Chapter 169

Southeast of Brasília.

Boom!

While the wave from Locust paused, a sudden explosion sounded from where the Earth Defense Force members had gathered, taking a break.

"What was that?!"

"Is it the Locust?"

In the midst of the member's confusion,

Thud.

"Argh!"

Stealthily infiltrated hunters began attacking the members.

"Attack them!"

Simultaneously, hunters poured out from all sides and assaulted them.

"It's the hunters! They're ambushing us!"

"Everyone, get into formation! Power of ice..."

Amidst the chaos, Lucilia, the guild master of the Wizard Guild, issued commands to the members and began preparing her magic. It was to buy time for the members to get in formation.

However, Lucilia, whose specialty was fire magic, couldn't use it near the sturdy blade green onion leaves. With no choice, she utilized ice magic to gain time.

While Lucilia was buying time, the members managed to form up.

However,

"There are too many of them!"

Compared to the 50 members of the Earth Defense Force that had managed to regroup, they were surrounded by 3,000 enemies, specifically, 1,000 hunters and 2,000 civilians.

"Block them!"

"Hold on!"

They desperately fended off the enemy attacks, but they were continuously pushed back. Before they knew it, they had been driven far from the area with the sturdy blade green onion leaves.

"Damn it!"

Just as Lucilia and about ten other members were barely holding on,

"We've secured the items. Retreat!"

The masked hunters began to withdraw.

When Lucilia returned to the location of the sturdy blade green onion leaves, what Lucilia saw was an empty land.

"Damn!"

The masked individuals had taken all the sturdy blade green onion leaves.

***

"I ate five..."

Krueng?!

[And you're only giving Cuengi one?!]

Upon hearing Sejun's words, Cuengi turned away, showing his back to Sejun. It was his way of expressing his displeasure. Grrr, I'm upset!

"No... I thought you were sleeping, that's why. If you liked it, I was going to give you more."

Sejun hastily explained as he took out another grade-A cherry tomato from Theo's bag.

Then,

"Here, eat."

Sejun approached the turned Cuengi and fed him a cherry tomato, appeasing his hurt feelings.

Krueng!

[It's delicious!]

Cuengi happily accepted and ate 10 of the grade A cherry tomatoes that Sejun fed him.

Krueng!

[Cuengi's going to catch the thief who stole Dad's crops!]

Sniff, sniff.

Cuengi, having had his feelings assuaged, began tracing the scent of the grade A cherry tomatoes. At last, the dream team set out to catch the cherry tomato thief.

Cuengi was in charge of power and tracking.

Theo was responsible for getting the contract stamped.

Sejun was the victim, the owner of the stolen cherry tomatoes.

Well, the last role seemed unnecessary, but...

"By the way, Cuengi, don't you need to go to the bathroom? Or feel any discomfort?"

Sejun asked Cuengi. Just a while ago, Cuengi had eaten 11 cherry tomatoes, which meant an increase in magic power by 110 in such a short time.

Sejun believed it would probably be fine but asked out of concern that Cuengi might overexert himself.

Krueng! Krueng!

[Cuengi hasn't eaten enough to need the bathroom yet! And Cuengi's feeling perfectly fine!]

As expected, Cuengi was just being Cuengi. Sejun had been overly worried.

'You fool. Always worrying about others. Especially about Cuengi.'

Just as Sejun was scolding himself for his unnecessary concerns,

Krueng!

[Dad, follow me quickly! I've caught the scent!]

Cuengi called Sejun, having detected the scent of the grade A cherry tomatoes.

"Already?! Got it!"

Sejun quickly followed the scent-tracing Cuengi.

***

Central Mato Grosso in Brazil.

Step, step.

Two men in black suits left their disciples behind and walked around the massive farm.

"Mister 3, isn't the amount of sturdy blade green onion leaves less than what you promised?"

Michael McLaren, the Vice Chairman of Gagel, spoke with a voice full of displeasure to the man wearing a mask labeled '3'. The agreed quantity was supposed to cover the southeast of Mato Grosso completely.

"Please wait a little longer. The required quantity will arrive soon."

The masked man said, checking the time.

And then,

Vroom.

About five minutes later, dozens of trucks loaded with sturdy blade green onion leaves appeared.

"Wow! How did you gather such a large quantity?"

"Just pay the promised amount."

"Understood."

Michael took out his smartphone and sent the promised payment.

"I've sent it."

"Thank you. We'll be on our way then."

With that, the man left.

"Vice Chairman! We have a big problem!"

A secretary rushed over in a hurry.

"What's the matter? Quickly get the workers and tell them to plant the sturdy blade green onion leaves."

"That's not the issue! Please take a look at this!"

The secretary showed her smartphone. The screen displayed Brasília being overtaken by locusts.

"What's this?"

Michael commented nonchalantly. This was something he had anticipated.

To fulfill the deadline Mr. 3 had promised to Michael for the sturdy blade green onion leaves, he naturally had to interfere with the ones planted around Brasília.

"The Black Tower has disappeared."

Before Michael could avoid watching the video further, the secretary jumped to the conclusion.

"What?! The Black Tower disappeared?"

Upon hearing the secretary's words, Michael continued watching.

Suddenly,

The locusts that entered Brasília all flew in one direction. Their target was the Black Tower.

And as the locusts surrounded the Black Tower in Brasília,

Whooosh.

The Black Tower vanished.

"What... How... How could the Black Tower disappear..."

Facing this unexpected situation, Michael was taken aback.

***

When the grade A cherry tomatoes disappeared, the monsters who had eaten them soon came to their senses. They pretended to be calm, trying to hide the fact that they consumed the tomatoes.

