Chapter 54: The Path to Constellation

Once the fortress is installed, two star clusters will be isolated.

They will not be able to hold out and will surrender.

If that happens…

The Lucifel Star Cluster.

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Two star clusters received as the price for the retreat.

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The Mungom Star Cluster.

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Two isolated star clusters.

A total of six star clusters will fall under the influence of our Pak family.

It is a bit short of being called a warlord’s territory.

Yet, it is in an ambiguous state where it is hard to say it isn’t a warlord’s territory either.

When ten star clusters gather, it is called a Constellation.

The person in charge of it is a Commander.

A Commander protects one side of a Marshal’s office.

In medieval terms, it is roughly the status of a Margrave.

From then on, it is perfectly fine to be called a warlord.

For the record, the Humildas Marshal’s Office has no Commander.

While they could not even manage the borders properly, they were incredibly greedy.

Now, they have reached their limit.

They suffered too much damage in this war.

Inevitably, they will need a Commander.

Naparrr and Uganaoda will likely become Commanders.

At this rate, they will lose Sector 17 and parts of Sector 18 to Marshal Poena right before their eyes.

‘If I get four more, I’ll become a Constellation…’

From the rank of Constellation, the level changes.

There will be many wealthy people coveting it.

It becomes possible to sell it at a very high price.

Perhaps there will be someone who wants to buy it and then enter under the command of Marshal Imperium.

If I am very lucky, the central government might buy it and grant it to a member of the imperial family.

*Swish!*

I scanned the map.

A region happens to catch my eye.

The Bibibic White Hole.

It is not far from the Lucifel Star Cluster.

A white hole is the opposite concept of a black hole.

The influence of the Bibibic White Hole covers exactly about four star clusters.

‘If I take this, it makes exactly ten…’

The problem is that there is someone occupying this place.

He has not received an official post from a Marshal or the central government.

The reason is simple.

The exploitation of the residents in the area he occupies was too severe.

People like him were called bandits.

Because of this guy, Marshal Humildas also had a headache.

He planned subjugations several times.

The problem was that every time, things happened that caused them to be postponed.

The guy is incredibly lucky.

I am tempted.

“Ttaeng-i. How long will it take to install the fortress?”

“Did you call for me? Ttaeng-i is a nickname I like.”

Theblue 02 came as the station installation supervisor.

The Butler had more influence in the family than one would think.

In corporate terms, he was the Chief of Staff.

“I’m glad you like it.”

“I don’t think installation will take that long. There were quite a few items out on the market. We just need to assemble them.”

There were many stations half-destroyed by Marshal Humildas.

There were also many places where planets were not devastated enough to be beyond help.

It seems they scraped together usable parts from such places.

‘By the time I return from Bibibic, it should be finished.’

For now, I should leave this place to the Butler and go on the subjugation.

“Also, the Marshal has summoned you, Young Master. He says there will be a victory ceremony.”

“Anyone seeing this would think we had a great victory.”

“Imperium retreated, and you even occupied the Mungom Star Cluster, Young Master. The side that took land is the winner.”

Looking at the result, it is true that the Allied forces brought back at least a sliver of land.

In terms of profit and loss? Imperium gained the advantage.

They lost many ships, but they must have taken quite a bit through looting.

“Tsk. I can’t not go.”

It isn’t an obligation.

But I have to go and help him save face.

The real reason is…

Even if I became an independent warlord, I can’t just cut ties immediately.

If the alliance breaks because I give them a pretext, it will only be tiring for me.

Then, my back would itch, and I wouldn’t be able to stretch my legs and sleep peacefully.

‘There probably won’t be a reward, right?’

There is no way that stingy Raccoon Man would give a proper reward.

He probably has nothing to give anyway.

Sector 16 turned into a mess because of this invasion.

“Well then, I’m off. After you finish, postpone the activation. I’ll do it after I get back.”

“I understand, Young Master.”

Activation must be done with a divine object.

Just to give it the feeling of completing a grand plan.

***

I led 1,000 ships toward the Sector 16 Center.

I didn’t use the main road.

I split them into groups of 100 ships by type and let them arrive autonomously.

“Ms. Voluptuous Forest Keeper. Are the Go siblings adjusting well?”

The Vice-Captain’s face turned red.

“I am instructing them personally.”

“I plan to use Gororo as a gunnery officer, so please pay special attention.”

