California finally sensed something was off. She hesitated, wondering if she should deploy her rigging.
"What if I say no?"
Hikaru's voice was soft, but it struck like thunder. Several of the men in black shifted their footing slightly.
Wakayama raised his hand to stop them, giving a wry smile. "That would put me in a tough spot. It's not just my failure at stake—things could get messier."
"I'd love to cooperate and go with you for questioning," Hikaru shrugged, "but someone here won't allow it."
"Who?"
A figure stepped out of thin air in front of Hikaru. "Me."
Tirpitz, clad in her black and red bodysuit, deployed her rigging. The twin 48cm prototype cannons locked directly onto Wakayama's forehead.
The overwhelming pressure felt like an iceberg crushing down. The men in black froze, as if they had been plunged into the depths of the Arctic.
Wakayama's expression didn't change. "This isn't your best choice. Standing with the big powers is safer. You might want to reconsider."
"I've thought it through," Hikaru replied calmly. "But I'm a whipped husband. It's not me you have to convince—it's my wife."
California couldn't help but chime in, "Wives—plural. That means you've got a lot of wives."
Somehow, that actually made Wakayama laugh.
Tirpitz's cannons didn't waver an inch from his face.
Wakayama studied the massive guns carefully. If they were full-sized, the 48cm caliber would be larger than Yamato's 460mm main guns. With armor-piercing shells to match, these could silence any stubborn opposition. And no one could argue with them.
Not even Wakayama.
"The door to cooperation is always open," Wakayama said with a helpless smile, raising his hands slightly. "That's all they wanted me to tell you. Until next time."
Watching them disappear around the corner, Hikaru gently stroked Tirpitz's long hair.
"Lexington sent you?"
Tirpitz nodded. "Shall I kill them?"
Some shipgirls were soft-natured, unsuited to be warriors. Others were cold and ruthless, willing to slaughter for what they held dear.
Such killers might be Prince of Wales, or the brutal Washington with her cherry blossom axe, or maybe even California. But not Tirpitz.
Deep down, she was still just a lonely, frightened girl who hated the dark.
Hikaru hugged her tightly and gave her a pat. "Don't talk nonsense. They were just here to say hello. Girls shouldn't be so quick to talk about killing."
After that little incident, their morning training was naturally cut short, and they all returned to their house.
Lexington was waiting at the door, apron tied around her waist, smiling. "Tirpitz sure gets the job done."
She had secretly sent out her aircraft to follow Hikaru as soon as he left, just in case anything happened. The moment trouble started, she had called Tirpitz to intervene.
She had prepared for the worst. If a fight broke out, Tirpitz would defend Hikaru, while Lexington provided backup from a distance.
Hikaru flicked Lexington's nose. "You all spoil me so much. One day, I'll probably get reckless and do something crazy."
Tirpitz replied seriously, "Technically, as our Commander, you're like a father to us. It should be the daughters worrying about their reckless old man."
Hikaru gave her a dangerous look. Wow, she's already back to her old self. Don't expose your true colors so quickly, Tirpitz. So evil.
And everyone knew exactly what Tirpitz's true colors were—she had once been caught drawing doujins of her sister Bismarck and Hood and had gotten beaten for it.
Lexington pulled Hikaru inside. "No one gets to judge our Commander. If he makes a mistake, we'll help him fix it."
Tirpitz deadpanned, "Even things like… marrying submarines?"
Hikaru's face turned red as he protested that marrying submarines didn't really count, that it was just love, and soon the house was filled with cheerful bickering.
Before they could even start breakfast, Yamato and Elizabeth showed up.
"I've heard about what happened. Don't worry, we'll handle it. It was just a probe from certain factions—you understand, don't you?"
Hikaru nodded. Of course he understood.
No organization was a solid monolith. Even the supposedly noble and upright Shipgirl Headquarters had internal rivalries between continents and likely suffered political infiltration.
Revealing the existence of construction blueprints meant Hikaru had already prepared to be targeted. If he wanted to run this business, he had to accept the risks.
"There's no official problem with what you did," Yamato added. "But these things will keep happening. You're shining too brightly. No one can hide you—not even Shipgirl Headquarters."
"Stay for breakfast," Hikaru invited casually.
Elizabeth shamelessly ran off to the kitchen, calling sweetly for "Lexington-onee-sama" while sneaking bites. Yamato hesitated, then finally sat down in the courtyard.
She glanced at Tirpitz and suddenly frowned. "Your eye color… it looks much lighter."
