[Bonus Chapter]
When Hikaru arrived at Yamato's office with his team, what greeted him was chaos.
Ear-splitting alarm bells were ringing from all directions. Staff rushed to and fro, urgently reporting one update after another.
"Enemy submarine fleet detected 375 nautical miles south of B24".
"B14, B15, and B17 under attack by an enemy cruiser squadron—sightings confirm over ten heavy cruisers, and more than a hundred light cruisers. B16 is confirmed destroyed."
"Patrol fleet led by Kamizawa Masaki encountered enemy carrier detachment 130 nautical miles east of B45—currently routed. Sightings: 3 Aircraft carriers, 2 light carriers, 1 battleship, and more than twenty light cruisers."
"Southern Route Forces heavily damaged in engagement with enemy combined fleet, battleship fleet, assault fleet, and carrier fleet—ambushed by enemy submarine support fleet. Requesting reinforcement from Shipgirl Command."
Yamato stood at the map table and swept her hand dismissively. "No reinforcements. This is only the first wave of the defensive battle. If we call for backup now, what happens later?"
Hikaru stepped in with his shipgirls. "Need any help from us?"
"It's not your turn yet. This is just the opening act." Yamato waved him off. "There's intel over there. Go read up quickly."
The one in charge of that intel was Cumberland. The reporter girl stepped forward with a report and began briefing him on the current situation.
Over the past few days, both Shipgirl Command and the military had been doing everything they could to pinpoint the location of the enemy flagship, hoping to set up a decisive ambush.
This was a matter of initiative. Defensive battles placed the initiative in enemy hands, leaving the defending side in constant reaction, with coastal towns inevitably caught in the crossfire. But if the flagship could be located and taken out in a surprise attack, the remaining Abyssal shipgirls—no longer under centralized command—would scatter and lose their threat.
But the Abyssal flagships weren't fools—far from it. They were deviously cunning.
Their current strategy was to continuously launch attacks using countless small squadrons, probing defenses and forcing the defenders to overextend themselves—classic feint-and-strike tactics.
In the southern and eastern maritime zones of China, fires of war now blazed across a coastline stretching over ten thousand kilometers.
And this was just the first wave. A defensive campaign like this wouldn't end in a mere ten or fifteen days.
As Hikaru finished reviewing the documents, another panicked report came from a nearby comms operator:
"Eastern maritime zone reporting—sighted new Abyssal flagship AkagiKaga* southeast of Okinawa, at a distance of 1,200 nautical miles. After a probing skirmish, determined to be level 100, six-star rating. HP exceeds 300. Aircraft capacity around 160. Firepower and armor both above 120. Evasion 100. Anti-air 140. Equipped with five-star aircraft: Tenzan, Ryusei, Reppuu. Extremely dangerous!"
The entire room fell into a heavy silence.
A full-level Abyssal fusion of Akagi and Kaga? That was a nightmare come to life.
Yamato frowned and took a drag from her cigar. "No chance of air superiority… That means we'll have to rely on battleship formations to sink them. Keep calm—the First Island Chain is still in our hands."
The "First Island Chain" referred to the arc of islands connecting Japan, the Ryukyu Islands, and Taiwan. Though the Ryukyus were practically surrounded by the Black Sea Fleet now, the nations of the Eastern Continent had never ceased reinforcing the military bases and command posts there. It remained the strongest barrier guarding the eastern gateway.
But no one in the room felt calm.
Sending battleship fleets to counter Abyssal carriers meant charging straight into the jaws of thousands of bombers. Countless shipgirls would be at risk of being sunk long before even closing the distance.
Aircraft carriers had enormous operational range. Even back in World War II, they could strike targets 700–800 kilometers away. As shipgirls, their range scaled with training level and aircraft quality. Hikaru had once asked Lexington about hers during class—her aircraft had an effective combat range of over 3,000 kilometers.
Though the Abyssal AkagiKaga* likely couldn't reach quite that far, their overall combat capability still rivaled or even surpassed Lexington's.
Negative emotions tended to amplify Abyssal power—making their flagship forms significantly stronger than normal shipgirls of the same level. Even Lexington could only maybe challenge them thanks to her training and top-tier equipment.
(End of Chapter)
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