Chapter 531 – #111_Intimacy Work (5)
#531
1.
The movies she had watched in black and white were not commercial films.
They weren’t even chosen by R’lyeh in the first place.
They were either obscure art films or blatant propaganda films made for the soldiers of some country, and the projector was just something that had been on the ship and salvaged from a sunken warship.
It was terribly boring, but for R’lyeh, who had nothing else to do, it was a pretty good way to kill time.
However, the first movie she watched in full color was on a different level.
Lip-sync that matched the movement of the lips.
Vivid colors, diverse directing, sophisticated music, a sense of realism that made it seem like there were real people breathing inside, and magnificent sound that resonated from the left and right speakers.
The advancement of science and culture doesn’t always lead to the progress of art, but the latest movies of the present day were more fun and spectacular than ever before.
But why?
Why did she feel so gloomy after watching the movie?
Why was she sitting crumpled in a corner of the sofa, unbecoming of a queen?
“This is a movie for agitation, for propaganda.”
There was no good or evil in this movie.
Sometimes the protagonist’s colleagues or superiors, or even the protagonist himself, acted like they were driven mad.
Sometimes the most vicious enemy soldiers seemed incredibly human.
Her head ached.
If she were to start a war to conquer the world, would the tragedy in the movie be repeated?
If it was a thoroughly controlled army, and if they used state-of-the-art weapons created by combining magic and science, could they completely prevent civilians from getting caught up in it?
Moral considerations that she had never made before swirled in R’lyeh’s head.
It was very clumsy and weak, but it was definitely self-reflection.
She felt like she understood a little why he had shown her this movie.
“I don’t know.”
R’lyeh knocked over an empty plastic bottle and got annoyed.
She hated having a headache.
“Well, I guess he is a spy after all.”
Cultural brainwashing, what a subtle method.
Was the rival nation trying to make the leader of the Nukelavi Kingdom an anti-war activist to prevent the outbreak of war?
It was frustrating, but she had to admit that it had worked.
R’lyeh sighed and approached the box full of movie cases.
But R’lyeh was optimistic by nature.
A big smile spread across R’lyeh’s face, which had been shadowed by contemplation just a moment ago.
The best thing to do in times like this is to change the mood. Anyway, the movie was really fun, and there were hundreds of movies that were sure to be just as good.
“Oh? Oh! Oho….”
R’lyeh flipped through the plastic cases, carefully examining the contents.
She didn’t really know what was what, but just looking at the colorful cases was fascinating.
There were some that looked scary, some where a man and a woman with guns were leaning back to back, and there was even a movie where a monster, not as big as Lakenlaken, but still huge, was wrapped around a building.
She was happy to feel the traces of the present day just by looking at the layers.
-Rustle
“Hmm?”
R’lyeh found something wrapped in a black package that she couldn’t see through, at the very bottom of the box, under a mountain of cases.
Without hesitation, she tore it open, revealing about 50 movies. R’lyeh frowned.
“Heeuum…?”
There was nothing.
Unlike the other colorful movies, the case was just a translucent plastic, and the layer was just white.
Instead, a note fluttered out of the black plastic.
[Customer Request: Please remove the cover. Please also make the contents unidentifiable.]
She was suddenly curious, but she pushed it aside.
There were already so many movies that looked fun, so she had no intention of watching something whose contents she couldn’t even identify first.
R’lyeh smiled happily and started the next movie.
2.
The amount of newly acquired loot was about a quarter of the amount that had been piled up in the existing treasure vault.
According to R’lyeh, it was almost the first time she had ever collected so much loot at once.
That meant she would have to spend a few days organizing it, but R’lyeh didn’t care about Siwoo’s situation and called him in.
“What is it?”
“Today is a day of trial.”
R’lyeh said, blinking her bloodshot eyes.
The durability of an ethereal body was close to infinite, but if you stared at the TV for almost 36 hours, it was natural for your eyes to be bloodshot.
“A day of trial?”
“Didn’t you wonder? I shall grant you, who installed this wonderful projector called a full HD television, the authority to set foot in the Nukelavi Kingdom.”
“Wasn’t the Nukelavi Kingdom Akula?”
“I’m talking about the true Nukelavi Kingdom.”
With that, R’lyeh went up the stairs leading to the upper floor of the power room with Siwoo.
