Level 4 Human in a Ruined World

Chapter 266: Highway (1)

“Bring more money...!”

There was no immediate reaction from the Dogo side to Yeongwoo’s audacious demand.

[Dogo] “Finally, Global Village”

[Mission] Select Dogo as a cooperative partner in the Pangaea rewards.

[Reward] 5 million Karma

The quest Dogo gave was still visible in Yeongwoo’s view, and Negwig was continuously rushing south.

‘…Was I too arrogant? But trying to secure a sole-source contract for just 5 million is too much, right?’

Yeongwoo had grown wise enough to understand now.

If the Strongest Sword on a single planet could earn tens of millions daily, then Dogo, operating on a universal scale, would make hundreds or even thousands of times more.

So, handing over a potential new income source for Dogo for a mere 5 million was absurd.

At least, that’s what Yeongwoo thought.

“Chairman, if this partnership selection has nothing to do with company profits, I apologize sincerely. But...!”

Yeongwoo raised his head toward the sky.

Flash!

“If this is profitable, you should be doing business with me too!”

Thud, thud!

Negwig’s iron hoofbeats resonated powerfully after Yeongwoo’s declaration.

And then suddenly,

Bang!

With a loud boom, the Dogo quest was updated.

[Dogo] “Finally, Global Village”

[Mission] Select Dogo as a cooperative partner in the Pangaea rewards.

[Reward] 50 million Karma

The quest reward had increased tenfold from 5 million.

‘These guys, seriously.’

It was clear that the completion of the Pangaea achievement was indeed related to the rights of the cooperative partner.

‘Were they trying to swindle me, or rather my planet?’

Feeling indignant, Yeongwoo raised his child to the sky and shouted,

“Dogo!”

His words and actions matched perfectly.

Yeongwoo was also doing business with all his might at this moment.

‘Now, if I just see the Australian continent move, I’ll easily earn 50 million!’

As Yeongwoo thought this and turned Negwig’s head further south, the tremors in the ground grew even stronger.

The Australian continent... Meganesia was getting quite close.

“Just a little more! We’re almost there!”

Yeongwoo encouraged Negwig, stroking its steel mane, and the creature emitted a black light from its eyes and let out a strange cry.

-Squeal!

Then, it accelerated so fast that the surrounding scenery seemed to blur.

Bang!

“Whoa!”

As Yeongwoo leaned forward due to Negwig’s sudden acceleration, he saw a crowd of people through the black mane.

He intuitively knew,

‘It’s the coast.’

And indeed,

“What, what is this?”

“There are so many people...”

“Is there a war or something?”

The residents of Haenam, each holding a weapon, were murmuring as they looked at something across the sea.

Seeing Yeongwoo and Negwig approaching from behind, they belatedly pointed their weapons at them.

“Scream!”

“It’s a monster!”

“A mutant...?”

Anyone could see that Yeongwoo’s appearance was that of a mutant, so most of the crowd screamed and scattered in all directions.

However, there was one person who remained calm and recognized Yeongwoo.

“Isn’t that the Strongest Sword?”

That person was Kim Hyungbeom, the Strongest Sword of Haenam.

Knowing that there was no being in this area that could harm him, he was not startled by the stranger\'s sudden appearance.

Of course, he wasn’t startled, but he was tense, seeing the publicly selected strongest person in Korea up close.

He instinctively moved his right hand to the sword at his waist.

“…….”

As Yeongwoo stared at his right hand, Hyungbeom quickly withdrew it, surprised.

“It’s late, what brings you here?”

As expected, the strongest people from various regions didn’t welcome the visit of someone stronger than themselves.

So, to reassure him, Yeongwoo pointed towards the sea.

“I don’t have any business in Haenam. I just came to see the land connect.”

“Ah.”

Kim Hyungbeom made a reluctant face.

Then he scratched his neck and said,

“You’ve already been to China, so seeing Jeju Island approach wouldn’t be that impressive.”

“……!”

Yeongwoo’s face momentarily flushed before returning to its original color.

Hyungbeom’s recent remark implied that he, too, had watched the pros and cons vote conducted on Jeong Yeongwoo.

