The Only Enhancer - Chapter 184

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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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Chapter 184
184 – Pacific Ocean Voyage (1)
0.
Even with the trade routes blocked, ships still had no choice but to traverse the sea lanes.
The cargo capacity of aircraft was limited, and to keep costs down, the ocean remained the only viable option.
Yet hiring Hunters was difficult, so it was not uncommon to witness entire crews annihilated when they encountered monsters mid-voyage.
Of course, if a vessel were equipped with high-level magic stones like those on massive airships, it would be possible to avoid monsters below a certain tier.
But especially in poorer nations, even this was beyond reach—cargo ships sailed without any protective magic stones at all.
Island nations suffered particularly severely.
There was no choice. Goods transported by air came at a premium.
Even accepting the risk, the cheaper route was preferable.
That said, it wasn’t inherently as dangerous as one might think.
After all, monsters maintained distinct territories.
Once initial trial-and-error was overcome, radar could be used to navigate the sea lanes effectively. But recently, the monsters’ movements had grown unsettling.
Marca, the first mate, could not help but wear a troubled expression as he studied the radar.
“Captain, monsters are moving in massive numbers. Immediate departure is impossible. Would it not be wise to remain anchored here until the creatures settle?”
“…Are you in your right mind? Do you have any idea how many people are starving back home?”
“B-but if we proceed like this and encounter even a single monster, we’ll all perish! And it’s not just us who’ll die!!! The people of your homeland will starve to death as well!!!”
“…Sigh, even so, we cannot remain here indefinitely. We’ve already been anchored here for five days. Surely we must depart now? The voyage is already a week behind schedule.”
The Captain’s impatience was perhaps understandable.
They had already lingered for five days, yet there was no sign of the monsters settling down.
If anything, they were growing more frenzied.
True, the radar signals from the rampaging creatures were fading from the radar’s range, but he simply assumed they were moving farther away.
After waiting so long with no improvement, the Captain’s patience had finally worn thin.
Of course, Marca, the first mate, understood this well enough, but that didn’t justify taking unnecessary risks.
The starving people back home? Naturally, Marca too longed to arrive as quickly as possible for their sake. But if they encountered a monster in the process?
If only they died, it would be manageable. But if cargo of this magnitude were lost, most of the nation’s citizens could starve to death.
Even if they somehow obtained supplies by air, only the wealthy would benefit.
The common people could die. So while Marca desperately wanted to proceed, he advocated for seeing the bigger picture.
The Captain understood Marca’s reasoning and had no choice but to concede.
Grinding his teeth at the helplessness of their weak nation, he nodded in reluctant acceptance.
“Very well. We’ll wait a bit longer.”
At the Captain’s words, Marca offered no further comment, simply saluted in gratitude and withdrew to his room.
With the decision to remain anchored longer, he could afford some rest.
Of course, he still needed to monitor the radar, but the creatures that had been clamorous five days ago showed no signs of quieting now, so he simply closed his eyes.
While Marca rested, the Junior Navigator radioed him.
-Crackle! First Mate Marca! An unusual signal has been detected!
-Crackle! I repeat! An unusual signal has been detected!
At those words, Marca jolted awake from his bed and grabbed the radio.
He immediately transmitted back to inquire further.
Screech!
“An unusual reading?! What kind of reading are you talking about?! Could the monsters be heading this way?”
-Screech! Ah, no, that’s not it. There’s a cargo ship larger than ours showing up on radar, and I’m not sure if that’s right!
Screech!
“W-what are you saying?! A cargo ship larger than ours?!”
They themselves were straining to operate a massive cargo ship, so could the junior navigator have misread something?
But the strange report didn’t end there.
-Screech screech! That’s not all—the strange part is that it’s coming from the direction the monsters were moving! At first I thought it might be a giant monster, so I checked and got a radio response!
Hearing this, Marca tilted his head in confusion.
What in the world did that mean?
Marca himself would have thought a massive monster was heading their way if he hadn’t heard the junior navigator’s explanation just now, but a radio response? And the radar was picking it up as a cargo ship—that meant it was an officially registered vessel.
Feeling his common sense crumble, Marca shouted urgently.
Screech!
“I’m going to check it out right now. Don’t do anything while I’m gone! And don’t even think about trying to radio them!”
-Screech screech! Of course! We’ll be waiting!
After hearing the junior navigator’s final radio transmission, Marca hurried toward the navigation room.
It wasn’t far, so he arrived quickly and, brushing past the welcoming junior navigators, rushed straight to the radar display.
“Th-this is…”
The junior navigator had been telling the truth. He’d wondered if they’d mistaken a giant monster for something else, but it really was a cargo ship. And several times larger than theirs at that.
Which meant it had come from the direction those monsters were moving—but what did that even mean?
