"Look, that's our capital."
Two days later, the Eternal Snowfall glided over Constantinople, carrying the newly integrated Fleet of Fog shipgirls.
The expedition to the Blue World had taken about a month.
For a city with over a million Bulins, even half a month was enough for drastic transformations.
The capital had expanded significantly into the surrounding areas, though the core residential zone remained largely unchanged.
Outside the city, several satellite towns had sprung up. From the sky, they formed an enormous metropolitan cluster with Constantinople at its heart.
Each satellite city spanned anywhere from ten to tens of thousands of square kilometers.
Some were dedicated to starship docking and retrofitting—after all, the original spaceflight base could no longer support the ever-growing fleet of shipgirls undergoing starship conversion.
Others were industrial zones, effectively relocating the city's original industrial sector to specialized districts.
Even the Sakura Empire shipgirls accompanying them were left in awe.
"Commander, I remember when we departed, that whole area was just barren land..."
"Am I imagining things?"
Nagato pressed against the porthole, staring in disbelief.
At this point, it no longer felt like a mere capital—it was more like an entire nation.
"You should know better than anyone how efficient the Bulins are at construction."
Setsuna chuckled.
"A million Bulins, one month—building a few new cities isn't that strange."
"If anything, we just need more people. Once the Bulins increase in number, we can develop the entire planet."
"To merge the world into one city, and build a city that embodies the world."
In his vision, Earth's ultimate future was an ideal megacity.
With Constantinople as the core, it would be the heart of a global supercity, with zoning areas planned on a continental scale.
North America could serve as a starship launch hub, South America as an agricultural sector, Central Asia as an industrial zone, and so on.
Since the entire planet belonged to him, he could develop it however he pleased.
"Oh..."
"This place certainly looks far more prosperous than our world..."
Yamato, Kongou, Musashi, and the other Fleet of Fog shipgirls observed the scenery below.
Compared to the stagnation of the Blue World's humanity, the vibrancy of this city was staggering.
At this level of prosperity, no pre-spacefaring civilization could hope to compare.
However, one aspect particularly baffled the Fleet of Fog shipgirls—
Apart from Bulins and Siren shipgirls, the city was filled with an unusual number of little girls.
Dressed in school uniforms, they walked the streets in small groups.
Given that the Bulins also looked young, the whole city felt like a kingdom of lolis.
"So you're actually a lolicon commander?"
Arpeggio Musashi asked in surprise.
She glanced at Nagato, who had recently pledged herself, and suddenly felt like she understood Setsuna a little better.
"...?"
"Could you not put it that way? They're all humans—they'll grow up eventually, alright?"
Setsuna's face darkened.
Most of these little girls would mature into young women in a few years and eventually into full-fledged onee-sans...
With advancements in genetic technology, eternal youth wasn't even difficult to achieve anymore.
And if someone chose to learn magic and become an elf, they'd remain a loli forever.
"..."
"I suddenly understand the appeal of lolicons."
Gudako suddenly chimed in.
"If you marry a loli, you get to experience loli, shoujo, and onee-san phases. But if you marry an onee-san, you only get one phase."
"..."
"Your statement assumes a single choice, but I prefer multiple choices—so I choose them all."
Setsuna replied nonchalantly, ruffling Nagato's hair before pulling Richelieu close for a brief show of affection.
Shipgirls' forms never changed—lolis remained lolis, with an unlimited shelf life, never expiring.
As for the other beings at the base, Spirits and Heroic Spirits were ageless, and dragon girls had essentially infinite lifespans.
It was simply perfect.
...
After the starships landed.
That evening, within the capital's administrative center.
The entire hall was illuminated brightly, filled with shipgirls, Spirits, and Heroic Spirits, all gathered to welcome back the expedition team.
As per tradition, Setsuna gave a strategic debrief on the mission and introduced their new allies.
He stepped onto the stage and cleared his throat.
The room immediately fell silent.
"All three objectives of this expedition have been successfully accomplished."
"We have completely conquered the Blue World, which will now exist as one of our vassal worlds."
"For administrative matters... Amagi will be in charge for now."
Setsuna briefly explained the situation in the Blue World, and the shipgirls listened attentively.
Then, he officially assigned the responsibility to Amagi—her previous strategic proposals had been excellent.
"Thank you for your trust, My Lord. I will do my utmost."
Amagi stood up and gave a graceful bow.
"Hooray! Another world to travel to!"
The smaller shipgirls cheered—each new vassal world essentially meant another playground for them.
While the capital was wonderful, even they needed a change of scenery now and then.
With its vast oceans, the Blue World was a dream paradise for shipgirls, much like Azur Lane's world.
"Additionally, these are the shipgirls from another world—let's all get acquainted."
At Setsuna's signal, the Fleet of Fog shipgirls stepped forward.
There were around fifty or sixty of them—not as numerous as the Azur Lane shipgirls, but still an elite force added to the fleet.
"A pleasure to meet you."
"We are shipgirls from the Blue World. Having now pledged our loyalty to the Commander, we look forward to fighting alongside you all. Please take care of us."
