I Became a Veteran Who Has to Stir Up Trouble to Survive - Chapter 69

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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[069] The Finest Ingredients
The next day, after taking sufficient rest, we made our way to the dock.
Upon arriving at the harbor, a supply cart bound for the Temple was just about to depart.
“Fortunately, we made it just in time. You two draw some attention. Radi, come here.”
I used Malton and Karen as a distraction, then slipped discreetly into the inner harbor with Radi.
｢You’ve transformed into a Rapid Crab!｣
｢Swift and sturdy creatures! Be careful not to get steamed in a pot!｣
As I completed my transformation against the backdrop of Malton and the fishermen’s hearty laughter echoing faintly, Radi concealed me within her robe and whispered.
“If you pinch me even once, I’m throwing you into the sea.”
Click!
Radi reached the back of the cart in a single bound through Shadow Leap and opened a heavy crate.
With a jolt, I was tossed inside, buried beneath thrashing fish and seawater.
Beyond the rippling surface, I heard Radi’s muffled voice.
“I’ll wedge a stone in the lid’s gap so you can escape anytime. Good luck out there.”
Click!
I snapped my claws in acknowledgment.
But an unexpected variable emerged.
‘C-cold! So cold!! Freezing…!’
A biting chill seeped through my carapace.
They’d packed the crate full of ice to maintain freshness.
As my body temperature plummeted, I felt my reflexes dulling and my metabolism slowing—the curse of being a cold-blooded creature.
‘W-what happens if I lose consciousness while transformed…?’
My body wouldn’t obey me.
How much time had passed? As the cart jolted along, I fought to keep my consciousness from slipping away….
Ding─!
｢Your metabolic activity has dropped critically due to the low temperature! If you lose consciousness now, your disguise may unravel!｣
‘E-escape…!’
I desperately thrashed my legs and burst out of the crate.
The scene before me was completely different from the rough harbor filled with fishermen.
‘This is… a kitchen?’
A noisy space where people in chef’s hats moved about busily.
With meal preparations underway, the sounds of bubbling pots and rhythmic knife work echoed from all directions.
In the corner of the room stood a large tank designed to maintain optimal freshness.
‘The infiltration succeeded…!’
As I stood dazed, warming my frozen body, a massive shadow fell across me.
“Well, well, a Rapid Crab has escaped.”
The Head Chef, who had been cleaning shrimp nearby, approached and reached out.
‘If I revert my transformation, my infiltration will be exposed…!’
But if I let myself be caught, I’d end up in a steamer.
There was only one option left for me.
I slowly extended my claw and pinched the Head Chef’s gloved finger with all my might.
“Argh!!”
｢The Head Chef writhes in pain and flails about! Agility temporarily increases by 2!｣
“Grab that crab!!”
At the Head Chef’s cry, the Cooks came rushing over in a flustered panic, wielding cooking utensils.
I scuttled sideways with a rapid skittering sound, quickly searching for an escape route.
Though my depth perception was terrible, thanks to the crab’s naturally wide field of vision, the entire kitchen unfolded before me like a panorama.
Ladles, spatulas, and even potatoes came flying from all directions with fierce momentum.
Clack! Like a fencer, I batted away the projectiles with my claws and hid beneath the counter.
The moment a careless Cook leaned down, I clamped his nose like a clothespin and, using the screams echoing through the kitchen as background music, bit at the feet darting about in every direction.
It was truly a case of one against a hundred.
‘Pathetic humans! Come at me all at once!!’
｢Screams erupt from all directions! The Cooks fall into complete chaos!｣
｢Agility and Strength each increase by 5!｣
When someone thrust a poker at me, I had no choice but to dart out from under the counter, and a fork flew at my carapace, but my thick shell deflected it easily.
I crushed the skewers rushing toward me with my claws while my mind raced.
‘More and more people are gathering.’
I was putting up a decent fight, but at this rate, I’d be caught in no time.
