Ch.545At That Moment, Icarus Was.

Meanwhile, at the exact moment users were dumbfounded by the unexpected occupation message…

…or rather, several hours before that, when the tide was turning during the fierce battle inside Grand Cross.

“Commander, all troops are ready.”

“Hmm.”

Seeing far more users participating(?) in the Grand Cross raid than expected, I decided to implement a new strategy.

“Jessica, how’s Daedalus’s defense looking?”

“According to our radar analysis, most of their defensive capabilities have been depleted.”

“I see.”

“And it seems all the defensive installations of Daedalus and its surrounding escort strongholds have been melted by the Grand Cross Cannon.”

And what was this strategy?

“Good. Then when Grand Cross collapses and the event chain ends, we’ll advance our entire army toward Daedalus.”

“Yes.”

While all the users’ attention was focused on Grand Cross…

Our plan was to quickly snatch Daedalus (Level 9), whose defensive capabilities had essentially been annihilated except for the fortress’s main guns after being pummeled by Grand Cross’s main cannons.

Of course, right now we couldn’t attack the stronghold even if we wanted to, as the event had forcibly fixed our stance to ‘neutral’.

But that thought didn’t last long.

*Tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap-tap*

“Commander, you’ll break the button that way.”

“But it’s hard to press with just my fingers.”

Since it was obvious the fortress would fall within a day at most…

I was using a sewing machine to press the mercenary recruitment button, continuously hiring additional mercenary groups to invade Daedalus, when:

—————————————–

<Global Announcement>

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

<Notice to all Commanders who participated in the event!>

<As of this moment, all Titan-class Mobile Fortress ‘Grand Cross’ units have been defeated!>

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

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

—————————————–

“Oh finally!”

“It’s over at last.”

The moment the long-awaited event ‘conclusion’ message appeared.

I immediately gathered all the mercenary groups I’d hired with the sewing machine and sent them through Tannhäuser’s gateway to begin the attack on Daedalus.

Of course, I mobilized my main force Cerberus and all other direct fleet units as well.

And simultaneously, discreetly…

“What about Princess Luca’s fleet?”

“She says she’s happy to lend it to us, especially since Daedalus has virtually no defenses left.”

Even mobilizing Princess Luca’s hobby fleet…

I decided to begin a house-cleaning operation against ‘Daedalus Research Fortress’, the only Level 9 stronghold in the central zone, by mobilizing every force I could muster.

Of course, the Daedalus command tried to resist my sudden attack, but…

-“Remaining enemy defense fleet eliminated!”

-“Successfully blocked Daedalus’s remaining main combat fleet. Everyone else, storm the Daedalus fortress!”

-“Waaaaaah!”

-“Yeehaw!”

-“Their anti-air network was destroyed ages ago. Charge! Charge!”

Daedalus, already roasted and seared on the outside by Grand Cross, couldn’t stop my fleet and the mercenary groups I’d paid 20 million out of 30 million resources in one lump sum.

The fleets that had faced Grand Cross had suffered unimaginable attrition rates from being used as shields by users.

-“Enemy dreadnought attempting to break through our defense line!”

“Tell Ouroboros to switch to focus mode and target only the dreadnought.”

-“Yes, Commander!”

“Have Neranja keep holding back the large enemy ships, battlecruiser-class and above, that are trying to break through our defense line.”

-“Understood.”

“And the rest of the ships will continue pushing assault units into Daedalus. We’ll deploy all mercenary captains and superhumans too.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“Ignis, Partia, and Smeragi will prioritize attacking the enemy command center.”

-“Understood!”

-“Leave it to me, Savior.”

-“I’ll handle it right away, meow.”

“Pashtra will stay with Ouroboros, and Dornia should stop the artillery battle now and go down to Daedalus to join the internal attack team and run wild.”

-“Yes♡”

-“Understood.”

“Oxianor can join them too, and Griyanar should focus on the fleet battle with Berial and Tiamat.”

-“Understood, Commander Icarus.”

-“Hmm, okay?”

By skillfully deploying the superhumans and thoroughly crushing poor Daedalus…

Although there was a minor setback where 15% of the mercenary groups were annihilated by fire from the fortress’s main guns that were still operational…

Since there was clearly no hope for Daedalus, while users were cheering in joy over defeating Grand Cross, we…

—————————————–

<Event>

<<<First Solo Occupation of a Level 9 Stronghold Successful!!!>>>

<Details>

<Commander ‘Icarus’ has successfully occupied the Level 9 stronghold ‘Daedalus Research Fortress’ in the central zone alone!>

<Result>

<‘Daedalus Research Fortress’ now falls under the control of ‘Commander Icarus’!>

—————————————–

—————————————–

<Event>

<The command center of stronghold ‘Daedalus Research Fortress’ has fallen!>

<Details>

<You are the first among all Commanders to successfully occupy a Level 9 stronghold alone.>

<Rewards>

<You can receive additional rewards from ‘Daedalus Research Fortress’ every week.>

˪<Minerals 500,000, Rare Resources 155,000, Gold 10,000>

˪<10,000,000 storage capacity granted from the stronghold’s own resource warehouse!>

˪<The docking system lock between ‘Daedalus Research Fortress’ and your base has been unlocked!>

—————————————–

And so, I successfully expanded the territory of the damned ‘Icarus Republic’ by leisurely gobbling up Daedalus.

==========

Of course, other users did notice Icarus’s preparations for territorial expansion(?), but…

—————————————–

<Most Noble and Great Icarus Republic Official Chat Room>

<Notice: Everyone Be Quiet>

-[Oh, our president is playing conqueror]

-[This isn’t WWE, it’s real UFC]

-[Looking at how he’s hiring and staging all those mercenary groups, seems like he’s trying to eat up Daedalus while he can]

-[So are we moving our capital now?]

-[Tsk, moving the capital? Say ‘imperial transfer’ properly]

-[We’re a republic, not a kingdom]

-[Moving a capital is technically an imperial transfer lolol]

-[Anyway, this is good for us]

-[Let’s not spread this around and just watch]

—————————————–

The users who called themselves residents of the ‘Most Noble (etc.) Republic’, now approaching the realm of being ‘obsessive fans’…

Pretended not to notice even as they watched Icarus gathering mercenary groups and his fleet with a sewing machine.

The mercenary users docked at Tannhäuser also clearly saw Icarus openly doing something suspicious, but…

—————————————–

<Tannhäuser Mercenary Network Official Chat Room>

<Notice: Event Participation Optional>

-[Wow, that’s a lot]

-[If Icarus expands his territory, is that a problem for us?]

-[If he takes Daedalus, won’t that free up central docking spaces here?]

-[For real lol]

-[Plus Daedalus has a gateway too, so we might be able to start a new mercenary agency business there]

-[Niiice]

-[But won’t it still be inferior to Tannhäuser, which is a real gateway fortress?]

-[That’s what makes them different]

-[Ah, I see]

—————————————–

Unfortunately for users not affiliated with Icarus’s faction(?), the mercenary users also kept silent, hoping for scraps that might fall their way.

And since other users had left Tannhäuser, they had no way of knowing how the situation was unfolding.

So Icarus’s plan to gobble up Daedalus succeeded quite neatly without any interference from users.