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Chapter 548: Crossing (2)

Galactic entryway inspection.

For Yeongwoo, who had never once left his home galaxy, this was a first.

“Wait, who even conducts these inspections? Is there such a thing as galactic police?”

Tilting his head, Yeongwoo asked.

Mantero, hands on the helm, replied,

-That’s correct.

“…Really?”

-Each galaxy operates as a semi-autonomous unit. Under the central government, countless galactic governments exist, and they have considerable discretion.

In other words, Mantero explained, each galaxy has its own rules and its own police forces.

From the perspective of the galaxy they were about to enter, Yeongwoo and most of his companions were outsiders.

“So what do they actually do at the checkpoint? If each galaxy is autonomous, maybe they won’t care about what we did in the previous one?”

Mantero let out a very small sigh.

-It’s true that each galaxy has its own code, but before that, they generally follow the guidelines of the central government and central courts. Think of it as a shared rulebook.

Which meant information about wanted persons—like escapees—was widely disseminated to other galaxies and actually useful.

Just as Earth nations cooperate to catch fugitives, so do galaxies.

“We’re not that big a deal, are we?”

-Three prison escapees and one prison raider. Four criminals in total—big enough.

“…Really?”

-At the very least, the checkpoint will flag this, detain us, and attempt to send us back to our original galaxy.

“By the way, how do you know all this so well, Mr. Mantero? A royal chief navigator shouldn’t have much to do with crime.”

-The prince I served enjoyed adventure… to say the least.

“Aha. I’d love to see that prince’s face someday.”

In any case, the important point: since they were traveling with escapees, they were effectively wanted in this new galaxy too.

“Living as out-and-out criminals in space isn’t easy.”

-There are galaxies that don’t involve themselves in crimes committed elsewhere, and some don’t follow the central court at all.

“Oh? Then all the wanted folks would flock there, huh?”

-If they don’t get caught en route, they might avoid punishment.

But if pursuers followed into neutral galaxies, there was nothing to be done, Mantero added.

“Oh, so pursuers come after you if it’s a serious crime?”

-They could be private hunters, or detectives dispatched by a galaxy’s police bureau.

Mantero’s gaze shifted to the great thief, Kejen.

-It’s possible pursuers are already on us.

“Why? To recover the royal seal?”

-Yes. If the Kardal royal family heard of Lord Kejen’s escape, they would almost certainly have sent hunters.

If the seal thief had successfully broken out, of course he’d move toward where the seal was hidden.

Which is exactly what they were doing.

“Then we absolutely can’t get stopped at the checkpoint.”

Just about when Yeongwoo said this, Mantero raised a finger and pointed ahead.

-The relay zone will briefly break here.

They had finally reached the checkpoint.

Ziing!

As the exterior holograms all peeled away at once, open space appeared, and everyone turned their eyes forward.

A vast red, glowing net was stretched across their path.

“…What’s that?”

-A barrier blocking passage. And those ships ahead are the inspection forces.

“Ah.”

Only after Mantero’s explanation did Yeongwoo notice the line of small and medium ships stretched out before the net.

-They’ll soon request docking and then scan our ship—to see if any passengers are wanted or if we’re carrying hazardous goods.

“Then we should refuse docking right away.”

-Yes. We need to punch through quickly while there’s still room to escape.

“Huh? But the front is already blocked by that net…?”

As Yeongwoo said this, the checkpoint ships that had been lined up in a row abruptly shifted formation.

Even to layman Yeongwoo, it was clearly an attack formation.

-They’re wary because we’re a planet-ship. I’ll open fire first.

“…Huh? At what?”

In the instant Yeongwoo asked back, Mantero used acting-captain authority to trigger the legendary cannon, the ‘Planet Hunter.’

「Planet Hunter」 - Legendary Cannon

【Output : 4100】

【Max Rounds Loaded : 4】

【Firing Time : 3 seconds】

【Required Energy : 1700】

【Manufacturer : Toma】

If a misfire occurs due to coordinate error, quickly eliminate any witnesses.

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Whoooooo……!

As high-density energy gathered from the Earth-ship’s central core to fire the Planet Hunter, the checkpoint ships rushing toward them scattered in a hurry to all sides.

“…Oh?”

And then—

Whoooooo!

With a tremendous vibration, a laser blast from the Planet Hunter speared out from the Earth-ship.

Boooom!

It shot straight at the center of the red net that blocked the Earth-ship’s path.

“They’re… planning to rip through it by brute force?”

