Chapter 173
J: 30% edited. I did not mean to, but the s.p.a.ce expansion marble was interesting.
I checked once more wondering if 10 cubits would merely be 10 1 meter cubed cubes but I was wrong. 10 cubits was a cube where each edge was 10 meters long.
In other words, it's 1000 times larger than 1 cubit……
Ah. Then how many times larger is 20 cubits?
It's 20 cubed. 8000 times?
d.a.m.n.
I'm getting a bit dizzy.
If I had applied a 20 cubit die on the van then I would have obtained s.p.a.ce that is larger than 100 container boxes combined.
At this level, even a submarine of this size would feel the change. It might be possible to apply dozens of these to create a large moving base.
For now, there was a need to experiment with this.
I stopped the soldier and returned to the cabin. There was no need to experiment in a place other people were looking after all.
"What were you doing this entire time?"
Only Edward was in the cabin. It seems An Gyu-b.u.m was still conversing with the Colonel. Jeon Min-jeong should, of course, be next to An Gyu-b.u.m.
I thought that it was timely and closed the cabin door for now. The soldiers that were standing outside didn't particularly react in any way. They probably thought it wouldn't be possible to move freely since there was no other door in the cabin.
I stood at the center of the cabin and held the marble in my hand.
The method of using this was simple.
As soon as I tapped the marble through the manual, a green message popped up.
– Will you use the s.p.a.ce Expansion of 10 Cubits?
I pressed accept.
"Huh?"
The s.p.a.ce started stretching like a piece of taffy. After that, Edward and I as well as everything in the cabin started becoming smaller.
No, it wasn't us becoming smaller. It's just that the cabin itself had become larger to a great degree.
That entire process ended before even a second pa.s.sed. I was at a loss of words for a while as I looked around. I could see a ceiling over 10 meters high and a room with only a few beds and a shelf.
"Wow. Amazing."
An exclamation came up unintentionally. For it to be a s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble that can be applied to regular transportation that doesn't count as an item.
It was an item that had incredible potential depending on how it was used.
It seemed like it would be possible to sell at a high price for those in need.
"This…… was done by you right? Why did you suddenly made me smaller…… No, us smaller?"
Edward also started looking around as if fl.u.s.tered.
It seems he didn't understand the situation yet. I shook my head as I pointed at the door that was pretty far away. The door's size was still the same.
"What?"
"Try going out. You'll be able to see that you didn't become smaller."
"I wonder what you're talking about."
Edward headed towards the door even while grumbling.
Creak.
Slam.
And he closed the door as soon as he opened it.
"The outside is the same? What kind of situation is this?"
"What's what? The room became larger. Like the interior of the van."
"Ho. I was just thinking that the room was a bit too cramped."
"That's your only reaction?"
"I've decided not to get surprised at the human called you." (J: And so another common sense-chan is broken, lol.)
I suddenly feel a bit let down for some reason.
If Soo-ah was beside me she would have caused a ruckus. Should I say that it's a bit bored since there's no one causing a mess beside me.
"Eh? What's this?"
Ah. Now that I think about it, there was another person that could replace that spot.
Although in a bit different of a manner.
An Gyu-b.u.m came towards me with rough steps. He then pushed his face forward to the point where I could feel him breath and opened his mouth.
It was pretty obvious what he was going to say now.
"How much is this?"
"Do things moderately man."
Jeon Min-jeong easily calmed An Gyu-b.u.m's excitement for now.
An Gyu-b.u.m's excitement had died down once she showed him the laboratory's remaining funds.
It seems he still couldn't get rid of his desire and looked at me with a pleading gaze.
"Can I buy it on credit?"
"No."
"I'll make you a promissory note. Large transactions are normally done in this way you know."
"You're being noisy. You know that hunters don't move unless it's for cash right?"
"d.a.m.ned b.a.s.t.a.r.d. I invested in you so much."
"That's that. This is this."
An Gyu-b.u.m grumbled as if meaning for me to hear it.
To be honest, it was true that I swayed a bit. I ripped him off quite a bit after all. But if I gave in once or twice, it was obvious that it would become a habit.
That's why it was necessary to draw a line right from the beginning even if it seems cold hearted.
One must not be mistaken.
Our relations.h.i.+p was that of a business, not any more or less. It wasn't like my relations.h.i.+p with An Gyu-b.u.m was good
The only connection between us is money. The one thing that hangs on my mind is the item he gave out to cure Jong Swon's disease.
Even if it was a deal where we both profited, I was the one that was more desperate. It would have been possible for him to demand much more using that but he didn't do so.
Leaving aside the other things, he wasn't a shameless guy.
"I even got you the suit. I even helped you when you were in peril. That was really expensive too. Others would have demanded much more using that as bait but it ended at that because it was me."
"Don't say that with your own mouth. You b.a.s.t.a.r.d."
Are you really coming out like that the moment I thought of your good side.
It was definitely true that he had a lot of good faith. The middle process was a bit annoying but as the conclusion of the deal Jong Swon's life was saved while it ended with me just giving away a c.r.a.ppy van without even the s.p.a.ce expansion option.
That doesn't change the fact that this guy is unlikeable.
"I saved your life so make do with that."
"Didn't we agree to solve that with the van's price."
