Chapter 96

Chapter 96. We Need More Friends (2)

But no matter how much I racked my brain, I couldn’t come up with an answer.

“Man, there’s literally no solution to this.”

I even brought Jessica along to brainstorm, but Jessica didn’t have any brilliant ideas either.

At least, unlike me, Jessica was pretty knowledgeable about information.

She tried to suggest some methods and their reasoning, albeit briefly…

“Commander, can’t we ask Marian to step up?”

“…That’s probably not gonna work.”

“Why not?”

Unfortunately, our Jessica wasn’t exactly an expert in this field.

I briefly explained to the puzzled Jessica why it wouldn’t work.

“Think about it. Why can’t we earn points right now?”

“Well, obviously… it’s because the surrounding factions are attacking us pirates, right?”

“Right. So, let’s say Marian steps up personally.”

“Yep.”

“She wouldn’t go alone, right? She’d take the pirate executives, tour around other commanders, and even raid the bases of nearby factions, right?”

“Uh… yeah?”

Jessica seemed to imagine Marian and the kids joyfully pillaging in her head.

Her expression twisted for a moment.

But then, realizing I was in front of her, she fixed her expression.

Her rabbit ears perked up, and she focused on my words again.

I resisted the urge to touch those rabbit ears and continued.

“But if the ‘Pirate Empress’ herself leads a large force to conquer border bases and plunder commanders from their own faction…”

“…Ah.”

“Do you think the Xenobia Empire and the Earth Federation would just sit back?”

“The Earth Federation might try a diplomatic approach, but the Xenobia Empire would definitely charge in.”

“…The Earth Federation would probably resort to force too.”

The two factions, enraged, might even form a united front against the pirates.

The Earth Federation would deploy their pride, like the Jörmungandr-Class or Yggdrasil-Class super battleships.

The Xenobia Empire would undoubtedly send in their elite fleet, known in the communities as the ‘Annihilation Fleet.’

Even though Jessica didn’t know much about combat, she had a decent grasp of the bigger picture.

By the time I finished explaining, Jessica seemed to realize the reality.

Her perked-up rabbit ears drooped, and she looked deflated.

==========

Anyway, now that we’ve faced reality, we realized we couldn’t just rely on the pirates forever.

So, we decided to thoroughly plan our next steps.

“Alright, what’s our goal now?”

“What is it, Commander?”

“First, stop messing around and focus on collecting points.”

“Ooh.”

“Then, use them to roll the gacha.”

“Ooooh… huh?”

Of course, Jessica looked like she couldn’t believe what she was hearing…

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<Favor Points: 298,337 points>

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“To be precise, we’ll gather a ton of points and use them to roll the superhuman-exclusive gacha to expand our fleet.”

“…So, you’re saying we’ll use the expanded personnel to earn more reward points, Commander?”

“Yep.”

Even if just one more person comes from the gacha, our fleet’s point acquisition rate would increase by at least 20% (from 4 to 5 members).

It wasn’t a bad plan.

Of course, if it were the usual gacha with its crappy rates, I’d just hoard points without looking back.

But didn’t they say it in the gallery?

“The event-exclusive superhuman gacha has better rates… I trust our veteran tipsters…!”

“Commander…”

With the rates supposedly upgraded, I planned to buy that 450,000-point 10-roll and definitely recruit new comrades.

I was burning with enthusiasm.

Of course, seeing me like this, Jessica made a pained expression.

Then, shaking her head, she started to persuade me with a sincere face.

“Commander, didn’t you say last time that you’d never use causality fixation again…?”

“…”

“You said it’s pointless because you’re unlucky, right?”

“…Shut it!!!”

*Grin*

Seeing Jessica cowardly unleashing fact violence on her superior with a smile…

I immediately scolded Jessica, who clearly didn’t know the meaning of romance, but…

Truth be told, my logic was just as weak.

“My teacher… we gotta pull the gacha, pull the gacha to recruit people…!”

Like some long-haired guy crying because he wanted to play basketball.

All I could do was sit there and cry.

But seeing me like this, Jessica let out a deep sigh.

“I know, Commander, I know we’re short on manpower.”

“Jessica, you really get it!”

“Honestly, what else can we do? Realistically, our point accumulation rate needs to be on par with other top players.”

“*Sob*.”

Witnessing her kind heart…

In the midst of my sobbing, I felt my shattered mental state slowly piecing itself back together.

==========

And now, exactly three days after that day…

“The time has finally come.”

“Indeed, Commander.”

With everyone else out on quests…

Only Jessica and I remained, standing in the gacha room named <Multi-Dimensional Fixed Causality Generator>.

—————————————-

<Favor Points: 557,240>

—————————————-

—————————————-

… … … … … …

–<Random Causality Fixation Ticket (Superhuman Exclusive) x1: 45,000>

… … … … … …

—————————————-

With the massive amount of points accumulated from the ‘Favor Points’…

And the event-exclusive shop window open beside us, I took a moment to breathe deeply.

But only for a moment.

“Here we go!”

—————————————-

<You have purchased 10 ‘Random Causality Fixation Tickets (Superhuman Exclusive)’ from the Event Exclusive Shop.>

<Points deducted: -450,000>

—————————————-

‘It’s done… I pulled the trigger…!’

After spending a whopping 450,000 points in one go…

Holding the 10-pull gacha ticket in my hand, I felt my heart racing for the first time in a while.

And with that excitement still bubbling, I immediately used the 10-pull ticket…

The dimensional whatever-it’s-called… anyway, the gacha machine, as always…

Erupted with blinding light and vibrations, spinning like a gyroscope gone mad.

It was like a mini storm was brewing, with Jessica and I getting our hair and clothes whipped around.

“This is truly a sight to behold, isn’t it?”

“Indeed, Commander.”

If anything, the spectacle only heightened our anticipation.

Grabbing onto whatever structure was nearby to steady ourselves…

It wasn’t long before the light and wind from the gacha machine began to subside… and shortly after…

As the storm and light completely settled, the tightly closed center of the gacha machine opened…

And before my eyes, a notification popped up, signaling a successful gacha, injecting my brain with a 200% dopamine boost.

But that was short-lived.

As the alarm faded, steam or mist—whatever it was—poured out from the open gacha machine…

And with the sound of clicking footsteps, a character dressed in a nun’s outfit emerged.

“Hello there? You must be the ‘Savior’ our order has heard about.”

“…Huh?”

The problem was, the moment I saw her…

“Who…?”

I couldn’t hide my confusion, as she was a completely new character I’d never seen before in the game.