Ch.142″Western learning is the right civilization.” (2)

“This is strange, even if the opponent has powerful anti-air defenses.”

“I know, how could they destroy nearly half of our 3,000 carrier-based aircraft?”

Of course, throughout all this, my loyal superhumans couldn’t accept the fact that a mere fleet of about 10 pirate ships could destroy the monster’s super-capital ship’s carrier aircraft, no matter how carelessly I had deployed them.

“Commander, the enemy might be a more powerful pirate group than we thought.”

“Why not deploy us now to stop them?”

Thanks to this, those who felt that these Blue Fang pirates or whatever they were called were much stronger than they expected started making a fuss to me.

“This is only natural. No matter how powerful the ships and carrier aircraft are… they haven’t built up proper experience yet.”

“Hmm?”

“Think about it, Berial. The Kraken was born less than a day ago.”

“…Ah, I see.”

“That’s right! Without experience or knowledge, it can’t properly execute Commander Icarus’s orders and just recklessly charges in!”

When Oxianor, who had rushed over to see the Kraken that had emerged from the chrysalis they brought, and the Supreme Sovereign Princess Luca offered their interpretation, the superhumans’ faces briefly showed thoughts like, ‘Maybe the Kraken-class is actually useless…?’

Marian, who was standing behind Oxianor and Princess Luca with an expression suggesting she was thinking, ‘Was allying with monsters a mistake? Should I just push them away now and devour all the monsters myself?’ also nodded in understanding.

And while these friends were busy arguing among themselves, the pirate friends had already entered our firing range.

Berial, who was acting as the field commander and my terminal, measured the distance and contacted me again.

-“Commander, the enemy fleet has entered the Kraken’s firing range.”

“That’s faster than expected?”

“Hmm? Looking at it, big brother, they’re charging in using afterburners to avoid being attacked by our carrier aircraft.”

And when Pirate Professor(?) Marian immediately provided her interpretation to my question, I nodded, considering that our carrier aircraft were in the process of recharging anyway.

“Then the answer is simple, Berial?”

-“Yes, Commander.”

“Order all ships, including the Kraken, to open fire. Block their further approach.”

-“Understood.”

—

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the Blue Fang pirate flagship “Valpus”…

“Fuck!!”

“Why the hell is the carrier firing at us?!”

Though they looked grotesquely monstrous, that giant monster shell was clearly the “only” ship in this battlefield that could launch what appeared to be thousands of carrier aircraft.

Koltar overloaded each ship’s engines, using afterburners to approach quickly.

The plan was to avoid additional air strikes from that giant aircraft carrier while simultaneously trying to sink the carrier itself.

At the very least, they hoped to destroy the hangar to aid in their escape. Regardless of who the opponent was, with only one cruiser and two destroyers as escort ships, they thought their pirate group of 17 ships could exert sufficient force if they swarmed the target.

But betraying Koltar and his pirates’ expectations, powerful concentrated beam cannons were fired from the monster ship they had thought was an “aircraft carrier.”

“Aaaaargh!”

“We’re finished! Damn it, it’s not a carrier but a battleship!”

From the pirates’ “common sense” perspective, they realized the ship they were charging toward wasn’t a carrier with relatively weak armor to accommodate internal hangars and armories despite its size.

Instead, it was a large “battleship” with heavy armor all around. For them, with ships no larger than light cruisers at best, and their strongest firepower being merely light torpedoes mounted on light cruisers and destroyers, they realized they couldn’t even scratch it, sending them into panic.

“You bastards! Get your shit together?!”

“Just charge in, damn it! We need to escape by charging quickly and using our maneuverability to create confusion!”

Of course, the pirate executives were frantically working through the ships’ communication channels, trying to suppress the panic…

“Fuck off! We’re getting out of here!”

“Hey? Hey, you son of a bitch!”

Faced with a terror they simply couldn’t fight against, some pirate ship captains turned their bows and deserted the formation.

At this rate, the charging pirate group would clearly self-destruct and scatter according to individual whims.

