Chapter 332

Chapter 332. Ouroboros. (1)

But there was one very critical problem here.

In my previous power calculations, I had accidentally left out the “Nerañzara-class” from the calculations, completely forgetting about it.

Because of that, the actual strength of the NPC fleet we were about to face was far more brutal and difficult than we had anticipated.

But at that time, we hadn’t noticed that fact yet.

—

<Event-Only Chat Window>

-[How about sending out patrol ships ahead to meet the NPC fleet?](Icarus)

-[Good idea.](Arcadia)

—

Vaguely thinking it would be about this level, we sent out the patrol ships first as the vanguard of the main force.

We continued to leisurely advance the fleet.

Of course, as always, the Nerañzara had already submerged and moved far away, hiding among nearby debris to recharge its subspace diving batteries.

And it was only after realizing the above facts that we became aware of the actual strength of the enemy NPC fleet…

—

-“Commander, enemy ship detected nearby.”

“Huh? Already?”

-“It’s presumed to be a patrol ship, and there’s only one.”

“Ah, they’ve already revealed our position… No choice, tell the main force’s destroyers to eliminate it.”

-“Understood.”

—

As we continued our leisurely advance, a report came in that an enemy patrol ship had breached our patrol net and spotted our main force.

Not wanting to be tracked and have our position updated in real-time, we decided to use the destroyers from the combined fleet of Arcadia and myself to quickly intercept the scout ship.

But just at that moment…

—

-BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!!!!

-“High-energy reaction detected approaching at superluminal speed!”

“What the.”

-“Evade, all ships, emergency evasion!”

-“All thrusters, full power!”

-“Rudder 90 degrees to starboard! Even if it breaks, just…!”

-KWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

—

A massive energy beam, coming from far beyond the radar range of our patrol ships, swept across the combined fleet.

And of course, it hit the center of my fleet.

Even if it was some kind of “long-range area weapon” with low energy density…

At the very least, the monster-class heavy cruisers with battleship-grade frontal armor, or even the massive cruiser battleships, should have been able to withstand it…

—

-KWAAAAAAAH! BOOOOM!

-“What, what is this!?”

-“The armor can’t hold…!”

-ZZZZZZZZZZAP!

—

But my hopes were in vain.

Among the ships caught in that insane bombardment, light cruisers and below melted and exploded the moment they were exposed.

—

-“Don’t panic!”

-“The frontal armor of our ‘Wyvern-class heavy cruiser’ is battleship-grade!”

-“The Wyvern-class is entering defensive stance!”

-“If we combine the Wyvern’s armor with our cruiser battleships…!”

—

Spouting cliché lines, our NPC crew aboard the Wyvern-class heavy cruisers (monster-class) tried to hold the line.

Excluding my precious cruiser battleship No. 1, which was fortunately out of range, No. 2 narrowly avoided a direct hit, while No. 3, relying on the Wyvern-class, tried to face it head-on…

—

-KWAAAAAAAH!

“…”

—

The frontal armor of the Wyvern-class, which the NPC crew had so much faith in, only bought us a mere 5 seconds.

And of course, after those 5 seconds, the Wyverns’ thick frontal armor melted, and their entire bodies disintegrated at the cellular level, going *boom*.

The cruiser battleship No. 3, exposed to the energy flow, had its armor plates melt in less than 5 seconds.

—

-“C-Commander! The armor can’t hold!”

-“Save us!”

-“Abandon ship!”

-“External cooling systems at critical…!”

-KWAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!

—

“What the hell.”

—

As the melted armor plates gave way, thousands to tens of thousands of degrees of thermal energy poured into the interior of the cruiser battleship.

My precious cruiser battleship No. 3, including the 7 seconds bought by the Wyvern-class, melted like an iron ingot thrown into a furnace and exploded after just 20 seconds of exposure.

But what was even more shocking was that, while No. 3 and the other ships that were directly hit had at least been “directly hit,” the ships that had successfully evaded the energy bombardment, including No. 2, were still too “close”…

—

-“Lower hull armor melting…”

– “Steering failure! Steering failure!”

– “Ughhhh”

The massive heat from the beam of the bombardment caused the outer armor plates and various facilities to melt away like goo. Some ships even lost their propulsion systems or had their protruding “bridges” vaporized, rendering them immobile.

In severe cases, ships that barely dodged the bombardment… For example, Cruiser Battleship No. 2…

– “External side armor plate melting!”

– “External deck temperature exceeding 10,000 degrees!”

– “Cooling systems can’t keep up!”

– “R-report! Half of Cruiser Battleship No. 2’s left hull is lost, all weapons on the left side are unusable!”

– “Main turrets 3 and 4 are completely melted, turret 2’s motor and internal systems are fried, so it’s unusable for now.”

– “The main key has completely melted and disappeared along with the lower section, and all auxiliary keys are also melted.”

“…Ughhhhh.”

Literally, they only “survived.” Immobilized, half their weapons gone, and most of the armor melted, the left side exposed to the bombardment was so damaged that the internal framework was visible.

‘How did my cruiser battleship turn into a fish skeleton?’

This scene filled me with both immense anger and sorrow.

==========

Just a few minutes ago, our fleet was sailing majestically and leisurely, but in an instant, we lost a third of our forces in a catastrophic event.

But we couldn’t just give up and retreat here…

First, we destroyed the patrol ship that had spotted our fleet, eliminating the immediate threat of further bombardment.

Then, Cruiser Battleship No. 1 towed the immobilized Cruiser Battleship No. 2.

After spending about a minute to restore the fleet’s order, I hurriedly opened the chat window.

Arcadia was frantically asking if I was okay, and I replied that I was holding up.

—————————————–

<Event Exclusive Chat Room>

-[Icarus]

-[Icarus]

-[Icarus]

-[You]

-[Are you okay?]

-[Did you get hit by that just now?] (Arcadia)

-[Yes]

-[We lost one cruiser battleship, one heavy cruiser, and two destroyers right from the start.] (Icarus)

-[Yikes] (Arcadia)

-[The other cruiser battleship is more than half destroyed, nearing total destruction… but I think we can still use it somehow.] (Icarus)

—————————————–

Of course, it’s easier said than done.

Already outnumbered 1:2.5, losing a third of my fleet’s strength right at the start was devastating.

“Commander, are you okay?”

– “Savior, perhaps you should take a short rest.”

“Whew…”

Jessica placed her hand on my shoulder with a worried look, and even Partia showed concern for me.

But unlike their assumption that I was mentally melting down due to the loss of our forces, my mind was more consumed by curiosity about the source of that attack.

“…By the way, Jessica.”

“Yes, Commander.”

“What exactly hit us? It seems similar to an annihilation ship… but the firepower is just too strong.”

“Y-yes, it certainly is.”

– Beep beep!

“Ah, Commander Arcadia’s advance scouts have located the ship suspected of firing that bombardment.”

“Oh?”

“They’ve sent a photo. Should I display it on the screen now?”

“Yes, please do.”

Finally, hearing that they had captured the ship’s appearance, I wanted to see who dared to shoot fresh milk—no, big-freaking-energy—at our fleet.

And when the ship’s image appeared on the base’s large screen…

“…What is that?”

“Good question.”

A ship with an unfamiliar design, presumably from a time when I wasn’t around, appeared.

Once again, I felt the anger rising within me, thinking they only release fun updates when I’m not playing.