Chapter 227 – Lend Me Some Money, Meow!

The Amazon in Brazil.

Crunch, crunch.

In the once lush forest, only giant trees remained here and there, and it was filled only with the sound of locusts gnawing. The giant trees of the Amazon covered by tens of thousands of red locusts vanished in an instant.

Purple spots gradually began to appear on the bodies of those locusts. As the population of locusts approached nearly seven billion, the Red Locusts were preparing to evolve into Purple Locusts.

The Brazilian government also struggled to reduce the number of locusts at first, but the situation worsened rapidly after the Brasília Tower disappeared.

Other countries, realizing that towers could disappear, focused on their own defense and greatly reduced their support for Brazil.

Thanks to that, the locusts bred at a terrifying speed, eating the grass scattered around without any interference, and the Brazilian government was in a situation where they could not even think of eradicating the locusts but were focusing on city defense.

At least, as the recently disappeared Brasília Tower appeared in South Korea, hunters returned to Brazil, allowing them to breathe a sigh of relief, but that was also brief.

Flutter, flutter.

Before long, the Purple Locusts, whose bodies had completely turned purple, began to raid the cities where people gathered.

And, leaving a shocking result of zero survivors from a locust attack for the first time, the Purple Locusts began to raid Brazil’s cities.

***

“Puhuhut. Younger siblings, did you see, meow?! Can you see the brilliance emanating from this big brother’s body, meow?!”

Theo, infatuated with the golden light coming from his body, boasted to his younger siblings.

“Kkueng!”

[Big brother is cool-da-yo!]

Cuengi was excited and was sincerely envious,

(Big brother is amazing!)

The Golden Bat also spoke as if envious while looking at Theo, but in reality, he was indifferent. It was natural. Because the Golden Bat’s body was gold.

When the golden light emanating from Theo’s body gradually faded like that,

“Vice President Theo, what talent did you obtain?”

Se-jun, who was curious, hurriedly asked Theo.

“Puhuhut! I obtained the talent called Insignificant Wealth, meow!”

“Really?!”

Se-jun’s mood improved at Theo’s talent, which contained ‘Insignificant’ just like his own.

“So, what is the ability?”

“I can burn insignificant wealth to raise my abilities, meow!”

“What?!”

Although it was the same ‘Insignificant’, the meaning was completely different.

His talent ‘Insignificant Presence’ literally meant insignificant. Theo’s talent ‘Insignificant Wealth’ meant that wealth was insignificant, so he would burn it like scraps of paper to raise his abilities.

‘I have a lot of money too… I’m envious! It’s annoying! Should I eat one more?’

The Imperfect Platinum Royal Jelly given by the Great Poison Honeybee Queen was five. One royal jelly left to be given to the Black Rabbit remained.

However,

“No!”

He felt it would be better to invest in the Black Rabbit rather than awakening another talent like ‘Insignificant Presence’.

When Se-jun sorted out his complicated thoughts like that,

“Chairman Park, lend me some money, meow!”

“What about your money?”

“I already used it, meow! I am a beggar now, meow!”

Theo, who had burned all his money to raise his stats as soon as the talent was created, confidently held out his two front paws to Se-jun and asked him to lend him money.

“How much?”

“The more, the better, meow!”

“Here. Take it.”

Se-jun, who had a narrow mind but hated looking narrow-minded, generously handed over 70 million Tower Coins, which was almost his entire fortune, to Theo.

“Puhuhut. Thank you, meow!”

Theo’s body, receiving the money from Se-jun, began to shine in golden light. So that was the effect of burning money… it was a truly expensive special effect. My money is burning…

While Se-jun was watching Theo burning the money like that,

Bzzz?! Bzzz!

[Oh, Lord Se-jun, your capability has increased?! Just a moment!]

The Great Poison Honeybee Queen, who detected that Se-jun’s Beekeeping level had increased, called one of her daughters, a Poison Honeybee Queen.

Just as a while,

Bzzz!

[A wild Poison Honeybee Queen decides to follow you.]

[10,000 Poison Honeybees led by the wild Poison Honeybee Queen decide to follow you, following their Queen.]

