Still, while Hikaru's reasoning might've been skewed, it wasn't without merit.
Tirpitz—titled the "Number One in the World,"—even if she cost a billion every month, nations would still grit their teeth and pay just to have her on their side.
In times of war, a country could run in a state of bankruptcy. Money was just paper.
Things like nuclear-powered aircraft carriers? Against the Abyssals, they were practically useless. At most, they were long-term investments for humanity's continued technological progression. When it came to actual war, it was shipgirls who carried the weight.
So the value of the world's strongest shipgirl was impossible to measure. Asking for ten billion a month? Frankly, that wasn't even unreasonable.
But the shipgirl headquarters wasn't a nation. They were nowhere near as wealthy.
The headquarters mainly operated through support from host countries. Departments like the Commander Academy or the Shipgirl Welfare Bureau were often running at a loss. So even if they were powerful, they weren't exactly rolling in cash.
Of course, Yamato couldn't admit that out loud. Acknowledging weakness during negotiations would only push Hikaru toward wealthier and more influential factions.
"We can't pay that much. Tirpitz isn't even an employee of our headquarters!"
Hikaru chuckled. "I'm already compromising here. Just look at Tirpitz—powerful as she is—and on top of that, there's Bismarck, Lexington, Saratoga, Prince of Wales, all right here. And I'm only using Tirpitz as an example. Yamato, you know my potential. Who knows—maybe in a few days, I'll have a whole fleet of high-level shipgirls showing up. When that happens, 1000++ a month will be cheap."
Yamato bit her lip, her gaze sweeping over Bismarck and the others.
He wasn't wrong.
If just a little over ten billion per month could tie these shipgirls—and this highly promising base—onto their side, the shipgirl HQ would be making an absolute killing.
But Hikaru was adamant about calling it "aid." In other words, HQ would be giving him free money. That phrasing alone rubbed Yamato the wrong way.
At least sign an official alliance treaty or something!
Yamato sank into thought.
Behind her, Prince of Wales looked a little guilty.
Hikaru had just lumped her in with Tirpitz as an equally powerful shipgirl. That was a stretch, to put it mildly.
Tirpitz and the others were level 110. She had just passed level 100—not even in the same bracket.
But then she thought: whose fault was it that she wasn't at 110?
Obviously the Commander's!
All the training, expeditions, and combat assignments were decided by him. His favorites got nonstop missions and skyrocketed in levels, while the neglected ones—well, they didn't even get a chance to train.
Just look at poor Vampire.
Why was Vampire afraid of her? Probably because she thought Prince of Wales was too strict, too dismissive of a fragile destroyer who hadn't even reached level 10 yet.
All the Commander's fault!
Back to Yamato—after thinking for a moment, she said, "If this is just 'aid,' then I have no way to explain it."
Ten billion a month might be doable, but HQ needed to see returns. They weren't going to throw money down the drain.
Hikaru rubbed his hands together and smiled. "I get it, you need political credit. And that brings me to my next point: the Abyssal Campaign Development Fund!"
Yamato blinked. "Wait, I thought that was just a random name you came up with."
"What? No way—I've been mulling over that for months!"
Hikaru rattled it off without blinking. Yamato's eyes practically rolled out of her skull.
Even Bismarck subtly curled her lips. She'd literally just seen the draft minutes ago.
Yamato raised her hands. "Fine, I'm all ears. I hope your proposal is well thought out."
That was a warning not to start spewing nonsense again.
"Hey, Yamato, let me ask you—what's the founding mission of the shipgirl headquarters?"
Yamato blinked. "Everyone knows that—protecting naturally born, uncontracted shipgirls."
"And besides that?"
"Uh… eliminating the Abyssals?"
"Exactly!" Hikaru clapped. "Fighting Abyssals is the core mission of the HQ. But your strength is limited. Fortunately, I'm a helpful guy, so I'm willing to work alongside you to wipe them out. And naturally, the shipgirl HQ should give a little 'hardship bonus' to a certain warmhearted Commander."
Too many ridiculous points—Yamato didn't even know where to start tearing into him.
Limited strength? Warmhearted Commander?
You really weren't afraid your tongue would cramp from all that bragging, were you?!
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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