Unable to comprehend the meaning, he swallowed hard.
Was it some kind of ghost ship?
How could it have survived among those monsters and made it here?
As Marca trembled with such thoughts, the indicators of the monsters that kept appearing were heading toward that massive cargo ship.
And watching the monsters’ signals rapidly disappear upon reaching the cargo ship, Marca stared in disbelief as if he’d encountered some urban legend, completely at a loss for what to do.
‘Should I try radioing them? No, what if it’s a monster in disguise? But can a monster that size even camouflage itself in the first place?’
Such tangled thoughts swirled frantically through his mind.
But Marca had few options available to him.
He could either flee quickly from here or attempt to radio that vessel.
If it were a monster, radioing would expose their location the moment he transmitted, making it as good as a death sentence. Marca could only tremble uncontrollably.
The thought that the lives of these sailors and his countrymen depended on whatever action he took made it impossible to decide hastily.
Unable to make a decision, Marca remained frozen, and the other navigators could only tremble as well.
In such a situation, anyone would naturally be terrified.
As they all trembled, a radio transmission came through.
-Screech screech screech! Ah, ah. Can you hear me? We’ve determined your situation to be dangerous and are transmitting. Over.
Unmistakably a human voice!
Marca was startled and was deliberating whether to respond when—
-Screech screech screech! Ah. Ah. This is a navigation vessel of the Reinforce Guild. You can respond safely. Do you need assistance? Over.
At the mention of the Reinforce Guild, Marca jumped and responded.
-Screech! Th-this is the Terrario! We’re a cargo ship! There’s been monster activity in the area, and we’ve been anchored here unable to move for days! C-can you help us? Over.
For reasons unclear, there was silence on the radio for a while before a response finally came through.
-Screeeech! This is Reinforce, this is Reinforce. We will assist your voyage. Guild Master Kim Min-jun of the Reinforce Guild has personally ordered us to help! Over. We will follow behind. We will come. Over.
At that final transmission, Marca and the navigators embraced each other, tears of joy streaming down their faces.
The Reinforce Guild!
What were the odds of encountering a navigation vessel operated by Reinforce—and one carrying the Guild Master himself—in this vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean?
Marca wept tears of joy at this miraculous fact.
“Ah! Ahhhhh! We’re saved!”
“People of our homeland! We’re going! No—Reinforce is coming!”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
While they were celebrating in this manner,
one oblivious navigator said something that seemed off.
“Wait, how did the Reinforce Guild even know that monsters were causing chaos here?”
Several navigators’ expressions shifted to confusion at the question, but Marca let out a roar with a demonic expression on his face.
“IIIIIIIIIIIIIINOOOOOOOOOOM!!!! TO THE REINFORCE GUILD!!!! THEY MUST HAVE COME WITH GREAT PURPOSE!!!!!!!!!!”
“Ah, y-yes, that’s right. I was shortsighted. My apologies.”
In the midst of such joy, it seemed odd to wonder about such things, but it was possible.
Everyone was simply celebrating.
1.
Of course, Min-jun was aware that there were other navigation vessels. That’s why he had driven the Reinforce Guild members hard for days to hunt down all the nearby monsters, but when they still didn’t move, something seemed off to Min-jun, so he asked the navigators about it—he had spotted the Terrario from a distance but it wasn’t moving, so he asked what was going on.
He asked the navigators what was happening with the Terrario, which he could see from afar but wasn’t moving.
The navigators naturally jumped up and asked how he knew when it wasn’t even detected on radar, and they answered that they thought the ship was anchored because the monsters were causing such a commotion that it could be dangerous.
If he had known that from the beginning, things wouldn’t have gone this way.
“Hmm, it seems I’ve caused trouble unintentionally.”
When Min-jun said this, Ma Hyun-seok looked at him with a genuinely exasperated expression.
How could one see a ship and think, “Why isn’t it moving? Something must be going on,” and just leave it at that?
Besides, wasn’t it clearly because of them?
Thinking such thoughts, Ma Hyun-seok sighed and nodded.
Well, that’s probably why he didn’t drive the monsters away more aggressively.
But he might not have realized that this itself was the problem.
From the perspective of a navigation vessel, wouldn’t everything be fine if there were no monsters?
It wasn’t really Min-jun’s major fault.
It was simply that possessing such overwhelming power had caused this situation to arise.
For that reason, Ma Hyun-seok patted Min-jun on the shoulder and spoke.
“Still, isn’t it fortunate that you’ve now realized it and are escorting them as if guiding them?”
“Well, I suppose that’s true.”
“Besides, it was because we didn’t have money to buy powerful magic stones.”
“Hmm, so I reinforced the cargo ship a bit. I should probably mention that.”
“…Yeah, they won’t know unless you tell them.”

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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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