Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

”Commander—”

”I want to have little shipgirls too—”

After messing around with a bunch of Spirits, Mio went off to help Tohka get familiar with her surroundings.

Meanwhile, inside the office, Taihou clung onto Setsuna’s back, stretching out her words in a long, lazy tone.

”It’s so unfair! Mio has only been here for a little while, and you’ve already had over ten daughters with her. I’ve been with you for so long, and I still don’t have anything—”

”…”

Feeling the peculiar softness pressing against his back, Setsuna sighed.

”First of all, aside from Tohka Yatogami, the other Spirits were converted from humans. Saying they were ’born’ from me and Mio is a bit of a stretch, don’t you think?”

”Second, it’s impossible. We can’t have little shipgirls. Different species can’t naturally produce offspring.”

”Besides, I think you guys count as half-machine, half-magic beings…”

According to what the system had explained before, he and the shipgirls couldn’t naturally conceive little shipgirls.

So no matter what they did, it was entirely risk-free.

Setsuna had initially thought this was good news, but he hadn’t expected Taihou to get all worked up about it after seeing Mio and her so-called ”daughters.”

”Commander-sama, it’s not the same—”

Taihou pressed in even closer.

”Look, you and that Spirit of Origin did the same things as us, right? And those Spirit Crystals they carry also contain part of your power, so in a way, they’re the result of you two coming together…”

”If you think about it like that, both the process and the outcome are there—doesn’t that make them your daughters?!”

”?”

”Holy crap, why does that actually make sense?!”

Setsuna felt like there was something fundamentally wrong with Taihou’s logic, but he couldn’t quite pinpoint where.

So, he simply pointed to the side.

”Go ask Gudako if she’s willing to be your daughter.”

”…”

Ritsuka Fujimaru thought for a moment.

Then, she stood next to Setsuna, stretched out her hand, and said:

”I’m willing.”

”Dad, give me allowance money.”

”???”

”You sold your dignity that fast?!”

Setsuna stared at Gudako in disbelief.

”Of course! After thinking about it, aside from calling you ’Dad,’ I don’t really lose anything…”

”Besides, you wouldn’t mistreat your own daughter, right?”

Gudako made a righteous argument, stretching her hand even closer.

”Give me my allowance.”

”…”

Setsuna pulled out two torpedoes from the Eternal Snowfall warehouse and stuffed them into Gudako’s hands.

”533mm space torpedoes, here, take them and play with them later.”

”Who the hell wants this?!”

Gudako shoved the torpedoes into the hands of a passing destroyer.

”?”

Laffey, who just happened to be walking by, now found herself holding two massive torpedoes, looking utterly confused.

”When holidays come around, remember to prepare gifts for your dear daughter. Oh, speaking of which, it’s almost the Spring Festival. I want some New Year’s money too.”

”And don’t worry, I won’t ask for too much. Just give me a Gundam. I’ve played with Barbatos enough, so I want to switch models…”

Ritsuka Fujimaru, standing firm in her new identity as Setsuna’s ”daughter,” began making demands with righteous confidence.

She felt like she had hit the jackpot. Back on Earth, she would only get a few red envelopes from her elders during holidays. But now? With Setsuna, she practically had a walking wishing machine. With access to countless worlds, what kind of rare and exotic treasures couldn’t he get his hands on?

”…”

Setsuna thought for a moment before snapping his fingers.

”Take her away, hand her over to Mio for discipline. Tell her our daughter is being disobedient and needs a good beating.”

”Mmmmph—!”

Gudako was promptly tucked under Richelieu’s arm and tossed out of the administrative building.

”…”

With the shameless Chaldea Master out of the way, the discussion returned to the topic of little shipgirls.

”You see, I’ve already tried everything. We’ve experimented with every possible method. If it was going to happen, it would’ve happened by now.”

Setsuna spread his hands in resignation.

”At the end of the day, you girls are beings born from Wisdom Cubes, the embodiments of warships. Even if I’ve absorbed a Wisdom Cube and gained new forms, can a Gundam and a warship, or even two warships, produce offspring?!”

He glanced at the shipgirls gathered around him, signaling that he had genuinely done his best.

”Mm… I don’t really care. As long as the Commander is with me, I’m happy…”

”As the secretary ship, I already have my hands full. Taking care of little shipgirls would just be extra work…”

Richelieu casually twirled a strand of her hair as she spoke.

”The shipgirls of the Dragon Empery fleet are all my children. The Four Heavenly Kings, Ning Hai, and Ping Hai—they’re enough for me.”

Yat Sen also seemed indifferent to the idea.

”No! I absolutely want to give the Commander a little shipgirl!”

”Mio has hers, so Taihou wants one too—”

Taihou pouted, clinging to Setsuna as she whined.

”This isn’t something you can just want and make happen…”

Setsuna pulled Taihou into his arms, trying to console her.