Startled by the more aggressive approach than expected, Yeongwoo glanced up at the captain’s chair and saw Mantero, unusually flushed with excitement.

-A… amazing!

This was actually Mantero’s first time ever firing on a checkpoint barrier.

‘This bastard… using my ship to commit crimes?’

Then Mantero swiftly yanked the launch stick and kicked in forward thrust.

-Here we go……!

Swoooosh!

The reinforced thrusters upgraded in the Doatel dominion roared to life.

As the Earth-ship shoved its hull into the torn gap, the red barrier—stretching like rubber—finally snapped.

The Earth-ship, now accelerating, began to pull away from the checkpoint.

-15 seconds until entry into the next relay tunnel.

With that, Mantero pressed a small button on the starboard side of the helm, and rear cameras popped up on both sides of the bridge.

-If the checkpoint doesn’t cower at that firepower and sends pursuit craft, we could be in real trouble.

“Why? We’re way stronger.”

-The Earth-ship doesn’t have secondary guns; we can’t fight small, fast pursuers.

“Metal Seoul has anti-air cannons installed. Can’t we use those?”

Mantero shook his head.

-Those are for defense inside an atmosphere. Pursuit craft will bombard our shields from outside.

Right—when they left Lesham, they had fled the fighters instead of trying to dogfight.

“Then we need to get secondary guns—can we buy those in the Black Zone?”

Kejen stroked his beard and spoke up.

-If your bargaining is good enough… there’s nothing you can’t get in the Black Zone.

Meanwhile, the Earth-ship was closing on the relay tunnel ahead, and there was no particular movement behind them.

The checkpoint had decided not to bother chasing a planet-ship.

“They’re not following? Guess we scared them.”

-They may simply sense there’s nothing to gain from provoking a planet-ship.

Besides, the Earth-ship hadn’t committed any notable crime in this galaxy.

Well—aside from just now forcibly leaving the checkpoint.

“So now we can ride the relay zone straight through?”

-Until we reach the next galaxy… for now, yes.

Right on cue, the outside view filled with holograms again, and Yeongwoo let out a breath.

“Space has its own ecosystem, huh.”

-A galaxy is an enormous unit of world. Most beings never leave their home galaxy in their lifetime.

And celestial beings were the same.

No—among celestials, almost none could leave the galaxy they belonged to.

That’s why breaking the checkpoint just now was a strikingly exotic experience for Moro, Farina, and Earth alike.

『To think I’d live to see a checkpoint. Remarkable.』

As Moro mulled over the incident with a strange expression, Yeongwoo laughed broadly.

“I’ll make sure to show you plenty more good sights.”

In time, building a twin-star-based planet-ship system was essentially a foregone conclusion; if possible, Yeongwoo even wanted to tour the Great Prison.

To steadily grow their prestige in this universe, they would have to keep experiencing “adventures.”

‘Unfortunately, it seems breaking a galactic checkpoint doesn’t raise prestige progress.’

Casting a glance at the now-quiet rear feed, Yeongwoo spoke to everyone on the bridge.

“I’m heading down to rest. If you need anything from me, tell Earth.”

* * *

Parnas Hotel, Room 3233.

Even though the sun was still high, the hotel suite had full power.

Originally, they had reinforced the shields for a star headbutt maneuver; as a side effect, the shield’s auxiliary functions had strengthened enough to keep the suite in a constant “rented” state.

‘If the power is always on now… does that apply to the land we’ll lease to tenants too? How exactly is the electricity being supplied?’

As Yeongwoo headed for his private room, Earth answered inside his consciousness.

○ Why are you suddenly curious about that?

‘I was thinking—not every tenant will be flush with cash. Some will be paying monthly rent from what they earn.’

○ Probably true.

‘Then they’ll need to run something—factory, forge, whatever—to make money, and that takes electricity, right?’

○ Ah, in that case I can allocate power to a given lot. I can control that.

‘So when we take tenants, can we advertise “unlimited power supplied”?’

○ Unlimited… not quite. If they brought in something like Lemu’s Machine Tower, it might occasionally drain the whole Earth-ship.

‘So not unlimited, then.’

○ An ordinary factory is fine… but it depends on the equipment the tenant installs. I’d need to see it before I can promise anything.

Yeongwoo and Earth’s conversation ended there.

He had crawled into bed and fallen asleep in an instant.

○ …What the? Where’d this guy go?

As Earth blinked in the ownerless space of Yeongwoo’s mind, a familiar sigil shimmered above the dusky mental sky.

It was none other than—

○ That lunatic… he’s dreaming of the Dao again……?

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