Ch.133Busy, Yet Not Busy. (4)

After hearing about Oppa’s troubles(?), Marian’s solution was, as always, a structure that exceeded our imagination.

“So, you’re saying the pirate alliance is gathering near the monster territory under the concept of conducting joint training?”

“Of course!”

Based on the process of “worried about base defense = need to block enemy approach = prevent enemies from coming in the first place,” she had randomly scattered a whopping 500,000 pirate ships around our base.

Literally, the area around my base and even near the resource zones was teeming with pirate vessels.

Watching this spectacle, I thought that not only other users, but…

I couldn’t help but worry that we might accidentally draw aggro from other factions. But…

In response to my concern, Jessica, who was standing beside me, quietly approached and spoke.

“Commander, why do you look so worried?”

“Hmm…”

I explained my “concerns” mentioned above to Jessica.

Hearing my words, Jessica unfolded one of her folded rabbit ears and showed a strangely confident attitude, saying there was no need to worry, despite being a bunny girl with a cat-like expression.

“Don’t worry, Commander. Other commanders and factions already know that we’re connected to the Pirate Empress!”

“…No, that’s not what I meant. Even so, if hundreds of thousands of ships gather in this space, won’t it draw aggro from other factions?”

From what I remembered, if fleets from other factions or commanders=users gathered beyond a certain threshold…

It would trigger aggro from other factions, launching massive fleets to crush those ships.

When I brought this up, Jessica nodded, acknowledging it was a reasonable concern.

Of course, Marian, who heard our worries…

“Oh, that? That’s not really a problem?”

She said this while simultaneously putting both Leonard and another unnamed male pirate in headlocks.

“Other factions do this too, you know? They send tons of fleets to bases of commanders they favor or influential commanders.”

“…Really?”

‘I’ve never heard of that before.’

When I was playing the game, I honestly never heard or saw anything like this, but…

At this point, I had to start accepting that Marian wasn’t just joining me as a player with ‘only’ her loyal fleet.

She still reigned as a faction leader while simultaneously existing as my subordinate(?).

“Besides, everyone—from those goody-two-shoes Earth folks to the always-pretentious Xenovia—knows that ‘I’ am here!”

“That’s right!”

“With the Empress here, it would be more suspicious if we weren’t protecting this place!”

Hearing the spirited responses from Marian and the two men tucked under her arms,

I realized that this world doesn’t flow 100% like the game, and decided to adopt a more inclusive perspective.

Of course, separate from that…

“Anyway, Oppa doesn’t need to worry about that!”

“…I see.”

“Yep! Before any hostile forces can even approach your base… my subordinates, including these guys, will take care of it! Right?”

As Marian said this, she naturally tightened her headlock on her subordinates.

Despite surely knowing that everything she eats seems to go straight to her chest, which was growing very smoothly…

“Huff… huff…”

“Uoooooh…!”

She seemed unaware that her chest was providing cushioning for her subordinates’ heads.

The two subordinates, buried in the Empress’s lower chest, were only letting out moans of excitement.

“Hey, what are you two doing? Say something!”

As she tightened her grip even more to prompt them,

I momentarily felt envious of Leonard and the unknown pirate officer who usually seemed “pitiful” when getting joint-locked by Marian.

And as their happy compression turned into painful compression…

“Krrgh, o-of course! Our Empress is absolutely right!”

“We’ll protect it with our lives!”

“See? There you have it.”

The two men, finally coming to their senses, hurriedly shouted that Marian’s words were true, expressing extreme affirmation.

Satisfied with their response, Marian released the two from her headlock, tossing them to the floor.

She then turned to me with an expression asking what I thought.

I could only nod at Marian, telling her she was truly amazing.

==========

Anyway, with Marian’s help, I could rest assured about the base’s defense.

Feeling Oxianor’s glaring eyes that seemed to say my trust would plummet if I dragged this out any longer, I was conducting the final fleet inspection.

“Berial, I’ll leave the fleet management to you for this expedition.”

“I will live up to your expectations, Commander.”

First, I appointed Berial, the only one among my superhumans with a proper “fleet buff,” as the commander.

Additionally, since I couldn’t send Overseer, my only cruiser and flagship responsible for firepower in my fleet…

“My, I’d prefer to stay by your side if possible, Commander♡”

“Sorry, but I have no one else to ask, Pashtra.”

“Of course♡ Leave it to me♡”

As a precaution, I added Pashtra for fleet fire support.

And finally, to prepare for potential boarding battles…

“Partia, please keep Pashtra in check.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, Savior.”

“What?! How dare you see me that way?!”

Leaving Pashtra—who according to her character setting is a mix of tsundere, trigger-happy, and eccentricity—unattended would be too much burden for Berial, who would be busy commanding the fleet.

So I added Partia, the senior from the “Order,” as Pashtra’s controller.

After organizing the fleet to be dispatched to the monster’s main base, and considering that additional supplies would be difficult…

I added resource mining ships that double as repair vessels and transport destroyers loaded with repair resources to the formation…

“Commander, about the fleet composition you’ve just arranged.”

“Yes?”

“It’s increased by 20 ships from the original plan. Is that okay?”

—————————————-

<Expedition Fleet Status>

<Light Cruisers: 11 ships>

<Destroyers: 45 ships>

<Resource Mining Ships: 5 ships>

<Escort Ships: 25 ships>

<Patrol Ships: 35 ships>

<Total of 121 ships formation complete>

—————————————-

Looking at the fleet composition screen that appeared with Jessica’s words,

I could see that more than two-thirds—actually over half of my fleet—had been assigned.

Except for the cruiser and some destroyers, all other ships were deployed.

Jessica’s expression seemed to ask, “Isn’t this too many ships to commit?”

I shrugged toward Jessica, indicating there was a reason for all this, and then…

Activated the base’s teleport system.

With a sparkling light, using the neural connection between Oxianor and the base,

I sent the carefully organized fleet on its long journey to the hidden monster’s main base—its nest.

==========

But the next day.

After the fleet had been sent through the long-distance teleport, a communication request came from Berial to the command center.

I was in the middle of completing a daily quest when I connected the call, wondering what was happening.

-“Commander, a being designated as a VIP by the monster faction has boarded our ship, but…”

“Oh, they boarded right away? Then bring them here immediately.”

Surprisingly, just like in the game, the VIP boarded immediately without any minor procedures.

Thinking the developers were too lazy to handle the details, I told Berial to just bring them over, but…

-“Um… Commander? There’s something I need to report about that.”

Seeing the usually sharp Berial hesitating on screen,

I showed a suspicious expression, wondering what was going on.

Right after that…

-“Are you Commander Icarus, the Empress’s partner? Pleased to meet you!”

The moment I saw the “child” who suddenly popped up beside Berial,

With a new quest updating before my eyes,

I was forced to realize the identity of the “VIP” mentioned by the monster faction.