MTLNOVEL Chapter 276: Please, My Otherworld Self
Boom!!!
Arpeggio Yamato used the most retro method of the Fleet of Fog to eliminate the Abyssal Fleet before her.
The super-graviton cannon swept across the sea surface with astonishing power.
After the starship retrofit, both output power and range had increased by more than a notch in destructive force.
Any Abyssal Shipgirl touched by the golden torrent was annihilated down to basic particles in less than a ten-thousandth of a second.
The scattered counterattacks from carrier aircraft failed to penetrate the Klein Field and were all shot down by anti-air fire.
Submarine Princesses hiding in the deep sea, sensing the situation turning dire, prepared to turn and flee.
The next moment—
Vmmm—
The super-graviton pierced straight down from the top of the battleship into the sea, creating an effect similar to Moses parting the sea.
Even submarine fleets that had submerged to depths of thousands of meters beneath the surface stood no chance—they were pulverized just like the surface fleet.
Rumble—
The cannon struck the seabed, leaving several deep craters and triggering a powerful undersea earthquake.
Whether Abyssal Fleets or anything else, before the highly efficient weaponry of the interstellar era, they were utterly defenseless.
Hundred-meter-tall waves roared in all directions, sweeping the remains of the Abyssal Fleet to the ocean floor.
"Yamato, Yamato..."
"So this is the power of a starship..."
Even though they had already witnessed the Azure shipgirls and the Eternal Snowfall firing multiple times, the native shipgirls still felt lingering fear.
Many destroyers trembled uncontrollably, collapsing powerlessly onto the deck.
Shoukaku stared blankly at the scene below, unconsciously extending a hand and opening her mouth with a slightly hoarse voice:
"Admiral... no, Mr. Setsuna..."
"Is this... your power? Is this how wars are fought in your world—with weapons like these?"
"It... it could destroy a city, even a small country, with one shot, right?!"
Shoukaku was shaking from the shock.
"Yes."
Setsuna gently supported her shoulder.
"This is warfare in the interstellar era—and it goes beyond even this."
"Among the stars and in the multiverse, there are enemies thousands of times stronger than the Abyssals. We must wield even more powerful weapons to stand against them."
"Stronger enemies... stronger weapons..."
Nagato's eyes showed fear.
She had once believed the Abyssal Shipgirls were the most difficult, most powerful enemies on this planet.
But before the Shipgirls from another world, they were no more than paper tigers.
Naturally, weapons of such power must exist for a reason—to counter even greater threats.
What kind of enemy would require weapons capable of destroying cities or nations with a single blow?
Nagato had never seen a proper interstellar war—she couldn't even imagine it.
A casual strike from either side could destroy cities or countries? Battles fought on a planetary scale?
At that level of warfare, she probably wouldn't even qualify to participate.
The more they thought about it, the more terrified the native shipgirls became. They decided to force themselves not to dwell on such dreadful thoughts.
"Is that Yamato the strongest flagship in your fleet?"
Kancolle Yamato asked earnestly.
The otherworld version of herself was just too powerful. Even if the native Yamato and Abyssal Yamato joined forces, they couldn't defeat Arpeggio Yamato.
What a pity they hadn't seen Azure Yamato.
"She's strong, but not the strongest."
Setsuna shook his head.
Hiss—
Everyone's gaze toward the Azure shipgirls shifted from curiosity to reverence.
Clack—
After the starship descended, Setsuna spotted a figure on the sea.
"Tch, as expected of the Abyssal Fleet's boss—tough life force. Survived even a super-graviton cannon blast."
Abyssal Yamato was sprawled on the ocean surface, a vicious expression on her face.
She tried several times to struggle and get up.
But both her rigging and body had been shattered. Her usually pale skin was now covered in scorched wounds. Every part of her—every component, every cell—was screaming in agony.
Not only had she completely lost the ability to fight, she didn't even have the strength to stand.
That bizarre weapon had utterly annihilated the entire Abyssal Fleet.
If she hadn't been the flagship of the Abyssal Fleet, able to draw power from the ocean and had an exceptionally long health bar, she would've been blown to pieces on the spot.
Even so, Yamato now had no combat power left. All she could do was glare at these outsiders with eyes full of fury.
"So this is Abyssal Yamato, the flagship of the Abyssal Fleet… the enemy we fought for so long..."
The native shipgirls looked at the battered Abyssal flagship, somewhat dazed.
"Yamato?"
