Debuff Master - Chapter 1135

Chapter 1135

Siegfried immediately reported the Coral Emperor’s appearance to the command center and sat down to discuss the situation with Hansen.

Hansen had hurried over to the Coral Planet after receiving Siegfried’s summons. He was now set to be appointed as the expeditionary force’s chief strategic advisor.

“This landing operation is far too difficult. The terrain alone puts the attackers at a severe disadvantage… Based on my estimates, it will cost us tens of thousands of casualties if we attempt another large-scale landing,” Hansen said while studying the map that marked the location of the research facility.

“Hmm… Is that so?”

“Yes, sire.”

“Is there really no other way? We have to seize that research facility,” Siegfried said, sounding calm yet urgent.

“I see no realistic alternative except for hitting it with a quick surgical strike with a special ops team.”

“So that’s what it comes down to…”

“Even if we succeed in the landing, the enemy will not just sit back and abandon the research facility. They will flee with anything of value, including the prisoners, before our troops can even get anywhere near it.”

“That’s true.”

“And also… That facility is too deep inside enemy territory. Even if we send in our special forces, the odds of them succeeding will be extremely slim. But more importantly…”

“Getting out is the problem, isn’t it?”

“Yes, sire. Even if they successfully infiltrate the research facility and the mission itself goes well… exfiltration will be almost impossible. Frankly speaking, this is no different from sending those men to their deaths.

“The distance from the research facility to the nearest extraction point is a hundred kilometers. No matter how skilled Your Imperial Majesty and our Proatine Forces are, getting out alive would be almost impossible.”

“I agree with your assessment.”

Siegfried didn’t argue or challenge Hansen’s assessment. He was confident in his abilities but was never arrogant or reckless. No matter how strong he was and how elite the Proatine Forces were, storming the research facility located deep inside enemy territory was simply not feasible.

‘Tsk… If only I could still use Demon King’s Descent. I would easily smash the enemies to bits and stroll out untouched…’

He couldn’t help but miss his now-unusable transformation skills. However, longing for power that was already gone would change nothing, so he immediately discarded all thoughts of it.

‘I can’t afford to lose the Proatine Force. The time and cost to raise just one of them is more than training five hundred ordinary knights.’

The Proatine Force was so valuable that giving them such a suicide mission would only drain the Proatine Empire’s strength in the long run.

‘I guess I’ll have to handle this myself. There aren’t that many people to rescue anyway, so I’ll just do it alone,’ Siegfried decided.

Once more, he had to shoulder the burden all by himself.

He would love to look for another solution, but unfortunately, time was not on his side. Even at this very moment, both Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse were surely being brainwashed by the Corals. The clock was ticking, and every second counted.

If either one of them were successfully resocialized and turned into slaves of the Coral Race, then that would be a far worse outcome than whatever risk Siegfried had to take right now.

Sure, the Adventurers had grown more powerful in recent days, and the fact that several had reached the realm of Master was proof of it.

However, a Grandmaster was a completely different realm altogether. If Daode Tianzun or Betelgeuse were turned into enemies, then stopping them would be almost impossible.

Not even Siegfried was confident that he could handle them both at once.

“I understand. Focus on coming up with strategies for the army. I’ll do what I have to do.”

“But sire—”

“We have no other option,” Siegfried cut him off, patting him on the shoulder. Then, he turned around to leave.

‘I have to get ready and get going.’

Right now, there was only one thing on Siegfried’s mind—save Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse from the enemy.

***

Just as Siegfried was about to leave the command center in preparation for his solo infiltration mission…

“Greetings, Your Imperial Majesty, Emperor Siegfried von Proa.”

He came face-to-face with none other than Duke Neighdelberg, who was currently one of the rising nobles in the Marchioni Empire.

“Huh?” Siegfried blinked.

He couldn’t help but wonder what in the world Duke Neighdelberg was doing here on the Coral Planet. The duke was a typical administrative noble, and he had nothing to do whatsoever with anything related to the military.

In fact, Siegfried was not even sure what the man was actually doing.

Regardless, there was no reason at all for someone like him to appear in the middle of an active warzone.

“Duke Neighdelberg?”

“Yes, Your Imperial Majesty.”

“Why… are you here…?” Siegfried asked, giving him a confused look.

“The Coral Emperor has requested a summit, so I have come as His Imperial Majesty’s representative.”

“Eh? The Coral Emperor asked for a summit?”

“Yes.”

“Is he trying to propose some kind of peace treaty or something?” Siegfried asked, tilting his head in confusion. He couldn’t think of any other reason why the Coral Emperor would call for a summit while they were at war.

“That does seem to be the case, but… who knows what his true intentions are? Regardless of what they may be, we must hear him out first.”

“I guess you are right.”

“Forgive me, but I must get going now, as I have to urgently prepare for the summit.”

“Okay, have a nice day, duke.”

Siegfried couldn’t help but wish that the war would wrap up soon as he watched the duke walk away.

‘If only they would just sign a ceasefire already. There’s no point for both sides to spill more blood.’

Unfortunately, that was only Siegfried’s wishful thinking, as the real decision-makers were none other than Emperor Stuttgart and the Coral Emperor.

All Siegfried could do was hope that the summit would proceed smoothly and be productive enough to bring about peace.

With that, Siegfried turned and made his way to the marketplace.

“Kyuuu! Are you going shopping again, owner punk?! What about the rescue mission?! Why the hell are you going shopping at a time like this?!” Hamchi shouted at him.

