Chapter 76

Chapter 76. If you shout “First Strike Wins,” it doesn’t end well. (3)

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<Pashtira>

<Level 54>

<Type: Large Army, Long-Range>

<Characteristics: Explosive, Ultra-Long Range, Artillery, 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 splendidly, Pashtira.”

It must be because you’ve been wrecking so many pirates, monsters, space Kanfu, and Earth Federation patrols.

Every time the particle beam you generated in mid-air fired, it was truly satisfying to see destroyers and even cruisers getting sunk in one shot.

On top of that, the Overseer’s main cannon kept firing, putting pressure on the enemy.

The opponent, who was trying to reorganize their formation to match our strength, was now scrambling due to the out-range attacks.

But that didn’t last long.

“Commander, the enemy fleet is starting to charge!”

“Oh, they’re better than I thought.”

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

Instead of retreating clumsily and choosing to keep taking hits, they showed the will to endure some damage and crush us with overwhelming numbers.

“Jessica, tell Pashtira and Gryanarr to fall back.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“And the rest of the fleet, fire at full power for 30 seconds, then retreat.”

“Roger.”

To withstand the overwhelming numerical difference of roughly 1:3, I focused on pulling the fleet back to create distance after the volley.

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

“We’re totally gonna win, woooo!”

Pierre, barely holding onto his sanity, was dancing wildly as he watched Icarus’ fleet retreat.

“Maya! Have Baltazar and the others chase them down immediately!”

“Yes, Commander!”

“Have the torpedo ships flank and fire torpedoes, smash their wings!”

Of course, his “dance” was just him frantically micromanaging the fleet in real-time.

“I heard the Overseer has the strongest firepower among cruisers, but this is beyond expectations.”

“Right? How can it sink 3… no, 6 ships by itself?”

“It’s probably not stock. That ranker must’ve added some enhancement gear and support.”

After finishing the fleet deployment, Pierre plopped down on his command seat, sweating buckets.

Despite his tired appearance, his eyes were sparkling like crazy.

“Whew… but if this keeps up, we’ll win easily, right?”

“Yes, Commander. If the Kitakar-class torpedo cruiser and the torpedo ships’ ambush succeeds…”

“Their escort fleet will be annihilated, and then we can swarm the lone Overseer with patrol and escort ships, deploy our superhumans, and finish it off.”

-*Clap!*

“If that happens, I’ll finally get my hands on the ‘big guns’ part of the ‘big ships, big guns’ dream.”

“Uh… sure?”

For Pierre, a battleship and big gun enthusiast, the Overseer’s artillery (?) that instantly wiped out 3 cruisers early on was enough to weld his shattered mental state back together and get his blood boiling.

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

“Yes, that’s true.”

“Then that means we’ll fulfill the ‘big ship’ part too, right?”

“…Yeeeeah.”

Seeing Pierre’s excitement, Maya felt uneasy inside, but it was clear to anyone that Icarus’ fleet was at a severe disadvantage in every aspect.

-*Boom! Bang!*

-“Commander, we’ve made contact with the enemy fleet’s front line and are commencing combat.”

“Ooh.”

“Looks like it’ll be over soon.”

While Pierre’s fleet charged forward at full speed, Icarus’ fleet, retreating while resisting, was finally caught up, and combat broke out.

Both Pierre and Maya were looking forward to the sweet reward of a ‘heavy cruiser’ they’d gain from this battle.

And when Pierre’s fleet’s bombardment finally sank the escort ship guarding the Overseer, creating a hole in the formation, Pierre immediately jumped up 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, the entire enemy fleet has suddenly…!”

“A massive pirate fleet has appeared at 10 o’clock… impossible to count their numbers!”

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

-“I don’t know! But they’re attacking us right now… Aaaah!!!”

-*Boom!* *Zzzzzzzzzz…*

“…What the hell?”

Suddenly, Pierre’s fleet found itself double-surrounded and annihilated in an instant by the sudden appearance of a massive pirate fleet.

Of course, no one could keep their sanity after such a ridiculous turn of events.

“What the actual f*** is this!!!!”

Our Pierre, with his hastily patched-up mental state, crumbled and collapsed to the ground, screaming in despair.

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And just as Pierre’s head was about to explode in real-time…

“But then, the pirates appeared.”

“…Uh, right?”

“Eheh, can’t take the joke, huh?”

I felt a bit sad that Jessica didn’t catch the joke, but…

On the other hand, I couldn’t help but cheer as my plan to use Leonard, who wasn’t under my command due to Marian’s protective measures, succeeded.

“Well, at least the Commander’s plan worked out. And most importantly, Leonard actually moved.”

“Of course, even though my first meeting with Leonard was a bit… awkward, I knew he’d follow orders if they came directly from Marian.”

The current situation wasn’t any different.

Leonard was stationed to defend me and the base under Marian’s orders, so unless the base itself was threatened, I couldn’t directly command him.

In fact, Leonard himself had made it clear that he wouldn’t take orders from me unless they came from Marian, so you can imagine how that went.

But I wasn’t about to leave Leonard and the fleet idle.

At first, I planned to engage in battle a bit farther from the base.

I pretended to be overwhelmed, slowly luring the enemy closer to the base.

And by doing so…

The enemy unknowingly drew the aggro of the Pirate Empress’s elite fleet.

Once they entered the range of the base’s defense turrets, Leonard and the fleet automatically sortied, perceiving it as a “threat to the base.”

They charged at the enemy fleet closest to the base, unleashing a brutal slaughter.

Of course, as I had guessed earlier, the enemy user was no slouch.

Only the mass-produced ships were sunk.

The high-tier gacha ships formed a breakthrough formation.

They broke through the pirate fleet’s incomplete encirclement and quickly fled.

But despite their escape, they had lost the majority of their forces.

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<Surrender Message!>

<Commander 'Pierre' has requested your surrender.>

<Will you accept?>

<Y/N>

<If accepted, you will gain 50,000 minerals and 2,000 rare resources, and a one-month non-aggression pact will be established.>

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The enemy user quickly acknowledged the situation and surrendered.

I was quite impressed by their skill and their ability to quickly grasp the situation and surrender without dragging things out.

Unlike before, I didn’t block their messages and immediately pressed Y to claim the rewards.

Of course, despite the sweet rewards…

I couldn’t help but feel a pang of regret for the gacha ships they managed to escape with.

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

“Commander, you know what they say about overreaching, right?”

“Sigh… You’re right.”

As Jessica said, if I had gotten too greedy…

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

And if that happened, not only the Overseer but also Gryanarr and Pashtira on board could have been wiped out.

I nodded at her words and decided to be content with the rewards.