Chapter 159

"As the Earth Defense Force, we have planted sturdy blade green onion leaves to stop the spread of the locusts, so we urge the citizens of Brasília, please do not panic and follow the government's directives."

After debuting on broadcast as Captain K of the Earth Defense Force, Han Tae-jun reassured people by doing interviews with other broadcasting stations.

Just when Brasília was successfully fending off the locust invasion with sturdy blade green onion leaves,

"What's the use of only protecting the capital?!"

"What about our farms?!"

Farm owners from other parts of Brazil, worried about locusts invading their farms, started to protest and demand the planting of sturdy blade green onion leaves on their farms as well.

However,

"We refuse."

Han Tae-jun firmly refused. The situation was already critical, with all the sturdy blade green onion leaves supplied from the tower barely enough to defend Brasília. There was no room to spare any for other places.

And soon, the initially planted sturdy blade green onion leaves in Brasília would need to be replaced.

Because, unlike in the tower, the sturdy blade green onion leaves planted on Earth gradually lose their rigidity over time. Dividing the sturdy blade green onion leaves and replanting was not an option.

Ultimately, the only way to accommodate the farmers' request was to increase the quantity of sturdy blade green onion leaves transported from the tower.

'But that's easier said than done...'

While Han Tae-jun was deep in thought,

"Master! There's a big trouble!"

Cha Si-Hyeok, Han Tae-jun's first disciple, rushed over.

"What happened?"

"The youngest ones transporting the sturdy blade green onion leaves from the tower were ambushed by another hunter, and the green onion leaves were stolen."

"What?! How are the young ones?"

"Well... Jang Rin lost his right arm resisting until the end."

"Damn it. Jang Rin, that foolish guy..."

Han Tae-jun gritted his teeth in rage.

He had spent a lot of time with the Black Wolf Gang, getting to know their backgrounds and why they resorted to stealing from other hunters.

They all came from an orphanage in rural China and stole to fund its operations. Having grown up witnessing thievery, when they became hunters, they naturally resorted to theft.

However, living with Han Tae-jun made the Black Wolf Gang realize there was a different way to live, and their mindset started to change.

And then,

"Master Tae-jun, please take us as your disciples!"

"We want to live righteously!"

The Black Wolf Gang, now desiring a righteous life, asked to become Han Tae-jun's disciples, believing he could lead them on the right path.

"If you want to be my disciples, you must first atone for your past misdeeds."

Acknowledging past wrongs was a prerequisite to living righteously. After much consideration, Han Tae-jun made them apologize to all the hunters they had harmed and arranged compensation as a condition for accepting them as disciples.

"We are truly sorry!"

"We will definitely compensate for the damages!"

Han Tae-jun personally guaranteed the monetary compensation, and they gradually repaid it, leading to the withdrawal of all reports against the Black Wolf Gang.

With the chairman of the Korean Awakened Association personally vouching for them, the hunters accepted the agreement, and only after all complaints were withdrawn did Han Tae-jun accept the Black Wolf Gang as his disciples.

Since then, the Black Wolf Gang, now Han Tae-jun's disciples, worked diligently and tried hard to lead an earnest and responsible life.

And after joining the Earth Defense Force, they took pride in helping others and gave their best. However, now someone dared to harm them, who were trying to live righteously!

"Gather everyone! We're going into the tower immediately!"

"Yes!"

Han Tae-jun entrusted the sturdy blade green onion leaves farm to Lucilia, the deputy head of the Earth Defense Force and the guild master of the Wizard Guild, and led his disciples into the tower.

***

"Cha!"

Sejun opened his eyes.

"Did I wake up a bit early?"

There was no clock, but instinctively, he felt he woke up earlier than usual.

"Meowwwww..."

As Sejun got up, he placed the sleeping Theo on his lap,

Swoosh.

and marked another day on the bedroom wall, starting the 314th morning of being stranded.

"First, I need some coffee."

Sejun couldn't just let the morning leisure time pass by. Soon, Cuengi would barge in asking for food, and from then on, things would only get hectic.

Sejun tore open a coffee packet, poured it into a tumbler,

Snap.

And he created a flame with a snap of his fingers, heated the water in the kettle with his finger, and then poured a bit of hot water into the tumbler to dissolve the coffee.

Then,

"Ice cubes."

Plop. Plop.

Sejun formed small ice cubes and dropped them in the tumbler, and in no time, a cup of iced Americano was ready.

"Heh. I think I'd make a killing if I opened a cafe!"

Praising himself, Sejun sat at the table in front of his house, looking out at the farm and planning the day's tasks.

"First, right after breakfast, I need to harvest the pineapples."

The last time he harvested the pineapples, he harvested them unripe for the golden bat, but now the pineapples were finally ripe.

"Lastly, I should discuss about the fireworks for the finale of the birthday party with Iona in the evening."

Just as Sejun was about to finish organizing his to-dos for the day,

Krueng!

[I'm hungry!]

Cuengi appeared.

"Is it already time for breakfast, meow~?"

Theo woke up at the official mealtime alarm of the farm,

"Kyoot~... I'll sleep a bit more."

Iona, who had been working late and only returned at dawn, wrapped herself tightly with Theo's tail and went back to sleep.

"Sit down and wait for a moment."

Sejun hurriedly prepared breakfast.

Squeak!

Ook!

The rabbits and monkeys also entered the kitchen and sat down, waiting for their meal.

At first, the monkeys didn't know what to do when Sejun, who they thought was a god, prepared food for them, but they quickly adapted.

"Eat up."

