Chapter 135: The Captain of Captains

“I want to serve you as my Captain!”

“Captain?”

“Barents Beastmen serve the strong as their Captain! Lord Outer, you are strong enough to be my Captain!”

Akila’s tail wagged.

It was a mismatched yet somewhat cute sight on the large wolf Beastman.

‘If I become the Captain of the Barents Beastmen king, won’t that cause problems?’

‘It should be fine. Lord Outer, you’re hard to see as just a human. They’ll listen to you well, so it’ll be a help to the Union too.’

‘If you say so.’

Choi Kangjoong decided to become Akila’s Captain.

Akila rubbed his long snout against Choi Kangjoong’s leg.

After sharing scents, he sprang up and shouted to his warriors.

“From now on, this person is my Captain!”

Waaaaah!

The warriors raised their axes and cheered.

“He’s the Captain’s Captain!”

“For me, he’s the Captain’s Captain’s Captain!”

“For him, he’s the Captain’s Captain’s Captain’s Captain!”

The Barents Beastmen accepted Choi Kangjoong as Akila’s Captain without any objection.

A Captain’s orders were absolute, and as Barents Beastmen society grew larger and more complex, it had become common for there to be a Captain above a Captain.

“Captain! What should we do now?”

“First, we need to recover.”

“Understood!”

Akila quickly gave orders to restore the city.

His command traveled through the chain of Captains, and the Barents Beastmen began moving the wounded and clearing the collapsed buildings.

“We need to feed them first. They’ll eat raw meat, right?”

“They even tear into Magic Beasts.”

“The taste was pretty nasty, but I guess they were incredibly hungry.”

Choi Kangjoong moved into Kuongi’s interior.

Kuongi also served as the Expedition Fleet’s supply base, so there were enormous stockpiles of materials.

“Move all of that.”

Walkers transported packaged meat to the Varangt Capital.

Akila called the Captains under him and distributed the meat.

Everyone’s faces brightened at the fresh meat they hadn’t had in a long time.

Medical supplies were also distributed, increasing the survival rate of the injured Barents Beastmen.

“Lord Outer, let’s go to the front.”

“Why there?”

“At the front, there’s the Barents army that was fighting the Demons. But the Conditional Archduke appeared at the Varangt Capital without even fighting them.”

“You mean they’ve turned to the Demons?”

“Yes. Let’s deal with them before they cross over to the Demon Realm.”

“Alright.”

Choi Kangjoong told Akila about this.

“That’s right! General Chinpai, who guards the fortress, has turned to the Demons!”

“I’ll go handle that.”

“I’ll go too!”

“You need to command here.”

“Understood!”

Akila decided to follow Choi Kangjoong’s order for now.

Choi Kangjoong moved to the Frontier Fortress with Iselin.

The fortress, remodeled from a small Dimension, was thick with Demonic Energy, just as Iselin had expected.

The screams of Barents Beastmen flowed out, making it clear what was happening inside even without looking.

“When there’s no war, the Demons of Ruin fight amongst themselves or torture their slaves.”

Choi Kangjoong listened to Iselin’s words while summoning Kuongi.

Soon, Hell Cannons fired from the fortress.

The accuracy was terrible, but Kuongi was so large that even random shots hit.

Still, the Hell Cannons couldn’t pierce Kuongi’s Chitin Gauntlet.

Kuongi turned its body, aimed at the fortress, and opened its mouth.

Kwaaaaaang!

Kuongi’s Breath pounded against the Shield surrounding the fortress.

The hastily constructed Magic couldn’t hold for long and shattered.

Kuongi moved above the fortress and dropped Bio Pods.

The fortress was thrown into chaos in an instant.

There were Demons, but not many.

Most had been consumed near the capital.

Not long after, all the Demons and Magic Beasts had fallen into the Soil Pit.

The Barents Beastmen tainted by Demonic Energy met the same fate.

The Barents Beastmen who resisted to the end were rescued and sent to the capital.

