Ch.378Ship Storage Service ‘The Hive’ (3)

After spending such a confusing day, and then another day after that… our fleet was finally crossing a very significant threshold.

And that threshold was none other than…

“Commander, Commander, Commander.”

“What, what, what, what, what, what.”

“The dreadnought’s construction is complete!”

“…Finally!”

That’s right.

After starting construction recently, we had to throw the Bayern-class outside due to insufficient points.

And the Bayern-class, which had been in a packaged state until I happened to see it—the very cause of this current ship storage trend.

It was the completion of our fleet’s ‘first’ dreadnought.

And as soon as Jessica’s report was heard, as if it had been waiting for this moment…

Outside the command center’s large glass window, a dreadnought so massive that simply describing it as ‘enormous’ seemed…

Woefully inadequate, as the large and beautiful dreadnought drifted majestically past.

Of course, perhaps because the dreadnought was so large…

Looking carefully as it passed by, it wasn’t moving under its own power…

“Tug #3, keep your anchor straight.”

“Aye-aye-aye.”

Since it was at least the size of Kraken No. 1 (satellite-sized) or slightly larger…

It was being laboriously pulled by dozens of tugboats, each capable of effortlessly towing a destroyer.

Though the numerous attached tugboats made it look somewhat ungainly…

“…Truly a glorious sight.”

“I think so too.”

“To command a fleet that includes that ship… it truly makes my heart swell.”

“Indeed.”

As evident from Berial’s reaction, who was serving as today’s escort and assistant secretary, the dreadnought’s appearance truly embodied the concept of “big ship, big guns.”

The quadruple turrets—four each on the upper and lower front sections, and two each on the upper and lower rear sections—had gun barrels with diameters larger than the hull of a typical destroyer.

Even the “secondary guns,” densely packed like a hedgehog’s spines, were comparable in caliber to the main guns of decent heavy cruisers.

As for the VLS systems, they were so numerous that parts of the surface were completely divided into grid patterns reminiscent of a Go board.

But the dreadnought had a very special characteristic that made even such powerful firepower seem insignificant.

Namely, its “all-around thick armor” that resembled a literal fortress.

And among those, the particularly reinforced frontal armor stood out.

*Beep!*

“Hmm, I’m looking at the dreadnought’s specs right now… is the frontal armor thickness really greater than the crust of an average satellite?”

“That’s right. Only ‘Mobile Fortresses’ or ‘Super Dreadnoughts’ have thicker armor.”

Of course, there were even more ridiculous ones out there, but those would have to be operated at the clan level.

Since we couldn’t build those even if we wanted to, I neatly tucked away any additional comments that were about to come out.

After all, we weren’t in a position to be picky about such details right now.

“Anyway, is the dreadnought currently moving to the docking facility?”

“Yes, because of its size, it has to go through the main gate rather than the smaller gates.”

“The acquisition itself has already been processed, right?”

“Yes, well… since it was built in our shipyard?”

After receiving final confirmation from Jessica just to be sure, I nodded.

Then I proceeded to retrieve the Bayern-class that had been stored in ‘The Hive,’ planning to create a fleet that exceeded our fleet’s point limit as scheduled.

And the result:

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Fleet Status

Total Points: 988/950 points

Dreadnought: 1 ship, 90 points each = 90 points

Aircraft Carrier: 3 ships, 70 points each = 210 points

Special Battleship: 2 ships, 65 points each = 130 points

Battleship: 4 ships, 40 points each = 160 points

Subspace Submarine: 1 ship, 50 points each = 50 points

Light Aircraft Carrier: 0 ships, 40 points each = 0 points

Battlecruiser: 5 ships, 30 points each = 150 points

Heavy Cruiser: 2 ships, 10 points each = 20 points

Light Cruiser: 20 ships, 6 points each = 120 points

Destroyer: 0 ships, 3 points each = 0 points

Escort Ship: 0 ships, 1.5 points each = 0 points

Patrol Ship: 3 ships, 1 point each = 3 points

Resource Mining Ship: 30 ships, 1.5 points each = 45 points

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‘Mmm, yummy.’

Although there was a slight miscalculation in the process,

I had to scrap one “standard-grade heavy cruiser” that I had previously built and replace it, which was a minor annoyance.

But anyway, it worked out well, so it was all good.

And as I received the dreadnought and Bayern-class, and dispatched the fleets to complete weekly quests,

I learned something I hadn’t known in my previous life, when this was just a “game”…

Namely, that the “massive warp gate” which was the alpha and omega of this “Tannhäuser Gateway Fortress” where I was docked, wasn’t for my exclusive use.

More precisely, anyone could use it naturally as long as they weren’t set as “hostile” to me…

How did I come to know this? Surprisingly, it was related to “The Hive” mentioned way, way, way, way above.

==========

The situation was incredibly complex, but according to the gallery post I found while trying to understand the situation, it went like this:

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Title: Epic Ultra-Long-Distance Expedition ON.txt

Author: Orion Belt

Content: [‘A long journey from the northernmost edge of the ‘Pirate Union’ to the southern corner of the ‘Xenovia Empire’.jpg]

Situation setting – Some members of the ‘AKAN’ clan from the Pirate Union contracted to use the ship storage facility of the ‘Bambi’ clan from the Xenovia Empire

But the Bambi clan completely devoured the AKAN clan members’ ships

They figured AKAN couldn’t attack them because the distance was too great, and they had no means to respond to such a long-distance expedition

So the furious AKAN mobilized all their forces for an ultra-long-distance expedition to where Bambi was located

But distance doesn’t shrink just because you’re angry, right?

So what AKAN did was first move their fleet through their base’s teleport network to the closest ‘gateway’ base

Then they asked the clan controlling that gateway to let them use it to move to a gateway at the Pirate Union border

From there, they used another gateway to go to the central zone

But you know how there’s something in the central zone that automatically attacks clan-level forces?

So the AKAN clan went to Icarus’s Tannhäuser in the Triangle Zone, which is relatively neutral, then negotiated with Icarus to hold out

As soon as the cooldown ended, they moved directly from Tannhäuser to the gateway base on the Xenovia side

Normally, the user who conquered the Xenovia base wouldn’t permit AKAN to pass

But since the Bambi clan had done something so stupid, that user opened the way for AKAN to teach them a lesson

At this point, the Bambi clan realized the situation had gone to hell and tried to delay AKAN and negotiate with other clans

But other clans and users ignored the untrustworthy Bambi clan, so they were doomed

As the full situation was revealed, the AKAN fleet reached Bambi clan’s location in less than a week

A distance that would normally take at least half a year to a year to travel!

Comments:

-[Why didn’t this bastard write the outcome?]

-˪[Look through the gallery and you’ll find it. Thanks.](Author)

-˪[Please tell us]

-˪[If you really want to know, AKAN taught the Bambi clan a lesson and captured a large number of ships, both the ones stolen from them and Bambi’s original ships](Author)

-[<Content that completely heals a wounded heart>]

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Because of incidents like this, where determined pursuers stopped by Tannhäuser on their way,

I was experiencing things I never expected, spending truly confusing days.