Abyssal Yamato didn't recognize Arpeggio Yamato, but she did recognize the umbrella-wielding older sister from the Naval Base.
"Heh, heh, so it's you...?"
"How laughable... beaten by you of all people..."
Her bloodshot eyes glared as she tried to stand using every ounce of strength for a final desperate struggle.
However—
Smack—
"Do not harm Master or Master's companions."
Ikaros silently appeared behind her and knocked her out with a single heavy blow. Abyssal Yamato lost consciousness and collapsed onto the ocean surface.
The ditzy angel then pulled out a specially made rope and bound her tightly, slinging her over her shoulder and tossing her at Setsuna's feet.
"Master, the enemy has been captured."
"According to combat AI analysis, she is not in life-threatening condition and has lost the ability to resist."
"Good."
Setsuna nodded, eye twitching as he looked at the tightly hogtied Yamato.
"Ikaros, where did you learn that kind of binding technique?"
"Reporting to Master, Origami Tobiichi taught me. She said it would come in handy with Master in the future."
Ikaros answered honestly.
"..."
"Well learned. Teach me when you have time."
"Yes, Master."
...
After capturing the flagship of the Abyssal Fleet, Setsuna tossed her into the cargo hold of the Eternal Snowfall.
The Angeloids performed a quick cleanup operation over the ocean.
Thousands of battle angels flew to the surrounding waters, delivering finishing blows to the severely damaged Abyssal Shipgirls who had been crippled by the super-graviton cannon.
The wrecked Abyssal Fleet shattered at the slightest touch.
Before long, the sea returned to its original state.
The blackness caused by Abyssal corrosion gradually faded back to a familiar azure blue.
A sea breeze blew by, carrying a faint salty freshness.
From high above—
In other parts of Earth's oceans, some scattered wild Abyssal Shipgirls still lingered.
After losing contact with their supreme flagship, most of the Abyssal Fleet became headless chickens.
Some went mad and frenziedly attacked coastal areas, only to crash into the shore and die.
Others wandered aimlessly at sea.
The shipgirls stationed to defend the Naval Base received more than a dozen Abyssal Fleet attack alerts in a short period.
At first, they were nearly scared to death, thinking the Abyssals had launched an all-out assault.
But upon closer observation, the invading Abyssals were acting entirely without command, merely launching suicidal attacks.
With coastal defense firepower and support from the stationed Azure shipgirls, they were wiped out effortlessly.
After patrolling the seas for several days—
With the last Abyssal ship sunk, this Earth returned to peace.
No further Abyssal readings appeared on the radar. Without their supreme flagship's ability, they could no longer resurrect from nothing.
"The war is over."
"The Abyssal threat has been completely eliminated."
Setsuna looked at the holographic map with satisfaction.
"Bismarck, take some people and go talk with the humans of this world. If they're not complete idiots, they should know what to do."
The Kantai Collection world focused mainly on shipgirls and Abyssals—human civilization was unremarkable, and he had no interest in wrangling with politicians.
The shipgirls knew exactly what to do. After visiting more than a dozen worlds, they were pros by now.
Let them obediently become vassals—simple enough.
"Understood."
Bismarck, ever efficient, led several Iron Blood shipgirls and Angeloids away from the fleet, heading toward the nearest human settlement.
They were preparing to take a starship and teach the human government some facts and consequences.
"Commander, what should we do next? Should we begin planning our return?"
Chen Hai asked.
"Ahem—"
Setsuna cleared his throat.
"After such a great victory, of course we're going to bond with the shipgirls of this world!"
"I said, we're going to have some deep yet accessible exchanges, then form an alliance and become the commander of these native shipgirls."
"?"
The well-read Chen Hai seemed to realize something.
"Wait, Commander, is your 'deep yet accessible' a descriptor—or a verb?"
"...Take a guess."
...
Vmmm—
When the Eternal Snowfall landed at the Naval Base once again, it was met with a warm welcome from all the native shipgirls.
They waved colorful flags, hopping around the open space to greet the triumphant starship fleet.
The island housing the Naval Base wasn't large, but thankfully, Setsuna and the shipgirls could freely deploy and retract their rigging, so space wasn't an issue.
Clack—
As the hatch opened, Setsuna and the accompanying Azure shipgirls were the first to step out. Yamato followed close behind, waving to the stationed native shipgirls.
"The Abyssal Fleet has been completely eliminated. From now on, the seas are safe."
