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Chapter 494: The Chaotic Universe (1)

Fwaaah!

As Yeongwoo returned to the control room of the Earthship with Ichae, everyone in the room rushed toward him.

『What the—? You came back in one piece? What happened?』

The one most interested, unsurprisingly, was none other than Sun Moro.

After all, Yeongwoo’s future was now directly tied to her own—and to the future of the entire solar system.

Yeongwoo toyed with a milky-white coin in his hand as he replied.

“The negotiations went well. Doatel has agreed to provide massive support…”

But more important than anything else, at least in Yeongwoo’s eyes—

“We’ve gained access to support from all the benevolent agents across the galaxy.”

『What? All the galaxy’s benevolent agents?』

Moro’s eyes widened in disbelief.

『Is that even possible?』

“Looks like it is. I guess that’s just how benevolent agents are.”

Of course, it wasn’t all good news.

“There is one downside.”

『What is it?』

“The donation laundering rate is only 30%.”

『30%? So the other 70% goes to them?』

Slash!

Moro turned a strand of her hair into a blade and pointed it out the window, toward Doatel.

“Yeah. But to be fair, they’re the kind of people who’ll even throw in their own money to do good, let alone seek personal profit.”

Still, for Yeongwoo—someone evil down to the bone—the idea of living off a mere 30% commission for life was unacceptable.

“I’ll have to figure something out. Maybe take on a side hustle, or scoop up a bunch of loot outside of the donations.”

『Then why didn’t you just negotiate a better rate while you were in there?』

“That wasn’t possible. It’s a long story, but just take my word for it—it wasn’t an option.”

As Yeongwoo said this and slowly walked toward the outer edge of the control room, Moro gave Jiseon a bewildered look.

『Is that for real? That guy—the one who used to beat up entire planets—came back from a negotiation losing money to mere planetary citizens?』

—If we had insisted on a higher cut, the whole negotiation would’ve fallen apart. I believe it was the only viable outcome.

When Jiseon, uncharacteristically, took Yeongwoo’s side, Moro calmed her twitching brow and slumped back onto her throne.

『Well… Doing good is good, obviously. But the cost of reinforcing the Earthship alone won’t be cheap.』

—He’ll find a way to make it work. And now that they can run a legitimate business under the name of a donation drive, the revenue won’t exactly be small.

After all, pretending to be a philanthropist—rather than engaging in blatant robbery that’s illegal and evil—is clearly the smarter play.

Not to mention, soliciting donations is legal enough to even approach public servants, so there are essentially no restrictions on the targets.

On top of that, most income would be tax-exempt, and even expenses like purchasing artillery could be filed as business costs for the charity, allowing for outrageous tax evasion.

In short, the bigger the fake charity gets, the more efficient it becomes.

—Their first target for business is apparently a large arms dealer, so they’ll likely secure a good chunk of cash soon.

Having soothed Moro, Jiseon walked over to Yeongwoo, who was still gazing into space.

—Hey, your mother-in-law’s greedier than I expected.

“Of course. The stronger the Earthship gets, the brighter her own future looks.”

Considering Moro was a literal star by birth, her vision was obviously far broader than that of mere mortals like Yeongwoo and Jiseon.

Her scope probably wasn’t limited to just a single galaxy.

Especially with the galactic core—described by Moro as a land of apex predators—looming on the horizon, it was only natural to seek greater strength to survive what was coming.

“Nothing happened while I was gone, right? No pursuit from the galactic core or anything?”

As Yeongwoo looked around the Earthship and asked, the ship nodded.

『Nothing so far. Except Doatel opened up a transfer channel just a while ago.』

“A transfer channel?”

『We can now wire funds to and from Doatel remotely. Though, of course, we need to own a planetary ship to do it.』

And now, Doatel could transfer funds to them as well, Earth added.

Which meant they could now launder money quickly from almost anywhere in the galaxy.

“So now we just need to start earning.”

Yeongwoo finally tore his gaze from the window and looked at the “Token of Relief” still glowing faintly in his hand.

「Token of Salvation」 – Mythic Currency

【Cloak of Light】

【Chorus of Virtue】

【Protection of the Shelbir Royal Family】

The Token of Salvation.

A mythical currency.

‘If it’s myth-tier… can I register it in the Catalog?’

There wasn’t a catalog for currencies, but he did have a Myth Catalog.

[Myth Catalog]

〔2〕

Currently registered: Bastard and Aratubank. Total: 2.

Ordinarily, equipment codices grant set bonuses for every 10 items collected, but for the Body Catalog, every 5 entries counts as a set.

[Body Catalog]

〔6〕

[Set Bonus: 5]

→ Increases physical optimization cap by 10%

So for mythical items—which were much rarer than body parts—getting a bonus every 3 wouldn’t be strange.

‘Actually, that would make more sense. Asking for 10 mythics to get a set bonus is insane.’

There was no reason to hesitate.

Yeongwoo immediately registered the Token of Relief into the Myth Catalog.

‘Register to catalog.’

