After thinking it over, Bismarck ultimately couldn't withstand Yamato's relentless pestering and shook her head. "Then let the Commander decide."
After all, they really had defeated the Abyssal army fair and square. They'd done something good for, so taking a little reward money was more than reasonable.
Yamato's expression brightened with joy, and then, remembering something, she leaned close to whisper in Bismarck's ear.
Helena shook her head and turned to Saratoga. "Look at Yamato. She's acting like a total bootlicker."
Yamato pretended she hadn't heard a thing! What she whispered to Bismarck, though, did earn some agreement.
She was talking about transportation.
These warships could only push to a few dozen knots at best. Considering that Hikaru's naval base was practically on Australia's doorstep, with countless Abyssal ships harassing them along the way, by the time a transport convoy reached the base, a whole month would have passed.
That obviously wasn't going to work.
After some thought, Bismarck spoke. "Gather the resources together and carry them the same way you did last time. As for the other supplies, load them all onto a single ship. The rest of the ships and crews can just return."
Yamato's eyes widened. "Without crews, how's the ship supposed to sail?"
Don't be fooled by Yamato being a shipgirl—piloting a warship wasn't something you could do without actual training. Just like how many shipgirls couldn't actually swim.
Bismarck shot her a look. "Of course we'll take it back ourselves."
Yamato immediately shook her head. "That won't work. If you drag a warship skimming over the water at that speed, its hull structure won't hold together."
The speed at which Bismarck's group traveled was practically like an aircraft flying. Converted into knots, it would be six to seven hundred.
Even if Bismarck slowed down, a few hundred knots was more than enough to tear a warship apart under the water's impact.
Bismarck didn't explain. "Go give the order. You'll see how we bring it back."
The night sky hung high with a bright full moon.
A leaf-shaped warship sailed right across its face.
"I really am an idiot," Yamato muttered blankly. "I only ever thought warships could run across the water. How did I not realize they could run through the sky too?"
She stared in a daze as a several-thousand-ton warship flew through the air, dumbfounded.
This vessel wasn't very large—its full load displacement was only six or seven thousand tons, and it wasn't even close to being fully loaded.
Yamato herself could lift a warship like that.
But hauling thousands of tons through the sky at several hundred knots, while keeping it from breaking apart?
All she could think was: Just what kind of godlike shipgirls does Hikaru's base have?!
"Fleet Admiral, a top-secret cable just arrived from Signals."
The young aide placed the document on the desk.
Gorou stood with his hands behind his back at the window, staring out at the moonlit sea.
The waters were far from calm. Under the dark indigo sky, orange blossoms of firelight flared again and again—like fireworks exploding on New Year's Eve.
But behind that lively scene was brutal war. Abyssal raids swept across the front. In the East Sea, no admiral could sleep peacefully; with each passing day, familiar comrades and shipgirls sank into the vast ocean.
The aide said nothing. He knew the Fleet Admiral carried a crushing burden, now further weighed down by the decision of when to launch the final battle.
Troop deployment was critical. To encircle and annihilate the Abyssal Ryuujou, they needed to throw out bait enticing enough, while the strike force must be overwhelmingly strong. That meant other defensive fronts would be left weak, taking on greater pressure.
Whether as "bait," as part of the "encirclement fleet," or as the admirals left in those "weakened defenses," all of them would be gambling their lives.
It wasn't an easy decision—and it was one only the Fleet Admiral could make.
But war was like that.
The aide gazed at Gorou's thin back with respect shining in his eyes.
This frail old man had been charging at the Abyssals for nearly two centuries, fighting for the Nation.
The Fleet Admiral had once commanded many shipgirls. But decades of war meant sacrifice was inevitable. In the defense of the South Seas, the destroyer Inazuma, was lost—leaving the Fleet Admiral with only one shipgirl: his marriage ship, Indiana.
And even Indiana, after a bitter disagreement, had parted ways with him.
For the Country's sake, this old man had given everything he had.
[End of Chapter]
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