Ch.517The Madman Strategy Works Sometimes and Doesn’t Other Times (3)

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<Date Palm Clan Chat Room>

<Announcements: (None)>

-[We should surrender]

-[Wait no this is actually an opportunity]

-[?]

-[What are you talking about]

-[Everyone says Icarus is only good with starships, so if we mobilize all our fleet and manage to capture or destroy even one of his high-tier ships]

-[Then?]

-[He’ll take massive damage mentally and rage quit!]

-[Oh]

-[Damn that’s smart]

-[And if that happens, other users will be inspired by our actions and rise up]

-[Wow brilliant]

—————————————–

Conversely, as if having lost all reason, when a user claimed this was their opportunity and began inciting other clan members in a strangely calm tone…

You could call it the rationality of being a clan leader.

As Date Palm, who had already managed to hold onto his sanity, he naturally wanted to counter such incitement by telling them not to talk nonsense.

But perhaps because the user was surprisingly articulate and persuasive…

A moment later.

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<Date Palm Clan Chat Room>

<Announcements: (None)>

-[Let’s do this!](Date Palm)

-[Let’s do this!]

-[Yeah!]

—————————————–

As if he’d lost the grip on his sanity that he’d barely managed to hold onto, he was now actively participating in the rebellion like a madman.

==========

Watching them, the clan member who had incited the Date Palm Clan…

No, “Thread,” an external member of the Loki Clan specializing in “trolling,” was shaking his head.

“These idiots, they actually fell for it.”

“Isn’t it because you were too thorough, Commander?”

Naturally, his adjutant “Mina” reacted as if to say “You’re the one who incited them, and now you’re acting like this?” to his behavior.

In response to Mina’s reaction, Thread shrugged his shoulders and boldly spoke up.

“Well, it’s not my fault. I merely expressed an ‘opinion,’ nothing more.”

“Hmm…”

“The choice was theirs. I don’t feel sorry for them.”

Hearing Thread make statements reminiscent of some genius instigator, Mina felt sorry for the other commanders who had fallen victim to her commander’s “trolling” and began offering sincere advice to her commander who seemed increasingly addicted to trolling.

“But Commander, Betelgeuse only asked us to keep Icarus in check moderately.”

“Hmm, that’s true.”

“If we actually engage Icarus’s fleet head-on, our base and ships might get swept away in a tidal wave of unlimited mercenaries.”

“…That is definitely a problem.”

Since Mina’s words weren’t wrong…

After a moment of careful consideration, Thread decided to accept her advice and prepare to escape at any time.

Of course, this decision was influenced by Thread’s firm belief that he was ultimately a member of the Loki Clan specializing in “trolling.”

He had not even a gram of intention to go down with the sinking Date Palm Clan.

“Alright, then make preparations so our base can move to Loki Clan headquarters at any time.”

“Yes, Commander.”

And such thoughts were confirmed less than an hour after Icarus’s fleet arrived in B554 airspace and began their full-scale attack…

-BOOM!!!

-BOOM!!

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<Date Palm Clan Chat Room>

<Announcements: (None)>

-[Shit wait Kraken teleport!]

-[Aaah my heavy cruiser exploded!]

-[Why aren’t you dodging the Ouroboros main cannon fire ffs!]

-[How are we supposed to deal with the main fleet, mercenary dreadnoughts, battleships, and Krakens constantly bombarding us]

—————————————–

-RUMBLE…BOOM!! BANG!

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<Date Palm Clan Chat Room>

<Announcements: (None)>

-[Damn strategic missiles]

-[Another teleport incoming!]

-[With 3 Krakens there’s no way out]

-[Why the hell does the mercenary group have infiltration ships!]

-[Shit infiltration ships are attaching to the battleship]

-[Just eliminate them with superhumans]

-[Icarus deployed superhumans and mercenary captains so our superhumans are getting slaughtered]

-[They’re all SSS-rank dammit]

-[So that’s how he maintains 3rd place]

-[What keeps hitting us from behind?]

-[Probably one of the hundreds of destroyers and assault ships running wild]

—————————————–

Using the infamous teleport-strategic missile tactic to shatter their main ships within 10 minutes of battle.

When they tried to counter with defensive fleets and mercenaries in a battle of numbers, Ouroboros’s spreading bombardment turned their numbers into nothing.

Leaving the small ships to his mercenaries and destroyers, while his main fleet, based around three dreadnoughts, mercilessly rained down fire.

Eventually, when clan leader Date Palm’s flagship Pegasus-class cruiser, trying to avoid fleet bombardment, got caught in Anchorage’s wormhole trap and was destroyed like a tin can…

Thread quickly retreated all his ships and superhumans to his base, then:

“Mina, Mina! MINAAAA!!”

“Base, emergency warp! Destination: Loki Clan headquarters!”

As planned from the beginning, he fled without looking back, not caring whether the Date Palm Clan survived or not, putting the finishing touch on his trolling.

==========

And Thread’s desertion wasn’t going to end as just one user’s escape…

It wasn’t particularly intentional—he simply hadn’t actively participated in the battle.

But regardless, right before deserting, Thread had become the Date Palm Clan’s only remaining capital ship user as they were getting pummeled by Icarus like dust in the rain.

So when Thread suddenly left the clan and “deserted”…

Naturally, the Date Palm Clan’s morale completely collapsed due to the sudden desertion of their main users (though there were only three of them).

And as a result:

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<Date Palm Clan Chat Room>

<Announcements: (None)>

<Thread has left the clan>

-[Is this for real]

-[He incites us and then runs away?]

-[Fuck it, surrender!]

-[This is just wrong]

-[LOLOLOLOL]

-[Goddammit]

-[OK surrender, we’re done]

-[…I told you we should surrender from the beginning, dammit](Date Palm)

—————————————–

Normally, the Date Palm Clan would have surrendered only after taking a few more strategic missile hits from Icarus…

Or after suffering Neranja’s (whom nobody knew) propulsion system sabotage about four more times, but this resulted in a much earlier surrender than expected.

Of course, even with their surrender, the deadline for leniency had long passed…

Shortly after:

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Title: B554 Battle Results Are Wild

Author: Anonymous

Content: [gif of Thread’s base warping away while still docked]

The very person who incited the clan to fight Icarus ran away and left the clan to preserve his fleet

Clan collapses

Icarus expelled all users belonging to the clan, saying the deadline for leniency had passed despite their surrender

And the empty docking spaces at B554 were filled by offering other users a week of free docking fees

Comments:

-[It was obvious Date Palm would lose]

-[Wait, so Date Palm attacked not out of overconfidence but because they were manipulated?]

-˪[Considering all the ships Icarus has, not surrendering would be the strange choice]

-˪[For real lol]

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They begged for leniency, saying they would otherwise be plundered by users from the central zone.

But having already passed the deadline, they were coldly expelled to the outer territories by Icarus, or so the story goes.