I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 387

The rage of the demon race was like a tidal wave. Even that Ghost Ship couldn’t easily withstand it.

After all, the demons were known as a ’combat race.’ They possessed innate battle talent and fought so constantly that it was second nature.

It was only because sports had developed into popular entertainment recently; otherwise, they were famous for fighting whenever they were bored.

Entire human coalitions had to unite just to resist Mephisto. The title of Demon King didn’t come out of nowhere.

Kwaaang!

[Warning. Warning. Warning.]

[Hull damage level 20%. Initiating self-repair protocols.]

Kwagwang! Kwaang!

[Warning. Warning. Warning.]

[Hull damage level 50%. Emergency escape...]

"Hey! That bastard is trying to use Teleport!"

"How dare you! Using a tactic fit for humans!"

"Do demons look like shit to you?!!!"

[War... ning... Warning...]

[Hull dam... 78... Self-repair... Impossible...]

No matter if the Ghost Ship was crafted by ancient humanity, overwhelmed by sheer numbers, it couldn’t hold out.

Moreover, against demons—combat specialists—it was neutralized in an instant.

What was even more astounding was that the demons suffered virtually zero casualties.

Because they had obliterated it before the Ghost Ship could even retaliate.

Kwadeudeuk!

Ultimately, the heavily damaged hull crashed right into the stadium.

The demons cheered briefly for shooting down the Ghost Ship, but quickly became furious for a completely different reason.

"Umpire! You can’t count that as an out!"

"According to the regulations, a ball striking a flying object is ruled a double."

"Flying object? A FLY-ING OB-JECT?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

"Just make it no-count! You made it no-count during the pigeon explosion incident!"

"Regardless, it was a flying object! Whoa, whoa! Don’t come closer! I’m warning you!"

Whether it was ruled a home run or not—the Ghost Ship was already forgotten.

A brawl almost broke out between the umpires and fans, but the players barely managed to hold them back.

Ultimately, the matter was settled by agreeing to replay the game, narrowly calming the chaos.

It was a necessary decision, as they also had to clear out the crashed Ghost Ship from the stadium.

"This is that Ghost Ship?"

"Yes. That is correct, Princess."

As time passed and preparations were underway to process the Ghost Ship, a higher-up arrived in person.

Since it was somewhat awkward for the Demon King to inspect it personally, Princess Kaylin stepped forward herself.

Kaylin scanned the Ghost Ship, which was wrecked beyond recognition after being pummeled by the demons.

"How did the situation unfold again?"

"According to officials, a fly ball struck the Ghost Ship. Enraged by that, the fans brought the Ghost Ship down."

"Hmm."

Kaylin didn’t know much about baseball. However, she could fully understand their feelings.

In soccer terms, imagine a penalty kick awarded during a tied game.

But something interfered with that penalty kick, causing a missed shot.

Naturally, any fan’s anger would explode through the roof.

"Did no one consider stopping the game when the Ghost Ship appeared?"

"They said they proceeded because it didn’t seem particularly threatening."

Kaylin chuckled inwardly at the attendant’s reply. She wasn’t sure if she should call this safety insensitivity.

But considering the demonic nature, it made sense that it wasn’t safety negligence.

Because if trouble arose, they possessed the martial force to crush it instantly.

Their violence was so extreme that they had once become public enemy number one.

’I wonder what those elf fellows are up to right now.’

Kaylin logged onto the Gallery while pretending to inspect the massive ghost warship.

Setan was currently battling a Ghost Ship because of some idiot, while other nations were still observing.

Mephisto was the very first nation to shoot one down. She felt oddly proud.

"Reporting! The Ghost Ship’s activity is judged to have completely ceased!"

"Your basis?"

"Witnesses stated the Ghost Ship possessed self-repair capabilities. However, even that function is completely lost. The probability of it resuming activity approaches zero."

Kaylin nodded at the investigator’s report. If so, she could inspect it directly.

"I will go inside myself."

