Hiding A Logistics Center In The Apocalypse - Chapter 98
Chapter 98: Cultural Powerhouse (1)
TL/ED – Miso
Kwaaaang!
With a thick cloud of dust rising, the statue collapsed.
It was after the situation in Korea had been wrapped up.
I had returned to Paris both to help sort out the situation in Europe and to search for traces of Barnaul.
The Louvre no longer existed in Paris.
The Carousel Arch and garden had been pulled into subspace along with it.
Now, only a sunken rectangular-shaped empty space remained at the site.
A long space formed by a sloping incline,
“Hurrah!”
Kwaaaang!
Thud thud!
Kim Sol, with a spirited shout, hurled a bowling ball toward the end of the space,
and instantly shattered the ten ‘Venus statues’ laid out at the far end.
The last Venus statue, which had wobbled several times while barely holding out, finally fell,
and Kim Sol grinned and said to me,
“Refill!”
“…….”
It was a kind of strength training(?).
A shot-put-style bowling using life-sized statues as targets.
I, too, was acting like an automatic bowling machine, repeatedly setting up ten Venus statues in a triangular formation whenever there was a gap.
Unlike her, who was incredibly laid-back…….
‘This isn’t easy.’
In fact, I was caught up in various worries.
Especially regarding the plan to bring Avalon to Earth through dimensional integration.
‘……If possible, it would be best to do it before Barnaul arrives.’
Returning the knights’ homeland was the top priority, but Avalon was also one of the biggest business sites held by Barnaul.
If we could start the battle by seizing even one of their supply warehouses, there would be nothing better than that.
Of course, it was still a situation that required time.
Even now, PAX was continuing calculations to find Avalon’s coordinates.
Maybe time would solve everything, but…….
Unfortunately, there was another problem.
“Growth rank, huh…….”
Dimensional integration.
There was a special condition attached by the Chamber of Commerce.
A dimension’s rank could not be lower than the rank of the integrated dimension.
In short, it meant that Earth had to have a higher evaluation rank than Avalon.
And currently, Earth’s rank was…….
[CCC+]
Utterly miserable.
Since being downgraded to [CCC] right after the bidding competition, it had barely climbed one step.
I felt quite aggrieved.
“……I mean, come on, have some conscience. After taking a beating like that……?”
Wasn’t strength supposed to be the metric?
We’d already beaten the crap out of the Chamber of Commerce and those alien thugs multiple times.
We had expected a rapid promotion, but when the actual performance review was opened, it was filled with scores that wouldn’t be surprising even if we got fired tomorrow.
At that moment, Kim Sol came spinning the bowling ball on her finger as she approached.
“No no, kiddo. Skill isn’t everything.”
“……If not skill, then what?”
Then she casually tossed the spinning bowling ball onto her shoulder and started showing off tricks.
“Style! You’ve got to have style. Right now, the stats are good, but the rank is stuck at an F level. It means you’ve got skills, but you’re underestimated because you’re a nobody. I think this will be resolved once we add some style.”
“Hm…….”
Kim Sol, reflecting on the situation with gaming terminology.
At first listen, it sounded like bullshit, and in truth, it really was bullshit…….
But suddenly, a thought popped into my head.
“Come to think of it…….”
Backwater, country bumpkin, smelly something-or-other.
These were all expressions the other-dimensional bastards used to describe us.
Clearly, from a multidimensional perspective, Earth seemed to be seen as quite barren.
It was an intriguing interpretation.
Perhaps that very thing, “reputation”, was an important metric in determining evaluation rank.
“It sounds like we need to build up our image to the outside world……. So how do we do that? Is there a method?”
“That’s for the World President to figure out. Hehehe.”
“…….”
It was Yoo Seong-cheol’s doing.
He was the one who had begun to dream of a world government because of me.
Like inflating a hot air balloon into his lungs, he ran around all excited saying he’d build a world government, and when word got out that Colonel Kim Jeong-gyeom would become the first president, my family started calling me ‘Your Excellency’.
