Chapter 44: Chaos in the Grey Nebula

The shimmering ripples of dark energy were visible in the distance.

“Now! Deploy the logs!”

Several cargo ships stretched out like taffy. The term “logs” referred to cargo ships used to block the path.

*Thump—!*

The cargo ships vanished from sight.

*Boom—! Boom-boom—!*

A moment later, a fleet of nearly 1,000 ships slid into view. One hundred of them were supply ships. It seemed they intended to resupply locally, as the number of supply ships was relatively low.

“Commander. We have an incoming transmission.”

I nodded my head.

[You’ve grown bold. To think you’d face me head-on.]

“I’m planning to fight in there, though?”

I pointed behind me with my thumb. A gray nebula zone stretched out behind our fleet.

[Hahaha—! How foolish. You think you can take on gunboats with mere corvettes in a gray nebula?]

Normally, gunboats would indeed have the advantage in a gray nebula. Since visibility is zero, both sides end up firing blindly. Naturally, the one with the stronger cannons wins.

However…

That gray nebula was no ordinary place. It was the very location where I had conducted the initial tests. Areas that possess two distinct properties are sometimes called complex nebulas.

In that complex nebula, the stored energy explodes once the friction energy reaches a certain threshold.

In other words, formations fall into utter chaos. And when a formation falls apart? You can’t just fire blindly for fear of hitting your own allies. This actually puts the fragile gunboats at a greater disadvantage.

“Isn’t it about time you learned some humility? How many more times does this old man have to scold you before you grow up?”

[I’ll see if you can keep calling yourself an old man once I’m standing right in front of you.]

“This guy just doesn’t learn. Fine. Come on in if you’re so confident.”

*Beep—!*

I curled the corners of my mouth into a smirk and cut the transmission.

“Fleet, reverse slowly.”

“All ships, reverse! Maintain formation!”

Our fleet vanished, as if dissolving into the gray nebula.

*Boom-boom—!*

Sagitta’s fleet took up formation and pursued us rapidly. They were moving at the maximum speed a gunboat could manage.

‘Sigh. When will that guy ever fix his personality?’

Imperium hadn’t even attached any military advisors to him. It probably wouldn’t have mattered if they had. Imperium was the only person capable of controlling that guy.

Normally, it wouldn’t be an issue. When I played as Imperium, I used him as a commander quite often. He wasn’t particularly unintelligent. The problem was that he occasionally did stupid things when he got angry. That was why it was crucial not to send him as a commander against an opponent he had a bitter relationship with.

*Boom-boom—!*

We entered the gray nebula.

*Rumble—!*

The ship vibrated slightly in the pitch-black darkness. As the ships rubbed against the gray nebula, which was brimming with stored energy, they began to heat up.

Then, as Sagitta’s fleet rushed inside…

*Sssssss—!*

Energy erupted from various points in the gray nebula, like a match being struck against a rough surface. He really was a careless fellow. He must be incredibly confident in his skills.

*Pop, pop, pop—!*

It sounded like carbonation bubbles bursting.

“A wave has formed!”

A strong dark pulse was observed. Soon, it would sweep over both the enemy and our fleet from all directions.

***

“Full speed ahead!”

Sagitta’s fleet surged forward at full speed, their teeth clenched.

Everyone was of one mind. The anger of every soldier had reached its peak. They had been one-sidedly toyed with without even getting to have a proper fight.

“General! We can’t see anything!”

“It doesn’t matter! Just maintain the formation!”

Park Yu’s fleet had entered while reversing. Naturally, their speed had to be slow. Even if they had turned around halfway, it would take a long time to build up acceleration. It would be faster for this side to close the distance into effective firing range.

“We should have caught up by now. All ships, toward the front—”

“General! A wave reaction!”

“What?! Dammit. Was it a complex nebula?”

Usually, a nebula has only one type of climate. In rare cases where there are two or more, they are called complex nebulas.

“Everyone, do your best to maintain formation!”

It didn’t matter if they couldn’t see. It was fine even if waves hit them.

“Maintain the formation. Do not lose your sense of direction!”

If they did that, they could establish a field of fire. He planned to pour attacks into the areas where the enemy was likely to be. The opponent’s forces consisted mostly of corvettes. He was confident he could tear through the weak armor of a corvette.

“General! The wave is too large!”

*Sway—!*

The ship lurched. It didn’t stop there.

“A Level 7 wave from the opposite direction!”

“Another one is rushing in from the 2:00 position!”

The moment he heard that, Sagitta slammed his fist onto the armrest.

“Again! Again! Was I tricked again?!”

