Chapter 123
Chapter 123
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Translator: uly
Chapter: 123
Chapter Title: Reunion at the Lounge
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The lounge looked exactly the same as before.
Nora was behind the bar, playing her usual madam role and chatting with the drinkers, while the rest of the squad members were scattered around the hall, each passing the time in their own way.
Scott's voice was still as loud as ever, and Ivan was nursing his drink alone at his usual spot in the corner.
"Oh, who do we have here?"
Scott was the first to spot me.
His eyes sparkling, he announced my arrival in a booming voice like some theatrical actor. "The illustrious captain of the golden glorious unit graces us with his presence!"
"Leonard?"
"The runaway newbie's back?"
"Haha..."
I knew this was coming.
I walked in with an awkward smile.
When Scott held out his hand for a high-five, I met it with mine, only for him to yank me into a shoulder hug. "You little punk. Ditching your seniors to go have fun with just the juniors, huh? Was it that great?"
"...You know it wasn't for fun."
"Doesn't matter! Look over there. Thanks to you taking Roze, that guy's back to being the baby of the group, all lonely and pathetic."
Scott's finger pointed straight at Ivan.
Ivan's face hardened the moment he realized they were talking about him.
"...Don't mess with me."
"See? He's got a short fuse these days, so tread carefully." It didn't seem like it had anything to do with me, though.
Thanks to Scott dragging me along, I ended up sitting right in front of him.
The moment I sat down, a glass of liquor on the rocks slid over to me.
"Thanks, Nora."
"No problem. So, tell us about what you've been up to." Nora leaned in close, fiddling with my hair.
Her fingers brushed past my horn in the process.
Scott had noticed it too and leaned in with a curious look.
"Yeah, spill it. What's with the horn?"
"It's not that big a deal..."
There was no way endlessly repeating stories of eating, sleeping, raiding hatcheries, and moving would be entertaining.
So I gave them a brief, slightly embellished version of how the independent unit had shifted to specializing in hatchery assaults.
"Bet you had a blast."
"It was just hard work, that's all."
"Things are always fun when the seniors aren't around to drag you down. Sucks that you still have to keep an eye on them and teach 'em properly."
When I first started with Central Superhuman Unit missions, I'd usually pair up with one senior or another.
For temporary superhumans, the goal was protection and gaining experience, so they typically didn't let you go solo beyond a certain point.
I'd gotten out early thanks to Darmosa's favor—letting me join strategy meetings and act like I'd been around for years. "So why'd you come here?"
"Just stopping by Valhalla after a while to see my seniors' faces...?"
"Tell a lie we might actually buy."
"Heh heh, Scott's right. You're not the type to waste time like that."
They had me pegged already.
Come to think of it, even when I was stationed at Valhalla, I was too busy to drop by here much.
I'd only come out of courtesy when pairing up with seniors; otherwise, never on my own.
I threw up both hands in surrender.
"The truth is..." I gave them a quick rundown of my chat with Darmosa.
By the time I finished, the squad members had gathered around, eyes gleaming as they shoved their faces close to mine.
"...Uh, looks like everyone's interested."
"Of course! It's been forever since we got some leave."
"We're stuck in our cabins otherwise. And the cabins aren't as spacious as Valhalla's."
"Just feed us, that's all!"
Scott practically climbed onto the table as he argued his case.
Then Ivan shoved through the squad members, slammed his glass down with a thud, and declared, "I'll go."
What presence.
The other members all flinched.
Ivan's face was loaded with some heavy emotion as he spoke, and the others seemed to get it, backing off hesitantly.
"...Yeah, Ivan's more than welcome."
"When do we depart?"
"About nine hours left. Ask Sia for the details."
Ivan nodded and left the lounge without another word.
Scott patted his chest in relief.
"See? The guy's stress levels are off the charts lately. Must be from being the baby too long."
"Could be."
"Yeah, the shock of escaping baby status only to fall back into it..."
The squad members whispered quietly while staring down the hallway where Ivan had gone.
Once things calmed a bit, Scott pointed at himself. "So, who's the last one? Me, obviously?"
"Well..."
Ivan's participation was unexpected, but I didn't mind.
The person I'd really wanted was just one from the start.
Anyone else from the squad would've been fine for the remaining spot.
"Oh?" Nora caught my gaze, covering her mouth as her eyes went wide.
And so, the two Valhalla squad members joining us on Paradaisos were Ivan and Nora.
*
The ship set off again once resupply was complete.
I took in the now-familiar sight of the bridge.
After months of every situation under the sun, the crew handled the systems with expert ease, guiding the ship toward our destination.
After entering secondary space via AD Drive, I scanned the quiet interior and sank into thought.
'With Nora along, we shouldn't run into any major issues.'
Nora was one of the top members of the Central Superhuman Unit.
She wasn't super active these days, but she'd once served on the front lines with incredible feats.
