"Amazing… Their ship structures are truly fascinating."
Setsuna led a few shipgirls into Iona's hull.
The Sakura Empire's submarines were intensely curious about the interior design of the I-401.
Inside, the layout was incredibly compact, featuring holographic control panels, computational assistance systems, and data interfaces that made it look no different from a starship.
Iona sat at the main console, green data streams swirling around her.
Azur Lane shipgirls controlled their ships purely through mental projection—their combat abilities stemmed partly from Wisdom Cubes and partly from equipped weaponry.
Meanwhile, Arpeggio shipgirls functioned differently—they relied entirely on computational power.
The stronger their calculations, the stronger their Klein Field.
Additionally, shipgirls with exceptional processing power could even create new Mental Models for other ships.
"Ugh, your system sounds so complicated… You actually have to calculate stuff? I hate math."
Yukikaze peeked at Iona's control console, where an endless stream of numbers and code scrolled past.
Just looking at it made her dizzy.
In terms of ability mechanics, Arpeggio shipgirls weren't as magical as their Azur Lane counterparts.
They were purely manifestations of warship consciousness, and their hulls followed physical laws—they couldn't shrink, expand, or materialize at will.
Their technology—Super-Graviton Cannons, Erosion Torpedoes, Nanomaterial Armor—was advanced, but still within the realm of science fiction.
Combat between them was a battle of raw computation, not an interplay of Wisdom Cubes, Bulins, and supernatural enhancements.
"Wait a second."
"I thought only cruiser-class and above Fog ships could form independent Mental Models? How were you created?"
Takao suddenly remembered something and looked at Iona in confusion.
"I… don't know…"
"I think… someone gave me an order. She told me to go somewhere… and wait for someone…"
Iona replied, somewhat lost.
Because Mio had modified her command protocols, her memory had become hazy, and she instinctively turned to Setsuna.
"Strange… I don't remember meeting you before, but… I know your name? Are you my Commander?"
"But… I don't know where I came from…"
"Your core originally belonged to Yamato."
Setsuna pondered for a moment.
The Fleet of Fog had originally possessed two supreme flagships—
Musashi and Yamato.
Years ago, the two had clashed over their views on humanity, leading to a violent confrontation.
In that battle, Yamato refused to fight back, ultimately allowing Musashi to emerge victorious and take full command of the Fleet of Fog.
As she sank, Yamato transferred her Mental Model core to the nearby I-401, instructing her to seek out humanity.
Thus, Iona was essentially a reincarnated Yamato, a battleship's soul reborn in a submarine's hull.
"Unbelievable… Your Yamato could freely create shipgirl Mental Models?"
Musashi was deep in thought.
While she found the Fog Musashi annoying, she couldn't deny Yamato's abilities were extraordinary.
"She was the most powerful Supreme Flagship of the Fleet of Fog. Even at just 2% of her processing power, she could grant a destroyer full sentience and turn it into a shipgirl."
"Alone, she could annihilate every single human navy."
"Her Super-Graviton Cannons were powerful enough to sink entire islands."
Takao spoke with deep respect as she described her former flagship.
Then, she glanced warily at Purifier and Observer.
"Don't get cocky. I don't think even you could beat the Supreme Flagship."
"Hah?"
Observer, lounging in a chair inside the submarine, casually kicked her feet.
She scoffed.
"Unless she's 20 times stronger than me, that's not happening."
Since they had fought before, the two Sirens had a rough grasp of Takao's combat abilities. However, Takao herself had no clue what the Sirens were truly capable of.
"You're saying you could take on twenty of me?! Don't be ridiculous…"
"If you don't believe me, wanna try again?"
Takao and Purifier were in the middle of a heated argument—
When Setsuna suddenly turned to Iona and asked:
"Can we… revive Yamato?"
"???"
"Huh?!"
"What did you just say?!"
The shipgirls stared at him in shock.
"I already told you—I'm bringing every Arpeggio shipgirl back with me."
"What's the point if we're missing the flagship?!"
Setsuna rested his chin on his hand, deep in thought.
Most of the Fleet of Fog was under Musashi's command. Winning her over essentially meant securing the entire faction.
That left only two outliers—
One was Iona, who had already been recruited.
The other was Yamato, who had sunk long ago.
Without a Supreme Flagship, the Fleet of Fog was incomplete.
