Chapter 129

Chapter 129. I want to upgrade the base.

The problem was that despite the jaw-dropping resource consumption, we absolutely had to proceed with upgrading the base.

And the reason was none other than…

<Base Level 6 Upgrade>

<<Required Resources: 250,000 Minerals, 7,500 Rare Resources>>

<Upgrade Unlock List>

˪<Additional Docking Facilities Unlocked>

˪<Resource Warehouse Additional Construction Available>

˪<Fleet Long-Distance Teleport System Construction Available>

˪<Large Ship Dedicated Shipyard Construction Available>

˪<Ship Emergency Repair Facility Construction Available>

˪<Graviton Detection Radar Construction Available>

The existence of the ‘Large Ship Dedicated’ Shipyard alone was enough to make anyone drool.

But the <Fleet Long-Distance Warp System>, which allows fleets stationed at the base to be instantly deployed to any desired battlefield, was the real game-changer.

That was the thing that separated commanders with bases below Level 5 from those with Level 6 and above.

Of course, due to its structure, we could only send fleets out from here.

To return, the fleet had to use the same facility at an allied commander’s base…

Otherwise, the fleet had to make its way back on its own, which was just… ugh.

In addition to those two, there was also the <Ship Emergency Repair Facility>, where you could pour in resources and rare resources to quickly repair ships.

For a cruiser, it only took a few dozen seconds.

And the <Graviton Detection Radar>, which didn’t exactly increase the base’s detection range but could weakly detect those ‘stealth’ ships that occasionally popped up in the gacha.

On top of that, with the ability to build additional docking facilities and resource warehouses…

Honestly, whether you liked it or not, building a Level 6 base was essential for long-term survival in this game.

But right now, even if I wanted to proceed, I couldn’t.

So I decided to just clear some daily quests and gather resources properly, planning to go all-in on the construction tomorrow or the day after.

But about 5 minutes after I had that thought…

<<"Commander Icarus, do you have a moment?">>

“Huh?”

Out of nowhere, a telepathic message from Oxianor, who had been fading into the background lately, came through.

<Quest>

<Tense World.>

<Content>

<Recently, there have been numerous clashes in the border zones between factions.>

<Of course, until now, it's mostly been small-scale skirmishes or battles between commanders ambiguously aligned with various factions.>

<However, as these incidents have piled up, there have been large-scale fleet battles between the Earth Federation and the Space Monsters.>

<As tensions escalate, the leader of your faction, the 'Queen of Monsters,' has recognized the severity of the situation.>

<She aims to produce a large-scale army and fleet to prepare for a potential future war.>

<In the process, she is requesting a small 'donation' of resources from the commanders under her faction.>

<Objective: Donate at least 50,000 Minerals and 3,000 Rare Resources to the Monster Faction.>

<<"...So, how is this possible?">>

‘Ah, is it time for the event to pop up already?’

Seeing the event that was still fresh in my memory, I realized I’d have to postpone the base upgrade for a few days.

This was because this event was a sort of ‘public event’ that popped up for all users affiliated with a faction.

If you refused or donated less than the minimum…

You’d lose a massive amount of trust from the faction, or negative events would trigger.

And if your trust level dropped into the negatives because of this event?

You’d just get kicked out of the faction, which was absolutely brutal.

Even if you weren’t kicked out, as mentioned earlier, all the trust you’d built up would just crumble away.

So without much thought, I decided to scrape together some of my remaining resources and donate them to the Monster Faction.

“Of course, it’s possible.”

<<"The Queen will be pleased with your assistance!">>

==========

Anyway, after sending resources to the Monsters and clearing some daily quests, the next morning…

“Jessica, Jessica, magical Jessica.”

“…”

“Won’t you tell me today’s resource status?”

“We currently have 150,000 minerals, considering both supply and consumption, and the rare resources just hit 3,000.”

There was a minor hiccup where half the resources flew away in just one day, but now that we’re not crazily consuming resources for events, we can just gather them steadily over a week.

Originally, the mineral consumption wasn’t that high, except for what we got from ranking rewards, so it wasn’t a big deal.

Thinking there’s no major issue, I considered attacking nearby NPC fleets to squeeze out some resources.

But while I was pondering this…

“Huh? Oh, yes? Just a moment.”

Jessica, who was next to me, suddenly started a conversation and then turned to me with a puzzled look, bringing up something unusual.

“Commander, Oxianor is asking if a one-on-one meeting with you is possible?”

“Huh? Oxianor?”

I’ve only heard of them but never actually met. Wondering if it’s one of those random events where they demand more resources, I felt a chill down my spine.

But since there’s nothing more dangerous than overthinking, I decided to accept the thrilling one-on-one date(?) with Oxianor to find out what’s up.

=========

Of course, as everyone guessed, calling it a date was just my joke.

At most, it might be about giving additional quests or discussing a secret alliance with the Pirate Alliance, which Oxianor might handle better than Marian directly.

Considering Leonard, who’s similar, avoids getting involved unless Marian tells him to, I thought maybe Oxianor wanted to discuss the alliance through me.

But surprisingly, contrary to my thoughts…

“Icarus, for some reason, other commanders haven’t been very active in accepting our requests lately.”

“Hmm.”

“Do you know why?”

“…Not sure.”

Our big, fluffy Oxianor, using the soft touch of their bio-suit as a shield, kept clinging to me on the sofa, even wrapping their arm around mine.

With their overwhelming plushness, I momentarily felt dazed by the bounciness but quickly reminded myself, “Wait, Oxianor is a gentleman, a gentleman!”

Realizing that Oxianor, originally male, was acting this way, I felt a mix of sadness and confusion but managed to pull myself together, thinking there must be a reason.

Trying to free my arm, I failed due to Oxianor’s superior strength and ended up in an awkward pose, trying to continue the conversation calmly.

“I’m not sure, but maybe the past couple of months have been unusually active?”

“Hmm… maybe.”

Seeing that I wasn’t swayed by their charm, Oxianor, leaning on my shoulder, blinked at me and then naturally released my arm, adjusting their posture.

Relieved, I decided to have a ‘proper’ conversation with Oxianor, but then…

“Hmm, don’t you like this body?”

“…”

“With everyone around having similar appearances, I compromised with the Queen to create this body… but if you want something unique…”

With a strange sound, Oxianor transformed into a 7-8-year-old girl.

Grabbing Oxianor’s shoulder, I urgently said, “I’m not a pedophile, Oxianor.”

“Huh?”

“Please revert to your original body immediately, or I might get misunderstood.”