Chapter 460. The Return of Mari Mari Marian(?).
After the second Erosance successfully concluded, thanks to the users who sought to soothe their weary minds and bodies exhausted from revolutions, civil wars, and large-scale events.
——–
<Icarus-Vermouth Chat Room>
– [<List of Entries for the 2nd Erosance.jpg>]
– [Alright, let’s go~]
– [There are all kinds of costumes, adult stuff, and regular stuff.]
– [Plus, a ton of various toys too.] (Vermouth)
– [No, don’t worry about it.] (Icarus)
– [Don’t be like that.] (Vermouth)
– [Well then…] (Icarus)
——–
As a reward for my role as a security guard, I naturally received a large amount of “bribes” (?) from the Erosance clan.
And after receiving such “bribes” (?), I immediately started throwing the various outfits provided as bribes to the superhumans.
“Hehe, how do you like it, Commander♡?”
“This is quite a practical design. I like it.”
“It’s easy to move in!”
Pashtra, who usually had more skin showing than fabric, was now dressed in a latex nun-style outfit that covered her entire body.
Some superhumans, like Ignis and Belial, were more focused on practicality rather than anything erotic.
“Commander, how do I look? A cat doing a cat cosplay, nya~”
“You just put a headband over your real ears? Cute.”
“Hehe, thank you, nya~”
‘But why on earth are there two tails now?’
Smeragi, a cat person who chose a cat costume, somehow ended up with two tails.
“Hmm, is this lab coat integrated with the outfit?”
“It seems like a one-piece outfit, and it’s barely functional as clothing.”
“But it looks cool, right?”
“Hmm, and for us, this might actually be more comfortable to move in than regular clothes.”
After the whole mechanical-bio fusion thing from the tentacle cave incident…
Perhaps because of the half-fused pet tentacles or mechanical arms (or what used to be arms).
Grigri and Nero Nero, the two mad scientists, were trying to make some mysterious backless outfit their regular attire.
“Hehehe, this outfit is so flowy and nice!”
“This one’s a bit tight on the chest. Do you have a bigger size?”
“Sometimes it’s good to wear something like this.”
Tiamat, Lephan, and Partia, who were the most normal aside from occasionally not wearing underwear or doing weird things.
“We have something to wear too.”
“…Why is it all just cute stuff that little kids would wear?”
“You have to consider our size.”
“Ah.”
The tiny and frail Aquarias and Bendalope…
“Our monsters can transform their outfits however they want, so we don’t really need these…”
“True, and besides, I’m here…”
“Look, Oxianor! There are so many pretty clothes here!”
“Now that I think about it, we might need a lot of these. Don’t you think so, Guard Captain?”
“Sometimes, it’s necessary to gain experience by wearing different things.”
At first, they were indifferent or even negative, saying their “own thing” was being taken away.
But once Princess Luka directly exclaimed, “Wow! Pretty clothes!”
Oxianor and the Guard Captain quickly switched gears, demanding all the pretty clothes from here to there.
Seeing such positive reactions, I felt relieved that everyone seemed to like it.
But as they casually went through the enormous pile of costumes, even the NPCs in the base and outposts started wearing outfits, making it feel like a cosplay convention.
“Commander, Commander, Commander.”
“You only need to call me once. What is it?”
This time, Jessica appeared in a maid outfit, calling me with a more urgent tone than usual.
Wondering if something serious had happened, I tilted my head in suspicion.
And right after.
“Marian contacted us. She said it’s something important.”
“Oh?”
Hearing that our Pirate Empress, Mari Mari Marian, who had been laying low recently, had contacted us, I felt a surge of joy, thinking it had been a long time.
Leaving the rest of the outfits for the superhumans to handle, I headed straight to the command center to communicate with Marian.
==========
– “Oppa! I missed you!”
“It’s been a while… or not, it feels pretty normal. So, how have you been?”
– “Hehe, of course.”
And as soon as the communication started, after exchanging some casual greetings, our dear Marian, true to her pirate nature, quickly got to the point…
– “Oh, by the way, bro, there’s a reason I contacted you so urgently.”
“What is it?”
– “Well, you see… one of our alliance’s main fleets, despite being pirates, had its flagship captured by another commander.”
“…Oh.”
– “And of all things, it was the ‘Gigantia-class’ cruiser battleship, which is a pain to build.”
“Wow.”
As she said this, I noticed Marian smiling, but with a vein popping on her forehead. It reminded me of that incident a year or two ago when a user’s Anomalocaris was captured, and I nodded in understanding.
“Must be really annoying, huh? So, are you trying to locate their base now?”
– “No, we already destroyed the base.”
“…Oh.”
– “But that damn guy had already evacuated his fleet and escaped with the Gigantia-class.”
After saying this, Marian cleared her throat and continued in a calm tone, indicating that this was the real point of the conversation.
– “The problem is, his fleet has left our territory and entered the Central Zone.”
“…Hmm, I see what you mean.”
– “As expected of you, bro. So, I was wondering if you could help me out?”
And the moment I heard that, a long-forgotten ‘event message’ popped up in front of me, complete with choices.
—————————————–
<Event>
<Pirates Getting Pirated by Pirates>
<Content>
<The 'Gigantia'-class super-large cruiser battleship, one of the Pirate Alliance's main ships, is a highly valuable vessel often seen with escort fleets or large main fleets.>
<But the problem is, one of them was captured by a commander who mobilized all his forces while the escort fleet was away, and he fled with it.>
<Naturally, this shattered the pride of the 'Pirate' Alliance, and Pirate Empress Marian executed the pirate admiral of that fleet.>
<She then sent an elite hunter-killer team to the commander's 'base' with plans to capture all his ships upon their return...>
<But surprisingly, the commander abandoned his base, forward base, and resource mining fleet, and took the Gigantia-class and his fleet, including superhumans, straight to the Central Zone.>
<Enraged, the Pirate Empress attacked and destroyed the commander's base, ordering the hunter-killer team to do whatever it takes to capture or destroy his fleet.>
<And hearing that you've been doing very well in the Central Zone lately, she decided to ask for your help as well.>
<Choice 1: Ugh, sounds bothersome. Can I just not? (End event chain, -50 favor with Pirate Empress)>
<Choice 2: I'll accept. (Proceed with linked event)>
—————————————–
‘Hmm.’
After reading this, I took a moment to think, then boldly chose option 2, completely ignoring the option to blatantly screw over Marian.
“Of course, I’ll help you out.”
– “Thank you, bro!”
