Ch.173[Episode 173] Gacha World in Crisis

“It’s almost over.”

Sir Dominic looked at the battlefield.

The zombies were no longer advancing against the androids who had already established a complete defensive line, merely being consumed by the hail of bullets.

“Same here.”

Sir Dominica observed GachaWorld while sipping warm cocoa.

GachaWorld was located in a wasteland, and nights in the wasteland were quite cold.

“But since they mentioned charging time, it will probably take longer than what we’re seeing.”

Currently, about 75% of GachaWorld’s attractions had been restored.

Soon, power would reach the Ferris wheel as well.

To accomplish this, they were converting the massive amount of Gacha Stones that Don Castello had hidden as emergency funds into Credits, which was accelerating the restoration process.

“…But something seems strange.”

Sir Dominic said while observing the zombie legion’s assault that was nearly finished.

Yes.

The assault was almost over.

“Why aren’t they continuing their offensive?”

Sir Dominic asked, finding it strange.

Hearing this, Sir Dominica and the Governor remained silent.

They too couldn’t think of any reason for the sudden halt in the offensive.

“…Reinforcements.”

Sir Dominica offered a plausible answer.

“Perhaps they’ve determined they can’t break through with their current numbers?”

“Or maybe they’ve changed their plan?”

The Governor said.

“From what I just heard from Sir Dominic, these attackers are targeting someone called Don Castello. If they’re bypassing us to go straight for their target—”

Sir Dominic nodded.

Both were reasonable assumptions.

“Governor. How should we prepare for that?”

Sir Dominic asked the Governor.

Sir Dominica also looked at the Governor.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were vanguard-style fighters who led from the front, not strategists who fought using their minds.

The Governor stroked his chin thoughtfully under their gazes, then quickly devised a simple strategy.

“First, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica should—”

…

At the same time Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and the Governor were strategizing.

Boss and Z, who had secretly left the fortification, were meeting with members of Mountain Bridge Marsh.

“…So you want Mountain Bridge Marsh to intervene in exchange for giving up part of the reward?”

“That’s the point of our proposal.”

Boss said to a woman wearing a hat marked with IQ 150.

“No matter how I look at it, this has become a problem we simply can’t solve on our own.”

Boss sneered, suggesting someone hadn’t passed on information properly.

“Ha.”

The woman laughed incredulously.

“We told you exactly what we knew. Don’t shift your incompetence onto us.”

“Well, fine. We’re incompetent, I admit it.”

Boss strangely accepted his mistake with ease.

“But it’s also true that everything has gone wrong in the current situation.”

Boss stared at the woman with gleaming eyes.

“…So what do you want?”

The woman gathered much information from Boss’s gaze.

Boss clearly had no intention of dying alone if things went wrong.

He must have several… or perhaps dozens of pieces of evidence proving his dealings with Mountain Bridge Marsh.

Of course, such evidence wouldn’t cause major damage to Mountain Bridge Marsh… but the executives would certainly make the woman pay the price.

“We’ve been saying what we want all along.”

Z continued instead of Boss.

“We need Mountain Bridge Marsh’s support. And we need support of similar scale to ours.”

Boss nodded at Z’s words, and the woman sighed.

“…I can’t send troops. We’re short on manpower because one of our executives messed up recently. And as for providing illegal weapons, the hacking tools are blocked. Instead, let’s do this.”

The woman pulled her hat down and glared at them.

Her mouth was smiling, but beneath the brim of her hat, her eyes were filled with a chilling murderous intent.

“We’ll break through GachaWorld’s firewall, and you launch another offensive.”

Boss and Z looked at each other.

Mountain Bridge Marsh’s support wasn’t exactly what they wanted, but their intention to help was clear enough.

“Fine.”

Boss took out a cigar and lit it.

“Negotiation complete.”

Boss extended his hand with a satisfied expression.

In truth, Boss wasn’t particularly pleased with Mountain Bridge Marsh’s proposal, but he considered himself a gentleman who knew how to compromise.

“…”

The woman from Mountain Bridge Marsh also shook Boss’s hand with a bright smile.

But why?

Her eyes weren’t smiling at all.