However, there was another problem with that remark.

“Jeju Island?”

“Yes. Weren’t you here to see Jeju Island?”

Kim Hyungbeom, the Strongest Sword of Haenam, raised his hand and pointed toward the coastline.

From there, a massive landmass was approaching at considerable speed.

The shore was crowded with people, making it easy to mistake the scene for an invasion on an island if seen from a distance.

With his telescopic vision, Yeongwoo quickly realized that the people of Jeju were fleeing to the coast of the Korean Peninsula to escape something.

Undoubtedly, the Australian continent, closely pursuing Jeju Island, had scared them.

“Oh, you thought I came to see Jeju Island.”

As Yeongwoo muttered this while checking his equipment, Hyungbeom raised his eyebrows and asked,

“You didn’t? Then why are you here...?”

Then, voices of distress started to come from the direction of Jeju Island.

“Save us!”

“Help us...!”

The sounds were now close enough to be heard clearly.

“Save them...?”

Hyungbeom, not knowing what was happening, could only tilt his head in confusion.

In contrast, Yeongwoo, sensing the timing was right, spoke up.

“Bring any other Strongest Swords nearby.”

“What? I’m the only Strongest Sword around here.”

“Then we’ll have to go greet them ourselves.”

“Where are we going?”

“Australia.”

While the two Strongest Swords were having this bewildering conversation, the distance between Jeju Island and Haenam rapidly decreased.

“Hold my hand. We’re going over there now.”

“W-what do you mean by that...?”

Yeongwoo didn’t bother explaining further.

He could handle a local Strongest Sword like a mouse.

Bang!

Yeongwoo grabbed Hyungbeom’s shoulder and commanded Negwig to leap towards Jeju Island.

Negwig’s black eyes gleamed as they jumped over the sea.

-Squeal!

“Arghhh!”

Hyungbeom’s scream echoed over the South Sea as they crossed.

Seeing the iron beast flying towards them, the people on Jeju Island’s shore also panicked and fled.

“Strongest Sword! Why are you doing this to me?”

Despite the situation, Hyungbeom was relatively brave.

He managed to stay composed even while Yeongwoo held his shoulder and crossed the sea.

“Once Jeju and Australia connect, Australia’s problems will become Haenam’s problems, too.”

“W-what do you mean by connect?”

“We also need to find the Strongest Sword of Jeju. That person is in real trouble.”

However, witnessing the movement of the Australian continent was Yeongwoo’s top priority.

Bang!

Landing on the beach of Jeju Island, Yeongwoo immediately placed Hyungbeom in Negwig\'s back seat.

“Argh!”

Thrown onto Negwig like luggage, Hyungbeom soon noticed,

“Someone’s already riding this.”

Yeongwoo’s two slaves, the golden goblin and Pofu Tenta were glaring at Hyungbeom, clearly displeased.

“There’s no choice. Bear with it.”

Unless he forced himself onto the back seat, Hyungbeom would have to run alongside, and Yeongwoo had never seen a human who could run as fast as Negwig.

They needed to travel to the far end of Jeju Island.

-Squeal!

Finally, Negwig released its distinctive cry and started running again, prompting another scream from Hyungbeom.

“Arghhhh...!”

* * *

Strongest Sword.

No matter how much one might dominate a region, they were essentially just humans, as Yeongwoo realized once more.

“Please, slow down a bit!”

Through the constant shrill screams of the Strongest Sword of Haenam.

From Hyungbeom’s perspective, there was no need to display the dignity of a strong person in front of the elected Strongest Sword of the Korean Peninsula, nor could he.

Thus, his true nature was unintentionally revealed under the title of the Strongest Sword of Haenam.

So, it was under the title of the Strongest Sword in Haenam that the true nature was inadvertently revealed.

“We’re almost there. Just a little more.”

Yeongwoo touched his gradually aching ears and looked ahead.

"……."

Like the coastline they had seen earlier, people lined up along the coastline ahead.

However,

‘These are real combat forces.’

Unlike before, these were not people fleeing the Australian continent but those who had come to guard the borders in preparation for possible combat situations.

