Chapter 369 – Did the Locusts Go Extinct

“That is… Lord Theo!”

The Farming King, recognizing Theo coming from afar, rejoiced. He was saved! He could go to Se-jun-nim!

While the Farming King was rejoicing upon seeing Theo,

“Alright! Crying Skull Band, move out!”

Koto and his subordinates ran forward.

‘You fools! No!’

Looking at them, the Farming King was astonished. Because he had traveled with Theo up to the 4th floor of the tower and witnessed Theo’s strength directly.

Clatter. Clatter.

Still, because of the time they had spent together, he ran forward quickly to save Koto. If he spoke up, Theo would go easy on them.

And,

“To think the Maknae was so reckless!”

Koto was pleased looking at the Farming King who ran past him. Although he had intended to let him rest since it was his first time, to think he was working so hard…

‘I must let the Maknae shine.’

Koto, showing a pleased expression, slowed his running speed so that the Farming King could stand in front.

Thus, the Farming King stood at the very front.

Going in front of the cat, instead of drawing a weapon, he tried to say something.

At that moment,

Thump.

Clatter. Clatter.

the Maknae was hit by the yellow cat’s front paw and shattered.

“Maknae! Crying Skull Band! Let’s avenge the Maknae!”

“Yes!”

Koto and the other four skeletons ran forward quickly to avenge the Farming King, and

Thump-thump-thump.

Clatter. Clatter.

everyone ended up in the same state as the Farming King.

***

“Meow meow meow.”

Bpiyot. Bpiyot.

Kkuik! Kkuik!

On the way to the target at the very bottom of Uren’s blacklist.

Clatter. Clatter.

“Puhuhut.”

Theo smiled brightly as he looked at the skeletons running and drawing their swords from afar, thinking that they were slaves who worked without food, meow.

Pbhuhut.

Bpiyot also pulled out the slave contract, preparing to stamp it whenever Theo gave the order.

And,

Thump.

Thump-thump-thump.

Theo knocked the skeletons unconscious in the order they ran in. Although the first skeleton tried to say something, he just knocked him out.

‘I can just make them slaves and listen to them later, meow!’

Regrettably, because all skeletons looked similar in Theo’s eyes, he could not recognize the Farming King.

Bpiyot…

[The thumb bone is…]

Bpiyot found the thumb from the shattered skeleton and stamped it on the contract.

When Bpiyot found the finger bones of the skeletons, stamped them on the slave contracts, and collected all the bones of the Crying Skull Band in that manner,

“Meow?!”

Theo suddenly looked upward with wide eyes. Because he was in such a good mood, the corners of his mouth rose and his tail was wagging.

“Lord Theo, what is the matter?”

“President Park’s lap is very close, meow!”

At Uren’s question, Theo shouted in an excited voice.

“Follow me quickly, meow!”

Theo hurriedly ran toward the place where Se-jun was, and

Bpiyot!

[Yes!]

“Lord Theo, let’s go together!”

Bpiyot and Uren ran behind him.

***

[You have arrived on the 44th floor of the Black Tower.]

[You have moved from the 99th floor of the tower, the highest floor, to the 44th floor of the tower.]

[You have descended 55 floors.]

[Due to the effect of , all stats increase by 55.]

Se-jun, who arrived at the waypoint on the 44th floor of the tower.

‘That Theo guy is nearby.’

Just as Theo felt Se-jun’s energy, Se-jun also felt Theo’s energy.

Seeing the energy gradually getting closer, it seemed he was coming to find him.

‘Will it take about 30 minutes?’

While Se-jun was calculating the time Theo would arrive,

“Peng! I greet the Great Black Dragon!”

Emperor Penguin Gem, the boss of the 44th floor of the tower wearing a Dragon Tooth Soldier helmet, greeted Se-jun.

“Gem, is there anything unusual on the 44th floor recently?”

Se-jun asked, receiving Gem’s greeting.

“Peng? Something unusual? …It seems there is none.”

Gem thought for a moment and replied.

“Really? Toryong-i!”

-Yes! Master!

At Gem’s reply, Se-jun decided to call Toryong-i and find the energy of destruction himself. For now, he decided on the lake where the blue-backed penguins lived as the direction.

Since he had come all the way here after a long time, he planned to catch freshwater shrimp to make shrimp soup and salted shrimp.

On the way to the lake like that,

“But why aren’t these guys coming out?”

