Chapter 987
Episode 244: The Ambush on the Red-Eyed Tribe (Part 4)
“Hah… Are you telling me this is really a component from a public facility? A public facility, you say?”
Inside the Tikan Palace, in Quall’s laboratory.
Quall was turning the stolen component over and over in his hands, the one that Luna and Eltiot had taken. Even to those unfamiliar with magical engineering, it was clearly a masterpiece of craftsmanship.
A silver metal tetrahedron about the size of an apple, with a red core spinning inside it, disconnected from anything else.
“Is it really that amazing? Quall, why are you making such a fuss over it?”
Murakan asked, and Quall nodded repeatedly.
“Absolutely! Inside these incredibly thin metal wires are technologies so precise and minute that humanity can’t even dream of them yet. These technologies generate waves, and those waves converge into a single core that spins inside the component… It’s so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.”
“Hah? Spare me the theatrics. Hey, Jet! That guy’s actually crying. Give him a handkerchief or something, this is creepy.”
“Here you go!”
“So, with this thing alone, can we mass-produce the Golden Ships?”
Quall wiped his face with the handkerchief and shot Murakan a sharp glare.
“You ignorant black dragon! Do you think I’m some kind of god? Carefully dismantling this component, analyzing it, understanding the applied technologies—it’ll take me at least half a year just to get this far.”
“Ignorant? You’re really pushing it. But I’ll give you credit for your guts.”
“Applying that technology to Tikan is a whole other matter. That’ll take years, at the very least.”
“Half a year, huh… and even more time to apply it? That’s a long haul. Isn’t that right, kid?”
Just as Jin was about to shrug, hearty laughter suddenly echoed from outside the lab.
“Ha ha ha! Ha ha ha ha! Disciple, I already feel like I’ve completely smashed that Simat fellow!”
“I told you, Master. How many times do you have to say that?”
It was Eltiot and Luna, just stepping out of the infirmary.
Both had suffered serious injuries escaping from Bakel. Thanks to the healing experts waiting in Tikan and Luna’s unique resilience, they had recovered enough to leave their beds so quickly.
Though Luna’s visible wounds had healed, she still carried internal scars from the madness that had overtaken her—a kind of mental trauma that couldn’t be so easily fixed.
“Hahaha, you must have seen it clearly. Just before escaping the Chatin Plains, I boldly pulled out the component and showed it off on their airborne fortress. Simat must have seen it too. I bet he clutched his neck and collapsed.”
“Simat didn’t strike me as the type to get that worked up.”
“Disciple, do you know Simat better than I do? He always acts cool and dignified, but deep down, he’s a child. Ha! To think he fell for the trick I showed him on purpose—this must be how he felt every time he tried to deceive me in the past. He’s probably so steamed right now he can’t sleep.”
“Yeah, I hope so.”
Contrary to Luna’s hopes, Simat was indeed furious. Not to the point of sleeplessness, but every time he recalled Eltiot’s irritating face and actions at the last moment, he clenched his teeth.
“Welcome back, Sir Eltiot. Sister Luna.”
“Hey.”
“Master, did you really know from the start that he wouldn’t kill us?”
“Of course.”
“Then we didn’t have to run so desperately. I must have looked pretty pathetic carrying you on my back.”
“Disciple, the human heart is not so simple. Sure, he pretended to chase us but then let us go—but he could have changed his mind at any moment. Especially since he must have seen potential in you… He probably debated killing you and me right then and there several times. So running away in a hurry was the right call.”
“True, I almost lost myself to madness and tried to finish him off.”
“That’s different from Simat’s case. His choice was his own will, but yours was influenced by madness. That difference shows the gap between you and Simat.”
“A gap…”
“Disciple, if you can’t control that madness, you will be destroyed.”
Suddenly, Eltiot’s smile faded.
“…Yes, that much is certain.”
“It won’t just be you who’s destroyed. This is serious. We’ll talk more about it during training later.”
Eltiot stopped there and shifted his gaze to Quall, who was watching him with bright, moist eyes.
“Eltiot… I just don’t understand. If the Red-Eyed Tribe really uses this component in their public facilities, then we can never beat them.”
He spoke sincerely.
Though he had told his comrades it would take half a year to analyze the component, if something like this was used in public infrastructure, the technological gap was just too vast.
Fortunately, Eltiot’s eyes widened as he challenged Quall.
