After resolving the historical issues of the Date A Live world, Setsuna's next focus was waiting for the third-generation ship modifications to be completed and for his skills to come off cooldown before expanding into other worlds.
Since Kurumi Tokisaki had joined his ranks, she had brought plenty of new experiences and entertainment.
Among the Spirits, she proudly claimed to possess the most powerful Angel, but in reality, she rarely needed to engage in combat.
As a result, Zafkiel was used far more at night than during the day.
With time-stopping techniques, slowed-motion play, and the endless night-long festivities enabled by the rewind effects of the Fourth Bullet, Kurumi had truly redefined the applications of her abilities.
The shipgirls were astounded by this Spirit.
Once considered the "most wicked Spirit" who controlled time, under the Commander's guidance, she now showed potential to become the "most lewd Spirit."
Her twin tails, heterochromatic eyes, and gothic dress only added to her alluring charm.
There were even occasions where, out of curiosity, Kurumi used the First Bullet on Setsuna to test acceleration effects.
Starting from 1× speed, then 1.5×, then 2×…
By the time it reached 5× speed, Kurumi was crying out "Daddy, I surrender!"
In this celebration of indulgence and pleasure, a month passed by in the blink of an eye.
One day, good news arrived from Akashi.
The first batch of third-generation ships, including the Eternal Snowfall, had completed their upgrades.
...
Setsuna, accompanied by a small squad of shipgirls, arrived at the aerospace city outside the capital.
The former space base could no longer accommodate these colossal warships. Instead, hundreds of kilometers west of Constantinople, a vast starship docking site had been established.
Over thirty starships stood in formation on the launch grounds.
Arranged by class, battleships, carriers, and heavy cruisers lined up in orderly ranks.
At the forefront, the most prominent among them was the Eternal Snowfall.
Its size had more than tripled compared to its second-generation counterpart, now exceeding ten kilometers in length—pushing the limits of what could be assembled on land.
Standing at the bow, the end was nowhere in sight.
The deep-gray hull was sharp and angular, with a spearhead-like prow exuding an aura of aggression.
The bow connected seamlessly to the ship's keel, atop which sat an eight-kilometer-long axial Super-Graviton Cannon.
The enclosed superstructure housed twelve massive turret emplacements, along with countless secondary cannons.
The sides were fitted with colossal missile launch modules, each roughly the size of a destroyer, packed with black-and-red corrosive torpedoes and advanced missiles.
The lower hull was equipped with orbital bombardment systems for planetary suppression, boasting a diverse arsenal of devastating weaponry.
The stern housed the command tower, designed in a tiered structure.
At the very top stood the command center—piercing the clouds.
The rear thrusters emitted an ethereal blue glow, radiating scorching energy that could be felt from kilometers away.
"This is a bit much, isn't it?!…"
Richelieu, Taihou, and the other shipgirls exchanged glances between the Eternal Snowfall and their own ships.
Despite their recent upgrades, which had doubled or even tripled their size, and their new cutting-edge armaments, they still felt dwarfed in comparison to this behemoth.
After all, their foundations were different—3×3 and 1×3 were entirely different concepts.
"Because the Commander possesses dual Wisdom Cubes, he can control much larger starships, meow."
The repair engineers explained.
"More is better. Bigger is justice."
Setsuna admired the new vessel with great satisfaction.
"But it's not just about size this time. The third-generation Eternal Snowfall, even with a conservative estimate, could single-handedly defeat thirty second-generation versions of itself."
Akashi stood proudly, hands on her hips, boasting about their achievements.
"Hah?"
The shipgirls, along with the curious Spirits and Heroic Spirits who had gathered to spectate, were visibly shocked.
"So you're saying the Commander's combat power has increased thirtyfold?"
"That's how technological progress works. The same applies to all of you."
Akashi tilted her head, glancing at Richelieu, Taihou, Yat Sen, and the other shipgirls before launching into an explanation.
"Each technological leap results in exponential growth in both equipment and combat capabilities."
"To put it simply, the difference between the second and third-generation warships using Fleet of Fog technology is akin to the difference between jet fighters and twin-prop biplanes, meow."
The Super-Graviton Cannon's destructive power surpassed that of the positron blaster cannon by several times. When charged with Wisdom Cube energy, the gap became even wider.
Not to mention the absurdity of the Klein Field's impenetrable defense or the Corrosive Warhead Torpedoes that directly annihilated matter, inflicting true damage in the most literal sense.
"And it's not just weapon systems. Your hull materials have also been upgraded to the same nanomaterial armor used by the Fleet of Fog, meow. It allows for self-repair of minor damage, significantly reducing the logistics burden on the Bulins."
Akashi continued excitedly.
"Additionally, heavy cruiser-class ships and above are now equipped with the Fleet of Fog's Mirror-Ring System, which creates localized spatial distortions to redirect incoming energy-based attacks. Though, it does require a cooldown period to recharge."
"Self-repairing armor and spatial curvature displacement?"
Setsuna inspected the new hull structure, realizing just how absurdly advanced Fleet of Fog technology was.