Tirpitz, cold as ever, shot her a disdainful look. "Loser. Sit down and wait for your breakfast. Don't run your mouth."
Yamato was speechless, taking several deep breaths to calm herself before silently staring off at the bamboo grove.
She had lost. She didn't even have the courage to talk back.
Before breakfast was even served, another commotion broke out outside the door around 7 a.m.
"Open up! Hurry! Lady Blücher is here!"
Hikaru signaled Glowworm to open the door. The little destroyer sulked as she went, still upset about being scolded earlier for blasting the gate open with magic.
The door swung open, and a slightly chubby girl barged in, looking like a high schooler. "Who here is named Kuramoto Hikaru? You're coming with me!"
Following behind her was a shipgirl with a lock of blue-dyed hair—Göta Lejon, the death metal singer they'd seen before.
Tirpitz gave them a cold stare.
Blücher scowled back. "What? You dare defy me?"
Göta Lejon hurriedly clarified, "She's not challenging you. We sincerely came to invite Kuramoto-san to record that song. It would be a crime for such a masterpiece to never be heard."
Yamato perked up slightly, scoffing, "A mere heavy cruiser, acting so arrogant. Do you even know how to spell 'death'?"
Ouch. Yamato's got a sharp tongue today.
Blücher's face twisted in fury as she summoned her rigging—a giant iron anchor wrapped in chains. She pointed it straight at Yamato. "Fight me if you dare!"
Moments later, Yamato calmly returned to her seat, looking thoroughly refreshed.
Blücher groaned, pulling her head out of the crater she had been slammed into. "Fine, you're strong. But don't get cocky! Yesterday at Windridge Academy, our strongest German shipgirl, Hindenburg, showed up! I'll find her, and she'll put you in your place!"
Glowworm giggled. "Commander, is she stupid? It was Tirpitz who showed up yesterday."
Tirpitz narrowed her eyes, silently wondering how German shipgirls could be this clueless. She flicked her wrist, sending Blücher flying out the door with invisible force.
"Thank you for the invitation, but I'm not interested in recording right now."
Hikaru dismissed them, and Göta Lejon stomped her feet before running off to catch up with Blücher.
Yamato tilted her head. "Is Hindenburg really Germany's strongest shipgirl?"
Hindenburg, codename H39, was a never-built design, intended to surpass the Bismarck with a planned displacement of 56,000 tons. That alone said plenty.
Tirpitz stayed quiet, but Glowworm spoke up for her.
"The strongest German shipgirl is H-chan! She's amazing!"
Yamato had heard of the Hindenburg-class but had never heard of H-chan.
H-chan, or H42, was Hindenburg's upgraded successor, with a planned displacement of 64,000 tons and 480mm guns.
"My sister is the strongest," Tirpitz declared coldly.
Glowworm stuck out her tongue, wisely choosing not to argue.
If Hikaru had to pick, he honestly thought Tirpitz was the strongest of all the German shipgirls.
Hindenburg and H-chan were only level 100 and not married shipgirls. Marriage made a huge difference, greatly boosting a shipgirl's abilities and speeding up repairs.
Bismarck was married, but her level was only around 105, and her equipment couldn't compare to Tirpitz's.
Within Hikaru's port, Tirpitz might not be the absolute strongest battleship, but she was firmly in the top tier.
The problem was… even with Tirpitz's strength, Hikaru couldn't think of any way to make her famous enough to be known across the entire Eastern Hemisphere as "Peerless as a Demon God."
It's not like she could just casually demonstrate nuclear firepower—and even if she did, who would publicize it?
Still, strengthening Tirpitz was never a bad idea.
Hikaru pondered the steps he needed to complete the Materialize Port quest. If he…
…
After breakfast, Hikaru asked Elizabeth to help him request leave from the academy and told California to remember to buy 1++ resources every day.
"Daily big build. One a day keeps the bad luck away," Hikaru grinned.
He needed a large amount of resources to unlock the next stages of the port materialization quest, and daily builds gave him a good excuse.
He still needed at least 60++ resources for the six remaining stages. He wanted to finish it all at once, but the academy limited how much first-year students could buy each month, likely to prevent resale abuse.
Even with his connections, buying 30++ a month was about the limit. Any more and he'd owe people favors—not worth it. A steady 1++ per day meant he'd finish by early December. No need to rush.
With their tasks assigned, Elizabeth and California headed out. Yamato paused at the door, then turned back to ask, "Are you really just going to sit on the hundred million Wakayama Shogo gave you?"
[End of Chapter]
[50 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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