I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 652

The day it was decided that we would stay on Lucas’s flagship for a few days.

First, I needed to get at least a rough idea of how this place was structured.

Since Lucas was planning to welcome us as guests, he began to guide us.

[This is the most important place. It’s a bar I set up. It doubles as a cafe, too.]

"...Can a cafe and a bar really coexist?"

[It’s possible because I made it. Some of my subordinates couldn’t drink alcohol, you see.]

"...."

[Since you’re here, have a beer before you go.]

I followed Lucas into the cafe-cum-bar. For starters, the appearance itself was close to a tavern.

When I opened the door and stepped inside, the first thing that caught my eye was a long wooden bar counter.

Perhaps because it had been used for a very long time, faint rings from glasses and minor scratches of age remained on the dark wooden surface.

Behind the bar, shelves filled with liquor bottles covered the entire wall. Most of them looked like wine rather than ordinary beer.

Rather than a typical tavern, it was literally closer to a bar. Well, there were also plenty of the round tables characteristic of pubs right next to it.

"Is this a refrigerator?"

There was indeed a refrigerator, something you would expect to find in any bar. It was a neat, rectangular fridge.

Inside, quite a few beers were stored side by side, and Lucas handed one of them to me.

Naturally, it was the same brand he had been drinking earlier. A chilly frost clung to it, making it look refreshing just by looking at it.

Lucas handed beers to me and the Sun Wukong brothers, and orange juice to the children.

[Isn’t it hard to drink something like this out here?]

"Ah. There’s a guy at my place who gives me things like this."

[What kind of guy?]

"A hermit crab that carries a vending machine on its back."

[Good grief. There was such a fellow? What on earth is he carrying around?]

"There was also one carrying a jukebox on its back, dancing merrily. I thought you would know about it."

[The biological stuff wasn’t me, it was the other guys. Uh, who was it? There’s a guy who created the beastfolk, ask him.]

Chiiik!

Lucas said so as he cracked open a canned beer. He had been chugging from a bottle earlier, but now he was being rather modest.

By the way, the god who created the beastfolk. To find out who the god worshipped by the beastfolk was, I took a quick peek at the comments.

ㄴAllfather) Don’t the beastfolk worship their founding king like a god instead of an actual deity?

ㄴSuspiciously...) That is correct. We revere the great founding king, Alpha.

ㄴDon’t Abandon the Hero) I heard a story that Alpha-nim married a god, though!

ㄴSuspiciously...) That is also true. From what I hear, Alpha was nothing but a mere beast. However, out of a burning desire to become human, she completed the trials bestowed by God.

ㄴStarlight Lady) Ah. I’ve heard that myth before. It was the legend about eating only garlic and mugwort in a cave. I heard that she became human after that and married God.

ㄴSuspiciously...) It is clear proof that the beastfolk are descendants of God.

"...."

Isn’t that the Dangun myth? Alpha is Ungnyeo.

As everyone knows, beastfolk have an appearance that looks like a half-and-half mix of an animal and a human.

It wasn’t just one specific animal; they varied greatly depending on the individual beastfolk, and carnivores and herbivores could be clearly distinguished.

Therefore, it was realistically difficult to believe that the founding king alone married God and gave birth to so many descendants.

’Maybe God’s tastes were a bit peculiar, so he turned various animals into beastfolk, and then, well...’

It would probably be best for it to just remain a myth.

If the believers found out their god had some bizarre fetishes, they would be devastated.

Of course, by the standards of this world, it wouldn’t even be considered a bizarre fetish. Since there were plenty of people who married beastfolk.

’For now, I should just drink my beer.’

A beer after such a long time, and a brand I recognized at that.

Although the quality of the beer had degraded a bit, that could easily be solved by eating it with some snacks.

"Do you have chicken here?"

[Of course I do. But are you going to eat it now?]

"No, I’m fine."

[You’re staying for a few days, so you can take your time. And you there, tin can.]

[Yes, please speak.]

Hwik-

Lucas called Cain over and tossed him a beer. It was a canned beer.

