In the forum group for the Gray Goo Fleet, players who had accepted the mission were flooding the chat with messages. Clearly, they were all excited.
But in a small group belonging to some veteran players, more than a dozen temporary player commanders had become entangled in debate.
They had been selected to handle the fleet's entire operation. There was an additional mission reward for doing so, but naturally, failure also came with an extra penalty.
"I ran the numbers. Most players' ships are currently over 90 percent intact. In other words, we can fight at least nine large-scale interstellar battles like this one." Flash
"We shouldn't fight again, should we? We couldn't even capture a single outpost. Who knows how many more methods this civilization has in reserve?" Big Brother Hui
"We need to preserve our strength so we can complete the mission."
"If we don't attack the enemy's planetary bases and only make small disturbances, how are we supposed to complete the mission? The mission requires us to draw out the Alpha Civilization's trump cards. How can we probe them without having a proper fight?"
"Sabotaging logistics, guerrilla warfare, manipulating spies, even hacking into their systems—there are still plenty of options." Big Brother Hui still leaned toward caution.
"We can have most of the players put on a show to draw their attention while I lead a squad in infiltrating their capital planet and assassinating their civilization's leader." Rainy Night with a Blade but No Umbrella
"..."
"..."
"Brother Umbrella really is Brother Umbrella. He never forgets his assassin instincts." An old acquaintance teased him.
"Sounds interesting. Count me in." Plane made a heart gesture.
"It's a pity this gray goo is so picky. It won't eat living people. Otherwise, we could massacre a few civilian planets and