Chapter 140

Chapter 140. Since the mission is complete, I should get my reward, right? (4)

Of course, as I mentioned before, nothing in the world is “universal.”

Let’s look at another Wiki tab post. It contained a “real user review” of my one-millionth Kraken-class performance…

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Title: Kraken-Class Actual User Review.txt

Author: ㅇㅇ

Content: [A screenshot of the Kraken-class with various fleets nearby]

Of course, this is just a screenshot from when this was still a game.

Honestly, it’s versatile, but when you actually use it, there are bound to be some disappointing aspects.

Because, after all, it’s an assault combat “aircraft carrier,” and among the monster force ships, it’s one of the very few long-range ships.

It doesn’t rely on monster-style firepower but instead uses a large number of aircraft and missiles for sub-DPS.

But if you look at the settings, you’ll see it has dozens of close-combat tentacles, right?

Seriously, when you actually use it, you’ll want to rip out all but about ten of those tentacles and stuff hangars or bio-silos in there instead.

In small-scale fleet battles, it’s ridiculously strong, dealing damage whether it’s ranged or melee.

But in large-scale fleet battles? Compared to proper long-range artillery ships or aircraft carriers, its firepower and number of aircraft fall short.

No joke, its firepower excluding aircraft and missiles is on par with an Overseer, a bombardment-type “heavy cruiser” three tiers below it.

And then you think you’ll use those tentacles for close combat?

Then users or NPCs will come loaded with torpedoes and skewer it, or the frontlines of the large fleet will aggro and focus fire on it.

And this is something every user who uses monster fleets knows:

These massive monster ships can’t be repaired by the user at will.

Especially if they’re heavily damaged?

You just have to leave them alone until they recover on their own.

Well, if you throw resources and nutrients at the monster, it might recover a bit faster.

But if its mouth is destroyed, you’re out of luck. You’ll have to leave it in your base and pray for natural recovery, lol.

Or you can send it back to the monster’s main base with a ton of resources, and they’ll fix it up somehow.

But the resources required are no joke—it’s like building a whole new battleship. So you’ll probably be really conflicted when you actually use it.

But still, I love this insane hexagonal ship!

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Comments:

– [This guy is actually a high-level ship elitist.]

– [Isn’t this just a roast? Why does it have so many upvotes?]

– [Well, think about it differently. For an aircraft carrier, it deals the same damage as an SSS-tier “firepower-type” heavy cruiser, and in close combat, it’s nearly impossible to sink unless it’s a large fleet or torpedo spam.]

– [And aside from this being high-level viral marketing, the most important thing wasn’t mentioned.]

– [The Kraken’s best feature is that it can instantly teleport aircraft and missiles right in front of, above, or behind enemy fleets for a surprise attack.]

– [There’s a video on YouTube from when this game was popular, where someone used the Kraken’s teleport function to land dozens of torpedoes on the rear of an enemy battleship fleet, crippling them.]

– [Wow.]

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“Wow.”

Reading this review full of user experience, I looked outside the command center again.

The majestic figure of the Kraken made me understand why those “Baebak” guys occasionally pop up.

But if I just leave it out there like this, it won’t even have the protection of the base shield.

And if that happens, it could fall victim to the torpedo terror tactics some trolls use, where they use small, fast ships to attack large ships outside the base.

So I decided to take that big, precious Kraken-class and move it inside the docking facilities.

But, as you can tell from the fact that we’re not talking about other pirates right now,

Marian’s hundreds of thousands of pirate fleets have all returned home.

So the area around our base is, quite literally, an “empty house.”

“Commander! A detachment fleet from the Xenobia Empire has appeared in the resource zone!”

“What’s the scale?”

“3 light cruisers, 10 destroyers, and 5 escort ships!”

“Hmm, the timing is quite appropriate.”

With Marian’s fleets all gone and our fleet still in the middle of reorganization,

A detachment fleet from the Xenobia Empire—or rather, space pirate raiders disguised as such—has appeared.

And they’re the typical “resource plunder” pirates we haven’t seen in a while.

