Chapter 395

Chapter 395. Call me Icarus. (1)

After obtaining the Kraken and Hreðsvelgr, the flawless “Strategic Missile Teleport Close-Range Attack” strategy was completely blocked from the start. However, ironically, while Hreðsvelgr and other ships were tanking the enemy fleet’s surprise missile attacks, I finally got a glimpse of the enemy’s “special ship,” and I couldn’t help but be utterly amazed.

The reason being, not only was that blasted stealth battleship forcing Hreðsvelgr to act purely as an anti-aircraft ship, but the rest of the enemy fleet was also entirely focused on stealth and cloaking. Through the reconnaissance aircraft I had just deployed and Habarovsk’s appropriate analysis of their communications, one of the enemy’s special ships was revealed…

“It looks really peculiar.”

“Hmm… It’s quite intriguing why that thing is even there.”

Surprisingly, it was a massive space monster ship, similar in size to the fully grown Kraken No. 1. And the shape of this ship—no, this colossal monster—was, as Jessica said, truly unique.

While its overall appearance resembled the Kraken, it lacked the typical “giant tentacles” or “bio-cannons” one would expect from a monster ship. It also didn’t have the cave-like hangar that the Kraken used to spew out bio-aircraft. Instead, its hull was covered in long, thin appendages—like feelers or hairs—and at the rear, it had something resembling wings, though fewer in number than the Kraken’s four “teleport wings,” but twice as large.

It looked like a fusion of a tailless stingray and coral. Jessica, who openly called it strange, as well as the other NPCs in the command center and the superhumans connected via comms, all wore puzzled expressions. However, Oxianor, who was born a monster, looked incredibly intrigued.

-“Impressive. That’s something you wouldn’t even see commonly in our ‘nests.'”

-“Really?”

-“Absolutely. It’s so hard to create that even large monster fleets rarely include one.”

-“It’s definitely a rare ship.”

As I nodded in agreement, Jessica poked my side, urging me to explain. I grabbed her rabbit ears and gave her a crisp answer.

“That’s an Area Stealth Detection Monster, something you’d only occasionally see in the main force of a monster fleet.”

-“So, it’s similar to our Habarovsk?”

-“Exactly.”

Seeing Jessica’s understanding, I nodded and continued.

“Well, its firepower is underwhelming for its size, and its mobility is trash, but…”

-“Huh?”

-“It has the monster’s signature overwhelming frontal defense, and oddly enough, even its sides and rear are armored better than most battleships.”

-“Really?”

-“Plus, since it’s so rare, it can detect stealth and cloaking over a much wider range than our Habarovsk…”

-“And?”

-“Though I haven’t seen it in detail, it can even block teleportation around it.”

-“Whoa.”

Incidentally, it also buffs the hit rate and evasion of guided weapons like missiles fired by other ships, which is why the interception battle between Hreðsvelgr and its fleet has become evenly matched, despite what should have been an overwhelming advantage.

Jessica finally understood why I had been focusing Hreðsvelgr solely on anti-air defense and nodded. Then, with a hopeful tone, she blurted out:

-“But since something like that has appeared, does that mean you can capture it and add it to our forces?”

For a moment, I felt unfairly treated, as if I were some kind of plunderer… but then I realized Jessica’s reaction was only natural. After a brief moment of contemplation (5 seconds), I shook my head side to side and explained it was impossible.

-“Sadly, that’s a ship players can’t use. To be precise, only NPCs can use it, and players can only access it through mods.”

-“Huh?”

-“According to the lore, if it’s about to be captured by non-monster entities, it self-destructs.”

To be exact, it’s a ship that only NPCs can use, and it has never been given to players. Seeing Jessica’s doubtful expression, I decided to boost my credibility by pulling up information on the “Anatoria-Class” from the gallery.

—————————————–

Title: Has anyone seen the Anatoria-Class monster ship? Can it be captured?