He was confident he wouldn’t lose as long as they fought properly. But the opponent wouldn’t even give them that chance.

***

The enemy’s formation was completely destroyed. With waves crashing in from all sides, they must have lost their sense of direction.

“It’s hunting time! Chris! Move out quickly.”

“Leave it to me!”

Despite the powerful waves, the ship moved smoothly. In this place, my ship was the only one that could see. That was because we had a Grade 1 Observer on board.

“Vice-commander. Start marking them now!”

“Yes, Commander.”

We didn’t even attack. We simply slipped through the allied and enemy fleets that were mixed together like a thick stew.

“Ship 48, attack at 7:00, 22 degrees!”

“Ship 229, attack at 4:00, minus 34 degrees!”

.
.

“Ship 532, attack at 11:00, 80 degrees!”

All I had to do was issue orders to the allied ships.

*Boom, boom, boom—!*

Allied ships all around began firing wildly at the enemy vessels.

*Ka-boom—!*

The enemy ships sputtered and exploded. They couldn’t even react. They couldn’t distinguish friend from foe.

You might ask why they didn’t just counterattack in the direction the fire came from.

*Swish—!*

Because waves were crashing in every second, even that was difficult. By the time they tried to counterattack, their direction had already been shifted by a wave.

“Chris! Step on it!”

“Yup, yup! Here we go!”

We did not attack. We only shared positions with our allies. The busier we were, the more information we could share with the rest of the fleet.

*Ugh!*

*Hehehe!*

*Haaaah!*

The personnel in the situation room breathed heavily. Some of them seemed to be enjoying it now, as if they had grown accustomed to it.

However…

*Sway, sway—! Kyu—!*

Lisan de Buzz’s body wobbled back and forth like pudding. Her tentacles also swept here and there like reeds in a gale.

“Lisan! Get a grip!”

“Yeeeesss—! Young Masteeeer—!”

The shared visions flickered. It was because Lisan de Buzz was losing focus.

“Vice-commander. Support her.”

“Yes!”

Siella and I analyzed the data according to the timing of the flickering and relayed it to our allies. We couldn’t afford to slow down. We had to move even more diligently. The enemies were desperately trying to escape the nebula.

We had to catch as many as possible while we had the chance.

***

Sagitta bit his lip. His own impulsiveness had ruined everything.

He had been conceited. He had been arrogant. Perhaps the victories he had built up until now had just been a matter of luck.

His chest felt tight, and a sense of dread washed over him. Park Yu, who had seemed so clumsy, was actually a terrifying man.

“Each ship is to exit the nebula independently and assemble at the designated point.”

Sagitta set a planet as the rallying point. This was the only order he could give right now.

***

The engagement lasted quite a while. Thanks to the waves crashing from all directions, allies and enemies continued to mix.

*Rumble—!*

In the midst of this, we were the only ones attacking.

However, the success rate wasn’t very high. That was because corvettes themselves don’t have good accuracy. On top of that, precision dropped because we were only sharing the enemy’s approximate location.

*Splash—! Splash—!*

The waves continued to surge. Thanks to this, the enemy couldn’t easily escape the nebula. So what if the accuracy was bad? If you keep hitting, eventually something will land.

“No more enemy ships are in sight.”

Inside this nebula, there were only enemies who had sunk, been half-destroyed, or surrendered.

“All ships, hold your positions.”

The gray nebula was gradually calming down. The stored energy had been discharged.

“Rescue allied ships. Detain surrendered enemy vessels. Have the standby cargo ships tow the half-destroyed enemy ships.”

In my heart, I wanted to pull out the sunken ships as well, but we didn’t have that much time. I’ll have to pull them out once the war is over. Even just salvaging the parts would be useful.

***

After finishing the rough cleanup, I led the fleet in pursuit.

“What are our losses?”

“Seven ships sunk. Thirty-eight ships are combat-disabled.”

Occasionally, there were some crazy bastards who fought back. Since they were gunboats, even a glancing blow caused significant damage. Aside from that, there were cases of collisions with other ships because of the waves.

“We have 527 combat ships remaining. Also, 170 armed merchant ships.”

The armed merchant ships weren’t honestly that helpful. You could say they were little more than cannon fodder.

“Commander! The enemy appears to have gathered at Planet 8.”

With an A-Rank Observer, pursuit was easy. However, that observer…

*Bleeegh—!*

She was in a half-melted state, drooping like ice cream. Out of her dozens of eyes, only a few were properly open.

“Lisan. You can go to the infirmary and rest.”

“No. The battle isn’t over yet.”

At my words, she painfully opened a few more of her closed eyes. Her temperament wasn’t bad for a crew member.

