Ch.459The Second Ero-naissance.

After dealing with various incidents caused by having another troublemaker-slash-mad scientist around…

While searching for Griyanar, Nero, and their assistant Rain (A-rank) who had suddenly disappeared…

And discovering them inside some self-growing tentacle-machine tunnel somewhere in Tannhäuser, extracting them, and putting them in the medical bay…

After a chaotic week where Jessica and the superhumans finally managed to restore the base to normal, I was having an unexpected chat with a familiar face.

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[hihihi] (Vermut)

-[hihi] (Icarus)

-[long time no see] (Vermut)

-[yep]

-[it’s been over a year since we last met] (Icarus)

-[time flies] (Vermut)

—————————————–

And who was this person…?

Back when I had just consumed Avalon.

When Griyanar created the reverse bunny outfit and I posted it on the gallery, this person was one of those who held what became known as the “Ero-sance.”

They were also the one who gifted me all the sample outfits submitted to the Ero-sance competition(?), which is why Jessica and other superhumans still have an expanding wardrobe of clothes to wear.

But why was I chatting with such a person…?

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[Actually I created a clan a while back]

-[Heard you’re doing well these days, so I came to say hi] (Vermut)

-[Oh really?] (Icarus)

-[Yep] (Vermut)

—————————————–

We weren’t really just chatting to “say hi.”

There was a specific reason for our conversation.

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[So you’ve been away from the Central Zone all this time?] (Icarus)

-[Yep]

-[Plus the Central Zone didn’t allow clans with more than 10 members back then, right?]

-[So even though I disbanded the clan during the Ero-sance, more people than expected stayed]

-[So I had no choice but to stay with the Pirate Alliance for a while] (Vermut)

-[Oh I see] (Icarus)

-[But these days with the Yellow Turbans and users from surrounding zones pouring in]

-[The atmosphere has changed a lot] (Vermut)

-[That’s definitely true] (Icarus)

—————————————–

So what was the reason…?

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[Anyway, so here’s the thing]

-[To be direct, they say your area is now the Central Zone’s safe zone, mercenary market, and refugee camp all in one] (Vermut)

-[Not sure about the last two, but the first one is true] (Icarus)

-[So I was wondering, can our clan move to your territory?] (Vermut)

-[Whaaaat??] (Icarus)

—————————————–

That’s right.

While other users and Yellow Turbans had been entering my territory as “individuals”…

This Vermut person was expressing their intention to move their entire “clan” into my territory.

Because of this, both I and Jessica, who was wearing a dress with a deep cut from shoulder to side chest (a first Ero-sance submission) beside me…

“Commander, could this be a roundabout way of announcing a clan-level invasion?”

“…That’s a very interesting interpretation.”

It would be natural to interpret it as their clan entering my territory with the intention of overwhelming me.

But seeing my bewildered reaction to their chat, Vermut said:

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[Oh wait]

-[Just to be clear, our clan can’t fight lol]

-[To be honest, we don’t care whether you give us docking permission or not, we just want a quiet place to design things away from all the chaos] (Vermut)

-[Huh?] (Icarus)

-[Other zones don’t have neutral territories, so we have to worry about fleet battles and combat whether we like it or not]

-[Plus we have to pay tribute to the Loki Clan and other large clans, life’s too hard there, so we want to come here] (Vermut)

—————————————–

They said their clan didn’t care whether I gave them docking permission or not.

They just wanted to live here peacefully and focus on design.

Other places required too much involvement in fleet battles and such, which was exhausting.

Seeing them boldly express their frustrations in the chat messages…

I postponed my answer and fell into thought.

No matter how I looked at it, accepting them wouldn’t particularly benefit us…

But it wouldn’t disadvantage us either, and there was no benefit in refusing them.

At the same time, I did owe them for freely giving me those Ero-sance submissions in the past.

So as I continued chatting with Vermut, I decided to accept their clan as tenants in my territory.

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[Okay okay]

-[I’ll give you docking permission, come whenever] (Icarus)

-[Awesome, thanks] (Vermut)

-[But you know about the docking fees, right?] (Icarus)

-[Yeah, who doesn’t pay docking fees at user bases lol] (Vermut)

—————————————–

And just a few minutes after ending that chat…

I witnessed the “Ersance” clan—which despite being called “small” actually had hundreds of members—warping en masse into the center of the former triangular pyramid area.

Well, whatever. I felt they had more than repaid their debt to me.

I nodded once and decided to leisurely focus on leveling up and managing my territory.

==========

But there was one problem I hadn’t anticipated…

To briefly summarize the Ersance clan’s situation:

They were “artists(?)” who had been suffering under tremendous pressure from various clans in the Pirate Alliance, and when that pressure suddenly disappeared…

After entering my territory, where they no longer needed to worry about pressure or threats from other clans…

—————————————–

Title: It’s Time for the Second Ero-sance!

Author: Vermut

Content: [Various images of outfits and equipment that go beyond intricate and erotic to simply “obscene”.jpg]

Location is here -> [<Barracuda Logistics Supply Base Nearby Coordinates>]

Anything goes, let’s revive our creative urges

Adult content or general content, anything is welcome

We’re making lots of skins for various outfits, and users can wear or create their own if needed

We don’t just pursue erotic outfits

[Images of incredibly stylish SF enhancement suits.jpg]

We deal with these too

[Images of regular-grade ships with colorful surface modifications.jpg]

We also create ship skins and welcome creators

Inquiries here -> [<Ersance Clan Chat Room Link>]

Comments:

-[Oh]

-[Yeah, we’ve been too busy with events, the Central Zone, and the Humanity Revolution]

-[We need something like this to take a break, agreed]

-[Lol nice, I’m going to buy something for my superhumans right away]

-[But won’t there be accidents if too many user fleets gather?]

-˪[That’s Icarus’s territory, if anyone causes trouble, the Leviathan Squadron will turn their fleet into what used to be a fleet]

-˪[Good point]

-[Wow! Night market! Wow! Central market!]

-[Icarus’s territory keeps getting weirder and weirder]

-˪[It’s a monopoly position since there’s nothing similar nearby]

—————————————–

They were spreading all kinds of rumors on the gallery like this, trying to launch a “Second Ero-sance.”

With all pressure gone, the Ersance clan members were unleashing their creative urges without any filter.

And with users appearing from everywhere doing the same thing…

More and more user fleets kept coming to either purchase these items at the trading market or to see them “in person.”

“…Hmm.”

“Commander, honestly, you regret letting the Ersance clan in, don’t you?”

“Siiiiigh.”

And on the gallery, under the pretext of “We’ve been working hard on events, now let’s relax!” a huge party was unfolding.

As a result, there were even more participants than the first Ero-sance.

Feeling dumbfounded by the situation, I was about to message Vermut to ask what they thought they were doing in someone else’s territory.

But right after that…

—————————————–

<Icarus-Vermut Chat>

-[We’re planning to give you one of each item from the Second Ero-sance for free]

-[Only what we have, of course; the rest belongs to other users so it’s hard to give those]

-[<Ersance Clan’s Work List.jpg>] (Vermut)

-[Is there anything I can help with?] (Icarus)

—————————————–

There were too many tempting items to refuse, so I volunteered to serve as security.