"I feel like I'm on the losing side now that I think about it. You're not saying that your life is worth that little right?"
"I really can't get along with you."
An Gyu-b.u.m let out a sigh while grumbling.
That was what I wanted to say though.
"Either way, what happened to the negotiations?"
"I suppose the thing you're most interested in is how this submarine can function is?"
"Certainly."
"They say they're using an electromagnetic wave generator."
"An electromagnetic wave generator?"
"They say that monsters can't approach if a large amount of electromagnetic waves are created. Of course, it doesn't mean that it works just by spewing it out."
"If it worked that easily then they wouldn't have told us. But isn't it quite the discovery even with that?"
"Not sure. Seeing how they're confident that nothing can be done with just that it seems that's not all there is to it."
"Well, I suppose."
It was the same thing as saying that it didn't matter whether they talked about what has already been shown.
If that wasn't it, they would have just hidden quietly and run away.
"So, what did you gather from Baek Gyeong's information?"
"What I just said."
"Only? You only found out that they used an electromagnetic wave generator?"
"We didn't ask each other specific. We didn't have the authority to do so anyway. How much would a Colonel level soldier know anyway?"
"Then what did you negotiate?"
"How to resume trade between Korea and America."
"Is that possible? If a road isn't opened immediately……."
"Of course it won't be easy. They say that it's not possible to apply this technology on a large carrier s.h.i.+p that needs to move the load. For now, the amount of electricity that is required increases exponentially the larger the s.h.i.+p becomes and they say they may need up to dozens of nuclear reactors that use concentrated nuclear fuel."
"Wait. Is there no side effect on the body when such a large amount of electromagnetic wave is being released?"
"They say vomiting if light, and death in the worst case. They say this is the case after working hard to make the living areas not be affected by the waves…… They're planning on changing the crew members to hunters some time later."
"Certainly. Hunters would be affected less."
Hunters were powerful in various aspects.
This applied to resistance as well. They are able to endure somehow using the power of items after all.
I asked once more.
"Hm. Then how are you planning on opening a trading network. No, in the first such you don't have such authority……."
"Who do you think I am? The successor's seat of the GE Group can do anything as long as they set their mind on it. The amount of ready cash I can gather alone is in the trillions. Trade with America isn't a matter I need permission from the government and they would probably welcome it with open arms? Since they're saying that they will raise the price of rice to double because of the change in the supply from China it's even more likely."
"Yeah. Let's say that it's possible. Then what are you going to do after that? Are you going to create a treaty with Russia? If that was possible, you would have already done so."
The reason Russia drew a line and just stayed in standby. There was a reason they left Baek Gyeong to roam on their land. Monsters were one thing but it was because their relations.h.i.+p with China was more important.
"I was thinking about searching for a method while trading technology through a research agreement with our laboratory since it's unreasonable for now but……."
An Gyu-b.u.m took a look around the room.
"I thought of something better."
"No way……."
"If such a thing was possible there's no need for the s.h.i.+p to be large right? It's possible to apply immediately. Right. What happens to the weight of the load that goes into this room? Is it the same? Or does it decrease?"
"It decreases."
That was something confirmed through the original van.
It wasn't a simple expansion of s.p.a.ce but no matter how much was put into that s.p.a.ce, the weight decreases proportional to how much the s.p.a.ce increased by.
If that wasn't so, it might have been possible to infinitely increase a small s.p.a.ce and create a blackhole after stuffing it full of things.
It's terrifying thinking about it.
An Gyu-b.u.m opened his mouth.
"The method of expanding s.p.a.ce?"
"I'm not going to tell you."
"Sell it to me."
"You're planning on duplicating it right? I'm not going to let you though?"
"If I gain money through it I'll give you royalty. How about 10%?"
An Gyu-b.u.m said so as if he was being extremely generous.
Did this guy know me as some kind of saint?
"Do you think that even moderately makes sense?"
An Gyu-b.u.m opened his mouth with an awkward expression.
"It's not 10% of the net profit but 10% of the sales. If the research cost and supply costs were to be added, it's the same thing as giving over half of the net profit."
"Seems plausible. There's no method for me to check. There should be a method to rip me off as much as you want."
"Can you really not trust me to that degree? That's rather saddening."
"There's no idiot that trusts a businessman."
There was no person in this world that did business that would make them see a loss.
This guy should be giving me a large share because he can profit that much.
"It's only one in the first place. You should be able to get a better price if you sell it to our laboratory. I'll give you a good price so how about you sell it?"
"You probably wouldn't be able to use it even if you buy it off of me though?"
"Aren't you looking down on our laboratory too much?"
"No, this isn't a problem of such things in the first place."
s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble.
It was a good item with a wide range of uses. The s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble was originally in a locked state in the Delta Store. It had only been unlocked after I bought the Snow Chain and Amphibious Wheels.
I bought it because it would have sold for quite a price and it had better functionality than I thought too.
There was only one problem.
I looked at the room the s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble was applied on.
The method of retrieving the marble was simple as expected.
The s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble was in the item list and there was a message that said in use on top of it.
As I tapped on it, a message appeared.
– Will you retrieve the Rolled s.p.a.ce Expansion Marble?
As I pressed accept the room quickly returned to its original appearance.