While the Sakura Empire fleet was dealing with the catgirl world, Setsuna took a few days off to rest and recover his energy.
Searching for worlds on the Hyperdimensional Star Map simultaneously consumes both mental and physical energy—it literally drains his body.
Finally, when he felt fully recovered, he sat back in his office chair, opened the Star Map, and prepared to expand his field of vision and explore new territories.
After scanning the surrounding worlds, he found that out of the three newly discovered ones, two had already been conquered. As for Girls und Panzer, he could either go there himself later or let the shipgirls handle it.
The remaining worlds weren't particularly urgent either.
Thus, he focused his mind, channeling his consciousness into the Star Map to dispel the distant fog of war.
While exploring the Star Map with full concentration, Setsuna silently made a wish in his heart.
"Please, let it be a world with more girls."
"Preferably one with advanced technology or powerful magic—something we can actually use."
"And please, no more places like Holy Terra that I won't be able to reach anytime soon…"
Among the last three worlds he discovered, Black Bullet certainly had plenty of lolis, but its genetic technology was only applicable to humans.
Nekopara and Girls und Panzer were also filled with girls, but there was little of real value to gain from them. The catgirls were cute, sure, but their only real use was for looking adorable.
Setsuna didn't even bother to take action himself.
This time, he hoped to discover worlds that not only had girls but also valuable resources.
The fleet's equipment hadn't been upgraded for a while now, and who knew how long it would take for Akashi to finally develop the Moonlight Butterfly system.
Zzzzt—
As he poured more of his consciousness into the Star Map, another section of the distant fog was lifted.
By the time Setsuna had once again drained his energy and slumped back in his chair, three new worlds had been marked on the map.
"Hmm… So my current limit is three worlds per scan?"
"Huh?"
After glancing at the results, he realized that, in a way, his wish had come true.
Three civilizations were now clearly projected onto the Star Map:
[Arpeggio of Blue Steel (Pre-Space Age)]
[Heaven's Lost Property (Space Age)]
[Akame ga Kill! (Feudal Era)]
One was in the feudal era, one in the pre-space age, and one had already reached the space age.
Setsuna was, of course, familiar with all three anime.
Based on his knowledge of these worlds, they had plenty of girls, plenty of interesting elements, and even more interesting girls.
Though, Akame ga Kill! did have a bit of a dark and twisted vibe.
Arpeggio of Blue Steel.
A somewhat niche anime that, like Azur Lane and Kantai Collection, revolved around shipgirls.
The story takes place on a 21st-century Earth where global warming has caused the oceans to submerge much of the land, turning the planet into an almost entirely aquatic world.
Humanity struggles to survive in the remaining inland areas.
Meanwhile, out at sea, powerful warships armed with advanced weaponry suddenly emerge and begin attacking humanity at will. These ships, known as the "Fleet of Fog," dominate the oceans.
Before long, most of the world's naval fleets were completely crushed by the Fleet of Fog, losing both their ability for long-range voyages and their control over the seas.
The Fleet of Fog was also led by a group of shipgirls, whose weapon systems were downright terrifying.
Supergravity cannons, corrosion torpedoes, Klein force fields capable of withstanding nuclear weapons, and even warships that could transform—
They were essentially a fleet of starships disguised as naval warships.
If you equipped them with thrusters, they could head straight into space for interstellar combat without any sense of incongruity.
—Setsuna even felt that the Fleet of Fog's supergravity cannons were more advanced than positron blaster cannons.
Heaven's Lost Property.
The story more or less revolves around an ordinary student named Tomoki Sakurai, who one day suddenly encounters a girl who falls from the sky, introducing herself as a "Universal Entertainment Angel"—Ikaros.
What follows is a series of events that constantly teeter between mainstream anime and borderline hentai.
Who could possibly refuse a cute-faced, 88-57-85 figured, mechanized angel who can wipe out an entire country in a single strike and fly at speeds of 24 Mach?!
Not to mention, there were other varieties of artificial angels.
Beyond long-range combat types, there were electronic warfare units, close-combat units—you name it.
