Akashi approached Reuel, who was watching Gudazi climb into the Gundam with a half-disbelieving expression.
"Commander, do you know how many tasks you've dumped on me, nya~?" she said, sitting down in the workshop with a dramatically exaggerated face.
The cat-eared ship girl started pointing and accusing Reuel with soft clawing motions like a grumpy little kitten.
"First, to make your body compatible with the Gundam, I had to study Gundam series technology. The Moonlight Butterfly system is insanely complicated, nya~."
"Second, we have to launch satellites in the Azur Lane world and build spaceships for the ship girls. I never studied this kind of tech in Minato! Not even sirens, nya~~."
"Third, what's this spirit counter thing? Seriously, you want me to build a time machine?! Nya~~"
The longer she explained, the more excited Akashi got… until she couldn't help but bang the table with her wrench.
Bang!
"I work so much but the commander doesn't pay me at all, nya~! If I opened a shop at the port, I could at least get supplies from other crew members, you know!"
Reuel just smiled, then said casually, "Those who can do more have to work harder. Why don't you just go to Mars? I already told you to go, right? Besides, other ship girls and heroic spirits can't do research. It all depends on you, Akashi."
He lifted Akashi into his lap, gently stroking her head and ears.
"Nya~~~" Akashi's voice was adorably soft as she tried to resist a little.
"I'm super busy, no time to visit Mars and meet the fanatical machine worshippers there, nya~."
"Meow?"
"Commander, what are you doing?! Nya~"
Though she wanted to fight back, Akashi couldn't break free from his embrace. The warm touch on her face made her unconsciously return the gesture by rubbing Reuel's cheek.
It's impossible for a cat to resist a gentle touch—and the same goes for a cat-eared ship girl.
"Nya~ Even if you praise Akashi, Akashi won't give you a discount, nya. If you count the lost salary and research funds, Commander, you owe me a total—"
Akashi's voice faded, almost like an annoying mosquito buzzing.
"From now on, I'm taking you to another world to earn some money, nya~~"
"Really? Or is the Commander just lying? Maybe you're making empty promises to me, nya? I still have lots of cat painting boxes that haven't sold yet." Akashi snorted, eyes wide.
She clearly remembered why she joined the Vanguard Fleet—to be able to sell those boxes.
"Really, I promise."
Reuel answered with full confidence.
"But before that, the shipgirls have to enter the space age first. Otherwise, your boxes won't sell easily."
"You know how stubborn those Tech-Priests and others are about cooperating with you shipgirls, who sometimes just don't get along with them."
"..."
"Well then… fine! Commander will come visit Akashi often, nya!"
Akashi rubbed her arms, forgiving Reuel for tricking her into working for free here.
"Commander, do you have a special attack to deal with that little shipgirl?"
Richelieu just stared blankly.
The lucky guy who once kidnapped an aircraft carrier at Minato harbor and chased off a submarine was now mentally defeated just by two sentences from Akashi?!
Is Akashi short on cash or does she have some secret plan?
"Wow..."
"After losing to Dafeng versus the Commander, I'll lose to Heroic Spirits, then lose to Akashi, and if this keeps up, I'll even lose to the Universal Bulin, Cardinal."
Suddenly, a yellow-haired Free Iris shipgirl appeared out of nowhere, shouting loudly:
"Bang! Reckless! Release the Commander! Back to work!"
Richelieu dropped the new shipgirl who had just arrived, then fixed her gaze on Reuel for a long moment.
"Universal Bulin? No way!? But I guess the Commander really likes Universal Bulin…."
"No, no, maybe I'm just overthinking it…"
After dealing with the emotional female boss, Reuel turned to business discussions with the shipgirl responsible for scientific research.
"Commander, I think these tasks need to be prioritized."
Akashi spread a stack of drawings and info across the table.
"It's too complicated to handle three studies at once. All are tech from other worlds. Bulin and I are too busy."
"Do you think it's better to focus on one project first?"
Reuel pondered briefly.
Apparently, there's no rush to build the Gundam body.
First, there's no urgent need to improve combat effectiveness.
Second, the Gundam can only be considered part of it, not the whole.
Besides the technological aspect, I need to study the magical side in the future.
As for the soul counter device… Akashi might have to learn basic Moonworld science before she can build it.