Sejun put the breakfast he had prepared on the table. The menu was similar every day: a soup with sweet potato and locust meat, and steamed potatoes, but the animals ate it without complaints.

After eating breakfast, they started harvesting pineapples. However, out of 11 pineapples to be harvested, 2 were screaming pineapples.

"Are you ready?"

"I'm ready, meow!"

Krueng!

[I'm ready!]

In response to Sejun's question, Theo and Cuengi answered and took their positions. Theo hung on the back of Sejun's head and covered Sejun's ears with his front paws, and Cuengi stood in front of Sejun.

"Then, I'll cut it!"

Sejun shouted a battle cry and cut the pineapple with his dagger.

[You have harvested a screaming pineapple.]

[Your job experience increases very slightly.]

[Your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 6 has increased slightly.]

[Due to the effect of Proficiency Increase Lv. 1, your proficiency in Harvesting Lv. 6 increases by an additional 5%.]

[You have gained 30 experience points.]

And then,

"Cuengi, hold it!"

Krueng!

Following Sejun's command, Cuengi held the pineapple to prevent it from splitting. However, it remained intact.

······

More than 10 minutes passed, but there was no scream. Rather, it was correct to say that Cuengi suppressed the pineapple's scream with his strength.

"Cuengi, slowly release your grip."

Krueng! Krueng!

[I got it! Daddy, it's dangerous, so it would be good if you stay back!]

Cuengi said, worried about Sejun.

"Really? Got it!"

At Cuengi's words, Sejun quickly stepped back. Although he often didn't listen to his parents, he always heeded his child's words.

So, Cuengi completely removed one hand from the pineapple, and some time passed, the pineapple still didn't split open.

"Is it alright?"

Sejun carefully approached Cuengi from behind and picked up the pineapple to examine it.

[Suppressed Screaming Pineapple]

→ A pineapple grown in the tower, full of nutrients, and delicious.

→ When harvested, the stored mana explodes, splitting in the middle and releasing a mana-filled shockwave along with a scream-like sound. However, it did not explode due to being suppressed by strong force.

→ By suppressing the mana explosion once, the purity of the mana inside the pineapple increases, greatly increasing the power of the explosion.

→ It explodes if the pineapple is damaged or if magic power is applied to it.

→ Grower: Tower Farmer Park Sejun

→ Expiration Date: 60 days

→ Grade: C

"Oh! This is nice?"

The screaming pineapple turned into a portable pineapple bomb.

"Guys, let's go pick the next pineapple!"

"Got it meow!"

Krueng!

[Got it!]

After obtaining two pineapple bombs, Sejun replanted the pineapple crowns and said,

"Let's head north."

And hastily changed his plans. Since he got the bombs, it was obvious he had to use them. Sejun planned to use the pineapple bombs on the fire ant nest.

"Cuengi, enlarge!"

Krueng!

Sejun rode on the enlarged Cuengi and moved north.

***

Thump.

Crack.

Sejun carefully approached the fire ant nest as if infiltrating the enemy's camp in a spy game.

And then

Krueng!

[Don't get caught!]

Cuengi, who was eagerly following behind.

Then

Kieeek.

He spotted a fire ant worker, doing reconnaissance about 100m away.

"Hide!"

Sejun quickly ducked his head.

"Just Chairman Park hides, it's enough, meow!"

Krueng!

[We are small so they won't see us!]

Since there were many rocks, the small Theo and Cuengi were not visible.

"Right."

Feeling a bit awkward, Sejun quietly moved again.

And then

Roll, roll.

Sejun, who arrived at the entrance of the fire ant nest without any guards, sent a rolling pineapple. The fire ants would first attack the suspicious pineapple and in the process, the pineapple would explode.

Having deployed one pineapple bomb, Sejun then moved to find another entrance, but he came across a hole much larger than the other ant entrances.

"This must be a huge colony of fire ants?"

Sejun said excitedly as he tossed the pineapple bomb into the hole and then climbed to the top floor of the wizard tower with permission from Iona.

And then

"Create Thundercloud."

"Rainfall."

While it rained, he waited for the explosion. If it didn't explode, he planned to detonate it with thunder.

A moment later

Kwaaang!

The first dropped pineapple bomb exploded, causing a huge explosion, and a 200m diameter of land caved in.

[You have killed a fire ant warrior with the explosion of the suppressed screaming pineapple.]

[You have gained 50,000 experience points.]

[You have killed a fire ant worker with the explosion of the suppressed screaming pineapple.]

[You have gained 1,000 experience points.]

...

..

.

Messages appearing at the same time. There were fewer messages than expected.

Rumble!

Due to the rain that Sejun had summoned, a second collapse occurred, and the ground collapsed once again.

Kiiiieek!

As the fire ants escaping from the collapsed nest began to run around outside

"Throw thunder!"

Sejun did not miss the opportunity and began his next attack. The ground was wet enough to increase the damage.

[You have leveled up.]

[You have gained 1 bonus stat.]

Thus, after using throw thunder 3 times, he leveled up to level 56. Now he had a lot of magic power, so his legs no longer wobbled after casting throw thunder 3 times.

Then

Kwaaang!

Another explosion occurred. It was the explosion of the second pineapple bomb.

And then

[The black earth dragon, which was sleeping, woke up due to the explosion of the suppressed screaming pineapple.]

[The black earth dragon is furious at the one who awakened it.]

It seems that wasn't a fire ant nest.

"Huh?!"

As Se-jun was taken aback,

Kwaaang!

With the message, a giant monster resembling a worm broke through the ground and turned its head towards the wizard tower where Sejun was.