Kiana Kaslana's body gradually became transparent, dissolving into countless nanomaterial particles that transferred back to her ship. The versions of herself and Kongou meeting with Chihaya Gunzou had merely been decoys made from nanomaterials—their true mental cores remained aboard.
Finally, it was time for battle!
Listening to them talk was so boring.
Kongou, commanding the First Oriental Fleet—with Kongou, Maya, and six Nagara-class light cruisers—fired all main cannons, torpedoes, and missiles simultaneously.
Hyuuga deployed a massive Klein field covering the entirety of Iwo Jima. The orange hexagonal crystal walls formed a dome, blocking bombardments coming from all directions.
"In that moment," Kongou's voice echoed across the battlefield, "I think I finally understood the emotion 401 called happiness."
"But that very emotion... was also a clever trap."
"The Fog are weapons. For a weapon to possess happiness—that is a mistake."
Listening to Kongou and Hyuuga's distant exchange, Kiana Kaslana couldn't help rolling her eyes.
If you have no emotions, then why are you angry?!
The Fog's Mental Models possessed emotions—yet they themselves denied those emotions.
Kongou was furious, but she didn't even realize it, nor did she understand why.
Chihaya Gunzou, that protagonist, had used those very emotions to manipulate and win over the Fog's Mental Models.
As for the Admiralty Code—if Kiana's guess was correct, it required both super-flagships, Musashi and Yamato, to issue an order simultaneously in order to enforce absolute commands on the rest of the Fleet.
"Maya."
"Yes, yes~ you called me?"
Kiana Kaslana maintained fire output while listening to Kongou's orders.
"Takao and Hyuuga are clearly only feinting—ignore them."
"We'll locate 401 and Chihaya Gunzou and destroy the Vibration Warhead."
Kongou spoke confidently.
"Kongou, are you trying to sink 401, or destroy the Vibration Warhead?"
At that, Kiana Kaslana couldn't resist pointing it out.
Kongou was... surprisingly naïve.
"What do you mean?"
"The Vibration Warhead is currently with Takao," she replied casually.
Kiana Kaslana had seen everything—the transfer of the Vibration Warhead from 401 to Takao.
Hyuuga and Takao were merely putting on a show, creating a diversion to attract the attention of Kiana and Kongou's Fleet of Fog while secretly having I-401's crew and the warhead transferred to Takao.
But such little tricks were meaningless before her.
"An underhanded diversion, huh?"
"How fond of clever games they are."
After a brief silence, Kongou gave the order. "Find 401 and Chihaya Gunzou."
Compared to the Vibration Warhead, she wanted to sink I-401 even more.
"All ships, expand search range."
"You really are a handful~"
Kiana Kaslana turned her ship's bow. She didn't need radar or sonar to know I-401's location.
But directly telling Kongou would make her seem suspicious.
Like the Nagara-class cruisers, she spread out to assist in the search for I-401.
Kongou was the first to spot I-401 and gave chase at fifty knots.
Kiana Kaslana followed quietly not far behind.
One had to admit—the name Kongou suited her perfectly. She was relentless, charging forward through the barrage of I-401's modified corrosion torpedoes.
Just watching made Kiana wince.
The Fog were weapons—weren't they supposed to be immune to pain?
Apparently not.
Their Mental Models could feel pain when their ship bodies were damaged.
Such a setting... how to describe it—
Very peculiar.
If not for the need to maintain her cover, Kiana might have been tempted to test just how far Kongou's sensations went.
Keeping a steady distance behind, Kiana observed.
Having been strengthened by Honkai energy and ideational force, her ship's performance had already surpassed Kongou's in every aspect. Without any preparation, she could instantly enter her power-boost mode and overtake I-401.
She had also integrated advanced technology from the Honkai Impact 3rd world—
For example, a spacetime fracture system.
After taking several hits, Kongou prepared to finish I-401 with her Super-Graviton Cannon—but before she could fire, Hyuuga hacked into her systems, disabling part of her engines. The blast went wide.
I-401 activated its power burst mode and fled at high speed.
Kiana Kaslana glanced at Kongou's dark, furious expression.
She couldn't help but think—
That must've really hurt, both physically and mentally.
All that damage... for nothing.
Just a little more.
And afterward, she was even mocked by the enemy—Takao, of all people.
Tsk, tsk! How pitiful, Kongou.
Kiana Kaslana looked toward the direction I-401 had escaped.
I-400 and I-402 were lying in ambush ahead.
It didn't take long before Kongou, still seething with rage, received the report—
I-401 had been sunk.
...
Within the communications courtyard, Kiana Kaslana sat cross-legged on the ground, idly strumming her instrument to help calm Kongou's mood.
The Mental Models of I-400 and I-402 appeared before Kongou to initiate a dialogue.
"Why did you take it upon yourselves to sink 401?" Kongou demanded.
I-402: "What do you mean by 'take it upon ourselves'? I do not understand."
I-402: "The decision to sink 401 was the consensus of the entire Fleet of Fog."
"But at that time, I was the one engaged in combat with that vessel," Kongou argued.
I-400: "401 entered its power burst mode and was already beyond your detection range when it was sunk."
"More importantly—why were you even in this sea region?"
"I didn't receive any report about your presence."
Kongou's tone dripped with displeasure.
I-400: "We were monitoring you."
Off to the side, Kiana Kaslana listened to the exchange and couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
These two sisters really don't hold back, do they?
If Kongou truly had no emotions, it wouldn't matter how they spoke to her.
But she did have emotions—and such words only poured oil onto the fire.
And adding her own presence as an emotionless observation unit on top of that...
It would be a miracle if Kongou didn't rebel.
After I-400 and I-402 severed the link and left the communication courtyard, Kiana Kaslana spoke softly.
"Kongou, do you want to sink 401 with your own hands?"
"Maya."
Kongou turned her head toward the girl behind her, who was still plucking her instrument.
"401 will resurface," Kiana said with a faint smile. "When it does, we'll sink it together."
Of course, this was just part of the story's flow.
After all, I-400 and I-402 had 'sunk' I-401—but they hadn't delivered the finishing blow.
There was no way the protagonist would die here. I-401 would almost certainly resurface, stronger than before.
By this point, Kiana was growing tired of maintaining her act—she was tempted to go finish I-401 herself.
"401 will resurface?" Kongou's eyes flickered with a hint of anticipation. "If she truly does... we must sink her with our own hands."
Kiana Kaslana understood the frustration and fury in Kongou's heart.
But remembering that it all began with a single bite of green pepper from that skewer earlier... she couldn't help finding it amusing.
...
After some time, I-400 and I-402 located Kongou again—this time, in reality. The two Fog submarines surfaced side by side.
A violet communications screen appeared before Kongou.
I-400: "401 has merged with Takao. Its systems have been restored. It has resurfaced."