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Chapter 508: Earthling (5)

Corrupt civil servant.

Negotiating the bribe amount.

With not a single decent topic in sight, Yeongwoo was once again reminded that he was truly in space.

“What was that? Negotiating a bribe amount?”

— Yes. An agreement was made to assist with tax evasion, but the matter of compensation has not yet been discussed.

Kubu blinked its large eyes.

Following suit, Yeongwoo blinked as well and asked again,

“How much tax savings do you estimate we’ll gain by colluding with this corrupt official?”

— Since we’ll be exempt from income tax, capital gains tax, and most other taxes, the value is difficult to estimate.

Kubu explained that by transferring the acquired property to Doatel and then receiving it back as a donation, they could avoid acquisition tax.

— Also, the greatest benefit of a fake charity is the freedom in handling expenses. With minimal justification, most expenses can be approved through the corrupt civil servant.

He meant ridiculous expense claims, like saying they had to buy battleship cannons in order to attract donations.

By consuming most of their income through such “necessary expenses,” their taxable income would appear low, and they'd owe very little in income tax.

“A truly indispensable individual, then.”

It could lead to tax savings worth hundreds of billions, perhaps even trillions.

After all, who knew what kind of wealth they might acquire in this vast and unpredictable universe?

“Alright. Connect me right away. Let’s get this over with and get some rest.”

Whether a night dungeon would open again tonight was uncertain, but if it did, he needed to rest beforehand.

『Establishing communication in 3 seconds.』

Earth then projected a large holographic screen along with a countdown timer into the air.

The timer quickly dropped to 2… then 1…

And finally vanished, replaced by a bright holographic display.

Fwoosh!

“What the—are we connected?”

Yeongwoo tilted his head at the sudden brightness on the screen.

Earth silently nodded.

And then—

〔Ah, hello? Is the connection working?〕

A somewhat flippant voice came from the screen.

Earth responded first.

『Your video isn’t coming through yet. Please match your video channel to ours: 4749-32.』

〔4749… 32… Understood. One moment, please.〕

The screen flickered a few times, apparently as they adjusted the video channel.

And then finally—

Chzzzzt!

A large yellow beak filled the screen, accompanied by static.

“……?”

〔Ah! Apologies! Wrong direction.〕

The speaker quickly moved the beak away from the camera, and Yeongwoo was finally able to see the corrupt official properly.

“A seagull…?”

The figure looked just like a seagull.

Though, comically enough, beneath the snowy white feathers, it wore a navy-blue suit.

〔Pleased to meet you! I’m Toachi, Tax Division Officer from the National Tax Service!〕

Toachi then held up a business card toward the screen for Yeongwoo to see.

Swipe.

[Toachi33] – Grade 29

| Central Nation 007II16

| National Tax Service – Tax Division

“Thank you for your valuable taxes.”

*Verbal or physical abuse of government officials constitutes immediate arrest. Please refrain if possible.

‘Grade 29, huh.’

Considering Jiazol, a near-bottom civil servant, was grade 86, and grades 16–17 were considered senior level, grade 29 would place Toachi in the upper-mid ranks.

“Ah… nice to meet you, Mr. Toachi. I’m Jeong Yeongwoo07.”

Toachi immediately flapped excitedly and clicked his beak.

〔Oh… then you must be the owner of that planetary ship!〕

“…Yes. What you’re seeing now is the ship’s control room.”

Yeongwoo briefly introduced the members of the control room, which included a human, a planet, and a star.

Then he turned back to the screen.

“Let’s not waste time—shall we get straight to the money talk?”

As Yeongwoo cut right to the chase, Toachi clicked his beak again.

〔Please… don’t misunderstand me.〕

“…What do you mean?”

〔It’s true I’ve agreed to accept a bribe, but that doesn’t mean I’m obsessed with money.〕

“But it is true that you’re accepting a bribe, isn’t it?”

And not just anyone—he’s a tax official, essentially choosing to go against the law.

Let’s be honest, the penalty if caught is probably death.

If you're not out of your mind for money, why else would you take that risk?

Of course, the corrupt official Toachi had his own reasons.

〔I just want to live doing something a bit more meaningful.〕

“……”

It felt a little absurd to hear that come from a seagull’s beak, but Yeongwoo barely held back his reaction and cleared his throat.

“Helping a planetary ship… it’s certainly a meaningful job.”

〔I’m well aware that the house master is known as a notorious villain. But he’s also the owner of the planetary ship, isn’t he?〕

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

“……?”

At that, Yeongwoo frowned and turned to Kubu.

Renaissance and Earthship hadn’t yet gained cosmic-level fame.