”Look, shipgirls’ cores are Wisdom Cubes, and Wisdom Cubes are purely technological constructs created by the Bulins. You can’t just give birth to a Wisdom Cube, right?”

”Plus, you’re not like the Spirit of Origin, who can split off parts of her own power.”

”…”

Taihou nestled closer against Setsuna’s chest, fidgeting as she mulled over something.

”Wisdom Cubes… Wisdom Cubes…”

”That’s it! Commander, you said we can’t produce little shipgirls through conventional means, but what if we try something else?”

”…What are you even talking about???”

A series of question marks popped up in Setsuna’s mind.

”Wait here! I need to ask someone something!!”

With a sudden realization, Taihou bolted out of the office like a gust of wind.

—

Ten minutes later.

Golden Horn Bay, Siren Naval Port, Dockyard Berth.

A petite girl, barely 1.5 meters tall, lay sprawled out on her ship rigging, lazily blowing bubbles while reading a manga. Her long white hair was adorned with cat-ear hair clips, and her golden eyes flickered under the bright sunlight.

She wore nothing but a dark blue school swimsuit, which contrasted sharply with the massive mechanical construct beneath her—a battleship-like rigging that extended five to six meters in diameter, complete with oversized cannons and octopus-like mechanical appendages.

One of these appendages curled around a can of cola and lifted it to her lips.

Observer took a sip, let out a satisfied burp, and continued flipping through the pages of the manga.

”Hm… These imports from other worlds are pretty interesting…”

”Look at this—Kantai Collection: Fubuki’s Struggle Chronicles—it’s about shipgirls too, though their Abyssals don’t seem nearly as strong as us.”

She pondered for a moment before tapping a page.

”Huh… But Northern Princess is kinda cute. I wonder if I could capture one for research… When’s the Commander going to discover another world, anyway?”

Nearby, lounging on the docks, Purifier was enjoying her snacks while sunbathing. She yawned and stretched before replying with disinterest.

”If you want to see shipgirls, just head over to the Azur Lane naval port. There are plenty of them there... Why bother looking in another world?”

”Come on, just let me see what this Northern Princess looks like...”

Purifier scooted over, peering into the manga.

Her eyes widened immediately.

”Whoa, wait—she’s actually adorable! Even cuter than you?!”

”???”

”Die.”

With a loud ”bonk”, Observer smacked Purifier on the head, sending her tumbling straight into the water.

Before Purifier could even react, Observer’s mechanical tentacles wrapped around her legs, dragging her further down.

Glug glug glug—

A trail of bubbles rose to the surface as the water churned.

Just then—

”Hello? Anyone here?”

A voice rang out at the entrance.

Standing in the doorway was a shipgirl—an aircraft carrier dressed in a short, low-cut red kimono with twin tails swaying behind her. Taihou had arrived.

The mass-produced Siren shipgirls patrolling nearby turned their curious gazes toward Taihou.

”Oh? Taihou?”

”A rare guest. What brings you here?”

The petite Observer released her grip on Purifier, allowing the drenched Siren to climb out of the water, shake off the excess moisture, and wring out her soaked sailor uniform. Both now turned their attention to Taihou with curiosity.

”Uh… I have a question for you…”

”Or rather, I need your help with something.”

Taihou fidgeted slightly, sounding uncertain.

”Oh?!”

Both Sirens exchanged incredulous glances.

Back in the Azur Lane world, they had fought against Taihou more than once. Her relentless, almost suicidal combat tactics had left a strong impression on them. Now, seeing her voluntarily walk into the Siren base seeking assistance was truly unusual.

”Go ahead, ask away. You want to see our latest weapons? We might not have a lot of people right now, but our research capabilities are still top-tier…”

”Or are you here to inspect Siren aircraft carriers or submarines?”

Purifier asked enthusiastically.

”Um… No, it’s neither of those…”

Taihou hesitated for a moment, looking somewhat shy.

”You guys are pretty knowledgeable about Wisdom Cubes, right? I saw how Compiler was able to install dual Wisdom Cubes in the Commander and even convert Cube energy into a tangible form.”

”Hm… I suppose you could say that? Given that we share a common origin, after all.”

The petite Observer responded, tilting her head slightly.

”So? You want to invite us to study the Cubes together?”

”No.”

Taihou shook her head.

”I want to have a little shipgirl with the Commander. Can you help with that?”

”???”

Purifier, Observer, and even the distant Omitter who had been eavesdropping all froze in stunned silence.

Every Siren in the dockyard stopped what they were doing.

For a long moment, there was nothing but an awkward pause.

Finally, the Observer, still crouched on her ship rigging, let out a long sigh.

”Miss Taihou, we are the Siren Terminal Unit, not a Siren brothel or a Siren maternity ward.”

”Please respect our profession and our dignity.”

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