Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

One day later.

[Reverse Summoning System: Activated]

[Beginning Spiritron Conversion]

[Spiritron Transfer Initiating in...]

”5, 4, 3, 2, 1...”

[Full Transfer Complete!]

Accompanied by mechanical prompts, Setsuna and his team of four landed on a mountainside.

Looking out, they could see a small town at the base of the mountain.

With enhanced vision and perception thanks to his starship-level modifications, Setsuna took in the entire town’s details in seconds.

There were no high-rises—most buildings were wooden. Japanese signs lined the streets and shops, and a few girls in school uniforms walked along the narrow paths.

A typical Japanese town: Sorami Town.

The exact location where the events of Heaven’s Lost Property took place.

”The timing is correct. This is 12 years before the original plot begins.”

Belfast confirmed the current year.

”Good.”

Setsuna nodded and led the group down the mountain.

By now, he was well-versed in using the combination of Spiritron Transfer and spacetime corridors.

He had placed a spiritron receiver inside the Eternal Snowstorm. Upon landing, they activated the device, and Observer and Purifier back at base had dumped hundreds of energy cubes into the spiritron calculator.

After calculating the proper moment, he simply led his team back into the past.

With just five people, they consumed far fewer cubes than before.

The exact timeline of the original plot didn’t matter.

Whether Kazane had died, or whether Tomoki had met Daedalus or Ikaros, was irrelevant.

He could solve all problems at the very beginning of the story.

Just like when he intercepted the Spirit of Origin.

...

As they made their way into town, the scenery was quite nice.

Sorami Town was a typical rural area with a population of around six to seven thousand. It was smaller than a single functional district of their capital.

A significant portion of the younger population worked in big cities; the town was mostly left to the elderly.

Fields crisscrossed both sides of the roads, and many elders were busy tending to rice paddies.

Upon spotting Setsuna’s group, they stood up and stared in surprise.

This closed-off town rarely saw outsiders.

Setsuna had a distinguished aura, and the girls with him were clearly not locals—each of them impossibly beautiful.

Especially Belfast and Mio, whose long, silvery-white hair immediately drew attention.

”Hmm...”

Setsuna manifested part of his rigging and used the targeting system to scan the skies.

He also activated radar to sweep several hundred kilometers around.

Nothing abnormal.

No sign of Synapse nearby.

According to the original story, Synapse’s floating island seemed to be wrapped in a black hole, drifting through the sky at an altitude between the stratosphere and outer space.

Arriving at the town center, the local street vendors mistook Setsuna for a visiting tourist and greeted him warmly.

”Hey there, young man! Visiting Sorami Town, are you?”

”Hmm, I guess we don’t have any famous landmarks, but the hot spring behind the mountain is nice...”

The townspeople were welcoming.

Setsuna made small talk and bought some snacks and treats for the girls.

”Setsuna, I sense... something strange about some people in town...”

After dispersing the curious onlookers,

Mio closed her eyes and spoke softly.

A faint, almost imperceptible aura emanated from her body.

”Hm? What do you mean?”

Belfast frowned and activated her radar to scan the area, but didn’t detect any hostile targets.

”Some of the people here aren’t the same species as the others.”

Mio explained.

”Though they appear human on the outside, their spiritual energy is far more powerful. From the perspective of spirit energy, they aren’t human.”

Belfast, unfamiliar with the concept of spirit energy, shrugged to show she didn’t quite understand.

Sniff sniff

Tohru took a whiff, then drew a magic circle in the air and nodded.

”Yes, some people’s souls are different from the rest.”

”They’re Synapse citizens.”

Setsuna thought for a few seconds and figured out what they meant.

Synapse residents use dream devices to project themselves onto the surface and live out an ordinary human life—from birth to death.

While dreaming, they retain no memory of their real selves in the sky. Their lives are completely indistinguishable from normal humans.

Their bodies are human, their minds are human, and they suffer the same afflictions—illness, accidents, and all.

Ordinary means couldn’t detect them.

But a Spirit of Origin and a dragon could, through innate magical senses, catch subtle traces.

That gave Setsuna a new idea.

”Interesting. How many Synapse people are in this town?”

He asked with great interest.

”Not many. Maybe a dozen or so.”

Tohru pointed toward a little girl buying candied fruit not far away.

”She’s one.”

”?”

A small girl with purple hair and a fine silk coat turned around and ran over.

Several attendants nearby, who looked like bodyguards, also kept a close eye on the situation.

”Who are you people?”

