I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 650

If it hadn’t been for the camel’s help, my ankle probably would have been blown off.

"Normally, with that kind of firepower, shouldn’t you be worrying about dying rather than just losing an ankle?"

"What counts as a severe injury to us is merely a minor scratch to Master. Mind your own business."

"Those guys?"

Ahem, ahem. Moving past the topic of the Sun Wukong brothers.

Bypassing the landmines by checking each one individually was practically impossible.

Therefore, unless the entire area covered with mines was completely plowed over, entering would be tough.

Kukwakwang! Kwakang!

In that case, I just had to destroy everything. I fired arrows at the ground, detonating all the landmines.

When firing an arrow without using Unity of Self and Object, it was no different from launching artillery shells.

Thanks to that, the terrain changed a bit—no, actually a lot more than expected—but advancing forward was not difficult.

"Master. Are landmines normally disarmed like this?"

"How should I know?"

In cartoons or movies, they searched for them one by one feeling around with tools; they didn’t clear them like this.

Most stories were about stepping on one that failed to detonate, allowing them to barely defuse it.

└ Starlight Lady) By any chance, do they disarm them like that in the military too?

└ Sword Matstar) It’s not completely nonexistent. Usually, landmines are set up at choke points where the enemy is expected to pass or to prepare against night raids. In those situations, making loud noises would just expose your position.

└ Passing Dwarf) Can’t a knight just tank it with their body and walk through?

└ Sword Matstar) You could do that, but usually when laying landmines, they also install mines that neutralize mana alongside them.

└ Allfather) You are referring to security devices equipped with mana-jamming magic.

Even in a world where superhumans run wild, in the end, it is ordinary infantry who plant the flag.

Besides, not everyone can effortlessly pass through a minefield, so it would be quite useful.

"Master. By the way, a thought just crossed my mind."

"What is it?"

"Couldn’t Tyranno have carried me over to that spot ahead? Then I could have used Teleport."

"...You should have said so earlier."

"I didn’t know Master would overcome it in such an ignorant way."

Of course, there were easier and safer methods than this.

It was just that my tendency to solve things with brawn rather than brain led to this outcome.

Anyway, accepting Lackey’s plan, we were able to reach right in front of the vessel.

The shipwreck before had been quite large, but the vessel we found now was dozens of times bigger.

’Looking closely, it looks like they converted the vessel and are using it like a building.’

When seen from afar, it looked unmistakably like a ship, but coming closer, it was a bit different.

The stern was completely remodeled into a building, while the midsection to the rear had integrated with nature.

There were clear signs of human habitation near the stern, but the mid and rear sections bore accumulated years untouched by human hands.

Achieving a subtle harmony with nature, it appeared from a distance like an intact ship.

A building formed in harmony, neither purely nature nor purely a ship. Located in the middle of the desert, forming a bizarre landscape, it was closer to a single giant fortress.

’Strange.’

If the shipwreck felt truly run aground, this colossal ship felt completely settled.

Though unified with nature, it proudly displayed its form without forgetting its original purpose.

I looked around various parts of the ship before moving forward. Once we entered through the entrance, something was bound to turn up.

Fortunately, finding the entrance wasn’t that difficult.

Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok! Cheolkeok!

Except for the fact that numerous barricades and automated turrets—that is, machine guns—welcomed us.

It wasn’t just barricades; countless machine guns revealed themselves from various parts of the ship.

In the past, that giant hermit crab—the one carrying a bunker on its back—was probably like that too.

"Lackey."

"I’ve already deployed it."

Lackey, also knowing the power of guns, immediately deployed a shield.

However, if those countless machine guns opened fire all at once, the shield would shatter in no time.

Just as I quietly raised my sword to arm myself...

[Ah. Ah, ah. Can you hear me?]

"...?"Visit nove⁠lping.com for the full chapter.

[It’s been a while since I last turned on this mic. Can you hear me clearly?]

A gruff male voice echoed from the entrance. And in English, no less.

Though the accent was a bit unique, it was definitely English.

Not only me, but my companions who heard this looked at each other. Of course, that was only for a moment.

Since we had experienced situations like this quite a few times, there was no reason to panic. As long as the other side wasn’t hostile, we could resolve it through conversation.

"I can hear you. Are you by any chance the master of this ship?"

[Hmm? A fellow who knows how to speak our language? Don’t tell me you’re a survivor?]

"A survivor... If you put it that way, I suppose I am."

[Then tell me where you’re from. Or speak in the language of another country.]

"Would you believe me if I said I’m from the Republic of Korea?"

This time I spoke in Korean. At that, the microphone instantly went silent.

It seemed like he was thinking for a moment, and a state of tension ensued.

Just as I sensed a strange vibe and considered potential variables...

Seureureuk—

Heukgu, who had been inside my shadow for a while, revealed himself.

His strength hadn’t fully returned yet, so he was still small, but his jet-black mane exuded majesty.

[Huh? Are you by any chance the kid who was beside the Tyrant Dragon King?]

"That is correct. This person... put the Tyrant Dragon King to sleep completely."

[That human has a familiar face... my eyes aren’t playing tricks on me, are they?]

"It is not certain. However, I can guarantee that he is connected."

[Mmm....]

Heukgu and the master of the ship spoke to each other, and the ship’s master pondered briefly.

Wi-i-ing—

As if his contemplation was over, the machine guns retracted back inside. The master of the ship had reached a decision.

This is why dialogue is important. Even if a clash was imminent, an unnecessary fight could be avoided.

[Tsk... I’ve got plenty of doubts, but come on in for now. Seeing as that countryside mutt is with you, you probably won’t stab me in the back.]

