Annihilation (1)
← Ch.148 | Ch.150 → |
It took us 24 days to reach the Deport harbor.
The reason it took us longer than the 15 days we thought it would take was because of the stamina of the baby rake eagles.
They weren't fit enough to fly all day, so we had to take breaks.
I told them to tell me when the babies were getting tired and every half day or so the two sets of parents screeched to let me know their babies were tired.
Maybe they were copying that because the babies too would screech and whine.
Cha Ji-hye, who was lenient towards animals, would disregard our time schedule and decided to rest.
Thanks to giving them the tons of food that we had stored in the virtual space, the rake eagles grew a lot during our travels.
Even the two sets of adult rake eagles that were fully grown were growing every day as if they were still in puberty.
How long did we race?
The afternoon of the 24th day.
The Deport harbor came into view.
'If we just went into town with the eagles like this, it would probably cause a fuss?'
They were in the middle of a rapid growth period so I didn't want to put them in the virtual space where time was stopped.
I wanted to use the eagles in the annihilation of the pirates too.
Because of that, before embarking on the annihilation trip, I wanted the six babies to grow up as much as they could.
I gathered one through ten and gave them their orders.
"Stay deep in the nearby mountain. And don't be seen by humans as best you can."
"Bbeeeek-!!"
"Beek!!"
The ten birds answered enthusiastically.
I took out all the food that was in the virtual space. All ten birds took as much as they could hold in each of their two claws.
I figured if that wasn't enough, they would be fine and would hunt to take care of themselves.
But then Cha Ji-hye made a different suggestion.
"If you are worried about people seeing, why not send them out to sea?"
"The sea?"
"Set up a home on a suitable uninhabited island and you could raise them without needing to worry."
"But I can't find stuff for them to eat on a deserted island."
"I don't think they can't eat fish."
"Ah!"
Now that I think of it, there's plenty of food to be had from the sea.
"You think they'll eat fish?"
"I looked through the files on your laptop. It said rake eagles that nest near rivers hunt fish as well."
The detail to look into that!
'I'm sure she loves animals. '
I decided to follow Cha Ji-hye's advice.
After changing my mind, I put all the rake eagles in the virtual space.
Then I went to the harbor and to see Regiment Commander Ajen at the administrative residence.
Currently, at the Deport harbor, the ruler was out so next in line to assume the position was Regiment Commander Ajen.
"Baron Kim!"
Regiment Commander Ajen welcomed us wholeheartedly.
I gave him a general explanation and asked him to borrow a boat.
"You're really planning on annihilating all the pirates?"
"Yes, it might take a while so I'm planning on preparing slowly. I'm thinking of spending some time at sea while I work towards it."
"Hmm, if it is just the two of you then you won't need a big boat."
"Yes."
"I see. To the savior of our harbor, a single boat will be no problem. I am just worried about it being just the two of you against all the pirates."
"You don't need to worry about that part."
"Of course. You killed Heising, so some mere pirates won't be a problem..."
Regiment Commander Ajen told us he'll have everything prepared by tomorrow.
The next day, when we got to the dock, the soldiers had prepared a sailboat for us.
Much larger and stronger than old fisherman Vincent's sailboat.
Steering the sailboat wouldn't be a problem.
I had Sylph and the reflex mastery.
I saw what Vincent did before so without difficulty I was able to take the sailboat out to sea.
"Sylph!"
-Meow?
"Can you find me an uninhabited island that people don't go near?"
-Meow!
The cute Sylph swished her tail back and forth and then flew off like a arrow.
After sailing for about a half day, we found a suitable deserted island.
A small island with a diameter of about 1 km.
There were lots of trees and bushes, but I got the feeling it'll be hard getting enough food and drinking water.
'Well, doesn't matter. '
I anticipated this and stored a bunch of water bottles in the virtual space.
Cha Ji-hye had a ton of water in her item backpack too.
For food, the animals we caught and stored for the eagles could be grilled and eaten or we could eat whatever we could catch from the sea.
If need be I could fly back to the harbor too.
First, I released all ten eagles from the virtual space.
"Beeek!"
"Beek?"
The rake eagles looked all around with confusion in their eyes. To them, the location suddenly changed so of course they were flustered.
"Now now, don't be alarmed. For the time being we'll be staying on this island so don't fly to far away."
"Beek!"
"Beeek!"
"Beek!"
The rake eagles answered in unison.
Even with large builds and brutal talons, they looked cute.
***
About the time when the six babies were becoming familiar with flying, the two sets of parents embarked on a new kind of hunting.
First, the pieces of meat that were stored in the virtual space were mixed with blood and thrown all across the ocean.
Then, the large carnivorous fish that were drawn by the bait came up to the surface and were grabbed with their talons.
The fish looked similar to tuna but exactly what it was I couldn't be sure. A massive fish about 2 meters in length.
"The fisherman at Deport harbor sometimes catch these. I think it is okay to eat."
