Chapter 473

Episode 473. It’s Not a War, It’s Punishment. (3)

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However, unlike other users who were chilling with the mindset of, “Ah, as long as it doesn’t come near us, it’s fine!”

“Ah, damn it, damn it, damn it, damn it.”

“Commander, how about calming yourself down by counting to ten first?”

I was feeling extremely, utterly, and completely pissed off.

The reason was none other than the fact that I had to stop Xenobia’s Punishment Fleet, which I just wanted to let pass by.

To be precise, it wasn’t even my choice—it was practically forced upon me…

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[Quest]

[The Not-So-Fun Leadership Check Time]

[Content]

[Including the Commander, no one really wants to face Xenobia’s Punishment Fleet head-on.]

[Unfortunately, that’s just the Commanders’ thoughts, and other entities don’t seem to think the same way.]

[Especially from the perspective of the Space Monsters and the Pirate Alliance, if they allow the Xenobia Empire, which has no connection to them, to pass through the Commander’s territory—which they’ve “respected” and avoided entering until now—]

[It’s very clear that their attitude and thoughts toward the Commander will change in many ways.]

[And above all, from the perspective of the Leviathan Fleet, which fled after the collapse of the Earth Federation, and its upper echelons…]

[They’ll feel that the Commander might succumb to external threats at any moment, rather than maintaining clear neutrality.]

[And if they see other factions’ main fleets passing through so freely, they’ll judge the Commander’s territory as unsafe.]

[They might even leave to find another Commander or Clan that can maintain firm neutrality, embarking on a long journey.]

[Objective]

[Refuse and repel the Xenobia Empire’s “Punishment Fleet” from passing through your territory.]

[Warning]

[If you do not refuse their passage, the following will occur:]

˪[“Space Monsters” and “Pirate Alliance” Trust -50, Favorability -50]

˪[The Leviathan Fleet will disappear from the Commander’s territory.]

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‘Please don’t do this!’

Feeling the unfairness of it all, I was overwhelmed with a deep sense of sadness.

At least with the Pirate Alliance, thanks to Marian, even if their trust drops, their favorability has already surpassed 200, so it’s not a huge issue.

But the problem is that the Space Monsters’ trust and favorability have just barely crossed the 100 mark.

If, as the quest warning states, they suddenly drop by 50 each, it’s basically like getting screwed over in every possible way.

If things go wrong, not only could everything I’ve built so far go down the drain, but there’s also a chance that a new, monster-themed unfair event might pop up.

‘This game is seriously messed up.’

Realizing this, I couldn’t help but feel tears welling up inside.

But an even bigger issue than the Pirate Alliance or Space Monsters’ trust plummeting is the fact that the Leviathan Fleet might desert.

‘This is really bad. Without those guys, I can’t handle the users.’

Including those docked at Tanhoizer and other bases, as well as those living outside, there are roughly 5,500 people.

Sure, half of them are casual gamers who don’t know how to fight or users who got dragged in while trying to dip their toes in.

But the other half are mercenaries who, true to the Central Zone, eat well, live well, and fight well.

If the Leviathan Fleet disappears, and those users suddenly rise up, I won’t be able to handle it…

“Jessica, how many users were in the temporary Clan formed during the Tanhoizer raid last time?”

“Around a thousand, maybe a bit more? But why are you asking?”

“Oh, I just suddenly remembered.”

Even though the users have been quiet so far, and things were fine even before the Leviathan Fleet existed.

But without the newly formed Leviathan Fleet as a deterrent, who knows what kind of mischief they might get up to.

With tears in my eyes, I cursed the developers as “damn bastards” and hurriedly began preparing to face the damn Punishment Fleet.

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Still, if I try to think positively, at least back then…

Unlike the time I took on a mercenary job for Humanity…

This time, they’re the ones attacking us, and if we play our cards right, we might even capture some of their ships.

If we’re really lucky, unlike what’s mentioned on the wiki, we might get our hands on those ‘flawless’ ships the NPCs use, like the so-called Rafflesia II-class.

Or maybe the Anomalocaris-class supercarrier, which is only deployed in the Obsidian Squadron and the border defense fleet, and is Mona Lisa’s signature ship.

Or even the Diamond-class super dreadnought, which is treated as a regular ship in the Obsidian Squadron but serves as the flagship in the border defense fleet.

Thinking about all these sweet prizes, I somehow managed to steady my shaky mental state.

I decided to burn with determination, vowing to recover and repay any losses from this battle.

However, unlike the previous fight with the Earth Federation’s border defense fleet, there was one very, very serious and critical issue this time…

“Commander, I get that you’re planning to fight the Xenobia Empire’s fleet, but…”

“I know what you’re trying to say, Jessica.”

“Oh, really?”

“The mercenary group, the mercenary group is the problem.”

Yes.

Due to the ongoing event that players like me are participating in, the use of my signature ‘Unlimited Mercenary Group’ is currently impossible.

Of course, since they’re the ones attacking, we can still mobilize Tanhoizer’s base defense fleet.

We can also call in fleets from other bases through the internal gate network and even fire off the big, beautiful fortress main guns…

“But Commander, even if we combine all the base fleets in our territory, we still can’t stop the Punishment Fleet, right?”

“Yeah, that’s exactly the problem.”

To stop the insane Punishment Fleet, our base defense fleet and my fleet alone are nowhere near enough.

The Punishment Fleet can deploy over 100,000 battleships all at once.

Meanwhile, as I mentioned before, each base has a limit to how many defense fleets it can muster.

“Damn it, if we’re not careful, we’ll just be throwing them in one by one.”

“Exactly.”

“Even if we deploy the Avalon defense fleet, combined with Tanhoizer, we can only field about 1,600 battleships at once.”

“Even if we add the main fleet, direct subordinates, and base mercenary groups, we can’t even reach 1,700 ships.”

‘Freaking crazy.’

Even if we scrape together every last ship from the guard fleet and the main combat fleet, we’d barely hit 100,000 ships.

And they’re bringing 100,000 battleships alone. Is this even real?

‘Holy moly, sh*t.’

So, with no clear solution, I was deep in thought, wondering what to do…

“By the way, Commander, if we fight the Punishment Fleet, they’re going to swarm this Tanhoizer, right?”

“Yeah, they’ll probably aim to take out the head first to make the fight easier…”

“But if we fight the Punishment Fleet, wouldn’t other Commanders have no choice but to help you, whether they like it or not?”

“Huh? Oh, wait, ah.”

As Jessica pointed out, the Punishment Fleet was originally planning to pass through our territory to hunt down the Anti-Faction.

And right in the middle of that route is this Tanhoizer gate fortress where we’re currently stationed.

If I charge in to fight the Punishment Fleet, the other users docked here would have no choice but to fight alongside me to survive (whether they like it or not).

So, while keeping the quest details under wraps, I decided to use the gallery and chat to rally the users, declaring our determination to fight the Punishment Fleet!!!

Well, to be precise, it wasn’t so much about showing determination…

It was more about creating a situation where we ‘had no choice’ but to resist—a kind of forced scenario.