Ch.25Lone Wolf vs Troll (3)

Just before Icarus lost his resource zone.

Let’s go back in time a bit.

Meanwhile, our protagonist Icarus was making tremendous progress during that period.

Nearby, there was a Commander who operated in a completely opposite style to Icarus.

While Icarus had a fleet composed of cheap, easy-to-produce basic ships supported by Superhumans including SSS-rank and near SS-rank ones…

This Commander, on the other hand…

“Why focus only on characters when this is ultimately a fleet battle game?”

He was a typical advocate of fleet combat doctrine, but unlike Icarus, he had amazingly pulled an SSS-rank cruiser “Overseer” from the gacha instead of an SSS-rank Superhuman.

As a dedicated long-range firepower type, this ship possessed raw power and firepower comparable to high-tier S-rank battleships, despite being two ship classes higher than his own.

Although the unique SSS-rank meant the Commander couldn’t pull additional Overseers, he started with a ship that had battleship-level firepower.

The Overseer’s overwhelming range and firepower completely suppressed the possibility of “close combat” occurring, unlike other users.

Of course, having read the recent chat about the “Pirate Empress,” he knew he should prepare for close combat.

“If I melt them quickly from a distance, doesn’t the possibility of close combat disappear altogether?”

This was, in a way, a very sensible thought.

Unlike his luck with pulling ships, his luck with Superhumans wasn’t great.

Unlike Icarus, his Superhumans were merely between A and S-rank.

Now, why is this person suddenly being mentioned?

Because he was the very person who had attacked one of Icarus’s resource zones.

—

“Damn it, what an asshole.”

Because pirates frequently appeared in resource zones, he had sent a fleet as an escort and simultaneously used the ships’ cargo holds to increase the amount of resources mined at once.

When another Commander appeared with an equally large fleet, telling him to get lost from near his base…

Melon, a toxic anonymous poster on the gallery who actually used the nickname “Melon,” was feeling extremely bitter about losing his original resource zone.

“Who the hell is he to make a fuss about sending fleets to resource zones?! Goddammit!”

“P-please calm down, sir.”

He wanted nothing more than to take his main fleet, including the “Overseer,” and crush both the other Commander’s fleet and the pirates at once.

However, although the opponent’s main ships were only SS-rank, lower than his own, they had two of them and a much larger fleet overall.

So despite his typically nasty personality, Melon had to swallow his pride and abandon the resource zone.

Of course, if that had been the only resource zone he’d found so far, Melon would have gritted his teeth and put up desperate resistance.

“Maya, redirect the fleet to the location we scouted earlier!”

“Yes, Commander!”

Fortunately, Melon and his fleet had already found and had their eye on a new resource zone.

He redirected his retreating fleet to that area, but when he encountered another fleet already mining resources there, Melon, already in a foul mood…

“Who the hell are these guys, eating from the place I had my eye on?”

With this questionably mindless statement, he checked the fleet busy collecting resources at that resource zone.

He sent a one-on-one chat to the fleet’s owner, demanding they leave in what was, “by his standards,” a very calm and peaceful message.

And when the Commander of that fleet checked the incoming chat…

“What the heck is this?”

No, our Icarus was feeling his disbelief soar at this incredibly arrogant chat.

—

-[Hey, you.]

-[?]

-[That fleet in the resource zone, is it yours? (resource zone coordinates)]

-[Yes, it is. Who are you?]

-[Nothing special, just FYI, this is mine now, so get your fleet out immediately]

-[???]

After momentarily being dumbfounded by this completely random one-on-one chat, I shook my head and expressed my refusal.

-[Look, do you know this resource zone is so huge that not just 2 but even 5 people could mine here simultaneously?]

Indeed, the area where one of my resource fleets was currently mining contained enormous asteroids much larger than other resource zones, pouring out seemingly endless mineral resources.

The scale was so vast that not only me with just 3 ships, but also the guy who contacted me through chat, plus about 2 more users could fit comfortably.

Therefore, I had absolutely no idea what this strange person was thinking.

What was the point of monopolizing a resource zone so large he couldn’t even handle it alone, whether I was there or not?

But contrary to my thoughts, the other party pushed forward with unimaginable rudeness.

-[Is that my problem?]

-[What???]

-[I don’t like seeing other people lurking around MY resource zone and stealing MY resources.]

-[What the-]

-[If you don’t like it, fight me. Poor bastard who can’t even properly arm your ships sure talks a lot]

-[???]

Feeling my mood rapidly deteriorating at this behavior that could only be described as going from zero to a hundred…

“Commander, we just received information about the enemy fleet from our ships at the resource zone!”

“Put it on the main screen.”

“Yes, sir!”

As Jessica displayed the fleet power comparison on the large monitor installed in the command center at my request…

—————————————-

<Fleet Power Comparison>

<Friendly vs Enemy>

<2 Destroyers (Transport Type), 1 Resource Mining Ship vs Cruiser ‘Overseer’, 3 Destroyers, 5 Escort Ships, 3 Resource Mining Ships>

—————————————-

‘Oh crap.’

When I confirmed he had deliberately brought his main fleet including an SSS-rank ship, I realized I had to play along with his actions for now, given the overwhelming disadvantage in power.

Of course, I couldn’t help feeling annoyed regardless.

-[Fine, I get it. OK, I’m pulling out]

-[Yeah, get lost]

‘Heh, what an ill-mannered bastard.’

I felt relieved that I only communicated with him via chat, so I didn’t have to manage my facial expressions.

I immediately closed the chat window and ordered Jessica to recall the resource fleet from that area at once.

“Sigh, Jessica.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“The fleet at Resource Zone 4… get them back to base before they get attacked and end up donating resources.”

“I’ll take care of it right away.”

After giving the order, I leaned back in my command chair and fell into thought.

Of course, 50% of those thoughts were irritation about the rude bastard I’d just dealt with.

The rest was to evaluate his unpleasant strategy.

‘At first glance, it seems like he’s just acting on impulse… but thinking about it, there’s some calculation behind his actions.’

Instead of coexistence, he’s showing his determination to establish overwhelming dominance over me.

It was actually a strategy occasionally used in this game in the past:

Deliberately “moderately” hindering nearby users’ growth, then devouring them with your fleet once they’ve grown a bit.

Unless your fleet grows well, you could easily get screwed later, and the grudges pile up quickly, often returning as karma. Eventually, this approach became something only users belonging to major clans would dare to attempt.

‘Is he running wild with an SSS-rank cruiser? That’s really not an easy thing to do.’

Thinking that I probably wasn’t the first person to fall victim to someone acting this way, I was about to order my soon-to-return resource fleet to head to another resource zone to mine together, believing he would eventually receive his karmic retribution.

But at that moment, I noticed a new post in the “Featured Posts” section of the community board I’d been keeping open, and I unconsciously clicked on it out of curiosity.

—————————————-

Title: Just chased away an idiot and got a resource zone. Worth it?

—————————————-

Seeing that title and reading the contents inside, I decided to throw away all my previous rational thoughts and focus on preparing to make that damned bastard pay.