We took just enough of the fish that the parents caught for us to grill for ourselves. The rest was, of course, for them.
There was no time for boredom.
We read e-books on the tablet we brought in the virtual space or played games on the laptop. We also passed time on the smartphone. We brought solar chargers, so the battery wasn't a problem either.
It was like a vacation spot!
If you just removed the screeching eagles, it was a paradise for just the two of us.
We played and swam at the beach or tanned. My awkward swimming skills surpassed Cha Ji-hye within the week.
The days were hot so there were many days when we were nearly naked.
Thanks to all this my mind was able to become more relaxed. Our displays of affection toward each other became less and less awkward as well.
It was, of course, more of me expressing it and Cha Ji-hye accepting it.
How much time passed this way?
-Name: Kim Hyun-ho
-Class: 40
-Karma: +600
-Mission: annihilate the pirates
-Time limit: 132 days 4 hours
"I think it's time we start working on the pirate's annihilation."
Said Cha Ji-hye.
I felt bad that our sweet time was over, but I couldn't help but agree with her.
"You're right. We can't know what variables will happen."
Some variable might occur, and things could become more difficult than originally anticipated.
In that case we would have to return to Deport harbor and ask Regiment Commander Ajen for help.
We couldn't tell what will happen so having had plenty of time to relax, it was only right we should focus on the fight now.
More than anything, the 6 rake eagle babes have grown up quite a bit now too.
The two sets of rake eagle parents have grown to twice their original size as well.
They've gotten so strong, they now dive into the ocean to catch the large fish and then flew back up into the sky.
"Right, then let's go."
We boarded the boat and moved towards the pirate island.
A long time had passed and neither Lee Chang-wee nor the pirates could be found. They were gone.
'Heising's group was in charge of the pirates. The pirates must've fractioned since his group longer exists. Lee Chang-wee probably isn't interested in this location anymore. '
I'm sure Lee Chang-wee's group had their own way of collecting tons of majeong.
Finding the pirates wasn't hard either. All I had to do was follow the course put on the map that Regiment Commander Ajen gave me.
An archipelago of tons of tiny islands.
A ton of pirate ships were concentrated on a shoddy dock.
Shall I say hello?
I summoned my AW50F and began shooting at the pirate's ships.
Taang! Tang! Tang-!
The masts of the pirate ships began falling one by one.
The pirate army fell into chaos.
Their ships, as precious to them as their lives, were being splintered to pieces.
"It's that guy from before!"
"Damn!"
"Take the ships out quick!"
The pirates all raced towards the ships.
But I continued shooting and sunk 6 ships.
The pirates who had made it out to sea on their ships were heading towards us.
But it was in vain.
I had Sylph move our sailboat and I continued to shoot.
Tang-tang-!
Not even being able to get close to us, three more ships were sunk. Only then did the pirates turned the bow (front) of their ships around and began to flee.
As expected, without the Chinese examinees, the pirates had no way to block my shooting.
The pirate ships all retreated to the opposite side of the pirate island.
"Shall we land?"
"Yes."
We got off at the pirate island dock.
There was a reason I left some ships instead of obliterating them all.
Because the pirates needed some to ride and flee.
If I took away every method of retreat then they'd resist until the end and that would make annihilating the pirates that much harder.
"Attack!"
When I gave the order, the 10 rake eagles screamed loudly and flew towards the pirate army.
"Beeeek!"
"Beek!"
It was totally worth the effort to raise them.
The rake eagles, even the comparatively smaller babies, snatched up a pirate before flying into the sky and dropping them to their deaths.
The pirates lying in ambush behind trees could not avoid the sight of the rake eagles either.
"Uacck!"
"What are these?!"
To avoiding the rake eagle attacks, the pirates had to move from their spots.
With my double guns, I shot the ones that ran out.
Ta ta ta ta ta tang!
"Kuhuk!"
"Kuk!"
With indifference, the pirates pile up.
Every time I shot, the bullet revision skill was used, and it pierced three people at once.
These two guns...these are basically weapons of mass destruction.
Cha Ji-hye couldn't really find a reason to insert herself and stood next to me. She was going to take care of anyone who approached me but honestly, there was no pirate that could even start to approach us.
The rake eagles were freely scooping up the pirates and herding them towards me.
And the pirates fleeing from the monster like eagles I killed with my double guns or AW50F.
It made me think, is it this easy to kill someone?
Every time my chamber ran out of bullets through the reload skill, the bullets in my virtual space replenished it automatically.
"You bastard!"
"I'll kill you!"
Angered, the pirates responded with arrows or crossbows.
But that too was all in vain.
Foresight. The ability to sense an enemy's long distance attack before it reaches you.
Anticipating where the enemy was targeting.
There is no way I'll let myself be hit by an arrow I can see flying to and how from.
I avoided the arrows coming at me or used the butt of my gun to smack them down as I continued shooting.
The corpses of the pirates dying helplessly start creating mounds all around me.
← Ch. 148 | Ch. 150 → |