"The smell is there. Isn't it, Detective Cuengi?"

Krueng! Krueng!

[Yes! The smell of two being eaten is here!]

Cuengi responded, sniffing around Minotaur 7's mouth. Detective Cuengi's sense of smell could even detect the exact number eaten.

"Hehehe. Vice Chairman Theo, it's two."

"Got it, meow!"

Swoosh.

Theo edited the contract. The clause that had stated 'working for free for 10 years' was changed to '20 years'.

Then,

"Puhuhut. Stamp it here, meow!"

Theo, laughing villainously like Sejun, handed Minotaur 7 the contract. It felt as though they were debt collectors rather than someone catching a thief.

"Good job, Cuengi. Here's a sweet potato for you."

While Theo was getting Minotaur 7's stamp, Sejun motivated Cuengi with praise and sweet snacks to find the next culprit.

Krueng!

[Cuengi found another smell!]

"Wait a moment. Just need the stamp."

With the motivation from praise and snacks, Cuengi quickly found the next culprit and,

"The culprit is here!"

Thanks to Sejun playing detective and

"Stamp it, meow!"

Theo, who quickly collected the stamps on the contracts, all the thieves were caught and over 1000 contracts were obtained in about 3 hours. They truly were a dream team.

Of course, excluding one person would have increased the time to about 2 hours.

"Puhuhut."

Looking at the numerous contracts in his hand, Theo grinned with satisfaction.

"I have more employees now, meow!"

It was great to have more subordinates to command.

By the time they had caught all the culprits who stole the grade A cherry tomatoes,

(Sejun! I'm back!)

The Golden Bat, who had gone to guide the honeybees to the 83rd-floor farm, luckily returned before the birthday party ended.

"Golden Bat, good job. And happy birthday! Have this."

Sejun handed over a grade A cherry tomato to the Golden Bat, who was late to his own birthday party because he was helping Sejun.

(Thank you! Happy birthday to you too, Sejun!)

Sip sip.

The Golden Bat quickly started to suck on the white cherry tomato.

(Oh! It's delicious!)

The Golden Bat eagerly sucked on the cherry tomato.

Then,

Gurgle.

Krueng.

[Cuengi's hungry!]

Cuengi's stomach clock indicated that it was dinner time.

"Just a moment."

Sejun hurriedly prepared dinner. Since he only had to bring out the food he had already prepared, he was able to set the dinner quickly.

And while the animals were eating,

[You have consumed a piece of Aileen's Healthy Meatball.]

[You must eat all of it to gain the full effect.]

[98 pieces remain.]

Sejun filled his stomach from the fist-sized meat pieces made by breaking Aileen's Healthy Meatball and prepared for the grand finale of the birthday party.

With the meatballs made by Aileen, Sejun prepared the finale of his birthday party.

"Create Thundercloud!"

Sejun spread the dark thunderclouds in the sky, blocking the light. The sky darkened, turning black.

Then,

"Iona."

"Kyoot kyoot kyoot. Understood! Power of Fire..."

"Power of Light..."

At Sejun's signal, Iona, along with the wizards she had brought, chanted magic and started a fireworks show.

Boom! Boom!

With each burst of firework, starting with Sejun, one by one the animals appeared and then vanished.

Krueng!

[There's a Cuengi in the sky!]

As they were enjoying the fireworks,

Roaaaar!

A firework in the shape of a massive dragon, Kaiser, appeared and roared. This was the climax of the fireworks show.

'I bet Kaiser will love this.'

Sejun looked towards where the dragon statue stood, expecting Kaiser to be pleased, but

"Huh?!"

Neither Kaiser nor Kellion were in sight.

Roaaaar!

Meanwhile, a massive white dragon firework representing Kellion appeared, roaring.

"Where did they both go? Aileen, pay attention. Your firework is next."

As Sejun was telling Aileen not to miss her next firework,

[The Tower's administrator says there's an anomaly on Earth.]

"What?! What kind of anomaly?"

[The Tower's administrator says one of the 100 black towers on Earth has vanished.]

"What?! A tower disappeared?"

-I'll explain.

Kaiser, who had helped Aileen in the administrative zone due to the sudden emergency, appeared and spoke.

-When any tower faces destruction, its entrance automatically disappears. It's to protect the beings inside the tower.

"What about the hunters who went in through the vanished tower?"

-They can't get out since the tower has disappeared. But now is not the time to worry about those hunters. If 9 more towers disappear, making it 10 in total, all the black towers will vanish from Earth.

"What?!"

Sejun was shocked by Kaiser's words. If the black towers disappear, it would mean the end of the Earth. In essence, it would mean leaving the planet behind.

"Isn't there a way to prevent the towers from disappearing?"

-Regrettably, there isn't. This is a law set by the Creator. All we can do is delay the towers' disappearance to prolong the impending doom.

It was hard to believe such a pessimistic answer had come from the usually powerful and arrogant Kaiser.

Then,

Boom!

Roaaaar!

The biggest firework so far exploded, revealing a massive black dragon, Aileen, roaring in the sky before gradually fading.

While watching the disappearing firework,

"Chairman Park, stay strong, meow! I don't know what's going on, but Vice Chairman Theo will help, meow!"

Krueng!

[Cuengi will help Daddy too!]

Theo and Cuengi, who didn't even know the situation, stepped forward to help when they saw Sejun's distressed face.

And,

[The Tower's administrator says she will also help you.]

Aileen also offered her assistance to Sejun.

"Thank you, everyone!"

'Alone it might be tough, but together, there will be a way!"

Sejun stroked Theo and Cuengi's fur while thinking of ways to prevent the Earth from easily being destroyed.