Ch.184″Complex problems often have solutions right beside them.” (1)

While I was deeply contemplating this issue, our bunny-bunny Jessica went somewhere briefly and returned with her usual expression to inform me about the current resource situation at the base.

“Commander, the resource situation at the base is very poor due to recent fleet repairs and defense facility maintenance.”

“I figured as much.”

Of course, I could have guessed that much without needing a report.

Among our large vessels, besides the Kraken and Overseer, we only had two standard medium cruisers left.

Most of our small vessels had been nearly wiped out as well…

The biggest problem was that we’d lost too many “resource mining ships,” which were the alpha and omega of our fleet’s foundation.

“Regarding our current daily resource supply, we only have 6 ships in total, including newly produced ones, so our acquisition rate is quite low.”

“…Hmm.”

“With the recent increase in production efficiency at the base, we’ve reached 4,500 minerals and 900 rare resources daily, but…”

Jessica, who had been trying to lighten the tense atmosphere by mentioning the base situation, eventually shook her head to emphasize the severity of our circumstances.

“The resource fleet that used to provide most of our supplies is now only bringing in 3,000 resources daily, Commander.”

“That’s not easy.”

“But now that the mining facilities at the forward base have started full operation, we should be able to acquire an additional 2,000 to 2,500 minerals and about 100 rare resources daily starting tomorrow.”

“Hmm.”

Fortunately, thanks to the forward base we had previously established resuming full operation, if we added daily quests, we could somehow maintain a daily supply of around 10,000.

Of course, someone might ask what happened to the 500,000 minerals we received as war compensation after defeating the Unity Clan…

As I mentioned before, we were currently running 4 regular shipyards and 1 large ship shipyard at full capacity to restore our “fleet.”

On top of that, we needed to rebuild the defense facilities that had been completely destroyed during battles inside and outside the base.

Plus, we could no longer delay base construction.

And we were also finishing the construction of the “Monster Fleet Production Facility,” a monster-related quest that had been postponed due to the sudden war.

We were trying to do “everything possible at once” now that we had a lump sum of money, so to speak.

“So how many resources do we have left?”

“Um… including resources currently in transit, we have about 60,000 minerals and 9,000 rare resources.”

Despite having received 500,000 minerals and 50,000 rare resources, our wallet was in a truly miserable state.

That’s why I was dissatisfied with the treatment of the captured superhumans in our current situation.

Rather than treatment, it was more about my frustration at having to make my precious superhumans permanent fixtures at the base.

To be frank, the very fact that I had to abandon them was extremely annoying.

But even so, there wasn’t much we could do about it right now.

And even if we really wanted to abandon them, there was the question of what would happen to the rewards that my superhumans and I had fought so hard to earn.

‘This is really frustrating as hell.’

I had considered asking the gallery for help in solving this…

—————————————-

Title: How can I raise friendship quickly?

Author: Espanya

Content: [Image of a superhuman (muscular male character) with -50 friendship points.jpg]

His angry expression is quite attractive, but I heard he might escape from the base if this continues.

I’m trying to somehow raise his friendship, but whenever I catch him trying to escape, the friendship I barely managed to raise gets reset.

Help!

Comments:

-[Gay gay…]

-˪[This person is a woman]

-˪[Oh, then? Girl girl…]

-[LOL impossible]

-[This person was also one of the fiends in the Central District]

-[If you got him as war compensation, the easiest thing is to just keep him docile with headpats inside the base]

-˪[But then I’d have to leave another superhuman behind](Author)

-[Well, that’s true]

-[There’s no other way, just accept it]

—————————————-

I had to spend quite a long time contemplating this problem that had suddenly appeared.

==========

While I was going through these days of anguish, with the Kraken undergoing a semi-forced diet…

“Yeaaah! Double scout ships!”

Just as I had quickly built up to 20 resource mining ships and pressed the button to simultaneously construct 4 scout ships to serve as evasion tanks and decoys, thus venting my accumulated stress in an odd way…

“Commander? Oxianor and Griyanar would like to see you.”

“Those two?”

While I could understand Oxianor, who had somehow become half-integrated into our base’s superhuman forces as a monster envoy…

Why would Griyanar be coming?

It briefly struck me as strange, but…

‘Well, they must have a reason. Maybe I can ask them if there’s any solution to that problem.’

Since those two wouldn’t come without a reason, I decided to accept their request for a meeting.

Shortly after they appeared, they immediately explained why they had come to see me.

First, in Oxianor’s case…

“Commander Icarus, you’ve begun construction on our fleet production facility.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“Thanks to that, Princess Luca wishes to express her gratitude to you for executing her request as promptly as possible, despite the recent unfortunate events.”

“I see.”

The moment she finished speaking—her “formal attire” of writhing tentacles and flesh always made quite an impression—an event message appeared before my eyes with a cheerful sound, one I hadn’t seen in a while.

And the reward exceeded my expectations.

—————————————-

<<<‘Why Aren’t You Building Infrastructure!’ Quest Reward Issued!>>>

<100,000 Minerals, 10,000 Rare Resources>

<Small Monster Fleet consisting of 1 Harpy-class Light Cruiser and 5 Gargoyle-class Mobile Destroyers added>

—————————————-

“…A fleet?”

“Yes, although neutrality in battles between commanders is an unwritten rule…”

Seeing my dumbfounded expression, Oxianor scratched her cheek with her carapace-covered fingers, pondering what to say next.

Eventually, waving both hands, she emphasized that this was thanks to her superior(?), Princess Luca, not herself.

“Princess Luca said that thanks to your achievements, a secret alliance with the Pirate Union has been established, so she decided to add a bit more to the reward for this matter.”

“Ohh.”

“Although our nest is currently busy producing large numbers of ships, so we can’t provide that much of a reward right now…”

“No, no, this is more than enough!”

Maintaining a naturally humble attitude—truly behaving like a gentleman(?)—I nodded at Oxianor’s demeanor and immediately shook her hand, not hiding my joy.

“Thanks to you, we now have a bit more flexibility in our fleet. Thank you!”

“Hmm, I didn’t expect such an enthusiastic reaction.”

Of course, some might wonder what’s so great about a squadron consisting of just one light cruiser and five destroyers, especially now that users have started using battlecruisers, battleships, and carriers in earnest…

But where in the world are free ships common?

For a normal quest to provide an additional reward of a small-scale but complete squadron of ships “for free” was quite remarkable.

-Whoosh!

“Commander, six ships have appeared at the front of the base.”

“Nice.”

And these free ships didn’t even require waiting—they were given immediately.

Who wouldn’t like that?

After expressing my gratitude to Oxianor once more, I turned my head toward Griyanar, who had been watching the monster ships.

“Well, I understand why Oxianor is here, but Griyanar, what brings you here?”

“Me?”

And in response to my question, Griyanar turned her head back to me with an impish smile…

“Commander, I hear you’ve been troubled about those captured superhumans lately?”

As she immediately identified my concern, I realized she had come because she had a solution to my problem!