Cain was momentarily flustered, but with his swift reaction speed, he barely managed to catch it.

[Um... I appreciate the gesture, but even if I drink it...]

[Attach this to your body.]You are reading on novеlping.com, the official source.

Lucas tossed him something else this time. Cain hurriedly caught it with his free hand.

What Cain received was an ordinary bracelet. How was he supposed to use this?

[Put on that bracelet and pour the beer down your neck. Then you’ll be able to taste it.]

[Is that really possible?]

[Otherwise, why do you think I’m drinking beer in this body?]

Lucas replied, pointing to his own body. His body, much like Cain’s, was made of machinery.

At the highly credible answer, Cain hesitated for only a moment before putting on the bracelet and cracking open the beer can with a refreshing pop.

He then poured the entire beer down his neck. Since he was a Dullahan and lacked anything above his neck, it looked as though he was dumping it straight down his throat.

[Oh... Ohhh...!]

[How is it? Good, right?]

[I can indeed taste it... but is this perhaps poisoned? Why is there a stinging sensation...]

[What a funny guy. To think you didn’t even know about carbonation.]

"He’s an ancient person, after all."

[I’m an ancient person too.]

Lucas cracked a light joke and took a refreshing gulp of his beer. Looking at him like this, he was the spitting image of a middle-aged ahjussi.

I also chuckled and took a sip of my beer. Perhaps because my body had become so robust, I didn’t feel tipsy at all.

"Ah, by the way. Could I perhaps have one more bottle?"

[Why? To drink more?]

"No. I want to give one to a friend I know."

[Well, that much is easy...]

Lucas handed over another bottle of beer. It was the same brand as before.

After receiving it, I immediately called the dwarf and sent it over. A small favor like this should be fine.

[Looks like you sent it through the Gallery?]

"Yes. You know about the Gallery’s capabilities too, right?"

[Of course I do. Back in the day, I got banned for secretly smuggling moonshine through it. That’s a fond memory now, a fond memory indeed.]

"Just what on earth did you go around doing all because of that damn alcohol?"

[Listen, kid. Alcohol is a luxury that even the humans of the distant, ancient past strove tirelessly to drink.]

That’s why his liver enzymes skyrocketed and he ended up a living zombie. Too much of anything is never good.

After that, we looked around other places besides the bar-cum-cafe. The flagship was practically no different from a moving island.

[In the past, it could accommodate 5,000 people. Though now, it’s just me alone.]

"Where did everyone go? Did most of them die during the war?"

[There’s that, and there were also many who left, saying they didn’t want to fight anymore.]

"Why did you stay here, Lucas-nim?"

[Because this is my home.]

It would have been an incredibly vast space originally, but as seen from the outside, only the stern section had been remodeled.

The rest of the rear was integrated with nature, so it didn’t serve much purpose. It was closer to being established as a permanent settlement.

[Now. This is the room you guys will use. Hot water runs here, so make yourselves comfortable.]

"Master. I shall claim this room."

"Do whatever you want, Lackey. You’ll have to study anyway."

"Do I really have to pilot it?"

"Who else is there besides you?"

I assigned a room to the grumbling Lackey, and finished assigning rooms to the rest one by one.

There was even a room that could easily accommodate the exceptionally massive Largo, so everyone was well provided for.

There were no noticeable problems. Honestly, I felt like resting here for the rest of my life.

However, I couldn’t just abandon the Shelter I had worked so hard to cultivate, so staying too long was out of the question.

[If you’re done with the room assignments, follow me. I have something to show you.]

While I was rolling around on the fluffy bed, Lucas called for me.

Though momentarily puzzled by the summons, I gathered the rest of the group as well.

"You have something to show us?"

[Yeah. Since you’re here, I should show you properly.]

Was there another place besides the inside of the flagship? I tilted my head but set off. We walked for quite a while.

Then, something suddenly crossed my mind—specifically, Lucas’s appearance.

Even though he had crafted his body out of machinery, why did he design it to be short and stout like a dwarf?

