Ch.243Assassination(???) Plan. (1)

As Antares continued speaking, the executives realized that the opinions presented by the staff weren’t actually their own… but rather packaged versions of their clan leader’s opinions after returning from the event.

“Personally, I agree with that opinion.”

Of course, in this situation, the executives’ opposition now began to focus not on the staff but on Antares himself.

“Clan Leader, even so, is there really any need to mess with Icarus?”

“I think the same. Rather than deploying forces against him, wouldn’t it be better to use those funds to bribe Icarus and pull him in like we did with Indefatigable?”

“Hmm…”

“I agree with that too. Isn’t Icarus a solo player anyway?”

“For real.”

But in response to their reactions, Antares closed his eyes and remained silent for a moment.

Eventually, when the ongoing objections had somewhat subsided, he finally opened his eyes and calmly uttered a single sentence.

“Ah, let me clarify first—I don’t think that opinion itself is wrong.”

“What?”

“What do you mean…?”

Naturally, the executives’ faces showed bewilderment at Antares’s words.

Regardless, Antares let out a deep sigh, then decided to briefly explain why he was leaning toward eliminating Icarus.

“The problem is what I learned during this event… it seems he’s essentially acting as an external mercenary for Arcadia’s Justice Clan.”

“What?”

“How is that possible…?”

“Hmm.”

“Is that information accurate, Clan Leader?”

Of course, the executives expressed their shock at Antares’s statement, with some tilting their heads in doubt, wondering if it was true.

But that didn’t last long.

“It’s true.”

Seeing Antares nodding with an extremely serious expression, the vice clan leader, representing the executives, cautiously raised a question.

“Clan Leader, do you have any definitive evidence for this?”

“Well… during this event, Arcadia herself said so, claiming she had secured Icarus first.”

“Clan Leader, that alone hardly counts as evidence, does it?”

“Of course, if she had been boasting alone, I would have naturally considered it a method to check a solo player.”

“Then…?”

Seeing the vice clan leader’s doubtful expression, Antares briefly massaged his temple as if his head was throbbing.

Eventually, after letting out another deep sigh, he shook his head and said:

“Just to be sure, I also asked Koenig and that damned Betelgeuse, who claimed to have played with Icarus, and unfortunately, they provided cross-verification.”

“Oh… my.”

Naturally, murmurs among the executives grew rapidly in response to Antares’s words.

“Wait a minute, so they’ve made two of the four solo rankers their mercenaries?”

“Isn’t Raksha also a solo ranker?”

“The second-place player does have a clan, just a small one.”

“I see.”

“Laura is one thing, but if they recruit Icarus too, couldn’t that become really dangerous later?”

And a little while later…

Though some opposition remained, it was merely suggesting they try to recruit him again.

“Think about it. Didn’t those Justice guys support Icarus like that during the last Central District invasion?”

“Oh, that’s right.”

“Hmm…”

Since all the puzzle pieces seemed to fit together, albeit somewhat unexpectedly, most of those who had opposed now shifted to agreement or neutrality, and the assassination plan against Icarus officially began to take shape.

—

Of course, while they called it an “assassination plan”…

Everyone present knew that Commanders—that is, players—couldn’t inflict significant pain or harm on NPCs or other superhumans.

In reality, their objective was to terrorize Icarus’s base itself, halting his development and eliminating him from future competition.

Alternatively, they could use such threats to force him to terminate his mercenary contract with the Justice Clan and become their ally instead.

However, if there was one small discord regarding the above content…

“But isn’t this a terrorism plan rather than an assassination plan…?”

“What… did you say?”

“Ah!”

Due to this trivial issue pointed out by someone, instead of beginning with detailed operational planning…

“Isn’t it still assassination since we’re targeting a Commander?”

“You’re adding ‘murder’ when we’re not even killing anyone? Should we call traffic accidents ‘traffic assassinations’ too?”

“…Sometimes that’s accurate, isn’t it?”

“Gah!”

…Being fundamentally just game users, they ended up spending precious time deciding on the name of the plan.

And only after about 10 minutes did they finally change “assassination plan” to the more sophisticated name “special operation plan.”

“Now this has some edge to it.”

“…”

Deliberately ignoring Antares’s gaze, which seemed to say they were pathetic, they began to methodically develop the actual plan.

—

And due to Humanity’s characteristics of being both sinister and strangely realistic…

As always, instead of taking action themselves, they decided to use external personnel or subordinate clans to carry out the operation.

Unlike before, they wouldn’t mobilize a large fleet but planned to conduct a raid using only “superhumans.”

They would secretly deploy an elite team of minimum 10 SSS-rank superhumans to seize the stronghold.

However, a problem they hadn’t anticipated—or perhaps deliberately ignored—began to emerge:

—

<♡Humanity Mercenary Gathering Place♡>

-[So we need your help]

-[Do these kids know there are SSS-rank superhumans there?] (Clan Representative)

-[…So you want me to hand over my superhumans to terrorize a base with at least 7 SSS-rank superhumans embedded in it?] (Mercenary 1)

-[Yes, that’s right] (Clan Representative)

-[Be honest, are you just trying to lay us off?] (Mercenary 2)

-[LOLOLOLOLOLOLOLOL] (Mercenary 3)

—

The problem was that external personnel were showing extremely negative reactions to the missions given through Humanity Clan representatives.

But from another perspective, their behavior was perfectly reasonable:

Last time, five people took their superhumans and elite fleets only to be torn apart, and at the end, a massive pirate fleet was waiting to finish them off.

Some users even lost precious SSS-rank superhumans and had to pay exorbitant prices to recover their other superhumans.

Not wanting to suffer the same fate, they had no choice but to oppose Humanity’s approach.

The leaders of subordinate clans felt the same way:

—

<Creating a Beautiful World with Humanity>

<Let’s All Use Kind and Proper Language>

<Notice: Clans that suffered significant damage in the southern region will receive compensation from Humanity Clan>

-[Why on earth would they do this?]

-[It’s fortunate they’re not deploying fleets, there are still pirate fleets stationed there]

-[I heard the Pirate Empress herself stationed fleets there, saying she wouldn’t let those who backstabbed Icarus—who supported her forces—get away with it]

-[Wouldn’t that make infiltration a nightmare?]

-[Damn, if they have gravity radar at level 6 or 7, even hiding with assault pods would be difficult]

—

With Humanity asking for their precious superhumans, they responded fiercely, asking how responsibility would be taken if the superhumans were killed, and whether there were any contingency plans to prevent such deaths.

Antares and his executive staff had to spend more time deliberating to resolve this situation.

—

Meanwhile, at the same time, our Icarus was…

“Where did the Segway go, Griyanar?”

“Wouldn’t this be faster? It’s a new biological mount I created.”

“Gigi, isn’t this a handsome male insect? Climb onto my voluptuous back, gigi!”

“…”

Icarus was experiencing bizarre emotions while looking at what Griyanar had strangely modified—not a Femikampf, but some kind of indescribable form that might be a pupa or water bear or something unidentifiable.