Chapter 385: System Upgrade Complete
At this moment, the soldiers in the control room discovered that the Eternal was about to start up and break out of the spaceport. They immediately contacted the bridge and shouted, "What are you doing?! Headquarters has not issued any sortie orders!
Captain Waltfeld, please respond if you can hear us!"
However, Andrew ignored them entirely and continued with the departure preparations.
As a result, they immediately began closing the port exits to prevent the Eternal from departing.
At this time, a bridge crew member reported to Andrew, "Captain Waltfeld, the control system password for the main port gate has been changed. The gate cannot be opened."
"Oh? Nicely done. But wouldn't it have been better if you hadn't tampered with it? Now they'll have to spend even more money on repairs," Andrew said. Then he turned to Lacus and added, "Miss Lacus, things are going to get a bit rough next. Please prepare for impact."
Lacus replied with a smile, "That can't be helped. We have to depart."
"Main cannon, prepare to fire! Target the main gate. Fire as the engines start."
After issuing the order, Andrew nodded to Lacus.
Lacus immediately understood and nodded back, giving the command, "Eternal, depart!"
The Eternal slowly began to move. Immediately afterward, the battleship's main cannon unleashed a beam attack, completely destroying the spaceport's main gate.
The Eternal burst out at high speed and charged into outer space.
At the same time, Tolle heard a "ding" in his mind, and the system spoke to him in a lifeless, icy female voice:
"Host, system upgrade complete.
After this upgrade, the following changes have been added upon reaching Major-level authority:
1. Permission to return to previously traversed worlds has been unlocked.
2. Each time the host returns from a previously traversed world, that world will enter a cooldown period for a certain duration.
3. Time spent staying in previously traversed worlds is no longer limited. For every additional 1 year of stay, the passage of time in the main world increases by 1 minute.
This system upgrade also includes one upgrade gift pack. Does the host wish to open it now?"
"Holy shit!" Tolle couldn't help but blurt out profanity again. Then he asked the system, "System, even your voice changed after upgrading. Have you gained intelligence now?"
"Host, the system does not possess any sapience. All responses are preset.
If the host insists on the system possessing intelligence, after reaching a certain permission level, it will be possible to integrate the soul of a sapient life-form or an advanced artificial intelligence system from technological products."
"Oh, fine then. If there's no intelligence, forget it. Also, does that mean that after traversing three more worlds, I can return to worlds I've already been to? Can I traverse now?"
"The host may understand it that way. However, traversal is temporarily unavailable. The traversal artifact still requires continued charging. Once charging is complete, traversal functionality will be reopened."
"Uh, fine. I thought I could traverse immediately, but it still needs charging again.
Then system, open that upgrade gift pack now and let's see what's inside."
Tolle was so excited he wanted to rub his hands together in a sleazy way, but unfortunately Lacus and the others were right beside him. He could only pretend to be spacing out while continuing to talk with the system.
"Congratulations, host. You have obtained:
One Ship Girl Core from a certain Ship Girl world.
From the Electromagnetic Squadron Million Ranger world: one Epic-tier mid-stage Super Robot—Super Galaxy Million (includes the Million Battleship, Million Spaceplane, and three Triangle Million units)."
"Holy shit! A Ship Girl Core—this is insane. And what is this Super Galaxy Million? There's even a distinction between Super Robots and Real Robots?" Tolle bit down hard on his lip, forcibly suppressing his excitement, and asked the system, "System, how do you use this Ship Girl Core? How do you use it?"
"Place the Ship Girl Core on the main control unit of a battleship's bridge. She will automatically integrate with the vessel."
"System, also—how are Super Robot tiers classified?"
"Super Robots are divided into six tiers: Ordinary, Exceptional, Transcendent, Epic, Legendary, and Mythic."
"Oh, I see. So that's how it works. That's one tier higher compared to Real Robots' D, C, B, A, S, SS, and SSS.
Doesn't that mean this Super Galaxy Million corresponds to around A-rank or S-rank?"
"That interpretation is acceptable. However, comparisons between equivalent tiers are difficult."
"Alright, got it. Thanks, system."
Then Tolle looked at the Ship Girl Core and the 65-meter-tall Super Galaxy Million in his storage space and said to Nami, "Nami, help me assimilate the Ship Girl Core and the Super Galaxy Million—especially the Ship Girl Core. See if it can be mass-produced."
"Understood, Master. Nami will begin work immediately."
After several dozen seconds, Nami replied, "Master, the Ship Girl Core and Super Galaxy Million have been successfully assimilated.
However, the Ship Girl Core cannot be mass-produced. The consciousness entity born from the core requires extremely high intelligence and self-awareness. At most, Nami can concurrently handle one.
However, contact has been established with the internal consciousness entity, Iori Rinko.
Standard Ship Girl abilities can be acquired: Klein Field, corrosive torpedoes, and built-in compressed space data. Data replication is currently in progress.
After replication is complete, Klein Fields can be added to all nano-armor, units, and warships. Existing compressed space can also be upgraded and modified, increasing maximum storage space to a spherical space with a diameter of 100 meters."
"Holy shit!" Tolle was already at the edge of losing control, his expression changing constantly. Fortunately, he was standing behind Lacus, and everyone else was fully focused on combat operations, so no one noticed his abnormal state.
"The Ship Girl is Iori—wait, what? That's insane. I like that. Too bad it can't be mass-produced."
"Master, Nami would like to correct you. Iori Rinko is still a young lady, not a married woman. Of course, if she marries Master right now, then calling her that wouldn't be a problem."
Three drops of sweat appeared on Tolle's forehead. He immediately skipped the topic and said, "Uh, alright, Nami. Let's not pursue that issue. Later, help me ask Iori—no, Iori Rinko—what kind of battleship suits her. Then we can make arrangements for her."
"Received, Master. Nami understands and will proceed with communication and arrangements."
———
Galaxy Million
Super Robot: Epic-tier early-stage unit
Terrain Adaptation: Sea C / Land B / Air – Space A
Fixed Weapons:
Million Shield x1, Million Saber x1, Beam Gun Booster Rifle x1 (can fire freezing gas)
———
Super Galaxy Million
Super Robot: Epic-tier mid-stage unit
Terrain Adaptation: Sea C / Land B / Air – Space A
Fixed Weapons:
Dual Shoulder Gatling Burst Cannons x2, Beam Gun Booster Rifle x1.
Finishing Moves:
Super Galaxy Flying Punch (both fists launch outward to attack)
Grand Explosion Attack (the entire unit spins at high speed like a drill, igniting flames over its surface through air friction, then charges at the enemy with its head as the point)