The reason she didn't send the grand army charging was that Abyssal Musashi harbored the same worry.
She even suspected the enemy might take her head amid a million troops.
That wasn't baseless paranoia. According to intel, Tirpitz—the one hailed as Peerless War-God and Number One Shipgirl Under Heaven—hadn't even taken the field yet.
And shipgirls breaking past level 100—some possibly at 110—were popping up one after another, including missile-flinging destroyer leaders with insane output and submarines that assassinated flagships.
Who knew how many trump cards that naval district held?
After a long silence, Abyssal Musashi clenched a fist. "Where are the Fortress Princesses?"
That was her yielding—she would gather greater power to crush the naval district before her.
Flagship M answered first. "Tomorrow night or the day after. But I recommend waiting at least three days. By then our force of five million should be at four million assembled, with more flagships joining us."
Abyssal Musashi said, cool as a slap, "By then the northern N-class flagships will be here as well."
Flagship M's white wings stirred; she had no retort.
She'd been humoring Musashi's mood. The reason they'd launched this attack in such a rush was entirely because Musashi wanted the matter settled before northern reinforcements arrived.
It was an internal Abyssal factional struggle.
Flagship M, for her part, was somewhat above the fray.
Her full designation was Flagship Battleship M—in strict translation, "M Battleship"—the same broad category as the N-class (aviation battleships). The difference was that N-class were standard models, while she was a named unique.
Standard vs. unique—the difference between ordinary Abyssal shipgirls and the famed Abyssal flagships.
For example, standard Abyssal carriers come as Carrier O-class and Carrier X-class, while the unique class includes illustrious names like Akagi, Kaga, Shoukaku, and Zuikaku.
In status, M had considerable say—arguably more than an incoming N-class Type I Abyssal flagship, even if that one was level 101 and a tier stronger in raw power.
After all, her hull category was a notch higher—and she was six-star; at best the other side was four-star.
The reason M was speaking so gently now was to avoid inflaming Musashi into some reckless decision.
But Musashi was wiser than she'd thought.
"Then we wait. We wait for the Airfield Princesses and Fortress Princesses to bring their bases. We wait until five million troops are gathered. We wait until the N-class join the field…"
Abyssal Musashi slammed her fist down. "And then—an eye for an eye. Blood for blood."
Abyssal Hindenburg said, "Until then, we can keep up daytime bombing and nighttime torpedo raids. We don't have to break the naval district—just keep the pressure on."
Musashi waved a hand. "You have full authority. I'm going to repair. But no headlong rushing—we can't lose any more flagships."
Without Abyssal flagship command, even vast numbers were sand scattered by the wind.
And if the core strength ran thin, they'd risk an enemy decapitation strike.
Hikaru's construction was still underway when Bismarck took the chance to question Deutschland about their situation.
The truth left her speechless.
Deutschland had known almost nothing. Only en route had her big sister—Alaska—told her she served the summit nation of the New World.
As for specifics, Deutschland knew only that they'd come to curry favor with Hikaru.
Bismarck could only laugh and fume. They'd risked splitting their forces and taking an ambush for… that sort of hare-brained reason.
Still, Deutschland was a G-Faction shipgirl—and looked as timid as a rabbit. Bismarck didn't have the heart to chide her, and they waited in the storeroom for Hikaru to finish the summon.
This one was fast.
After roughly two hours, a spray of prismatic light shimmered before Hikaru.
A six-star shipgirl!
Despite that, Bismarck wasn't exactly delighted.
Two hours was basically the build time for a mid-sized hull like a heavy cruiser; no matter how strong, there were limits.
If it had been half an hour less, her little shadow, Prinz Eugen, might have arrived.
As it was, if Bismarck's guess was right, the newcomer should be—
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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