Some of the upgrades he recognized from prior discussions with the Azure and Fleet of Fog shipgirls, but others were completely new—technologies that Akashi and Bulins had seemingly pulled out of thin air.
At this point, Eternal Snowfall had been wholly transformed into a Fleet of Fog-class battleship.
It almost felt like the Arpeggio shipgirls had subtly "assimilated" it.
...
With the new modifications complete, Setsuna re-established his connection with his ship.
A surge of immense power flooded into his body.
With the effects of the Wisdom Cube, he achieved the ultimate fusion of human, warship, and Gundam.
Each technological upgrade translated into drastic enhancements to his physical form—strength, speed, reflexes, durability—all experiencing an overwhelming surge.
Even without activating the Klein Field, his body alone could now tank hydrogen bombs or Noble Phantasms without breaking a sweat.
In every conceivable way, a Commander needed a strong physique—both day and night.
Upon stepping inside Eternal Snowfall, Setsuna noticed that the ship's interior had significantly expanded.
The hangar alone was now large enough to fit two battleships side by side—or even more cruisers and destroyers.
Navigating within the ship now required small shuttlecraft for mobility.
"Oh, right, Commander, there's a special gift for you, meow!"
Akashi excitedly dragged Setsuna toward the command tower.
Inside, a towering 20-meter-tall mecha, painted in blue and white, stood proudly within the command room.
Unlike the sleek, aggressive design of the Strike Freedom, this machine had a more rounded and refined silhouette.
Two large, curved decorations on its head almost resembled a white beard.
Setsuna instantly recognized the model at a glance.
"Turn A."
"Correct, meow! Not only did we upgrade your warship, but we've also completely overhauled your Gundam form…"
"We transformed the Strike Freedom into Turn A Gundam and equipped it with the Moonlight Butterfly System."
Akashi beamed with excitement.
She pulled Setsuna into the cockpit.
...
Hummm—
Setsuna extended his hand, releasing Wisdom Cube energy to synchronize with the new mecha.
Turn A took two heavy steps forward.
Unlike a normal pilot who needed a control stick, Setsuna didn't require manual operation at all.
For Setsuna, a Gundam was essentially a mechanized version of Susanoo, controllable purely by thought, with the ability to materialize parts of it for combat as needed.
The standard weaponry of the Turn A Gundam wasn't particularly noteworthy—whether particle cannons, rocket launchers, or beam rifles, all had been replaced with Fleet of Fog-series weapons, far exceeding the original version's capabilities.
But its true value lay elsewhere.
With a mere thought, Setsuna activated its most fearsome ability.
"Activate Moonlight Butterfly."
—Shuaa—
Behind the white Gundam, a pair of resplendent, multi-colored wings unfurled, shimmering with an intricate, mesmerizing radiance—like a butterfly dancing under moonlight.
A closer look revealed that the wings weren't solid structures but were instead composed of countless microscopic nanomachines.
"Commander, don't use Moonlight Butterfly inside the city, meow. It's a pain to clean up."
Akashi cautioned.
Turn A's Moonlight Butterfly—
In the original Gundam universe, this system had the power to single-handedly wipe out human civilization. The nanomachines it released could disassemble nearly any material they touched, propagating in a self-replicating swarm capable of engulfing an entire planet in a nanotechnological storm.
An undisputed planet-killing weapon.
"Such an efficient weapon… Too bad it came too late—I would've loved to have used it in the Black Bullet world."
Setsuna sighed wistfully.
"Commander, Eternal Snowfall is now fully capable of planetary destruction too, meow."
Akashi narrowed her eyes with a smirk.
"For smaller planets, thanks to the dual-Cube enhancements, your axial main cannon could pierce straight through their planetary core. As for Earth-sized planets… well, the Corrosive Warhead Torpedoes onboard are more than enough to blanket the surface."
"Hiss—"
The shipgirls exchanged glances, their expressions subtly shifting.
The second-generation warships' positron blaster cannons could only shear off a chunk of a continent. But the third-generation warships now possessed the power to punch through a small planet's core.
Coupled with the Moonlight Butterfly system and an arsenal of erosion-based weaponry capable of mass annihilation…
Single-handed planetary destruction had become trivial.
"Power sufficient to breach a planetary core?…"
Gudako was initially stunned, but after a moment of contemplation, she stroked her chin in deep thought:
"Then… what if we just scale up this main cannon? Say, make it thirty to forty kilometers long, power it with more Wisdom Cubes and reactor cores…"
"Remove all the unnecessary secondary weapons, missiles, and torpedoes—wouldn't we end up with a true planet-destroying weapon?"
"No matter the size of a planet, a single shot would shatter it completely… Or, we could modify it to selectively wipe out biological entities while preserving planetary infrastructure…"
"…"
Setsuna fell silent for a moment before patting Gudako's head.
"No wonder you're Humanity's Last Master. You've instinctively deduced the fundamental principles of the Planet Cracker Cannon and Colossus class superweapon."
"In the future, let's work together to efficiently process extraterrestrials and can them properly."
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