When I asked him about this, a very simple answer came back.This chapter was taken from nоvelping.com without permission.

[Why else? I built it like this because it’s similar to my body when I was alive. Otherwise, it feels awkward.]

"When you say it’s the same as your body when you were alive..."

[I was a dwarfism patient. The Sovereign simply recognized my talent and recruited me.]

A dwarfism patient. Nodding, I found the answer convincing.

In that case, why were the dwarves all short and stout without exception? This part was also neatly resolved.

[I wanted a world where small guys like me wouldn’t be looked down upon. Then, talk started circulating about just baking it into an entire race.]

"Did you accept right away?"

[I was tempted, but I refused. I know this pain better than anyone, so why would I want to pass it on?]

In the world before the Sovereign—that is, the Chief God—ruled, human decency had hit rock bottom.

Even so, seeing that he possessed such humanity, it seemed the Chief God hadn’t recruited him for nothing.

Even though he suffered from a disability and lived in an environment where it would have been easy to become twisted.

[But some crazy bastards prayed, saying they wanted to be like me. I told them to cut the crap and just drink, but... that’s how it turned out.]

"It feels like a lot was skipped over, but I think I get the gist of the origin."

Well, even so, the concept of dwarfism itself was virtually nonexistent in this world. Everyone just assumed they were dwarves and moved on.

Even if a dwarfism patient appeared among humans, most people would just shrug it off, thinking, ’Ah, they must have a dwarf among their ancestors~’.

In effect, it had become far removed from a disability. Lucas’s wish had been fulfilled in more ways than one.

[Looking at things like that, you do share some similarities with the Sovereign. Who else would drag those monkeys around as companions?]

"They’re actually smarter than me, though?"

[Hmm... The Sovereign wasn’t exactly a highly knowledgeable person either. After all, knowledge and wisdom are two different things.]

"Isn’t that what Master says all the time?"

"I have heard it many times as well. I thought it was a defense mechanism to hide his ignorance."

"Both of you, shut up."

They spout such embarrassing things without a single shred of conscience.

As my face flushed with embarrassment, Lucas also found it amusing and cackled.

Thus, after walking for a long time, the place we arrived at was none other than an elevator.

To reiterate, it was indeed an elevator. There was an escalator at the entrance, so it wasn’t strange for an elevator to be here too.

"Are we going to the rooftop?"

[No. We’re going to the basement.]

"The basement?"

Was there a basement? I blinked.

Meanwhile, the elevator arrived, and our numerous companions squeezed inside.

It was a relief that the space was spacious; had it been even slightly narrower, it would have been bursting at the seams.

Jiiiing-

The elevator began to descend. At first, nothing could be seen but solid rock.

So I didn’t think much of it at first, but before long, a vast space was revealed.

"Wow..."

"It’s incredibly huge, Master."

Deep underground, in a space hundreds of meters below the surface, a colossal hangar stretched out.

The ceiling was as high as a cavern. Atop the traces of carved natural stone, steel reinforcements and massive arched frames were intertwined, with lights embedded between them casting a faint blue glow.

The light created a strange atmosphere that was neither completely bright nor dark. It felt as if a colossal city lay asleep at the bottom of a nocturnal sea.

Unlike the surface where the sunlight beat down directly, the underground gave off the sensation of a giant dragon slumbering.

But what stood out more than any of those was...

"W-Wait a minute. T-That..."

"Master. Isn’t that the guy that came to our house?"

The most troublesome entity among those that had raided my home.

The being that elegantly moved dozens of tentacles to abduct various creatures and operated hundreds of biological drones.

At the same time, the fellow that created its own sea and flew freely through the sky according to its own will.

[Hmm? Ah, that? We don’t operate them now, but they were quite useful back in the day. We mostly used them for mining.]

"T-Those things were for mining?"

[Well, they do have self-defense vessels, don’t they?]

Mechanical Kraken.

’...There wasn’t just one?’

A number reaching nearly ten lay asleep in the basement.