Season 4: Chapter 169. Team Rocket (3)

Paprika had been sharpening their blades ever since their last defeat.

“What doesn’t kill us... only makes us stronger!” Shrimp, the leader of Paprika, shouted a cool line that didn’t exactly fit their situation.

The viewers’ reactions were ice-cold.

— ?

— ??

— ...?

— Eh?

— Didn’t you guys die, though? Hahaha!

Indeed, they had.

— You all died like ten times, lmao

— HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— Are they asking to be killed again?

— What doesn’t kill us? Bro, everything kills you!

— Watching you guys is the pain...

Among viewers, Paprika’s streamers had become the laughingstock of Cheese Village. A grand rivalry had been hyped up between the streaming platforms, only for Cheese to crush them utterly. It felt humiliating for Paprika, and the streamers paid for it with endless mockery.

Ding!

[TeamRocketAdmin has donated 20,000 won.]

[They say when you die by Almond’s arrow, Black Pepper will come greet you first. I really like that story.]

— HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

— LMAO, why though??

— Probably has ten arrows stuck in her skull!

— FYI: Black Pepper didn’t even die to arrows. Just got stabbed ten times.

— LOL omg

“Shut uuuuup!”

Paprika swung their pickaxes day and night, arms nearly falling off as they leveled up their Miner class. Soon, many reached Level 2 Miner and unlocked the ability to craft Sticky Bombs. They could even mine Obsidian now.

They had achieved all that progress within a single day. To reach that pace, they had to live and breathe the server, sacrificing everything else. This could only be done with a clear goal and an unwavering will.

“Almond... I’ll kill you. That’s the only thing I’ve thought about from the start,” Black Pepper muttered as she slammed her pickaxe into an Obsidian vein.

— At this point, isn’t she just obsessed with Almond? LOL

— FYI: Black Pepper’s been dead since the beginning.

— Almond... will be eliminated...

One thought drove all of them: to kill their oppressor, Almond. Flames burned in their eyes.

“Team Paprika...! Where are you!? Sister Black Pepper...!”

A voice echoed through the mine.

[ChocoShroom]

It was ChocoShroom.

“Ah! There you all are!” She rushed over, gasping for breath. “Z-Zelo! Zelo is...!”

Zelo was set to be executed the next day.

***

So, Paprika scrambled to arm themselves. They stripped every last ore and packed every bomb they could make. Still, a twinge of doubt lingered.

“But... can we really pull this off?” Salt, who had witnessed Black Pepper die to Almond firsthand, expressed caution.

Black Pepper didn’t care. “Let’s go. One way or another.”

Orange joined in. “Yeah... without loyalty, Team Rocket is just corpses.”

They all remembered that moment vividly. When arrows rained down and they fell, one by one, into the flames. The clips kept resurfacing in their donation videos. They couldn’t escape it.

“This isn’t for us. It’s for Zelo.” Shrimp reaffirmed the purpose of their mission. “This is a holy war to overthrow Almond’s dictatorship and rescue our fallen martyr!”

— ?

— LMAO, well... technically true.

— A holy war, he says.

— Kinda dramatic but okay.

Shrimp always had a flair for the dramatic. This time, it worked.

“Y-Yeah... without loyalty, Team Rocket is just corpses!”

Orange, who led the way, finally stopped. “This is it.”

They were right beneath the courtroom.

“Do you hear that?”

“Yeah. Sounds like the trial is starting.”

— What the hell are they doing? LOL

— You’re now watching North Korean troops infiltrate the South.

— Wait, you can actually hear it, hahaha.

Orange whispered back, “

Shh.

Quiet. They might hear us too.”

Team Paprika listened to the entire trial from below. Timing would be everything. They planned to strike right as the verdict was announced.

“There are three judges and a jury, right? When they start the sentencing, that’s our cue.” Orange made the call.

Then, Almond’s verdict came. “I hereby sentence you... to death.”

Bang, bang!

Orange froze in mid-step. “Now we go. Huh?”

Everyone else felt just as stunned.

“?”

They couldn’t believe their ears.

— ???

— ?

— What the hell? hahaha!

— ‘I hereby sentence you... to death~’ lmao!

— Can we get this judge in real life, please?

— Temporary insanity? Never heard of it. Death.

Thinking he had misheard, Orange turned back. “Didn’t you say there were three judges and a jury?”

Everyone nodded. They’d all heard the same thing.

Zelo voiced that exact confusion himself, “No, Your Honor! Are those two on either side of you just for show!? Why are you judging alone?”

The reply came promptly.

“Because this is a dictatorship.”

Paprika fell silent and stared at one another in the tunnel.

“D-Do you think this will work?”

“An indiscriminate target... I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

“This is insane. This isn’t a country at all.”