[The number of Poison Honeybees has exceeded 100,000.]

[The proficiency of Beekeeping Lv. 9 increases significantly.]

Se-jun tamed the Poison Honeybee Queen and the 10,000 Poison Honeybees.

“I should send these children to the persimmon farm.”

Since the newly added Poison Honeybees had no separate hive and he had heard that flowers were recently blooming on the persimmon trees, Se-jun decided to send the Poison Honeybees to the 49th floor of the tower to help with the pollination of the persimmon trees.

“Puhuhut! Chairman Park, I burned all of Chairman Park’s money and became strong, meow!”

Theo, who had burned all of Se-jun’s money in the meantime, clung to Se-jun’s lap with a proud expression.

And,

“Puhuhut. In the future, Chairman Park, just trust me, meow! I, Vice President Theo, will protect you so that no enemy can touch even a single fingertip of Chairman Park, meow!”

He spoke bravely, rubbing his face hard against Se-jun’s lap.

“Sure.”

It was reassuring. It felt worthwhile to have spent the money.

‘In the future, I could receive the price for Samyangju in money from Lord Kaiser and Lord Kellion.’

At the same time, Se-jun thought that he should receive money from the dragons to raise Theo’s stats.

At that moment,

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[Cuengi will protect Dad-da-yo!]

Cuengi clung to Se-jun’s left leg, speaking as if he would not lose to Theo.

“Puhuhut. Cuengi, give up, meow! I am not the Vice President Theo of a moment ago, meow! I am the Vice President Theo who became strong after burning as much as 70 million of Chairman Park’s Tower Coins, meow!”

Kkueng! Kkueng!

[Cuengi can burn Dad’s money too-da-yo! Dad, Cuengi needs about 80 million of Dad’s money-da-yo!]

Cuengi politely held out both of his front paws, asking Se-jun for money. He seemed to have misunderstood that he would beat Theo if he burned more money.

“Here, Cuengi, eat this!”

Se-jun calmed the excited Cuengi by giving him honey.

“Kkueng!”

[It is honey-da-yo!]

Upon receiving the honey, Cuengi threw away the thought of beating Theo far away, and,

Lick, lick.

Licked the honey greedily with his front paw.

Se-jun, who had completely diverted Cuengi’s attention like that.

“By the way, Great Queen, what kind of flowers are needed to make the complete Platinum Royal Jelly?”

Se-jun, who wanted to obtain the complete Platinum Royal Jelly, asked the Great Poison Honeybee Queen.

However,

Bzzz! Bzzz!

[I don’t know that well either! I think I will know only after tasting the flower nectar directly!]

Since the Great Poison Honeybee Queen also made the Platinum Royal Jelly relying on instincts imprinted in her genes, she did not know the exact ingredients. She said she could only know after tasting it directly.

“Really? I see. Then, I will leave now.”

Since there was no other way but to diversify the number of his crops, Se-jun decided to return to the farm.

Bzzz!

[Goodbye, Lord Se-jun!]

“Yes. Take care. Guys, let’s go.”

Se-jun exchanged farewells with the Great Poison Honeybee Queen, and left the Great Poison Honeybee Queen’s hive with the animals and the Poison Honeybees.

And when they arrived at the entrance to the 99th floor of the tower,

“Golden Bat, go with the Poison Honeybees and speak well to Duku.”

(Yes!)

Se-jun had the Golden Bat take the Poison Honeybees to the 49th floor of the tower.

“You guys go safely too.”

Bzzz!

The Poison Honeybees, who had eaten their fill of honey before leaving, greeted Se-jun and departed for their new home, the 49th floor of the tower, following the Golden Bat.

***

“Here it is.”

Ramter, who had reduced the power of the Essence of Fire to a level Se-jun could use while being scolded by Kaiser, handed the Essence of Fire to Kaiser. Although the fire energy was almost entirely gone now, making the term Essence of Fire ill-suited.

“I will deliver it to Se-jun safely.”

“Right. Thanks. But how do you guys receive the Samyangju?”

Ramter asked how they received the Samyangju.

