Ch.505″Actually, there was a reason for everything.”

“I can’t believe there are such crazy people in this world.”

“Isn’t that just how the world works?”

I was briefly occupied with upgrading the base and watching Kraken Unit 3 following Units 1 and 2 like a baby bird.

Then Unit 3 suddenly bit another user’s Dreadnought as it passed by, forcing me to pay repair costs to that user.

I was too busy dealing with various minor but troublesome matters to pay attention to the gallery…

“But Jessica, don’t you think someone who digs up all the secret details about other rankers is going a bit too far?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

I never imagined someone would collect and organize information about rankers to such an extent…

The user moderators, including myself, assessed the situation and rushed in together, firing mass blocking beams.

Finally, we agreed to delete that crazy person’s post and renew their 15-day ban from all community activities five times over.

At least I and some other rankers who aren’t much exposed to other users were spared from having our three sizes mentioned.

But for famous users like Antares, Betelgeuse, and Arcadia who lead large clans…

—————————————–

Title: I’m Most Curious About Something Else Regarding That Crazy Person

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of post from user banned for stalking.jpg]

I get that for female users, you could figure out their measurements from photos of them in uniforms or bodysuits, but…

How the hell did they know things like Antares’ or Mona Lisa’s length?

Comments:

-[Seriously, how did they know that?]

-[That person was pretty scary]

-[I was shocked when I saw they even listed Menaldo’s tail length and Indefatigable’s horn length]

-˪[Isn’t it Koenig, not Indefatigable? Indefatigable is just human-form, right?]

-˪[Oh, you’re right. Sorry.]

—————————————–

—————————————–

Title: You Guys Are Misunderstanding Something

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of paragraph listing Betelgeuse’s toe lengths.jpg]

The person who wrote that compiled information from submissions they received.

Which means, damn, someone “directly” knew and reported things like Betelgeuse’s toe lengths

or that Arcadia’s hair smells like mint

Comments:

-[Come to think of it, that’s true]

-[That’s freaking scary, it means these crazy people are right next to the rankers]

-[I was like what the hell when I saw they even listed Mona Lisa’s erogenous zones]

-˪[Damn, there was something like that?]

-˪[It was written somewhere in that super long post]

—————————————–

With information being exposed beyond just three sizes, revealing detailed parts of their bodies,

It’s only natural that the rankers were horrified.

I could only express my shock at the emergence of such crazy people and shake my head in disbelief.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time Icarus and the other moderators were going “hoeeeeng” about having their personal information(?) exposed…

“Commander, is it really okay for you to spread information like that?”

“Hm? Oh, you mean about that clueless troublemaker?”

“Yes, there was even information about your body measurements in there.”

“Well, yes, that’s true.”

In the command center of the “Junk Harbor,” the level 9 base that served as Loki Clan’s new headquarters.

Betelgeuse, with her long pink disheveled hair, was giggling while watching the confusion among the gallery users and moderators.

Her adjutant Arpio showed concern about the potential danger, but…

The pink-haired Betelgeuse merely shrugged it off as nothing.

“Why do you think I spread most of that information under the guise of user submissions in the first place?”

“Well… I’m not really sure.”

“It’s to keep the other rankers in check!”

That’s right.

The plan of our pink-haired genius Betelgeuse was to deliberately leak information about ranker users by pretending it came from anonymous submissions.

Through this, she aimed to stir up trouble and keep other rankers in check.

Especially clan leaders like herself—Antares, Arcadia, and Mona Lisa.

Of course, to prevent anyone from realizing this was her operation,

She had to mix in some “truths” with the information collected by Loki Clan spies about other rankers.

She even included some of her own information…

“But Commander, didn’t you reveal too much sensitive information?”

“Kufufufu, what’s so important about mere body measurements? The key is making people believe the actual important information by mixing in these useless details.”

Our pink-haired Betelgeuse filled the “truths” with information related to her own body.

As for the rest of the stories…

Like “Although Betelgeuse appears to be a dictator, she’s just a representative of a clan full of trollers, moving through the collective intelligence of executives like Antares!” and such information.

When in reality, she was hiding the fact that “It’s a strict one-person dictatorship under Betelgeuse, where her will is the clan’s will.”

During the last faction event, there was a vote to expel Betelgeuse—a coup—within the Loki Clan, but what appeared on the surface wasn’t the whole story.

In reality, Betelgeuse had deliberately provoked such an incident to purge clan members who opposed her or were “anti-faction” users.

She was brilliantly trolling in a way that avoided harm to herself while making others suffer.

That’s why her adjutant Arpio was lavishing praise on Betelgeuse, who was displaying her exceptional intelligence as always.

However, even while responding this way, there was one painful reality staring Arpio right in the face.

“You’re truly amazing, Commander.”

“Of course, that’s only natural for someone like me!”

“So perhaps now you could… remove those things you’re holding underneath?”

“Huh?”

“I understand that after being subjected to it daily while living with the Pirate Empress, you feel uncomfortable without them… but…”

“W-well… the truth is, I get too anxious without them these days…”

Perhaps due to the purge operations and spending too much time with the Pirate Empress?

Even though the Empress herself had left to be with her husband, Betelgeuse was still very attached to something modeled after the Empress’s hands.

“So… um… don’t tell the others, okay?”

“…Understood, Commander.”

Arpio, who had been with Betelgeuse since she first opened her eyes until now, saw the fragments of corruption nestled within her brilliant mind.

‘Oh my God.’

She felt tears welling up inside without even realizing it.

And while Betelgeuse was proving to her adjutant that “Heung, I’m a female corrupted by the Empress♡”…

What was our eternal 3rd-ranked player, protagonist, and enigmatic Icarus The 3rd doing at that moment?

==========

At the same time, somewhere in a lounge inside Icarus’s Astral Base.

“The base upgrade has been going for a day now.”

“That’s right, you’ll still need to wait 44 days for it to complete.”

“What an ominous number.”

After enthusiastically firing massive blocking beams at the crazy people running wild in the gallery,

I had already started the base upgrade and completed all daily quests long ago.

“Is it okay to just water it like this?”

“The rest is being delivered to the roots through equipment installed under the soil.”

“Ohh.”

-Trickle trickle trickle…

Perhaps because I had nothing else to do,

I was leisurely watering the “Parts Tree Garden” I had set up in a corner of the base, accompanied by Jessica and other superhumans (Griyanar, Nero).