphere had a diameter of several dozen meters, he couldn’t see the top from where he stood.

Clank, clank.

The rugged metallic noise from his Bessedel armor echoed as he moved.

Only then did the mysterious officials walk toward the edge of the ‘black sphere’ and peer down at him.

■ Huh? Just the two of you?

■ But there are three of us… That makes things awkward for us, doesn’t it?

The two officials that finally revealed themselves stood in stark contrast to the hulking black orb—both were incredibly thin.

The one on the left had his entire body wrapped in black bandages, save for a single eye on his forehead.

The one on the right belonged to the same species as Jiazol, the registration officer.

He had a thin frame, wore a form-fitting black suit, and possessed deathly pale skin, jet-black eyes with no whites, slitted reptilian nostrils, and a huge, gaping mouth—enough to make one shiver just looking at him.

Unlike Jiazol, though, this one had clearly climbed the ranks.

‘So that big guy flew the skinny ones in?’

As Yeongwoo kept his gaze fixed on the ‘black sphere,’ the third officer—still hiding his face—finally began to move.

Crrrack.

Using its spindly hands, the creature grabbed its two companions, then leaned its upper body forward.

And finally, Yeongwoo could see the dome-shaped head mounted on the very top of the sphere.

■ You're not afraid of us, I see.

This voice came from the pure white dome that acted as the black sphere’s head.

Yeongwoo stared at the dome—featureless, with no eyes or mouth—and responded,

“Should I be scared?”

After all, he was now the proper head of the Renaissance family, and owner of a planetary-class ship—only ten of which had ever existed in the history of the universe.

So no, he wasn’t truly afraid.

At that, the one-eyed officer exchanged glances with his companions and let out a sharp laugh.

■ Exactly why we came ourselves.

“What? And just who the hell are you?”

Yeongwoo asked, genuinely curious.

But instead of answering, the one-eyed official reached into his eye and pulled out a massive, spike-like sword.

Shrrriiip.

■ Let’s start by collecting your bio-data. Consider this a lesson in how to properly respect government officials!

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]