“Kellion and I receive the Samyangju using a statue with teleportation magic cast on it.”

“Really?! Then I should make a statue and send it too.”

“Yes. You can do that. For your information, it is not free…”

Kaiser informed him that he had to pay by engraving Dragon Skin magic on his scales.

“Understood.”

After the conversation ended like that,

“……”

“Aren’t you leaving?”

Kaiser and Kellion dropped hints to Ramter, who was staring at them blankly. You need to leave so we can continue drinking.

However, Ramter had no intention of leaving.

Gulp.

“Can’t I drink with you?”

Ramter swallowed his saliva while looking at their alcohol.

“Ugh. Fine. But repay me when you get alcohol next time.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Since alcohol tasted better when drunk together, Kaiser did not kick out Ramter, who became his new drinking partner, and shared the alcohol.

“Now! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

Clink!

The three dragons began to run in earnest, clinking three golden cups.

***

“It’s already time to eat.”

He had only been to the Great Poison Honeybee Queen’s hive, but it was already time for lunch.

“Lunch is simply Gogamok.”

Gogamok was an abbreviation for sweet potatoes, potatoes, and corn, the staple food of the 99th floor of the tower. Having eaten only the same things for this long, he should have grown tired of them, but they never grew tiresome. Strangely, Gogamok was delicious no matter how much they ate it.

“Kkueng!”

[As expected, a meal eaten after working is the sweetest-da-yo!]

Cuengi grabbed a sweet potato and a potato in each of his two front paws and ate them deliciously, as if he had worked really hard.

‘Working? Cuengi, you were just clinging to my leg quietly, weren’t you?’

Se-jun looked at Cuengi in absurdity. And he realized. To Cuengi, simply breathing quietly was also work.

After eating lunch like that,

Slurp.

While Se-jun drank coffee and zoned out looking at the sky,

“Chairman Park, I will go down and come back, meow!”

Theo, who was lying flat on Se-jun’s lap and receiving belly rubs, jumped up and began to pack his bundle.

“Suddenly?”

Theo usually moved only when Se-jun pushed him to go down.

‘What is the matter?’

When Se-jun looked at Theo with a puzzled gaze,

“Puhuhut. Only if I earn money will Chairman Park lend me money, and only then can I burn Chairman Park’s money to become strong, meow! Don’t worry, meow! I will be back soon, meow!”

Theo packed his bundle and stood up boastfully.

“Good attitude.”

Although there seemed to be no will to repay the money, Se-jun was satisfied with Theo’s attitude of working hard to earn money.

And,

“Ah! Get a buff from Flamie before leaving.”

Se-jun, recalling Flamie’s Golden Flame buff which increased luck for wealth coming in, had Theo receive Flamie’s buff.

“Puhuhut. I like the golden light, meow!”

Theo rejoiced when the golden flame seeped into his body.

“Then, I will be off, meow!”

“Okay. Go safely!”

“Understood, meow!”

Theo, who received the golden buff, went down the tower to earn money.

After seeing Theo off like that, Se-jun went to the walnut field.

“I won’t be able to bring these to the Black Rabbit’s wedding.”

Looking around the walnut field, Se-jun felt regretful as he looked at the ten walnut trees grown to his waist height. For a new groom, stamina is key. It seemed that the walnuts had to be grown for at least another month to be harvestable.

“I should pack some elixirs at least.”

Se-jun visited the Mushroom Ants to check if they had elixirs for the Black Rabbit.

Kkwek!

Kkwek!

At Se-jun’s visit, the Mushroom Ants gathered, presenting their backs and asking him to pick the mushrooms.

“Alright. Come on, line up.”

Although only three had nutritious mushrooms and the rest were regular mushrooms, Se-jun lined up the Mushroom Ants and picked the mushrooms on all their backs. There was no great achievement.

At that moment,

“Kkueng!”

[Dad, Cuengi brought herbs to give to Black Rabbit hyung-da-yo!]

The filial son Cuengi, knowing his father’s heart, brought good herbs. Of course, herbs that were good for the body were very bitter. It was Cuengi passing them to the Black Rabbit because the bitter taste was something he could not handle at all.