Ch.306″Living on strongly today as well.”

Until now, those attackers who had been coming at us so fiercely suddenly stopped their reckless charges.

Despite our fortress’s anti-air defense systems remaining perfectly intact, they started dumping assault pods everywhere like they were setting off fireworks.

The situation filled me with suspicion and was truly difficult to understand.

Surprisingly, the reason for their behavior was none other than the arrival of 6,000 pranksters who had come to rescue me.

With the appearance of these pranksters, the invasion force of some 50 clans finally tucked their tails and began to retreat.

‘Survived another day, I guess.’

I’m not sure if I should consider myself lucky or unlucky, but at least I’m alive, which is fortunate.

Of course, I’ve only survived the attack from those 50-something clan alliances.

There was no guarantee that this massive fleet of users that suddenly appeared would necessarily be on my side.

I was ready to contact the mercenary dispatch office again, prepared to blow every last bit of my remaining 2.5 million minerals and 500,000 rare resources to self-destruct along with them if necessary.

Before that, I first reorganized the surviving mercenary units and defense fleet.

I also repositioned about 20 remaining resource mining ships and hurried to repair the battleships and other vessels.

Fortunately, all my worries and concerns ended up being just unnecessary anxiety.

After I diligently reorganized and repositioned my fleet, including two Krakens, to demonstrate that I still had fighting power left, a notification popped up in the chat window with a ping.

And that chat was from none other than “Menaldo,” who was commanding the fleet now leisurely approaching me…

—————————————–

<Menaldo has initiated a chat with Commander>

-[Hey, all these people came to help you, FYI] (Menaldo)

-[?????] (Me)

-[More precisely, those guys who were attacking you turned out to be a single clan, so people found out and came to beat them up] (Menaldo)

-[Oh] (Me)

—————————————–

There was a lot more conversation, but thanks to this, I was able to understand how the situation had unfolded.

“So, we weren’t attacked by numerous small clans, but rather fell victim to the machinations of a clan aiming for hegemony.”

“That seems to be the case.”

As if to prove this was true, most of the users who had been maintaining a loose encirclement formation said through the “Solo Players’ Room” that it had been fun, and were now heading back to their own bases.

With Menaldo’s explanation and the visible actions of the users, I nodded my head and finally felt that the fortress siege—which had been long in some ways and short in others—had at last come to an end.

==========

For that reason, I was now planning to terminate the contracts with the remaining mercenary units—not to mention those whose employment contracts had already been severed after being completely wiped out.

At the same time, I wanted to move the remaining ships into the fortress’s internal docking facilities for self-repairs.

But here, a small problem that I had completely forgotten about due to how long ago it happened caused an issue…

Unlike Kraken No. 1, our Kraken No. 2, which had eagerly devoured enemy ships in the latter part of the battle, seemed to be in its growth phase(?).

Perhaps because it had stuffed itself with ships to the point of indigestion, with its belly swollen considerably…

It got stuck in the spaceport gate entrance, which it had previously been able to pass through without any problems.

“Commander, we have a big problem.”

“…Don’t tell me one of those pranksters finally decided to attack?”

“No, it’s not that. Kraken No. 2 is stuck in the gate and can’t get out!”

“…”

The reason was obvious—since No. 2 was slightly smaller than No. 1, it had used a relatively smaller gate than the massive Gate No. 1 that No. 1 had passed through.

So when the three-day-old Kraken No. 2 heard my order, it tried to enter through its usual entrance without considering how much its body had expanded…

Its belly had swollen to a size far larger than its head from eating so much that it was suffering from indigestion.

By the time I received Jessica’s report and turned to the screen, our No. 2 was already showing its plump rear end to the outside, stuck in the gate, unable to move either way, just flailing its tentacles.

The problem was that because No. 2 had eaten so many ships, if we left it like this, there were only two possible outcomes for us.

“Jessica, what will happen if we leave it like this?”

“Either the Kraken will grow as it digests the ships and destroy the gate, or it will be crushed inside like a lobster that can’t shed its shell.”

“…”

I couldn’t understand how another accident could happen in a situation like this…

As soon as the battle ended, I ordered work to begin on extracting Kraken No. 2 from the gate where it was stuck.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time, while most of the “pranksters” were heading back after destroying their targets, saying their job was done…

—————————————–

<Solo Players’ Room⚥>

-[Hey guys, if we play this right, couldn’t we take a base for ourselves?]

-[???]

-[What?]

—————————————–

Other “pranksters” who wanted to suck up benefits by taking a base for themselves, just like Icarus had done, began to raise their heads stealthily.

Of course, most reacted negatively to such opinions, asking why they had come here in the first place.

But with thousands of users gathered, even if only 10% agreed with this idea, that would still be hundreds of people.

If these users started to sneak in, it was very clear that a dangerous situation would arise for Icarus.

—————————————–

<Solo Players’ Room⚥>

-[Then you guys go ahead and leave, we’ll do our own thing]

-[That’s crossing the line]

-[LOLOLOLOL]

-[Geez, look at these pranksters, immediately trying to cause trouble]

-[Well, if you really want to take it, now’s the only chance]

-[The guard fleet is wiped out, and the guy’s releasing his mercenary units because he’s out of money]

-[Combat fleet seems almost depleted too, and defense facilities are blown up, so yeah]

-[…That’s really tempting]

—————————————–

Moreover, the more they thought about it, Icarus had exhausted all means to defend the fortress.

With almost all fleet power gone except for his own, if they charged in now, they could at least create a Level 5 base in the central area for users to share.

Of course, the moment Icarus was defeated and driven from the base, hundreds of users would fight among themselves to claim it, ultimately devouring each other.

But as they say, when people are blinded by desire, they can’t see anything else—unfortunately, such future consequences weren’t in the minds of the users who were stealthily planning to move in.

On top of that, with one of Icarus’s main forces, a Kraken, stuck in the gate and exposing a weakness, they thought this was the perfect chance to strike.

The users who eagerly exchanged opinions were about to rush in all at once without hesitation.

But at that very moment…

-FWOOOOAANG!

—————————————–

<Solo Players’ Room⚥>

-[WTF is that]

-[Oh shit, more mercenaries?]

-[No, that’s the Pirate Empress. Did this guy pull another power move?]

-[I’ve been played by the rankers’ games again]

—————————————–

When they saw the 5,000 pirate ships appearing right in front of Icarus’s fortress, with flags embroidered with the Pirate Empress’s emblem fluttering in the void, the users who had been cautiously testing the waters realized that Icarus had pulled out his final card after noticing their actions.

They decided to run away immediately, thinking Icarus had done another power move.

Of course, neither Icarus nor Marian, who had brought the fleet, had any idea that they had been thinking such thoughts.