Fated to Die to the Player, I'll Live Freely with My SSS-Class Ship!

While Eva was busy snatching bounties, I was also preoccupied with something else. I monitored the war's progress through the star map's live data, directly pulled from President Anderson's network feed.

It hadn't even been an hour since the war began, yet the Meyers Royal Family had already secured a foothold within the Astoriaxia-001 Star System.

In particular, they had taken close to 5% of the outer sectors, along with scattered dominions reaching toward the middle.

"They're fast..."

However, the real problem lay beyond their rapid advance.

Once they fully rooted themselves in the outer sectors, the battles ahead would only get progressively harder.

After all, the sheer difference in numbers between the two sides remained overwhelming.

In large-scale space warfare, a single ship—no matter how powerful—could rarely tilt the tide of battle.

Even with the Range Falcon and the Brionac in my arsenal, I'd be hard-pressed to influence the overall war in a meaningful way.

Of course, that didn't mean it was impossible.

There was always one simple yet effective solution—

Take out the enemy "boss."

By eliminating their leader, the enemy forces would lose coordination, making them easier to crush.

The problem?

That "boss" was none other than King Meyers himself.

And he was currently onboard the most powerful warship in existence—The Eclipse Sovereign.

A vessel with zero blind spots, equipped with long-range weaponry so advanced that it made sniping from afar completely impossible.

If we were to engage, it would have to be a direct confrontation—

And with just the Range Falcon, that would be tantamount to suicide.

"By the way..." As I mulled over the situation, I turned to Cassandra. "King Meyers—what's his special ability?"

Cassandra herself possessed a terrifying ability: the power to control anyone who had submitted to her, even once. Overpowered, no question.

Thankfully, not all members of the Royal Family had such broken skills.

For instance, Prince Leobert would later develop the ability to read minds—a far tamer yet still highly useful skill, especially in diplomatic scenarios.

"Fa—No, King Meyers' ability, is it?" Cassandra hesitated.

Though she had long recovered from her earlier shock at seeing my battle acrobatics, she still zoned out occasionally.

However, my question seemed to jolt her back to focus, pulling her into deep thought.

"I... haven't seen it firsthand," she admitted, "but I've heard that he has the ability to cut anything nearby."

I frowned. "The ability to cut...?"

That already sounded troublesome—but a much worse thought crept into my mind.

"It's not like... he can cut anything in his line of sight, right?"

If that were the case, then there was no way we could ever win. He could slice a ship in half before we even got within range.

"It can," Cassandra nodded grimly, before adding, "but as I said, it only applies to whatever is nearby. From what I was told, his maximum range is about 50 meters."

"...!"

That's still an absurdly long range.

Fifty meters wasn't just "nearby"—

At that distance, even someone who had never fired a gun before could hit their target with ease. Meaning in close combat, King Meyers was virtually untouchable.

"...Any weaknesses?" I asked, though I already knew the answer.

Cassandra shook her head, her expression serious.

"Unfortunately, no. As long as he wills it, whatever is within range will be cut."

"...Hm?"

Something about her phrasing nagged at me—

Like I had almost grasped an idea—

But before I could piece it together, Eva's triumphant shout snapped me out of it.

"Fuck yeah! 100 billion, baby~!"

At long last, her "negotiations" had concluded.

Still, 100 billion from the bounties of seven Leviathans felt... off.

Considering that each Leviathan-class warship costs over a trillion Credits—not even factoring in modules and weaponry—we should have earned at least 175 billion.

'Did she give up on claiming the full bounty…?'

That was the first thought that crossed my mind.

Well, regardless, 100 billion Credits was more than worth the risk we took.

Eva probably accounted for the fact that the final blows were landed by the Astoria fleet and a few mercenary units, then secured a major fraction of the bounty instead.

Either way, her mood was soaring, as she even hummed lightly while resuming her duties.

As for my talk with Cassandra…

I figured we could continue it later.

"As soon as the Brionac's cooldown ends, we're resuming the Grave Sweeper operation!" I announced. "But before that… we'll need to make a pitstop first."

Even though the damage we sustained earlier wasn't severe, it was damage nonetheless.

To add, we couldn't jump straight into battle with Brionac out of commission, so repairing the ship would be a better use of time.

"Then, should we return to the Military Hub?" Eva asked, her grin still lingering.