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [The “Anatoria-Class” is different from other monster ships…]

Moving under escort.jpg]

It looks ridiculously huge and tempting, but if I eat it, will I become a dignified, ultra-large battleship owner?

Comments

-[That user can’t eat it]

-[If the user tries to eat it, it self-destructs]

-˪[Wow, really?](Author)

-˪[Yeah]

-[Wow, since that update, no user has ever used it even once]

-[Found a legendary Pokémon, congrats]

-[If you go and say “Thank you, Thumbs-up Porcupine,” your luck will improve]

—————————————–

And upon realizing that my words were true, Jessica nodded in amazement, saying there’s something incredible about everything.

But unlike the Anatoria-Class, which was easily resolved as a “ship I know”…

“Then, Commander, what on earth is that ship behind you?”

“…Good question?”

Another special ship detected by Habarovsk had a peculiar structure attached to the Anatoria-Class, connected by glowing energy chains.

At the front, it had a massive ‘anchor’ or ‘harpoon’ similar to what was attached to the Anatoria-Class, resembling a large artillery ship…

The problem was, no one could tell just by looking what kind of ship it was.

‘What the hell is that rootless structure?’

In a sci-fi world where particle beams and optical beams are fired from long distances, suddenly there’s something like a whaling ship shooting harpoons?

I immediately clicked on the gallery’s wiki tab I had opened earlier, intrigued by the bizarre and rootless appearance of the ship.

After searching for terms related to ‘harpoon,’ I finally figured out what the ship was.

But once I knew the ship’s identity…

—————————————–

Title: Anchorage-Class Forced Salvage Ship Explanation.txt

Author: Wiki Officer mk-22

Content: [Anchorage-Class Best Angle Setup Image.jpg]

It’s infamous for its rootless design and settings, and since it came out when the game was dying, not many people know about this unfortunate ship.

But once you get it, it’s super fun, showing off three-dimensional maneuvers and unfair tactics. What is this thing?

There’s a ‘huge’ anchor-like thing at the front, with some kind of energy chain attached to it, and it shoots…

Harpoons, yeah.

Frankly, it’s like a whaling ship, similar to the Kraken, able to teleport and randomly harpoon other ships.

The problem is, it’s ridiculously simple in terms of physical size…

Actually, it’s not teleportation but creating a small wormhole to shoot the harpoon.

When it harpoons an enemy ship and pulls, the ship follows the wormhole, getting crushed as it goes…

Like a crab getting sucked into a damaged undersea gas pipeline and crushed.

The issue is, the wormhole’s suction + anchor-harpoon pulling power is just insanely strong…

Once caught, any ship below ‘battleship’ class is instantly cut.

Salvage or not, once caught, you’re dragged until the anchor is destroyed…

Even if you try to resist, the hull folds, so there’s no answer.

Of course, if it’s a larger ship, it might get pulled instead…

But in that case, just release the anchor, no problem.

Accuracy is trash, though.

Comments

-[So it’s just a whaling ship?]

-[A huge harpoon, must deal insane damage!]

-˪[What damage?]

-[From the victim’s perspective, it feels super unfair, but the accuracy issue stresses out the user too lol]

-[“What the hell, where do I use this grab?!!”]

-˪[LOL]

—————————————–

‘A trolling ship, huh.’

I felt a bizarre sense of amusement at the rootless combat style, matching its rootless appearance.

But that was short-lived.

After closing the gallery wiki tab and turning my gaze back to the screen…

Seeing the Anatoria-Class, which shouldn’t be here, and the Anchorage-Class, which always has one of its three harpoons stuck in such a massive monster…

‘Ah, this is a gimmick destruction.’

This round involves removing the Anchorage-Class’s ‘harpoon’ from the Anatoria-Class, freeing the captured Anatoria…

Then, using the now ‘friendly neutral’ Anatoria to destroy the large stealth fleet, realizing it’s a gimmick-based battle.