Ch.543The Fruits of Victory Are Sweet… Perhaps?

As soon as the event message appeared, the final moments of the mobile fortress—which players had been frantically fighting inside—began to unfold before their eyes.

“KUUUUUUU…!!!”

—————————————–

<Central Grand Cross Raid Chat Room>

<Notice: Let’s Take Down the Grand Cross>

-[Wow, that’s impressive]

-[So this is how they prevent us from capturing the fortress]

-[Tsk, what a waste]

-[Guys, this isn’t the time to be spectating, FFS]

-[Oh right]

—————————————–

Perhaps it was because they were witnessing the extraordinary spectacle of a mobile fortress—no, an entire planetary system—self-destructing due to a black hole that had reached critical mass and was expanding exponentially.

Or maybe…

—————————————–

<Event>

<Self-Destructing Grand Cross!>

<Details>

<A terrible crisis has occurred!>

<Too much mass has been added to the mini black hole powering the main cannon, the Grand Cross Cannon.>

<The entire planetary system forming the mobile fortress has begun to collapse under the black hole’s gravity!>

<If you remain inside the Grand Cross, both ships and Superhumans will be crushed by the black hole’s merciless hypergravity!>

<Result>

<‘Central Zone’ Grand Cross internal self-destruct protocol initiated>

<Time remaining until Grand Cross self-destruction: 1 hour 11 minutes 34 seconds>

—————————————–

…Or perhaps it was because the fortress they had barely managed to defeat while shitting themselves in fear was now, at the very end, trying to give them one final, massive middle finger.

—————————————–

<Central Grand Cross Raid Chat Room>

<Notice: Let’s Take Down the Grand Cross>

-[RETREAT RETREAT RETREAT]

-[We’re screwed]

-[Damn it, I was so close to getting that ship for myself]

-[Give it up]

-[If you try to grab that, you might not escape in time and your precious Superhuman will be crushed along with your ship in the black hole]

-[Ugh, damn it]

-[This thing is such a pain lol]

—————————————–

Our players stopped their enjoyable ship looting activities and abandoned their plans to finish beating up the fortress interior for rewards.

Instead, they hurriedly decided to focus on getting their ships and Superhumans out of the Grand Cross interior—that is, beyond the black hole’s gravitational range—to preserve them.

They nodded their heads in satisfaction, convinced they were making the right decision.

Of course, the players’ hasty escape was solely to prevent their precious fleets and Superhumans from being crushed by the black hole.

So when the black hole itself suddenly collapsed and disappeared for various reasons shortly afterward,

The players watched the unexpectedly rapid disappearance of the black hole and what remained of the mobile fortress, feeling strongly that the ways of the world were truly unpredictable.

But as they engaged in various idle chatter,

Or watched the rare sight of everything collapsing into a single point due to the black hole while gossiping about this and that,

And as they spent this incredibly peaceful time calmly letting the minutes tick by,

The players began to notice something “strange.”

—————————————–

<Central Grand Cross Raid Chat Room>

<Notice: Let’s Take Down the Grand Cross>

-[Great job everyone ^^]

-[Thanks, good work]

-[GG]

-[That was insanely tough]

-[Now we can go back, collect rewards and chill]

-[For real lol]

-[Everyone worked hard]

-[But where did Icarus go?]

-[?]

-[Oh damn, you’re right]

—————————————–

That’s right.

Icarus, whose presence had been clearly felt up until the start of the battle—even lending out the Tannhäuser to help players storm the gates—

Had somehow, strangely, completely vanished at some point.

Naturally, this curiosity wasn’t limited to the chat room; it was equally prevalent in the gallery.

—————————————–

Title: Why Can’t We See Icarus in the Central Zone Raid?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of Icarus and players naturally disappearing at some point.jpg]

To be precise, it’s not just Icarus who disappeared, but quite a few players whose presence suddenly vanished midway

Why is this happening?

Someone like Icarus, with his distinctive Krakens, couldn’t possibly maintain a low profile

Comments:

-[There are other players like that besides Icarus?]

-[The funny thing is that their fleets aren’t actually missing from the battle]

-˪[So they’re still participating?]

-˪[I definitely saw Icarus’s mercenary units deployed near the area where I was fighting]

-˪[Interesting]

-[Don’t care]

-[They didn’t desert, their presence just suddenly vanished]

-˪[Well, these things happen, right?]

-˪[No they don’t]

—————————————–

Given the composition of Icarus’s fleet, if it had been deployed, its powerful presence would have been unmistakable.

Yet in this Central Zone Grand Cross battle, neither the “Craberos” that Icarus boasted about,

Nor any of his other special ships had made their presence known.

—————————————–

Title: But This Is Really Strange

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of Krakens running wild.jpg]

Didn’t we use Icarus’s Tannhäuser to launch fleet assaults in the Central Zone?

But suddenly, at some point, Icarus himself as well as

his fleet and Superhumans all completely vanished

Where did they all go?

Comments:

-[Didn’t they say his fleet participated?]

-˪[That wasn’t confirmed, so it remains a mystery]

-[Why make such a fuss about whether one ranker participated or not;;]

-[Maybe the damage taken in phase 2 was too severe to fully repair. Actually, quite a few players couldn’t deploy their main ships for that reason]

-˪[No, I heard they were fine]

-˪[Well, then I don’t know about that, goodbye]

-˪[Damn it, why even comment then?]

—————————————–

Moreover, even as the event results were announced,

As the long and complicated “Grand Cross” event came to an end and the results were notified to the players, Icarus’s presence remained completely absent.

—————————————–

<Global Announcement>

<<<‘Grand Cross’ Event Has Concluded!>>>

<An announcement for all Commanders who participated in the event!>

<As of this moment, all Titan-class mobile fortresses ‘Grand Cross’ have been defeated!>

<Detailed results and final tallies will be delivered to Commanders tomorrow, so please stay tuned!>

<Thank you to all Commanders who participated in the event!>

—————————————–

—————————————–

Title: Hey, Where Did Your President Really Go?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Screenshot of Grand Cross event conclusion announcement.jpg]

The event is ending now

How can someone still be missing in action?

Comments:

-[I know, right]

-[The boss went to America, said he’d be back soon]

-˪[What an idiot, not America but heaven, obviously](Author)

-˪[What?]

-˪[Straight to death jokes, really;;;]

-˪[How can you not know this meme?](Author)

-˪[How would I know? Reporting you, goodbye]

-˪[Oh damn it](Author)

—————————————–

The majority of players could only tilt their heads in confusion at this truly incomprehensible situation.

But that didn’t last long. After hearing two pieces of news that emerged right after the “Grand Cross” event ended,

The players who had been either grinning at the thought of receiving “rewards” or feeling puzzled as the major event concluded began raising huge question marks over their heads.