Chapter 299

Episode 299. I Won’t Give You Time to Prepare (2)

And just as the small “pranks” of the Walpurgis Alliance Clan were about to begin in earnest…

What was our Icarus up to, you ask?

While Marian was temporarily away to handle internal discipline within the Pirate Alliance…

“Jessica, what’s the current resource status?”

“6.2 million minerals and 1.75 million rare resources.”

“Is the <Strategic Tactics Research Institute> being built as an auxiliary building right now?”

“Yep, roughly three days left.”

After checking these basic things…

“Finally, it’s time for something new to come out.”

“Looks like it’s already that time.”

The ‘Behemoth’-class mobile growth platform thingy was finally nearing the end of its growth…

Anyway, with the Space Pupa about to open, I was filled with anticipation.

To be precise, just like before, I had been diligently collecting resources over and over again.

But unlike last time, why did it take so long for the pupa to open this time…?

“By the way, I never thought the Behemoth-class would need so much time to grow.”

“Well, last time, the monster faction took their time getting here, but now it’s different.”

That’s right.

Previously, the monsters had to mindlessly roll their way here from their main base, giving the pupa plenty of time to grow… but now?

-“Delivery has arrived, customer~^^”

-“Nice.”

The monster faction just… well, warp-delivered it right to our base.

So the pupa had no time to grow and had to grow vigorously inside our base.

Moreover, this pupa was structured in a way that even the ship construction acceleration items I sometimes used didn’t work on it.

There was no choice but to wait and wait.

What’s more, it was strange that despite being a “pupa,” it gobbled up the resources and ships we gave it like crazy.

For the past month, it had just been this grotesque, disgusting-looking thing that did nothing but eat whatever we gave it.

Raising it felt like… I don’t know, growing a bonsai or an orchid?

But that bizarre life was about to come to an end today.

-Thud! Thud!

“Commander, the Behemoth-class mobile-growth platform is about to open!”

“Oh…”

After a month, whatever ship was about to emerge, it would be a free addition to our fleet’s strength.

I believed that even if just two medium-sized twin monsters—like those monster-style cruisers—came out, I’d be happy.

But what came out of that pupa was…

-Crack! Boom! Whoosh!

“Uh, holy crap.”

-Squelch squelch.

“…Commander?”

“Huh?”

“What?”

“Uh, uh, uh, WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH!!!!!”

The Kraken.

Amazingly, our Kraken, with its one-in-a-million odds, had just birthed a second one.

“Gasp, gasp!!”

“C-Commander?!”

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG!!!!!!!!”

“Commander?! Snap out of it!”

“WAKYAPYAHKNOONGJJOOKTTOONBBANGMALRANGMALRANGBBANGBBANGBBYONGNOOOOOOONGWOOOOWOOONOOOOONGNONGNONGNONGNONGJJOOOOUUUUUK!”

Of course, in such an astonishing situation, my brain temporarily short-circuited from a dopamine overload.

As a result, I let out those bizarre noises and promptly fainted.

But that was only for a moment.

-Pshhh! Sssssk!

“Uh, what?!”

“Finally, you’re awake, Commander.”

Thanks to Jessica, who jabbed me with a stimulant right after I fainted, I was able to calmly enjoy meeting the second Kraken.

Naturally, the news of the second Kraken’s arrival made Belial and Tiamat, who were in charge of fleet and aircraft command, rush to the command center as soon as I called.

“A new Kraken has appeared, Commander?”

“Finally, our main fleet will have over 10,000 aircraft!”

In response to their reactions, I also nodded happily, radiating joy.

“With a one-in-a-million chance happening again, I can die without regrets.”

“Though you did blow through 100 consecutive draws right before that.”

“Ugh…!”

But apart from our joy, the second Kraken was literally just born at level 1.

“By the way, it’s smaller than I expected. Is it supposed to be like that?”

“Well… the original Kraken grew through constant consumption and battles, but this one just hatched.”

Compared to the first Kraken, it was almost a quarter of the size—a tiny little thing.

Of course, the Kraken itself is such a massive beast that even though it’s huge, it’s still bigger than a cruiser battleship, which feels kinda weird, you know?

Anyway, given the situation, I first made sure to diligently load up the Kraken No. 2’s aircraft.

“Belial and Tiamat, take that thing out for a spin and come back after some combat.”

“Understood.”

“Yes, Commander!”

I immediately told the two of them and decided to leave the leveling of the Kraken to them.

Then, as I checked the fleet status…

—

**Fleet Status**

Total Points: 907/850 Points

– Aircraft Carriers: 4 ships, 70 points each = 280 points

– Special Battleships: 1 ship, 65 points each = 65 points

– Battleships: 3 ships, 40 points each = 120 points

– Aetheric Submarines: 1 ship, 50 points each = 50 points

– Light Aircraft Carriers: 1 ship, 40 points each = 40 points

– Cruiser Battleships: 6 ships, 30 points each = 180 points

– Heavy Cruisers: 4 ships, 10 points each = 40 points

– Light Cruisers: 1 ship, 6 points each = 6 points

– Destroyers: 12 ships, 3 points each = 36 points

– Escort Ships: 0 ships, 1.5 points each = 0 points

– Patrol Ships: 5 ships, 1 point each = 5 points

– Resource Mining Ships: 30 ships, 1.5 points each = 45 points

—

While the cocoons were growing, thanks to the completion of additional docking facilities, an extra 100 points worth of fleet was added, and in the process, more ships were added here and there.

But not long after sending out the work, I found myself facing a completely unexpected situation.

*Beep beep beep! Beep beep beep!*

“Huh?”

“Oh, Commander?”

With a sudden alarm alert, an NPC operator from the command center urgently called out.

Jessica, who was next to me, quickly went over to check what was going on and then came back to deliver some shocking news.

“Um… Commander, it seems like the situation is taking a bad turn.”

“Wasn’t that signal just now about someone invading from outside? Probably some unaffiliated pirates or a wild monster passing by.”

“No, it’s not that. Another clan’s fleet is attacking our forward base.”

“…Huh?”

And before I could even say, “What on earth are you talking about, Jess-Jessica?” an event message popped up in front of me, proving that what she said was true.

—

**<Event>**

**<Forward Base No. 5 Under Attack!>**

**<Details>**

**<The Ramses Clan's fleet is attacking your forward base, Commander!>**

—

—

**<Event>**

**<Forward Base No. 4 Under Attack!>**

**<Details>**

**<The Isekai Clan's fleet is attacking your forward base, Commander!>**

—

—

**<Event>**

**<Forward Base No. 5 Destroyed!>**

**<Details>**

**<The Outer Clan's fleet, led by 'Gesalcrab,' has destroyed Forward Base No. 5!>**

—

—

**<Combat Event>**

**<Resource Mining Fleet No. 3 Under Attack!>**

**<Details>**

**<The Merona Clan's fleet is attacking your fleet, Commander!>**

**<Combat Result>**

**<Resource Mining Fleet No. 3 has emergency warped back.>**

**<Ships Lost: 1 Destroyer>**

—

‘…What the heck?’

And while all these “Under Attack” messages were popping up left and right, I noticed that it wasn’t just one or two clans coming at me, which made me feel incredibly frustrated.

‘Why, why is this only happening to me?!’