Ch.76Strike First for Victory, But the End Won’t Be Pretty (3)

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<Pashtra>

<Level 54>

<Type: Long-range Army>

<Characteristics: Explosion, Ultra-long range, Bombardment, High firepower>

<Stats>

Health: A

Attack Power: A+

Physical Defense: B+

Magic Power: SSS+(+S)

Magic Defense: SS+

Mobility: B+

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‘You’ve grown magnificently, Pashtra.’

Perhaps it’s because she’s destroyed so many pirates, monsters, space bandits, and Earth Federation patrols.

Every time the particle beam she created in midair fired, it was truly satisfying to watch even cruisers, not just destroyers, sink with a single shot.

And with the Overseer’s main cannon continuously firing and pressuring the enemy.

The opponent, who had been reorganizing their formation to engage in a power struggle with us, was now in disarray due to our unexpected out-range attacks.

But that didn’t last long.

“Commander, the enemy fleet is beginning to charge toward us!”

“Ah, they’re better than I expected.”

Seems like they’re not complete newbies like the ones we faced last time.

Rather than retreating inadequately and continuing to take hits,

They showed their determination to accept some damage and overwhelm us with their superior numbers.

“Jessica, tell Pashtra and Griyanar to retreat.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“And have the rest of the fleet fire at full power for 30 seconds before retreating.”

“Roger.”

To withstand the enormous numerical difference of roughly 1:3,

I made efforts to widen the distance from the enemy by pulling the fleet back after finishing the volley.

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time, inside Pierre’s base command center.

“I knew we’d wiiiiin!”

Pierre, barely holding onto his mental stability, was performing a frenzied dance after seeing Icarus’s retreating fleet.

“Maya! Tell Baltazar and the others to pursue them!”

“Yes, Commander!”

“Have the torpedo ships go around and fire torpedoes to destroy their wings!”

Of course, this “dance” meant he was busy with micromanagement to control his fleet in real-time.

“I heard the Overseer has the strongest firepower among cruiser-class ships, but it’s beyond expectations.”

“I know, right? How can it sink three… no, six ships by itself?”

“Even so, it couldn’t do that in stock condition. That ranker must have equipped some enhancement gear and added supporters.”

After finishing the approximate fleet deployment while saying this, Pierre collapsed into his command seat, sweating profusely.

But despite his tired appearance, his eyes were absolutely sparkling.

“Phew… if things continue like this, we’ll win easily, right?”

“That’s right, Commander. If the Kitakar-class torpedo cruisers and torpedo ships’ surprise attack succeeds…”

“Their escort fleet will be annihilated, and then we’ll take our escort ships and patrol ships to subdue the isolated Overseer-class with our superhumans.”

*Clap!*

“If that happens, I’ll have the ‘big guns’ part of the ‘big ships, big guns’ dream.”

“I-is that so?”

For Pierre, a big guns enthusiast, the Overseer’s bombardment that instantly destroyed three cruisers at the beginning,

Rapidly welded his crumbling mental state while simultaneously making his blood boil with excitement.

“Come to think of it, we don’t have a single medium cruiser yet.”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“Then this will fulfill the ‘big ship’ requirement too?”

“Y-yeeeees.”

Maya, his adjutant, felt inwardly anxious at Pierre’s excited state.

But it was clear to anyone that Icarus’s fleet was at a significant disadvantage in every aspect.

*BOOM! BANG!*

“Commander, we’re now engaging the enemy’s front line.”

“Ohhh.”

“It seems this will end soon.”

As Pierre’s fleet, advancing at full speed, finally caught up with Icarus’s retreating fleet and combat broke out,

Both Pierre and Maya were anticipating the sweet reward of a “medium cruiser” they would gain from this battle.

And when Pierre’s fleet’s bombardment finally breached the formation by sinking the escort ships protecting the Overseer,

Pierre immediately stood up, about to order his fleet to launch assault pods.

But just as Pierre was filled with hope,

*BEEP BEEP BEEP! BEEP BEEP BEEP!*

“Huh? W-wait, what’s this alarm?!”

“Commander, a massive pirate fleet has appeared at 10 o’clock… unable to determine their numbers!”

“What? Why are pirates showing up here?!”

“I don’t know! But the pirate fleet is now attacking us… AAAAHHH!!!”

*BOOM! Crackle crackle crackle…*

“…what the hell?”

Due to the sudden appearance of a massive pirate fleet, Pierre’s forces were caught in a double encirclement and instantly annihilated.

Naturally, no one could remain sane after experiencing such an unfair situation.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?!!!”

Our Pierre also showed signs of his hastily patched mental state crumbling as he collapsed into his seat, screaming in despair.

==========

And at that moment, as Pierre’s head was breaking in real-time.

“And then, pirates appeared.”

“…Um, yes?”

“Hey, you didn’t catch my joke.”

I felt sad that Jessica didn’t appreciate my humor.

But regardless, I could cheer for the success of my scheme to use Leonard, who didn’t follow my commands because Marian had stationed him for protection.

“Still, it’s fortunate that everything went according to your plan, Commander. Especially since Leonard agreed to move.”

“Of course. Even though my first meeting with Leonard was a bit awkward… I believed he would definitely follow orders since he received them directly from Marian.”

The current approach was nothing special.

Leonard had received orders from Marian to defend me and the base.

Unless the base itself was threatened, I couldn’t directly command him no matter what I did.

In fact, he personally told me that he wouldn’t take orders from me, only from Marian.

But I had no intention of leaving Leonard and his fleet idle.

Initially, I fought at some distance from the base,

Pretending to be overwhelmed by superior numbers, gradually luring the opponent closer to the base.

And by doing so,

The opponent unknowingly drew the aggro of the Pirate Empress’s personal guard fleet.

When they reached the range of the base defense batteries, Leonard and his fleet, interpreting this as a “threat to the base,” automatically sortied.

They charged toward the enemy user’s fleet closest to the base, showing a truly horrific slaughter.

Of course, as I had guessed earlier, the opposing user was quite skilled.

All the ships being sunk were only those that could be produced normally.

The high-grade ships from gacha formed a breakthrough formation.

They managed to break through the pirate fleet that hadn’t yet formed a complete encirclement and quickly escaped.

However, regardless of their escape, since they had lost most of their numerical advantage,

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<Surrender Message!>

<Commander ‘Pierre’ requests surrender to you.>

<Do you accept?>

<Y/N>

<If accepted, you will receive 50,000 minerals and 2,000 rare resources, and a non-aggression state will be maintained for one month.>

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The opposing user acknowledged the situation and quickly surrendered.

I was quite impressed by their skill and their ability to quickly assess the situation and surrender without being stubborn, unlike my previous opponent.

So I didn’t block their mail and immediately pressed Y to receive the reward.

Of course, apart from receiving such sweet rewards,

I inwardly expressed regret toward the gacha ships that the opponent had managed to take away.

“Ah, I really wanted that Baltazar-class light cruiser.”

“Commander, remember the saying ‘excess is as bad as deficiency’?”

“Sigh… you’re right.”

Of course, as Jessica pointed out, if I had been more greedy,

The opponent might have gone berserk and attacked the Overseer without mercy.

If that happened, not only the Overseer but also Griyanar and Pashtra on board could have been lost.

So I nodded in agreement, deciding to be content with just receiving the rewards.