The Chaotic Operation to Assassinate Popular Icarus (3)

The assassins had lost the advantage of surprise, and were instead being thoroughly toyed with in a frontal brawl that was pitifully beneath their grade.

…Of course, in Rakan's case, getting ambushed by a tentacle monster in a cramped space where he could barely move was basically the equivalent of being forced to star in tentacle content on the spot. Calling it one of the most spectacular raw deals imaginable wouldn't have been an exaggeration.

But if he spent just another four or five hours like that, then regardless of any affection stats, his body would become something that couldn't live without it — meaning he wouldn't have wasted half his life for nothing. At least that's how Griyanaar framed it, patting herself on the back.

Anyway, while the supers belonging to the players she'd stirred up were being routed, cut down, or ground to pieces for one reason ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠or another, the three supers under Indian Machete — Mirai, Sherpa, and August — were advancing on the Biology Lab.

Unlike the assassin-type supers from the other players who'd gone off alone and gotten shredded just moments before, Mirai was a bruiser-type, and she had Sherpa and August stuck to her back for sub-DPS and party buffs. Thanks to that, even under the assault of the various trash mobs and defense turrets that came pouring out in response to the alert Icarus had issued once he grasped the situation, they were still pushing forward.

Of course, the only reason that was even possible was because the other four supers were sacrificing their bodies to buy time. So Indian Machete's supers, determined to make this raid succeed, had abandoned any further attempt at stealth and simply bulldozed their way in…

But as mentioned above, no matter how stealthily they moved, inside the base they were nothing more than monkeys dancing on the Buddha's palm. In a way, charging in this fast and hard was actually the more sensible approach.

Even so, their unstoppable advance ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠eventually met its end.

"Hmm. Looks like I've drawn the short straw of three."

"!"

"Halt!"

"Wh-what is that?"

Mirai the close-range bruiser, August on sub-DPS, and Sherpa on party buffs — the three of them found themselves face to face with her: the one who, inside a base saturated with kaiju cells, could hold her own alone against four or five SSS-grades without breaking a sweat.

She warped the formal suit she was wearing into writhing tentacles and carapace, simultaneously twisting the surrounding base terrain into something resembling a monster's guts. Then, from that warped landscape, she spewed forth a mass of kaiju and weapon-tipped tentacles. Our Oxianor had arrived.

Watching the situation unfold through his three supers, Indian Machete realized that Icarus's super roster was far more deranged than he'd imagined — and uttered a line for the ages.

"This game is fucking broken."

With the report that Oxianor had leveraged her overwhelming home-ground advantage to win a three-on-one fight, I successfully repelled the Humanity Clan forces that had infiltrated the base.

Honestly, capturing someone alive is harder than just killing them, so I'd fully expected most of the infiltrators to end up dead.

"This is nothing more than a scratch!"

"Well, you're alive, at least?"

"Mm."

Judging by the fact that the most serious "injury" was severed limbs, every single infiltrating super had been taken alive.

Of the seven who'd broken in, five were dragged in with all their limbs intact — just cut up and beaten bloody here and there. One, as mentioned above, had been toyed with like a plaything by Smeragi until his limbs were torn off, leaving him unable to move on his own, so our unmanned drones had to haul him around.

As for the last one… for some reason, Griyanaar — who'd been assigned to him — reported that she simply couldn't bring him in. Curious, I looked into it, and what I found was genuinely shocking.

"Ah, Commander?"

"Griyanaar, what exactly did you do?"

"Well, you see, the enemy super came in through the sewage system, so I had the tentacle creatures growing down there handle the reception."

"…"

"But a little too much growth fluid got mixed in, and the kid really didn't want to come out."

So he'd been "captured" all right — except he was stuck inside the sewage pipes, completely immobilized, getting the full tentacle treatment.

"Can't you pull him out?"

"Nope. A substance that amplifies full-body sensitivity by three thousand times is currently being pumped into him."

"…"

"Yank him out now and he'll die of shock."

