The expressions of the captains brightened significantly after hearing my words.
A leader must never show frustration, no matter how desperate the situation.
Be simple. Be concise. Be firm.
One must present a vision.
Even if that vision is far-fetched.
Hope is the light that leads the pack.
“I hope none of you are idiots whose balls have shriveled up over a mere 1,000 ants,” I said.
Maybe I was the one who was most nervous. Even if it was nothing in the game, I had to stake my life on it here.
I was more afraid because I knew there was a chance of failure.
However, I decided to trust myself first. I was the only person I could rely on.
For the record, I’m a hardcore veteran.
Isn’t that reliable?
[Ship 91 Communication]
[Young Master, I am a woman. I don’t have any unsightly things to shrivel up.]
[Ship 29 Communication]
[Our race reproduces asexually. We do not have such inefficient body parts.]
[Ship 76 Communication]
[I became a eunuch due to an unfortunate accident, but I am not scared!]
Communications came in simultaneously from various ships. However, I felt a bit bad for the captain of Ship 76. To think he’s a eunuch.
“That’s a relief. If there were any such idiots, I was going to kick their asses and throw them to the ants as food.”
That was enough joking. It was time to get to the point.
“Listen up, everyone. We know the location of the Ant Queen’s nest. Precisely.”
I straightened my chest and leaned back into the captain’s seat. I made myself comfortable, acting as if the situation was nothing and there was no tension at all.
“Nothing changes just because there are many ants. Once the Queen is dead, the situation is over. Any moron who doesn’t understand can raise their hand.”
Not a single captain raised their hand. Instead, there were only those who chuckled.
“Follow me, and I’ll make you all rich. Let’s go!!”
*Vroooom!*
The fleet resonated. The soldiers who heard the conversation between the captains and me had recovered their morale.
***
The Ant Queen sat in her nest, watching the movements of the subjugation force. It was as if she were watching an entertaining movie.
“Foolish creatures. They must not have realized the size of our forces before coming here.”
She put something into her mouth with her massive foreleg.
*Crunch!*
The sound of something fresh being chewed echoed in her mouth. As if she wasn’t satisfied yet, she rolled her eyes. In her sight, she saw another human who was bound. She reached out her foreleg.
“P-please… save me! Please.”
“Do not be afraid. You are not dying. You are being reborn as my lovely child.”
“Fuck! Stop talking nonsense and save me! You monster!!”
“Ho-oh. You’re quite a fresh one. I’ll take my time and savor you, starting from your torso.”
She grinned.
“Aaaaaagh!”
The Queen’s room was noisy with screams. However, she didn’t care and looked back at the prey on the screen.
“Now, what do you plan to do?”
***
Our ship took the lead. The dark waves surged violently. This was due to the gravitational influence of the massive gas planet.
*Swooooosh—*
The giant waves pushed forward before curling inward at the ends. It was no different from a normal ocean.
‘There it is!’
I could see the passage where the waves curled. Thanks to the Eyes of the Eodukshini, I could find it easily.
“Chris. I’ve marked it, so follow it.”
“Oh—! I see it. A massive hole big enough for even an Elephantian ship to pass through.”
Chris moved according to my guidance. The Fairies were flying creatures. They had a high understanding of dark fluctuations. If I gave them the answer like this, they could find the solution themselves.
*Shaaaaaa!*
Our ship entered the vortex tunnel. 104 ships followed behind us. The massive energy emitted by the bunched-up ships widened the wave tunnel.
*Hummmmm—*
The ship, which had been jolting, began to vibrate calmly. It was like the tinnitus that occurs when a loud noise disappears, or like the deep part of a swimming pool where the current has stopped. Inside the tunnel, the dark energy was organized in a single direction.
“Enemy ships are catching up!”
The enemies flew above us as we wound through the space like a snake. Their numbers reached nearly 1,000 ships.
“Lock-on detected. We’ve been targeted by multiple enemy ships!”
The enemies aimed randomly at our fleet. Since we were grouped together, it must have looked like shooting fish in a barrel to them.
“Should I deploy the shields?”
“No. Save the energy. The entire fleet will maintain only basic shields and trust me. Open all batteries. Pre-heat immediately.”
“Orders sent!”
