Farming in the Tower Alone [EN]: Chapter 285

“Hey! Why are you surrendering?!”

The Wood Elf Venus shouted in dismay at the Sewer Mercenaries’ surrender.

Then,

“Bzzzt!”

[You didn’t say Theo Park was here!]

Django, the leader of the Sewer Mercenaries, retorted angrily at Venus.

“What?! Golden Cat?! Where is it golden?! You were so useless that you couldn’t handle that one dim-witted cat?!”

Venus was about to pull out his Dragon Claw and swing it when she heard,

‘Nya! This is as foul as Chairman Park’s dung smell, nya!’

Venus watched Theo rummaging through his pack. He was grimacing because of the stench-filled rats. Venus spoke in an agitated voice.

Venus lived deep in the forest and cared only about the Mother Tree. She paid no attention to news from the outside world.

So, she had not heard the rumors about the rising star of the Black Tower, the Golden Cat Theo.

“Bzzzt?! Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”

[Dim-witted?! Watch your mouth! That is the subordinate of the great Black Dragon, the deadly Dragon Claw Golden Cat Theo Park!]

Django hurriedly explained to Venus about Theo, who was plugging his nose.

In Theo’s view, he and Venus were on the same side. One word from Venus could wipe out everyone here.

“Bzzzt!”

[Anyway, we’re getting out of here!]

“What?! Wait a minute···.”

Django quickly cut ties with Venus.

“Bzzzt…Bzzzt?”

[Um…Great Golden Cat Theo Park, may we leave now?]

He asked Theo in a very polite and trying-to-please way, but

“Pfu-hahaha. Of course not, nya!”

Theo flatly refused Django’s request. He intended to have them refill the treasure vault before they left.

However,

“Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”

[Understood! Then please, eat only me!]

Django, misunderstanding Theo’s words, walked forward, lay down in front of Theo, and said.

‘This is the leader’s destiny. Thank you for everything, guys. If only I can save the other rats with my life···.’

Thus, Django closed his eyes, preparing to be eaten by Theo.

However,

“Why are you lying there, nya? Hurry up and follow me, nya!”

Theo passed by Django and headed to the treasure vault.

“Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”

[Yes! Understood!]

Django, who had been lying down, hurriedly ran and stood next to Theo. ‘Theo-nim saved us! Theo-nim is generous!’

As Django praised Theo,

“What?! These treasures are mine···.”

Venus blocked Theo’s path, but

“Move, nya!”

Thwack.

Theo’s paw shot out, landing a sharp ‘thwack’ on Venus’s head, and she crumpled to the ground.

A little later.

“Ugh! What is this smell?!”

Sejun, who belatedly followed Theo, blocked his nose at the terrible stench.

“Kkweang!”

[Daddy, I think she pooped!]

Kkweang, clinging to Sejun’s leg, said, looking at the fainted Venus. Having been with the Sewer Mercenaries for a long time, the smell had deeply permeated her.

At that moment,

“Pluck! Pluck!”

[Master, please block your nose with this for now. Take one for Kkweang too.]

Fire Flower plucked its leaves and handed them to the two.

“Fire Flower, are you okay?”

Sejun asked Fire Flower with a worried voice, unable to readily accept it.

[Yes! I’m okay! I…Eeyap! Ta-da! The leaves grow back!]

Fire Flower created leaves again, reassuring Sejun.

Swish. Swish.

Thanks to that, Sejun felt relieved and rolled Fire Flower’s leaves into his nose and Kkweang’s nose.

“Kkweang!”

[Fire Flower’s sister’s leaves smell good!]

“Indeed.”

Thanks to the fresh scent from Fire Flower’s leaves, the dung smell was no longer present.

“Let’s find Theo first.”

“Kkweang!”

[Okay!]

Sejun moved towards the place where he felt Theo’s energy, along with Kkweang and Fire Flower.

As Sejun passed by,

Whoosh.

The wings of the fainted Venus caught fire and were completely burned.

‘If you do bad things, you must be punished.’

Fire Flower, having heard from the Mother Tree through the tree that conceives birds about what Venus had done, punished Venus on behalf of the Mother Tree.

Gangnam, Seoul.

“Master, I will bring the car.”

As soon as they came out of the tower, Kim Dong-shik went to get the car.

“Master?!”

“Yes. It’s me.”

Han Tae-jun called Cha Si-hyuk, his first disciple who was taking care of the Awakened Association’s work in his place.

“What?! Safe Zone? What is that?”

Cha Si-hyuk reported to Han Tae-jun that three more Black Towers had been added in Korea. As a result of the new phenomenon, the whole world was requesting a meeting with Korea.