"Then when can you get him out?"

"Well… those sewage security organisms have extremely short lifespans, so maybe three hours? We'll pull him out while hosing him down with neutralizing fluid, then stick him in a tank of more neutralizer mixed with anesthetic."

Holy moly.

Even knowing he was an enemy who'd infiltrated the base, I couldn't help feeling a twinge of pity for that super — whose name was the only thing I knew about him — and whatever fate awaited him.

Anyway, nothing particularly unusual happened after that. That "male" super named Rakan had been subjected to round after round of tentacle overstimulation until he was finally released, only to find…

Somehow he'd been gender-swapped into a woman, and on top of that, the damn trap organism had shredded his clothes. So when we dressed him in something appropriately feminine and showed him off, the commander who owned that super broke down sobbing in chat. A minor incident, all things considered.

Of course, none of that changed the important fact: people who'd shown up claiming to be a peace delegation had dared try to terrorize someone else's base.

"As I said earlier, neither I nor the Humanity Clan have any connection to this incident."

"Hmm."

"Still, if at all possible… could you let this slide?"

Tiara, together with his adjutant, was performing a full prostration-slash-dogeza combo in front of me, expressing his deepest apologies. The reason, naturally, was to beg forgiveness for the supers who'd infiltrated our base and the commanders who controlled them.

I looked down at Tiara's full-body apology, shook my head slowly, and spoke.

"Tiara, if you were in my shoes, would it be easy to forgive people who showed up as envoys and then tried to terrorize the inside of your base?"

"That's… a fair point."

He conceded my argument without resistance, then declared that a single tangible gesture mattered more than a hundred words, and offered me additional compensation.

"Our clan intends to transfer ten thousand Gold and two battleships to you, Icarus, over this matter."

"…Oh?"

"Naturally, that ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠comes with a hundred thousand minerals and twenty thousand rare resources as well."

Hearing that, I felt genuine interest bubble up out of nowhere. Resources alone weren't something I fretted over much anymore — I'd stockpiled a decent amount through the event period — but more resources are always better, right? And not only ten thousand Gold, but two battleships of a class I couldn't even build yet?

While he still had his head bowed ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and couldn't see me, I immediately locked eyes with Jessica and exchanged a rapid silent conversation.

What do you think?

Looks solid. Especially the Gold — you'll need that when you put together a proper fleet later, Commander.

Hmm.

After that exchange, we concluded it was better than expected. So I decided to hear Tiara out on his proposed measures for preventing this kind of thing going forward, while he was still face-down on the floor.

And a short while later…

Ohohoho, don't mind if I do~

Apparently the Humanity Clan really didn't want this incident blowing up any bigger than it already had. On top of the apology, they bundled in a lump-sum hush payment on the condition that I keep quiet about the whole affair.

Satisfied with their response, I agreed to send four of the five commanders' supers — the ones who'd been stirred up into this mess — back aboard the stealth destroyer Tiara had arrived on. I also learned that the compensation paid to me would soon be forcibly collected from the warehouses of those same four clan members who'd gotten themselves riled up.

Aigoo, you poor bastards.

Not only had they fallen for a half-baked instigation and gotten thoroughly screwed, but instead of receiving any "support funds" from the Humanity Clan through Tiara, they were about to have their resources and Gold forcibly repossessed. Watching those idiots get what was coming to them, I privately cackled and felt thoroughly refreshed.

But in the middle of all this, there was one truly unexpected development…

"So why aren't you planning to extract that guy's supers? If you're going to do it, better to handle everyone at once, no?"

"Ah, well, you see… Indian Machete turned out to be a Loki Clan spy."

"Whoa."

While negotiating with me, the Humanity Clan had independently investigated the ringleader on suspicion — and discovered that Indian Machete, the one who'd stirred everyone up, was in fact a spy for the Loki Clan, Humanity's hostile rival.

And the moment he was exposed, the man in question quit the clan on the spot and fled somewhere with his entire base in tow.