MTLNOVEL Chapter 42: Chapter 042 - The Saint and the Sea
After understanding the basic situation of the Minato Port Area in the world of Azur Lane, Reuel resumed his leisurely walk along the coastline, accompanied by Richelieu and Belfast.
Richelieu looked enthusiastic. She wanted to showcase firsthand the strength and unique technology possessed by the shipgirls.
"Lord Reuel, we were born from the Mind Cube—a true war engine. Do you have any idea what kind of abilities we possess?"
Her steps were light upon the surface of the sea. A majestic aura radiated from her every movement, as if the ocean itself bowed beneath her feet.
"Watch closely."
Reuel gave a faint smile and nodded as a signal for Richelieu to proceed. Of course, he already knew the superpowers the shipgirls had. However, to Richelieu, Reuel was still a stranger from another world—she wanted to introduce her powers in person.
Mechanical light began to radiate from Richelieu's body.
Click—Click—Click—Click—
Mechanical sounds echoed as combat equipment materialized around her. Two 380mm main guns appeared on either side of her body. A command tower and bridge were projected behind her, standing proud with a golden Lorraine Cross engraved atop a pristine white structure.
Golden patterns adorned the hull and towers, adding an elegant touch that harmonized perfectly with her figure.
At some point, Richelieu was now holding a long rifle with a purple iris motif, wrapped in a golden ribbon that coiled gently around the grip.
"Truly beautiful," praised Reuel without hesitation.
"Weaponry may not be something worthy of being called beautiful… but this time, I'll accept the compliment," Richelieu replied with a slight nod.
"Can you project your ship form?" asked Reuel. He had never boarded a shipgirl's warship directly before.
"Yes, of course. But in most battles, we prefer to fight in integration mode. It's more flexible and efficient, and it minimizes risk to our main structure."
With a single motion, Richelieu dismissed her combat gear. A white glow flared around her body.
A few seconds later, the sea in front of them rippled gently, and from within emerged a massive battleship over 200 meters long.
It was a Richelieu-class battleship—Richelieu herself, in her original form.
Up close, her main guns looked terrifyingly intimidating. The ladder leading up to the command tower stretched skyward, and all around the deck, secondary weapons were arranged in combat-ready formation. One had to crane their neck fully just to take in the ship's entire structure.
"Climb aboard. You're the first person I've ever allowed onto this ship," said Richelieu calmly.
"I don't usually give such permission. But for you, I'll make an exception."
Reuel stepped onto the deck with firm footing, awe plain in his eyes. "I never imagined I'd get to see this ship up close," he murmured, his gaze shining.
To some, France might always be remembered as the country that surrendered swiftly during World War II. But to Reuel, Richelieu was the exception—a symbol of pride and resilience that was not easily forgotten.
She fought in Europe, North Africa, the Pacific. Allied with USS Iowa, USS North Carolina, HMS Glory, and USS Saratoga, bombarded the Japanese mainland, and was present during the ceremony of their imperial surrender.
Now, the remnants of that past glory stood before him—not as a dead ship in a museum, but as a living entity, still grand, full of dignity, and ready to face a new chapter in a new world.
( Author's Note : This story is entirely a work of fiction, created by me.
Any depiction of events, characters, or settings—whether inspired by real history or the world of Azur Lane—is not intended to represent the official lore or historical facts.
I do not claim to know the accurate history, either in real life or within the official Azur Lane universe.
Please treat this purely as a fictional narrative. )
"You know quite a lot," said Richelieu, her smile faint but unable to hide her delight.
Her tone sounded like a compliment held back.
"Just a bit interested in history," Reuel replied humbly, though his eyes still gleamed with curiosity.
"But your ship… looks rather modern, doesn't it?"
They walked up to the command bridge, and Reuel immediately noticed one thing—the Richelieu wasn't some old relic of war like he had imagined. There was no sense of decay, no scent of stale oil, no rusted steel.
Instead of the dull gray steel of old world warships, Richelieu's hull was clad in silvery-white metal, adorned with golden flowing patterns like heavenly embroidery. Beautiful, pristine, and looking like it came from a civilization of the future.
Her command room? Majestic—far more than merely functional. A graceful red carpet stretched from the entrance to the main chair. Gold-framed furniture stood elegantly, while shimmering crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling like those in a classical European palace. Transparent screens and holographic terminals displayed dynamically shifting data.
All of it made Reuel feel as if he were standing in a royal palace in space—not on a 1940s-era battleship.
"Istana Dambailu…?" he mused briefly, likening the interior to the castle atop Maple Peak he'd seen in another universe.
Yet the electronics and surrounding technology far surpassed anything he'd ever seen from the World War II era.
"Amazing…"
In his mind, Reuel's imagination began to dance wildly.
What if Richelieu's ship body was reconstructed as a Gloriana-class battleship? Or even upgraded to become an Imperator Somnium—the highest class warship in his Imperium of Man?
Exterminatus. Cyclonic Torpedoes. Virus Bombs. Nova Cannons. Names of mass destruction weapons swirled in his head like a litany.
He wanted the Azur Lane shipgirls not only to call him Commander. He wanted them to call him Lord of the Imperium—and to be part of an intergalactic fleet under his command.
But his thoughts were interrupted by Richelieu's voice, which carried a slightly teasing tone.
"Are you underestimating me?"
Richelieu gave a flat smile, as if she could read his mind.