“I have something more urgent than that, so you take care of it, Si-hyuk.”

“What?! Something more urgent than this···.”

“I’m hanging up.”

Han Tae-jun refused Cha Si-hyuk’s request to return quickly and hung up the phone.

It was almost a year since Sejun had been home.

‘Originally, you don’t want to go home on such days.’

So, it was most important now to prevent Sejun from getting homesick and possibly leaving the tower.

At that moment,

Vroom.

Kim Dong-shik brought the parked car.

“Let’s go.”

“Yes!”

Han Tae-jun and Kim Dong-shik headed to Hannam-dong to deliver Kim Mi-ran’s cooking to Sejun.

“Pfu-hahaha. This is what I was looking for, nya!”

Theo found what he wanted in the treasure vault and smiled brightly.

“Bzzzt!”

[Theo-nim, congratulations!]

Clap clap clap.

The Sewer Mercenaries congratulated Theo.

“Pfu-hahaha. Thank you, nya! No! I’m not thankful, nya!”

Theo quickly retracted his words of gratitude because the rats had tried to steal his treasures until just now.

“Pfu-hahaha. You guys can go now, nya!”

“Bzzzt!”

[Thank you!]

Of course, he didn’t mean they could just leave.

“Stamp your paw here once and leave, nya!”

Theo took out a stack of contracts. ‘You guys are my subordinates now, nya!’ It was another day of Vice-Chairman Tae working hard.

As Theo was taking out the contracts and getting the rats’ stamps,

“Vice-Chairman Tae…What is all this?!”

Sejun, who arrived at the treasure vault, was horrified to see the teeming large rats. He got goosebumps all over his body without realizing it.

“Pfu-hahaha. Chairman Park, you’ve come, nya? Guys, this is Chairman Park, nya!”

Theo greeted Sejun and introduced him to the rats.

“Bzzzt! Bzzzt!”

Sejun blinked, surprised. “Uh… hello?” he mumbled.

He was surrounded by rats. Hundreds of them. Maybe even a thousand! Sejun stared, a little stunned, as they all seemed to greet him at once.

Looking closer, he had to admit, some of them were kind of cute. *If they had a bath,* he thought to himself.

“Kkueng!”

[I’m Kkueng! Daddy’s son!]

A small rat puffed out his chest and pointed a tiny paw at Sejun. [My Daddy is the best!]

While Sejun was still getting used to the friendly rats, things were changing inside Rainbow Castle. A sense of urgency filled the air.

“Quickly! Find Venus!” voices shouted.

The royal guards, who had just finished the funeral for the queen and found Venus’s hidden passage, rushed into Rainbow Castle. They were searching everywhere for Venus.

Then, suddenly, another shout: “A treasure vault! Intruders in the treasure vault!”

The guards had found Sejun and his friends, along with the group of mercenaries, inside the kingdom’s treasure vault. More soldiers were called to help.

Weapons were raised, pointing straight at Sejun and his group. “Who are you?” a soldier demanded. “What are you doing in the Cobb Kingdom’s treasure vault?!”

*Clang!* Jango stepped forward, his sword drawn. [Theo, we’ll make a path!] he declared, standing between the royal guards and his friends.

“Kkueng! Kkueng!”

[Don’t fight! Daddy will be hurt! Put your weapons down!] Kkueng tried to run in front of the soldiers, but…

“Kkueng,” Sejun said gently, holding out a jar. “Want some honey?”

“Kkuhehehe. Kkueng!”

[Hehehe. Honey! Okay!] Kkueng’s attention instantly shifted to the sweet treat.

Sejun quickly used the honey to distract Kkueng, hoping to stop things from getting worse.

Just as things looked like they might turn violent, a clear voice rang out.

“These people are honored guests of the kingdom. Stand back, soldiers.”

“Piyot! Piyot!”

[Yes! They are! Don’t hurt them!]

“Jjaek!”

[Greetings, owner of the Mother Tree!]

“Kkyao!”

[Hello!]

King Louis of Cobb stepped forward, with Piyot perched on his shoulder and a large group of baby birds chirping behind him.

*Just a short time before,* Prana and Louis had been returning to the castle when they saw a crowd of baby birds wandering in the capital.

“Louis, look! New baby birds!” Prana had exclaimed.

“You’re right!” Louis agreed.

They flew closer to the birds. Piyot was already there, excitedly talking to the little ones.

“Piyot! Piyot!”

[This is a school! The food is not great, but the sausages at the shop are yummy!] Piyot was sharing all the important things he knew.

But soon, Piyot ran out of information. “Piyot!” he announced. [Capital tour finished! Let’s go to the royal castle!] Even though he was less than two months old, Piyot was trying his best to be a good guide.