Yamato's two short sentences set the shipgirls into a frenzy.
Many destroyers were so moved they wiped away tears. They had battled the Abyssal Fleet for years, suffering countless heavy damages and frequent threats to their lives.
Since the day they were born, they had been instilled with the mission to reclaim the seas from the Abyssal Shipgirls.
Now, that distant dream had finally been realized. The sea was taken back!
For shipgirls, nothing was more important than the ocean.
To be able to sail freely without worrying about Abyssal Shipgirls suddenly appearing to fight to the death.
Thud—
Yukikaze tossed Abyssal Yamato down.
"This is the flagship of the Abyssal Fleet nanoda! She's now the Commander's prisoner nanoda!"
"Nothing impressive about her. I bet she couldn't even beat the great Yukikaze!"
"Huh?!"
The native shipgirls were startled.
Crowding around for a look, they saw Abyssal Yamato tied up in a full shibari-style rope binding, unable to move.
Her blood-red eyes emitted a savage, feral aura.
Unclear whether she was embarrassed to be captured or had strong opinions about Ikaros' binding technique.
"...Why is she tied up like this?!"
The four Kongou Idiots didn't really get it. After thinking it over, they chalked it up to Azure shipgirl customs.
They caught the prisoner—however they wanted to handle her was their business. Best not to ask.
"We never dreamed we'd one day capture the supreme flagship of the Abyssal Fleet..."
Akagi looked dazed.
She tried to move closer for a better look at Abyssal Yamato.
Other than the shared name 'Yamato,' her appearance was completely different from the gentle older sister at the Naval Base.
Fierce, cruel, violent...
One was a Yamato Nadeshiko; the other, a savage sea monster.
"Die!"
Abyssal Yamato suddenly thrashed, startling the watching destroyers.
"If I return to the sea, I'll show you what true destruction and fear are..."
"I'll raze your base to the ground, rip your rigging apart, and tear your flesh off bite by bite... mmph mmph mmph!!"
Just as she was spitting venom for fun, Setsuna casually stuffed a rag into her mouth and threw her back into the ship's hold.
"Too talkative."
"We'll hand you over to Prufier and Observer. If you can still act up after that, I'll be impressed."
Setsuna had to admit the Abyssal Fleet had some unique traits.
As long as they were at sea, their power seemed inexhaustible. The supreme flagship could even resurrect other Abyssal Princesses in short order.
But this brute-force approach couldn't compare to the tech-laden Siren girls.
Tech suppression was still tech suppression. No matter how many times Abyssal Yamato resurrected her subordinates, she couldn't conjure up a Star Destroyer from seawater.
Not to mention, those two Siren girls had ethics in the negative range—he believed they could discipline Abyssal Yamato thoroughly, or extract something useful from her.
If he could make his own Abyssal Fleet, all the better.
"..."
Witnessing their greatest enemy being so neatly dealt with, the native shipgirls felt a bit complicated.
"I'm so weak..."
More than one shipgirl found themselves thinking that.
Their longtime nemesis was taken down effortlessly by shipgirls from another world.
It felt a bit... embarrassing.
So my otherworld self is actually that powerful?!
Then, they saw four Fortress Princesses disembark from the ship.
"Abyssal Shipgirls!!"
The native shipgirls, who had just been celebrating their victory, nearly had a heart attack.
They fumbled to manifest their rigging, nervously facing off against Northern Princess and her three sisters.
"Hmm?!"
Northern Princess tugged on Setsuna's sleeve, puffing her cheeks to scare the shipgirls.
Harbor Princess, Airfield Princess, and Central Princess remained expressionless but raised their hands to signal they meant no harm.
"They've renounced darkness and joined us. From now on, they're part of our fleet."
Setsuna patted Northern Princess's head and picked her up.
The little loli clung to him affectionately, rubbing her face into his chest.
"Eh?!——"
The Naval Base shipgirls were even more shocked.
Capturing Abyssal Yamato could still be chalked up to Setsuna's overwhelming strength—but returning from a mission with several Fortress Princesses recruited? That was completely beyond comprehension.
And it seemed like Northern Princess and Setsuna, and even the Azure shipgirls, were quite close?!
As expected of starship shipgirls from another world—they could easily accomplish things the natives never could.
...
Later that evening—
At the Naval Base, the native shipgirls held a grand victory feast for the Azure shipgirls.
In the banquet hall, they brought out nearly all their supplies to host their guests. The scale far exceeded the welcome banquet from when they first met.
