The Anti-Intellectualism Demon King’s World Invasion - Chapter 82



Only Noblemtl

Episode 82

We approached the battleship with a white flag on our ship.

Although they were already within cannon range, people began to tense up as the huge ship began to come into view.

Before departure, I witnessed the Navy mercilessly shooting down a drone reconnaissance plane with a gun.

“We are the Dream Island Commissioners, and we have removed the Governor who engaged in a war with the Navy, and are now in charge of the island anew. We would like to make a peace treaty with the Navy and trade freely as before. Let me say it again. We are the Dream Island Commissioners, unarmed… .”

We continued to announce the purpose of our visit over a loudspeaker.

There was no unusual movement from the Navy’s destroyers or cruisers, but they did not send out any welcoming messages either.

Hyunwoo’s father asked Captain Kim with a worried expression.

“Is that okay, Captain Kim?”

“I heard that the commander, Colonel Jang Do-hoon, is quite a hot-tempered person. I hope he accepts that the failure of the landing operation was not our fault.”

“Don’t worry too much. No matter what happens, I will definitely bring you to Hyunwoo.”

Mermaid Queen Hyang-i, Mary, Jude and others were quietly following right behind the boat.

If the ship sinks, we will rescue you immediately.

And if the real navy attacks, the Hallasan-ho waiting behind will immediately counterattack.

“I feel relieved when Detective Kim says that.”

Hyunwoo’s father tried not to worry Hyunwoo and avoided doing dangerous things as much as possible.

Not only that, but I was afraid of going out into the water, perhaps because of the trauma from being in the water.

However, none of the members of the Trade Commission were willing to go to the peace negotiations.

After all, politics is about taking the results and cheers and leaving the dangerous and difficult work to others.

In fact, Hyunwoo’s father was the best person to take charge because he was the biggest player on Trash Island and the most expert in trading.

Hyunwoo’s father’s expression relaxed a lot at my promise, but he still looked anxious, as if he was afraid of the water.

I asked a question to divert his gaze.

“But how did Hyunwoo’s father become the island’s tycoon?”

“A millionaire? It’s just a little bit more leisurely for a world that’s underwater.”

“Not only the satellite communication equipment, but also all the items I requested were provided to you, didn’t you?”

“Well, aren’t you the one who saved my life? Of course I should do it for you. If you need anything else, just let me know.”

As his nickname, ‘Golden Hands of Poop Island’ suggests, Hyunwoo’s father was able to find and fix anything, no matter how difficult it was.

“More than that, tell me. How did you succeed in this underwater world? You said you were a junk dealer, so did you make a lot of profit by selling the junk you selected?”

“We didn’t make much profit by selling scrap metal. What actually made the most profit was renting out equipment.”

“Do you want to rent equipment?”

“Yes. The island’s resources, that is, the trash, are piled up in a mess. How are we going to get them out?”

“Oh! If we want to dig things out and organize them, we’ll need heavy equipment like a crane.”

“In addition to cranes, there are also cases where excavators are needed. For example, what if you are extracting oil from an oil tanker? You will need a variety of equipment, such as pumps, generators, and tanks to store the oil. I can provide or rent such equipment.”

“Wow! So there was a way like that.”

I snapped my fingers in admiration.

Trash Island was like the American Wild West in the early days.

Just as if one were digging for gold in a wasteland without ownership, anyone who picked up and dug up trash on the vast island of garbage would own it.

To protect this ownership right, the island naturally developed its own self-government, which levied taxes on the buying and selling of waste, using the money to fund elections and the maintenance of an army and police.

In this stable situation, people worked hard to dig through the trash in order to survive and to make a fortune.

Needless to say, the business of equipment for digging up and storing waste is booming.

This is a total platform business.

Is this really the best platform?

And the platform was on my side.

“I think I learned a trick in financial investment.”

“Hey, why are you doing this? I learned a thing or two. Thank you for choosing me as your distributor and shipyard partner.”

Hyunwoo’s father bowed and expressed his gratitude.

The sale and distribution of sea lotus pistils on Trash Island was entrusted to Hyunwoo’s father.

And we planned to build a shipyard in a place called ‘the graveyard of ships.’

While we were talking about the shipyard, we arrived at the ship before we knew it.

“Stop! Identify yourself.”

A voice came from the trap, as if at a gate check.

Hyunwoo’s father and Captain Kim revealed their identities.

The Navy will already have a grasp of the situation on the island, so there will be no problem in confirming the truth.

As expected, shortly thereafter, the net ladder was lowered.

“Permission to board.”

Captain Kim, Hyunwoo’s father, and I climbed the ladder in turn.