“Ah, ah…….”

Seeing the people looking out to sea with their backs to the interior of Jeju Island, Yeongwoo spread his arms in emotional gratitude.

“Ah! You are the true national protectors!”

“……!”

Startled, the protectors of Jeju Island quickly turned around, and at the same time, Yeongwoo’s eyes widened.

Boom!

The entire horizon was covered by the Australian continent, Meganesia.

“What, what the hell.”

Even Kim Hyungbeom, the Strongest Sword in Haenam, opened his eyes wide upon seeing the massive continent chasing Jeju Island.

“How is that even possible?”

It was an event that defied Hyungbeom’s common sense, but Yeongwoo dismissed his question with a single remark.

“What good is it to ask how it’s possible when it’s already happened? We need to think about how to respond.”

“But, but……!”

Was this the judgment of an elected official of the Korean Peninsula?

To Hyungbeom, Jeong Yeongwoo seemed to not even cringe at the sight before them.

‘He’s not shaken at all by seeing that? How is that possible?’

While Hyungbeom wiped the cold sweat from his temples, a nimble presence approached from the far end of the coastline.

“Oh dear……!”

It was none other than the Strongest Sword of Jeju, Choi Moonsoon02.

A sturdy woman in her late forties, with a presence so solid that her short stature was hardly noticeable.

Carrying a massive greatsword on her shoulder despite her gentle appearance, she approached, making Yeongwoo flinch momentarily.

“You’re here to help, right? But how did you know about this?”

As the continent split the water approaching, Moonsoon didn’t seem surprised to see Yeongwoo and his party.

“Ah, Haenam……!”

Then she approached the still-pale Strongest Sword in Haenam, grabbed his hand, and forced a handshake.

“Come on, everyone. We’re not completely uncouth, you know. You see that over there?”

Moonsoon pointed with a blunt finger to the closer Meganesia.

Implying that they couldn’t properly host guests due to the approaching Australian continent.

Yeongwoo nodded to indicate it was fine.

“They haven’t attacked or anything, have they?”

“How could they attack from so far away? They must be in a frenzy over there, too.”

Indeed, Moonsoon’s words were generally true.

Unless Australia had something like laser cannons.

“But we still need to be cautious. From their perspective, they’ve been geographically isolated and are now connected to Eurasia.”

Meaning they might be tense and could act aggressively.

Moonsoon then scanned Yeongwoo’s appearance and murmured.

“Then it’s war, huh.”

Despite her friendly demeanor, she was still the Strongest Sword of Jeju Island.

She subtly assessed Yeongwoo’s capabilities compared to hers.

However, Yeongwoo was preoccupied.

Flash!

[Achievement Unlocked: Pangaea]

| Achievement Rank: Epic

| Achievement Rank: #3

He was distracted by the newly achieved Pangaea achievement.

‘What, the rank is 3?’

This meant that two others had already completed the Pangaea achievement.

And soon, a universal weapon brand began the selection process for collaborative partners, offering a whopping 50 million Karma.

「Basic terrain modification of Planet II42-Earth has been implemented.」

「You can now select collaborative partners for planetary development.」

‘Planetary, development……?’

While Yeongwoo’s eyebrows twitched at the ominous words, the system continued its guidance.

「This planet has a total of 3 collaborative partner slots, and 2 slots have already been filled.」

Meaning Yeongwoo had just managed to catch the last slot after completing the Pangaea achievement.

And the same applied to Dogo.

「Conflicts between collaborative partners are frequent during planetary development, so please check the list of selected partners and reference charts.」

‘Reference chart?’

Curious about what to reference, Yeongwoo looked at the bottom of the interface and immediately understood the content.

[Selected Partner List]

1- Lemu

2- Mara

‘Damn, those guys.’

Two names Yeongwoo knew well were on the list of collaborative partners.

Familiar names were also listed below the chart.

[Dangerous Partner List]

*These are companies deemed unsuitable for planetary development.

1- Dogo

2- Hammer of Kwaya

3- Toma

4- Hexagon

5- Cerium