Chapter 335

Chapter 335. Gahhhhhhh! (1)

Anyway, no matter what chaos was happening in the gallery, there was no way for me to know right now.

While I was watching the gallery, I was busy planning a proper battle strategy with Arcadia, who had been managing the fleet alone.

Of course, neither of us were ordinary users, and since we were both top-ranked players sitting at 3rd and 4th place respectively.

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<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[How many of your ships got wrecked?] (Icarus)

-[Aside from the three destroyers escorting the cruiser battleship that got blown away by flamethrower splash damage, no other issues.] (Arcadia)

-[Good.] (Icarus)

-[I’ll make a feint charge with the fleet and poke at them.]

-[Icarus, you go around and hit them from the rear.] (Arcadia)

-[Sounds good. Oh, by the way, one of my cruiser battleships is immobile, so I’ll just park it somewhere and use it as a turret.] (Icarus)

-[If you don’t have enough ships to tow it, I’ll lend you three of my destroyers.]

-[Anyway, for this poking strategy, five cruiser battleships are more important than destroyers.] (Arcadia)

-[*Sob* Thanks.] (Icarus)

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After quickly assessing the damage and smoothly laying out the future battle plan,

I decided to get a clearer picture of the situation with the NPC fleet, which included that damn Ouroboros.

To avoid getting hit by that ridiculous concentrated fire, I kept the fleet moving and periodically communicated with the patrol ships sent ahead for reconnaissance.

You might ask, “What about the patrol ship that just took pictures?”

Unfortunately, that patrol ship was too busy taking pictures of Ouroboros and didn’t properly check the fleet’s formation.

Because of that, I couldn’t fully grasp how large the NPC fleet was at the moment.

And about 10 minutes later…

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<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[Icarus.]

-[The 3rd patrol ship sent back the exact fleet formation.] (Arcadia)

-[Oh.] (Icarus)

-[Sending it to you now.]

-[<Full NPC Fleet Formation Image.jpg>] (Arcadia)

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Through the image Arcadia sent, I could roughly gauge the strength of the so-called “Ouroboros Fleet.”

But when I saw the formation, I couldn’t help but let out a sigh…

“Heh, we’re screwed.”

“What’s wrong, Commander?”

“One battleship, five warships, and about 20 heavy cruisers.”

“Oof.”

“Even excluding the scout patrol ships, they’re easily worth 850 points by our standards.”

While the two of us combined were only at 400 points,

they were literally at 1,000 points—2.5 times our strength.

Not to mention, their large ships alone were worth 850 points.

And at this point, I realized that their battleship seemed to be designed with the point value of my Nerañzara-class in mind.

Anyway, after assessing the situation, I decided to fully support Arcadia’s plan, thinking this round would be tough.

And through that plan, I also harbored the ambition to NTR that Ouroboros who wrecked my precious cruiser battleships.

==========

A short while later.

Perhaps because we had thrown all our reconnaissance forces into avoiding getting sniped by Ouroboros after locating the fleet,

-“Reporting in, no movement has been detected from the enemy fleet.”

“Hmm, nice.”

The NPC fleet, unable to locate our fleet after the initial snipe, remained in standby at their original position.

Accordingly, using the surrounding “wreckage” to move as stealthily as possible, Arcadia and I brought our fleets as close as possible to the enemy fleet.

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<Event-exclusive Chat Window>

-[I’ll make the first attack.]

-[If I draw their attention with a surprise attack, you can charge in as planned.] (Icarus)

-[Got it.] (Arcadia)

-[And after you charge in and hit-and-run, I’ll bring the entire fleet to gang up on Ouroboros.] (Icarus)

-[Understood. Good luck.] (Arcadia)

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Following the original plan, Arcadia and I began launching an offensive against the NPC fleet.

Of course, the “first strike” mentioned above was, naturally, the spatial torpedoes launched by our Nerañzara while submerged and advancing.

Due to the nature of spatial torpedoes, which emerge from subspace just seconds before impact, by the time the NPC fleet detected the torpedoes…

– **BOOM! BANG! KABOOM!**

– “All torpedoes hit!”

Before they could even react, the 14 spatial torpedoes launched by Nerañzara simultaneously collided with the ships, causing massive explosions.

Naturally, in response to my attack, the enemy fleet attempted counterfire in the direction the torpedoes came from, adjusting their defensive formation.

Of course, given the scale of the attack, not all ships were focused solely on this direction.

But the moment even a fraction of their forces shifted toward the direction Nerañzara was targeting…

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**<Event-Only Chat Window>**

– [Now’s the time]

– [Go go go go go go] (Icarus)

– [Confirmed] (Arcadia)

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Targeting the “relatively weakened” defensive line, Arcadia’s fleet began charging at full speed through the debris.

Of course, even at full speed, I thought fleet speeds were all pretty much the same…

I had Nerañzara fire another 14 spatial torpedoes at Ouroboros to draw aggro and spread their focus.

But the speed of Arcadia’s fleet, led by the flagship Hood-class cruiser battleship, was more than twice what I had anticipated.

Before Ouroboros could even take aim at them, Arcadia’s cruiser battleships were already in close range, exchanging fire with the enemy fleet.

Of course, Arcadia’s plan was always a “hit-and-run.”

Just before the cruiser battleships, cruisers, and destroyers collided with the enemy fleet…

They unleashed all their firepower in a concentrated barrage, then immediately reversed and retreated.

By the time the enemy fleet’s front line was hit by the destroyers’ torpedoes…

“Wow.”

“That actually worked.”

The cruiser battleships, while reversing, expertly used their thrusters to perform a 180-degree turn on the spot.

Then, they accelerated again, firing their main guns and suppressing the enemy fleet’s battleships and heavy cruisers with overwhelming firepower.

Watching this high-mobility tactic, which I had never tried or even considered, I understood why the Justice Clan, led by Arcadia, valued maneuverability so much.

Of course, with all the sudden stops, rapid acceleration, and sharp turns, the fleet’s accuracy was absolutely abysmal.

“Commander, that looks cool, but… they’re hardly hitting anything.”

“Hmm.”

Given that the firing radar didn’t even have time to align the cannons properly, they were just firing wildly at whatever they saw.

Out of 100 shots, 90 were probably just heading off into the distant void of space.

But hey, the important thing was that *some* hits were landing amidst that relentless barrage.

While particle beams and railguns might miss, the missiles still had their guidance systems intact.

Unlike what we were feeling while watching, the enemy fleet must have been in complete chaos.

And along with that…

“Commander, Ouroboros is turning toward Arcadia’s fleet!”

“Finally.”

Even though they couldn’t fire because their own ships were in the way, it seemed they only saw Arcadia as the enemy.

As soon as I received the info that Ouroboros had fully turned its hull toward Arcadia…

By the time Arcadia was starting their third charge…

“All fleets, charge! Target: Ouroboros-class!”

– “Understood, Commander!”

– *SCREEEECH!*

This time, I also mobilized all available forces, except for the cruiser battleship No. 2, which was being towed by three of Arcadia’s destroyers due to engine damage.

I began a deep dive toward the enemy fleet at full speed.