Chapter 424

Chapter 424. As always, a shady(?) back-alley story. (2)

Meanwhile, Arcadia is diving headfirst into a large-scale public opinion campaign to turn Icarus fandom into a clan-wide activity.

At the same time, public opinion teams suspected to be from the Loki Clan or Humanity Clan clashed with Justice Clan’s public opinion team in the gallery.

<<“The situation is getting quite interesting.”>>

<<“Indeed, it is.”>>

Whether it’s dealing with trolls posting disturbing images or pedophilic content in the gallery, or deciding on new armbands, the admins were letting users do whatever they wanted—as long as it wasn’t flaunted in the community. And they were finding it all quite fascinating.

After all, while they had been observing users without direct intervention, ensuring maximum autonomy, the top-ranked Antares had boldly negotiated with them directly and ended up pulling off a massive event that shattered their expectations.

<<“We thought they’d take advantage of the weakened clans post-event to start a large-scale clan war.”>>

<<“But no, they went ahead and devoured an entire faction.”>>

The admins had expected clans to mess with each other, but they never imagined Antares and the Humanity users would completely swallow the massive Earth Federation. They couldn’t help but marvel at the sight.

Of course, aside from pure admiration, the admins knew that if Humanity completely absorbed the Earth Federation, other clans and users wouldn’t be able to handle their power. So, they quietly intervened with a “balance patch,” aiming for a moderate and subtle approach.

Their plan was to give other users and clans an “appropriate level” of buffs while subtly nerfing Humanity to restore the shattered power balance. As a result, the Leviathan Fleet, which should have been destroyed, managed to escape Humanity’s encirclement.

The escaping Leviathan Fleet fled with the Earth Federation’s leader, the Security Council Chairman.

<<“Has the Leviathan Fleet completely escaped?”>>

<<“Yes. Even if Humanity devours the Earth Federation, they won’t be able to hastily invade surrounding areas.”>>

Moreover, even if Humanity quickly reorganizes its forces, there’s currently no major clan in the region capable of countering them with concentrated power.

<<“Even if the rank 3 Marian has strong mercenary mobilization capabilities, it’ll be tough to stop Humanity’s invasion, right?”>>

<<“Definitely.”>>

<<“The current rank 3’s maximum mobilization capacity is a fleet-level mercenary group of about 9,700 users per day.”>>

<<“If Humanity tries to invade the Central Zone, they’d likely mobilize at least 30,000 to 40,000 users.”>>

<<“Hmm.”>>

Even Icarus, the closest thing to a “major faction,” has clear limitations. To protect the Central Zone, which is likely Humanity’s first target, the admins decided to use the Leviathan Fleet. They sabotaged the nearest “gateway base” to buy time and handed the Leviathan Fleet to Icarus, making Humanity think twice before invading the Central Zone.

Of course, as mentioned earlier, the admins wanted to maintain a “neutral observer” stance as much as possible. While they handed Leviathan to Icarus and temporarily blocked the “gateway” to the Central Zone, they also planned to sprinkle some “help” across other zones for balance.

But contrary to the admins’ expectations…

<<“Huh, the users are doing more on their own than we thought.”>>

<<“Ohhh.”>>

<<“This is quite an impressive response.”>>

<<“They’re exceeding our expectations.”>>

For instance, Betelgeuse’s Loki Clan is trying to counter Humanity by snatching parts of the former Earth Federation’s territory. Meanwhile, Arcadia’s Justice Clan, unlike its usual self, is aggressively engaging in public opinion campaigns to…

While keeping Humanity in check.

At the same time, they aimed to strengthen Icarus’s position in the Central Zone, attempting to form a separate faction.

Mona Lisa’s Magellan Clan, which became the final victor of the Xenobia Empire, also appeared to bow to Humanity on the surface.

But in reality, they were scheming their own sinister plots, each trying to maintain a proper balance of power…

Seeing the users trying to “somehow” balance the power among themselves, the administrators held a brief meeting.

<<"Haha, if they're going that far.">>

<<"We probably don't need to intervene any further, do we?">>

<<"It certainly seems so, intervening further would just get in the way.">>

<<"I think so too.">>

They judged that they no longer needed to intervene in the current situation.

They decided to stop further intervention and, for the time being, simply observe the users’ actions.

Of course, such “observation” was limited to the users’ own battles, political maneuvers, and other issues…

<<"Well then, let's get back to our own work...">>

<<"There are weird perverts in the gallery again.">>

<<"Ah.">>

<<"Ahhhhh my eyesuuuuuu">>

<<"Sigh... I don't know why they keep doing this.">>

<<"Well, it's probably stress.">>

<<"This is also something we have to deal with.">>

As always, users started posting all sorts of bizarre and perverse images and pictures just out of boredom.

The administrators were once again visually assaulted by disgusting images, from grandma and grandpa poop pics to gore and perverse images.

The role of the “eraser,” deleting such insane posts, had to continue as usual.

And so, while the administrators and each clan were swirling with their own sinister schemes…

Our protagonist Icarus, A.K.A ‘The Emperor and King of the Central Zone, Ruler of the Triangle Zone, Protector of Tanhoizer, Avalon, and Barracuda, Eternal 3rd Place in both luck and skill, etc., etc.’ was doing… what?

==========

“Ah, I want to take over a new base.”

“Suddenly?”

After releasing all the mercenaries I had hired and sent them back.

I suddenly felt the urge to take over a new base.

Preferably one at a similar or higher level than Tanhoizer.

Of course, this was just my humble wish.

“But Commander, the only empty bases nearby are all below level 3.”

“Yeah, that’s the problem.”

As Jessica said, there were no decent bases to take over nearby…

It wasn’t that there were no bases above level 5.

But since the strategies for base conquest, like the ones used in the past by the Latun Water-Magellan Clan, had spread widely among the users…

“Wait, are there really none?”

“Empty bases, meaning those held by NPCs, are gone.”

Bases above level 6 were still out of reach due to the users’ numbers and lack of unity.

But for bases below level 5, some users who hadn’t reached the Triangle Zone teamed up with nearby users to capture them.

They succeeded in siege battles and took turns being the mayor of the base every month…

Even though I could now take over a new base whenever I wanted.

Ironically, there were no bases left to take, leaving me in a strangely complicated mood.