Chapter 52

Chapter 52. From now on, your name shall be the Pirate King.

But for me to brag about it, the gallery was already flooded with stories about me.

—

**Title:** But the 3rd ranker made the Pirate Empress surrender, right?

**Author:** Fresh Newbie

**Content:** [I’ll give you the fleet and authority, just spare my life, says the Empress.]

So, is that guy now controlling the pirates?

Do we just call him the Pirate King now?

**Comments:**

– [Now all that’s left is for everyone to rush in for raids or get caught and executed, lol.]

– [Where did you hide the secret stash you mentioned?]

– [My treasure? If you want it, I’ll give it to you…]

– [Not “give,” more like you’ll get robbed, lol.]

– [Not the Pirate King, but a treasure goblin, huh?]

—

**Title:** The era has dawned… the Great Pirate Era is upon us!

**Author:** ㅇㅇ

**Content:** [A pirate being executed.]

So, now that 3rd ranker guy is going to plunder us, and we’re supposed to go plunder him, right?

**Comments:**

– [The salty sea is still the saltiest, lol.]

– [These guys got beaten up by pirates and cowered, but now that they’re gone, they’re acting all high and mighty, lol.]

– [LOLOLOLOLOL.]

– [Even if he’s rank 3, didn’t he just rise thanks to the Empress? Can’t we just swarm and crush him?]

– [Overconfidence level: MAX.]

—

– Sigh.

“Jessica, the gallery is already full of stories about me.”

“Yes, and half of it seems to be anger and spite directed at you, Commander.”

If this keeps up, just like the pirate raids over the past six months, I feel like user attacks will frequently target my base.

So, I thought maybe it’s time to…

‘Hmm… should I start a preventive war?’

Like a certain mustache guy invading Poland.

Or like a certain Middle Eastern country constantly beating up its neighbors, maybe I should preemptively strike the users around me who might attack.

As these wicked thoughts amplified in my head, I tried to calm the specter of militarism in my heart.

Of course, if the gallery atmosphere keeps going downhill like this…

And considering one of the posters might already be near my base…

I was about to mobilize my fleet, along with the ‘Imperial Guard’ fleet Marian left behind, to crush them all.

But thankfully, the riotous newbies were quelled by posts from other rankers and some veterans’ sharp analyses.

—

**Title:** MUST READ) Newbies wanting to raid the so-called Pirate King

**Author:** Arcadia

**Content:** [Image of the Pirate Empress’s main fleet.]

If you guys think you can just rush in because “she’s nothing without the Empress,”

you’ll have to face not only her original fleet but also the pirate fleet the Empress left at her base.

And it’s not the usual raiding fleets that sneak into bases, but at least the Empress’s Imperial Guard or the main fleet shown in this image.

Do you think you can survive against the Empress’s main fleet or Imperial Guard, which wiped out a 30-member clan without reinforcements?

**Comments:**

– [LOLOLOLOLOLOL.]

– [This is brutal;;;]

– [Newbies going wild is kinda cute.]

—

**Title:** Newbies, stop with the nonsense.

**Author:** Crazy Old Man from Mt. Ddongpoo

**Content:** Sure, that guy might not be as insane as the one who aggroed with just a patrol ship and his underwear,

but he can definitely crush your heads.

Just look at the previous posts—he’s wiped out newbies stronger than him.

And the fleet he brought out during the Pirate Empress’s surrender scene is way stronger than before.

Plus, now he has the Pirate Empress’s fleet too…

Is there?

Not joking, at this point, it’s basically a one-person clan.

Don’t do stupid stuff, just do your own thing.

Comments:

– [Old-timer, but if there’s a Pirate Empress fleet, shouldn’t the user fleet decrease by that much?]

– [Why would it?] (Author)

– [No, I mean, that much fleet point isn’t provided, right?]

– [Didn’t you read the Pirate Empress tip post? The fleet gained from joining the Empress doesn’t consume points.] (Author)

– [Too lazy to read tips and stuff.]

– [You idiot.] (Author)

—————————————-

Aside from me, various high-level players and veterans started coming out with their supportive arguments.

Except for some idiots whose only goal was to stir up trouble, the rest seemed to come to their senses.

“Hmm…”

“Still, it’s a relief that there are people who are properly countering the slander against the Commander.”

“True that.”

The gallery’s public opinion was more favorable than I had expected.

I thought it would be good to talk to the person who first initiated this favorable opinion, the 4th ranked ‘Arcadia’, and express my gratitude for this situation.

==========

At the same time.

“Clan Leader, as you said, we’ve handled the gallery’s public opinion manipulation.”

“Good job, everyone. It seems our strategy to create a favorable public opinion before the weirdos start causing trouble and to guide them to join our clan is going well.”

Facing the slanderous remarks against Icarus, ‘Arcadia’, who mobilized the capabilities of the ‘Justice’ clan for public opinion manipulation, was outwardly preparing to bring ‘Icarus’ into the Justice clan as originally planned.

Inwardly, she felt immense satisfaction as her fan feelings towards ‘Icarus’ were fulfilled.

Of course, the other clan executives watching Arcadia were like,

“If I had known it would turn out like this, I would have listened to the Clan Leader from the start.”

“True, who would have thought she was bidding since her newbie days.”

“Damn, even the old-timer admits it’s impressive.”

Just a few months ago, despite Arcadia strongly supporting the recruitment of ‘Icarus’, their lukewarm response and the candidate’s refusal to join led to failure, and they nodded in a sense of responsibility.

“Well, that’s why we’re now diligently manipulating public opinion and such according to the Clan Leader’s plan, right?”

“Hmm… let’s call it stylish support fire instead of public opinion manipulation.”

“That sounds better.”

They showed no awareness of Arcadia’s ulterior motives.

==========

And amidst such sinister plots unfolding around her, what was our Icarus doing?

“Oppa! I, Marian, have returned!”

“Oof.”

Finally, Marian, who had finished her ‘tasks’, returned and greeted with a loving shoulder tackle, nearly breaking Icarus’s back.

Of course, despite Marian suffering from a so-called ‘Icarus deficiency’ and showing slight signs of deprivation, her eyes slightly rolling back.

“Marian, if you charge like that, the Commander won’t be able to handle it!”

“Ah, right.”

Fortunately, Ignis appeared beside her and immediately stopped Marian, narrowly avoiding a major collision with my body.

Shortly after, Marian, barely calmed down by Ignis, asked to forget her earlier disgrace while clinging to me like a spoiled child.

“Phew, oppa is still the best, better than any pirates.”

“Hmm… right.”

“Sob… haaa…”

“???”

She clung to my side and kept taking deep breaths against my uniform for a long time.