Chapter 37

Episode 37. You, Become My Comrade.

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Title: Hey, Isn’t the Pirate Empress’s Name Kim Soon-ja? Why Are You Saying It’s Not?

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: Hi, I’m Dr. Floater.

I’m researching the most aggro-inducing titles in the Astral Lagrange gallery.

So hurry up and give me the Pirate Empress’s name.

If not, her name will forever be Kim Soon-ja.

Comments:

– [Always researching useless stuff, huh?]

– [Ugh, shut up.]

– [Wasn’t it Marian or something?]

– [Yeah, Pirate Empress Marian.]

– [Oh, thanks.] (Author)

—

Suddenly, a memory that doesn’t exist flashes through my mind.

No, actually, it’s a gallery post I saw a while ago.

“Mary Ann, Mary Ann… Marian… Marian?”

After going through a Mondegreen process, I realize the character in front of me is the infamous “Pirate Empress” the veterans talk about.

To be precise, she’s a kind of Pirate Empress (True), and I’m utterly shocked.

Adopting the Mary Ann = Marian hypothesis, more things start to make sense.

“Now that I think about it, the Pirate Empress is an Asian beauty character.”

Of course, due to the limitations of illustrations and anime modeling, they all look similar.

But the Pirate Empress also has black hair with a hint of brown, and judging by how the gallery folks praise her, the developers put a lot of effort into her design.

At least now, seeing her face, I feel a chill realizing how similar she looks to the model.

But my rationality raises doubts.

After all, the “Pirate Empress” users meet in-game has a huge chest, one eye missing (wearing an eyepatch), and longer hair.

The “Mary Ann” in front of me, however, has a similar pelvis and thighs, but her hair is a messy short ponytail, and her chest is practically nonexistent.

Her face is similar, but she has no eyepatch or scars.

She has some muscle, but nothing impressive.

For a moment, I wonder if I’m just overhyping this, but I shake off the fear.

—

“So… why exactly did you bring me here?”

“Ah…”

I decide to focus on solving the current situation first, as I can satisfy my curiosity later.

—

After awkwardly excusing myself and sending “Mary Ann” and the others away from the command center, I sit in the commander’s seat and start browsing the community for information.

Well, more like just lurking in the gallery.

I’m not actively gathering info, and for a simple reason: if it gets out that I have the Pirate Empress’s body (or whatever), the veterans would go berserk.

The Pirate Empress is a top-tier SSS-level character, and if they find out I have her, my base and fleet would be obliterated.

So, I’m racking my brain trying to figure out how to confirm if she’s the real Pirate Empress.

About 10 minutes later…

—

Title: Honestly, Isn’t the Early Recruitment of the Pirate Empress Just Nonsense?

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [Laughing toad meme]

How can you recruit someone you don’t even know what they look like, only to fire them later? That’s just a waste.

And honestly, instead of chasing the Pirate Empress, wouldn’t it be better to just roll for an SSS-level character in the gacha?

—

After 9 minutes of effort switching from a fixed nickname to a floating one, I nervously post my comment.

I’m not sure if it’ll even draw aggro, but thankfully, shortly after…

—

Comments:

– [What did you say, you punk?]

-[Damn, you fell for it!]

-[Just remove the eyepatch from the Pirate Empress’s appearance, reduce or remove the scars, shrink the chest, and shorten the hair.]

-[What the hell, everything’s shrinking.]

-[But it’s true though.]

-[Ah, but keep the thighs and pelvis as they are. That sturdy pelvis in her appearance is what makes her the real Pirate Empress.]

-[Childbearing hips, lol.]

—

As all sorts of comments poured in, I realized that the Pirate Empress I had picked up was indeed the real deal.

Feeling a surge of joy, I simply replied with -˪[Oh, is that so?] (Author) and immediately closed the Community Window, shouting “Eureka!” in my heart.

Of course, as I had confirmed through the Status Window, our Pirate Empress was currently in a pathetic state, barely scraping by at A-rank.

If I just threw her into the frontlines, believing in her future as the Pirate Empress…

She might end up screaming and dying in a battle against the now-buffed pirates.

Or she might think I’m trying to kill her, steal someone else’s shuttle, and make a run for it.

So, I decided to take Mary Ann—no, Marian—and plan out how to properly train her.

Of course, making such a plan was beyond my capabilities alone.

—

“Jessica, Jessica.”

“What is it, Commander?”

“I’m going to tell you a huge secret.”

“Huh?”

“We now have the future Pirate Empress in our hands.”

“…Whaaaaaaat?”

—

I called over Jessica, the most reliable person, to plan how to raise our Pirate Empress into the real deal.

We decided to execute the so-called “Heart-Throbbing Pirate Empress Maker Operation.”

But just before putting the plan into action…

—

“So, Commander, how exactly do you plan to do this?”

“Huh?”

“I mean, if you just train her hard, the Pirate Empress will eventually run away on her own, right?”

—

Hearing Jessica’s question, I experienced what it truly means to have your brain freeze.

It was a full-on experience.

Thinking about it, she wasn’t wrong. In the past, the old-timers in the gallery or chat had mentioned three possible endings for the Pirate Empress.

These routes diverged based on how you treated and trained the Pirate Empress.

To be precise, depending on how friendly and strong I made Marian, she would later escape in my shuttle and head in one of three directions.

For example, the so-called “Happy Ending,” Ending 1.

This happens when the Pirate Empress becomes a pirate admiral and joins the base with her fleet. It’s achievable only if the user rigorously manages Marian’s friendliness and performance.

The second, “Good Ending,” Ending 2.

If the friendliness isn’t high enough to meet the first condition, she maintains a strictly “business-like friendly relationship” with the player.

In this case, the Pirate Empress becomes a friendly NPC to the players, lending out her fleet for money, essentially becoming a “pirate mercenary entrepreneur.”

In this scenario, the user who originally had her gets a 5% discount on mercenary prices.

And finally, the so-called “Normal Ending,” which is actually closer to a bad ending, Ending 3.

If the friendliness with Marian is below a certain level or if she isn’t trained and experienced in combat…

In other words, if you treat her like the A-rank bottom-tier trash I initially saw and just toss her in a corner…

As the old-timers said, there’s a 90% chance she’ll escape much faster than in other routes.

Then, seeking revenge on the user who ignored her, she’ll thoroughly crush them.

—

“…Hmm.”

After organizing my thoughts, I nodded at Jessica and said:

“Of course, we should aim for the Happy Ending by maximizing friendliness and support.”

“Yes, Commander.”

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