Ch.111Gray Nightmare (3)

# Chapter 111: Gray Nightmare (3)

Meanwhile, around the time the Allied Fleet was enthusiastically engaging in underwear wrestling with the nano-machines…

I was aboard the perfectly repaired ancient vessel, a Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought—Leviathan for short—observing the situation from a distance away from the battlefield.

To be precise, even just observing was a struggle for me.

That’s because my purpose for entering this battlefield in the first place—and bringing this big, beautiful Leviathan along—wasn’t to engage in direct combat with the nano-machines like the Allied Fleet was doing.

[Event: Excellent Means of Communication]

[You’ve learned that to stop the endlessly spawning Gray Nightmare from the gate, finding Ash who disappeared beyond the gate is the best solution.]

[For that purpose, deploying the fully repaired Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought was the only viable option.]

[And finally, after mobilizing all of the Empire’s industry and technology… the ancient massive vessel has at last revealed its majestic form to the world.]

[Acquired Leviathan-class Super Dreadnought x1]

[Event: Crisis Situation (Gray Nightmare)]

[The nano-machine fleet appearing through the hidden gate in Riksi Federation territory seems to boast an endless, infinite supply.]

[However, excluding the gate, since they’re being produced from planets coated with nano-machines…]

[You must purify the planets and remove the nano-machines to prevent additional production!]

[But as always, the Galactic Federation tends to be indifferent to crises occurring elsewhere unless it directly affects them…]

[You must turn the Galactic Federation’s public opinion and save the galaxy from this crisis!]

As evident from the event message floating before my eyes…

Originally, I shouldn’t be here doing this, but rather flying to the Galactic Federation headquarters or engaging in video calls with their people in a political competition.

Yet due to that sense of responsibility and the event, I came to the front lines with this big, beautiful means of communication…

“Minister, the ambassador from the Nurval Republic is requesting additional information?”

“Minister Arto, the Galactic Federation delegation is asking about the Empire’s…”

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaah”

The problem was that diplomatic tasks were piling up on me while I was at the front line.

“Minister, you shouldn’t rest.”

“I’m! Not! Resting!”

As if controlling this massive ship with brainwaves wasn’t enough, I had to handle diplomatic matters too.

*Grumble*

I was getting a forced experience of what it truly means to taste death.

Fortunately, this period didn’t last too long.

Given that the Leviathan I was piloting rarely participated in direct combat due to its original purpose…

-“Arto.”

“Ugh… A-Arthraia?”

-“I’ll handle the diplomatic matters from now on, so you focus on what you need to do.”

The merciful embrace of Arthraia, as compassionate as her massive maternal instinct and personality pouch, enveloped me.

As a result.

“…”

“Minister, you’re happy now, aren’t you?”

I could focus entirely on the operation’s progress and potential Federation-related incidents, adding to my happiness.

———————————-

And while Arto was going through stages of wailing and then finding happiness…

The situation of the Allied Fleet was slowly, almost imperceptibly, beginning to improve.

-BOOM! CRASH!

“Rakshamusu sunk! Bien Kong heavily damaged!”

“Wow, cruisers and battleships are exploding all over.”

-BEEP BEEP BEEP!

“…The 343rd Destroyer Squadron that was flanking the front line has just been annihilated.”

“So destroyers and patrol ships are literally melting away.”

Of course, from the perspective of soldiers and admirals exploding on the front lines, this might sound like nonsense…

“The Galactic Federation will designate the nano-machine situation in Riksi Federation territory as a crisis situation.”

Thanks to the frantic efforts of Arto, Arthraia, and the Sebelli Empire as rear forces, along with nations like Riksi whose feet were already on fire, the Galactic Federation’s crisis motion passed instantly, unlike during the Warlord incident.

“Wait, we definitely played our tricks, so why did it pass immediately this time?”

Of course, during the process, the Fuksoviet Union attempted some “tricks,” seemingly trying to recreate the disaster from the Warlord era…

“Why should we get involved in your tricks?”

Unlike the Warlord era, there were no nations in the eastern sector that could properly influence the Galactic Federation’s political games.

If Zeltech had been intact, or if at least the original Sir Citizen Federation and other eastern nations had maintained their form, things might have been different…

“Why should we help you with what you’re doing?”

The Sir Citizen… no, the Sir-Horde Federation, which had split in half and merged with the Warlord, immediately challenged Fuksoviet’s approach.

As for Zeltech Reclamation Corporation…

“Zeltech is… dead!”

“That’s right.”

Fuksoviet themselves had turned it into a donut.

“Not interested.”

The Kerzin Federation was mobilizing all its resources to deal with Prosnak’s movements, so they had no capacity to get involved in such tricks.

“We’re already participating in the war, what nonsense are you talking about?”

The Ik Nurval Independent Republican Federation, or rather the Nurval Republic, had already joined the battle following Sebelli.

“If we play our cards right this time, our national debt could disappear…!”

The Uko`Praknar Interstellar Union, driven to mental instability by debt collection.

“Read the room, bro.”

“Ah.”

And the Roirakan Republic, whose nerves were on edge due to the chaos next door in Riksi.

For the Fuksoviet Union, the timing couldn’t have been worse.

Moreover, even if the timing had been good…

“Why should we look favorably upon those like Fuksoviet who ignore inter-national agreements?”

“That’s right, honestly, Sebelli is better—they fulfill agreements well, respond to Federation demands almost immediately… and even accept numerous refugees amicably.”

Regardless of internal Federation politics or Arto’s various political machinations, Sebelli had done all sorts of things to gain favor.

“The righteous Ztrakfor, the benevolent Ztrakfor.”

“The most evil Ztrakfor is equivalent to the most benevolent alien species.”

With Ztrakfor, the original master of gaining favor, supporting this war…

The possibility of Fuksoviet Union’s tricks succeeding was virtually non-existent from the start.

———————————

And through such situations, excluding supply lines and other strategic whatnot—things I neither properly understand nor care to know about…

Our robust Allied Fleet continued to push the front line and finally reached the planetary system where the nano-machines first appeared.

Of course, they had merely “reached” it…

-BOOM BOOM BOOM!

“What the hell.”

Seeing the Allied Fleet approaching their “source,” the nano-machine fleet’s desperate resistance intensified.

“The nano-machines are transforming into space monsters and charging at us!”

The space monster attack we used against the Warlord was now being used against us.

-WHEEEEEE…KABOOM!!!

“Uko`Praknar fleet flagship Penicillon destroyed!”

“…”

“Additionally, the forward Ztrakfor 3rd Fleet’s damage rate has exceeded 75%!”

The nano-machine fleets, made from the planets and space stations of Riksi that they had consumed, were even emerging from a super-sized gate made from an entire planet…

With their desperate resistance, the Allied Fleet’s casualties were increasing exponentially.

But regardless of other nations, our Sebelli Empire had a separate objective.

-“Minister, we’ve just succeeded in creating a route toward the gate.”

-“However, it will only last for an extremely short time, so you need to move as quickly as possible.”

“Hmm, thank you.”

The plan was to send the Leviathan I was piloting straight into the gate to figure out what exactly was going on.

It wasn’t for nothing that we had plastered it with cloaking equipment used in our Empire’s proud stealth destroyers.

“Activate cloaking system!”

“Main engine propulsion initiated, entering the gate in 3 minutes.”

The Leviathan I was aboard maintained its cloaking state and then…

“Trust the equipment we’ve made, Minister Arto.”

Placing my faith solely in our mad scientists’ confidence…

I dove through the chaotic battlefield into the gate from which nano-machine fleets kept emerging.