So where would Toachi have heard such a thing?

It had to be from Kubu, the one responsible for arranging contact with the corrupt official.

“What exactly did you say about me?”

Yeongwoo asked in a low voice, and Kubu blinked innocently before answering.

―I told him that, should the bribery ever be exposed, you'd attack the National Tax Agency to rescue your collaborator.

“What the hell? You said that crap without even asking me?”

―There’s no way a fledgling house could buy off an NTA official through conventional means.

“I mean, sure, but still…!”

―Besides, if the worst-case scenario unfolds and the collaborator is discovered, you’ll be legally implicated too.

In other words, if it comes to that, Kubu believed Yeongwoo would have to storm the NTA and rescue the collaborator.

“How is it that not a single person around me is sane…?”

Still, after hearing Kubu’s logic, Yeongwoo couldn’t deny it entirely.

In a worst-case scenario, the only way to escape a bribery charge would be to prevent the bribed official from being put on trial.

And just then, the fallen official Toachi continued.

〔Working at the National Tax Agency, you receive… many offers. Most of them are dark, yet sweet.〕

Swish.

Toachi’s beak tilted diagonally in the air.

〔But the offer made by the Renaissance administrator… was irresistible. Who else would promise to attack the NTA for my sake?〕

“…A promise?”

Yeongwoo turned back toward Kubu, who now had his eyes tightly shut.

That crazy administrator had promised a rescue mission just to set up this communication.

Of course, there’d be no issue if their criminal activities weren’t exposed—but who could predict the future?

Only the Records would know whether that “worst-case scenario” would ever come to pass.

‘Well, yeah… If someone offers to destroy their own agency for you, that’d definitely leave an impression.’

Rubbing his temples with a wince, Yeongwoo quickly pulled himself together and asked Toachi,

“So, how much are you expecting for this job?”

Toachi leaned his pitch-black pupils toward the screen.

Slide.

〔Are you promising as well, sir? That if the worst comes, you’ll come save me?〕

“…Yes. If I personally give you my word, how much would you ask for?”

〔2 billion per week.〕

“…Huh?”

The surprisingly low number made Yeongwoo sit up straighter.

It seemed Toachi was telling the truth—he wasn’t obsessed with money.

He was obsessed with something else entirely.

〔But when the time comes, please thoroughly bomb the entire Tax Affairs Building of the Central Bureau.〕

‘This bastard… He’s not a corrupt official—he’s a blackened one.’

A cold sweat seemed to form on Yeongwoo’s brow, but Kubu offered some support.

―In the process of attacking the NTA to rescue him, it’s possible that we might accidentally bombard the Tax Affairs Building.

“Isn’t that a huge problem? I was only planning to knock down the outer wall or something.”

―Infiltrating the NTA is already a massive problem. Compared to that, bombarding the Tax Affairs Building is like pouring a cup of water into a lake.

〔Besides, NTA officials all have their own escape routes. There won’t be any casualties. I just want to see the Tax Affairs Building crumble.〕

“Shit… I don’t even know if this makes sense anymore.”

Yeongwoo scratched his chin, but ultimately had to admit there was no better alternative.

After all, if he wanted to avoid being charged with major tax evasion, becoming a terrorist attacking the NTA was the better option.

And by severity alone, tax evasion—punishable by death—was the more dangerous crime.

“Alright then. So, 2 billion won per week, correct, Mr. Toachi?”

As Yeongwoo tried to wrap up the deal, Jiseon muttered under her breath with her eyes tightly shut.

—Let’s just pray this insane plan never gets found out.

Then, the corrupt official on the other side of the screen nodded his large beak.

〔Yes. I’m fine with 2 billion a week. We’re severely underpaid here anyway.〕

“Great. Then since it’s come to this, let’s go all-in on this tax evasion. Now, what do we do about the contract?”

Yeongwoo turned around and asked, to which Kubu replied instantly.

―Since this is a dangerous deal involving the NTA, no formal contract will be drafted.

“So it’s a verbal agreement?”

―Correct. Unless one is a transcendent, it's nearly impossible to create a contract that won’t be detected by the government…

“Wait, then Toachi’s taking on all the risk here?”

To this, Toachi opened his yellow beak wide on the screen.

〔If the money is even a week late, I’ll burn everything.〕

“You insane bastard? You’d die too, you idiot.”

〔Would I be the only one to die? You’d be a wanted tax criminal too, sir.〕

“…He’s already blackmailing me?”

〔Which is why you must rescue me before the trial begins. Please don’t forget.〕

Thus began the most outrageous symbiotic relationship imaginable.

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