Chapter 215

Episode 215. Protect Each Other From Now On (2)

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“It’s been a while since we last met, and I don’t want to spend even a week without you, oppa!”

“Oh my.”

“Oh.”

For a moment, I felt a mix of complex emotions as she barged in without hesitation.

Seeing Marian suddenly whining to be taken along, I naturally felt suspicion more than embarrassment or any other emotion.

‘Wait, taking Marian along? Is that even possible?’

As shown in the event notice, it clearly states that ‘mercenary groups’ and ‘faction fleets’ cannot participate in this event.

So, can Marian, who is essentially the leader of a faction fleet, really follow us?

But the answer to my doubts was fed to me by Jessica, who was standing beside me.

“Commander, aren’t you planning to take Marian with you?”

“It’s not that. The issue is whether Marian, as the leader of a faction, can follow us.”

“Does it matter? The event only restricts ‘fleets’ and ‘mercenary groups,’ but ‘superhumans’ are allowed, right?”

“…Hmm!”

Now that I think about it, that’s true. So, Marian, if you want to come, you’ll have to come alone.

I casually tested the waters by asking if she’d be okay without her flagship.

“It’s fine! The flagship will be managed by the others who came with me, so no worries!”

“Oh.”

Marian’s attitude of abandoning the battleship, which was supposedly a captured and modified ship from some clan in the Earth Federation, and going alone made me nod.

I then added the sparkling ‘Marian’ to my fleet’s superhuman roster.

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<Event Participation Request for 'Capital of the Ancient Empire'>

<Do you wish to participate in this event?>

<*Warning!* Once you participate, you cannot return to the original map until you achieve final victory or defeat.>

<Y/N>

<Current Fleet Status: Status Table Folded>

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I pressed ‘Y’ on the sparkling ‘Event Participation Message’ in front of me to apply for the event.

And right after I pressed the button…

-“Commander, a massive wormhole has appeared in front of the base!”

“Wow, so this is how it is.”

“It’s incredibly huge.”

A massive black hole appeared, large enough to swallow the entire base.

“Alright, let’s go!”

“Yep.”

I led all the ships waiting at the base, boarded the Hreðsvelg with Jessica, and headed straight into that deep, dark hole.

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And as we moved through the wormhole to the ‘Capital of the Ancient Empire,’

While my fleet, with the Kraken at the forefront, was finalizing its combat readiness,

Jessica and I were discussing the upcoming situation on the bridge of the Hreðsvelg.

“How many Commanders do you think will participate in this event?”

“Hard to say, but given the invincibility protection, I think most users will join.”

Users who don’t participate would either be ‘eccentric’ or engaged in a life-or-death battle between clans.

As I thought about exiting the wormhole, I felt a growing anticipation, imagining the spectacle of hundreds of thousands of users bringing millions of ships of all kinds.

But regardless of that, I had no intention of letting my full strength be exposed.

“Tell Nerañzara to submerge into subspace as soon as we exit the wormhole and wait.”

-“Understood, Commander.”

Unlike the others, the ‘Nerañzara-class’ could be hidden effectively.

Despite my excitement to see such an insane scale of a massive fleet…

“The fleet is about to exit the wormhole!”

“Oh.”

Right after the NPC on the bridge reported, my fleet emerged from the wormhole with a bright flash.

Contrary to expectations, the scene wasn’t as crowded with ships as I had imagined.

“Quite a lot.”

“Indeed, quite a lot.”

Of course, the scale I had imagined was probably just my own delusion.

———————————-

<Current participants 10/10>

<Preparing for battle...>

—————————————-

The fleet of about 1,000 ships that was here when our fleet appeared ironically fit into our field of vision, giving us an overwhelming sense of pressure.

Unlike the last time with the Unity Clan, which had only 408 ships and just 10 large ships exceeding heavy cruisers.

Perhaps because other users, excluding me, brought their own cruiser battleships or light aircraft carrier-class large ships.

Even at a glance, there are over 50 ships above cruiser battleships, including Jessica and me.

Even our superhumans, connected for fleet command and future battle reports, were all visibly bewildered.

-“Oh my… Commander, you’re not planning to fight against that, are you?”

-“Commander, our fleet only has 65 ships, including patrol ships and repair ships.”

Of course, those guys were more like allies (?) than enemies, so Jessica and I, having regained our composure, had to calm down the confused superhumans.

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Meanwhile, as Icarus was reassuring the superhumans that they were not enemies…

The users who had arrived early and were waiting were also unable to hide their surprise upon seeing Icarus’s fleet joining them…

—————————————-

-[LOLOLOLOL what is that LOL]

-[Wow, it’s really freaking huge]

-[My cruiser battleship is like 5 times? No, 6 times smaller, according to my adjutant]

-[Isn’t that the kind of thing only the guy ranked 3rd is using right now?]

-[Oh, that seems to be the case]

—————————————-

Naturally, the first thing that caused the users’ surprise was the Kraken, which had grown even larger.

But that was only for a moment.

As Icarus’s fleet approached, they could see that it had a rather unique formation.

—————————————-

-[That’s the Kraken, right? That OP aircraft carrier.]

-[Its mouth is freaking huge]

-[But what’s that ship next to it with only 3 cannons?]

-[Hey, that’s the Hrevel-class missile battleship]

-[Hrevel? Oh, Hreðsvelgr, yeah]

-[Wow, they brought 3 cruiser battleships and 1 light aircraft carrier too]

-[They really came prepared]

-[With that kind of power, no wonder they’re ranked 3rd]

—————————————-

Of course, in terms of absolute ship types or the number of large ships, it wasn’t particularly impressive.

But considering ships like the Kraken-Class Assault Battle Carrier and the Hreðsvelgr-Class missile battleship, it’s hard to compare them to ordinary large ships.

After analyzing Icarus’s newly appeared fleet, the users, who were eagerly chatting and analyzing the forces, decided that with that level of power, they were sure to win this round and began to express their enthusiastic welcome.

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And at the same time…

After comforting the superhumans who were freaking out, as we continued to approach the fleet, chat notifications started popping up in front of my eyes.

—————————————-

-[Hi hi hi]

-[Hi]

-[Hi]

-[Oh hi] (me)

—————————————-

With such an enthusiastic welcome and the sight of our allies naturally integrating our fleet into the large fleet formation…

I nodded, feeling a great sense of satisfaction, thinking that at least the first round of this event wouldn’t turn into a mess due to mindless trolls.