Chapter 61

Chapter 61. Mad Scientist (2)

Anyway, now that the girls’ talk and introductions were over, I had them sit down and decided to continue the previous meeting about “which faction to choose.”

Of course, just like last time…

Ignis: “The technologically advanced aliens!”

Pashtira: “Tentacles♡”

Belial: “Let’s go with the reliable and trustworthy Earth Federation.”

The legendary trio’s opinions hadn’t changed at all.

I turned my head toward Jessica and gestured. Seeing this, Jessica also asked the two newcomers to share their opinions.

“Since you’re here, why don’t you two share your thoughts as well?”

But upon hearing Jessica’s words, Marian shook her head firmly, drawing a clear line on the matter.

“I don’t think I need to say anything, do I?”

“Well, since you’re here…”

“Given my profession, there’s only one thing I can say.”

She made it clear that, as the “Pirate Empress,” she would unconditionally recommend her own faction, the pirates, no matter what anyone said.

Jessica stared at Marian’s unchanged expression for a moment, then shook her head.

“If Marian says so, then I guess there’s no helping it.”

She then turned to Gryanarr, who was sitting next to her.

“Then, Mr. Gryanarr, what do you think about this matter?”

Honestly, if it weren’t Gryanarr but someone else, I would’ve considered using the newly introduced “roulette” feature in the community to decide the faction. But since Gryanarr is officially a “genius” professor, I figured he’d have a solution for the current situation.

This meeting was essentially meant to publicly ask for Gryanarr’s opinion and silence any opposing views. So, while pretending to be indifferent, I subtly turned my gaze toward Gryanarr, eagerly waiting for his tightly sealed lips to open.

After pondering deeply, Gryanarr finally spoke.

“Hmm, it seems most efficient to side with the Space Monsters.”

He raised his hand in favor of the Space Monsters.

“That’s a shame. I wanted to try the aliens’ plasma swords.”

“Tentacles are amazing, though♡”

Ignis, who didn’t have strong opinions from the start, and Pashtira, who was a Space Monster enthusiast (or something), agreed with Gryanarr’s suggestion. However…

“Wait, I demand an explanation for why that’s the case.”

Belial, who was a principled officer from the Earth Federation, couldn’t accept the idea of coexisting with the mindless Space Monsters. Given her background as a former Earth Federation officer, it was even harder for her to accept.

Given the personalities of Belial and Gryanarr, it was difficult for them to take each other’s words at face value. But fortunately, they understood that this wasn’t a time for arguments but for exchanging opinions thoroughly.

With his signature sinister smile, Gryanarr began explaining why they should choose the Space Monsters to Belial and everyone else present.

“First of all, now that the Commander has brought the Space Pirates under their control, we can’t choose the aliens, no matter what.”

“Huh? Why only the aliens?”

“Good question.”

In response to Ignis’s question, Gryanarr raised a finger from his lab coat sleeve and explained.

“Space Pirates are based on sheer numbers, while the aliens are the complete opposite—they’re a small elite force. Their fleet and troop structures are completely incompatible. If we try to combine these two factions, they’ll just end up hindering each other instead of creating synergy.”

“Hmm?”

“Think about it. If you try to equip a cheap, mass-produced fleet with expensive, rare high-end equipment, it just doesn’t make sense.”

Ignis seemed to realize something upon hearing this.

After resolving the question about the aliens, Gryanarr immediately began explaining his reasoning for choosing the Space Monsters and his thoughts on the Earth Federation, all while looking at Belial.

“As for the Earth Federation… aside from their super-large ships, the rest of their fleet isn’t much different from the Commander’s fleet…”

“That’s because there are issues.”

“…”

“But unlike the Earth Federation, the fleets that commanders can produce and command have a numerical limit.”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

“Moreover, the Earth Federation’s pride, the ‘Super Dreadnought’ and ‘Super Carrier,’ aren’t even allowed to be produced by a single base commander.”

‘Oh right, that’s true.’

I nodded inwardly, recalling one of the Earth Federation’s issues as Gryanarr spoke.

And as Gryanarr pointed out the problems with aliens and the Earth Federation, advocating for the Space Monsters as the solution.

Pashtira smiled in a rather sinister way, seemingly agreeing with Gryanarr’s opinion.

But it seemed our Belial wasn’t about to back down.

Soon, she pointed out issues with the Space Monsters to the pro-monster (?) Gryanarr and Pashtira.

“But if we join the Space Monsters’ faction, wouldn’t it have a significant negative impact on our relations with other factions?”

“Oh my.”

“If we’re not careful, other factions’ fleets might unite and attack us.”

This was quite an interesting topic, so I wondered how Gryanarr would respond.

With that curiosity, I put down the console and focused on the meeting.

Gryanarr waved the sleeve of his lab coat in the air, showing a negative reaction to Belial’s words.

“Other factions are just aliens or the Earth Federation, right?”

“Um, that’s true.”

“Those two, unlike pirates or monsters, feel a sense of camaraderie and often form friendly relations.”

“Umm.”

“But then they end up stabbing each other in the back or trying to.”

“Ummmm.”

“Not just against each other, but they also betray their own commanders.”

“…Ugh.”

Gryanarr, who had been spouting so much, puffed out his modest chest, exuding confidence.

“Compared to that, what about the Space Monsters? At least they won’t stab commanders in the back.”

“…That’s true.”

“Since the Pirate Empress is friendly to commanders, if we assume the pirate faction is friendly to us, wouldn’t combining with the Space Monsters, who also rely on numbers, create a greater synergy?”

“…”

Seeing Gryanarr’s confident attitude completely silence Belial, I quietly opened the community.

I checked the comments on a question I had slightly modified from our meeting topic.

—————————————-

Comments:

-[Synergy combinations by faction? If I had to choose, pirate-monster or pirate-Earth.]

-[If you really want to go for numbers, the former; if you want something more sophisticated, the latter.]

-[Or monster-Earth?]

-[What about aliens?]

-[The Golden Horse doesn’t synergize well with Earth and monsters, or pirates.]

-[The monster-pirate combo is just about numbers; in the late game, users have to mass-produce large ships, lol.]

-[But does this even matter?]

-˪[Since you can hire pirate mercenaries, it’s worth considering synergy.]

-˪[Ah, I see.]

—————————————-

And through the comments, I realized our professor was right.

I stood up and decided to wrap up the meeting.

“Everyone, listen up. From now on, our base will join the Monster Faction.”

“Good idea, you won’t be disappointed, Commander.”

==========

But right after the meeting ended.

As soon as I had a one-on-one meeting with Gryanarr, who had suddenly become the base’s top intellect…

“Hohoho, actually? I pushed for this because I wanted to study the Space Monsters this time.”

“…”

“Of course, what I said wasn’t wrong, but ultimately, my curiosity came first… that’s not entirely wrong, is it?”

“Ah, right.”

“Later, when everyone grows a third arm or tentacle tail, you’ll find it surprisingly convenient, won’t you?”

Hearing the natural confession of “Everything is just my preference!”…

I felt a small pang of sadness at the reality that I couldn’t fully trust our top intellect.