Soon, Siwoo realized that the place she was heading to with her was the submarine’s vertical rudder and lookout tower, the large dorsal fin of the submarine if it were a whale.
-Tshhh!
R’lyeh closed the thick iron door, which looked to be at least 50cm thick, and turned the rotary handle.
There was also a way to go out through the torpedo launch tube, but this way was easier because they could walk on the deck.
As if to equalize the pressure, seawater slowly began to rise from their feet.
The deep-sea water, which had never been touched by the warm sunlight even after thousands of years, was so cold that it would have been icy if it hadn’t been seawater.
“Are we going out to the sea?”
“That is correct.”
Siwoo briefly considered whether he could run away, but he soon gave up.
They were underwater.
No matter how strong his ethereal body was, and no matter how skilled he was at strengthening his ethereal body with magic, Siwoo was not confident that he could outrun R’lyeh while pushing through the water.
He also seemed to be steadily building up his favorability, and he was planning to ask her to contact him soon.
“Do not be so afraid. Take my hand.”
He felt like Peter being tested for his faith.
He took her hand as she told him to.
Her hand was so thin that he could barely feel her knuckles, and it was slightly cold.
“You have taken my hand, yet you do not express your gratitude. How impudent.”
“I apologize. I was so overwhelmed that I was at a loss for words.”
Normally, R’lyeh would have smiled brightly or been smug, but today she felt like seaweed washed up on the beach.
She seemed to lack energy.
Was it because they were going to do something difficult, as it was called a ‘trial’?
As the rapidly rising water reached his chin, he reflexively held his breath.
It was really damn cold.
“Why would you make such a fuss? My protection is with you on your shoulders.”
“Huh?”
The front hatch leading to the outside opened, and even though the icy seawater enveloped his entire body, he could breathe normally.
He could even talk comfortably, and there was no burden except for a slight resistance when he moved.
His eyes didn’t even sting.
Beyond the fully opened hatch, the scenery of the deep sea was visible.
“What do you think?”
“…….”
He was speechless.
He had had many experiences so far.
He had seen the natural scenery of Gehenna, and he had faced a huge blow that could destroy an aircraft carrier.
When he stepped onto the deck of the submarine, the scenery created by the great nature became even more detailed.
The underwater scenery, which was clearly visible despite the lack of light, was a wondrous sight even for Siwoo, who had experienced all sorts of mysteries.
If you looked up, you could see a deep blue darkness like a dark night sky.
Below that was a wide plain.
The plain was made of soft sand that seemed to leave footprints as you stepped on it.
Fish with unique shapes that he had never seen even in an aquarium flew like birds, and coral forests that grew here and there swayed in the slow currents of the deep sea.
Following the sloping hills, a huge mountain suddenly appeared.
A mountain range that seemed to be at least 1,000 meters high lined up its peaks under the name of a mid-ocean ridge.
“Isn’t it a sight that you rarely see?”
R’lyeh smiled, seemingly pleased with his sincere admiration.
Her hair, which touched the sea, fluttered like a breeze and shone with a blue light like a sapphire.
But that smile soon faded.
It was the moment she saw a plastic bag fluttering like a jellyfish.
If someone were to step on a carefully tended garden with muddy feet, most people would probably have that kind of expression.
When R’lyeh reached out her hand, the plastic bag disappeared as if it had melted away.
“Did you think that I wanted to conquer the world because of petty greed? No. This is a just punishment. Humans pollute the sea without any remorse. Should I, the ruler of the deep sea, overlook that?”
“It was a word of advice for Your Majesty.”
“Has a vassal who offers advice always made the right judgment? I do not think so.”
R’lyeh did not continue the argument.
Instead, she jumped off the deck of the submarine and walked on the seabed plain.
Soon, what she called the true Nukelavi Kingdom appeared.
It was a huge passenger ship that was placed as if it were wedged between the V-shaped rifts that met at the top of the mid-ocean ridge.
R’lyeh’s submarine was huge, but it was less than half the size of that passenger ship.
What was even more surprising was that a dazzling light was flowing from the windows of the sunken ship.
Even with R’lyeh’s protection, which made his vision clear, the bottom of the sea was basically dark.
The passenger ship, standing in the desolate rifts of the deep sea, emitting a faint light, was as out of place as a splendid haunted mansion in a secluded forest.
“It is the kingdom that I will one day reclaim.”
Siwoo followed R’lyeh and set foot in the Nukelavi Kingdom.