On deck, sailors were waiting with guns drawn.

After they searched our bodies, they took us to the wheelhouse.

The person who greeted us was a sergeant.

Since I knew that the commander was Colonel Jang, I naturally assumed that he would guide me.

But then a sergeant ended up sitting in the captain’s seat in the wheelhouse.

The captain’s chair was raised a notch so that he could overlook the wheelhouse as if he were sitting on a throne.

Officers lined up on either side of the sergeant, whose feet did not touch the floor, as if lining up to a king.

We stood at his feet like a delegation.

Hey! What is this?

Is the sergeant the captain of this ship? Or the commander of the fleet?

It wasn’t just me, Captain Kim seemed confused as well.

He asked, blinking his eyes like a broken headlight.

“Excuse me, where is Colonel Jang Do-hoon?”

“Colonel Jang is not feeling well, so he should be resting. Since you have delegated command of the fleet to me, if you have anything to say, just tell me.”

No matter how sick Colonel Jang was, there was no way he could hand over command directly to a sergeant in the chain of command.

Besides, there were officers of higher rank next to him.

What the heck! Was there a mutiny on board?

With the world underwater, it would not have been easy to discipline soldiers simply because they were of high rank.

I didn’t think a mutiny on board was impossible.

Come to think of it, the atmosphere in the wheelhouse was strange.

The officers’ attitude toward the sergeant was very obedient.

It was a closer, yet more formal relationship than the hierarchical one you see in the military.

What is this? A polite attitude as if you were addressing an elder in that family.

Regardless of rank, the sergeant looked younger than the officers.

I need to find out what on earth is going on.

Aside from my detective instincts, I was curious.

I stepped forward and opened my mouth.

“Sergeant Park Hyo-chung.”

The dog tag engraved on the sergeant’s chest read “Park Hyo-chung.”

“We have no intention of fighting the Navy, we just want to trade freely and live in peace as before. That’s why we brought you a small gift.”

“A gift?”

“Yes. I brought some oil.”

They brought drums filled with oil onto the ship.

“petroleum?”

Sergeant Park Hyo-chung asked as if it was the first time he had heard the word oil.

He rolled his eyes as if thinking.

At that moment, another black pupil appeared to pass through the white one.

Hey! What’s that?

But because it was so fleeting, it seemed like other people didn’t see it.

The sergeant spoke as if he had just remembered.

“Petroleum? Thanks.”

if!

Suddenly, I remembered the story I heard when I sent Hyang-i to the fleet to scout.

But it seems a bit different from what’s in the monster guide.

Is that really him?

The wheelhouse was dark, and with my nerves on edge as I entered enemy territory, I might have mistaken the black pupils.

However, if that were true, it could be quite annoying.

I asked the question again.

“Yumangpohui!”

“Promising prospect?”

Sergeant Park questioned as if he were talking about oil.

And rolled his eyes.

This time I saw it for sure.

For a moment, something like another black eye flashed by.

Captain Kim looked at me and asked.

“Detective Kim, what did you say? Yumangpoi, Yumangpohui? What do you mean?”

“Yumangpohui? I heard it from a friend who was in the Navy. Do you know anything about it?”

“Promising prospect?”

The officers questioned Sergeant Park.

I observed their eyes closely.

‘Yumangpohui’ is just a made-up word to make them search their brain’s memory.

“I don’t know.”

The officers answered.

“Oh, I must have remembered wrong. Sorry.”

I bowed my head and apologized.

The sergeant accepted my apology as if it were no big deal.

“It’s okay. Since you said you wanted peace, let’s not talk about the details over dinner.”

“Food? That sounds good… … .”

I cut off Captain Kim as he was about to answer.

“Ah! Meal. What should we do? We just had lunch. Let’s do it next time. Now that we’ve confirmed the basic principles, let’s talk about it over a meal next time.”

I tried to leave with them both.

Then the officers surrounded us and blocked our way.

“If you don’t include a meal when entertaining guests, it’s considered rude as a Navy member. Don’t eat with us.”

We had no choice but to follow Sergeant Park down to the dining hall.

Hyunwoo’s father asked in a small voice.

“Detective Kim, what happened?”

“I’ll explain later. For now, never eat any fish dishes.”

We arrived at the restaurant.

A placard was hung in the restaurant that read, ‘Welcome to the Dream Island Negotiation Team!’

And the food was prepared buffet-style, as if it were a party.

“Then, eat as much as you want.”

Sergeant Park handed us the plates himself.

Captain Kim whispered to me.

“Detective Kim. There’s no dish that doesn’t have fish.”

As Captain Kim said, various types of sashimi and sushi were spread out on the table.