On the father's side, Tangmo's father was feeling tense.
During the journey, they had the chance to converse with Sagittarius, who was quite personable, respectful to elders, humble, and unpretentious. He was considered a good kid, not arrogant like other national celebrities. Now, it seemed that their sailing was a trap, surrounded on all sides. The militia's positioning from the city of Chandra, encircling Rigel 2 island in a crescent shape, was itself surrounded! Would they survive this encirclement?
Tangmo's father looked at Sagittarius at the helm, who showed no sign of panic, and couldn't help but admire him. "This is the mark of a successful person." Such composure in this situation was truly irreplicable. But in reality, if things didn't go as Sagittarius predicted, he'd be just as anxious as Tangmo's father felt now.
On Tangmo's side, though the encirclement was frightening, she had some understanding of the long bean strategy from their time in the restaurant. She reassured her parents that the man before them had a plan to counter it. She glanced at Sagittarius's back, which calmed her fears and sped up her heartbeat. What woman wouldn't want a strong back to withstand storms and protect her?
Though Sagittarius wasn't a warrior who could single-handedly fight hundreds or thousands, having his back to lean on made Melon feel secure and warm.
Recalling how he hugged her and shielded her from bullets made her heart pound even more. Her image of an ideal man, much like traditional Thai women for centuries, was someone fair-skinned, gentle, and dog-loving. But now, thinking of his sun-tanned face, she found that Phakin's looks weren't bad after all.
On her mother's side, less emotionally invested than her father, she saw the situation as merely a virtual life-or-death scenario, not real danger. Noticing her daughter gazing at Sagittarius, she smiled and teased, "Impressive, isn't he?"
As her daughter nodded, she caught herself and said, "He anticipated this situation."
"Changing the subject, I see," her mother said, also looking at his back, murmuring, "If I were younger, I'd probably think he was impressive too."
The man who looks very cool now, because he is unfazed by being surrounded.
Sagittarius had a calm expression. He looked towards the city of Rigel 2, which had built a wall at the edge of the coast, and said to Mina behind him, "Going so far as to destroy the port... Not bad, not bad."
The things that protruded from the city wall surrounding the island, allowing his troops to set foot on it, like the port, were all destroyed.
In fact, before the encirclement, this ship had Shamshir on board to ensure that Sagittarius could set sail.
But after being surrounded, due to the supreme skill of the strongest player, he could easily evade, break through the troops on the ship, and escape to his fleet.
Sagittarius himself didn't care; capturing Shamshir was of no use to him. Anyway, he already forced the opposing forces to make moves according to his desires.
For instance, using a fleet two to three times larger, which is currently encircling his fleet.
Sagittarius looked up at the sky and down at the sea; there was no sign of a storm. Then he checked the time at the corner of his eye and smiled. He said to Mina again, "I once read Romance of the Three Kingdoms, when Zhuge Liang burned Sima Yi's army, but it rained. In reality, Zhuge Liang would have won, but heaven and earth did not cooperate, extinguishing the fire for Sima Yi... In the game, it's different. We don't need to forecast the weather like in the real world, right?"
Mina merely smiled without saying anything. The meaning of Sagittarius was understood.
Sagittarius looked towards the north. When he saw the fleet on the horizon, he turned to give orders, "About face!"
In the GM room, it's not the various department managers responsible for the Dwarf invasion event gathering together, but CEO Butter is sitting over the GM, arms crossed, observing every angle of this battle.
Above the GM, who is the god of the game, is the boss of the GM.
CEO Butter, arms crossed, asks the GM, "What is the value of all the resources of that side?"
The GM politely replies, "The forces of Sagittarius and Mewku Mewku, not including the hidden forces, amount to over 200,000. The combined forces hidden in Mewku Mewku's army number over 500,000. If we capture all the items... I've already sent the information to the appraisal department, but it will take some time because it's so extensive."
CEO Butter asks the GM worriedly, "From your experience, with almost three times the difference in strength, do they have a chance to win?" The reason he's sitting here is because he's not yet reassured.
The GM isn't sure either, so he clicks on the Sagittarius force information to read. After reading for a moment and checking the weather calendar already published on the MGC Online website, he's stunned, then smiles confidently and says, "It's a sure win... I recommend sending reporters to the area right now. I guarantee it will be front-page news in the game for months."
Hearing this, CEO Butter's eyes light up. His ability to assess battles can't compare to the GM who sits at the control of the game's course. He must trust the professionals. He calls the PR manager to send an army of reporters to the area immediately.
The clear sea is not something the GM conjured up; it comes from the calendar on the website.
In the battle of those who "know their work," everyone must check the weather of that day before making a move."
The other side also checked the weather calendar for the day.
In scenarios of large-scale confrontations, the sky must be clear without storm clouds to prevent the enemy fleet from using turbulent waves to escape.
That was the opinion of the allied forces.
And to keep the identities of other commanders hidden, Shamshir, who had already been unmasked, was tasked with commanding this battle.
The allied forces, consisting of half a million players, surrounded the 150,000-strong Sagittarius forces.
With such a disparity in numbers, there's no way they could escape!
Shamshir looked at the large object wrapped in canvas floating at the end of the fleet. The last time, Sagittarius used this method; when the war began, they sent golems ashore underwater.
But the city of Rigel had walls blocking their way, and Shamshir's group hypothesized that the golems, due to their weight, couldn't possibly fight on water unless it was shallow enough to touch the bottom.
