Hiding A Logistics Center In The Apocalypse Chapter 177

Hiding the Logistics Center in the Apocalypse Chapter 177

Piracy (3)

Shoooooooo······.

We're flying towards Gradiva.

It was an asteroid version of a sky island with its surroundings completely carved out, but Buendia seemed to like this boulder better.

“The carrier ships are orbiting Gradiva. We should be in that orbit too… If we look like this, we’ll definitely be less noticeable.”

However, it wasn't exactly the same as before.

At his request, the outline of the carrier was further refined.

It looked completely un-spacecraft-like, with the player sticking out to the left.

“This unbalanced shape was necessary. It will cause the orbit to deviate slightly. It will encounter all the transport ships circling around Gradiva one after another.”

The transport ships orbit Gradiva like satellites.

Buendia had mapped out the routes of dozens of transport ships, and had intentionally shaped the Sky Islands in an uneven manner so that he could meet them periodically.

Thanks to······.

Click!

Drrrrrrrr!

Wheein- Wheein!

Lee Yong-soo's hands had no choice but to move faster than usual.

Every second, the balance had to be maintained as it fluctuated constantly.

“Heh heh heh heh.”

As the difficulty of the controls became more and more difficult by the day, he just blankly smiled, lost in thought.

Woof woof! Taang!

So we jumped through space several times.

When it got close to its destination, it slowed down and moved forward, mimicking the movements of other celestial bodies rolling around it.

Shoooo······.

Sometimes the ship's hull would stop completely, as if it were floating on water.

The Sky Island passes obliquely through the orbits of other stars and planets, and successfully lands in the orbit of 'Gradiva', disguising itself as a normal asteroid.

It would not be long before we encountered the Chamber of Commerce's first carrier.

“We’ll be getting closer in about 30 minutes.”

“Then······Should we prepare as planned?”

Leaving the Sky Island in orbit, we returned to subspace.

I had to bring prisoners from Elvenheim.

Since they were all specialists with brilliant 'criminal' careers, they were indispensable forces when it came to hijacking transport ships.

“Ah, there’s nothing more fun than this.”

“Gather around!”

The prisoners gathered in groups of three or four.

Then, each of them formed a team and began to prepare for the operation that was about to begin.

By the time I finished preparing······.

“You came.”

In the distance, an approaching magic stone transport ship was visible.

.

.

.

Woohoo······.

As its name suggests, the transport ship had a ship-like shape.

A structure with a spacious deck where the wheelhouse is built, and below that are the crew's quarters and a cargo hold containing stones.

Honestly, taking over the transport ship wasn't that difficult······

“The key is to do it secretly.”

“That’s right. If the alarm sounds even once… all the transport ships in this area will run away. Even if we move to another Gradiva, security will be even stronger.”

The difficulty level increased several times because the sailors had to be subdued without a sound.

'······At least I have to shake off a few of them to get the message out.'

The maximum amount of magic stones that a single transport ship can carry when fully loaded is approximately 1.5 million.

But like any other ship, it was not possible to fill the nets with fish every day.

According to Buendia, the expected harvest from a single carrier was about 700,000 to 800,000 units.

It's not a small amount of money, but it's a bit of a waste to cover the cost of leveling up and the bullets for 'Shopaholic'.

The key was to rob as many carriers as possible without being caught.

“The most certain thing is to brainwash all the sailors with black magic… But that will inevitably leave traces in some way. That’s why I plan to primarily use black magic with the shortest casting time and fewest side effects.”

The deck of the carrier was equipped with dozens of alarm buttons.

A system where, as soon as you press it, the Chamber of Commerce's escort ships will rush in within minutes.

Of course, it was a piggy bank filled with magic stones, so there was no way it wouldn't be guarded.

“I’ll mess up your sense of direction. Then I’ll give you a mirror illusion to mislead you into thinking the alarm button is where it is. Of course, this is just a precaution… You have to personally prevent the button from being pressed.”

His black magic was a kind of time-waster.

The key is to quietly subdue the disoriented sailors.

Only then would I be able to safely collect the magic stones stored in the cargo hold.

Whee!

As we passed by the transport ship, leaving a distance of about 30 meters between us······.

“Stop!”

Drrrrrr!

With Lee Yong-soo's voice, the brakes were applied.

The Sky Island no longer followed the movement of the orbit, but stood still in place.

"shipment."

Wheaaaaaaaaa!

I sent dozens of prisoners flying at full speed.

“Accept the guests!”

“Whew!”

Kwah! Kwah!

'Economic criminals' jumping into the boat while cheering.

They boasted of their unique athleticism, and when they got on board······.

“I’m the enemy!”

The startled sailors scattered in panic.

It was a thoroughly trained, orderly movement.

They all quickly moved towards the alarm button, but······.

Knock! Knock!

“What, what? Why isn’t it pressed?”

In reality, I was just knocking on an empty wall, feeling bewildered.

The images in their eyes were turned upside down by Buendia.

The real button was located on the opposite side of the deck.

And in the meantime······.

Whirlwind! Whirlwind!

A blond-haired inmate threw a discus ring.

An ability that has already been witnessed once in a concentration camp.

The flying hooks caught the sailors' ankles and quickly melted into the deck, pinning them to their seats.

“Hee, heek!”

Some sailors managed to run towards the bow where the alarm button was located, but······.

“Where.”

Crunch!

He threw his sword and blocked the path.

The sailors just stood there, watching the sword tremble as it was stuck in the deck.

“These pirates!”

At that moment, a swarm of vested guards came rushing out from the stairs.

A combat vest with all sorts of equipment hanging from it, like the one I saw in prison.