Yamato stepped forward, giving an elegant bow.
Her tone was sincere, her demeanor refined, and her etiquette impeccable—immediately leaving a favorable impression.
"I will have the Bulins construct a new naval base for you at Golden Horn Bay. You'll have some time to rest and recover."
Setsuna announced.
The Fleet of Fog shipgirls needed time for their starship transformations, especially after sustaining heavy damage in the previous battle.
This was the perfect time to build new ships for them.
"Thank you, Commander."
"If there's anything we can assist with, please let us know."
Yamato and the other Fleet of Fog shipgirls bowed deeply in gratitude.
Their feelings toward Setsuna were complex—part admiration, part curiosity, and part gratitude.
In terms of strength, he had completely overwhelmed them. But despite their past conflicts, he had shown them kindness, offering excellent treatment and the opportunity for starship transformation.
Following such a Commander was an easy decision.
"Do you have some kind of natural talent for recruiting girls?"
Jeanne Alter muttered, watching from the sidelines.
"Every time you return from an expedition, you bring back some new and unusual girls. Last time it was Spirits, before that, lolis, and now shipgirls..."
"What's next? Angels?!"
"Isn't that exactly what makes a true Master so charming?"
Jeanne d'Arc propped her chin on her hand, gazing at Setsuna.
"To have people willingly follow you—that's the most essential trait of a leader."
"?!"
jeanne Alter glanced sideways at her counterpart.
She had a feeling that Jeanne d'Arc's emotions toward Setsuna were... changing.
Even though she hadn't accompanied Setsuna on many expeditions, Jeanne d'Arc was clearly beginning to strategize her own conquest.
After introducing the Fleet of Fog shipgirls, it was time to present the true spoils of war from the Blue World.
"We've brought back data and physical samples of all Fleet of Fog weaponry, including the Super-Graviton Cannon, Corrosive Warhead Torpedos, and Klein Fields."
Setsuna handed a stack of documents to Akashi.
The Fleet of Fog's arsenal was incredibly diverse.
Beyond the famous "Big Three," there were also nano armor, homing mines, acoustic cluster torpedoes, mirage systems, and other exotic technologies.
Their fleet even had dedicated research shipgirls. With blueprints, real-world samples, and expert guidance, it wouldn't be long before a full-scale equipment upgrade was underway.
"Whoa—"
Azur Lane's shipgirls were visibly excited. This was their second major equipment upgrade since their starship conversions.
The Super-Graviton Cannon was essentially an enhanced version of the Positron Breaker Cannon, boasting superior firepower and destructive capability.
The Corrosive Warhead Torpedos, despite their name, weren't explosive warheads. Instead, they used gravitational waves to erode the surrounding space, breaking down matter at the subatomic level and causing direct annihilation.
As for the Klein Field, its importance to starships was self-evident.
It could block magic from above and missiles from below. Barring some extreme rule-based attacks, as long as its computational limit wasn't exceeded, anything within the field was virtually invincible.
"Come to think of it… The Wisdom Cube enhances our weapons, meaning the more advanced our equipment, the stronger our firepower…"
"Doesn't that mean the Commander is about to become completely unstoppable?!"
Yukikaze suddenly realized something.
With Setsuna's dual Wisdom Cubes, the Eternal Snowfall was already capable of tripling standard weapon outputs.
Once upgraded with the new weaponry, the sheer level of devastation would be unimaginable.
A fully charged Axial Super-Graviton Cannon could very well pierce through entire continents, while Corrosive Torpedoes and Missiles would have an even more absurd area of effect.
"Of course! We're going to fully integrate Fleet of Fog technology into the Commander's starship."
Akashi folded her arms proudly.
"Bigger! Stronger! And not just the warship—his Gundam unit can be upgraded too, meow!"
"Huh? How?"
Setsuna suddenly remembered that his Strike Freedom hadn't received any major upgrades in a long time.
Since acquiring his warship form, he had only used the mobile suit once—to beat up Westcott in the Date A Live world.
Most of the time, he preferred to remain aboard the Eternal Snowfall, raining down super-range bombardments from orbit.
"Are you suggesting swapping its beam rifles for Supergravity Cannons? Or mounting Corrosive Missiles and a Klein Field?"
Richelieu asked curiously.
"No, no, no—if we just do that, it'll be nothing more than a miniaturized battleship, meow."
Akashi twitched her ears.
"After over a year of research, we've cracked the Reverse A Moonlight Butterfly system."
"So, Commander, you could either upgrade Strike Freedom into a Turn A Gundam or directly install the Moonlight Butterfly system."
"We can modify it together with the Eternal Snowfall, meow!"
"..."
Setsuna froze.
"You mean that planet-wiping technology?"
If he recalled correctly, that was one of the most overpowered systems in the Gundam franchise.
It unleashed a swarm of self-replicating nanomachines that could completely erase a civilization from a planet's surface.
"Nice, I finally have an Anti-Star Noble Phantasm."
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