Ch.226Persuasion, persuasion, persuasion

# Chapter 226: Persuasion, Persuasion, Persuasion

Anyway, let’s resolve these two women’s suspicions(?).

-Ding-a-ling.

[Pause]

[Quest: Suspected Mental Instability]

[Artraia and Samiya, after hearing your story, are not so much taking it seriously as…]

[They suspect that because they squeezed you so strongly and desperately, your mind hasn’t fully recovered yet, despite your physical recovery.]

[If you don’t quickly dispel their suspicions, you’ll become someone who tells falsehoods in front of the leaders of two countries.]

[Succeed in persuading Artraia and Samiya.]

[Reward: Friendship +10, Possibility of acquiring a positive trait]

[Quest cleared, reward available]

A quest completion message appeared.

‘I’ll just claim it later.’

[Pause Released]

I decided to deal with the reward later and immediately released the pause.

Then I continued discussing the current situation in earnest.

To be precise, it was about how to resolve this situation.

“Anyway, what’s certain is that proceeding with Samiya’s current plan is meaningless.”

“Then what do you plan to do, Arto?”

[Pause]

Hearing that, I activated pause again to organize my thoughts.

In reality, the “military power” of the Sun Emperor that we’ve identified was in the following state:

‘The Purge Unit members sent to help Samiya really did a great job.’

To be precise, the Purge Unit members had sent me the fleet organization chart that the Prosnak Federation had been quietly compiling without announcing.

Unlike what we previously knew about our forces (about 20,000 ships) versus their supposed triple strength (about 60,000 ships).

The actual Prosnak forces exceeded five times our strength.

‘At least 100,000 ships, seriously.’

Of course, the Sun Emperor didn’t possess all that power.

The defensive fleet of about 10,000 ships that was constantly on standby to check Ztrakfor’s Grand Fleet.

And the fleet of about 10,000 ships that was supposedly deployed for capital defense.

Including the border defense fleet at our border and patrol fleets scattered throughout the country, there would be roughly 25,000 ships… no, due to the civil war, about 20,000 would remain.

And since the Sun Emperor had burned through forces to forcibly break through the John-Burnater Line, the actual remaining forces would be at most about 60,000 ships?

Moreover, the Purge Unit members, just to be sure, dug through past records and found that.

During the period when I was suppressing those who were raving about devouring the northern region.

That is, during the “Eastern Advance” period, the fleet strength exceeded at least 40,000 ships.

‘I really made the right choice not to fight.’

I realized once again that my choice wasn’t wrong, while simultaneously becoming newly aware of how terrifyingly formidable the Sun Emperor’s remaining forces were.

‘About 60,000 elite Prosnak main fleet ships with veteran-level experience gained through war—that would be equivalent to the Sun Emperor’s own immense power.’

Trying hard to recall what that Sun Emperor bastard had smugly babbled to me back then.

The Sun Emperor’s ability, while not able to counter the “fleet” level of the Precursors and ancient civilizations lurking in that era.

It was clear that he was more than capable of handling a “regular fleet” level of the current era.

That means…

At the very least, he’s stronger than Ashna Levia, which could be considered our strongest “single” power card.

In the current galaxy, a “regular fleet” typically refers to a fleet size of at least 150 battleships among a total of 3,000 or more ships.

The card currently held by the Sun Emperor, when calculated according to the universal galactic average power and organization.

Even by rough calculation, it’s equivalent to a massive warlord commanding at least 20 regular fleets.

‘Looking at it this way, it’s truly insane.’

Moreover, this is after losing about 15,000 ships that turned to space dust while forcibly pushing through the Kerzin Federation’s John-Burnater Line.

‘Is it possible to produce forces of that scale by consuming an entire galactic quadrant?’

As someone who mainly played as small nations in games, this was a scale I could never imagine seeing.

I almost let out deep sighs, forgetting that I was currently in a paused state.

But since the pause stopped my actions, it also allowed me to wake from my contemplation.

‘…Now is not the time to be intimidated by the size of the Prosnak fleet.’

Having regained my senses, I was able to reestablish what was most important right now.

‘The important thing is to tell them why Samiya’s plan is wrong, explain the reasons, and provide countermeasures!’

