Ch.471War Not, Punishment It Is. (1)

For the Humanity Clan and its subordinate clans, this was nothing short of a bolt from the blue.

From the recent fact-bombing by a Humanity executive to the reality that they were hogging all the benefits from the event, many users were secretly or openly displeased.

—

**Title: Upvote if you’re glad Humanity got screwed lolol**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [Image of Humanity executive criticizing the chaos in other sectors while pretending to be insightful]

They were just watching the fire from across the river, and now it’s come back to bite them

Upvote if you’re happy about the balance being restored lolol

**Comments:**

-[Whew, just this once]

-[Bro, I told you to keep this in the group chat]

-˪[What]

-˪[Are you revealing THE Gallery Breaker who secretly controls the gallery from behind?!]

-˪[Damn]

-[So that’s why they got dragged away by Antares and the clan chief of staff for running their mouth lol]

-˪[Probably?]

—

—

**Title: Light.jpg**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [Image of a toad with a halo, photoshopped with the Astral Lagrange game logo]

Yes

**Comments:**

-[Let us now begin praising the godly game management of the admins]

-˪[Ra-men]

-˪[Raamen]

-˪[I want ramen]

-˪[Stop eating comments]

-[Truly the god of balance who drives both haters and fanboys crazy, upvote]

-[Oh my Moon-light]

—

Users from other sectors, having determined that the admins were responsible for what happened, were now praising those same admins as “gods of balance” and “salt of the earth.”

—

Of course, our admins who were receiving such praise…

<<“Aaaaaaah”>>

<<“Stop spinning Grandma’s turtle in the manger!”>>

<<“Why are they posting disgusting images while praising us at the same time?”>>

…were having a painful time due to the incomprehensible behavioral principles of these users who were no better than beasts.

—

Anyway, as the chaotic situation somewhat subsided and the second week of the event was coming to an end, user reactions were largely divided into two categories.

Most users fell into the first category—”adaptation”—transitioning into a symbiotic relationship with the factions. Whether as clans or individuals, they were living relatively satisfied lives while receiving sweet rewards from the factions.

As for the remaining users, the latter category of “stubborn users” known as the “anti-faction faction”…

—

**Title: Current status of anti-faction users.txt**

**Author: MeloniaMelonia**

**Content:** [Image showing the escape routes of anti-faction users fleeing from three sectors to the central sector]

They’re all fleeing to the central sector, claiming they can’t stand the “tyranny of each faction”

Looks like they got disciplined too harshly by the factions

**Comments:**

-[Like runaway teenagers]

-[People who lived freely can’t handle discipline and run away, yep]

-[Mental normalization of users by the factions]

—

…they were escaping from each faction’s territory to the central sector where factions were relatively less active.

Of course, some were fleeing to “other factions” rather than just the central sector.

—

**Title: WTF I fled all the way to Xenovia but why is the Pirate Alliance fleet here?**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [Image of a base being attacked by the Pirate Alliance fleet with Xenovia patrols in the background]

WTF Why? Why? Why?

**Comments:**

-[These idiots don’t read announcements FFS]

-[Did you not read the event announcement?]

-˪[Dunno, just give me a solution to this BS quickly](Author)

-˪[Figure it out yourself, moron;;]

-[This isn’t even dyslexia, just a lazy idiot who couldn’t be bothered to read]

-˪[Even if you explain it to these types, they’ll just understand whatever they want]

-˪[For real lol]

—

As evident from the comments to such posts, users who fled to other factions were experiencing relentless pursuit by faction fleets crossing boundaries according to the “faction agreements” mentioned in the announcements.

Some anti-faction users showed the audacity to flee all the way to Humanity’s territory, claiming “it’s user territory, not faction territory, so it shouldn’t matter,” but…

As mentioned earlier, Humanity’s territory was in chaos with “Earth Federation rebels” causing havoc…

—

**Title: Anti-faction users can’t be happy**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [Image of anti-faction users who fled to Humanity being attacked by “Earth Federation rebels”]

Just give up at this point

**Comments:**

-[Stay and you’re Anne Frank, flee and you still have to fight like you’re in Asura lolol]

-˪[What a mess lol]

-˪[At this point they’re just persevering on principle for real]

-[Lolol]

-[There was no paradise in the place they fled to]

—

Regardless of what choice they made, they ultimately had no option but to flee to the central sector.

Of course, faction fleets could still reach the central sector, so some users got beaten up even after coming all this way.

As they crowded into the central sector, users discovered one truly surprising and amazing fact.

—

**Title: Holy crap, monsters and pirates don’t come past a certain point in the central sector**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [GIF of a Pirate Alliance pursuit squad chasing fiercely then suddenly stopping and turning back]

Damn, I survived!

**Comments:**

-[What is this]

-[How did you do it, you bastard]

-[They chased and attacked me even in the central sector, how did you do it for real?]

-˪[No idea? They just suddenly turned back and I was confused too](Author)

—

When posts like this appeared, the collective intelligence of the anti-faction users activated once again under the principle of “I don’t want to waste all my hard work!”

After about dozens of users sacrificed themselves in the name of experimentation, the anti-faction users finally figured out “how far the space monsters and Pirate Alliance fleets would come before turning back.”

However, that location gave users quite a complex and peculiar feeling…

—

**Title: Finally figured out the distance where monsters and pirates stop chasing!**

**Author: Anonymous**

**Content:** [Image of a 2D map showing the detection range of monsters and pirates, and how far they chase users]

Using the boundary regions of each sector as reference points

You need to go at least as far as the so-called “Icarus Kingdom” to be safe

[Close-up image of Icarus’s territory barely outside the range]

So if you want to live, either suck up to Icarus and become part of the central neutral settlement

Or hole up in the area between Humanity and Icarus’s territories to stay out of range of pirates, monsters, and Xenovia

**Comments:**

-[Lolol what nonsense]

-˪[Wait this is actually true]

-˪[O ye of little faith, why do you not believe?]

-[And the 3rd place contender pops up here]

-[Icarus again?]

-[But isn’t Icarus also part of the monster faction? Couldn’t this go wrong?]

-˪[Oh, is it because of the Leviathan Squadron? If their fleet approaches and gets caught by the Leviathan Squadron, they’re screwed]

-˪[Oh]

-˪[That’s exactly it]

-˪[Makes perfect sense]

—

Reactions like “Icarus again?” popped up, with people commenting on what a strange coincidence it was.

The important thing was that for anti-faction users, this meant there was literally a “sanctuary.”

Not just the anti-faction users, but also users who were being harassed due to low favor ratings began posting praise for our Icarus and decided to migrate en masse.

And naturally, upon hearing about this situation, Icarus scratched his head at the command center and said:

“What kind of nonsense is being spread so confidently?”

He could only respond with bewilderment at such an absurd stretch of logic.