[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

Chapter 540: Black Customers (3)

“…You want me to find a captain?”

Yeongwoo tilted his head at Mantero’s suggestion.

“I think you’re mistaken. From now on, Mr. Mantero will take charge of all practical operations related to piloting the Earth Ship. He’ll effectively be the captain.”

-…Eh…?

“If you want, I’ll even take the captain’s title off myself and hand it to him. I don’t know how to do that stuff. He’d be a fake captain.”

When Yeongwoo pointed at the captain’s chair that rose up out of the air and the awkward-looking helm, Mantero, who realized how trapped he’d been, pressed his palm to his forehead.

-T-this… a planetary ship has three times the capabilities and slots of an ordinary large vessel.

“Isn’t that a good thing? When will we ever get to pilot a ship like this again?”

-The problem is… many functions are locked even to me.

“That can be unlocked with money. Neither of us has driven a planetary ship before — we’ll learn together.”

Yeongwoo said encouragingly.

He knew well that, though the escapee needed a hideout, it was hard to find loyal people whose faith had been proven.

Still, Mantero — who’d served a long time as the royal chief navigator — had a slightly different view.

-For now, I’ll have to handle the steering, but to operate this ship properly you need someone even more capable.

“There’s anyone better than the royal chief navigator? Even if there was, what reason would I have to meet them?”

Mantero ran his hand carefully over the helm’s wheel and said.

-If it’s just standard navigation, I’m confident. But this ship… is different. It’s not meant merely for movement.

“That’s true. This is a planetary ship built by breaking the natural order of space.”

-This ship has complex combat systems and auxiliary functions built in. Someone who’s handled rough, complicated environments will be better than me.

“Rough and complicated environments?”

-For example, war… or captains who have been on the run for a long time. Those who’ve been rolling around in dirtier, rougher places will handle this ship better than someone from a wealthy royal background like myself.

In short, Mantero was saying that a captain who’d spent more time in the filthy underworld would be far better at handling a planetary ship than someone as clean and privileged as a royal chief navigator.

“Then what on earth does the Earth Ship have inside it to make you say that?”

Professionals had their own world of expertise; Yeongwoo could somewhat understand Mantero’s stance.

In simple terms, a planetary ship was an object that even the royal chief navigator found burdensome. Its performance was too high and its potential enormous.

-I’m still confident in my navigation skills. But a captain needs to handle more than that. They must be able to fully unleash the ship’s abilities.

“All right, then let’s do this.”

Yeongwoo raised his index finger to end the conversation.

“Acting captain.”

-……?

“Until we find a proper captain, Mr. Mantero will be the acting captain.”

It sounded like a deputy, but practically he would be the captain.

They only used the term “acting” to lessen Mantero’s burden.

“Don’t ask me when or how we’ll actually find a real captain. Honestly, who would volunteer to be the captain of a pirate ship?”

-…….

He was right.

If Mantero hadn’t been jailed, he’d never have had reason to meet Yeongwoo.

“Still, I’ll respect the opinion of someone in the field. If an opportunity comes, we’ll look for a new captain.”

-…Very well.

“So from now on Mr. Mantero is the Earth Ship’s chief navigator and acting captain?”

After confirming, Yeongwoo pointed to the dead star Gadoa visible outside the helm’s viewport.

“Looks like it’s time to make some money.”

At Yeongwoo’s command, Mantero, seated in the captain’s chair, swept his hand through the air.

swoosh.

Holographic monitors, previously empty, floated up on the side of the captain’s chair and produced complex indicators.

“…What’s that now?”

When Yeongwoo leaned in toward unfamiliar functions, Mantero looked out the window.

-I’m calculating the movement of the main fragments of Gadoa. It isn’t perfect, but we can predict where those fragments will be in about three minutes or five minutes.

“If it isn’t perfect, the prediction could be wrong, right?”

-Even so, we can check real-time data; if they move differently from our expectations, we can respond differently from our plan.

Mantero added that this was the basic requirement for a navigator of a large vessel. ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ɪs ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ʙʏ noⅴelfire.net

“But we’re even bigger than large ships, so responding to variables will be much harder.”

-Exactly. When piloting ships of this scale, you must react far faster than in normal cases.”

Then Mantero pulled a lever that jutted out under the helm’s wheel.

creeeak!

Immediately the Earth Ship began to maneuver forward.

This was the first time the ship had entered manual control.

『…Oh.』

The Earth itself watched Mantero with a curious gaze — it was the first time such fine maneuvers had been performed by a human.

『Huh, definitely… seems like a high-level operator?』

Earth drifted closer beside Yeongwoo and whispered.

Meanwhile, the Earth Ship moved into the field of Gadoa’s fragments.

-Our ship’s shields look stable; we can ignore small planetary fragments.

Mantero turned the large wheel and worked the left stick; the ship’s central axis rotated quickly, changing its course.

whirrrr…!

-But we must absolutely avoid fragments that still retain residual heat and large broken planetary debris.

He meant they had to approach the vault while dodging the endless dust and gas clouds, avoiding those dangerous hot fragments and big chunks.

thud, thunk.

Mantero tapped the holographic monitor several times and projected the expected trajectory into the cockpit’s airspace.

-We’re departing.

Having checked the entry angle, Mantero began to increase speed.

A crewmember, staring outside, turned to Mantero with a dropped jaw.