"I am not a countryside mutt! I was made from genes carefully selected by my Sovereign...!"

[That’s what people call a Sigor Javjong, you mutt.]

"Wareureureu! Keong! Keongkeong!"

"Whoa, whoa. Calm down, calm down."

I barely managed to restrain the throwing-a-fit Heukgu. Well, it wasn’t like the master of the ship was wrong.

Mixing various genes together meant a crossbreed in generous terms, and a mutt in plain terms.

Seeing how the master of the ship addressed Heukgu familiarly (?), it seemed he knew a bit about the Chief God too.

’I don’t know why a person like that is here, though.’

Wi-i-ing—

After a brief commotion, the ship’s entrance opened. However, its position was a bit high.

I wondered if we had to jump high up to get there, but before long, stairs unfolded and landed right in front of us.

Wi-i-ing—

"Ooh, Master. These stairs are moving automatically."

[What fascinating stairs.]

"It’s an escalator."

A retractable escalator. Just how advanced was their scientific technology to install something like this in a place like this?

Feeling a subtle novelty riding an escalator after so long, I strode up the steps.

For the escalator was not a normal automated moving device, but a kind of movement speed buff machine.

"Now, look. This is the principle behind the Earth-Shrinking Art."

"Brother. Is that real?"

"The principle itself should be similar."

"It was real?!"

I didn’t expect it to actually be real. Chatting like that, we reached the entrance before we knew it.

I hadn’t realized when looking from afar, but the entrance was massive. It was large enough for Cain and Largo to enter without any trouble.

"Whoa. What is this place now?"

"It’s exceptionally well-maintained, Master."

However, the moment we crossed the entrance, it felt as if the world had flipped upside down.The source of this chapter is no‌velping.com.

Unlike the reddish desert outside, a completely different era unfolded beyond the entrance.

The walls and pillars were not made of ordinary concrete, but of smoothly polished silver metal, with unknown patterns and thin streams of light etched across their surfaces like flowing liquid.

I caught sight of the ceiling, which was made of transparent glass.

Thanks to that, the sunlight filtering through the glass brightened up the interior splendidly.

[I felt it when looking from the outside too, but it’s immensely spacious.]

"It’s way bigger than our house, Master."

Its grand majesty was evident in its sheer scale as well. One had to crane their neck back just to catch a glimpse of the ceiling’s end.

A space easily capable of accommodating hundreds of people. And that wasn’t all.

"Could that be... the World Tree?"

"It looks similar to the one at our house."

In the center of the vast space, a tree similar to the one at our house stood proudly.

It was characterized by golden leaves, its left-right symmetry beautifully spread out.

It looked like the World Tree to anyone’s eyes, but there was an entity that corrected us.

[It’s a World Tree, sure, but a subspecies. Lower in quality compared to the one stuck in the center of this forest.]

The gruff voice that had echoed throughout the entire ship before we entered.

Though slightly mixed with mechanical sounds, unlike before, it wasn’t ringing across the entire space.

Ji-i-ing— Ji-i-ing—

A dwarf. And a dwarf made of various minerals at that.

The mechanical dwarf was approaching us while making metallic noises.

In one hand, he held their symbol—a beer.

[Kkeu-eok.]

"..."

The moment he reached us, the mechanical dwarf let out a hearty burp right off the bat.

Even though he was clearly a machine, I almost had the illusion that his nose had turned red.

This alone made it clear what kind of personality this person—no, this machine—had.

And decisively, the beer in his hand. It wasn’t just any beer, but bottled beer. Which meant he was chugging directly from the bottle.

Besides....

"...Is that Ca*s?"

[Huh? Yeah, it is. I brought it just in case, and you recognized it right away. Just like how you rode the escalator so weirdly earlier.]

Since it was a pretty popular brand in the Republic of Korea, I recognized it immediately. Plus, it was a brand I often drank with my friends.

Thanks to that, I became even more curious. How did this machine know about the Republic of Korea?

Heukgu seemed to roughly know something as well, but he didn’t know the specifics.

[By the way, just looking at your face, you look really similar... You’re not the man himself, but maybe a hidden brother or something?]

"Are you talking about the Chief God?"

[Tsk... No? Seeing how you call him Chief God, maybe not. That gentleman hated being called a god himself.]

Saying so, the mechanical dwarf downed his bottle of beer refreshingly. If I saw Passing Dwarf in real life, wouldn’t he look just like this?

Normally, drinking like that would kill you from liver cancer, but since his body was a machine, it was meaningless.

"He hated being called a god? Why?"

[Why are you asking me that? That’s a story only he and his siblings know. That’s why it’s so strange. Just looking at your face, you really are the Sovereign, but...]

The mechanical dwarf looked me up and down. Contrary to his heavily tipsy demeanor, his eyes were sharp and alive.

Then, pretending to stroke his beard, the mechanical dwarf shrugged and spoke.

[Well, we can figure it out as we go. At any rate, welcome. This is my flagship, and now a ruined forge, ’Dwarf’.]

"Dwarf? Isn’t dwarf the name of a race?"

[Race? Ah, you mean those kids? That’s what they called themselves. I was planning to give them a different name.]

"Then your name is..."

Taking another swig straight from the bottle, the mechanical dwarf said in a gruff voice:

[Lucas.]

The God of Blacksmiths and dwarves.

[Well, the real Lucas is dead, and I’m in a body like this, though.]

That replica form stood right before us.

└ Passing Dwarf) Lucas-nim or whatever, tell him to give you just one of those beers.

"..."

It wasn’t my place to talk, but this dwarf bastard was quite the unbeliever too.