“……What’s the point of a world government inside if we’re losers on the outside?”
Of course, there was still a lot left to do on Earth,
but for the time being, reclaiming Avalon and preparing for war with Barnaul were the most pressing priorities.
‘……It’s definitely not easy.’
However, I couldn’t easily figure out how Earth could gain such fame.
It wasn’t like we could dance under the starlit sky to win hearts.
Just as I was about to sink deeper into thought…….
“……Huh?”
Kim Sol, who had been throwing a ball toward the Venus statues, suddenly froze in place.
A sound flowed out from between the broken pieces of the statue.
As we cautiously approached, we found someone crying sorrowfully, clutching at the shattered fragments.
“Sniff, sniff, waaaaah! Huhuhuhuhuh!”
‘……Who the heck is this now?’
At a glance, it was clearly not a species native to Earth.
Its appearance was very similar to that of an otter, but no otter in the world wore a silk shirt.
To top it off, it even wore a golden monocle on one eye.
Knock knock.
An otter shedding chicken-sized tears between stiff fur.
With reddened eyes, it shouted at us.
“Why! Why did you destroy it! Such a beautiful piece!”
“……?”
“No wonder your rank is so awful!”
It seemed we had found it.
A being that could truly appreciate the value of our blue planet, Earth.
***
“Sniff! Sniff!”
Still unable to calm down, the otter was gasping for breath.
Waving its short arms around, it picked up a mackerel fillet with its protruding snout.
[Domestic boneless mackerel, 100g, pack of 8, priced at 16,190 won.]
The otter’s name was Harris.
It introduced itself as an arts journalist from a multidimensional media outlet called ECOS.
I had no idea what a multidimensional outlet or an arts journalist really meant…. but it wasn’t hard to see that this guy was genuinely passionate about Earth’s art, enough to shed tears over it.
It had no notable combat ability.
Though it was shrouded in high-level repulsion force……
“Hey, but can you maybe untie me?”
“No.”
For now, its feet were bound, and it was just eating fish in a mermaid-like pose.
“Anyway…… go ahead and finish what you were saying earlier.”
I asked.
Harris, who had lost his mind over the broken Venus statue.
He had already shared various bits of information.
Harris wasn’t an invader, nor was he a refugee like the Manong Tribe.
But he had a clear purpose, and had come to Earth with a temporary visa issued by the Chamber of Commerce.
And…….
“……So you were trying to grab some artwork before Earth turned into a sea of fire?”
“No, I meant the part about the evaluation rank.”
Coincidentally, this guy knew a way to raise Earth’s evaluation rank.
Harris brushed his whiskers with his forepaw.
Recalling from memory, he answered.
“If there’s a good work of art, it can attract the interest of connoisseurs across dimensions. Naturally, Earth’s reputation will rise…… and that’ll influence its evaluation rank from the Chamber of Commerce too.”
Harris added that Earth’s evaluation rank and development restrictions were applied independently.
Even if the rank went up, it didn’t mean monsters from the 3rd or 4th Orders would suddenly start pouring in.
Rather, it could lead to dimensions that want to cooperate with Earth emerging.
“Then in that case…… how much could our rank go up?”
I immediately pulled out a new item.
A statue titled <The Borghese Gladiator>.
It was an ancient Greek piece, distinguished by its impressively raised arm held high.
“Oh……”
Harris seemed visibly impressed by the dynamic posture of the statue,
but in the end, he shook his head.
“It would definitely help…… but a single piece alone won’t be enough to raise the rank right away……”
“So you’re saying this much isn’t enough?”
I immediately changed course.
I decided to layer, blend, and expand on the original piece.
While I was at it, I figured I might as well go all in and scale things up properly.
“You see, this piece actually works like this…….”
