A massive battleship resembling a World War II-era human warship drifted silently across the ocean.
A closer look, however, revealed that only its outward appearance resembled an antique vessel from the previous century. There was something distinctly unnatural about this steel warship.
Strange lines of light ran across its hull, and the vessel itself was undergoing bizarre transformations. It looked like a futuristic science-fiction warship disguised beneath the exterior of a twentieth-century battleship.
On the ship's deck, a tall blonde woman sat at a tea table.
Her features were so exquisitely perfect that she scarcely looked human, as though she had been painstakingly crafted rather than born.
A dark reddish-purple dress, nearly black in color, embraced her shapely, voluptuous figure. Through the slit along one side, tantalizing glimpses could be seen of a long, slender leg wrapped in black stockings.
Yet the woman's cold, unapproachable aura kept others at a distance. Combined with her stern expression and seemingly imperious demeanor, she resembled an absolute queen whose word was law.
She would tolerate no one questioning her commands. Anyone who dared would face merciless retaliation.
This queen had never once frowned since the birth of her consciousness.
Now, however, her brows were tightly knit.
She was Kongō, flagship of the Fleet of Fog's First Oriental Fleet, and she had just encountered a highly unusual situation.
An unknown system had infiltrated her without leaving the slightest trace and implanted itself directly into her Mental Model.
Then again, perhaps it was only natural that Kongō could find no evidence of the intrusion, had no idea how to remove the system, and was completely powerless against it.
After all, even the Admiralty Code—the absolute higher authority governing every Mental Model, a system they were fundamentally incapable of resisting—had failed to react or even notice the intrusion.
Although the Admiralty Code appeared to have encountered some kind of problem and fallen dormant, Kongō had an instinctive feeling that this anomalous system existed on a level above even the Admiralty Code.
And for now, it seemed to have invaded her alone.
If anyone else had received it, those noisy members of the fleet would have already come rushing over to bombard her with questions.
Kongō had also contacted the Supreme Flagship to determine whether it had anything to do with her. The Supreme Flagship clearly hadn't experienced the same anomaly.
Of course, Kongō hadn't directly reported that an unknown system had been implanted into her Mental Model. There was no need to disclose that much. A few seemingly casual questions were enough for her to probe the situation.
She could now confirm that even the Supreme Flagship was unaware of the system's existence.
Kongō knew she was probably incapable of counter-infiltrating or deleting it, but she still conducted a comprehensive scan of her entire warship.
In the end, she found nothing unusual.
She turned her attention to the messages appearing in the channel. A member using the ID "Fallen Holy Black Cat" was explaining what the Super-Dimensional Channel actually was.
A realm beyond even the reach of gods?
Interesting.
Kongō said nothing and silently watched the other party continue with an explanation that still sounded somewhat absurd.
Every member of this channel apparently came from a different parallel world.
Moreover, one member's world might exist in another member's world in the form of a "work."
These so-called works could take the form of video games, novels, anime, manga, movies, or something similar.
In other words, information about her world might exist as a "work" in the world of one of the other members.
Naturally, Fallen Holy Black Cat couldn't guarantee that all such information would be entirely accurate. Certain details might differ. So far, however, the degree of similarity had been extremely high, and most of the information had proven useful as a reference.
If information about Kongō's world truly existed, would it reveal the Fleet of Fog's ultimate purpose?
Were the Admiralty Code's orders truly correct?
The Fleet of Fog hadn't possessed Mental Models in the beginning. Why had they developed them now?
According to the Supreme Flagship, the Mental Models had been created so the fleet could learn how humans thought and better respond to their tactics.
Kongō found that explanation laughable.
The Fleet of Fog possessed such overwhelmingly superior technology that it had no need to concern itself with human tactics. Its firepower alone was more than sufficient to effortlessly destroy humanity.
More than a decade ago, mankind's naval forces had already been almost entirely annihilated. The Fleet of Fog had blockaded maritime travel, leaving the humans on different continents isolated and barely able to communicate with one another.
That was why Kongō couldn't understand the point of their actions.
Why refrain from exterminating humanity, yet blockade them and give them just enough room to survive?
Ever since Kongō had developed her Mental Model and spent some time possessing a feminine humanoid form separate from her warship body, she had begun wondering about the meaning behind the Fleet of Fog's existence.
She had even started questioning the Supreme Flagship's proposal to create Mental Models.
At times, she went so far as to doubt the authority of the Admiralty Code itself.
Before obtaining a Mental Model, she never would have contemplated such things. She would have obeyed every command without question, never wasting time on unnecessary thoughts.
Whether this newfound tendency was right or wrong, Kongō couldn't say.
It was simply one of the consequences of possessing a Mental Model.
[Fallen Holy Black Cat: @Kongō, Flagship of the Fleet of Fog's First Oriental Fleet, if you want information about your world, please introduce it to us first. That will make it easier for us to search for the relevant "work."
Tendo Civil Security Corporation: By the way, your ID is ridiculously long.
Whispered: With a name like that, she must hold some kind of position aboard a warship.
Martian: Perhaps Mr. Kain can figure out the new member's identity from her name.
Asuna: "Fleet of Fog" is probably the key phrase.
Seventh Heaven: Unfortunately, Mr. Kain doesn't have time to answer right now. He's busy dealing with dangerous xenos.]
Kain.
The appearance of that name made Kongō arch an eyebrow.
Nearly every member mentioned him sooner or later. Judging from the subtle changes in the style of their messages, they all seemed to hold him in considerable respect.
She could understand why.
From what they said, he had visited the worlds of several channel members and resolved numerous crises there.
Kongō still didn't respond. Instead, she entered the livestream hosted by a member using the ID "Golden Toilet" to see what Kain was doing.
The moment the livestream opened, the scene displayed before her made even Kongō pause.
A group of figures clad from head to toe in thick metal armor was battling an assault by tens of thousands of monsters.
And "tens of thousands" was no exaggeration. There really were that many—perhaps even more.
Kongō quickly identified Mr. Kain. The livestream's third-person perspective was centered on him.
The reaction speed and combat capabilities displayed by these figures, each wrapped in armor like a steel can, were enough to make Kongō take them seriously.
Without access to her warship body, her Mental Model alone would be no match for them.
Furthermore, the weapons they carried appeared powerful enough to damage her warship body. Exactly how much damage they could inflict was difficult to estimate without fighting them directly.
As for the monsters they were battling, if creatures like those appeared within the human society of Kongō's world, humanity would have no choice but to endure a one-sided massacre.
The only way humans could destroy such creatures would be to bombard them with high-yield weapons without regard for the consequences.
If those monsters entered a city, it would become an absolute nightmare.
Humanity would only be able to kill them by destroying the city and its inhabitants along with them.
Kongō's gaze shifted toward one of the livestream's functions. It allowed viewers to browse archived broadcasts.
Judging from the other members' comments, what Kain was currently experiencing wasn't considered especially remarkable compared with the dangers he had faced in the past.
In that case, she would download all of them.
She wanted to see for herself just what kind of experiences this man had survived.
(End of Chapter)
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