“I heard there were at least three hundred million Barents Beastmen in this fortress alone, but there aren’t many left.”

“It seems they had a civil war. Look over there.”

In several places, the corpses of Barents Beastmen were piled up like mountains.

Choi Kangjoong could roughly picture the situation.

* General Chinpai turned to the Demons, a rebellion broke out, and it was brutally suppressed.

The remaining Barents Beastmen numbered about one hundred million.

Only one hundred thousand were rescued.

According to them, there had originally been prisoners in the tens of millions, but unable to endure the torture, they either converted or were killed by the Demons out of boredom, leaving only that many.

Nothing remained in the fortress swept through by Apocalid.

Only blood and fur told the tale of what had happened there.

“You’ve worked hard. I’ll handle the rest.”

“Shall I make a Direct Gate too?”

“I’d be grateful if you did.”

Choi Kangjoong sent Iselin to the Varangt Capital and connected it to Deraellan.

He made the diameter large enough for the Life Spirit to pass through as well.

Choi Kangjoong received the farewells of the Barents Beastmen and returned home.

After washing up and sitting in his chair, a sense of satisfaction washed over him.

“It’s a good thing we stopped them before they all turned to the Demons.”

Choi Kangjoong thought he understood why Iselin had proposed the Union to the Barents Beastmen.

Their bodies were strong, their nature rough, but they also had a simple side.

Their strong sense of community meant if they saw the Union as the same community, they would clearly contribute a lot.

“Food is a problem, but Iselin will handle it.”

For the Barents Beastmen, almost all infrastructure was destroyed, and food production had plummeted.

Still, he decided not to worry since the Enterprise Union had a surplus of food.

“Let’s go to the Chamber of Evolution.”

Choi Kangjoong entered the Chamber of Evolution.

[Evolution Points Held: 2,541,902,122 points]

“Two point five billion points! Fighting Demons really makes the Evolution Points shoot up.”

Even Choi Kangjoong thought it was rapid growth.

“I should use this for two Species Evolutions.”

He evolved Psionic Combat Nerve and Enhanced Psionic to the eighth stage.

His combat skills and Psionic abilities were enhanced.

Attack power was sufficient, so he decided to do Psionic Chitin Blade later. Psionic Biological Weapon eighth stage could only be used from Colony Class onward, so there was no immediate need.

“Corrosion Spore appeared too. Well done.”

“Keeek!”

While Choi Kangjoong was fighting, Kai had secretly diverted Doomsburg from the IANT Colony and dropped it into the Soil Pit.

“I need to make an Apocalid to spread this.”

Choi Kangjoong applied the Evolution Code called Corrosion Spore, based on the Bomber Giant.

In the space where biological torpedoes or bombs would be carried, a pouch grew where Corrosion Spores would develop.

[A new Giant Class has been born.]

[Would you like to name it?]

“Let’s call it Swarm.”

[Apocalid Swarm Giant will be saved.]

“I’ll produce one thousand Swarm Giants, five million Walkers, and eight hundred thousand Scouts.”

Since they would be fighting Dark Elves, he focused production on small, fast Apocalids.

[Apocalid Mass Production Complete in 467:00:00]

“Why is the production time like that?”

The production time wasn’t halved, but reduced to one-third.

Choi Kangjoong soon found the cause.

It was thanks to the Hive Class he had produced not long ago.

A Hive Class, slightly smaller than Kuongi, was circling near the Apocalyde Dimension.

“I’ll call you Dark Eater.”

Dark Eater let out a low cry.

“Set the fleet trait to Rapid Mobility and take mostly the fast ones.”

Dark Eater assigned Apocalids under it, focusing on Air Walkers, Air Scouts, Fighter Warriors, Fighter Giants, Swarm Giants, and Light Titans.

Those Apocalids gained the ability called Rapid Mobility through a brief evolution.

It was an ability to move short distances quickly, useful for chasing Dark Elves.

