Yamato was completely dumbfounded, unable to get a word out, and the envoy group was equally stunned.
This kind of action was already a serious insult.
"You people still haven't figured out the current situation," Bismarck shook her head. "Yamato is our prisoner now. Do you understand?"
The envoy group erupted in an uproar, completely thrown off by Bismarck's outrageous move.
A moment ago, they had been discussing cooperation and signing agreements. And now—she suddenly declared that she'd taken the liaison in the middle of it all as a hostage?
It wasn't that their brains couldn't keep up. It was that Bismarck's play was too shamelessly out of left field!
Goeben even suspected she had misheard. She swallowed hard. "Prisoner?"
Bismarck nodded. "That's right."
Goeben looked at Yamato struggling helplessly in Bismarck's grasp, then back at her own companions, feeling like her mind was short-circuiting.
"What's going on here? Is this supposed to be an April Fool's joke? It's not April Fool's today, is it?"
Bismarck waved dismissively, as if brushing away a fly. "Roughly at nine tonight, we will head to the shipgirl branch headquarters to provide a statement on today's events. For now, please leave. Don't force us to drive you away by force."
Goeben's expression hardened. "I hope you understand what you're doing, Bismarck."
"I know exactly what I'm doing."
At that moment, more than a hundred carrier-based planes flew over from the north, circling above the envoy group. It was Saratoga and Ranger delivering a show of force.
Prince of Wales also rose to her feet, summoning her rigging. The cold, yawning barrels of her cannons aimed directly at them, sending chills down their spines.
Goeben drew in a sharp breath, realizing just how bad this had gotten.
Why had the situation suddenly deteriorated so severely?
She looked intently at Yamato. Perhaps only Yamato could answer their doubts.
But in Bismarck's grip, Yamato was completely powerless, like a kitten pinned by the scruff of its neck by fate itself.
Of course, Yamato was no fragile kitten. Goeben knew that very well.
In terms of seniority within headquarters, Goeben was higher-ranked and had reached level 100 earlier than Yamato.
But she also knew she was absolutely not Yamato's match.
The battlecruiser Goeben had been built before World War I, and the shipgirl born from her soul had panel stats far inferior to those of World War II warships—much less the legendary battleship Yamato, known as the "world's strongest battleship."
If even Yamato was completely subdued in Bismarck's hands, Goeben didn't believe she had any chance of saving her, even if the entire envoy group acted together.
And she was right.
Goeben's current durability was only 59, with armor 60, and base firepower at 73.
Bismarck, meanwhile, had durability 100, armor 100, and base firepower of 104.
Just in base firepower alone, Bismarck was ahead of Goeben by the equivalent of a six-star Abyssal Barbarossa main gun. Goeben's other stats were closer to those of a heavy cruiser than a battleship.
On top of that, Bismarck had two practically broken skills, plus the support of her companions' skills. Most importantly—she was ten levels higher than Goeben.
The gap was like comparing a level 100 shipgirl to one barely in the nineties. Bismarck was two full tiers above.
If Goeben had any advantage at all, it was luck.
Goeben had survived through two world wars, and her shipgirl form boasted a staggering 45 points of luck. Bismarck, even with the +5 from her oath ring, only had 23 in total.
Luck was a mysterious attribute. It influenced dodging, accuracy, critical hits—almost everything tied to chance.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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