‘The problem is the relationship between our families… but can’t I just keep putting her to work?’

I was about to have a debt owed to me. No matter how arrogant the people of the Dogos family were, they would realize that their territory remained safe thanks to me. They might not know it right now, but they would find out once Imperium withdrew. If I hadn’t brought in Dal-lip and joined Ugananoda on the battlefield, their estate wouldn’t have remained unscathed.

‘Let’s think about that later.’

As a side note, reviving the engagement was a no-go. Absolutely not!

*Boom—!*

Our ship soon arrived at Planet 8.

“Commander! Sagitta’s fleet is ahead.”

Seeing us, the enemies formed a line with their backs to the planet.

The enemy had about 450 combat ships remaining. Half of them looked to be in poor condition.

“This is troublesome…”

Since they had taken a last-stand position, we would have to accept significant damage if we engaged them like this. If we were unlucky, we might even lose.

“What should we do?”

“We’ll just maintain a standoff.”

There was no reason for us to be in a hurry.

“Commander. Incoming transmission!”

*Beep—!*

[To think you followed me all the way here. Come on then. I’ll take you on.]

“Why should I?! I’m not in any particular hurry. My territory is perfectly fine, after all.”

I flashed a bright smile.

[How long do you intend to keep this up?]

“About a month? I imagine your supplies will run out around then.”

I made a gesture. Then, the few gunboats we had opened fire on the enemy.

*Boom-boom—!*

The enemies quickly deployed their shields.

*Zip—!*

Because of the distance, the enemy blocked it easily.

“If you’re unhappy about it, feel free to come at me.”

If we attacked periodically like this, they would be forced to consume mana stones. Of course, we could just receive more supplies.

[Do you think I won’t?]

“You look like you’ve got a lot of cripples over there; can you even manage?”

Half of their combat ships were in bad shape. That was why they had taken a last-stand position with their backs to the planet. If they charged at us first, the gaps in their formation would widen.

[Fine. Let’s see who lasts longer. My lord will defeat Marshal Humildas and come this way.]

By now, Naparr-re and Ugogirl must have been taught a lesson. They were probably stuck in some fortress, just keeping watch. That fellow Humildas would be holed up in the center.

Imperium wouldn’t try to force his way through, either. He’d wait, using a detached force to pillage the surroundings. He wouldn’t even dream that Sagitta might have lost to me.

‘You’re the one in a hurry.’

Sagitta must know this, too. He needed to cause a ruckus here so that the immobile enemies would move. No, at this point, he’d have to rejoin Imperium quickly.

*Shiver, shiver.*

The man trembled. On the other hand, I leaned back leisurely in my chair.

“Let’s see who can hold out the longest.”

*Beep—!*

I cut the transmission. Then, the vice-commander spoke with a worried expression.

“If they finish their repairs, we will be at a disadvantage.”

The Imperium’s army was elite, so their mechanics would be skilled. Even the battered ships would become somewhat usable after just a few days.

“It’s fine. I have no intention of fighting.”

What I was doing right now was a bluff. It would be difficult to win a battle against that guy in an open field with troops that weren’t properly trained. At best, it would be a pyrrhic victory. We would have to accept enormous losses ourselves.

“If it were me, I would have charged out immediately.”

Normally, he would have charged out, too. But since he had been toyed with so much, he was probably overestimating me. He was likely wondering if there was another trick.

“Pardon?! Weren’t they also stalling for time to finish their repairs?”

“That’s right. But if you think one step further, you have to ask: ‘Why am I stalling for time?’ Think from the enemy’s perspective! It’s a famous quote from a renowned strategist.”

Who was that? There was a fellow named Park Yu, a bedroom strategist.

“More importantly, I wonder if Ugananoda will arrive on time.”

.
.

One day.

.
.

Two days.

.
.

Three days.

Just as I was starting to think about withdrawing…

“Commander! A large-scale fleet is approaching. It’s a regular army of about 1,500 ships!”

“That otter! He did it!”

I had expected about 2,000 corvettes. However, 1,500 ships as a regular fleet was an even greater achievement.

‘The black cow must have spent quite a bit of money.’

I opened the communication network and waited.

[Brother! I’m sorry I’m late.]

The otter on the screen bowed deeply. He was cute enough that I wanted to pet him. But unlike his appearance, he was a very terrifying fellow. It was best not to get involved with him.

“Good. Now, let’s see what you can do, little brother.”

[Leave it to me, Brother!]

Of course, I had no intention of just watching. I planned to help out just a tiny bit.

That way, I could share in the spoils.