Some even carried large cylindrical harpoons slung over their shoulders.

“Shoot!”

Paaang!

Did you notice that it wasn't an ordinary asteroid?

They fired harpoons one after another toward Cheonkong Island, but······.

“How much?”

Tiring!

[Total result: 31,615.]

“Buy them all.”

[All right.]

[There are 552,554 magic stones remaining.]

Hururururuk!

I used 'Shopaholic' to suck all the harpoons they had fired, as well as the equipment they were carrying, into subspace.

The price was quite high, perhaps because it contained magic tools, but it was nothing compared to the magic stones loaded onto the transport ship.

“······??”

The guards were just feeling around all over their bodies, searching for the whereabouts of the missing equipment.

A situation where the deck is completely under control.

Thanks to this, the remaining work also progressed smoothly.

“Put that down.”

Buendia entered the wheelhouse and subdued the navigator holding the receiver.

The navigator's hand was close to the communicator button, but Buendia's black magic prevented him from pressing the button.

Then a blonde-haired prisoner entered the wheelhouse,

The navigator's hands were tied to the mast pipe with a semicircle loop.

“······Is it over?”

Both the alarm system and communications were blocked.

Now all that's left is to steal the magic stone as quickly as possible and manipulate the sailors' memories.

Compared to what I had expected, it ended up being quite easy.

“It ended surprisingly easily?”

“There are over 40 alarm buttons installed on the deck. They probably didn’t expect that they wouldn’t be able to press even a single one. It would have been impossible to attach an escort ship to each and every transport ship······.”

But Buendia repeatedly emphasized to me that it wasn't just that.

“The important part is from now on. The moment news of a robbery spreads here, all the other escort ships assigned to the Gradiva will rush in. If that happens, this plan will be completely abandoned. At least that’s fortunate. You can hide in a mouse hole… At least you’ll be able to save your life.”

Buendia laughed heartily, saying that it was a very convenient ability.

So we left the subdued sailors behind and went down the stairs to the deck.

There were several security devices installed up to the loading bay, but Buendia was able to unlock them without difficulty with a few swipes of his bare hands.

“You can’t leave it on for too long. Ten minutes. If you leave it on for longer than that, a signal will automatically be sent to headquarters.”

“That’s enough.”

So we reached the last door.

The number '914,416' was floating on the dashboard hanging on the door.

I guess it represented the total amount of magic stones loaded into this cargo ship.

As expected, when I opened the door······.

“······.”

I was able to see a mountain of magic stones piled up.

“900,000······ Was it originally this many?”

I didn't realize it when it was in my balance.

I just passed by after looking at the numbers printed on the account.

Only after seeing it piled up like this could I truly appreciate the amount.

Buendia added to me.

“The magic stones here cannot be directly credited to your account. They have been specially processed to prevent theft.”

"okay."

Looking back on the process so far, I have come to the conclusion that it would have been absolutely impossible to steal it using normal methods.

Even if we managed to silence the 40 alarms installed on the deck and destroy all six locks in order to reach the cargo hold, there was no way we could move the mountainous pile of magic stones in less than 10 minutes.

In other words, it's not easy······.

'······We were such a fraud.'

Our capabilities were too much.

The prisoners' abilities, Buendia's black magic, and even my subspace.

Because there couldn't have been a more optimal combination for emptying the Chamber's pockets.

Looking at the pile of magic stones, I immediately asked Pax.

“Suck it in.”

[All right.]

Whoosh, whoosh!

The magic stones loaded on the cargo ship collapsed like a landslide,

It swept into my subspace, causing a dust storm.

Not even a minute later, in the cargo hold······.

“You can’t leave even a single grain of rice behind.”

There was just nothing left.

.

.

.

After emptying the cargo compartment cleanly,

We didn't forget to manipulate the numbers on the meter.

Buendia fiddled with the counter and brought the numbers down to '0' and back up to '914,416'.

We finished our successful thief(?) and came back up on deck.

Just as I was trying to erase the remaining traces left on the deck······.

“Mr. Yongsu?”

“Ah, Mr. Jeonggyeom······!”

Here, we were able to find the figure of Yongsu Lee, who was on the transport ship.

“You were supposed to be in the cockpit, right?”

“I think you should take a look at that. No matter how much I call, there’s no answer······.”

“What the heck······.”

We looked in the direction that Lee Yong-su was pointing.

and······.

“That······?”

Rusty junk piled here and there,

I was able to find an old hull that looked like it was falling apart.

As expected, someone was standing there observing us through a telescope······.

-Eek!

As soon as our eyes met, he screamed and entered the hull.

Shiver shiver!

The ship's hull burst into flames with a roar.

It looked like they were just marching in a line, and Buendia, who saw this, staggered around in shock.

“Why is that?”

“Oh, this is a big problem! There must be a refugee living in the gap!”

“A refugee? Why is a refugee here······.”

“If things were as they were, not even a single ant would be able to get around Gradiva. But the reason they can stay in Gradiva’s cracks is······.”

He struggled to continue speaking, panting for breath.

“······Because I have to report any rare accidents to the Chamber of Commerce. Right now······! We have to catch him right now! He must be trying to report us!”

"shit······!"

In short, it meant that there was a witness.

Buendia already had both hands outstretched toward the bastard.

But it seems that the range of black magic is not reaching, and I just sweat profusely.

The hull of the refugee ship continued to slowly drift away.

That's why······.

“Pax, how much is that?”

Tiring!

[There are 529.]

“······It’s also expensive.”

I bought it right away.

That rickety hull that's streaking away from us.