“I’ve got some time to kill,” Siegfried replied with a shrug.

“Kyuuu?”

“I would love to head straight out, but command says that it will take them a while to finalize the exfil plan. They’re also trying to pin down the exact location of the research facility, and they said it will take a few hours.”

“Kyuuu! Got it!”

Just then, Siegfried tilted his head after spotting the imperial soldiers busily loading something onto a transport vessel.

“What are they hauling so busily?” he muttered.

The imperial soldiers were using industrial golems specializing in transporting heavy goods to load massive crates into the transport vessel.

“Hey,” Siegfried called out to one of them.

The soldier immediately saluted in response, “Yes, sir!”

“What’s in the crates?”

“Omnistones, sir!”

“W-What?! O-Omnistones?!” Siegfried exclaimed, jumping in shock.

Alchemists considered the Omnistone to be the most perfect substance, as they could be transmuted into any other material with just a bit of processing.

Siegfried himself had only ever found a single one while searching for Michael’s wings, and it was one of the rarest finds on the entire continent.

“Yes, sir! These are Omnistones, sir!”

“T-That many of them?”

“Yes, sir! Just digging a hole in the ground will yield an Omnistone in the Coral Planet, sir!”

“W-What…?!”

“We have even established a mine about five kilometers from here, sir!”

“Holy shit…”

“Our engineering corps is tasked with shipping the mined Omnistones back home every twelve hours.”

“Unbelievable…”

Siegfried felt like he had been struck at the back of his head with a hammer. The Omnistones were arguably the most valuable material in existence. Their property of transforming into anything meant they could create literally anything imaginable.

They were easily far more valuable than gold, as a single kilogram of Omniston was worth at least a hundred times more than the same weight in gold.

If a kilogram of gold was valued at around fifty million won in the real world, then a kilogram of Omnistone was worth at least five billion won.

That was just the minimum valuation, as they could be worth thousands of times more depending on how they were used. Despite that, the Marchioni Empire was filling entire transport vessels with the stuff every twelve hours and sending it all back home.

‘How much money are they raking in?’

Siegfried couldn’t even begin to fathom just how much the Marchioni Empire was earning from this alone. It had been months since they invaded the Coral Planet, so the total value of the Ominstones shipped back so far could be enough to buy the entire continent.

‘Is there a way I can get a piece of that…?’

For a brief moment, Siegfried seriously considered setting up his mining operation to ship back Omnistones to the Proatine Empire. However, he gave up on the idea. If he were to dip his finger into Emperor Stuttgart’s pot, it could ruin their relationship and spell the death of the Proatine Empire.

‘Tsk… Lucky bastards,’ Siegfried thought, clicking his tongue as he watched the imperial soldiers load crate after crate of Omnistones onto the transport vessels.

***

Siegfried returned to the command center after scouring the marketplace. He did not find anything worth buying, so he decided to commence the rescue mission instead.

Just then…

“Hold it! Stop right there! I said, hold it!”

Out of nowhere, Cain showed up and shouted at him.

“Stop? Why? For what?” Siegfried retorted, his face darkening.

The exfil plan was now in place, so every second counted from now on. Yet this guy was spouting nonsense and asking him to wait?

“We have orders to sit tight and wait for the summit to end,” Cain elaborated.

“Ah,” Siegfried muttered, finally understanding the reason.

There was an unspoken rule that applied even during war, where both sides would temporarily stop all combat and wait once a summit began. If the talks between the Coral Emperor and Duke Neighdelberg wrapped up well, then they could end up signing a ceasefire agreement.

With a ceasefire agreement in place, a prisoner exchange would most likely follow, meaning that there was a possibility that the enemy would release Daode Tianzun and Betelgeuse.

In other words, it was smarter to stay put until the summit was over, even if every second counted right now.

“Fine. Tell them I’ll wait until the summit is over,” Siegfried said.

“Suit yourself,” Cain replied with a shrug and turned away.

Kwachik!

A vein bulged on Siegfried’s forehead.

‘This bastard… Is he trying to get under my skin right now?’

He seriously considered bashing Cain’s head right then and there, but barely managed to hold himself back. Normally, he wouldn’t have hesitated to put a punk like him in his place.

Unfortunately, he had to hold it in, as maintaining his public image was simply too important.

Lee Geon was constantly looking for an opportunity to bring him down. It would not take much for such a twisted individual to twist public opinion and drag Siegfried’s reputation through the mud once he was given an opening to do so.

Thus, Siegfried clenched his teeth and let Cain’s arrogance slide, just this once.

The rescue mission was postponed, so Siegfried was left alone with Hamchi.

“Hey, what are you gonna do now, owner punk? Kyuuu!”

“I already went shopping so…”

“Kyu? Are you gonna nap now?”

“Nope. I’m going to find out what other special resources this place has to offer.”

“Kyuuu?”

“It can’t just be the Omnistones, right? I want to know what else the Marchioni Empire is extracting from here.”

Of course, there was no way he could harvest resources on a national scale, even if he discovered what the Marchioni Empire was mining.

This whole campaign was being carried out under the Marchioni Empire’s flag, so there was no room for the Proatine Empire to stick their spoons in. At best, Siegfried could pocket a bit of loot for himself, but anything more than that was a stretch.

Despite all that, he still wanted to know what kind of resources were being mined in this place.

The Coral Planet was a completely different world from the Nurburg Continent, so there had to be more than just Omnistones buried in it.