South Sea
“Sorry ’bout this, old-timer. I’m off to do somethin’ stupid.”
It was decided that Riella would board Shu’s Embryo, Baldr, and she apologized to Asam for it.
“Very well.” He didn’t stop her, though. Knowing how she felt and how much pride she possessed, he simply couldn’t speak out against it.
Most of the crew probably felt the same way. After all, if they were the type of people to put life and safety over pride, they wouldn’t have been hunting Abyss Shellder with just a single ship.
“Mr. Starling... The commander is in your care now.”
“You can count on me.”
Following that exchange, Asam left the deck and returned inside the ship. He’d be on the bridge, ready to move the Adventure II if something happened.
The only ones on the deck now were Shu, Riella, and the monitor that displayed Satomi.
“We’ll start the comparison as soon as we’re ready,” said Satomi. “Know that I’ll be aiming to sink your vessel. If you care about safety, you’ll equip a Lifesaving Brooch and something else to protect you in case you’re thrown into the water.”
With that, Satomi turned off the monitor.
There were no duel barriers out at sea, so Granvaloa fought by sinking ships instead, and the items he’d mentioned were absolutely necessary for safety.
“You got the Brooch and stuff?” Shu asked. “I can give you mine.”
“I got my own.” Riella was a Granvaloan fleet commander, so naturally she was prepared for this exact situation. “Anyway, let’s head out. We’ll bring down a boat. Help me out.”
“Sure thing.” The two used a magic crane to bring down one of the boats attached to the deck. They would use it to leave this dock and go to the open sea, where Shu would summon Baldr.
As soon as the boat hit the water, the dock’s bulkhead opened up enough to let it through, but kept the Adventure II inside.
Thus, Shu and Riella passed through the opening made for them, leaving the dock behind.
“I knew it.” Looking back from the outside, Shu saw a VLFS that looked like a harbor workshop—and just as he’d expected, it was a mega-float.
However, it was even bigger than he’d estimated.
The side of it that he could see had six bulkheads marked with alternative, more complex Japanese characters for the numerals seven through twelve. Likely it was numbered on the other side as well, meaning there were twelve docks.
Adventure II was by no means a small ship, yet it easily fit in dock number twelve, making it obvious just how massive this structure was.
“I’m used to seein’ it at Granvaloa, but... Man, Mu really is bigger than our city-ships.”
This mega-float was Satomi’s Superior Embryo—“Artificial Continent, Mu.”
Gray’s Laputa was pretty huge, but this is even bigger. Well, Laputa’s an actual fortress that flies, and it’s got that connection system. I guess all that came at the cost of size.
Shu mentally compared it to a flying castle he’d seen in the past.
In all likelihood, Mu could only be this large because of its nature as a mega-float, which could only be deployed at sea.
I guess its skills focus on transportation and production of ships as well as other items. But...
The size wasn’t the main problem here.
“What’s with the front door?” Mu had twelve massive docks, closed off by large bulkheads. However, at its front, there was a bulkhead even bigger than those, marked with the character for zero.
One glance was enough to tell that it was more than twice as large as the others. It pierced through the center of Mu, from the bow to the stern, and the other docks were simply attached to its sides.
What ship needs a dock that large? Shu wondered. The known warship categories aren’t big enough, but on the other hand, it’s not big enough for a whole Granvaloan city-ship... Just what the hell’s in there?
As those thoughts went through his mind, dock zero began to open.
“As an expression of respect to you, who has revealed your Superior Embryo, I will show my masterpiece first,” said Satomi. “Oh, and to the Adventure II’s crew—you watch through the monitor and behold it too. Bear witness to the magnum opus of Satomi Yamamoto, King of Building!”
As he said that, the bulkhead fully opened, and a single ship departed from the shadowed dock.
Upon seeing it, Shu and Riella...
“Seriously?”
...said just one word, in perfect unison, both of them surprised by the sight.
Even Shu wasn’t acting or joking. He was completely taken aback—that was just how shocked he was by the thing that had emerged from the dock.
And on top of that, he actually recognized it.
Many Japanese people knew the appearance of this craft, and throughout the world, one could find people who were familiar with it.
