Chapter 322

Chapter 322. Who Am I? “The King of Neutrality.” (3)

===========

But through the ongoing chat, I was able to figure out what that guy was trying to do.

—————————————–

-[What does that even mean?] (Icarus)

-[Well, I saw some people docking at your base, so I thought…] (Penicillin)

-[I won’t mess with you, okay?] (Penicillin)

-[I kinda wanna dock at a base too, just once.] (Penicillin)

-[Uh… this is awkward.] (Icarus)

—————————————–

Although, from my perspective, the content was pretty awkward.

At least I figured out what they wanted, so that’s a relief, right?

At the very least, they weren’t some highway robber going, “Give it to me, or I’ll kill you!”

But hearing that user named “Penicillin” say that made me feel all sorts of complicated emotions.

For one thing, there wasn’t a single other user docked at this Avalon Fortress where I currently was.

So I was about to tell them that I never gave them permission to dock and that they must be mistaken, but…

“Commander, Commander.”

“Huh?”

“I was thinking after hearing what you said. How about we charge a fee for docking at the base this time?”

“…Sell docking rights?”

Jessica’s interesting suggestion made my ears perk up.

Of course, before this, if you weren’t in the same clan, it was impossible for other users to dock at a base you controlled, so I would’ve just ignored it…

‘But now it’s different, isn’t it?’

After the recent update, as long as you’re in a “friendly neutral” state, other users can dock at your base with your permission.

I nodded, thinking Jessica’s idea was pretty solid, and decided to discuss the details further.

==========

And a little while later.

—————————————–

<Clan Chat Room>

<Announcement: Let’s not fight today, either.>

-<Penicillin has entered the chat.>

-[Ah]

-[Hey, everyone? I’ve got an announcement to make.] (Icarus)

-[Hi there.] (Penicillin)

-[???]

-[Who’s this out of nowhere?]

-[Just a passing user.] (Penicillin)

-[???]

-[Let’s cut to the chase.] (Icarus)

-[Straight up, I’m giving you guys docking rights at the base. Yep.] (Icarus)

-[Wait, what?]

-[Oooooh]

-[Ooooooooooh]

-[Oh, but there’s a fee. 3,000 minerals, 800 rare resources, and 200 gold per person per week.] (Icarus)

-[There’s a fee?]

-[But that’s fair, honestly.]

-[Considering the resource buffs you get after docking at the base, it’s still a good deal.]

-[Seems like a decent offer.]

-[Hahaha]

-[But can everyone dock?]

-[It’s level 5, so there’s plenty of space. A level 5 base is enough for a small to medium clan to use as their main base.] (Icarus)

-[Ooooooh, praise Icarus!]

—————————————–

After discussing with Jessica, I presented a “reasonable” price negotiation.

I made it clear that if they agreed to this, I’d allow them to dock at the base as much as they wanted.

And of course, whether they were clan members or just passing users, as long as they paid a small fee, they could naturally use the level 5 base.

They all seemed very positive, saying they’d gladly pay that price.

==========

But there was one thing I hadn’t considered…

The reason I invited that user “Penicillin” to the <Clan Chat Room> was to say, “Since you’re here and the conversation started, I’ll include you, but don’t go blabbing outside.”

But right after docking at the base, our Penicillin went ahead and…

-“This is awesome.”

“Yeah, it is.”

…left that comment and then, without a word to us, started spreading the info all over the forums.

—————————————–

Title: OMG, I docked at Icarus’s base

Author: Penicillin

Content: [Proof images of docking]

I was scouting around in my ship and happened to pass near Avalon.

There were a bunch of bases there.

So I thought, “Do they allow friendly neutral users to dock?” and snuck over.

Turns out, as long as you pay a reasonable fee, they let you dock at the base.

[Image of the clan members’ base from a distance.jpg]

So this is why clans are so desperate to take over bases!

Just docking at the base makes me feel so secure for some reason.

Comments

-[What?]

-[They’re selling docking rights for money?]

-˪[Not selling, just renting them out.] (Author)

-[How much are they charging?]

-˪[3,000 minerals, 800 rare resources, and 200 gold per person per week.] (Author)

-˪[Wait, they charge that much every day?]

-˪[No, it’s per week.]

-˪[Not exactly a steal, but at least they’re not outright extorting people.]

-˪[Yeah, it’s not bad.]

[It’s not like I worked hard to eat, but if you’re docking me at a level 5 base, isn’t that actually a good thing?]

-[Where is it? I’m on my way lololololol]

-[Wasn’t it about creating a clan?]

-[Seeing that they accept anyone, it seems like they have no intention of forming a clan] (Author)

-[I just got wrecked recently, so I’ll just hold on there]

—

Of course, the result of Pennycilin recklessly posting such a message.

-Poof! Boooom!

“Umm, Commander?”

“Hmm.”

“For some reason, bases of Commanders who aren’t affiliated with any major faction keep coming in.”

“Hmm.”

“Plus, communication requests keep coming in, all related to base docking inquiries or requests.”

“…They say it’s a war of all against all, but I didn’t know there were so many users tired of fighting.”

—

I couldn’t help but notice that the number of user bases piling up in front of me had already exceeded 50.

The number of bases keeps increasing, and I’m starting to lose my mind.

But those thoughts were fleeting.

As the number of users flocking in surpassed three digits, I decided to write a post on the gallery to block this insane influx of refugees (?).

Of course, the main reason is that it’s too much for me to manage…

—

Title: Stop Coming

Author: Icarus

Content: [Image of user bases nearing three digits.jpg]

No space left at the base.

I was expecting maybe 10 to 20 people at most, but if ten times that number shows up, how am I supposed to handle it?

—

Comments:

-[Lolololololololololololololololololol]

-[You’re the refugee management guy]

-[So how do I get in? Do I need to sell my story?]

-[Exactly that]

-[What do you mean by that?] (Author)

-[Lolololololololololololololololololol]

-[This guy didn’t want to form a clan, but look at all these kids flocking in]

-[Unintentional clan formation is a thumbs up]

-[A clan needs a clan leader]

-[Just go full Central Zone-style Goro On]

—

As you can see from the comments, there’s a risk that users might turn this situation into a ‘clan.’

I wanted to prevent the unintentional birth of ‘my clan’ early on, but…

Surprisingly, just a few minutes after posting on the gallery…

—

<Arcadia-Icarus>

-[Hey, Icarus?]

-[Yeah?] (Icarus)

-[I heard that neutral users keep coming to your fortress recently…]

-[Yeah, sure] (Icarus)

-[So, can our clan dock a user base there as a representative?]

-[…Huh?]

—

<Tiara-Icarus>

-[Long time no see, Icarus] (Tiara)

-[Oh, yeah] (Icarus)

-[Let me get straight to the point, can we request permission to dock one of our clan members at Avalon Fortress?] (Tiara)

-[…]

—

<Mash Potato-Icarus>

-[Hey hey, Loki Clan representative here] (Mash Potato)

-[What’s up with Loki?] (Icarus)

-[Since the other two clans are showing interest in your neutral village, we thought we’d throw our hat in the ring too~] (Mash Potato)

-[…Are you all colluding or something?] (Icarus)

-[Lololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololololol