Ch.533Grand Cross. (1)

And the end of such debates was, as always, a matter of beating each other with fact-checking about the expected damage each side claimed.

When they actually provided data to each other, how surprisingly interesting.

—————————————–

Title: Bring Out Your Facts

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Evidence showing users in Stage 2 settlement areas suffered more damage than solo players in Stage 1.jpg]

I was right!

You bastard!

Comments:

-[Interesting]

-[I don’t understand this even looking at it. Can someone explain?]

-˪[To summarize briefly, solo players had damage spread evenly across their base and fleet, but settlement and group users had their small ships completely wiped out and their large ships severely damaged]

-˪[You explained exactly what I was going to say](Author)

-[Hmmmm]

—————————————–

—————————————–

Title: Actually I’m Right, Thanks

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Data showing settlement users suffered less total damage than solo players.jpg]

OK?

Of course we have to consider the total damage and resulting resource consumption

So just because all our small ships were destroyed and our large ships got scratched, we’re at a disadvantage? Is that how it works?

Comments:

-[That’s not wrong]

-[Solo players did consume more resources since their bases were also hit]

-[Interesting story]

—————————————–

As they continued to upload evidence and bicker among themselves, it was certainly an entertaining spectacle to watch them fight.

But as I kept watching… how should I put it.

“Commander, I understand you enjoy watching other commanders fight.”

“Hmm?”

“But does this actually have any significant meaning?”

“…Now that you mention it, not really.”

While it was entertaining to watch this suffering Olympics of who endured more painful consequences,

As Jessica pointed out, if someone were to ask “So what’s the point of all this?” I’d be at a loss for words.

Recognizing that Jessica was absolutely right, I nodded and decided to focus on preparing for the next phase.

And about 3 days after making that decision…

—————————————–

<Event>

<Stage 2 Battle Complete!>

<Details>

<All commanders have completed their battles with the Grand Cross main force!>

<Result>

<In one week, all commanders’ event progress will automatically advance to Stage 3!>

—————————————–

When this event message popped up, obviously giving us “precious repair and maintenance time,”

I briefly opened my status window to check the recovery status of my ships and the others.

“Hmm, is there anything else I need to do?”

“Not really. There aren’t even any daily or weekly quests right now.”

After confirming with Jessica that nothing else required my attention…

“Then I’m done for today because I’m tired!”

“Oh, are you going to rest now?”

“Yes, so hurry up and follow me.”

“Eek.”

I grabbed Jessica’s wrist—she was wearing a pitch-black Chinese dress as today’s costume—and headed straight to my room.

“Now tell me, where would you like me to put what?”

“In our base’s resource storage… 100 million minerals…”

“That’s impossible.”

“Hmph.”

I decided to spend time making a new rabbit tail for Jessica to recover my mental state after suffering through disturbing images all day.

==========

As time passed and everyone gradually came to accept these peculiar arguments…

—————————————–

<Global Event>

<<<Stage 3 Battle ‘Fortress Decisive Battle’ Ready!>>>

<Details>

<Upon realizing that both its advance forces and main forces have been annihilated,>

<The ‘Grand Cross’ command AI has assessed the situation and finally decided to move the mobile fortress directly!>

<To resolve this unprecedented crisis, all commanders must join forces!>

<The Grand Cross’s location will be transmitted to commanders in real-time through the minimap in your status window.>

<Results>

<Only ONE mobile fortress ‘Grand Cross’ exists in each sector.>

<While the mobile fortress’s advance route is not predetermined, it will first attack the closest, highest-level settlement in its current vicinity!>

<If no settlements exist, it will target commanders’ fleets.>

<The internal shipyards of the mobile fortress have begun operation!>

˪<The longer time passes, the more escort forces ‘Grand Cross’ will accumulate.>

<The fortress main cannon ‘Grand Cross Cannon’ is now ready to fire!>

—————————————–

“Finally!”

“Wow, this is incredible.”

When the message appeared announcing the long-awaited Stage 3 battle—the decisive battle against the big fucking awesome Titan-class mobile fortress ‘Grand Cross’—

I immediately gathered all my ships and mercenary units except for resource mining fleets.

“I should probably purchase some additional mercenary units just in case.”

“Feeling a bit anxious?”

“Who knows when they might teleport and destroy my precious main ships.”

“I agree with you, Commander.”

“If we’re not careful, Kraken or Ouroboros might take damage.”

—————————————-

<Mercenary Unit Employment Status>

<Currently employing 15 mercenary units>

<Total Ship Types>

<Battlecruisers: 6>

<Heavy Cruisers: 6>

<Light Cruisers: 18>

<Destroyers: 89>

<Escort Ships: 20>

<Patrol Ships: 34>

<Daily Resource Consumption: 7,569 Minerals, 3,359 Rare Resources>

—————————————-

I decided to hire a large number of mercenary units after a long time and get fired up for the “boss raid” that had finally arrived.

And I wasn’t the only one getting excited—almost all users were probably in a similar state.

—————————————–

Title: LMAO Is This All the Fleet Heading to the Boss Raid?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of fleets gathering with at least 10,000, possibly 30,000 users.jpg]

That’s a massive gathering

And there are tons of super dreadnoughts, assault carriers, and annihilation ships there

Comments:

-[Where is this? I want to join too]

-[It’s the central sector. Other sectors are also having massive user gatherings like this]

-˪[Why are you the only one seeing this? Show me too]

-˪[<Image of what appears to be the Humanity user alliance.jpg>]

-˪[Good]

—————————————–

—————————————–

Title: Breaking News) Real-time Status of Each Sector.txt

Author: News Boy

Content: [Coordinates of ‘Grand Cross’ locations in each sector and user gathering points.jpg]

This is roughly how users are gathering around representative clans in each sector to raid the Grand Cross

Though it seems a bit strange that forces capable of destroying entire galaxies or galaxy clusters are gathering to face a fortress that’s only planetary system-sized

Comments:

-[When has this game’s scale ever made sense? lol]

-[But honestly, if the largest ships are satellite to planet-sized, isn’t this scale reasonable?]

-˪[Later in our game, things like galaxy invasion ships will appear, so don’t get stuck here]

-[Wow, that’s a huge gathering]

-[During Humanity’s revolution, users crushed factions with their combined forces, so how could we not handle one fortress? lol]

-˪[For real lol]

-˪[Are the devs underestimating users’ potential? lol]

—————————————–

With users gathering from all directions to launch a full-scale offensive against the Grand Cross fortress,

I decided to join the other users to avoid unnecessary power consumption and was about to depart from my base to the central sector where users were gathering.

But at that very moment…

—————————————–

<Event>

<‘Grand Cross Cannon’ Preparing to Fire!>

<Details>

<The Grand Cross command AI in the central sector has detected a large fleet force that could threaten the fortress and is preparing to fire its main cannon, the Grand Cross Cannon!>

<Result>

<In 3 days, the Grand Cross Cannon’s bombardment will rain down on the area below!>

<*Please evacuate immediately*>

<[Image showing fan-shaped effective bombardment range centered on the user gathering point in the central sector.png]>

—————————————–

Seeing this warning message pop up, I stopped my fleet that was about to depart and decided to wait and observe for now.