"I'm proud to bear the name of a historic warship, of course. But after being shaped by the Mind Cube and optimized at this port, I'm no antique relic like you imagined."
She stepped forward onto the command deck and waved her golden staff ahead, eyes scanning the open sea.
"In pure naval combat, destroying the entire fleet of the Imperial Japanese Navy… or even an entire carrier strike group from the White Eagle Federation? I could do that alone."
Click. Click.
Richelieu's twin main turrets began to move, their barrels slowly aligning with a distant point on the horizon.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Three salvo shots rang out in rapid succession. The thunderous roar shook the air, followed by bursts of flame and towering waves in the distance.
Speed, power, and range—everything about those guns exceeded modern naval weaponry by orders of magnitude.
Reuel fell silent, but his thoughts itched even more:
"I'm going to replace all of these weapons… with mine."
Behind him, Belfast stepped forward and explained calmly.
"The Mind Cube drastically enhances our combat capabilities—whether it's ship durability, battle efficiency, or weapon power."
Reuel nodded slowly, deep in thought.
"So… it functions like a system for upgrading shipgirls?"
Belfast gave a small smile. "That's quite an accurate analogy."
Indeed, visually, their weapons looked old-fashioned: Richelieu's 380mm main guns, Belfast's 533mm torpedoes, even the propeller planes from the carriers. But that was only surface-level.
Thanks to the Mind Cube, every system had been upgraded far beyond its original specs—firepower, speed, energy efficiency, even targeting and self-repair.
"But don't forget one crucial thing," Belfast added.
"We weren't born from ordinary human technology. All of us were created by the technology of the Mind Cube. Without it, we would never exist. We and the Cube… are inseparable."
Belfast paused for a moment, then continued her explanation.
"Interesting... So this is a technology that exists somewhere between magic and the power of imagination."
Reuel stared at Richelieu, deep in thought.
If shipgirls were originally non-human entities—parts of a war machine created solely to fight—then the Mind Cube clearly possessed capabilities beyond the ordinary. Perhaps even approaching reality manipulation.
"Is this a form of technology that can manifest desires and concepts into physical form?" he wondered.
An earthly artifact capable of turning imagination into reality—this was no ordinary tool.
Reuel's interest in that tiny object grew immensely. Not just because of its potential in boosting combat effectiveness, but for its fundamental nature as a technology—or magic—that could transcend realities.
Richelieu, as if sensing Reuel's growing fascination, steered the ship farther out into open waters, with Belfast accompanying them.
This world was largely made up of vast oceans, with only scattered islands and patches of land here and there. The population was sparse—virtually no human activity could be seen outside the naval base where the shipgirls gathered.
Most of the islands they passed were little more than dense jungles or crumbling ruins, swallowed by time.
Reuel suspected, based on what he'd seen and the notable absence of factions like Eagle Union, Royal Navy, or Iron Blood, that the current timeline was still in its early stages—before the main storyline of the Azur Lane game or anime had truly begun.
Several hours later, Reuel noticed something strange.
The air suddenly turned cold—the once warm sea breeze shifted into a sharp, skin-pricking chill.
Off in the distance, the sky began to darken. Ominous clouds rolled in like thick fog, blanketing the horizon and creating a stark contrast with the clear skies above the harbor zone.
"Further ahead lies the Deep Sea—the domain of the Sirens."
Belfast's voice rang out, firm and commanding.
"For safety reasons, we never venture too far. Otherwise, it only brings massive trouble."
Reuel stepped toward the deck railing and looked far ahead.
There, just beyond the curtain of mist and shadowy waves, was a fleet of dark-colored warships. Their hulls were alien, as if not meant for ordinary waters—and amid the thin fog, stood a feminine figure.
Long hair, bluish-green skin, and eyes glowing with a faint, eerie light. Her appearance resembled a shipgirl, but the aura around her was dark, cold, and deeply unwelcoming.
"That... is a Siren?"
Reuel asked softly.
"How long have you been fighting them?"
Richelieu furrowed her brow, then replied.
"It's hard to remember precisely. But Minato has been at war with them since I was created. Maybe three years. Maybe five. Maybe even longer."
She looked down briefly, then continued.
"We've fought countless brutal battles. Each side trying to annihilate the other. But in the end, we hit a stalemate."
"We lack the strength to enter the Deep Sea... and they can't breach the harbor perimeter. Both sides locked in their own territories."
Reuel stared deeper into the dark clouds.
"Are the Sirens that powerful?"
"Extremely." Richelieu answered without hesitation. "In large-scale naval battles, we almost never have the upper hand. They wield technology we simply can't comprehend... as if it comes from an entirely different world."
She turned and looked Reuel in the eyes, her expression grave.
"After much discussion, we began to realize one thing: the power of this world... is not enough to defeat them."
"That's why I hope—you can bring knowledge, technology, or magic from another world. Something powerful enough to balance the scale. To change fate."
But Reuel remained silent.
He didn't want to become a catalyst for an endless war. He didn't want to push the shipgirls and the Sirens to keep fighting until nothing remained. To him, this conflict wasn't something that had to be won by brute force alone.
Besides... the Sirens had beautiful faces too. Attractive, mysterious feminine entities.
Reuel thought further.
"What if all of them—Azur Lane and the Sirens alike—didn't fight, but united under the Imperium of Man?"
He didn't respond to Richelieu's request directly. He simply gazed into the distance, letting the hope hang unspoken in the air.
A silence far more meaningful than any lie.