Ch.396Call Me Icarus. (2)

‘So they gave all the ships stealth and cloaking except for the Anchorage and Anatoria.’

Once I realized this was a gimmick-based battle, I understood why such an unreasonable fleet composition had emerged.

What did the developers want after all?

They wanted us to endure attacks from enemies that could appear from anywhere without warning, free the giant monster captured by the Anchorage, and then use the released giant monster “Anatoria” to annihilate the enemy.

The problem was that to prevent users from exploiting stealth or cloaking, they gave Anatoria’s stealth detection capability to the enemy fleet.

Of course, they could package it nicely like that.

But in reality…

“This is truly a crappy game.”

“Hehehe.”

“Are they telling us to fight in a situation where they can see our fleet like it’s in the palm of their hand?”

“Th-that’s exactly right.”

They can see us, but we can’t see them.

We don’t know where they are, but they’re using real-time map hacks.

We need to use gimmicks to defeat them, but they can one-sidedly crush us…

-“Enemy ships detected ahead… approaching as a fleet.”

“How many?”

-“One destroyer and three escort ships. Sonar radar detection indicates they’re equipped with medium torpedoes.”

“After receiving position coordinates, tell the battleship and battle cruiser to bombard that location.”

-“Order confirmed.”

-BOOM!

-BANG! BANG!

-“Direct hit, two escort ships sunk. Rapid increase in heat signatures from the destroyer and remaining escort ship. Missiles and torpedoes confirmed launching toward our fleet.”

“Oh my.”

“Destroyers 8 and 13, patrol ships 3, 4, and 5, move to forward position and begin intercepting incoming enemy projectiles.”

If I hadn’t had an electronic warfare ship like the Khabarovsk, I would have been thoroughly screwed.

I couldn’t help thinking this was an unreasonably difficult challenge.

Moreover, what if I didn’t have an “electronic warfare ship” like the Khabarovsk with stealth detection capabilities?

Or conversely, if users had brought a fleet based on the commonly used “stealth meta”…

‘Ugh, that would be horrifying.’

Without being able to offer any resistance, they would have been mercilessly pummeled by the enemy fleet.

The thought that we could have suffered all kinds of humiliation and mental breakdown sent chills down my spine.

Of course, that didn’t mean my current fleet was in that situation.

-“Enemy fleet’s missile attack incoming!”

-“Three projectiles confirmed!”

-“Launching interceptor missiles!”

While our Hresvelgr was having a missile fireworks show with the enemy missile battleship hiding in its fucking stealth-cloaking state,

I decided to respond to these damned stealth-using ships in my own way rather than following the opponent’s intentions.

And what was that method?

-“Charge 100% complete!”

-“Fire!”

Using the main cannon of Ouroboros, which had recently been functioning as “the truth and answer to everything.”

Every time it reached 100% charge, I would create a sea of fire through the “wide-area dispersal mode” I used in Round 5, incinerating entire regions.

While Ouroboros was on cooldown charging up, Khabarovsk would conduct real-time omnidirectional surveillance to protect the fleet.

Meanwhile, about 2,000 reconnaissance aircraft launched from large carriers and Krakens would search for the hidden enemy fleet.

And if those massive numbers of carrier-based aircraft formed squadrons to patrol areas by sector…

…I’m not sure if this is the right way to put it.

But judging from how the Humanity Delegation nearly had their precious stealth destroyer scrapped after getting ambushed by carrier aircraft on their way to our base…

No matter how much stealth and cloaking these bastards deployed, they hadn’t physically disappeared from the world.

If they approached my fleet, they would either get caught in kamikaze attacks from reconnaissance aircraft,

Or they’d be detected by Khabarovsk’s detection network while trying to avoid those attacks.

‘Hah! Perfect strategy! This is my ultimate victory!’

==========

Of course, I struggled so much in Round 5, and Round 10 was even more enhanced.

The battle situation unfolded worse than I had anticipated.

-BOOM!

“Commander, Destroyer No. 4 has been sunk.”

“Have you ever seen such ridiculous firepower.”

-RATATATA, BANG! BOOM!!!

“Patrol ships 1 and 2 just went down too.”

“Ah shit.”

When those damned enemy small ships tried to ram us disregarding their own damage, I sent our small ships forward to protect our main ships that were extremely vulnerable except from the front.

They returned fire according to the coordinates provided by Khabarovsk, but…

While we needed at least 10 hits from our main guns to inflict meaningful damage,

Their patrol ships’ shells and beams were efficiently piercing through our destroyers’ armor…

-BOOM!!

“Commander, we only have three destroyers left.”

“…”

“We’ve already lost eight patrol ships too.”

“Oh shit, holy moly moly.”

The small ships that volunteered (they didn’t) as meat shields couldn’t withstand even three hits from enemy ships of the same class before exploding.

Against higher-class ships, they were suffering the terrible loss of being one-shot.

And unlike those small ships, the larger ships weren’t faring much better either.

-BOOM!

-“Fire on Battle Cruiser No. 2! Sections 3 and Deck 18 have collapsed!”

-“Enemy fleet concentrating fire on Battleship No. 1! Torpedoes detected from enemy fleet!”

-“Intercept! Intercept!”

The problem with “stealth” detection in this damn game was that electronic warfare ships only transmitted enemy “coordinates” to allies.

They didn’t provide real-time full 3D images to our ships, so we were still getting one-sidedly pummeled whether we liked it or not.

At least before starting Round 10, I had thoroughly equipped our ships and heavily upgraded tanking-related equipment.

Thanks to that, we could avoid the pathetic destruction we experienced in Round 5.

But… that was only regarding regular ships bombarding us.

-KRRRR…BOOM!

“Eeeeek?!”

“C-Commander! A massive harpoon just pierced the side of the Bayern-class heavy battleship?”

Because of the Anatoria-class they had captured, we couldn’t attack their Anchorage with our Kraken’s teleport.

But as mentioned in the post I read earlier, that damn groundless Anchorage fired an “ultra-close-range teleport harpoon shot” at our ship, and then…

-SCREECH…THUD!

-“The ship is being forcibly pulled!”

-“Don’t get dragged into the wormhole! The ship will be crushed!”

-“Deploy all side thrusters at full power!”

It was trying to pull our Bayern into the wormhole where the harpoon had emerged, to crush it like a crumpled can.

From my perspective as the opponent, I couldn’t help but curse.

And the same went for the Bayern-class crew who were suddenly facing the crisis of being crushed like a can in a compactor.

They were using all their side thrusters to resist and save themselves and the ship.

Eventually, they even slightly turned the ship to use the main engines at full power to escape…

As I mentioned before, the Bayern-class’s unique double armor structure had its outer armor plating torn off along with the harpoon.

This resulted in the catastrophe of various equipment installed on the exterior, including the “main turrets,” being sucked into the wormhole together…

-“We survived!!!”

-“KYAAAAH!!!”

-“But the upper deck and structures are all gone.”

-“At least we’re alive.”

-“I have to admit that.”

“Oh.”

Since the Bayern-class itself survived without being sunk,

I moved the Bayern-class, now reduced from a double structure to a single structure, to the center of the fleet to celebrate its survival.

I decided to leave the defense of the event base solely to the base itself.

More precisely, I deployed some patrol ships to respond to possible attacks from enemy fleets.

Then I began advancing in earnest toward the Anchorage and Anatoria that had been detected earlier by the Khabarovsk.