Chapter 246

Episode 246. Thinking about it, the terror plan seems a bit off, huh?;; (1)

And the next day, when Icarus was about to fully immerse himself in Tiamat’s leveling work…

…and then the day after that.

Humanity’s special operations team… no, infiltration unit… no, black ops…

“Why do our titles keep changing?”

“Dunno, seems like the commanders keep fighting over which name they like best.”

“Whatever it is, I just hope it’s not something like ‘Cocoon Squad’ like earlier.”

“Yo, did you just insult the name our commander came up with?”

“Honestly, ‘Cocoon Squad’ is kinda cringe.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“…”

Near the border area between the Earth Federation and the Central Zone, a unit whose name had changed so many times that no one even remembered the original—’Icarus Base Infiltration Unit’ (soon to be renamed ‘Assault Unit’)—was in the middle of preparations.

But according to the original plan, they should have already infiltrated Icarus’s base area by now. So why were they still loitering near the border?

To explain that in detail would probably require a 5,700,000-word essay. So, to spare the poor officers’ wrists, here’s the short version:

“So, why are we still here again?”

“Aside from the name changes, the commanders are way too divided on this mission.”

“Ah, got it.”

Meanwhile, unlike the superhumans who were sent out from at least 20 bases and were just chilling, living peaceful lives…

—————————————-

-[Why are we even doing this?]

-[I didn’t think it’d turn out like this.]

-[Do we really need to mess with this?]

-[The decision’s already made, just do it.]

-[Do what, exactly?]

-[What the hell?]

-[They just backroom-dealed it among themselves and now expect us to follow orders?]

-[Ah, this is messed up.]

—————————————-

The situation of their commanders, aka the users, was…

Beyond just the internal discussions among Antares’ executives, there was opposition within the Humanity Clan.

And with external forces and political tensions between clans, the usual chaos that arises when people gather was in full swing.

Naturally, the one suffering the most was Antares, the supreme manager, clan leader, and golden child babysitter.

“Wait, wasn’t everything already decided? Why are we still arguing?”

“Uh… no clue.”

Not only were the participating users grumbling, but even some of the closest users were like, “Dude, this doesn’t seem right,” and started raising objections.

Antares, the typical blonde pretty boy, shook his head, feeling like he’d turn into a white-haired old man in no time.

But that was short-lived.

Antares’ closest confidants, who had just finished wrapping up the southern region, returned and, after assessing the situation, started bombarding Antares with what could only be called ‘advice.’

Even Antares, who had already made a decision, felt his resolve wavering.

“Antares, do we really need to attack Icarus?”

“Huh?”

“Think about it, what’s the root cause of all this?”

“Right, didn’t Arcadia say something, and you cross-verified it with Königs and Betelgeuse to confirm?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Arcadia’s known for being rigid, so fine, but Betelgeuse? She could’ve just been messing with you to confuse you.”

“…!”

Not just wavering, but with his closest confidants gone, Antares, who had been managing the clan alone and was mentally drained, now had his confidants back to lighten the load and act as a sort of ‘auxiliary brain.’

As the fog in his mind cleared and his intelligence started returning to normal…

“…Now that you mention it, you’re right.”

“Right?”

He finally realized that this whole thing wasn’t really a reason to go after Icarus.

“Arcadia’s one thing, but Betelgeuse, who’s basically a prankster at heart, could totally pull something like that.”

“Exactly, there’s no way she didn’t notice you cross-verifying.”

“She might’ve even messed with your cross-verification and subtly fed Königs some nonsense.”

“Hmmmm.”

Even though I made that decision, I realized it didn’t make sense realistically.

Since the plan hadn’t even started yet, the leadership of the Humanity Clan decided to change the plan.

—————————————-

-[Guys, guys] (Clan Manager)

-[What’s up?]

-[If you’re gonna go, go. If not, give the superhuman back so they can do dailies.]

-[Hey, hey, let’s talk and listen first.]

-[Our plan has changed. We don’t need to send the superhuman assassination squad to the Icarus base anymore.] (Clan Manager)

-[Oh.]

-[The infiltration team, right?]

-[Wait, weren’t we called terrorists?]

-[Stop the nonsense.]

-[So, what are we doing instead?]

—————————————-

Facing the team members asking, “So what are we gonna do now?” they presented a bizarre new plan.

—————————————-

-[We’re now a peace envoy.] (Clan Manager)

-[???]

-[???]

-[We, who were assassins, terrorists, and infiltration operatives, are now a peace delegation?]

-[Poof poof.]

—————————————-

Of course, such a sudden change in plans caused some of the original supporters to oppose it this time…

But unlike before, when Antares had to grit her teeth and handle it alone, and her IQ dropped to about one-third of its usual level, thinking, “Am I like that too?”

Now, with the return of her closest aides, the mental burden has significantly lessened. Antares herself is taking full command and handling things more seriously than before.

“If we approach them first in a friendly manner and do some shaba-shaba, Icarus won’t react hostilely, right?”

“But we did cause trouble last time…”

“They don’t know it was us.”

“Oh, right.”

“From Icarus’s perspective, it’ll look like we’re being friendly from the start.”

“True, and aside from what Arcadia has marked… honestly, we haven’t had much contact before the event, right?”

“If we proactively offer resources and compensation to win them over…”

“At worst, friendly neutrality. At best, we’ll surpass Indypatible as external mercenaries.”

“Kyaaaa, boss.”

—————————————-

After logically crushing the opinions of the former supporters and current opponents, the infiltration team was finally rebranded as a “peaceful friendly envoy”…

Wait, no. In the midst of their internal political bickering, the group ended up sending a delegation named “Communicators.”

Of course, some commanders who sent superhumans under the “Communicators” (?) label were left speechless by their approach.

—————————————-

-[Is this for real?]

-[The combination of superhumans gathered here looks perfect for a raid, don’t you think?]

-[If I were them, I’d freak out the moment I saw the superhuman list lololol.]

-[Ah.] (Clan Manager)

—————————————-

Given that the veterans who raised these superhumans to survive as a sort of suicide squad reacted like that, they ended up replacing some of the superhumans and swapping out those who didn’t want to go.

After spending another day on this, it wasn’t until the second day of Icarus starting Tiamat’s leveling that their “delegation” finally overcame all the internal political discord within the clan.

They barely managed to raise the flag of departure toward Icarus’s base.

==========

The problem was that they forgot the ship they were on was the ultra-high-performance stealth destroyer “Kairal”-class.

Even after entering the area, they weren’t detected by radar, so there was no fleet to greet them. They just went in blindly…

And while Tiamat was conducting aircraft training, one of the aircraft accidentally kamikazed into them. A minor incident, really.