"Finish the satellite mission first, launch the satellite, and build the spaceship. How far along are you?"
"Launching satellites is very easy."
Akashi showed several round, handmade satellites.
"The Universal Bulin space base is almost done."
"We just need a rocket to send them into Earth's orbit. There's weather satellites, communication satellites, spy satellites, and so on…"
"Can we use them to forecast weather or monitor Terra Aeterna's movements?"
Satellite tech has matured thanks to StarCraft's technology. In the context of Blue World military tech, building a space station isn't difficult.
"I designed a spaceship modeled after the Archangel from the Gundam world and Imperial Navy weaponry."
Akashi led everyone to the other side of the workshop to show off their work.
A massive warship, still unfinished, hung from a robot arm.
About 300 meters long, it was entirely black.
The hull and underside were completed. The bulkheads were finished, but the top structure wasn't closed yet. The internal structure was visible from above — including the main control room, crew quarters, ammo storage, and more.
Thousands of workers busied themselves inside, welding decks, installing accessories, and more.
You can also see the weapon system at the front of the warship—a massive main cannon that the Three-Door Ship Girls had never seen before.
Below it is a super-large cannon. Reuel seemed to recognize the design, like the Warhammer Nova Cannon, and at the bottom of the ship, there appears to be a launch bay for extraminatus.
"That's the positron city-destroyer cannon," Akashi introduced.
"Among the technologies from the Gundam series and the Imperial Navy, these techs are used by the Archangel to attack special ships."
"And also Arcmagos Brawalius Cawl added the Nova Cannon to the Archangel ship and the extraminatus torpedo launchers—although I'm not sure how big the impact of those extraminatus really is, nya~."
These technologies are energy weapons and are suitable for use in space.
"Extremely powerful... According to the data, it's not difficult to sink a warship with a single shot."
"In addition, this ship is equipped with four railguns and high-energy beam cannons."
Gundam-series weapons aren't necessarily stronger than the Battleship Girls' gear with their Rubik's Cube bonus, but they have an important feature: they're suitable for space combat.
Azure Battleship Girls' weapons are primarily used for planetary battles and aren't considered effective for space combat issues.
"How about mobility?" Reuel asked.
"The cruising speed can surpass the third cosmic velocity, and theoretically it can fly out of the solar system."
The third cosmic velocity is 16.7 kilometers per second, enough speed to escape the Sun's gravity.
"Still a bit far from light speed, but it's progress, and the Ship Girls can go into space."
"Arcmagos Brawalius Cawl also offered yesterday to add a warp engine, but I refused it~~ they wanted to perform a machine god ritual on the Ship Girls' ship, nya~~."
Reuel pondered for a moment.
That's already close to Mach 50, which is insanely fast on Earth, but in the vast starry sky, the speed is still somewhat insignificant.
Unfortunately, the Ship Girls rejected the Tech-Priest Mechanicus' help to install hyperspace and warp drives here, unlike the natives in Warhammer and StarCraft.
The Ship Girls still have to develop the technology slowly.
"Is this a spaceship?… Looks different from our ship's hull…"
Some Ship Girls accompanying them gazed at the warship.
The covered deck, the blocky head shapes, and the jets on the bottom and tail all revealed a distinct sci-fi vibe.
"If the experiment on this spaceship succeeds, it should allow for modifications to your own ship's body as well."
"At that point, the Ship Girls will have a space fleet. No wonder after adding the Mental Cube, your combat effectiveness will be even stronger."
Akashi was confident about the future.
"Spaceship Ship Girls?..."
Reuel mused for a moment.
It was said that the Ship Girls' side was blocked by some unknown creatures, which is why no one mentioned space technology in the Azur Lane world.
But there should be no danger on my side—at least I won't encounter weird things like xenos, disgusting aliens, or insect swarms like Tyranids and Zerg when I ascend to the skies.
So you can pull all the Ship Girls from the Minato harbor area to fly to the sky alongside the Imperial Navy later.
Looking at some neighbors on the superdimensional star map, and more distant blurred worlds far away.
Finally, I had the feeling I would soon let go of my xenophobic identity.
"Focus all resources and power to build the first spaceship as soon as possible," Reuel ordered Akashi.
"Damn it, the Commander is a cruel dictator, dumping all their tasks onto me Ship Girls for nothing!!!" Akashi shouted.