"And besides—if we had Yamato on our side, wouldn't that be the perfect way to… how should I put this… 'command the Fleet of Fog by proxy'?
"If she returns, we might not even need to fight—we could take control peacefully!"
He pondered for a moment.
From both a collection standpoint and a strategic perspective—
Yamato's revival was absolutely necessary.
"Revive… the Supreme Flagship?!"
"But she sank years ago! Her Mental Mental is long gone! How do you plan to bring her back?!"
Takao was stunned.
"Well…"
Setsuna held up two fingers.
"There are two possible approaches."
"First—since Iona inherited Yamato's Mental Model, we could modify her, unlock the Yamato Core, absorb the wreckage, and have her evolve into Super Battleship Yamato."
"…But that would erase Iona in the process, so that's a no-go."
This was how Yamato originally revived in the canon storyline—
Since she and Iona were essentially the same entity, only one could exist at a time.
"Second option… we reincarnate her as an Azur Lane shipgirl."
"Salvage her wreckage, reconstruct her hull, and use a Wisdom Cube to restore her self-awareness."
"That way, we get a proper Yamato-class shipgirl and keep Iona intact."
"Then, in the future, we could even modify Iona into a submarine Yamato—double the firepower, double the fun."
As he spoke, he patted Iona's head.
"..."
Iona tilted her head slightly, processing Setsuna's words without responding.
"Hah?!"
"You're talking about turning the Fog's Supreme Flagship into an Azur Lane shipgirl?!"
Takao felt like she was watching someone abduct a national treasure.
But… the more she thought about it, the more feasible the plan seemed.
If she had to think of a way to revive the Supreme Flagship herself…
She honestly wouldn't have come up with anything better.
"..."
Meanwhile, the Sakura Empire shipgirls had mixed reactions.
The Azur Lane port only had Musashi and Shinano so far.
Now, they were about to get an alternate Yamato… from another world.
"Commander… will I still be the flagship of the Sakura Empire Combined Fleet?"
Nagato tugged on Setsuna's sleeve.
"Fog is Fog, and Sakura Empire is Sakura Empire. You each have your own command."
Setsuna reassured her, ruffling her fox ears.
"Mmm…"
The shrine maiden closed her eyes in satisfaction, letting out a soft, contented hum.
"But… Yamato's hull is severely damaged. Repairing her would require an enormous amount of nanomaterials."
"Her internal structure is also highly complex… How do you plan to…?"
Takao voiced her concerns.
The Fleet of Fog's warships were undeniably advanced, but they were also notoriously difficult to repair.
And Yamato was the Supreme Flagship—
Even within the entire Fleet of Fog, only a handful of shipgirls could claim to possess the skills necessary to restore her.
Before she could finish speaking—
Whoosh—
Setsuna pulled out a dimensional anchor.
Hummm—
A blue, conical structure began to float mid-air, distorting the surrounding space as it connected this world to the Main World's teleportation network.
Shortly after, a holographic display appeared, listing various teleportation nodes:
[Secondary Node 7 Established: Arpeggio of Blue Steel]
[Primary Node: Constantinople]
[Node 1: Azur Lane]
[Node 2: Demon Slayer]
…
Setsuna always left a teleportation anchor in every world he visited, for both convenient travel and the ability to summon reinforcements.
Beep—
He opened the communications interface and connected with Yat Sen, who was stationed in the capital.
A gentle and elegant shipgirl, dressed in traditional robes, appeared on the screen.
"Commander? Do you require reinforcements? Or do you have another request?"
Yat Sen asked.
"Send two thousand Specialized Bulins over. Make sure they bring enough repair materials—
"We're building a ship in this world."
Setsuna ordered succinctly.
"Understood. Please wait a moment."
Shua—
Minutes later—
An entire battalion of Colorful Bulins was teleported in.
They stood in perfectly synchronized formation, each carrying hammers larger than themselves, radiating an undeniable aura of energy and enthusiasm.
"Buri! Commander has a big problem, leave it to us buri!"
A Colorful Bulin cheerfully hopped forward to greet him.
"What are these…?!"
Takao was completely baffled by the Azur Lane shipgirls yet again.
"..."
Setsuna simply patted her on the shoulder.
"Your hull was damaged by Purifier earlier, wasn't it? Go ahead and let them fix you up too."
"Now—witness the full power of the Bulin Engineering Corps."
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