Chapter 170 – Now We’re Going to Catch Him (2)

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Translated by Pratt

Read it only at Novelbyu.com & Utoon.net
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Vincent Moretti’s underground bunker facility hidden in the Sahara steppe was located near the Cairo forward base in Egypt.

At present, he was deep in thought.

Information agents from all over the world had spread out through Cairo.

There was no doubt they were looking for him.

At the time of the Moscow experiment, not only Alex Caesar but even Director August had died, so all the evidence had disappeared, but…

On the other hand, the Gurye Jirisan experiment had been a total failure.

The souls had not merged, and therefore there had been no explosion either.

For that reason, there was a very high chance that the golem Daniel, who had been believed dead, had been captured by Kim Tae-ju.

‘Phew, the Gurye Jirisan experiment should have succeeded.’

If it had, a massive explosion would have occurred, and every country’s gaze would have turned that way.

Before long, Kim Tae-ju might come barging into the Egyptian Sahara as well.

He had to make a decision.

Should he abandon this bunker base too and prepare another hideout, or should he fight Kim Tae-ju in a decisive battle?

But Kim Tae-ju and he were both soul linkers anyway.

Why should he be afraid and run?

‘…Come. I’ll kill you.’

Naturally, he had a way to finish the bastard.

A short while ago, through the union brought by soul linkage with Jacques Deluan, who was the same soul as himself, he had found the method.

Jacques Deluan, the same soul from another world.

How had his world been destroyed?

It had been right after the first soul linkage.

After recognizing that other worlds existed, Jacques had carried out indiscriminate dimensional gate experiments.

The so-called random dimensional gate generation experiment.

The experiment had required an enormous power source, so even dragon hearts had been used.

And then it had been destroyed.

By the countless horde of bizarre creatures that came out from there.

‘I just have to make an exact copy of the random dimensional gate generator Jacques made.’

All he had to do was open the door.

The name was random, but because it had already been fixed by one experiment, the exact same linked gate would appear.

But there was a problem.

The gate generator Jacques Deluan had made.

It consumed an enormous amount of energy.

‘There are 8 fake dragon hearts left… am I a bit short?’

The power source Vincent of Earth possessed.

They were counterfeit dragon hearts made by compressing elite mana crystals as much as possible with the power of magi-engineering and scientific technology.

You could say each counterfeit one contained more than 3,000 elite crystals.

However, compared to a genuine dragon heart, they were nowhere near enough.

Still, it would open.

The issue was how long it would remain open.

‘I need to install it immediately.’

The moment that bastard found him and came here.

Destruction would descend on Earth.

* * *

Tae-ju came to New Seoul Airport together with the Sword Immortal.

If they had ridden the Ten-Thousand-League Flying Sword, they would have come with Ilbaek-Ibaek-Sambaek, but because they had to take a plane, he had left them in Gurye.

Well, they were guys who played well enough by themselves anyway.

At present, Tae-ju’s face had been changed through disguise.

Along with a fake identity made by the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.

Even while boarding the plane, the Sword Immortal was so absorbed in playing with his smartphone that he was out of his mind.

The first smartphone he had activated on Earth had been a burner phone, but during the process of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau making his passport, the name Dongbin and a resident registration number had officially been issued.

Now, on paper, the Sword Immortal was a perfect citizen of the Samhan Empire.

So he could officially sign up for SNS platforms like Instaglam, Ketalk, and YouTube.

“…Are you having fun communicating through SNS?”

“Of course it’s fun.”

“You said that for an immortal to form ties with the secular world is an act that harms harmony…”

“Keulkeulkeul, but SNS is a virtual world anyway, is it not? People communicate anonymously, and they don’t even meet face to face.”

Well, that was true too.

Ordinary people would have no idea who the Sword Immortal was anyway.

“Tsk tsk, I have no followers.”

There was no way a newly opened SNS channel would have followers.

But there was a way for everything.

The Sword Immortal sent a message to Jeong Yeon-hui.

Jeong Yeon-hui was a fairly famous influencer.

When her master gave the order, Follow my channel, how could she defy him?

A little later.

Starting with Jeong Yeon-hui, people who were said to be fairly famous began pressing follow on the Sword Immortal’s channel.

“Ohhhh! As expected of my disciple.”

“…”

Jeong Yeon-hui really was kind.

She could have pressed it alone, but it seemed she had mobilized her entire network.

Influencers known to be fairly famous began following the Sword Immortal’s channel.

The link had been posted.

Ordinary people too were increasing one after another.

Everyone would be curious.

Who this person named Dongbin was, whom famous influencers had followed.

The Sword Immortal’s full-scale broadcast started the moment he sat down in the first-class seat of the airplane departing for Cairo, Egypt.

The moment he pressed the live broadcast button on the smartphone fitted with a selfie stick, viewers poured in.

– DMAssaultTeam has entered the channel.

– Senaldu has entered the channel.

– Yakkoong has entered the channel.

– user45874 has entered the channel.

.

.

.

The Sword Immortal’s chest pounded.

Earth’s streaming live broadcast.

This too was something he had definitely wanted to try.