The captains couldn’t hide their anxious expressions. Now that the situation was upon them, their trust in me probably wavered as if they were suddenly sobering up.
“I’ll let them have the first move! I promise you, their attacks will not reach us.”
We moved quickly, riding the waves that flowed along the planet. However, to the stationary enemies, we probably didn’t look like much. We would look like easy prey.
“Enemy fleet! Commencing large-scale bombardment. Prepare for impact.”
*Zzzzzzt!*
*Boom! Boom!*
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
The enemy’s one-sided attack poured toward our fleet. Lasers of various colors and types were dazzling.
Their direction was accurate. They even established an X-shaped crossfire. Normally, at least ten ships would have sunk.
However…
*Whooooosh!*
The lasers were swept away by the waves. They were shattered and absorbed, their light scattering in all directions.
“Uh… huh…?”
“What is this?”
“The enemy attack… it’s being neutralized…?”
Everyone had a dazed expression of shock. We were inside the wave tunnel. It was as if they and we were in different dimensions.
“Kuehehe. This body is the son of Poseidon!”
I had been half-doubting it, but it worked. If this were just a game, it wouldn’t have been this thrilling.
“Who is that? Your name is Go…”
When I glared at him, 07 glanced away. This time, Vice-Captain Siela muttered with a blank expression.
“Planetary wave effect…! Was this what you were aiming for?”
“Of course. Those unromantic ants wouldn’t have expected this.”
It was a surprisingly common phenomenon. It mainly occurred in places close to the sun or near gas planets with strong gravity. Quite a few people enjoyed this as a hobby. However, doing such a thing with heavy warships was an act of madness.
“Chris! We’re exiting through that outlet over there.”
“Roger!”
“Entire fleet. Prepare to fire. Share the target points.”
“Transmitting. Attack direction is the center of the enemy fleet.”
Our fleet opened their gun ports wide toward the enemies. Furthermore, we had saved the energy that would have gone into the shields. That meant the cannons were fully powered.
“We’ve cleared the waves!” Chris shouted.
I shouted at the same time.
“Entire fleet. Fire!”
*Thud-thud-thud! Zzzt! Pew! Pew!*
The 105 warships fired various weapons. The enemies hurriedly deployed their shields, but…
*K-booom! Crash! Ka-boom!*
Over twenty ships were sunk. It was even easier because the enemies were stationary.
“Waaaaaaa!”
The crew members, who had been watching with bated breath, let out a cheer. It was only about twenty ships out of 1,000, but it was encouraging enough. Our fleet still hadn’t taken a single hit.
“Chris! Re-entry.”
“Leave it to me.”
We entered the tunnel again.
[Damn it!!]
In the process, one ship was bounced out and sucked into the planet.
“Is that guy a gas addict? Everyone, focus!!”
The gravity of a gas planet is immense. Unless you’re a top-tier helmsman, you won’t make it out. This is why people don’t go surfing in warships.
“Enemy ships. Attempting to attack again!”
“Let them fire.”
We repeated the same pattern. It was a tactic possible because everyone was in a light maneuver ship. The enemies were helpless even though they knew what was happening.
Seventeen ships, twenty-two ships, nine ships…
The enemy’s numbers gradually decreased. In the end, about 300 ships were sunk or half-destroyed.
“Captain. We can’t hold out like this for long.”
We were maintaining high engine output. Warning messages were increasing one by one on various screens.
“I guess it’s time to settle this.”
Those guys seemed to have gotten used to our pattern as well, as they began to block off potential paths. We dodged and twisted as much as possible, but we lost a few ships. I didn’t want this kind of war of attrition.
“Ship 2.”
[Yes, Young Master!]
“Take the lead.”
The skill of Ship 2 wasn’t as bad as I thought. They must have figured out the wave patterns here. They should be able to repeat what we did even without our ship.
“Chris. We’re dropping to the very rear.”
We weren’t the only ones who had adapted. Unless they were idiots, they had been watching what we were doing until now. They might have decided that blocking the path was too difficult. There wasn’t just one wave, after all. The enemies and we were playing a game of whack-a-mole.
“The enemy fleet is starting the pursuit!!”
A ship’s rear is its most vulnerable point. Naturally, they would move to bite our tail.
“They’ve caught our tail!!”
“Chris. Slow down.”
