Chapter 227

Chapter 227. You got used.

And with that, I ended the communication after seeing Betelgeuse’s impressive display.

Maybe it’s because I suddenly found myself being scolded by Betelgeuse.

Jessica, who had been watching from behind, approached me with a worried look and spoke up.

“Commander, are you okay?”

“Of course, I’m fine.”

At Jessica’s concerned reaction, I naturally shrugged my shoulders and smiled, even as Arcadia, who was still connected, watched.

After all, what kind of situation are we in right now?

It might look like Betelgeuse’s intense political training session, but in reality, we’re in the middle of a battle.

Thanks to that, Betelgeuse was busy both being praised to high heavens and keeping an eye on me, while also having to deal with Marian’s subtle glances.

On top of that, Arcadia kept throwing jabs at me, and I had to simultaneously fight and fend off the enemy.

So, I had no choice but to throw my ships into battle against the enemy fleet, leaving Betelgeuse to handle all the damage and tanking on his own.

And that was exactly our plan.

“Judging by Betelgeuse’s usual reactions, it seems he realized he got played and that’s why he cut off communication.”

“Oh.”

Arcadia and I gave each other a thumbs-up through the communication screen, signaling that everything was going according to plan.

However, Jessica’s concern was a bit different from what I had expected…

“Commander, what if that Betelgeuse guy tries to get revenge on you after the event is over?”

“Hmm…”

Listening to Jessica, I couldn’t help but think, ‘That could actually be dangerous.’

Who knows? The moment the event ends, we might face a massive invasion from the enraged Betelgeuse and his Loki Clan.

Of course, it’s unlikely that the entire clan would come after me just to beat me up, and more importantly, Marian, who has been solely focused on defending our base…

Our Pirate Empress might go absolutely ballistic and declare an all-out war against the Loki Clan.

But that thought was fleeting.

As I thought more deeply, I realized there was no need to worry about Betelgeuse’s retaliation.

After all, anyone could see that the damage to Betelgeuse’s fleet was ultimately his own fault for showing off.

He kept flaunting his ‘genius’ and then got his ships wrecked while fighting the enemy. How could he possibly blame us for that?

If he did, he’d just be crushing his own pride, so there’s no way that pink-haired drama queen would dare say anything to us.

Of course, as the leader of the Loki Clan, the so-called ‘headquarters of trolls,’ he might still throw a tantrum and come at us.

But that’s only if I didn’t have any backing.

At least in this situation, I have the Justice Clan, a massive clan rivaling the Loki Clan, behind me.

Facing off against the Humanity Clan and the Earth Federation’s main forces, along with the Southern Clans and the Pirate Alliance, and then dragging Justice into the mix…

That’s just absurd, so there’s no way that pink-haired guy would risk it.

Anyway, after explaining all this to Jessica, she nodded in agreement.

“Commander, you really thought this through. I thought you were just getting scolded by Betelgeuse without a plan.”

“…What?”

==========

As we chatted about these little things, time flew by, and the ninth battle was nearing its end.

However, contrary to Betelgeuse, Arcadia, and some users’ expectations that the enemy would quickly surrender after their initial defeat…

The enemy, after losing one of their users’ fleets to Betelgeuse’s fleet, decided to stall for time by having their two strongest players face off against me, Betelgeuse, Arcadia, and an unknown user.

Meanwhile, the remaining seven enemy users tried to pick off our relaxed and scattered fleet one by one…

Suddenly, we found ourselves having to survive being picked off one by one, while also going against the flow of fleeing users to face the enemy’s main force head-on.

Of course, as we tried to confront the enemy’s main force, the fleeing users also…

The part returned to the front lines, and a decisive fleet battle ensued…

As a result.

—————————————-

<Battle Result of the 9th Battle for the 'Capital of the Ancient Empire'>

<Victory>

<Your Lost Ships>

<1 Cruiser Battleship, 4 Destroyers, 1 Resource Mining Ship>

—————————————-

“Meow, I almost died there.”

“Glad I survived♡”

Somehow, we managed to secure the victory.

But at what cost? Not only me, but Arcadia and Betelgeuse, along with other users’ fleets, suffered heavy losses, with at least one large ship sunk.

Of course, that one Cruiser Battleship might have barely survived under normal circumstances.

But as you can see from the loss of the ‘Resource Mining Ship = Repair Ship,’ some darn users struck us from behind right as the fleet battle was ending, causing a critical hit.

Now, the remaining combat ships are Kraken, Hreðsvelgr, Light Aircraft Carrier, Cruiser Battleship, and Naranjara.

Only 5 ships are left.

And on top of that, transport destroyers armed with just one anti-ship beam cannon, or completely unarmed resource mining ships = repair ships, got caught up in the fleet battle and exploded one after another.

“Commander, we only have 2 repair ships left now.”

“Hmm… We somehow survived.”

Realizing that even when combining combat and non-combat ships, we barely have 10 ships left, I sighed in relief, thinking the next battle would be the last.

But the real problem wasn’t that…

“Commander, the real issue isn’t that we only have 2 repair ships left.”

“Huh?”

In the waiting space right after the battle, Jessica’s reaction made me raise a question mark above my head.

Seeing my reaction, Jessica sighed deeply and pointed at the ‘Destroyers’ in the result report that had exploded.

“With all these transport destroyers gone, we’re short on resources for replenishing aircraft and repairing ships.”

“Wha-wha-wha-what?!”

What are you talking about, Jessica?

I couldn’t even spit out the words, feeling my language collapsing.

But after somehow regaining my composure, I decided to ask Jessica about the resource situation.

“Jessica, didn’t we store hundreds to thousands of resources on each large ship besides the destroyers?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But we’re short on resources?”

“We’re currently using those resources. The ones on the transport destroyers turned into space dust along with the ships.”

“…”

Hearing her sincere answer, I nodded and decided to check exactly how much was left.

But…

“Repairing the Cruiser Battleship Marian is on, and replenishing aircraft from the Light Aircraft Carrier will completely drain us.”

“…”

“Even replenishing the aircraft isn’t possible fully due to resource shortages, so we can’t even fully assemble one attack squadron.”

“Oh no.”

According to Jessica, in the final battle, due to resource shortages, not only ‘aircraft,’ but also ‘heavy torpedoes’ and ‘strategic missiles’ used by Hreðsvelgr and other ships couldn’t be replenished.

“Wait… So the aircraft squadrons and Hreðsvelgr’s strategic missile bombardments are all one-time use now?”

“Yes, that’s right.”

“…”

I felt a wave of immense sadness as I realized my fleet had become severely underpowered at the last moment.