The crescent-shaped siege in deep waters effectively prevented the giant golems from fighting, rendering their secret weapon useless as it floated.
Their strategy considered all aspects they could think of, deeming it most advantageous for the battle.
Shamshir also saw the fleet at the horizon. He knew in advance that Mewku Mewku had brought an army of 100,000 to assist. According to the plan, they must not let Mewku Mewku and Sagittarius join forces, or it would be much harder to handle. They had far superior numbers, able to split their forces for an assault, and thus ordered the fleet to close in on the enemy.
But before Shamshir could issue commands, one group of Sagittarius's sea vessels suddenly turned back in an unusual manner!
Although Shamshir had never owned a warship, he had never seen a ship turn in such a fashion before. Normally, ships turned in an arc, similar to how cars make U-turns, requiring a turning radius—not like a person.
Ships aren't The Flintstones' car, which uses foot power to pivot and change direction.
Shamshir felt something was off. After that group turned around, others started turning as well! He quickly used binoculars and saw large ropes tied at the bow and stern of the ships, being pulled underwater, prompting his deduction.
The ships were being pulled from both ends, causing them to turn...
Hey! That means something underwater was pulling the ships to turn around!
Shamshir thought of submarines. Among the five major cities, only Sagittarius had submarine designs, as they alone were attacked by dwarves from the sea and didn't auction or share the designs, keeping them for themselves.
But Shamshir wasn't worried. Did they think he hadn't prepared for submarines?
Depth charges!
Underwater mines had been used long since World War II.
Any passing submarine would be obliterated.
Countless underwater mines were dropped. The underwater currents spread the mines over a wide area.
But... there were no explosions. This meant that there were no submarines beneath the mixed forces.
Relieved by one aspect...
Shamshir immediately ordered to advance. "Typical of Sagittarius to realize that Rigel City 2 could only defend and not launch attacks, so they turned their ships to prepare an assault. But so what! We have far superior numbers."
Charge and ram straight into them!
The allied forces made one mistake: allowing Shamshir to command the battle.
Sure, Shamshir was an extremely skilled player but in one-on-one or party battles, not leading an army of this magnitude. The mystery of the ship's turnaround wasn't fully understood.
Why turn back? How? No idea, yet they ordered an advance."
On the Sagittarius side
The ship's maneuvering went smoothly, but it didn't engage.
The purpose of the maneuver in Sagittarius' mind was to make the other side think he was going to fight the outer crescent front, ignoring Rigel 2.
With superior force, they would certainly drive their horses forward.
"Mines have already been laid. Even if submarines follow to attack from behind, they can't because mines block the way."
Sagittarius smiled, seeing that Shamshir's decision was not bad. The mines in the backline could be used to charge at him with a force of 500,000 troops.
But that's all. Sagittarius turned to Mina, giving the order for the next step.
The cloth covering the golems at the rear of the forces, now at the front, was pulled away. But... it wasn't golems; it was a large magic cannon!
The cannon wasn't aimed at the fleet of the combined forces but at the sea.
Moreover, if observed closely, on the hundreds of ships behind the floating cannon, there were no other professional soldiers, only mages!
Sagittarius lifted a smile and softly said, "Phase two is here."
Casting spells took quite some time, but Shamshir could no longer retreat.
It was already too late; by the time the fleet made a U-turn to get out of the spell's range, the other side would have finished casting.
If Shamshir could turn the ship around like Sagittarius and sail away, it wasn't certain, but they might escape this upgraded ritual in time.
Now, all he could do was shout "Hurry up!" and turn to the player controlling the cannons, commanding all the ships at the front panel, "What are you waiting for? Shoot that way!" while pointing at the cannon currently casting the spell.
Shamshir could only hope that "luck" would help, with a gust of wind aiding the magic bullet to destroy that cannon.
Boom!!
The sound of a splash reverberated, but the shot didn't reach.
It's natural to set up the army beyond the range of the other side's cannons before attacking.
That also explains why none of the five metropolitan lords could be overthrown. They understood these principles thoroughly, not relying solely on money to buy items or hire armies.
The giant cannon shone brilliantly blue for a moment. Tens of magical circles, fitting for a fantasy game, appeared. Then, it fired out a blue magic missile rapidly, hitting the water between both armies. The blue missile sank to a certain depth, then stopped moving and spread out in circles...
Crackkkkkkkk
The sea surface was turned into ice by tens of thousands of wizards' magic. The radius expanded widely, impacting both ships' hulls. The ice held the ships in place, preventing them from moving!
Even though Melon-chan knew in advance, seeing it up close like this still left her awestruck.
Meanwhile, her father had an expression of amazement, clenching his fist and saying, "No wonder the troops are wearing armor with high resistance to long-range attacks, and there are very few archers and wizards." Observing closely, it's clear why Sagittarius' fleet had soldiers in thick armor carrying swords and spears instead of bows.
They were planning to walk and destroy the enemy ships up close.
Sagittarius nodded at her father, pointed his finger, and ordered, "Finish them off!"
"Oh!" All the NPC soldiers from every ship responded, jumping from their ships onto the ice, wielding their weapons, and heading toward the enemy fleet.
Her father, feeling enthusiastic, found thick armor from his dimensional pocket, put it on, and with his wife and daughter, joined the attack on the ship.
Of course, half of the opponent's 500,000 strong force were long-range attack professionals, meant for attacking between distanced ships.
When the ships were immobilized on the ice and couldn't move, if Sagittarius' troops got close, there was no escape.
With such an assured opportunity, her father had to join in."