Chapter 359

Chapter 359. The Name of Your Ship. (1)

Meanwhile, our protagonist was briefly feeling the chaos of becoming the owner of the ‘Icarus Triangle Zone.’

Around that time, as the appropriate resources had finally gathered, the construction of the ridiculously expensive 9th-tier auxiliary building, the <Special Defense Facility>, was underway.

Somehow, within the territory of the ‘Space Monster,’ which was incredibly peaceful compared to other factions’ areas…

There was a clan called ‘Corruption,’ completely unrelated to Biomass or Justice, who were holding the position of the 2nd Emperor in the monster’s territory.

Well, in terms of scale, it was just an ordinary small-to-medium-sized clan, and they didn’t really fight with the surrounding clans.

The perception of the Corruption Clan among nearby users was, to put it bluntly, on par with blue mold growing somewhere in a bathroom (?).

To be precise, it was more like they had a presence that seemed to exist but also didn’t.

But how could such a small, seemingly insignificant clan maintain neutrality without being part of the so-called ‘Biomass Alliance’ or ‘Justice Alliance’?

The reason was…

—

<Corruption Clan Official Chatroom (For Executives)>

<Notice: Share information immediately!>

– [Everyone, good job. I think we can consider this request a success.]

– [ㅅㄱㅇ]

– [Good work, Minna.]

– [Squeeeeak]

– [It was decent, yeah.]

—

The purpose of this clan was not simply to fight other user clans.

It was a kind of ‘information guild’ that gathered information from various clans and users and delivered it to clients.

Of course, compared to the top-tier ‘Loki Clan’ in this field, there was still a significant gap in skill.

But for Biomass or Justice, who couldn’t use the Loki Clan as an option…

And for other clans and users, the Corruption Clan was a cheap and reliable source of information.

Thanks to this, not only in the monster’s territory but also in nearby Xenobia, the Pirate Alliance, and even the Central Zone, users and clans occasionally used their services, allowing them to establish their position.

In other words, they were carving out a niche as a kind of small but strong enterprise.

But why is this story suddenly coming up now?

—

<Corruption Clan Official Chatroom (For Executives)>

<Notice: Share information immediately!>

– [What’s the next request?]

– [It’s to find out the identity of the ship belonging to Icarus, who’s ranked 3rd.]

– [???]

– [What does that mean?]

– [The request says that during the last mini-event, the points Icarus used for the ship didn’t quite match up.]

– [They think Icarus has some kind of unique ship and want us to find out what it is.]

– [Hmm]

– [A unique ship? Maybe they just didn’t look hard enough?]

– [It might be a ship with invisibility cloaking and stealth functions, which is why they made the request.]

– [Oh, if they got hit by something like that, I can see why they’d be pissed.]

– [It’s even a multi-request. Seems like a lot of people are curious.]

– [Ooooh]

– [If we do well, we might get stacked rewards.]

—

That’s right.

Some clans and users had found out about the existence of Icarus’s ‘Nerañzara-class Aetheric Submarine,’ which had been kept hidden until now.

It was those people who had put in requests to uncover Icarus’s secret ship.

Moreover, as mentioned earlier, multiple requests had been stacked for the same goal.

—

<Corruption Clan Official Chatroom (For Executives)>

<Notice: Share information immediately!>

– [If we do well on this request, we might be able to use a new base as our headquarters.]

– [Is there even a base available?]

– [Yeah, the Ant Clan put up their 3rd-level base, Phalanx, for sale.]

– [If we combine the gold we’ve saved up with what we’ll earn from this request, we should barely be able to afford it.]

– [Nice.]

—

Suddenly, our Icarus found themselves in a position where they had to deal with a clan that not only specialized in information gathering but was also highly motivated.

—

Of course, Icarus wasn’t unprepared for this kind of “counter-espionage.” With numerous troops patrolling inside and the “Nest of Life” spreading its neural network in all directions, any unauthorized personnel trying to infiltrate the base would be subdued in an instant. They would then be chosen as test subjects for Professor Gryanarr’s 72-hour continuous bio-experiments.

At the moment, Gryanarr, Oxianor, and other superhumans didn’t bother reporting every little thing to Icarus. But surprisingly, there were quite a few spies, intelligence agents, and even superhumans sneaking in. Thanks to this, among the clans and users who mainly focused on information gathering, Icarus’s counter-espionage capabilities were considered highly threatening.

However, despite this, the Corruption Clan believed they could gather information on Icarus’s “secret ship.” The reason was that the Corruption Clan’s “information gathering methods” were quite bizarre, especially since they were chosen by users who favored the Monster Force.

But what exactly was it? Well…

—

**<Corruption Clan Official Chatroom (For Executives)>**

**<Notice: Share information immediately!>**

– [How are the infiltration parasites coming along?]

– [The sub-clan leader made them too big, so it’s hard to carry them around.]

– [Lol, my bad! Haha!]

– [Don’t we have any mini ones left?]

– [Last time, we released them at the Loki Clan branch, and they all burned up.]

– [We tried attaching tentacles and other things to a B-grade superhuman to make it move like a nest, but can we deploy this?]

– [It’s too obvious.]

– [Let’s release bugs. Bugs exist everywhere.]

– [We should use flies. You’re using cockroaches.]

– [Cockroaches are just cooler.]

– [Seriously, man.]

– [Respect preferences, lol.]

—

Yes, that’s right. Just like there are unique methods everywhere, the Corruption Clan’s “information gathering method” involved using “bugs” that are commonly found in any base. It was a system that naturally collected internal information without raising any suspicion. Of course, if they were caught, things would get awkward, but considering how well the Corruption Clan has been operating, they’ve never been caught before.

This time, they were planning to infiltrate Icarus’s “base” with the mindset of “As long as we don’t get caught, it’s fine.” However, as mentioned earlier, their favorite “mini parasites” were still in cultivation and couldn’t be used yet. They also didn’t have any parasitic superhumans ready to be used as human bombs—or rather, human bug bombs.

—

**<Corruption Clan Official Chatroom (For Executives)>**

**<Notice: Share information immediately!>**

– [We have no choice but to go ourselves this time.]

– [Ugh, seriously?]

– [What can we do? If we complete this request, we’ll become respectable base owners too.]

– [True.]

– [Anyone volunteering? If not, we’ll draw lots.]

– [I’ll go.] (Sub-Clan Leader)

– [Oh, you’re going yourself?]

– [The sub-clan leader is going personally?]

– [Yeah.] (Sub-Clan Leader)

– [Since there’s nothing left but mine, I have to go.] (Sub-Clan Leader)

– [Ughhh.]

—

They planned to use their “system invincibility” feature to release “bugs” inside the base, creating an undetectable spy network.

—

At the same time, while the Corruption Clan’s bizarre information-gathering conspiracy was underway, our Icarus was struggling with how to handle the rapidly increasing number of “neutral” users in the triangular zone.