I had to divert their attention somehow.
As I rapidly scanned my surroundings, a brilliant idea struck me.
I deliberately turned my back to the onrushing Cooks and headed toward a dead end.
“Drive it into the corner!!”
The moment the Cooks closed in their encirclement, thinking it was over—
‘Full-force body slam!’
I rammed straight into the enormous pot of soup that was bubbling away over the fire.
And where the boiling water spilled—
“W-what?! Stop it now!!”
There was a crate filled with my own kin, Rapid Crabs.
｢The water temperature rises sharply, awakening the hibernating Rapid Crabs!｣
｢They are extremely angry at the humans who captured and confined them!｣
Dozens of enraged Rapid Crabs that had been sleeping in the crate suddenly burst out all at once.
Without understanding what was happening, as if venting their frustration at nearly being steamed, they began savagely tearing into the Cooks with their claws.
“Argh!! The Rapid Crabs have escaped!!”
“Nets! Someone bring nets!!”
But this wasn’t the end.
‘If I’m going to cause chaos, I’ll do it right.’
Using my enhanced strength, I struck the tank with all my might using my claws.
Crack!
As cracks spiderwebbed across the glass, the Cooks who had been trying to restore order cried out in alarm.
“Stop that crab first!!”
The moment the Cooks lunged forward, I struck the glass once more—crack! The aquarium shattered spectacularly.
The Cooks, battered by the torrent of water against their faces, tumbled backward in disarray, while fresh seafood scattered wildly in the deluge.
The Head Chef, who had been charging forward with his kitchen knife, was slapped across the cheek by a sea turtle and skidded backward, while an enraged school of flying fish darted across the kitchen in chaos.
‘The grace of Neptune! How pathetic these humans are!!’
It was pandemonium incarnate.
「Great chaos has descended upon the kitchen! [Antagon’s Rune] chuckles with delight!」
「All stats temporarily increase by 6!」
I wove cooking twine around the Cooks’ ankles to trip them, then leisurely slipped out of the kitchen.
The humans, too preoccupied with the onslaught of fresh ingredients, no longer had the presence of mind to pursue me.
‘Mission complete. Time to drop the disguise.’
I entered an empty room, discarded my disguise, draped a curtain around myself like a robe, and set out to find the whereabouts of the Holy Trident.
If the Priesthood were obsessed with records, they would surely have documented everything somewhere within the Temple.
‘And a temple like this always has a basement…!’
Thanks to the commotion drawing everyone to the kitchen, I managed to reach the basement staircase without encountering a soul.
Descending the stairs, I found several rooms and entered what appeared to be an Archive.
Among the scattered parchments and documents, I discovered a letter that looked recently exchanged.
…Damn it! The trident that cleaves the ocean has been stolen! They exploited the gap we left in security while embezzling bribes! It bears all the hallmarks of a professional Bandit Gang’s work!
We must never let the public know that the Holy Trident has been lost. Send trackers discreetly to recover it.
So where is the Holy Trident now?
…It is believed to be in the Balearic Archipelago.
“Tsk….”
The Balearic Archipelago. I had heard of it before—a place not far from here by ship.
The problem was that it was a lawless wasteland teeming with Pirates.
The Balearic Archipelago had always been protected by codes that only Pirates could decipher, and with its treacherous currents and reefs, outsiders couldn’t even approach it.
‘Damn… So I’m entangled with those Pirates again.’
Still, obtaining a lead on the Holy Trident’s location was good news.
I quietly returned the letter to its original place and slipped out of the Archive.
After passing through the still-chaotic corridors and escaping the Temple, I saw my companions waiting with anxious expressions.
Radi immediately dragged me into an alley and brushed the water from my hair, asking urgently.
“I heard screaming… Did you find anything?”
“Yes. Have you ever heard of the Balearic Archipelago?”
“The Balearic Archipelago?”
Radi tilted her head in confusion, but Malton and Karen’s expressions hardened immediately at the name.