“If we slow down here, we’ll lose the wave.”
“It’s fine.”
I grinned.
“Rear! Energy reaction.”
“Immediate evasive maneuvers.”
“Roger!”
*Creeeeak—!*
The ship creaked and spun relentlessly. My stomach turned, but I could endure this much.
*Pewww!*
A few laser beams streaked past us. Since there was still some distance, they were easy enough to dodge.
“The enemy fleet is closing in fast.”
“The baiting was a success! Speed up again.”
“I can’t see any place to catch a wave!”
Thanks to that, our ship lagged slightly behind the fleet. Our output was also quite low due to engine overload.
“It’s okay. Just pretend you’re riding a wave. Just act.”
“Ooh! That sounds like fun.”
It would have been impossible for a conventional ship. But now? It was a custom tuning specifically for Chris.
*Glance—!*
I scanned the rear. Those guys were doggedly sticking to our ass.
‘Their engines should be reaching their limits soon, too.’
If you ride the waves, you can maintain high speed with relatively little power. The problem is that right before that, it puts an enormous load on the engine. They haven’t tried wave-riding before, so they wouldn’t know.
“Chris! Remember the skip phenomenon?”
“Ah. That. Hehe-he!”
He laughed, appearing to be in a good mood. He seemed to have realized what I was going to do.
The enemy fleet was focusing all their attention on following us. They wouldn’t even be thinking about the angle of planetary entry.
“Captain. Enemy fleet. Within effective range.”
“Targeting detected! It’s dangerous.”
Especially in a situation where they were aiming, they would be even less focused on anything else.
“Chris. Now! Turn!!”
“Yes-sir!!! Up!!!”
*Creeeeak—!*
The ship tilted madly. The gravity control device went completely haywire.
“Uwaaaaagh!”
“Huff! Huff!”
“Haa—! Haa—!”
The crew members each practiced abdominal breathing, trying their best not to lose consciousness.
“The. Enemy. Is. Following. Us.”
Foolishly, hundreds of enemies turned their bows to follow us. All to maintain their aim. That was the worst choice they could have made.
*Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!*
They bounced off in all directions like ping-pong balls falling out of a bag. Some of them must have turned their angles too sharply, as they were sucked straight into the planet. May they rest in peace.
“Entire fleet! Charge toward the Queen’s nest!”
“Transmitting. Entire fleet is to charge toward the Queen’s nest immediately!”
Our goal wasn’t the enemy fleet to begin with.
***
The Queen frowned in frustration.
“You idiots! Why don’t you follow them? Why are you just standing there like morons, getting hit one-sidedly!”
As soon as the Queen’s order was given, her ships immediately pursued the enemies. Then, she noticed that one ship was peculiar.
“That one! Yes. That one is the leader.”
It was the most conspicuous gold color. It had always been at the front from the beginning. The flow of communication was also unusual. She could see all communications converging toward the golden ship. This was proof that the ship was the flagship.
“I suppose it’s exhausted from leading for so long. Now is the chance.”
Naturally, the fatigue of a ship increases when it’s in the lead. It has to take all the dark energy with its entire body.
*Zzt! Zzzzt!*
The subordinates stuck to the tail of the golden ship and attempted to attack. It annoyingly dodged like a fly. However, the distance gradually narrowed. It looked like they could shoot it down soon.
She believed that. But then…
*Thud-thud-thud—!*
The subordinates chasing the golden fly were bounced off in all directions. Their formation was completely broken. The impact must have been significant, as they were still unable to control their posture.
“W-what!”
The problem was that in the meantime, the enemies were flying toward the nest. How did they know the nest was here?
“Block them! Block them now!!!”
The Queen jumped to her feet and shouted. However, there were no ships that could block them immediately. It was a failure of judgment to move all ships without splitting the forces.
A normal commander would have operated by dividing their forces into pursuit, herding, and reserves. However, everyone had moved in perfect order according to the Queen’s command.
“Ah—!”
Only then did she feel a chill down her spine.
“No way…!”
The enemies were all in light maneuver ships. After ramming, they could fix their hulls to the opponent’s ship. After that, they could safely transfer their combat troops to the enemy ship.
“Are they… trying to catch me?!”
The Queen realized their goal. For the first time in her life, she felt something called fear.