Ch.546″Icarus is now free!”

However, even if the users of “The Most Noble Republic” turned a blind eye…

Once the stronghold was captured, such situations would be exposed in all directions through “global messages.”

It was no exaggeration to say it was a cosmic truth that other users would target Daedalus.

Of course, most users had depleted their forces fighting against Grand Cross and dividing ships among themselves, making it difficult to move carelessly.

“Commander, other commanders’ fleets are being detected near Daedalus.”

“My goodness, they’re moving quickly.”

Perhaps it’s because there were users who didn’t directly participate in the Grand Cross attack, but instead blocked or consumed scattered unmanned fleets.

We could see users pushing toward Daedalus much faster than we had anticipated.

And seeing this, instead of maintaining a purely defensive posture at Daedalus…

“Let’s see, we still have plenty of mercenary units left, right?”

“Yes, especially since Daedalus’s defensive forces were almost completely depleted.”

“With the mercenaries’ movement speed, is it impossible to capture the surrounding escort strongholds?”

“The closest one is possible, but the rest would take at least a day just for travel.”

“Then we have our answer.”

“Yes.”

I decided to take an aggressive approach instead, securing strongholds between the main base and Daedalus.

Through this, I would connect a “route” between Daedalus and the main base, utilizing the overflowing defensive power of the strongholds.

———-

And when Icarus’s resourceful maneuver warfare(?) unfolded like this, other users suddenly found themselves unable to do anything but suck their thumbs.

—————————————–

Title: Hey, Icarus is the ultimate winner of this event

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of Daedalus connected to the existing Tannhäuser territory.jpg]

This is seriously mind-blowing

I asked if I could just watch instead of fighting, got permission, and observed everything

His judgment is insane

After quickly raiding and consuming Daedalus, when users from the central area started lurking around, instead of reinforcing defenses with mercenaries

He reversed course, terminated contracts with most of Daedalus’s mercenary units

Then first captured just one level 3 escort stronghold on the shortest path from Daedalus to Tannhäuser

And simultaneously, as if he had resources to spare, he contracted additional mercenary units from his main base

Used them to quickly capture low-level NPC strongholds nearby, launching them from the gateway to connect the route

Then immediately gathered defensive fleets from other strongholds and deployed them to Daedalus for emergency defense

To prevent the route from being cut off, he relocated settlement users living in his territory to strongholds

Well, technically the relocating parties wanted it themselves

Anyway, because of this, what would normally have been insufficient defensive power that could have resulted in losing existing strongholds

He satisfied the defense requirements by docking other users, making it perfectly secure

Comments:

-[What the hell?]

-[???]

-[Wait, so Daedalus is now connected to the gateway network?]

-└[Yes](Author)

-[No wonder I didn’t see him when Grand Cross was being devoured, he was doing this crap]

-[But why are those guys becoming Icarus’s shields again?]

-└[I heard users docking at strongholds along the route don’t pay docking fees]

-└[You mean they get housing opportunities without monthly or deposit rent?]

-└[Then that makes sense;;]

-└[Don’t accept this, you bastards]

—————————————–

Users suddenly realized that the one who gained the most from the event wasn’t the newly ranked Snow Leopard, but Icarus.

They were freshly reminded that timing is everything in this world.

And while watching Icarus expand his territory and establish firm control, users came to another realization.

—————————————–

Title: Hey, if the rankings changed, shouldn’t the moderator badges change too?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of a toad raising an exclamation mark]

Wait, what exactly are user moderators?

The admins handed over gallery management authority to the top 1-10 ranked users who frequent the gallery because they found it difficult to manage themselves

But half of the existing rankers have been completely ejected from the rankings

So new users will get moderator badges, and existing moderators will all be removed

Comments:

-[Oh]

-[That’s right]

-[There’s no announcement about it yet, so it’s not definitely decided, right?]

-└[But when the rankings changed before, the admins strictly replaced the moderators]

—————————————–

A long time ago.

That is, after the “Ancient Empire Capital” event when Mona Lisa, who now hit rank 2, and König entered the top 10 together.

The system that had been firmly maintained for over two years was collapsing, and a new moderator regime(?) was being established.

While the users who served as moderators were too busy during the “Grand Cross” event to pay attention,

The pranksters whose 15-day full bans had expired were released in large numbers, and the gallery began to fill with chaos in a different sense.

—————————————–

Title: Why are so many crazy people popping up?

Author: Anonymous

Content: [Image of gallery post list filled with offensive images and provocative posts.jpg]

Moderators, do your job!

Comments:

-[They say people who should have had their 15-day full bans renewed escaped en masse and can’t be caught]

-[Kraken fetishists and planet fetishists have escaped in droves, there’s no solution]

-[It’s just chaos now lol]

-[Report to the moderators and get it handled somehow]

-└[Even if you report it, they won’t accept it]

—————————————–

Despite the chaos, unlike the “clan leader” style users, the “former rankers” who were solo players and had been ejected from the rankings just shrugged their shoulders, saying why should they sacrifice themselves when they would soon no longer be moderators.

—————————————–

Title: The admins gave me the gift of being ejected from the rankings

Author: Menaldu

Content: [Image of a fairy toad rejoicing about being free after receiving socks]

The moderator is now free

The gallery is burning? Why should I care?

Middle fingers

Comments:

-[Pfft]

-[But you’re still a moderator]

-[Where are you going?]

-[Come back, moderator!!!]

-[Next time I won’t run Halkas when you’re around!!!]

-└[F*ck off](Author)

-└[So this bastard was the cause of moderator desertion]

-└[You’re the problem, you jerk]

—————————————–

—————————————–

Title: We will not become slaves!

Author: Indefatigable

Content: [Image of a toad wielding an axe and charging at a ship.jpg]

We will become masters of the world!

Comments:

-[Chief, you were there]

-[(My) master of the world]

-[For nothing at all]

-[The slave is escaping-!]

-└[Not slaves, call them offensive image erasers]

-└[Look at the slave hunters slinking out]

—————————————–

Whether the gallery burned or not, no one cared.

Unlike other users, the solo moderators showed more joy about quitting as moderators than anger about being ejected from the rankings.

And our protagonist, Icarus, was no exception.

—————————————–

Title: This is ‘freedom.’

Author: Icarus

Content: [Image of a cartoon character with a crudely photoshopped toad face, arms spread wide, standing on the shoulders of giants with the nicknames of toxic users composited together.jpg]

Woo-yas

Comments:

-[???]

-[The giants are coming!!]

-[We said to free yourself from the moderator’s shackles, not to free the trolls from their shackles]

-[Damn lololololol]

—————————————–

In this way, the solo moderators including our protagonist were enjoying an unexpected freedom and basking in happiness.