When the Black Rabbit, Cuengi, Ajax, and Fenrir did not come out of the sub-space warehouse, Se-jun, curious about what they were doing, opened the sub-space warehouse.

Then,

Bbyarorong.

Kkurorong.

Arorong.

The Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax were seen sleeping soundly, huddled together on the floor.

It seemed Cuengi was full, and the Black Rabbit and Ajax were tired, so they had fallen into a deep sleep.

‘Hehehe. How cute.’

A scene so cute he wanted to take a photo of it.

At that moment, a rustling sound was heard from inside the warehouse. It was obvious who it was.

‘The one who isn’t visible is the culprit.’

As Se-jun stealthily approached the source of the sound,

Kkihikit. Kking!

‘Hehit. I must put all of this into my secret warehouse!’

Just as Se-jun expected, Fenrir was seen piling up semi-dried roasted sweet potatoes and other snacks. His belly was plump, perhaps because he had already eaten a few.

Fenrir, who was excitedly gathering snacks like that.

“Our Blacky, what are you doing right now?”

…!

As soon as Se-jun’s voice was heard, he froze.

And turning his head like a creaking wind-up doll, he looked at Se-jun and then hurriedly ran away.

However, no matter how much he ran with quick-paced steps, it was within the palm of Se-jun’s hand.

“Hehehe. Caught you, you rascal.”

Fenrir was caught by the scruff of his neck by Se-jun before he could even take a few steps.

And,

“Blacky, you couldn’t even hold back for that short moment and caused trouble? Huh?”

He had to make eye contact with Se-jun and have a time of reflection while listening to a nagging.

A moment later.

“Geez. You got saliva all over this.”

Se-jun, who finished scolding Fenrir, cleared away the snacks Fenrir had smuggled.

Kking…

[My snacks…]

Fenrir, who could not bear to watch his snacks disappear, buried his head deep into the sling bag and fell into a deep sleep.

Bbyak?

Kkueng?

“Hyung, what are you doing?”

The Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax, who woke up in the meantime, helped Se-jun pack the snacks into a box.

Having finished sorting out the snacks like that, they moved again and arrived at the lake farm,

“It’s Se-jun-nim!”

“Se-jun-nim has come!”

and the blue-backed penguins welcomed Se-jun warmly.

***

“Arrived, meow!”

Theo, who had lost time encountering a Jormungandr fragment once and bandits five times while ascending four floors due to Uren’s misfortune, arrived on the 40th floor of the tower.

As a side note, the Crying Skull Band was not included in the five bandit encounters.

“Puhuhut. Now President Park’s lap is not far, meow!”

Just as Theo was about to hurriedly run toward Se-jun,

“Hehehe… Understood…”

Uren began to walk in the lead, talking to himself with a slightly blank expression.

A scene he had seen many times.

“Puhuhut. I will be able to give President Park more good things, meow!”

Theo smilingly followed behind Uren.

“Yes… us killing the dragon together…”

While following behind Uren like that, right before Uren picked up the black marble,

Slap!

“Uren, wake up, meow!”

Theo slapped Uren’s cheek and quickly picked up the black marble, putting it into his bundle.

“Huh? Lord Theo? Just now, what…?”

“Since I saved you, hand over the money, meow!”

“Yes!”

Theo, whose luck was overflowing today as well, having made money and also obtained Fenrir’s core fragment thanks to Uren.

“Puhuhut. Let’s go, meow!”

He ran toward Se-jun quickly.

***

“Guys, drive them this way!”

Bbyak!

Kkueng!

“Yes! Hyung!”

At Se-jun’s shout, the Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax struck the water strongly, driving the freshwater shrimp toward the net Se-jun was holding.

Se-jun was catching freshwater shrimp while waiting for Theo, who was coming slower than expected.

While he was catching freshwater shrimp in that manner,

“···?!”

covering Se-jun’s vision, something clung to his face. A familiar texture, savory paw smell, and energy. It was Theo.

He had clearly been in a place quite far away until a moment ago, but in an instant, he was here.

“President Park, I am here, meow!”

“Bboobboobboop.”

Instead of an answer, Se-jun blew a raspberry on Theo’s belly.

“Puhuhoop. That tickles, meow~!”

While Theo twisted his body and burst into laughter, Se-jun grabbed the scruff of Theo’s neck and placed him on his lap.

At that,

Slap.

Theo clung to Se-jun’s lap.