The little girl looked up at Setsuna and Belfast.

”Mikako Satsukitane?!”

Setsuna thought for a moment, and based on her hair color and status, guessed her identity.

Because they had arrived early in the timeline, this student council president from Sorami High School was still in her loli phase.

As expected, she too was a projection of a Synapse citizen.

Her behavior in the original story could only be described as absurd.

She was the daughter of a local yakuza boss and ruled Sorami Town like her own domain, acting as the town’s unofficial protector.

She looked human, but had a grip strength of 400kg and almost supernatural instincts.

If she ran out of pocket money, she’d casually dig up a gold mine.

If she wanted control over key resources to force the government to kneel, she’d unearth oil.

If she wanted a hot spring, she’d just dig one up.

If that’s supposed to be a normal human, then pigs fly.

Fortunately, at this stage Mikako was still just a little loli and hadn’t started pulling off her outrageous antics.

”Mikako, come back.”

A bald man in a dark kimono with several scars on his head pulled Mikako behind him.

This was her father—head of Sorami Town’s yakuza.

”May I ask who you are?”

The man sized up Setsuna.

With his calm presence and natural air of command, he carried the unmistakable aura of someone in power.

It was the kind of presence the man had only seen from world leaders or generals on TV.

Though he didn’t want to admit it, as a yakuza boss, he felt he was being overshadowed.

”We’re here in Sorami Town for tourism. Sorry to trouble you. By the way... do you know Sohara Mitsuki?”

Setsuna asked.

”The girl from the Mitsuki family?”

The old man looked puzzled.

He didn’t expect Setsuna to come here looking for someone so utterly ordinary...

”The Mitsuki household is straight down this street, third building on the right past the corner, across from the shop.”

The yakuza boss pointed the way readily.

Assuming Setsuna was here to visit relatives, he didn’t ask further.

With Mikako pulling him along noisily, he led her away.

...

Soon, the group of five arrived at a modest house with a sign labeled [Mitsuki].

A brown-haired, black-eyed little girl was playing on a swing in the front yard.

Upon seeing Setsuna and his group, she looked over curiously but shyly.

Life in Sorami Town was peaceful, and the locals were friendly. Children weren’t wary of strangers.

”That’s her.”

Setsuna nodded.

Sohara Mitsuki.

Originally Tomoki Sakurai’s childhood friend, she was also the human form created by Daedalus when she entered the dream world.

The girl in front of them was none other than the real-deal Synapse angel known as Daedalus, in her earthly body as Sohara Mitsuki.

She had no memory of being an angel, but was still subtly connected to Synapse.

If Setsuna wanted to communicate with Daedalus, this was the bridge to do it.

”Can you do it? I want to talk to Daedalus.”

Setsuna looked at Tohru and Mio.

”Yes.”

”I can send her consciousness back.”

They both nodded.

Whoosh—

Tohru raised her hand and cast a cognitive barrier spell.

The world faded to black and white.

Mio activated her Territory and stepped in front of Sohara.

She gently extended a slender finger and touched the girl’s forehead.

The girl closed her eyes, frozen in place.

At the same time—

In the skies above, on Synapse’s floating island,

Inside a hidden chamber,

A complex stasis device sat in the corner. Inside it slept a four-winged angel with long blue hair, dressed in white robes.

She was deep in a dream, her breathing slow and steady.

Suddenly—

Whoosh!

The angel’s eyes snapped open. She sat up abruptly inside the stasis device.

Like someone waking from a nightmare, she clutched her chest in panic and glanced around, gasping for air.

”Ha—ha—ha—...”

”What... is going on?!”

Daedalus panted hard, her face filled with disbelief.

She had only just entered the dream. Why was she awake already?!

Synapse citizens only woke when their human form died.

But Sohara was just a child!

”Did... did I just die prematurely??!!”

Daedalus scrambled to recall what had happened.

Synapse people retained all memory of their dreams.

She remembered that little Sohara had been playing on the swing outside her house when a few travelers approached...

And then—

Nothing. She had woken up.

”???”

”Did I run into a serial killer?!”

Daedalus was horrified.

Dying within just a few years of entering a dream was incredibly rare in Synapse.

Sorami Town, in her memory, was peaceful—barely a single crime per year. How had she ended up in this mess?!

Frantically, she activated the monitoring system to check what had happened.

On the screen, she saw a man in a black and red uniform smiling and waving at her.

”Yo, Daedalus. You’re awake, huh? Mind having a chat with me?”

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