“Yes. It was hard to believe he was livestock until recently; his sense for shooting was quite remarkable. He is an appropriate person to be a gunnery officer.”

The Vice-Captain supposedly graduated from the military academy with fairly good grades.

Since she knows the basics of fire control, there will be no problem teaching him.

“More importantly, about our Kko-kko. Don’t you think it has grown a lot?”

I pointed to the green egg placed on one side.

“As I have told you repeatedly, eggs do not grow.”

I pouted.

“Grow! Grow!”

I shot Force at Kko-kko.

*Ssssss!*

Thanks to Marshal Ugo-girl, the purity of my Force had increased.

As a result, the output had improved as well.

If someone else had obtained this level of Force, they would be flying around smashing heads.

Next time I meet Tai Chi Sansu, I must learn diligently.

*Clatter!*

“Oh?! Did you see that? It just moved.”

“I… I saw it.”

“Call the medic!! Hurry.”

“Understood.”

A moment later, the medic ran… no, crawled quickly over.

“The egg moved just now! This time it’s for real.”

The medic took out a small lens and held it to the egg.

Then, he observed the flow of energy.

“Hmm… Looking at the flow of Force, it seems it will hatch soon.”

“Great!!”

With this, I have no worries about pocket money.

Ant eggs are traded at a high price everywhere.

Especially Vegan Ants are traded for 1.5 to two times the price.

“Just in case, I will move it to the infirmary.”

“Right. It might be sick when it’s born.”

It was immediately moved to the infirmary.

The medic set up various equipment.

*Ssssss.*

I continued to shoot Force into it to mean ‘good luck.’

My management ability might be lacking, but it wasn’t like I didn’t have Force.

With a heart as high as the sky and as wide as the sea, I continued to supply Force.

*Crack!*

“Oh! It’s coming out. It’s coming out.”

Everyone concentrated on the egg.

*Crunch!*

A green ant popped out of the egg.

It was the birth of the Vegan Ant Queen.

I was about to open my mouth to see if I should sing a commemorative birth song, but…

“To stare so blankly at Us. How insolent. Everyone, bow before Us.”

The creature looked down at us with a triumphant expression.

“Kko-kko is talking? And in the Imperial language, too.”

Feeling amazed, I asked the medic.

“It seems to have learned the language while in the egg. The Ant race has language genes engraved in their DNA. It seems it learned our language based on that.”

“Oh. It’s quite smart. That means it applied what it learned.”

Kko-kko glared at me.

On the other hand, its face was full of doubt.

“Bring Us a meal at once. You lack the basics. To think that no meal is prepared even though We have been born into the world.”

I immediately told the galley to bring some vegetables.

Then, Kko-kko began to put them into its mouth one by one.

“The meal is truly meager. Why do you offer such inferior things to Us? Are you all that poor?”

This fellow… its appetite was pickier than I thought.

And it is true that we are poor.

We didn’t have the luxury to use Grade A ingredients for the ship’s food.

For the record, food ingredients that could be used on a spaceship were very expensive.

Force recovery, radiation resistance, DNA damage, and taste.

Because many requirements had to be met to become space food.

“Just eat it quietly.”

“How insolent. To dare give orders to Us.”

*Whack!*

I hit the creature’s head with my crowbar.

For the record, this body is an Ant Slayer.

Even if not for others, a crowbar is a disaster for crustaceans.

“Gack!! You… you dare hit me.”

“If you don’t want to be hit more, eat quietly. You’ll get a spanking.”

I raised the crowbar.

The creature flinched.

It must have been quite painful.

“I… I will never forget this humiliation.”

The creature hurriedly devoured the vegetables.

It’s probably thinking of laying eggs to create an army.

“Vice-Captain. Assign a separate room for this guy.”

“Understood.”

“Attach a tracker, too. Just in case.”

“Yes!”

The Vice-Captain took away Kko-kko, who was about 1 meter tall.

It will soon grow to over 2 meters and start laying eggs.

Then, it will earn its keep.

“Besides that, why is its personality like that?”

“Aren’t Ant Queens usually like that? Still, it seems to have low aggression. That’s considered very gentle.”

Because it’s a Vegan Queen.

Its combat power is weak, and it’s very cowardly.

The Ant race doesn’t usually raise Vegans as Queens unless absolutely necessary.

They only raise them when their power has dwindled.

“Still, I think discipline will be necessary. It is too arrogant and might cause trouble.”