So I pushed aside my distracting thoughts and, barely holding onto my consciousness that had become muddled from four days of double extraction.

I decided to use the plan I had contemplated for a week while keeping time paused before entering the imperial palace.

[Pause Released]

—————————————–

After explaining all of the above.

“So what’s the conclusion?”

“As I mentioned earlier, if we want to actually deal with the Sun Emperor, simple threats won’t be enough.”

I showed them the detailed plan using the terminal Riel had brought, addressing their skepticism.

“Our goal isn’t to annihilate that enormous number of Prosnak fleets. We just need to deal with the fake Fern’dus—the Sun Emperor—who has command authority, using mental control waves.”

“If we can do that, all command authority over the main forces would return to me.”

“But you said the Sun Emperor’s power is formidable? According to you, Arto, how do you plan to eliminate a ‘single’ entity stronger than Ashna Levia through a decapitation operation?”

“…”

“Even with your vaunted Purge Unit, there are limits.”

As she said this, I stared at Artraia, who still hadn’t retracted her massive horns and swaying lizard tail, and said:

“Of course, we won’t be handling it directly.”

“…Huh?”

Perhaps my response was unexpected.

Artraia widened her eyes in confusion.

But Samiya beside her seemed to have caught on, showing slight displeasure.

“Looks like Samiya has figured it out.”

“Sigh… honestly, there’s no other option besides that method.”

“What? What’s going on?”

Seeing Artraia’s puzzled expression, I explained calmly and briefly.

“Artraia, I explained earlier that the Sun Emperor faked his death to hide from Eternia’s gaze.”

“Yes, you did.”

“But if it becomes known that the one acting as Fern’dus in the east… is not a simple inferior species but the Sun Emperor.”

“If that happens?”

“Would the leadership of Eternia, especially the ‘royals’ like you who inherited the bloodline of the so-called ‘dragons,’ leave the Sun Emperor alone?”

“…Ah!”

Upon hearing my plan, Artraia let out a short exclamation.

In contrast, this time Samiya looked bewildered.

“What do you mean, Arto?”

“Oh, Samiya doesn’t know? I see…”

Seeing her confusion, I shrugged and gave Artraia a meaningful look.

‘Is it okay to tell her this?’

‘…We’re east-west allies now, so if it’s just Samiya.’

Having received permission, I quietly began explaining to the still puzzled Samiya.

—————————————

A little while later.

“…Wait, just a moment. My mind is too confused to process this situation.”

After hearing our explanation, Samiya looked like steam was rising from her head, which didn’t match her bluish skin.

But honestly, if I were in Samiya’s position, I would have reacted the same way.

“I’d probably react the same way, learning that Artraia is actually royalty—no, imperial royalty of Eternia, a being who inherited the blood of ancient dragons, and thus a super-lifeform capable of defeating an entire fleet alone.”

“Ugh… my head…”

Addressing such a Samiya, I drove the point home:

“And knowing that Eternia has dozens of royals who, while perhaps not as strong as Artraia, are comparable in power, can you imagine how powerful they are?”

“…So our precious soldiers and fleets were mobilized to attack such beings.”

Samiya, whose expression was already grim, seemed quite bitter upon realizing that the elite forces of her country—which were merely under mind control but still her nation’s elite fleet—would not just be facing ancient fleets of the Precursor Empire.

But would be torn apart by cosmic dragon monsters.

“Don’t worry too much. If Eternia decides to take ‘deliberate’ action… they’ll likely only target the Sun Emperor.”

“Th-That’s right! If they transform into dragons, they’ll ignore the Prosnak fleet’s attacks and tear the Sun Emperor limb from limb!”

Seeing Samiya’s expression, suddenly Artraia and I found ourselves in the position of comforting her.

It made me think how truly unpredictable life can be.

But at that moment.

-Beep beep beep beep! Beep beep beep beep!

Emergency alert sounds rang from the terminals that I, Artraia, and Riel were carrying.

Right after that.

“M-Minister! Big trouble!”

Riel, with an urgent expression, ran over to us as we were continuing our conversation…

“The Prosnak fleet led by the Sun Emperor has begun moving all its forces toward the border of the Eternia Holy Empire!”

The moment we heard those words, we realized the Sun Emperor was moving faster than we had anticipated.