At this point, she probably wouldn't lag far behind Roze or Merdi.
Considering Roze and Merdi were already at the level of average superhuman unit captains, that was impressive.
There were no official benchmarks for superhuman skill levels.
All that was known was that certain units had higher averages, but ranking enthusiasts had cooked up a few tiers anyway.
Rookie, Regular, Elite, Vice Captain, Captain.
The most common system, accepted even among superhumans, was this five-tier one based on rank.
There were no official names above that, but enthusiasts had their own rankings.
They called the top ten "Rankers" and fawned over them, but those were based on public feats and speculation, not actual superhuman-vs-superhuman results, so they lacked credibility.
Case in point: the current No. 1 was Darmosa, but that wasn't true.
'Bashmut.'
The strongest in the current world.
He operated out of the spotlight on the true front lines, so he wasn't well-known, but he was undeniably stronger than Darmosa.
Even Roze, growing faster than in the original story, couldn't match him yet.
If they fought, it'd be over quick.
In the original, Roze had challenged him after becoming a full superhuman under his command and gotten wrecked.
'Well, his weapon alone is busted.'
A few more years, and she'd surpass him and crush him instead—but for now, that was the state of things.
Bashmut had been created after the Human Union's schism, to lead one faction.
The front-line heavy region needed serious firepower, after all.
"Hmm..."
How'd my thoughts wander here?
Anyway, Central Superhuman Unit members were elite-level at minimum.
Most showed promise, so high growth potential too.
'And me...?'
Self-evaluating felt kinda embarrassing.
But objectively? An elite with some surprises.
Before the biomechanical metal bone trait, I'd have been straight regular.
Red Cannon was a one-trick pony, nothing special otherwise.
But now, with multiple traits stacked and R3D3 amplification? I could confidently claim elite.
'Come to think of it, Roze and Merdi are straight broken for an independent unit this size...'
Even with tons of hidden talents and a century of war leveling up superhumans, captain-levels weren't common.
Yet a Shilla-class battleship independent unit had two? Wild.
"What're you doing?"
"...Oh, Senior Nora."
"This your seat? Captain?"
"...Haha, just call me whatever you're used to."
Even Nora calling me captain made my ears burn.
She gave me a warm smile at that, then blinked at the shiny stickers plastered next to the captain's chair.
"What's this?"
"Roze stuck 'em there. Said the place felt too drab..."
"Heh heh!"
Now my face was actually heating up.
Glitter stickers were a bit much for a space that needed to stay serious.
I hadn't dared peel them off for fear of backlash, but I never thought Nora would see them.
"Fun. That kid must keep things lively, huh?"
"Yeah."
"Independent unit life treating you okay?"
"Used to it now, so it's manageable."
"If it gets tough, come find me anytime. Adult comfort's on the table too?"
"...Haha."
I laughed it off.
She hadn't fully shelved her teasing ways yet.
Minus the occasional subtle flirt, talking with Nora was super comfortable.
She was a pro at putting people at ease like this.
Since boarding, she'd gone around chatting one-on-one with the crew.
She clicked so well that Frederick and Amov were already won over, and most others were warming up to her. Her charisma was no joke.
And her talks weren't just chit-chat.
With years as a superhuman, she had solid command knowledge and was freely offering advice on how to handle Paradaisos.
"The Crusader Federation values soldiers' lives highly. But since Paradaisos—one of their cardinal worlds—is under attack, they'll be aggressive enough to overlook some casualties."
"We might not have to worry much about that. Paradaisos has a fighter mech factory built under contract with the Salmon Lab."
At full capacity, it could churn out 10,000 units a day.
But alien interference meant supply issues now, so probably under half.
I knew because I'd been involved.
Plans were in place to expand to 20,000 a day later.
'Even 5,000 a day would help a ton.'
Fighter mechs were consumables.
They scouted danger zones and bolstered defenses for humans.
Even a 5:1 exchange ratio was a win.
Factor in saving lives, and the math didn't even matter.
The Crusader Federation had asked Jang Wolf—a Miracle Generation member—to set up and run a 100,000-unit daily factory, true to their soldier-valuing culture, as Nora said. "So why start an independent unit in the first place?"
Once the Paradaisos talk wrapped, Nora asked.
Her question made total sense.
Normal superhumans didn't sink their own cash into creating independent units, even if they could afford it.
Sure, having minions you could boss around sounded great—but that was short-sighted.
Most independent units couldn't be run like mine.
They got jerked around by higher-ups constantly, with basically zero freedom.
The "independent" was just a name.
'Headaches galore.' Plus, superhuman perks were usually better from parent units.
If you didn't want the work, you just rampaged on missions when called—no forcing it.
Tana suffering under main officer duties was the exception.
Look at me now.
Clashes over opcon with superiors were routine, constant reports due, ship affairs needing oversight.
Even this "captain's quarters"—special care or not—was half the size of my Valhalla personal room.