“Public facilities? Who said it was for public facilities?”
“You did. You said you were going to steal it from a public facility.”
“Pfft! When did I ever say that?”
“You definitely did, Master.”
“Disciple, even if I had, you don’t just go around exposing your master’s mistakes so casually. That’s disappointing.”
“Yes. So then, what exactly is this component used for by the Red-Eyed Tribe?”
All eyes turned to Eltiot.
“The airborne fortress, Pibil.”
“Ah, the airborne fortress… What!?”
“What!?”
“It’s called Pibil. And this is a core component most closely related to Pibil’s spatial leap function.”
Even Jin’s pupils dilated.
“Did you all really think Eltiot was some fool risking his life and that of a mediocre disciple just to steal a public facility part? No way. While you were buying time, I infiltrated Pibil.”
Originally, Eltiot hadn’t expected to get a component from the airborne fortress.
But Luna had perfectly held Simat’s and the fortress’s attention longer than expected. Thanks to that, Eltiot took another gamble and successfully infiltrated the fortress.
“Disciple, now do you understand why I was so happy and why Simat is losing sleep? Heh, you could say this is a surprise gift I prepared. Listen carefully: this component is like the first fire ever discovered in this primitive Balm Alliance world.”
“No, Master. How did you get inside the airborne fortress? Was it really that easy to infiltrate such a weapon?”
“Normally, it’s impossible. And it will remain so. I was able to get in this time only because, near the end of the Solar War, our Cheongmyeong Tribe once captured Pibil.”
As he said, Eltiot and the Cheongmyeong Tribe had seized Pibil just before the Great Sealing began. At that time, Eltiot had added his authentication to Pibil.
The Red Sky King had disappeared as a warrior before that and become Simat, making this possible.
Eltiot patiently explained the details for a while.
“Now that my authentication method has been discarded, it’s no longer easy to infiltrate. Ha ha! Sniff, sniff—what’s that smell? Do you smell something savory? Ah, it’s the scent of Simat regretting not killing me and my disciple.”
At that point, even Luna couldn’t help but chuckle. His silly jokes were becoming familiar.
“Then, Eltiot! Can you immediately understand the technology used in this component?”
Quall shouted excitedly.
“About 90% of the analysis will take around ten days. I just need to study it carefully and recall what I know. But the remaining 10% isn’t analysis—it’s almost development. The Red-Eyed Tribe’s technology was already ahead of ours. That part’s your job, Quall.”
For once, Quall showed a rare lack of confidence.
“It’s obvious I’m the greatest magical engineering genius of this era. But when I saw this thing, I was shocked—and at the same time, despairing. I don’t know if I can invent something better or even comparable.”
“The ripe rice finally bows its head. Listen, Quall, you’re just a little intimidated by overwhelming civilization. Your potential—your ability to apply and understand science—would have been top-notch even in my time. I’ll help you, so don’t worry too much.”
“…Are you serious?”
“Of course. Eltiot is always an objective and intelligent man. With your talent and my knowledge combined, we’ll flatten Simat’s nose yet again.”
Jin met Eltiot’s gaze.
“Then, Sir Eltiot, what do you think we can accomplish using Pibil’s components?”
“Let’s see. Our first goal was to mass-produce the Golden Ships, right?”
“That’s right.”
“That’s possible. Of course, mass production means the performance will be somewhat lower, but the Balm Alliance fleet will soon have large-scale spatial leap capabilities like the Red-Eyed Tribe.”
“That’s incredible.”
“That’s not all. We can also develop devices to disrupt their spatial leap. That means we can prevent the Red-Eyed Tribe’s fleet from suddenly appearing over Tikan Palace. But the greatest reward from this device lies elsewhere.”
“What is it?”
“The Laprarosa’s Pluto Tribe. Our Cheongmyeong Tribe descendants—your brothers. Once the device’s analysis and development are complete, we’ll be able to bring them out.”
LTOT was bedridden but had already familiarized himself with most of the research that Quall had been conducting—especially the plans for liberating Laprarosa.
He was certain of one thing: the moment they fully integrated Pibil’s device into the Alliance’s system, they could bring them into Inse.
And this wasn’t some limited summoning like the Blacklight Call; it meant permanent liberation.
“And once their power joins ours, we’ll finally be able to go toe-to-toe with those red bastards at the height of their strength. Of course… in the end, it’ll be my disciple’s job to finish Simat off.”