“Heoheoheo, greetings. As you can see, this is airplane first class…”

└ Ah, shit! Damn, that startled me!

└ What the hell? It’s an old geezer.

└ Grandpa, did you want to brag that you rode first class or something?

└ Or maybe you wanted to try cross-generational communication.

└ Just go to sleep. Though I guess old people don’t sleep much.

└ Bye!

“N-no, wait, th-that’s not it.”

– Jjolli has left the channel.

– StrawberryStem has left the channel.

– km34 has left the channel.

– MZNewThing has left the channel.

– DMAssaultTeam has left the channel.

– Senaldu has left the channel.

.

.

.

“…Please don’t leave.”

Though he cried out desperately.

There was no choice but to end the broadcast.

And so, the Sword Immortal had finally tasted the harshness of Earth’s personal live broadcasts.

Tae-ju felt sorry for the Sword Immortal.

“Don’t be disappointed. The beginning is always hard.”

“I never intended to broadcast in the first place. Even if it is a virtual world, one must not recklessly form ties, after all.”

He had to rationalize it like this, at least.

“Would you like to sleep? Or maybe eat first.”

“…Shall we eat first?”

But the Sword Immortal did not give up.

‘It’s because I chose the wrong content direction.’

He had underestimated it too much.

Wasn’t personal broadcast content uploaded by the hundreds and thousands every day, short videos and long videos combined?

If one did not stand out, one would quickly get buried.

‘Airplane first class was far too insufficient.’

He needed more stimulating content.

He could not rely on his face alone.

‘Should I rejuvenate again… no.’

Since it had come to this, he would face it head-on.

First, after fully learning the sense of broadcasting.

His deliberation was over.

The Sword Immortal turned his smartphone on again.

This time not live, but video recording.

“Ahem, do you know where this is? It is airplane first class. I ordered a meal, and oh! The flight attendant is arriving just now.”

For the Sword Immortal, the most important matter at present was being reborn as an Earth influencer.

Vincent Moretti?

That fellow was no more than a way to pass the time.

* * *

The airplane passed through several stopovers and landed in Cairo, Egypt.

A city adjacent to the vast Sahara steppe, a dense magical-beast region.

You could say it was specialized in magical-beast raids.

More than half the people passing by were awakened ones.

“What will you do first now?”

“Let’s go out to the outskirts first.”

Before leaving the country, he had listened to the briefing from Deputy Director Mun Gyeong-sik of the Imperial Intelligence Bureau.

They had said intelligence agents from the European Empire were combing through all of Cairo, but if they still had not found even a clue…

‘He won’t be inside Cairo city.’

Daniel had boarded a plane here, but even that possibility of being a feint could not be ruled out.

He had prepared.

While operating in Europe, the Imperial Intelligence Bureau had scraped up information on Vincent Moretti from the very bottom.

They had even barely managed to obtain a photograph believed to be of Vincent Moretti.

Though the amount of information was lacking, Tae-ju had read it again and again and embodied the bastard’s appearance concretely in his mental image.

Tae-ju and the Sword Immortal came outside Cairo.

There were no people around anyway.

They undid the disguise technique and bone-shrinking skill as well.

Maintaining the disguise consumed energy too.

‘Let’s begin.’

He took out the tracking talisman from the Infinite Space.

“A talisman of Immortal Danzhu.”

“Yes. It will help.”

“Why not track him with that from the beginning, then?”

“It doesn’t work if the target being sought is unclear.”

“Then now?”

“Who knows. If that bastard is in this vicinity… the probability rises a bit more at close range.”

“Eing, when I return to the Immortal Realm, I’ll go tell Immortal Danzhu firmly. To stuff plenty of immortal qi in when he makes talismans.”

If he was nearby, it would certainly work.

Tae-ju blew immortal qi into the tracking talisman and thought of Vincent Moretti.

If it ignited, they had found him.

‘Please ignite.’

If even this failed, finding the bastard would be extremely difficult.

In a word, it was the final stronghold.

The identity of Vincent Moretti composed in his mind.

Director of the Imperial Crystal Research Institute, magi-engineer, creator of the golem Daniel… and the outer appearance seen in the faint photograph.

At that moment.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoooosh.

Flames rose from the lower end of the talisman.

‘It worked.’

The tracking talisman burst into flame.

Then it floated away lightly.

The direction was southwest.

Tae-ju could also feel it faintly in his mental image.

The bastard was definitely in the Sahara.

Though he could not point to the exact location.

“Let’s chase it.”

“Understood.”

Swaeak.

Tae-ju and the Sword Immortal climbed onto their respective swords and followed the burning tracking talisman.

But.

Pshiiiit.

The talisman quickly turned to ash and vanished.

‘Is it here?’

Let’s check.

Taking out one more tracking talisman.

Whoosh.

This time, it caught almost immediately.

Again, the direction was southwest.

Swaeak.

After flying a certain distance, it went out again.

Pshit.

Though it vanished quickly, hope had appeared.

Just the fact that it had caught fire meant he was somewhere.

Taking out one more talisman.

Whoosh.

Swaeak.

Pshit.