‘Shit, at this rate we’ll all die.’

Koltar, the captain of the flagship Valpus and leader of the pirate group, thought this might be the end of their pirate group, but only for a moment.

-BWAAAANG!

-KWANG!

“Ugh?!”

“The Lady Hoe has been sunk!”

When one escort ship that had deserted the formation in an attempt to survive was completely obliterated by the battleship’s(?) fire, Koltar realized this was the moment to exercise his leadership.

He needed to straighten out the wavering pirate group and look for a chance to counterattack.

“Look at that, you idiots! That’s the fate of those who try to save only themselves!”

“…!”

“Ooooh!”

“Let’s go!”

—

—————————————-

<Event>

<Blue Fang Pirates have been granted the “Berserk” trait.>

<Berserk>

<Attack Power +20%, Evasion Rate -5%, Accuracy -5%>

—————————————-

‘This is fucking ridiculous.’

After the Kraken got a lucky shot and destroyed one patrol ship, now they even get a berserk buff.

With the already insane multiplicative calculation method, another multiplication was being applied.

Now it seemed like they might get a lucky shot on my Kraken with just one hit.

To experience such bad luck upon bad luck in what was supposed to be a small-scale battle just to test a newly acquired ship was absurd.

Along with this probabilistically ridiculous situation, now that our ships had entered their firing range, I abandoned my plan to drag out the battle against these unlucky pirates for leveling purposes.

I decided to advance the Kraken and use its abundant tentacles to destroy their ships outright.

But as soon as I moved the Kraken forward…

-“Commander, the enemy fleet is splitting into three groups as they approach.”

“Are these guys seriously…?”

Those crazy pirates formed up with what appeared to be their flagship, including light cruisers and escort ships in the center.

On both flanks, they similarly arranged light cruisers and destroyers, all charging toward the Kraken.

My escort fleet, insufficient in numbers, failed to properly block the pirate fleet that was charging with afterburners and allowed them to break through…

As I watched the pirates bypass the Kraken’s abundant tentacles by circling to the flanks…

‘Well, we’re screwed.’

At this rate, it was clear that the pirates’ light torpedoes and beam cannons would mercilessly pound the Kraken’s weak side armor.

They would fillet my small, precious Kraken like a fish, and I was inwardly lamenting that the Kraken, not even a day old, would be sent for long-term hospitalization at the monster headquarters after its first real battle.

Just as Princess Luca’s shrill scream was about to be heard at seeing the Kraken’s humiliating state rather than its majestic appearance…

-“Farewell, you damn battleship!”

“…?”

With this unexpected curse coming through the public communication channel, the pirates, instead of attacking, used additional afterburners right there.

Without launching any attacks, they simply exited the battlefield at ultra-high speed.

Although in the process, about two more ships were destroyed by the Kraken’s tentacles, causing minor damage…

“Those pirates are impressive.”

“…”

“Pretending to charge mindlessly, disregarding some sacrifices to save the majority.”

Incredibly, they had ultimately sacrificed only three destroyers and one escort ship.

Though they had taken some damage, they somehow managed to escape alive.

As I shook my head at this ridiculous battle outcome, feeling dumbfounded, I thought, ‘Well, I have to give them credit for that.’

With that in mind, I was about to return to base when suddenly…

-BOOM!!

“?!”

-“Commander! There are mines scattered around the Kraken!”

Surprisingly, those Blue Fang bastards had somehow scattered mines as they passed by the Kraken, then made a run for it, ensuring that any movement would cause contact with the mines and result in damage.

‘Haha, these sons of bitches.’

Thanks to this, I realized that for my precious Kraken to return to base, we would need to remove all those damn mines first.

“Launch carrier aircraft from the Kraken again. Pursue those bastards and destroy them.”

-“Understood, but won’t it be difficult to inflict effective damage with the Kraken’s current aircraft status?”

“No, call in other nearby fleets too, and tell Pashtra to deploy the base fleet as well.”

“Yes, sir♡”

To crush these pirates who dared to trick me and leave, I decided to mobilize every available resource.