Setsuna felt that if he could acquire the technology to manufacture artificial angels, he might just have the opportunity to assemble an entire angelic army in the future.
However, Heaven's Lost Property also featured a civilization known as Synapse, a super-advanced society whose technological prowess was frankly absurd.
They even had objects like the universal wishing stone, known as the Rule.
Thus, the technological level of this world was categorized under the space age.
"Honestly, I think it could just as well be classified as a magical civilization… Then again, when technology reaches a certain level, it might as well be magic to the locals."
Setsuna quipped as he turned to the last world.
[Akame ga Kill! (Feudal Era)]
"…"
Setsuna found the classification of this feudal era quite interesting.
The technological level in Akame ga Kill! wasn't exactly primitive—the various Imperial Arms (Teigu) were incredibly powerful.
However, the governing system was deeply corrupt and outdated. Even the strongest empire was nothing more than a rotting carcass.
On top of that, the plot itself was difficult to judge. Setsuna felt that this world was rather tricky to deal with.
"Rather than getting entangled in their endless political games… why not just be decisive and take over everything?!"
As he pondered, he recalled an authority he had obtained long ago.
[Interdimensional Warfare]
The ability to completely conquer a world—defeating all opposition and taking everything it had to offer.
The Black Bullet world, for instance, had been aggravating, but it was ultimately too weak to be worth declaring war on.
But Akame ga Kill!… this world seemed like the perfect place for a swift and decisive takeover.
"Ahem."
Setsuna snapped his fingers and activated the base's broadcasting system.
"Everyone, gather up—we've just discovered a few new neighbors that we might want to claim as our own!"
…
One hour later.
A lively crowd of shipgirls, Heroic Spirits, Spirits, and Tohru had once again gathered in the administrative center.
"Are we going to rescue lolis again?"
Ark Royal's eyes sparkled as she looked eagerly at Setsuna.
Ever since the arrival of millions of lolis from the Black Bullet world, Ark Royal had been living as if in paradise.
The streets were filled with adorable and polite little lolis who would even shyly blush when patted on the head.
Unlike the destroyer-class shipgirls, who would constantly call Bismarck and Enterprise over to drag her off to "prison."
"Why is your head always full of lolis?!"
"If it weren't for the fact that you contributed a lot back then and haven't actually harassed any of the lolis, I would've had Bismarck lock you up in the little black room a long time ago!"
Setsuna knocked Ark Royal on the head.
Then, he projected the Star Map before everyone and gave a general overview of the three new worlds.
"This time is different from last time. We really need to fight, and the opponents actually have some strength—at the very least, their technology is quite advanced."
"They are shipgirls from another world."
"…"
"Huh?!"
Before the Heroic Spirits and Spirits could react, the Azur Lane shipgirls and Sirens were already in an uproar.
Little Observer pushed her way through the crowd and squeezed up next to Setsuna.
"Shipgirls from another world?! This is an important observation sample—take me with you! Take me with you!!!"
"And that so-called artificial angel—I need samples of them too! And the Imperial Arms as well!!!"
The three worlds from the previous exploration hadn't offered much of interest apart from the Gastrea Virus, so Observer hadn't been particularly excited.
But now, she was suddenly acting as if she were high on something, clinging to Setsuna and acting coquettishly.
The octopus-like mechanical appendages of her rigging even extended a few tentacles to wrap around him.
"What are you doing? I'm bringing the Arpeggio shipgirls back, not handing them over to you for dissection like those Gastrea creatures."
Setsuna pried Observer off him.
"So, are we about to have a battle of Azur Lane shipgirls plus Sirens versus the Fleet of Fog? Do they have any sort of commander or leader?"
Yat Sen pondered for a moment before asking.
"You're all starships now, and you have an overwhelming advantage in numbers—what's there to worry about? Not to mention, we also have magical capabilities…"
Setsuna cleared his throat.
"As for whether they have a commander… They didn't before, but they will in the future. After all, I am the commander of all shipgirls across all worlds."
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