-You want to go straight in where those rocks are flying everywhere?

In the place the Earth Ship was charging toward, huge stones were streaking by.

Yet Mantero didn’t slow.

-In about eight seconds, a path will open.

And at the instant when the Earth Ship and the rock formation seemed about to collide—

pop.

The seemingly endless train of rocks split apart at once, forming a large open space.

Just as Mantero had said, a path opened.

-My god.

The passenger Jiseon wiped her cheek in astonishment.

Then, from the ship’s flank, a star fragment grazed the Earth Ship and barely missed it.

-Was that calculated too?

-A variable we fully anticipated, but it passed closer than we thought.

Mantero was saying this while turning the wheel sharply again.

Then he began steering the Earth Ship toward the direction from which huge rock masses were approaching.

“What now?”

No matter how it looked, it was reckless; Yeongwoo couldn’t hide his exasperation and asked.

Mantero held the wheel and replied.

-This is the only dangerous section. If we move as close to that rock field as possible, we can reach the vault safely.

Almost at the same moment, monstrous rocks began to skim past the top of the Earth Ship.

Some even changed course because they touched the Earth Ship’s exosphere.

“Do we have to do this to reach the vault?”

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]

-In exactly twelve seconds from now, the Earth Ship and Mr. Koatu’s vault will be vertically aligned.

“What?”

If it were anyone other than the royal chief navigator, Yeongwoo would have called it nonsense.

Mantero, however, had already warned everyone in the cockpit.

-You’ll all feel a strong drop. Hold onto your seats.

Then he braced his arms on the wheel and stomped the left pedal with his toes.

clack!

“Th…there’s a pedal?”

As Yeongwoo gaped, the roller-coaster-like drop that Mantero had warned about swept across the cockpit.

whooaaah!

Earth blocked its ears against the screams that burst from the planet’s population.

『Hey, warn us sooner about things like this!』

whooaaah!

For about ten seconds the Earth Ship plummeted at high speed, and when Mantero reached the intended point—

shrieeek!

A machine-like object, never seen before in Gadoa, flashed past the cockpit window.

“What?”

-Huh? That just now?

Everyone inside, including Yeongwoo and Jiseon, blinked in surprise.

Mantero calmly continued to guide them.

-What you just saw was Mr. Koatu’s secret vault. We’ll chase the vault and synchronize speed.

In other words, they would fly alongside the vault.

So that Yeongwoo and Koatu could land on it.

WHAM!

As Mantero finished speaking, the Earth Ship’s thrusters produced explosive thrust, and on the holographic map floating in the cockpit, the red dot marking the vault drew closer to the ship.

-You two should prepare to land.

At Mantero’s instruction, Earth awkwardly rose from his seat and handed Koatu a return stone.

『I hope it won’t be so busy in there that you can’t even use the return stone. Use it to teleport back when you’re done.』

When Earth said that, Koatu hesitated as he took the return stone.

“What is it, Koatu? Are you hiding something?”

Yeongwoo habitually placed his hand on the bastard blade at his waist.

Koatu spread his arms slightly and said.

-I didn’t hide it on purpose.

“Ah, damn. What is it?”

Things had been going smoothly so far, and Yeongwoo was impatient for the next line.

“Please tell me there’s money in there. If there isn’t, Koatu, your life ends right here.”

-No, there is money in there. The issue is that something’s missing…

“What’s missing?”

-The security key. When I was imprisoned, the toolbox containing my security key was taken.

“You mean without that you can’t open the doors?”

-I can open the inner central vault, but the machine sentries deployed across the vault can’t be handled without the security key.

In short, even though the vault’s owner was present, they’d have to fight through the secret vault’s security systems without the key.

-Of course, someone skilled enough to subdue the head warden could reach the inner vault.

“Then what’s the problem?”

-Exiting.

If they opened the central vault without the security key, every sentry they encountered on the way out would switch to self-destruct mode.

“All the sentries we meet on the way out would self-destruct, then.”

“Then there’s only one way. Smash all the sentries before reaching the central vault and go.”

At that, Mantero interjected.

-That would be difficult.

“Why?”

-We can only hold position for about six minutes.

“What? We have to grab the money and get out within six minutes?”

-After six minutes we’ll have to leave our current position and find the best route to re-enter.

The vault kept moving along Gadoa’s internal orbit, and fragments were racing around it, so none of them could say when it would settle into a stable spot again.

Mantero’s point was that it’d be best to finish this job on this opportunity if possible.

-I’ll land you as close as I can to the vault’s central region. You have six minutes… no, now five minutes. Use your return stones within that time.

“But you said every robot self-destructs when the central vault is touched. I can survive somehow, but Koatu—?”

Koatu, the person in question, spoke carefully.

-That’s why I thought of something.

He suddenly sat down on the floor and pulled out the prosthetic leg that had been the only thing supporting his body.

wham!

“What are you doing?”

-You might not believe it, but this is the key to opening the central vault.

“…What?”

-So you take this and go into the vault alone. Gather as much money as you can in five minutes, then fight through the self-destructing sentries and escape safely.

“No, are you crazy? You expect me to go into the central vault alone knowing where it is?”

When Yeongwoo asked angrily, Koatu’s prosthetic leg twitched slightly on the floor.

-The prosthetic knows the vault’s location well enough to guide you.

[Translator - Night]

[Proofreader - Gun]