"Will you be alright?"

"Do you doubt my power?"

"...."New chapters come out on novеlping.com first.

The attendant closed his mouth at Kaylin’s words, which sounded rather arrogant.

Currently, Kaylin was the leading candidate to become the next Demon King.

Demon King was a title granted only to the strongest demon in Mephisto.

Though they enjoyed leisure through sports, the demons had a deeply ingrained culture of worshiping the strong.

Hence, the strongest demon was elevated to Demon King.

It was fascinating that sports flourished alongside such a culture.

The consensus was that because they revered strength, they also loved seeing ’growth.’

Nothing gave more dopamine than an underdog defeating a powerhouse. Anyway, moving past that.

"Still, I’ll need an escort. Is there anyone well-versed in ship architecture?"

"I shall step forward."

Kaylin explored the Ghost Ship accompanied by someone knowledgeable about ship designs.

The Ghost Ship was massive, rivaling a galleon, so even looking around took a long time.

"This appears to be the deck. Unlike the steel surface, the floor looks ordinary."

"I see. Let’s head to the captain’s quarters first."

The captain’s cabin was most important. Kaylin and her attendant searched various parts of the ship.

Since the structure was similar to a naval vessel, locating the captain’s quarters wasn’t difficult. Except...

"Th-This is..."

"It looks like a human."

Inside the captain’s quarters, a human-shaped ’doll’ sat right in the open.

The machine had stopped operating, remaining silent with wide-open eyes.

"A doll made of steel, huh..."

Kaylin looked at the doll, which felt uncanny and offensive precisely because of its resemblance to a human.

If Grylls had seen it, he would have asked, ’Is that an AI?’

But Kaylin had no time to access the Gallery right now.

Chijik! Chijijik!

Kaylin glanced at the wires connected to the steel doll.

Yellow sparks flickered, indicating its operation had ceased because the cables were severed.

In other words, if she could fix it, it might work.

’I feel mana within those sparks. Does it run on mana?’

It seemed worth testing once. Kaylin gently placed her hand on the doll’s cheek.

She then slowly injected mana into the doll. She wondered if the internal components were broken.

Wiiiiing-

Surprisingly, a whirring, rotational sound hummed from inside the steel doll.

Hearing that sound, the attendant accompanying Kaylin flinched and stepped back.

[Reboot initiated. 0... 12... 56...]

[Connection lost. Cables severed.]

[Repair required to operate the vessel.]

Amazingly, as soon as mana was supplied, the steel doll moved and operated on its own.

Kaylin marvelled. Though she didn’t understand the language, its very activation was astonishing.

’It’s like those Artificial Guardians invented by those pointy-eared elven bastards.’

Yet this was an artificial construct of a far higher order.

Perhaps because that thought crossed her mind, Kaylin could roughly guess its identity.

’It’s a ship of the gods. I’m certain of it.’

A ship that current technological capabilities couldn’t build in a thousand lifetimes.

Thus, only one conclusion remained: it was undoubtedly crafted by the gods.

However, she needed to figure out its intended purpose. She posed a question.

"Who are you?"

[My name is Wendy. I am a vessel under the industrial mothership, Gigas.]

"I don’t understand what you’re saying. Can you not speak the language of Mephisto?"

[Translating. Primitive species language: Devil.]

"Hmm?"

Kaylin’s eyes widened. Just a moment ago she couldn’t comprehend it, but suddenly the speech became fluent.

Whether it had an integrated translation spell or some other mechanism...

Whatever the case, communication had undeniably become effortless.

"I’ll ask again. Who are you?"

[My name is Wendy. A vessel of the industrial mothership, Gigas.]

"Industrial, you say..."

The moment Kaylin heard that, she logged into the Gallery.

The video of the Ghost Ship wreaking havoc in Setan.

’Something like this is for industrial use? What on earth were the gods...?’

Its firepower alone was catastrophic. Kaylin clicked her tongue.