However, it wasn’t something anyone would ever expect to see here in Infinite Dendrogram.
“Behold the glorious form of my masterpiece!”
Three triple cannons—two installed at the front, one at the back.
Flanks so covered in AA and machine guns that it resembled a hedgehog.
This awe-inspiring construct could only be one thing...
“I call it...New Yamato!”
...Yamato—the largest and strongest of the old Japanese army’s battleships.
The massive form shocked not just the two who saw it with their own eyes, but also the Adventure II crew who were crowded around the monitor.
“It seems a bit too big. Even for a battleship,” said Riella. Granvaloa’s shipwrights had created battleships as large as three hundred metels.
However, this vessel that carried the name and form of a historic warship made even that seem small.
It was over five hundred metels in length—twice as big as the real Yamato.
Aside from the city-ships, this was a scale impossible even for Granvaloa, and there were no ships this large on Earth either.
It was the manifestation of a different kind of fantasy—the realization of a dream that couldn’t be reached even in the era of the “Taikan-Kyoho” or “Large Ship, Massive Gun” doctrine.
Beholding such a marvel, Shu was torn between amazement and questioning Satomi’s sanity.
“Why would you ever build this?” While the chrysanthemum seal on the bow was replaced by what appeared to be Mu’s crest, the rest of it was basically the real historic battleship—only doubled.
This was no plastic model. It was hard to imagine just how much money and materials had gone into this. Shu himself sometimes struggled to pay for Baldr’s ammo, and trying to guess this New Yamato’s cost made him furrow his brow.
“I guess he makes bank by sellin’ ships... Man. Military nerds and their...” He found this absurd, but also understood the danger.
After all, this Yamato was a superweapon made to suit the world it was in.
If, hypothetically, weapons of World War II were re-created in Infinite Dendrogram, most of them would be at a great disadvantage against the monsters here. Aircraft carriers hosting many fighters would be largely ineffective in the air, for this world had dragons that surpassed these old airplanes in every way, making it difficult for them to gain air superiority.
If anything, even modern fighter jets would struggle against High-Dragons.
The same applied to the weapons used by infantry, as well as tanks—they would struggle even against Demi-Dragons. This was proved by Dryfe’s tank-type Magingears, Geists. Demi-Dragons were a legitimate threat to them unless they were deployed in groups.
That was exactly why the Triangle of Wisdom’s Marshall IIs, which could stand against Demi-Dragons as single units, were so highly valued by Dryfe.
However, WWII’s battleships—especially Yamato—wouldn’t be nearly as disadvantaged.
Yamato’s main battery—the largest of its time—fired shells that could probably pulverize Dragon scales and leave them injured.
The “Large Ship, Massive Gun” doctrine focused on pure firepower, which made it more than usable against opponents in the same environment—in this case, the sea.
And this one here had a weapon twice as large as the real Yamato, doubtless making it powerful enough to pulverize Dragons in a single hit.
Did Satomi build it with this understanding, or was it simply an expression of his tastes?
Whichever it was, one thing was certain—this Yamato was a fearsome weapon.
I’d guess it’s improved in other ways too, Shu thought. It almost certainly boasted a greater cruise speed and higher maneuverability than its real-world counterpart. Like the Adventure II had demonstrated in the battle against Whalunder, Infinite Dendrogram possessed technology that allowed ships to move faster than the speed of sound.
New Yamato’s armor might’ve also been replaced by something tougher and lighter than what was possible in the real world.
It maintained the spirit behind the original Yamato while surpassing it in every way—and perhaps that was what made it worthy of being called “new.”
Baldr would be classified as a wide-scale exterminator, but it was entirely possible that Satomi’s creation might be able to match its firepower.
“Now that I think about it, this’ll be my first one-on-one against a ship.” While Shu had fought many battles against High-Dragon-tier sea creatures like the one from last night, he couldn’t remember a single time that he’d faced another manned battleship.
This battle would be full of unknowns to him too.
Despite that, he had no intention of losing.
“Baldr. Initialize seventh form.”
“Affirmative.”
Thus, Shu summoned his Superior Embryo—“War God Ship, Baldr.”
It appeared over the water, marking the start of the battle.