It seems that should be the case.

I should assign a designated soldier to manage it.

“Jyot!”

“Ye… es! Captain.”

Diana Jyot, who was nearby, answered in a startle.

Usually, he looked very weak-hearted.

How such a guy became famous as a treasure hunter…

“Stock our ship with a reasonable amount of Grade A vegetables. To feed that guy.”

“I… I understand.”

“Keep filling the supplies we eat with Grade C.”

They say an ant’s life is the best life.

Still, it was necessary.

‘Operation name: Strategy of the Carrot and the Stick.’

I should only give Grade A vegetables when it does something good.

***

My fleet ran hard.

Warp.

.

Warp.

.

Berthing.

.

Warp.

“Captain. We are in the central star system.”

Thanks to moving diligently, we were able to arrive at the Marshal’s office center quickly.

I also scanned the news articles while coming.

– A rascal in the family. A hoodlum in Sector 16. A hero on the battlefield. Pak Yu.

└ This is correct. LOL

└ Honestly, the trouble he caused wasn’t even that big.

└ The scale was small, but the frequency of causing trouble was too high.

└ Probably because he’s a genius. Maybe he didn’t have any particular ill will.

└ You need ability even to act like a rascal. The people who used to curse him are gone. LOL

└ It’s like he paid back for all the nuisance he caused in Sector 16.

└ LOL, is it time for him to cause a nuisance again? For a noble, the scale of his trouble is small enough to be tolerated.

└ No. The Pak family became independent. He probably won’t be in the capital.

└ Why?! With what thought did they let him be independent? There’s no one as capable as Pak Yu right now.

└ Even if he’s independent, it’s an alliance anyway. He’s no different from a Commander.

└ True. There’s nothing he can do alone anyway. There are no other factions nearby worth joining.

Surprisingly, there were many sharp people.

That is also the reason Marshal Humildas granted independence.

Maybe the Raccoon Man had other thoughts.

The Lucifel Star Cluster is pierced into Marshal Imperium’s power territory like a needle.

Defense is not easy.

Since it would be taken anyway, there is a high possibility his intention was to use me as a meat shield while acting like he was doing me a favor.

– Rascal Pak Yu. Played a decisive role in this war.

└ He really is crazy.

└ 1. Brought reinforcements. 2. Made them retreat to the second line with the Ret-Run. 3. Defeated Sagitta’s 1,500-strong army (with much weaker power). 4. Participated in the pitched battle and checked Sumuaythai’s army (without this, they might have been annihilated). 5. Put Dalip in the ring (because of this, Imperium withdrew). 6. Though it’s only one star cluster, he took Imperium’s land.

└ He basically did everything from one to ten by himself.

└ Is it true that he was active during the pitched battle? Didn’t he just watch from behind and get lucky?

└ No. If not for Pak Yu, they would have been properly caught in the ‘Hammer and Anvil.’

└ Wow. It’s a miracle they weren’t annihilated.

└ Can’t Pak Yu just be the Marshal of our sector?

└ He definitely has a good sense for war, but internal affairs are the problem. And you know, he’s a hoodlum.

└ He probably won’t work.

└ The solution is simple. Pak Yu’s father, Pak Go, can do it. Let Pak Yu do the war, and let the Pak family head rule.

└ Right. The Pak family’s business was investment and finance.

└ He might unexpectedly do well in internal affairs, too.

The reaction was quite good.

The problem is that because of this public opinion, the Raccoon Man cannot properly reward me.

He might even treat me as a more dangerous person than Naparrr or Uganaoda, the adopted son of the Black Crow.

Because my popularity in Sector 16 has risen too much.

In other places, rumors are distorted, and they think I’m a real piece of trash, but within Sector 16, it hasn’t been exaggerated that much.

For a famous rascal, the trouble was nothing special.

It’s probably because I’m the type who’s strong against the strong and weak against the weak.

Of course, because of this, the Pak family’s fortune was considerably squandered.

“Send the ships that need repairs to C-4.”

“Understood, Captain.”

Once the ceremony is over, I plan to immediately set out for the Bibibic White Hole.

That’s why I purposely had them gather at the Center.

It is, after all, the place with the best maintenance infrastructure in Sector 16.

“Captain. Entry permission for the flagship has been granted from the Center.”

“Good. Activate acceleration drive.”

Let’s go see the Raccoon Man’s face.