…

“The zombies are coming again!”

The androids who had established double and triple defensive lines at the entrance reported to the Governor.

“This might be their final offensive.”

The Governor glanced toward the Ferris wheel.

The attractions were already about 90% lit up.

Including the time needed to charge the Ferris wheel’s backup batteries, it would take 3-4 hours at most.

The zombies were approaching.

But the Governor wasn’t particularly worried.

The darkness that had fallen over the wasteland was gradually lifting as dawn approached.

Though still dark and hazy, visibility was sufficient to see and respond with the naked eye.

Naturally, they could track where the zombies’ offensive was coming from, which meant the Governor’s side had an overwhelming advantage with their narrow entrance and thick defensive line.

“I think sending Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica was a good decision.”

The Governor said, pulling his coat tighter around his shoulders.

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica had gone to Don Castello to guard against possible assassins.

The zombies stopped moving at a distance from the entrance, apparently following someone’s instructions.

Surprisingly, they stopped at a precisely calculated distance, just barely out of range.

“…Are they planning to charge all at once?”

But it won’t work, the Governor muttered.

“No matter how many of those come, they’re not scary.”

The pink-haired adjutant in uniform with vacant eyes said to the Governor.

“…Still, strengthen our defenses. Keep a close eye on the front.”

Yet somehow, the Governor couldn’t shake an uneasy feeling.

The warning from his instincts, honed as a veteran of GachaLand, was not something to be ignored.

Sensing this unease, the Governor maintained his composure and ordered increased vigilance.

However, the Governor was so focused on what he could see that he failed to notice what was happening in places he couldn’t see.

…

Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica returned to the office where Don Castello was.

“…Why are you back? Did the entrance get breached?”

Don Castello looked at Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica with hollow eyes.

“Thanks to a kind person we met in the wasteland, the entrance is safe.”

Sir Dominic explained the situation.

The Governor they met in the wasteland.

The story of receiving help from a pioneer who introduced himself as a fan of Sir Dominic and Sir Dominic.

“True. The difference in scale can’t be ignored. When it comes to scale, quantity is more effective than quality.”

Don Castello nodded.

While Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were individually powerful enough to easily handle five or six opponents, the situation changed when the numbers exceeded hundreds, thousands, or tens of thousands.

At that scale, 100 one-star dealers would produce better results than a single Sir Dominic.

However, this wasn’t actually the important point.

Sir Dominic had inadvertently missed something crucial, but Sir Dominica clearly noticed this shocking fact.

“Don Castello… nodded his head?”

Sir Dominica looked at Don Castello with surprised eyes.

Now visible were the traces of hard labor.

Don Castello originally had a body with three layers of chin and would roll around if pushed slightly, but after maintaining concentration all night without rest for the restoration work, he had lost enough weight to be able to nod his head.

At Sir Dominica’s words, Sir Dominic also looked at Don Castello.

His chin and neck were now distinguishable, his bulldog-like sagging cheeks had reduced to merely chubby, and his belly had shrunk enough that he could turn his waist from side to side.

As Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica stared at Don Castello in surprise, Don Castello became flustered and examined himself.

“Ah, I was wondering why I was craving sugar.”

Don Castello grumbled after checking his appearance.

“I’ll be back to normal in a few days anyway. Don’t worry about it.”

Don Castello said.

In fact, Don Castello and his family had a tendency to focus completely on one thing, neglecting food and drink when absorbed in a task.

Perhaps that’s why? Storing energy in their bodies during normal times had become a kind of family tradition for efficiency.

However, Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica were still unable to recover from the shock.

As if someone knew this fact, a system window suddenly appeared before Sir Dominic and Sir Dominica, delivering an even greater shock.

[The first defensive line has been breached.]

[The second defensive line has been breached.]

[Some units have been isolated.]

[Fortunately, the Governor has been evacuated to the rear, but GachaWorld’s entrance has been captured by the <Zombie> side.]

[Zombie legions are spreading throughout GachaWorld.]

A shocking message that instantly dispelled their existing shock and fatigue.

Sir Dominic, Sir Dominica, and Don Castello looked at each other.

The situation was taking a strange turn.