After repeating the process five or six more times like that.

Whoooosh.

Flames rose, and the tracking talisman spun in circles in place.

“It’s here.”

“…But isn’t there nothing at all?”

“Hmm, perhaps he could be underground.”

“Like an underground bunker?”

In all directions there was only the horizon.

It was a vast steppe region.

No building structures were visible either.

Only mutated magical beasts of the steppe were prowling past.

Now that Immortal Danzhu’s talisman had activated, there was no doubt the bastard was nearby.

Then?

If it was neither in the sky nor on the ground, then there was nowhere else but underground.

“Then let us search. I’ll go around this side.”

“Yes.”

Tae-ju and the Sword Immortal began searching.

If it was underground, there should be empty space, and if they stomped their feet or searched by moving qi, they would get a feel for it.

Thud thud. Thud thud.

He ran across the steppe with the Thousand-Pound Pendulum technique.

Wooooong.

He also spread out his qi.

At that moment.

“Hm?”

He saw something wriggling on the nearby ground.

Something moved unnaturally.

Its behavior was slow too.

‘…A lizard.’

Tae-ju grabbed the small lizard with his hand.

It did not look like a magical beast.

Its triangular head, tail, and four legs made it look no different from a lizard, but…

‘It’s heavier than I expected.’

Tae-ju’s eyes met the lizard’s eyes.

“Huh?”

Jiiing.

The lizard’s eyeball made a mechanical sound as it shrank and widened, focusing.

‘…It’s a camera lens.’

It was a robot lizard.

It seemed to be something Vincent Moretti had made.

The bastard had been watching him.

“This son of a…”

It was then.

Kukukukukukukung.

The ground shook as if an earthquake had struck.

Craaack.

The earth split apart, and a structure shaped like a gigantic tower pierced through the surface and shot upward.

“Grand Hero Tae-ju!”

Spat.

The Sword Immortal dashed over in an instant, closing the distance.

And then.

Jiiiiiiing.

Pajujujujujuk.

A white beam shot from the tower.

Kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa kwa.

At the same time, a huge mirror gate fifty meters across was created in the air.

It was instantaneous.

Everything happened in just a few seconds.

‘That is?’

Wooooooo.

The mirror gate witnessed in Moscow and on Jirisan.

The difference was its tremendous size.

Tae-ju opened the Infinite Space.

He had brought it filled with objects that could be used as hidden weapons in preparation for emergencies.

If the gate had opened, something would come out from inside.

What would come out?

‘…Humans from another world?’

It was not.

Ssssmother.

Bundles of tentacles with suction cups first emerged from the mirror gate.

‘Haa, fuck.’

Tentacles were disgusting.

But that was only a part of it.

Suuuuk.

A gigantic life-form shaped like a dinosaur squeezed out through the narrow gate door and revealed itself on the Sahara steppe.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

‘Crazy!’

That was the start.

Suuk, suuuuuk, suk, suk, suk.

“Kuwek!”

“Kkiiiik!”

“Krararak!”

Life-forms of various sizes and shapes let out monstrous cries and emerged from the mirror gate.

“…What in the world?”

What were those things?

The big ones were as tall as high-rise buildings, and even the small ones were bigger than most dump trucks.

Wooooooo.

Thududududuk.

Flying ones, walking ones on the ground, ones crawling like centipedes.

Countless numbers came out.

Meanwhile.

The Sword Immortal stared blankly only at the gate.

He had lived for thousands of years in both the human world and the Immortal Realm.

‘What kind of life-forms…’

It was the first time he had seen life-forms like those.

He had never even heard of them.

It was a truly overwhelming sight.

‘They’re that big?’

The Sword Immortal’s mouth fell open on its own.

His hands even trembled.

His heart too pounded nonstop.

Soon, saliva was even running from his lips.

“Sseup.”

Taking in one breath.

“Kahahahahaha!”

The Sword Immortal laughed loudly.

He was truly enormously delighted.

To think such good fortune would come his way.

“It’s content!”

That was right.

Truly novel content.

This would definitely hit.

How many concurrent viewers would come in?

His heart had no choice but to pound.

It felt as though it might burst outright.

With hands trembling in anticipation, he first took out his smartphone, put up a simple title, and pressed the live broadcast button.

“I-I shall begin the live broadcast.”

Pasut, pasut, pasut…

The Sword Immortal sent several thousand aura swords soaring into the sky.

Thus, qi-guided sword.

Several thousand swords flew all at once toward the giant life-forms.

Tspiriiiiiiiit.

At the same time, each one executed a different sword-form technique.

Demon-Subduing Sword Art, Four-Killing Sword Art, Taiji Wisdom Sword, Emperor Sword Form, Purple Haze Divine Sword, Heaven-Escape Sword Art…

The thousands of swords made of aura, each and every one of them, were sword arts executed by the Sword Immortal.

Among them, the part to which the Sword Immortal paid the most attention.

Precisely the safety of the precious smartphone.

To prevent it from breaking, he added a three-layer aura barrier around it.

The smartphone began filming the live broadcast.

It flew through the sky on its own, like a drone.

It was a qi-guided phone.