Inside the command room, everyone crowded around.
Last night, Hikaru had suddenly announced that, with the monthly rewards in hand, he would summon seven shipgirls at the start of this month!
Seven whole summons!
Compared to the total number of shipgirls in the base, the odds were almost one in twenty—not small at all.
And completely random.
Nobody had been able to sleep. All of them had gathered here, waiting.
They all knew the other world's base was under heavy attack. If they could, they would already be running there with blades drawn, slaughtering the Abyssal army to relieve their Commander's burden.
But first, they needed the chance to appear.
Now it was dawn.
The shipgirls looked at each other in anticipation.
Who would it be?
In one corner of the command room—
"Big Sis, wear this outfit! You'll bring good luck!"
The destroyer Camicia, halo glowing and winged floating cannons hovering at her side, offered an outfit to the woman in front of her.
Vittorio Veneto, sipping her coffee, felt a vein bulge on her forehead.
Because what Camicia held was none other than her childhood clothes.
And depressingly, those clothes still fit perfectly.
Veneto slapped the clothes away. "Scram!"
Camicia quickly bowed. "Sorry, Big Sis."
"Don't apologize to me like that!" Veneto, petite in height—sitting in a chair and still shorter than Camicia—looked about ready to explode.
"Sorry, but even if Big Sis blasted me with your 'drugged cannon,' I must insist this time!" Camicia declared with fearless determination. "I heard the secret of being summoned from Changchun. It can increase your luck!"
At those words, every shipgirl in the room perked their ears.
Luck—humans might not believe in it, but they certainly did.
After all, luck was a quantifiable stat for them.
And when it came to being summoned, surely luck played a role, right?
Veneto tapped her high heel on Camicia's foot. "Explain."
"The key is the clothes!" Camicia swore earnestly. "Look—Changchun's 'Moon Rabbit' outfit was a gift from the Commander. Normally she was too embarrassed to wear it, but when she did, she was summoned across. And these 'childhood clothes' were also a gift from the Commander, so…"
Veneto faltered.
She lowered her head. Right now she was dressed in a full ensemble: lace hat with veil, white blouse and tailored jacket, long gloves, black garter stockings, and red high heels.
The very picture of a mature, glamorous lady.
To change into her childish outfit… it was too immature, too embarrassing. She'd be laughed at.
Then Camicia struck the hardest blow.
"Your Luck is only 20 points. Changchun's is 25. Do you really think you're luckier than her?"
Veneto set down her coffee, grabbed Camicia, and hissed, "We'll discuss this outside!"
Meanwhile, Hikaru was immersed in the ship's steel memory.
Veneto was famed for her "drugged cannon," her decapping armor, and her Pugliese torpedo defense system.
The so-called drugged cannon meant deliberately sacrificing one-third to one-half of a gun's lifespan to boost muzzle velocity, forcing her 381 mm shells to a terrifying 850 m/s! That gave her the world's second-best vertical penetration at the time—letting her 15-inch shells rival 16-inch guns. Like she was on steroids.
The decapping armor referred to her 70+280 mm sloped armor belt, a layered system so tough that only the Yamato-class had stronger main armor.
And the Pugliese system was her other layer of defense: two concentric cylindrical torpedo bulkheads, one inside the other, filled with water and oil buffers, said to withstand 500 kg of TNT detonations at any point.
An overpowered cannon and dual supreme defenses—that was her very identity.
Great hopes were placed upon her. Her sister ships were named Roma and Impero—names overflowing with grandeur.
And as the lead ship, her own name came from a decisive victory in battle.
She was Vittorio Veneto, pride of Italy.
Nearby, California rubbed her stomach and glanced toward the distant construction dock from time to time.
Even from hundreds of nautical miles away, the rumbling of titanic explosions reached them.
It was like nuclear detonations. Just what kind of chaos had Lexington and the others unleashed?
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]