The moment he did, the token vanished from his palm—and the Catalog updated its count to 3.

‘Huh?’

Fwaaah!

[Myth Catalog]

〔3〕

The Token of Relief had really been registered into the catalog.

Suddenly, a bolt of crimson lightning flashed before Yeongwoo’s eyes.

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KWAJIIIK!

“Whoa!?”

Startled, Yeongwoo stumbled backward.

At the same time, everyone in the control room flinched in their own way.

—W-What was that?

『Did you all see that? What was that just now?』

『Looked like some kind of lightning…?』

Jiseon, Moro, Parina, and even Earth and Jeonggu all saw it clearly.

That red lightning bolt that had struck diagonally from the sky right down to Yeongwoo’s feet.

“…Huh? Wait, did you all see that? Just now?”

Sensing that the lightning wasn't a typical collection effect, Yeongwoo quickly turned his gaze forward.

And then he saw it — a faint crack lingering in the space where the lightning had struck.

“What the hell is this…?”

When Yeongwoo reached out toward the crack, a wave of scorching heat burst out from it.

Fwoooosh!

“Urgh!”

The heat from the crack instantly engulfed Yeongwoo’s entire body, and soon after, it dug beneath his skin, pouring in an overwhelming intensity of heat.

“What the hell? Why is this happening to me?!”

Collapsing from the heat tearing through his body, Yeongwoo finally saw a system message appear in his vision.

「The first collection effect of the Myth Catalog has been unlocked!」

‘…What?’

And then, the actual collection effect of the Myth Catalog appeared before Yeongwoo’s eyes.

Bang!

[Collection Effect: 3]

|Obtained: 20% Prestige Mitigation Rate

‘What the hell… mitigation?’

A 20% Prestige Mitigation Rate.

Yeongwoo’s mouth hung open in stunned silence at the unreal figure.

He had barely managed to gain 10% by repeatedly smacking stars in the face, yet now he was getting 20% just from the first reward of the Myth Catalog.

This meant that collecting myths was not only a high-value task — it was symbolic of myth’s very purpose.

‘Why does collecting myths give me Prestige Mitigation?’

Wasn’t this basically saying that myths were weapons designed to defy higher powers?

Now that he thought about it, the Bastard was also a weapon built to challenge high-rankers, and Aratubank was gear meant to counter opponents’ asymmetric powers like mental attacks.

In other words, collecting myths meant—

‘I’m preparing to challenge higher beings.’

At least, that’s how the universe seemed to interpret it.

‘So, my mitigation rate is 30% now?’

It was still a far cry from the dreamlike 100% that would let anyone beat anyone, but it was a promising start.

After all, it was miles better than having 0% mitigation.

And considering that factors like equipment and codices affected more than just raw power, the rank difference didn’t always directly determine combat strength.

In other words, if he kept stacking mitigation rates like this, there would come a time when even those benefiting from Prestige could be brought to their knees.

‘Still… I didn’t expect the Myth Catalog’s reward to be Prestige Mitigation. That’s a surprise.’

It implied that those who collect myths prioritize mitigation above all else.

Even on a galactic level, myth collectors clearly weren’t ordinary individuals.

—What was that just now? You looked like you almost died.

As Yeongwoo’s complexion returned to normal, Jiseon cautiously approached and spoke.

Yeongwoo scratched his cheek, now realizing the heat had completely faded away.

“It was the Myth Catalog.”

—Myth Catalog?

“Yeah. I collected three, and it unlocked a collection effect. Now I’m one step closer to overthrowing the hierarchy.”

—So is the next milestone six?

“Who knows. Could be five for all I know.”

It was the Myth Catalog, after all.

Yeongwoo wouldn’t dare try to predict it.

Maybe the universe felt the same way whenever it looked at unpredictable entities like Planet Ships.

“Well then, the next step is… making the Golden Ratio declaration before Chancellor Herisa contacts me.”

—That thing in North America?

“Yep. Figured it’s also a good chance to check in on what’s happening over there.”

Even though he was now the sole stakeholder of Earth, Yeongwoo had never actually set foot on the American continent.

In a way, it was like he had conquered America without spilling a drop of blood.

On the flip side, from the American perspective, they’d lost Earth to some crazy guy they’d only ever seen on planetary broadcasts.

“Mom, want to come see the States with me?”

—Nah, I’m good. That absurd planet we visited last time already counts as international travel.

Jiseon waved her hand dismissively, rejecting the idea.

This time, Earth raised its hand.

『Are you going to make contact with people there? If so, take me with you.』

“…Why? You can see everything on Earth from your office anyway.”

『Exactly. That’s why I need to go. If I’m not by your side, all the strongest Americans will come at you.』

“What? Why would they come at me? Even if they do, I’m not the one who’ll die — they will.”

At that, Earth let out a long sigh.

『They still think they’re the central power of Earth. So if you show up in person…』

“They’ll rush in to take the throne?”

『Obviously. That’s why I’m going with you — to prevent a massacre of Earthlings.』

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