Harris, having just eaten a freshly shipped mackerel from subspace,
might’ve guessed I had some kind of inventory ability, but he definitely couldn’t have imagined that I was capable of replicating actual objects.
Much less that I could use that to create an enormous installation art.
I changed the title.
From <The Borghese Gladiator> to <The Borghese Gladiators>.
The statues multiplied into hundreds on the flat land, and the image of the gladiator, which seemed to be showing off a noble posture, was instantly transformed into a vivid scene of gladiators engaged in fierce battle.
“…….”
Harris was gradually losing words.
But that wasn’t the end.
As if portraying a prisoner caught in the midst of battle,
I displayed Michelangelo’s <Dying Slave> twisted in torment,
and at the midpoint, I set up <Rebellious Slave>, radically staging the scene of slaves rising up against oppression like a raging tide.
“Huuuh…… Hic…….”
Harris began to breathe more heavily.
With more and more statues appearing and interconnecting, they collectively unfolded like a grand, majestic drama.
Shaaak! Shaaak!
Now for the final act.
When he saw the Goddess of Victory <Nike> arriving from afar on a ship……
“…….”
Harris’s fluffy mouth gaped wide open.
As if he could hold back no longer, the little guy began flailing his feet in excitement.
When I untied the rope, he flicked his tail and gazed at the sculptures with awe-filled eyes.
His short arms twitched, as if trying to restrain the exclamation about to burst forth…….
“Huhuhuhuuuuuk! Huuuuuuuk!”
The admiration he tried so hard to hold back instead gushed out like a stream of tears.
If Earth were to go up in flames, the artworks would surely vanish without a trace too.
“That such beautiful creations must disappear! Huhuhuhuuuk! Hic!”
What Harris had brought wasn’t just news about the rank increase.
He, too, knew that war with Barnaul was imminent. As an art journalist from ECOS, he had come to Earth to preserve the artworks before they were lost.
Thanks to him, I learned something.
That in a month’s time, Barnaul would set foot on Earth, and among them would be ten warlocks of the 6th Order.
Harris expected Earth’s defeat with almost no doubt, and that’s probably why he burst into tears……
But his feelings toward the artwork were genuine.
“I will write an article. With pieces of this quality, whether they’re connoisseurs or collectors, they’ll be stirred to action.”
In the end, he picked up his pen.
He even added a special condition.
Since Earth had yet to stand on its own feet, he volunteered to selectively distribute the article only to dimensions favorable toward art.
Focusing on those uninterested in invasion or committed to remaining neutral.
“Even that alone should be more than enough to help with the rank increase. With a work on this kind of scale, without a doubt…… Sniff!”
Harris couldn’t take his eyes off the sculptures.
His emotional reaction left me feeling dazed too.
‘……I didn’t expect it to turn out this spectacular.’
Compared to showing just one piece, the response was truly night and day.
It was admittedly a disservice to the original artists, but by mixing various pieces together, I had effectively created an entirely new work.
Still, thanks to that, the moved Harris was now actively stepping up for Earth’s safety.
‘Now the evaluation rank issue should work itself out somehow.’
One condition for drawing Avalon closer had been fulfilled,
but there was still one more thing that absolutely had to be prepared.
‘Ten 6th Order warlocks, huh…….’
I could roughly estimate their combat strength.
After all, Gatz, who had fought right here, was shrouded in 6th Order aura.
But the problem was their illusions that deflected attacks from the outside.
Of course, if we utilized the aura of the knights, we could probably neutralize those illusions…….
‘Still, ten of them is just too much…….’
The Knights of Camelot alone couldn’t break that many illusions.
So the next step was obvious.
More “aura users” needed to be cultivated within PAX FC.
With Lancelot and the other knights serving as training instructors, I planned to select the physically awakened individuals among the PAX Men and put them through intensive training.
To begin with…….
“Hyah!”
“Aaaaaah! Noooo!”
Crackk!
Starting with that fighting game character over there who’s smashing the Venus statue.
****
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