“The Balearic Archipelago… Isn’t that a Pirates’ den?”
“It’s a mysterious lawless region that’s impossible to even enter without being a Pirate. You’re saying the rest of the Holy Trident is really there?”
“According to the letter I found in the Archive, yes. It seems the Religious Orders even sent a fleet to retrieve it, but they failed.”
“Then how do we get there?”
“Well… the answer is obvious.”
For poison, consult a poisoner; for passage to a Pirates’ lair, consult a Pirate.
* * *
Bogglehead Boggles and his subordinates gulped down rum in their usual corner of the tavern.
Five years had passed since I’d taken up piracy, yet the harbor’s atmosphere had grown so ominous that my income had dwindled to nothing.
I’d scraped together every coin I had to smuggle a few barrels of cheap oil, but with seawater contaminating them during the voyage, I couldn’t even guarantee fair compensation.
“Damn it… what are honest pirates like us supposed to eat…?”
As I grumbled and soothed my bitter stomach with harsh rum, a solitary man sitting in a corner by the window caught my eye.
Under normal circumstances, I would have ignored him, but something peculiar resonated within me at the sight of him.
Skin darkened to pitch-black by the sun, crow’s feet etched by sea winds, sleeves stiffened by salt spray.
Judging by his unkempt beard, he was no naval officer.
‘A pirate from foreign waters. Just docking temporarily, perhaps?’
A brilliant idea suddenly struck me, and I exchanged a contemptible grin with my subordinates before sidling up to the man and striking up a conversation.
“A seafarer I haven’t seen around these parts. Welcome to Liberta, where freedom breathes and lives! My name is Boggles—Bogglehead Boggles, as the notorious name goes. What’s yours?”
“Pleased to meet you, fellow businessman. I’m Barbo, the terror that haunts the Carabdis Coast. The tempests of Liberta here truly live up to their name—genuinely free, aren’t they?”
“Ha! For us seafarers living freely upon the rough waves, the storms of Liberta are nothing short of a blessing!”
As I exchanged pleasantries celebrating the sea, I smoothly steered the conversation toward my true purpose.
“But tell me, brother of the Carabdis Coast—what brings you to these parts?”
“I have some business to attend to in the Balearic Archipelago.”
“Is that so?”
Exchanging meaningful glances with my companions, I continued with sinister intent.
“How fortunate! We’ll guide you there! The Balearic Archipelago is like our own home—we know it well! Though our ship’s deck is under repair at the moment, so if you don’t mind, shall we take yours?”
“Ah, I’m grateful for such kindness from a fellow countryman. Then let’s depart at once. Though I’ve left my purse behind… could you settle the tavern bill for us?”
“The tavern bill? Well… ah, that’s nothing….”
My pride stung for a moment, but I forced a smile and opened my purse.
After all, I planned to extract several times this amount from him anyway.
‘Yes, laugh freely for now!’
The moment he let his guard down, my subordinates and I would plunge our blades into his back and rob him blind.
Boggles and his companions hummed cheerfully as they followed Barbo.
After passing through Liberta’s back alleys and entering a desolate passage, I spoke up.
“So, where’s your ship?”
“Just around that corner and—”
Suddenly, a canister rolled toward us, and thick gas billowed upward in clouds.
“What is this…?”
The moment my subordinate picked up the canister and looked skyward, a dull thud sounded as a cotton Bolt struck his head with brutal force.
“An ambush!!”
My companions’ screams erupted.
In an instant, masked assailants rushed in, beating my subordinates senseless, while flames blocked our escape route.
By the time I regained my senses, everyone except me lay sprawled on the ground.
And beyond the smoke, Barbo—the very man I’d shared drinks with moments ago—approached with a sinister smile, walking with a peculiar gait.
“Now then, shall we have a calm conversation? You know the way to the Balearic Archipelago, don’t you?”
The laughter in that voice belonged to an entirely different man.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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