“Vice President Theo, did you have a good trip?”

“Puhuhut. Yes, meow!”

Theo replied, rubbing his face diligently against Se-jun’s lap, and Se-jun also stroked Theo’s head.

“President Park, sit down, meow!”

Theo spoke to Se-jun, puffing out his chest with an extremely proud expression.

‘There must be something.’

Se-jun, who recognized Theo’s unique expression that he only made when there was something great.

“Got it.”

As Se-jun sat on the floor as Theo said, Theo, standing on Se-jun’s lap, turned his bundle upside down and shook it.

Thereupon, money pouches and a black marble poured out.

“Huh?! This is?!”

The money was one thing, but Se-jun was flustered looking at Fenrir’s core fragment. He had come here to find this…

“Puhuhut. President Park, stroke my belly, meow!”

Convinced by Se-jun’s expression that he had brought something great, Theo lay down with a smug expression and stuck out his pink belly.

Although he was a bit annoying, since he had spared him the trouble, Se-jun obediently stroked Theo’s belly while picking up and checking the core fragment.

“It’s a 0.5% one. Aileen, please purify this one too.”

Se-jun entrusted Fenrir’s core fragment to Aileen.

While he was stroking Theo’s belly in that manner,

Bbyak!

[Uncle, me too!]

Kkueng!

[Cuengi also wants to receive belly strokes-da-yo!]

“Hyung! Stroke my belly too!”

The Black Rabbit, Cuengi, and Ajax, who had come to Se-jun’s side before long, requested that their bellies be stroked as well.

“Hmm.”

Se-jun pondered. He only had two hands. He could not stroke the four of them simultaneously.

But if he only stroked two, the remaining two would feel sad, right?

In that case…

“Hehehe. I’ll just hug them all. Come here.”

When Se-jun hugged all four of them, although they grumbled at first,

“Puhuhut.”

Bbyakkeke!

Kkuhehehe.

“Euhikit.”

soon the four fell into the warmth of Se-jun’s embrace and their laughter did not cease.

Kkihikit.

The corners of Fenrir’s mouth also rose as it became warmer while he slept in the sling bag Se-jun was wearing.

“Hehehe.”

It was the same for Se-jun.

While Se-jun and his companions were spending a happy time like that,

Bpiyot!

[Se-jun-nim, hello!]

“Se-jun-nim, hello.”

Bpiyot and Uren arrived, leading Theo’s slaves.

***

Outskirts of Destruction.

“But what is Fenrir doing?”

Halpas spoke as he looked at the Black Tower. Today marked 20 days since Fenrir entered the Black Tower, yet there was no contact.

Although contact was usually difficult because he tended to travel alone, strange rumors were circulating among other Apostles of Destruction lately.

That Fenrir’s core fragments were wandering around in the Black Tower.

Of course, since it was a core fragment containing only a small amount of power, he did not worry much.

Although he had no luck, his skills were real.

It was unimaginable that Fenrir, the wolf who hunts gods and the 1st Seat of the Apostles of Destruction, would die.

“But why is there no progress here?”

Halpas spoke in a voice mixed with annoyance as he looked at the sphere ‘Earth’, which was dyed red only at the edges.

Around the Earth, there were hundreds of spheres that rapidly turned red even though they only sent calamities.

However, the Earth alone was encroached upon by destruction at a very slow speed. It had almost stopped, even though he had sent his own fragment.

“Is there something there?”

Otherwise, there was no way only that place could hold out so well.

“How unpleasant.”

Halpas’s pride was hurt when the situation did not improve despite sending his fragment.

Therefore, Halpas decided to send a stronger fragment. Although he would receive a large penalty accordingly, it was to a tolerable extent.

Of course, since many sacrifices were required for his descent, Halpas prepared to send a calamity to Earth.

The first calamity, the locusts, which cost the least among the seven calamities and was effective.

However,

“What is this?”

For Halpas, the locusts were not sent to the Earth.

“Argh! Why won’t this be sent?!”

While Halpas was exerting himself to send the locusts to Earth in that manner,

[You have driven the first calamity sent by destruction, the locusts, to extinction.]

[You have achieved a great accomplishment that no one has achieved until now.]

[As a reward for the great accomplishment, the first calamity of destruction, the locusts, cannot invade Earth.]

“Locusts are extinct?”

Se-jun was reading the messages that appeared in front of him.

Finally, the locusts that were on Earth had all been eradicated.