“Heh, coming in right after we left… pretty bold of them.”

“Indeed.”

“Oppa, I’ll call some of my lackeys to take care of them.”

Of course, Marian, seeing these “raiders,” immediately turned some of her returning subordinates around to deal with them.

But…

“Oh? Are they coming? Or running away?”

“Are you really approaching this Kraken without hesitation?”

“What do you mean by that, Commander?”

“First of all, Marian, I don’t think we need to call your fleets, so just leave them be.”

“Bro, what are you planning to do?”

I wasn’t generally into large-scale battles that could lead to explosive leveling.

At this point, I was inwardly satisfied with the fact that a small-scale battle with a pirate group was on the horizon.

After all, what is the current situation?

It’s not like the enemy fleet is ‘too’ large, preventing our fleet from holding out before the Kraken-class can even show its capabilities.

Nor is it a battle with a major faction, where the Kraken-class can’t move due to concerns about enemy reinforcements or flanking maneuvers.

This is just a mission to eliminate a small pirate group with no reinforcements in sight.

It’s literally the optimal condition for my Kraken to shine, as mentioned in those ‘user reviews(?)’.

“Jessica, how many ships can we mobilize right now?”

“Just a moment… We have 3 heavy cruisers, including the Overseer, and 2 destroyers that returned to base due to damage from fighting wild monsters last time.”

Jessica mentioned that the rest of the ships were dispatched for ‘Resource Zone defense,’ which immediately made me ponder.

But soon, I realized there was no need to overthink it since the Kraken would handle everything anyway.

I stood up immediately and ordered Jessica to reorganize the fleet.

“Alright, then assign one heavy cruiser and two destroyers to that Kraken over there as a single fleet.”

“Got it. Who will be the commander?”

In response to Jessica’s question, a ‘small-scale auto-battle’ commander selection window popped up.

But I swiped it away and confidently declared, “This time, I’ll take control myself! It’s also a live test for the Kraken!”

“…Commander, you’re taking the field yourself?”

“Bro, you’re personally joining the battle? I’m looking forward to it!”

==========

Meanwhile, at the same time Icarus was organizing a mixed fleet for the first sortie of the big-ass ship Kraken.

“Captain, there’s a mining ship fleeing over there.”

“Leave it. Just salvaging what’s left will fill our cargo hold to the brim.”

Coltar, the leader of the Xenobia Empire’s pirate group ‘Blue Fang,’ who had come to plunder Icarus’s 6th Resource Zone, suddenly felt an eerie sense of foreboding.

“Hmm?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I just have a bad feeling. Any updates from the guys monitoring the surroundings?”

“None so far…”

Of course, Coltar had no idea what was causing this unease.

“Hmm, really?”

“Maybe it’s just because they’re so defenseless, with no proper defense fleet or facilities?”

“I think so too, Captain.”

After hearing his crew’s words, Coltar nodded, thinking it made sense, and shook his head to shake off the lingering unease.

But not long after…

“Shit, Captain! We’ve got a huge problem!”

“What?”

“There’s a massive ship up ahead, with a bunch of smaller ones, heading straight for us!”

“Damn it.”

Regretting not trusting his gut, Coltar immediately ordered all ships to prepare for battle.

Of course, this was just a precaution in case things got too dangerous, allowing them to flee.

“Wait, how many escort ships are we talking about when you say ‘a bunch’?”

“Well… less than 10!”

“…Damn it, we’re already surrounded.”

Realizing the situation, Coltar understood that for him and his pirate group to survive, ‘escape’ wasn’t the option.

Their best bet was to either destroy or evade the mysterious giant ship and its escort fleet coming straight at them.

Of course, Coltar assumed the ‘massive ship’ was at most a cruiser or battleship, so he thought they could break through the enemy’s firepower and escape.

But as soon as the pirate ships, busy plundering, left the resource mining area and entered space…

“Wha—?!”

“What the hell is that?!”

They were met with an overwhelming sense of despair as they faced a ‘super-massive ship’ far beyond their expectations.