I Became a Commander in a Crappy SF Game.

Ch.574Icarus, Becoming a Real Mercenary (1)

by fnovelpia

A few days after the conclusion of that incredibly brief “planetary exploration” event…

—

<<<LARGE-SCALE SHIP MODIFICATION FACILITY CONSTRUCTION COMPLETE!>>>

<Requirements: At least one Level 50+ Support-class (Support, Assistance Type) Superhuman stationed>

—

“Commander, the auxiliary building you ordered to be constructed has been completed.”

“Has that much time passed already? That was really fast.”

After participating in various events, we’ve reached the first quarter of my fourth year since possession.

I felt quite a sensation as I simultaneously received the message and report that the auxiliary building I had previously ordered was now complete.

And no sooner had that building been constructed…

“Commander~! Is it true there’s a facility that makes ship modifications easier now?”

“I-I heard about it too…!”

“You two got here quickly.”

The two young women who always apply their creativity in strange directions, Griyanar and Berial, made their appearance.

I nodded to these two mad scientists, confirming that what they’d heard was true.

In response, they high-fived each other with expressions that seemed to say, ‘So we can start modifying ships right away?!’ However…

“Wait a moment.”

“Huh?”

“W-what else do you n-need to do…?”

—

<Also, please note that resources used will vary depending on the modification level and ship rank.>

˪<‘Living Component Tree’ effect applied>

—

‘Hmm, this consumes time differently than I expected.’

Unfortunately, unlike the previous method where Griyanar would efficiently handle modifications on her own without needing my specific instructions, this facility’s system works differently.

It requires my explicit permission, and during the modification process, not only is the ship unavailable, but even Griyanar herself can’t be used for other tasks.

I felt quite disappointed by this inflexible approach that was far from the operational flexibility I had anticipated.

For these reasons, contrary to our original plan, we decided to temporarily postpone the ship modification work rather than proceeding immediately.

Besides, there were other matters that needed immediate attention.

Ignoring the two who were bringing up crazy ideas like “Ship modification! Wow! Prison ship!” or suggesting monstrous tentacle-like modifications to dreadnoughts and cruisers, I watched as they were semi-forcibly dragged out of the command center by Jessica.

Eventually, after our Jessica returned saying she had taken care of the matter and stood at attention beside me, I decided to indulge in happy thoughts about what ship modifications I should pursue.

Unfortunately, my adjutant Jessica shook her head, reminding me that we weren’t in a position to be so leisurely and that we had other priorities to address.

“Commander, we still have other areas that require additional resources.”

“…Hmm, that’s true.”

It’s quite unfortunate, but considering our current restoration and repair work on the “Fortress Cannons,”

The construction of other auxiliary buildings now that the ship modification facility is complete,

And the ongoing additional resource consumption for Daedalus’s modification work,

I had to acknowledge that we lacked the resources and time needed for “ship modification work” that would consume as much as producing new ships.

After lengthy deliberation, I decided to postpone “ship modification” until we had more resources to spare.

With that settled, my next thought was “What building should we construct next?” However…

“I suppose it’s better to build what we don’t have yet first?”

“I think it’s best to follow your judgment on this, Commander.”

Unfortunately, the more I thought about it, I couldn’t help but feel there wasn’t much for me to deliberate over.

This was because all the auxiliary buildings currently available for construction either gave a taste of the existing four major factions’ capabilities or slightly enhanced the performance of factions we already belonged to, so it didn’t really matter what we built.

“Well then, let’s go with this for now…”

—

˪<‘Living Component Tree’ effect applied>

—

Unlike other factions I had already “sampled,” apart from the Rafflesia I-class that I had possessed for barely a month, I hadn’t properly experienced the “Xenovia Empire” except for getting beaten up by them.

So it was only natural to prioritize building their facility first.

—

And while constructing this new auxiliary building,

Along with repairing the remaining completely destroyed fortress cannon and allocating resources for the Daedalus modification work…

“Now let’s proceed with repairing the last partially damaged fortress cannon.”

“Yes, but Commander?”

“Yes?”

“If you decide to proceed with repairing the last fortress cannon, we’ll be left with only about 3 million mineral resources and 400,000 rare resources.”

“Wow.”

Despite receiving nearly 11 million—no, almost 12 million resources weekly,

I couldn’t help but click my tongue at our impressive achievement of pushing our resource intake into the negative.

But right at that moment.

—

<‘ThinkingBell’ has requested to chat with the Commander.>

<Accept?>

<Y/N>

—

‘What’s this?’

As “ThinkingBell,” the new diplomatic representative of the “Magellan” clan, requested a chat with me, I accepted with curiosity despite my confusion.

After exchanging pleasantries and greetings, we quickly got to the main point…

—

<Icarus-ThinkingBell Chat Room>

-[This is also an inquiry from our clan leader](ThinkingBell)

-[?](Icarus)

-[Are you still interested in mercenary work?](ThinkingBell)

-[You mean mercenary work?](Icarus)

-[Yeah](ThinkingBell)

—

After my conversation with Tsumelingweiss at Tannhäuser, I had essentially erased “mercenary work” from my memory, but now they were bringing it up again.

Both Jessica and I tilted our heads in confusion at the Magellan Clan’s sudden mention of this topic.

After expressing my confusion in the chat, the Magellan representative ThinkingBell explained:

—

<Icarus-ThinkingBell Chat Room>

-[If you’re okay with it, we’d like to use your forces as a mercenary this time]

-[We were planning to hire other users as mercenaries too]

-[But if we have you, we won’t need to hire as many others](ThinkingBell)

-[I see](Icarus)

—

Nodding at this reasonable explanation, I continued:

—

<Icarus-ThinkingBell Chat Room>

-[OK I understand]

-[But how much are you offering?](Icarus)

—

I decided to ask “What do you want, make your offer first.”

0 Comments