I nodded immediately.

"Of course!"

After all, the Military Hub was the second safest location in the Astoriaxia-001 Star System.

Without wasting time, Eva and Cassandra began the warp preparations, while I took a moment to organize the mission logs.

In less than a minute, the warp drives were ready.

---

As soon as we returned to the Military Hub, the first thing that welcomed us was—a barrage of scans, weapon systems locking onto us, and several hails.

The sudden lock-on made my blood freeze for a moment, not gonna lie.

After clearing the misunderstanding, we docked at the Military Hub temporarily.

"While I'm repairing the ship, you two can take a break. Or... try to think of a way to defeat the Eclipse Sovereign."

Sooner or later, we would have to face them. After all, with all said and done, this war started because of us. It was our role to end it—well, not technically, but that would be for the best.

And after everything settles, getting our hands on the Eclipse Sovereign would be even better.

I mean... it's not illegal to dream, right?

At my words, Cassandra's face darkened, as if a shadow fell over her.

She knew exactly what I meant.

The Eclipse Sovereign issue—Killing King Meyers—her father.

Eva, noticing Cassandra's change in expression, immediately glared at me, as if trying to push the blame onto me.

I simply ignored her and walked away.

I had work to do.

Leaving them behind, I gathered my tools and went toward the damaged sections of the ship.

The only damage we sustained was on the starboard side—a few dents left by powerful laser blasts that weren't completely deflected.

If the lasers had been any stronger, and hadn't been weakened by Eva's impromptu guard, I wouldn't be dealing with dents—I'd be dealing with a gaping hole.

Anyway, thankfully, my task was simple.

The hull panels, with a 30 cm square cross section about a meter long, were designed for easy maintenance—each one reinforced on both sides, allowing them to be flipped over instead of replaced when lightly damaged.

A cost-efficient feature, ensuring minimal material waste. But of course, if they took another hit, then there'd be no choice but to replace them.

"Hmm?"

As I was focused on my work, the ship's door suddenly opened.

Curious, I turned toward it—Eva and Cassandra were gliding over.

"What's wrong?" I asked, not stopping my hands even for a second.

It hadn't even been ten minutes since I left them.

There was no way they were done with their task already—or so I thought.

"Arthur, about how to defeat the Eclipse Sovereign..." Eva started, making me pause for a moment out of curiosity.

I turned to them, listening attentively.

"...We concluded that no matter what, even if we have a numerical advantage, we can't fight it head-on," Eva admitted, shaking her head in frustration.

I let out a small sigh.

That was the same conclusion I had already reached.

But to my surprise, Eva and Cassandra weren't done talking.

Cassandra stepped forward, as if taking Eva's place, her expression determined.

"But despite that, we still formulated a plan," she said. "A plan... to defeat the Eclipse Sovereign..."

Her next words carried weight—"And by extension, claim King Meyers' life."

"Cassandra..." I muttered, slightly taken aback by her resolve.

Slowly, I put my tools away, jumping down to stand in front of them.

"Alright then." I met their eyes. "What's the plan?"

"...Rather than a plan, it's closer to an idea," Eva quickly clarified, crossing her arms as she shrugged.

Cassandra nodded in agreement.

Then, without warning—

She reached for the zipper of her spacesuit, pulling it down slightly at her chest.

"Wut?!"

My brain short-circuited for a moment.

Was she about to—display her bountiful assets in the open?!

Here?! In the hangar?! In public?!

—Unfortunately, my wishful thinking was shattered.

She only unzipped it just enough to view her deep valleys, enough pull out a small key—a glass-like key, faintly glowing in the colors of the rainbow. The same key we retrieved some time ago.

Cassandra gripped it tightly, her gaze hardening as she met my eyes.

"What if we... use this key... and—"

She swallowed hard, taking a deep breath before saying—

"—assassinate King Meyers!"

I fell silent, digesting her words.

...Honestly? It wasn't a bad plan.

Assassinating the enemy's head was always a valid strategy. The only problem was—

"If we get caught before we kill him, we're dead." Simple as that.

From Cassandra's words, King Meyers could cut anything within 50 meters. If he so much as sensed us, our heads would be rolling before we even knew what happened.

It was a high-risk plan, but...

"Right," I nodded. "It's worth doing."

After finishing the repairs, we spent the rest of the time discussing our strategy.