Chapter 426

Episode 426. The Central Zone is always chaotic. (2)

Meanwhile, at the very moment our Icarus was contemplating whether to “take over the base” or not, busy sightseeing the Leviathan tourists…

Rewinding time a bit, back when Icarus was lost in thought, zoning out…

In the ‘Central Zone,’ where over 100,000 users, including Icarus, were stationed, an unexpected storm of blood was brewing.

The cause of this storm? None other than the Leviathan Fleet, which had fled and blocked the gates of ‘Petrograd,’ rendering them unusable.

—————————————–

<Humanity Official Chat Room>

– [When will Petrograd be fixed?]

– [Probably at least 2 more days.]

– [Ah, crap, my base might be in danger.]

– [Can’t it be done faster?]

– [What can we do? We’re not technicians.]

– [True that.]

—————————————–

As a result, users who had participated in Humanity’s coup as external mercenaries and were returning late found themselves stuck in Petrograd.

With the gates that allowed quick and easy movement back to their bases unusable, 10,000 users who couldn’t return had to choose between two options…

“Should we just sail back to the base and use emergency warp? Or wait a bit and take the gate for a comfortable return?”

“That’s the question… though the balance seems off, no?”

“Agreed.”

“We did the mercenary work, so let’s wait here until Humanity pays us.”

“I’ll head back first; others might stab us in the back.”

“Bye-bye.”

About 20% of the users decided to go back on their own.

The remaining 80% chose to wait until Petrograd was repaired and move as a group.

Of course, from their perspective, this wasn’t a bad idea.

There was a risk that fleets returning separately to their bases could be ambushed by other ‘intact’ users.

The idea of moving in a large group to prevent potential ambushes was understandable for Central Zone users.

However, what their collective intelligence failed to anticipate was that the number of ‘enemies’ targeting their bases was far greater than expected…

—————————————–

<Anonymous Global Chat Room>

<Let's all use polite language and maintain etiquette.>

– [Wait, why the hell is my base exploding?]

– [LOLOLOLOL]

– [Whaaaat?]

– [Wait, all the bases in the Central Zone are getting wrecked.]

– [You bastards, stop it.]

– [LOLOLOLOL]

– [LOL]

– [Your fleet’s gone, right? It’s already over, right?]

– [Another hilarious event just popped off.]

—————————————–

While the mercenary users’ fleets, who had participated in Humanity’s Earth Federation coup—or revolution—were unable to return…

Other users, who had accumulated grievances against each other, launched simultaneous attacks on each other’s bases.

In the process, most regular users who weren’t docked at ‘bases’ ended up having their bases destroyed…

Panicked by the sudden situation, users with remaining ’emergency warp’ uses hurriedly returned to their bases.

But the rest were left scrambling, either trying to return via ‘normal travel’ or just flailing around.

Of course, even if they tried to return via normal travel now, there was no way to avoid their bases being destroyed before they could get back…

==========

And now, as all this unfolds…

—————————————–

Title: Breaking News) Large-scale battles erupt in the Central Zone

Author: News Boy

Content: [Image of at least 5 user fleets mixed together attacking a base.jpg]

Currently, a civil war involving at least 20,000 users is raging across the entire Central Zone.

The reason? With the gates of Petrograd blocked, mercenary users’ fleets are stuck, and other users who had grudges against them are either looting or outright destroying their bases.

In retaliation, the mercenary users are launching large-scale offensives.

And with users whose bases were destroyed becoming refugees, they’re now sweeping through other user bases in revenge.

More detailed information will be added as further reporting continues.

Comments:

– [Wow, how long has it been since the last war ended, and now this?]

-[Every day is filled with dopamine, huh?]

-[LOLOLOL]

-[Refugees who lost their homes turn into rioters… Hmm]

-[Ah, ah ah]

—————————————–

“What a mess.”

“It’s a mess indeed.”

While I was happily lost in my delusions, I suddenly saw a post about the ‘Central Zone Civil War’ popping up in the gallery.

As expected, the Central Zone, full of trust and reliability, was once again witnessing the struggle of all against all, and I couldn’t help but shake my head.

The problem was, while their actions might have been justified as rightful revenge at first, most users, including myself, just watched from the sidelines.

But as time went on, it felt less like they were seeking “revenge” and more like… well.

It felt like the old ‘raider’ style from the days when there were only collective villages, but on a much larger scale.

—————————————–

**Title: Real-time Central Zone Status.txt**

**Author: ㅇㅇ**

**Content:** [Burning ships and exploding bases.jpg], [Users apologizing in the chatroom.jpg]

It seems like half the users who were wrecking bases for revenge ended up getting compensation from the other side and rebuilding their bases.

The problem is the other half, who decided to just go full raider mode, ignoring compensation and looting everything.

And since these raiders were originally mercenaries, they’re better leveled than regular users.

Their ships and superhumans are also stronger, given their mercenary background.

So, other users who were just minding their own business are getting looted left and right, or their bases are getting destroyed.

Some are even joining the raiders themselves.

And since there are quite a few users turning into raiders, even level 2 bases with defense fleets are getting wrecked.

Total chaos, man.

**Comments:**

-[For real, it’s a mess.]

-[Holy crap, this is insane.]

-[Level 2 bases are getting looted?]

-[Don’t they have 5 guard fleets and 10 combat fleets there?]

-[The raiders are coming in groups of at least 30-40 people.] (Author)

-[At that point, isn’t that just a clan? LOL]

-[They scatter after looting, so the victims don’t even bother chasing them.]

—————————————–

**Title: These raider punks just hit level 3 LOLOLOL**

**Author: ㅇㅇ**

**Content:** [A level 3 base ‘Schutenberg’ being captured by a user.jpg], [A massive crowd of users gathered near ‘Schutenberg’.jpg]

It was a small 10-person clan that was sharing the area with other users.

Then about 100 people showed up, wrecked the users’ bases and defense fleets, and took over the place LOL.

These guys are legit raiders.

**Comments:**

-[The clan that was barely holding the base is crying.]

-[Wait, they took a level 3 base?]

-[That’s not easy.]

-[Doesn’t that mean higher-level bases are at risk too?]

-[Not really.] (Author)

-[Oh, okay.]

—————————————–

Of course, no matter how much they loot and pillage.

From level 4 onwards, you need at least triple-digit numbers of users, and for level 5 and above, you’re talking thousands.

—————————————–

**<Tana-Aba Triangle Official Chatroom>**

**<Notice: Be careful, the raiders are going wild>**

-[I heard the raiders are going crazy these days.]

-[Well, they can’t really touch level 4 and above, right?]

-[If they come here, Icarus will just bring his million-strong army and wipe them out, how are they gonna handle that LOL.]

-[LOL, true.]

-[Plus, there are tons of mercenary users here too, so messing with us would be suicide, right?]

-[For real.]

—————————————–

As for the triangle zone I’m in.

As long as the users controlling level 4 and above bases aren’t directly threatened.

We’re just watching the raiders(?) like they’re nothing.