— Hahaha

— LOL

— Crazy

— So it was a dictatorship, huh?

— It’s not a country, it’s the Knight Order, lol

“Hey. When are we going up?”

Rumble, rumble.

From above, they could hear the dragging of chairs.

“Now moving to the execution site~ Those who wish to view Zelo’s execution may proceed to the Great Arcade...”

They were beginning the execution already.

Orange urgently started digging the side tunnel wider. “Come on, follow us! Hurry! Dig faster!”

Clang!

Kakang!

Once again, Team Paprika’s Miner level rose with the clangs.

— Oh my god, lol

— Digging again??

— These guys really just dig, huh

— Human drills, damn

— At this point, they’re basically here to make drainage for Cheese Village, right?

***

Thus, Zelo’s execution finally began. He stood with his hands bound behind his back, set upon the platform.

Almond, Radish Servant, and Potato Servant sat before him like judges. It was a humiliating tableau, but Zelo had other concerns as he debated his final line with viewers.

“‘I left the whole world behind there.’ Shall I say that?”

— Hahaha.

— Hmm

— Left what behind, though?

— Zel D. Roger lol

— Miner King, wow

“Or... should I go out in style... like this?”

— Nope

— That’s not your line to pick, lmao

— It’s funny that you’re even holding a meeting about this, hahaha

— Justice for the rich, lol

Zelo rode the wave of viewership and felt buoyant.

Then, Team Rocket suddenly burst onto the scene with a spectacular volcanic display.

KABOOM!

“We’ve come to reclaim the martyr Zelo!”

‘Reclaim what, exactly?’

Zelo was left dumbfounded.

— ???

— ?

— Hahahaha

— They just dumped Paprika into a finished meal, lol

— What the hell, showing up now, are you crazy?

— This is literally Suicide Squad, haha

No one knew how those fools had even reached this place, nor why they insisted on interrupting an execution.

“Aren’t these guys useless?!”

They had been given battle intel, Obsidian, and even shown the entry routes. Still, Paprika had been trounced by Cheese.

“Now Team Rocket shows up? Give me a break!”

— LOL

— For real, lol

— Zel-kachu, damn

Team Rocket marched forward with swagger, unbothered by what Zelo was saying on his own stream.

Their leader shouted, “Comrade Zelo! Fear not! We will protect you!”

— Hahahahaha

— LMAO

— Legendary

— Shrimp really does have a flair for the dramatic

— Martyr Zelo hahahaha

Clack!

Shrimp called out toward the three judges seated far off, “Last time we fell into a trap you dug, but this time we’ll fight fair!”

All the knights within the stronghold immediately leaped out and drew their swords.

Shing!

Shing!

“Who gave you permission!?”

Servant Lemon led the Peasant group to hold the rear while Maid Black Tea rallied the Lackey group to guard the front.

“You losers with no Obsidian! What do you think you can do?!”

— Hahahaha

— Obsidian-less losers, lol

— That’s theirs, by the way...

At Maid Black Tea’s taunt, Shrimp laughed like he’d been waiting for this.

“

Uahahahaha

!! No Obsidian losers?” He glanced over his shoulder and snapped his fingers.

Bang!

Two of the finest swordsmen, Parsley and Orange, stepped forward and drew their blades.

Shing!

[Adamantium]

The Bard on Paprika’s side struck a drum.

Doom! Doom!

𝙛𝒓𝓮𝙚𝔀𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝒐𝒎

“Pretty convincing, right?”

— Whoa.

— What the...

— King-slayer metal, lol

— Insane.

— What is happening???

The Servants seated beside Almond shifted uneasily.

“W-What is this?”

“Adamantium!? What is that?”

The Servants, unfamiliar with

Survival Craft

resources, had never seen such ore.

Almond had never seen it either, but his reaction differed. He rose slowly and approached them.

Then, he offered his terms. “So, you insist on fighting? Surrender and I’ll only kill you once.”

— ?

— ??

— LOL

— AHAHA!

— You’re insane, lol

Shrimp snickered. “If you’re going to kill us anyway, then kill us ten times if you can, Almond.”

Shrimp didn’t flinch. He met Almond’s gaze.

The two swordsmen’s Adamantium glittered.

Almond nodded, drew his bow, and ordered his Servants. “Prepare twenty more gallows.”

— Wow.

— Today is a fruitful day.

— Such dignity from the lord.

The Knight Order’s bards pulled out trumpets.

Pah! Pah! Pah! Pa-ba-ba-bam!

In the Great Arcade, situated in the plaza before the stronghold, Cheese and Paprika collided head-on.

— Epic

— A championship-level showdown, lol

— Have the bards leveled up or something?

— This is getting me hyped

— Please, Shrimp, win! End the dictatorship!

— Save Zelo!!