As Piyot led the baby birds towards Rainbow Castle, Prana swooped down. “Piyot, where did all these baby birds come from?” she asked quickly.

“Piyot! Piyot!” Piyot explained that Sejun and his friends had made a new Mother Tree, and it was the Mother Tree that had given birth to all these babies.

“Really? I must see this Mother Tree!” Prana declared, flying off to find it.

“Is it our turn to see the royal castle now?” one of the baby birds chirped. “Can we go?”

“Of course! Follow me,” Louis said kindly. “I’ll show you around.”

And so, Piyot and the baby birds followed King Louis to Rainbow Castle, arriving just in time to stop the fight and find Sejun.

Because of this lucky timing, Theo was able to leave the treasure vault with the item he wanted, and no one got hurt.

“Louis, stamp here, nyaang!” Theo said, pushing a contract towards the king. The contract said that Theo would get the treasure vault.

King Louis had promised to give Theo whatever he wished for. And Theo wished for the entire treasure vault! It was a lot to ask, like wanting to eat the whole cake, but…

*Stomp!*

King Louis stamped the contract without hesitation. He knew that if it wasn’t for Theo, his kingdom might have been destroyed. Giving away one treasure vault was a small price to pay.

What Theo didn’t know was that Rainbow Castle had many more treasure vaults just like this one.

“Fuhuhu. It’s all mine now, nyaang!” Theo purred, grinning happily, completely unaware of the castle’s secrets.

Just then, a soldier rushed up to King Louis. “Your Majesty! We’ve found Venus!” he announced. “She’s unconscious.”

“I must go,” Louis said quickly. “Sejun, Theo, thank you again for the Mother Tree.” He bowed his head to them, a gesture of deep gratitude, and hurried off to see Venus.

“We’re leaving too!” one of the mercenaries called out.

*Thump, thump, thump.* The group of mercenaries hurried away.

“Let’s get out of this smelly place,” Sejun said, wrinkling his nose. He and Theo quickly went to the waypoint, ready to travel to the 99th floor of the tower.

When they arrived at the waypoint, Sejun turned to Theo. “Vice Chairman Theo, did you find what you wanted?”

“Fuhuhu. Yes, nyaang!” Theo replied proudly. “Chairman Park, take this, nyaang!” He pulled out a glass bottle from his bag and gave it to Sejun. Inside was a bright blue liquid.

“What’s this?” Sejun asked, turning the bottle in his hand. The blue liquid shimmered, almost like liquid metal.

“Fuhuhu. It’s a good thing, nyaang!” Theo rubbed against Sejun’s leg, his eyes shining. *Praise me, nyaang! Pet me, nyaang!*

“Is that so?” Sejun chuckled, stroking Theo’s head with one hand while looking closely at the bottle.

**[Giant’s Blood]**

“Giant’s Blood?” Sejun repeated, surprised. He remembered being taught, almost drilled into him, that unknown items could be dangerous.

“Aileen, can you appraise this, please?” Sejun asked Aileen quickly.

A moment later, a message appeared: **[The tower’s administrator is happy that Theo has found a great item.]**

The bottle glowed briefly, showing it was appraised, and settled back into Sejun’s palm.

“Amazing, Vice Chairman Theo! Your paws are worth a fortune!” Sejun exclaimed, grabbing Theo’s paws and shaking them excitedly.

“Fuhuhu. That’s right, nyaang! My paws are very valuable, nyaang!” Theo grinned and nudged Sejun’s hand towards his belly, wanting more pets.

Far away, in a desolate place called the Outskirts of Destruction, red mist swirled and thickened.

“It seems he’s finally recovered,” Fenrir said, watching as the mist slowly formed a shape.

*Caw!*

Just as Fenrir expected, Halphas was back. He appeared in full view, looking around at the others.

“What’s happening?” Halphas asked, surprised to see so many of the powerful Apostles of Destruction gathered together.

“Halphas, you’re in charge while I’m gone,” Fenrir ordered.

“What? Gone where?” Halphas asked, confused.

“Jormungandr will explain everything,” Fenrir said, cutting him off. “You all, move out!”

“Yes!” the other Apostles replied.

Following Fenrir’s command, the nine Apostles of Destruction, from number four to number twelve in power, began to move. Their target: the nine towers guarded by dragons.

“Let’s go,” Fenrir said to Jormungandr.

“Understood,” Jormungandr replied.

Fenrir, riding on a piece of Jormungandr, secretly headed towards the Black Tower.

Moments later, *Wham!*

The battle began. Queen Sasha of Screams and Ice, the 5th Apostle of Destruction, launched the first attack, freezing the entire Red Tower in an instant.