It was also good for dodging the Gratis’s Pajijik Cannons, which Silvius’s Dark Elves used to enslave them.

“If we spread Corrosion Spores and use Rapid Mobility, the Dark Elves won’t be able to do anything.”

*Choi Kangjoong smiled contentedly.

Something else pleased him.

Once this mass production was complete, the total number of Apocalids would exceed ten million.

Finally, an eight-digit number achieved.

“Ten million is more like the Apocalids!”

It felt like he was getting closer to the racial concept of ‘Infinite Hunger’ that would cover the world.

Choi Kangjoong lounged in his room, listening to news about the Barents from Iselin.

When Akila said he would join the Union, full-scale support poured in from the Union Dimension.

Freighters came and went daily through the Gate Choi Kangjoong had opened, and envoys came and went.

Whenever he turned on the TV, something about the Barents Beastmen was on.

Experts and researchers came out to explain what kind of species the Barents Beastmen were, their society, culture, and so on.

“Hello, viewers. I’m here in Varangt now. Originally, it would take over a month of sailing the Dimensional Sea to get here. Thanks to the Gate installed by Lord Outer, it only takes an hour from Deraellan!”

Dytubers, who could smell trending topics like ghosts, also flocked to Varangt.

“There’s a Barents Beastman standing over there! Shall we try talking to them?”

A Dytuber who had arrived at the harbor approached a Barents Beastman.

The chat was filled with comments like ‘scary,’ ‘will get eaten,’ ‘will be torn apart by claws.’

“Hello!”

“Hello.”

“I’m a Dytuber, is it okay if I broadcast this?”

“What is broadcast?”

“Broadcast is…”

After the Dytuber’s lengthy explanation, the Barents Beastman understood and nodded.

“What do you usually eat?”

“Eat meat.”

“What do you mainly do on your days off?”

“Like exercise. Like fighting. Also like drinking and gambling.”

“Do you look at me and think you want to eat me?”

The Barents Beastman brought his nose close to the Dytuber and sniffed.

“Eeek!”

The Dytuber flinched violently.

“You talk. Smell good. Not for eating.”

“So you eat people who don’t smell good?”

“Don’t eat people. Humans and Elves saved us. My daughter didn’t starve thanks to the food Humans and Elves gave.”

“Oh, I see.”

The unexpected answer flustered the Dytuber.

The chat also started to have comments like ‘cute’ or ‘looks reliable’ popping up.

“What was the battle like then?”

“Horrible. My comrade bit me. Hit him, but he didn’t come to his senses. Carried him around in that state until he regained his mind. Look at this.”

The Barents Beastman pushed his shoulder forward.

The area, as big as a watermelon, was covered in scars.

“Ah… What happened to that person?”

“Later, he got better, so I hit him on the head and sent him to the treatment center.”

“Your willpower is amazing.”

“That guy is my comrade. Comrades don’t kill comrades.”

“What do you have to do to become such a comrade?”

“Fight me ten times.”

“Won’t I die then?”

“What are you talking about? Fight together!”

“Ah, that’s what you meant.”

Public opinion quickly turned favorable toward the Barents Beastmen’s inner selves, different from their exterior.

A few weeks later, Akila went to Marsala to sign the Union accession document.

Iselin went to greet him, while Choi Kangjoong watched the scene on TV with his family.

“Is that Akila? He’s really huge.”

“He looks well over two meters tall.”

Choi Jooyoung and Yoo Haein said.

Akila, having disembarked from the Dimension Ship, looked around.

He also raised his nose high and sniffed.

“Captain is not here! Want to see Captain! Thought Captain would be here if I came!”

The image of Akila roaring that he wanted to see Choi Kangjoong was broadcast across the entire Union.

“Your brother says he misses you. Go see him quickly.”

“I’m not going. Look how many cameras are there.”

“Between Demons and cameras, which is scarier for you?”

“Cameras, of course.”

“Honestly.”