Ch.319War of All Against All (2)

However, Commander’s words were met with a distinctly lukewarm response in the Settlement chat room.

Of course, there were many reasons for this, but the biggest and most critical reason was…

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[Why would Icarus even accept us?]

-[Hate to say it, but they probably have more reasons to reject us than accept us]

-[That’s a brutal truth bomb right there]

—————————————-

The fact that Icarus had no “reason” to accept them was precisely the issue.

And other concerns kept emerging as well.

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[At times like this, we need to look at our situation objectively]

-[Honestly, if we just barge in, won’t we look like a bunch of beggars?]

-[…Now that you mention it, that’s true]

-[For real, if I were them and we showed up like that, I’d see us as beggars and chase us away]

-[Good point]

—————————————-

As the consensus grew that Icarus would likely reject them, the next suggestion was to aim for a kind of “every man for himself” approach.

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[I think our best option is just to fend for ourselves]

-[If we scatter, won’t we be more vulnerable to others?]

-[It’s not like staying together is protecting us from being exploited]

-[That’s true]

-[I think we should go to either Humanity or Justice]

-[For real, Humanity even accepted those Walpurgis runners last time]

-[Wasn’t that just Walpurgis receiving support from Humanity?]

-[I heard that was just a rumor]

-[Wow, really?]

—————————————-

And after an extensive marathon meeting debating back and forth, they finally reached a conclusion.

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[So it seems we’ve all reached a conclusion]

-[Half to Justice, half to Humanity]

-[Feels like we’re separated families between North and South Korea]

-[Lol]

-[Not wrong though]

—————————————-

They decided to flee to either the Space Monster territory or the Earth Federation where Justice and Humanity were located, to live a peaceful life.

Of course, whichever side they chose, they would naturally have to contribute resources.

But either option would clearly be better than those who destroyed or extorted their fleets as soon as they built them.

The Settlement users seemed convinced this was the best conclusion.

However, while reaching this decision, some users expressed confusion…

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[But why aren’t we considering the Pirate Union or Xenovia Empire?]

-[For real]

-[If we’re talking distance, isn’t the Pirate Union the closest?]

—————————————-

And how did the other users respond to these questions?

As expected, they shook their heads at the users who asked such questions, as if telling them not to say such foolish things.

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[Pirate Union?]

-[Are you serious?]

-[That’s where the Loki Clan is]

-[You want to go to a place crawling with the same people who’ve been plundering us?]

-[Oh]

-[Xenovia is the same, I just heard from a friend that another new war broke out there]

-[For real?]

-[Yeah]

-[I heard about that too]

-[They say the Magellan Clan has allied with the northern clans to wage a great war against the southern alliance]

-[Really? Last I heard they were in a ceasefire and taking a break]

-[I heard that within hours of that announcement, they were both accusing each other of breaking the ceasefire and striking first]

-[Not easy]

-[Anyway, the important thing is, if we go to the Pirate Union, we’ll clearly suffer under the same people with just different names]

-[OK I understand]

-[And if we go to Xenovia, we’ll be in a war zone where they’ll strip all our resources and we’ll end up in a miserable state]

-[Agreed]

—————————————-

Following the logic that Pirate Union = Loki Clan = Troll gathering = same people who beat them up, the Pirate Union was eliminated first.

And as for the Xenovia Empire, as mentioned above.

A civil war was raging between the “Northern Alliance” led by the Magellan Clan and the “Southern Union” formed by medium and small clans who had hired Raksha as mercenaries.

Naturally, they avoided these two places, leaving them with no choice but to go to either the Space Monster territory or the Earth Federation.

===========

Having decided on their destinations.

Our Settlement users, after sending their daily resource quota.

While the plunderer users were off guard, gathered all their high-speed patrol ships and quickly dispatched them toward their chosen destinations.

Of course, some might wonder why they didn’t simply relocate their entire base instead of just sending out ships.

Due to the game’s system mechanics, to teleport an entire base somewhere.

One needed to have the coordinates of that area, meaning the “vision” of that location had to be revealed at least once.

So they were sending out the patrol ships they had hastily built to reveal the vision within the territories of the “Space Monster” and “Earth Federation” that they had never visited before.

But these patrol ships, carrying their dreams and hopes, didn’t journey very far.

Most users in the central zone wouldn’t simply let unknown ships pass through their territory.

The patrol ships that violated their territories were all shot down.

Others were destroyed by hostile neutral NPC fleets they encountered along the way.

Such as unaffiliated pirates, wild monsters, or Earth Federation deserters.

Some crashed into planets while being chased by other users and exploded.

Due to all these hardships, most ships couldn’t even reach their destinations.

Only a few incredibly lucky ships managed to barely enter the territories of the Space Monster or Earth Federation.

But the problem was, even after reaching their destinations…

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[Damn, reached Earth Federation]

-[Sharing coordinates]

-[<Censored>]

-[???]

-[What is this?]

-[Space Monster territory looks desolate ^^]

-[<Censored>]

-[Why isn’t this working?]

-[…I just found out that coordinates you haven’t seen yourself are censored by the system]

-[Oh no]

-[Ah…]

-[I think those who found coordinates should escape first]

-[I’m jealous]

—————————————-

Due to censorship by the “system,” not only chat messages.

But even in-game “communications,” maps with coordinates, or anything else was censored in the viewer’s vision.

The users who barely made it had no choice but to move their bases to those regions just to save themselves.

The remaining users tried to send new expeditions.

But…

-“You bastards, trying to run away?”

-“You’ll have to make up for the ones who escaped.”

“Ah, those assholes.”

As soon as the plunderer users realized the Settlement users’ numbers had decreased, they not only took all the remaining resources.

But also demanded that the remaining users make up for the shortfall left by those who escaped.

—————————————-

<Settlement Chat Room>

<Notice: Meeting in Progress>

-[Damn, those bastards are crossing the line again]

-[We may have been forced into this game, but we weren’t forced to be slaves]

-[Lololol those damn bastards]

—————————————-

The furious Settlement users, rather than waiting to die like this.

Began preparing a rebellion against the plunderer users, centered around the “Superhuman forces” they had managed to stockpile.

However, considering the possibility that the enemy might not be caught off guard and could bombard them from a distance with their fleet.

The Settlement prepared one last move to prepare for the possibility of failure.

And what was this “move”?

==========

-“…That’s how things turned out.”

“So… you’re asking if I can take you all in?”

-“Yes.”

After listening to that long story, I felt my head spinning, not knowing what to say.