Chapter 34 Part6 (1/2)
<chapter 34.=”” heaven=”” defying=”” general=”” -=”” 6=””>
Did everything go as Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wanted? Well yes, yes it did. Since Lee s.h.i.+n Woo's original goal was to shock the Vulture General and clear as many cities as possible without incident.
”Ha, in the end, that bald-headed b.a.s.t.a.r.d didn't come.”
”You really are too much. You don't even know if he's bald or not yet.”
”So why the h.e.l.l did he scout us out if he wasn't going to come? Man, this p.i.s.ses me off.”
”You said not encountering him was a good thing.”
”...Yeah, I did, but...”
But if he was being honest, Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wanted to take down one of the 12 generals prior to hunting another one with the other heroes. Regardless of whether the Empire reacts strongly or weakly to the news, the heroes should be able to deal with the situation better.
...And there was one other thing he wanted.
”Since I gain two permits to the secret shop for every city I clear... Tch, I've only gathered 10 more.”
”Hey, you took mine too, so you have 15 total.”
”Yeah, you're right. So let's take a look...”
Any hero who helped take down one of the 12 generals would be rewarded, regardless of how much or how little they did. On the other hand, killing undead heroes or clearing cities was different.
For the former, Jin wouldn't receive any reward, but for the latter, he would receive a single permit. It was the same for Kratia as well.
”I have a total of 75 permits.”
”75!?”
Kratia, who quietly listened in, was shocked. It would be difficult for the other heroes to even acc.u.mulate 10 permits, yet here he was with 75!
However, there were three reasons Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was able to gather these permits so quickly. First, killing undead heroes (most of his seniors didn't have any experience in this). Secondly, purifying cities (even if his seniors partied up, it was difficult for them to purify an entire city, and most importantly, they were worried that it would cause trouble in the future, so they didn't easily attempt level 3 danger zones and up). Thirdly, killing the 12 generals (his seniors hadn't killed one).
”They're all things that would be difficult for my seniors...”
”Since you've hunted one of the 12 generals and purified cities with me, you should have more secret shop permits than our seniors.”
”Yeah. I was thinking about going to G.o.d's garden again to get another artifact soon, but I've been putting it off since I can't think of anything that fits. ...Still, the fact that you have 75 of them is amazing.”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo thought he'd be able to gather more permits than the other heroes if he put his mind to it, but to think he'd acc.u.mulated this many... One of the reasons behind this was the fact that Jin gave him his permits.
”But it's important to note that nothing has changed, even though I've gathered so many.”
”Should there be some sort of change?”
”If what G.o.d told me is true, then yeah...”
He had a feeling when he had first gathered 10 permits. Not only did he get a message, but he could feel these permits, these shards of G.o.d's power, shake. It was as if these tiny fragments would fuse into something greater... Yeah. To put it in words, it felt similar to a level up.
”Then... If you ama.s.s 100 of them, will something change?”
”So you think something will happen too, huh.”
100 secret shop permits. He was too embarra.s.sed to even ask his seniors about this. It would be impossible to gather so many of them if one didn't either kill the 12 generals or actively clear out cities. One would have to be Lee s.h.i.+n Woo to even try it.
”It'd be chaos if I asked them what'll happen if I gather 100. I'd rather not.”
”They probably won't know anyway.”
”Yeah, this is probably impossible for Ethan Cruz.”
What would happen when one collected 100 secret shop permits? He had some idea, but he decided against thinking about it right now. Lee s.h.i.+n Woo would be able to gather the remaining 25 permits quickly, so he would just need to check then and there.
”Well, that's that. We need to figure out what we do from here on out.”
”Are you going to attack another city?”
”Cities aren't monsters, so do they just form out of nowhere? Do they regenerate?”
The undead wouldn't occupy purified cities. Killing all of the undead wouldn't purify a city. G.o.d would personally s.h.i.+ne her power upon a purified city.
Giving permits to heroes who have purified a city shouldn't be unrelated to that phenomenon, but in any case, low rank undead were afraid of Her power and the high rank undead would be leery of the city and avoid it.
”And for a long time, our seniors hadn't tried to purify the cities. There are only two or three more level 3 danger zone cities left. The fact that it's not over after I've wreaked so much havoc tells me just how powerful the Empire is.”
”Then let's go take them out.”
”...Let's leave the rest of them as leftovers for our juniors.”
”Leftovers?”
Jin and Kratia tilted their heads, but Lee s.h.i.+n Woo smiled bitterly and looked away from their inquisitive gazes. It sounded good, leaving a few cities in the level 3 danger zone for his juniors, but it was actually because taking out all of the cities would provoke the Empire more than he thought necessary.
Most of the heroes were operating in the level 3 danger zone, and aside from his elites forces, his Pauls were in the level 3 danger zone as well. Honestly, he was being bold enough. A person needs to know when to stop.
”Honestly, that's not the only reason. ...You see, tomorrow's the day I have to see Seira.”
”Do we both have to see her?”
”Yeah. I know you avoid the other heroes, but just come with me this time. It feels rea.s.suring to have you with me.”
”If you're really that insistent, then...”
Lee s.h.i.+n Woo wasn't really concerned with what Seira's intentions were, or what she was doing to prepare for Ethan Cruz's plan. That's because Lee s.h.i.+n Woo was already on top of it.
He just wanted to meet with her since Lee Man Bok's words were still bothering him. That was why he was dragging Kratia with him.
”Then, I suppose I should hide my troops before we go.”
[Giants do not hide!]
”The t.i.tan hides for 60 days to be active for just 4 minutes.”
[If that's what the t.i.tan desires, then we'll swallow our pride!]
Figuring out where his forces should hide (when he wasn't leading them) was his first problem. He couldn't manage them individually, especially since they were split up and moving independently, so he needed a place to station them.