If they could ’manufacture’ ships like this, they must have mass-produced countless numbers.

And to think it wasn’t even built for war, but for industry—she was lost for words.New chapters come out on novelping dot com first.

"What is your purpose?"

[Current objective is returning to the mothership.]

"Mothership? Are you referring to the Mechanical Kraken?"

[The Mechanical Kraken does not exist.]

The machine answered flatly, but Kaylin was certain.

The Mechanical Kraken that had trespassed into Grylls’s Shelter and raised complete hell.

It was definitely trying to return to that colossal entity.

’So the reason Ghost Ships appeared everywhere in the world really is Grylls.’

This was enough. Kaylin pulled her hand away from the steel doll.

Deprived of mana input, the doll went limp once more. Its operations ceased.

"Bring this whole thing back if possible. There’s much to investigate."

"Yes, understood."

"Let’s inspect the rest of the ship first. There must be a power room, so we’ll check that."

Speaking thus, Kaylin searched for the power room, ignoring places like storage bays.

Soon, reaching what appeared to be the engine chamber, the two of them could see it clearly.

"This appears to be the power room. However..."

"The power source is still glowing."

Despite being half-destroyed, the power source in the engine room was still emitting light.

Intensely so. It harbored power potent enough to make even Kaylin wary.

’Since it’s a ship made by gods, that power source must be...’

There was a high probability it was modeled after a literal sun. Kaylin narrowed her eyes.

In her heart, she wanted to rip it out with her bare hands, but doing so recklessly might trigger a major disaster.

Ultimately, she had no choice but to back off for now. This had to be entrusted to experts.

"It can’t be helped. We’re going back. I’ll leave the rest to experts."

"Yes, understood."

Thus, after a brief outing, Kaylin returned to the castle.

Going out after a long time put her in a good mood, and discovering something new made her excited.

’I should pass this information to Grylls.’

Above all, she had to provide Grylls with this intel.

Currently, Mephisto was the only nation to have shot down a Ghost Ship.

Setan would likely destroy theirs soon, but that was a story for later.

[Princess Chaenggu: Grylls-nim. Are you there?]

[Wild Grylls: What’s up?]

[Princess Chaenggu: I have something to tell you.]

Kaylin shared all the information she knew with Grylls.

Would she expose her identity like this? There was no need to worry.

Because Grylls was already dependent on her.

The phrasing was a bit weird, but even just the jammer proved its worth.

[Wild Grylls: Is that really true? That’s strange.]

[Princess Chaenggu: What’s strange?]

[Wild Grylls: I heard Wi Ho-chang repelled the mothership before. I need to take a look. Thank you so much for the info. Is there anything you want?]

[Princess Chaenggu: You already know hehe]

[Wild Grylls: Go Chaeyu!!!]

[Princess Chaenggu: Awesome hehe]

According to Grylls, the Ghost Ships should have surfaced long ago. Yet they hadn’t.

Kaylin was equally puzzled, but brushed it aside. She had already uncovered far too much.

More important was the status of other nations. How had they dealt with the Ghost Ships?

[The Elf Queen, this crazy bitch;;]

Then an eye-catching title caught her attention.

A post stating that the Elf Queen had pulled off a crazy stunt.

It seemed the Elf Queen had attacked a Ghost Ship.

Expecting some tragicomic entertainment, Kaylin clicked on it eagerly, when—

"...Huh?"

She came face to face with a video she couldn’t believe even seeing with her own eyes.

Meanwhile, in the elven kingdom of Alvenheim.

"Hahaha! Everyone! Look at this! This ship is not a Ghost Ship, but a vessel gifted to us by God!"

Standing proudly on the stern of the Ghost Ship she had boarded, the Elf Queen shouted.

To anyone else, it would be seen as pure madness, but...

"WOOOOOAAAH! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

"You are truly magnificent!"

The elves, already thoroughly fascinated by a ’strong leader,’ didn’t care about such trivial things at all.