Chapter 171

Chapter 171. We’re dead, seriously dead. (1)

It was true that the repair time for the cruiser battleships had suddenly increased.

But anyway, since there were no more airstrikes or those damn teleporting torpedo ambushes,

the users of Unity Clan were determined to launch a ruthless offensive against Icarus as soon as the repairs were completed, refusing to surrender.

However, contrary to their determination, the thousands of stray bombs and missiles from the airstrikes had slightly damaged the engine rooms of the cruiser battleships.

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-[What the hell, how did they hit us here? The air defense grid wasn’t even breached!](Byraktar)

-[Lol, the bombs just went straight in there.](Marshmallow)

—————————————-

Thanks to this, they experienced the miracle of their repair time being extended until tomorrow, as if they were being unfairly targeted like Icarus.

But after digging through the gallery wiki tab, they found out that even if the repairs were only 70% complete instead of 100%, they could still move, even if they’d be a mess after taking a single hit.

So, aiming for around 75% completion by tomorrow morning, they decided to charge at full speed toward Icarus’s base, no matter the damage, and unleash a massacre without any surrender.

==========

But the next morning, as they were thinking this,

the defense fleet to rescue Icarus was set to arrive in three days.

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-[We’re screwed, aircraft are swarming from all directions.](Dolphin)

-[What the hell, five directions with 1,000 planes each?](Goliath)

-[Hold on tight, guys.](Ramuramu)

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The Kraken and two light aircraft carriers launched a simultaneous airstrike from all directions with 5,000 aircraft, showing no mercy.

Facing Icarus’s evil(?) hands trying to caress their precious main fleet,

Unity Clan’s desperate struggle to protect the purity of their cruiser battleships and light carriers was a sight to behold.

Of course, while it seemed evenly matched, Icarus’s small and precious aircraft were being shredded at a rate of 100 per minute due to the overwhelming air defense formation.

The Unity Clan members began to imagine that if they held out a little longer, they could launch a fun raid on Icarus with their fully repaired cruiser battleships.

But as the clan’s attention was focused on all sides,

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-[What the hell, teleport!](Goliath)

-[It’s coming right above the fleet, damn it!](Marshmallow)

-[FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—](Byraktar)

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The Kraken’s insane teleport attack rained down dozens of torpedoes and a ton of missiles right above the fleet.

Naturally, the AI of the cruiser battleships and light carriers at the center of the fleet formation wasn’t just sitting around.

They unleashed dozens of 250mm CIWS and thousands of anti-air missiles per second to intercept the attack…

But while they successfully intercepted most of the missiles and the threatening torpedoes,

a few assault pods hidden among the missiles slipped through and landed neatly on the cruiser battleships…

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-[WHAT THE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—](Goliath)

-[LMAOOOOOOO DAMN IT](Dolphin)

-[…F*ck.](Byraktar)

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Suddenly, a small number of land-based monsters infiltrated the engine rooms of the nearly repaired cruiser battleships, causing the repair time to be extended by another day.

The mental state of those involved was on the verge of collapsing.

And since this was exactly what Icarus intended, everyone would’ve been happy if they just gave up and retreated…

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-[Oh hell no, I’m gonna wreck that bastard’s ship.](Dolphin)

-[Agreed.](Dolphin)

-[FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU—](Byraktar)

-[We’re gonna destroy that guy’s base.](Ramuramu)

-[I’m taking back my light carrier too.](Marshmallow)

—————————————-

Unfortunately, contrary to Icarus’s wishes, the Unity Clan ended up burning with the will to tear apart and destroy our Icarus.

—

The next day.

And during that stretched-out time, they stubbornly pushed through repairs without retreating.

Honestly, it’s weird how they’re the ones who invaded first but are now flexing their grit in the strangest way.

Anyway, before Icarus could launch another assault, the Unity Clan managed to finish temporary repairs on their cruiser battleships through sheer determination…

—

– [Icarus, die!] (Goliath)

– [Now everything can blow up, just save the cruiser battleships and heavy cruisers.] (Ramuramu)

—

Due to cooldown issues, the Kraken’s delayed torpedo barrage hit the outer fleet formation, damaging destroyers, medium destroyers, and light cruisers.

Even heavy cruisers took hits, but regardless, they switched from anti-air formation to breakthrough formation and charged toward Icarus’s base.

—

Watching all this on radar, I realized it was now a real race against time.

“Damn, those guys are really sharpening their knives and charging at us now.”

Of course, time was ultimately on my side, and frankly, all I had to do was hold out here…

“Jessica, when are our pirate bros coming to help?”

“Two more days, Commander.”

During that time, their deployment mistakes led to their light carrier fleet getting wrecked while trying to flank.

Even after two days of constant aircraft and artillery bombardment, they still had at least 250 ships left…

“…How many ships do we have?”

“Should I count the mercenaries and the main fleet separately?”

“Yeah.”

“The mercenaries have 44 ships, fully repaired, regardless of type.”

“…Hmm.”

“The main fleet has 35 ships, including transport destroyers brought from the resource zone as meat shields and newly constructed ones for combat readiness, regardless of type.”

…The “regardless of type” part is weirdly cute, with tiny ‘Assault Battle Carriers’ and ‘Patrol Ships’ mixed in.

In the end, I felt a headache coming on realizing we had to hold out for two days with less than 80 ships.

And realistically, facing over 250 ships (way more diverse) with 78 ships (also diverse) head-on is just plain stupid.

I tried to split their forces to pick them off one by one, but…

-“Commander, the enemy isn’t falling for the bait ships.”

-“Well, we’re screwed.”

Unfortunately, I might’ve bullied them too hard, because now they’re not taking the bait and are just charging straight at the base like madmen.

I recalled the patrol ship fleet I sent out as bait using emergency warp and decided to activate the base barrier I checked earlier, just in case.

But unlike when I played the game, where it activated instantly, now…

“Commander, it’ll take about 2 hours to activate the base barrier!”

“What.”

On top of that, the enemy fleet will reach the base in about an hour.

“…Damn it.”

This is just bullying… no, a divine punishment for not checking properly.

In the end, I had no choice but to fight their fleet to buy time, crying while eating mustard.