Kantai Collection shipgirls didn't have production units like Bulins or Manjuus.
Most of their work had to be done themselves. The destroyer girls carried trays, weaving through the hall, warmly entertaining the Azure shipgirls.
After some time together and witnessing their complete annihilation of the Abyssal Fleet, the native shipgirls had come to regard the Azure shipgirls as their closest comrades-in-arms.
Azure Yukikaze and native Yukikaze had their arms around each other's shoulders, both brimming with confidence in their luck, and dueled through a dice game.
After a dozen rounds, they remained tied.
Each rolling three sixes or three ones multiple times felt like something bordering on mysticism or magic to the onlookers.
In the end, the two Yukikazes agreed to escort each other on future expeditions and see who laughed last.
Other shipgirls said they absolutely refused to sortie with just the two of them—being escorted by two luck ships was too darn terrifying.
Native Akagi earnestly consulted Azure Akagi about new carrier aircraft technology.
The big fox usually disliked rivals for the Commander's attention, but it was hard to punch someone who smiled so gently. Kancolle Akagi was soft-spoken and graceful, making it impossible to reject her.
She even began to reflect on herself—was she failing to win over the Commander because she wasn't gentle enough?
"..."
"Mr. Setsuna, we are truly grateful for all you and your companions have done for the Naval Base."
Yamato bowed respectfully to Setsuna.
"You've accomplished what we shipgirls of the base have always dreamed of, but never could."
The native shipgirls had fought the Abyssal Fleet for years, locked in stalemate. Now, with Azure shipgirl support, they had finally won completely.
Though the process was unexpected—almost like a deus ex machina—and the base itself hadn't participated much,
The outcome mattered most. A win was a win.
"It's nothing. To us, the Abyssal Fleet was just a starter zone. I wish we'd come here sooner."
Setsuna smiled as he answered.
"...Come sooner, huh?"
Yamato looked at Setsuna, her eyes sparkling.
After thinking for a moment, she suddenly stood up.
Clearing her throat, the noisy hall quieted as the shipgirls waited for their flagship to speak.
"Sisters."
"In the past, during the most dire and hopeless times of battle, we used to fantasize about an all-powerful admiral who could lead us to victory over the Abyssal Fleet."
"Now, this commander from another world has helped us eliminate the Abyssal threat once and for all."
She looked at Setsuna and the Azure shipgirls.
"His strength is beyond question, and since he is the commander of the Azure Lane shipgirls, I trust his character has already been recognized by the shipgirls of his world."
"After spending this time together, I believe Mr. Setsuna has the ability to become our Naval Base's admiral and lead us in battle."
"I personally am willing to follow his command. Are you?"
Yamato spoke with deep sincerity. From the bottom of her heart, she felt that Setsuna was a more suitable leader than herself—both in strength and vision.
Handing the base over to him might be the better choice.
Whoaa—
The native shipgirls were stunned at first, pausing in brief silence.
From the base's inception, Yamato and Nagato had been handling all affairs large and small. They had certainly done their duties diligently.
But after meeting Setsuna and the Azure shipgirls, the natives gradually realized how much a capable commander could elevate a fleet.
Following a commander like him—waging campaigns across worlds, traversing the multiverse, ascending into the stars...
The Azure shipgirls lived lives that felt like dreams—adventures the natives hadn't even dared to imagine.
Now that opportunity was in front of them—how could they not seize it?
"I'm willing!"
Nagato was the first to raise her hand.
She also wanted to catch up with Ark Royal—it's not every day you find a prison buddy.
"Me too. Thank you, Commander, for saving me. Shoukaku is willing to repay that kindness with her life."
"I agree, poi!"
The Fifth Carrier Division and the previous expedition team all responded without hesitation.
"I accept."
"Fine by me."
"Mmm... this guy really is suited to be an admiral, I'd say..."
"No objections here."
One after another, the native shipgirls raised their hands in agreement.
Before long, the Naval Base had unanimously passed the resolution for a new admiral.
"Oh, the Commander really is super popular..."
Aurora looked at the enthusiastic native shipgirls, proud and a little smug.
The Azure shipgirls felt all the more fortunate that they had followed the Commander from the very beginning, starting from nothing.
They were truly founding veterans—and today, they were welcoming a new generation of juniors.
"Admiral."
Yamato bowed respectfully to Setsuna.
"From now on, the Naval Base is in your hands."
...
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