Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

Two days later.

Outside the capital city.

The shipgirls lined up noisily, full of anticipation.

They were all extremely curious about meeting shipgirls from another world. Many signed up enthusiastically, eager to see what their KanColle counterparts looked like.

"There can only be one Taihou, you know. If the other 'Taihou' tries to take Commander from me, I won't hold back..."

"Akagi? I heard she's a gentle and understanding big sister type? Tsk tsk... Commander, am I not gentle enough?"

"If they want to fight us over Commander, maybe we should strike first..."

A certain big fox and Taihou from the Sakura Empire started discussing some rather dangerous topics.

Richelieu watched this with a furrowed brow.

"I understand you're all eager to meet your alternate selves and see what you're like in another world, but please observe some basic rules."

Richelieu cleared her throat.

"First, do not bully them. Those girls are also shipgirls, and in a way, they're our kindred."

"I get that none of you want to share Commander with outsiders, but don't do anything that would cause him trouble."

"We are starship shipgirls. When facing native shipgirls from another world, show a little grace and maturity. Understood?"

As she spoke, her eyes fell sternly on Taihou, Roon, Akagi, and the other trouble-prone ones.

Most of the other shipgirls were friendly. These few... had a bit of a volatile nature.

"Got it—"

The named shipgirls replied, dragging their voices.

Since entering space, their worldview had indeed changed.

Those who could only operate at sea really did seem like "natives" when compared to shipgirls of the interstellar age.

"Second, if you encounter Northern Princess, Harbor Princess, or other special types, remember to go easy. They're worth capturing and recruiting."

Richelieu added.

"Also, from the world-building perspective, KanColle's world does have humans, but they were driven inland by the Abyssal Fleet. It's a bit similar to the Arpeggio world."

"What to do with the humans there will be up to the Commander's decision later."

Aside from the shipgirls, KanColle's world was just another ordinary oceanic planet.

Just manage it like they did with the Arpeggio world—Setsuna was already well-versed in this process.

After another headcount to confirm everyone was present, he opened the starmap.

[Kantai Collection (Pre-Space Age)]

A world set in near-future Earth with slight variations in terrain.

No supernatural powers. Features moderately powerful Abyssal Princesses for a pre-spacefaring civilization.

Comparison of Strengths:

• Technological Level: Like an Ant.

• Military Strength: Like an Ant.

• Economic Power: Like an Ant.

"Ah!"

Setsuna looked at the three "Like an Ant" and smacked his arm.

"Huge progress!"

"Our economic strength isn't being compared to divine beings anymore?! Are we getting stronger, or are the humans in the KanColle world just that pathetic?"

Previously, since the base had no currency and no economic activity, even a feudal backwater was marked as having godlike economic power.

It annoyed him a bit, but he figured military might was what really mattered, so he put up with it.

Beep—

A system notification popped up.

[Based on the host civilization's development, we have updated the algorithm for comparing world-to-world strength.]

[Economic strength will now be evaluated based on production capacity, factoring in agriculture, industry, and more.]

"Now that's more like it!"

Setsuna nodded in satisfaction.

Previously, economic metrics were useless to him. Everyone looked like gods.

But in the interstellar era, a civilization's economic strength should be measured by its productivity. That was the proper way.

Industry is industry—producing food, alloys, consumer goods, and more is the true symbol of a civilization's national strength.

With over a dozen vassal worlds under his control, Setsuna figured most civilizations would indeed appear as lowly as ants.

If he ever encountered a true godlike civilization with infinite resources, he'd accept it.

At least now, the strength comparisons would be more accurate.

"Ah, suddenly the neighbors on the star map look a lot more agreeable."

"Three 'like an ant' neighbors—now that's what I call good neighbors."

In the spirit of PDX war-crime diplomacy, Setsuna opened the communications interface.

After a flicker, a girl appeared on screen. She wore a white sleeveless top and a red skirt, with black hair tied in a high ponytail and sharp black eyes.

She sat atop a massive rigging platform, with two triple 460mm turrets prominently displayed behind her—any enthusiast would recognize those main guns instantly.

The girl held a paper parasol and was idly patrolling near the coast.

She jumped in surprise upon seeing the holo-screen.

"Yo, Yamato. I thought it was you."

Setsuna waved.

Contacting the strongest warship of the KanColle world's naval base wasn't strange at all.

"Huh?!"

Yamato jolted and stared blankly for a few seconds before recovering.

"You are?! A human? No... we lost contact with humanity long ago."

"Or are you from some other continental military?"

Setsuna's aura and uniform made her think of a soldier, but she had never seen those designs or insignia before.

"We're from another world. We're here to help you eliminate the Abyssal Fleet."

Setsuna gave a simple introduction.

A few shipgirls behind him waved at KanColle Yamato.

"Eh, too bad we don't have Yamato in our port. Musashi, go say hi."

The purple-haired, golden-eyed fox-eared girl twitched her ears and addressed Yamato:

"Hello, I'm Musashi. Pleased to meet you."

Next to her, Arpeggio Yamato also waved:

"Hi, I'm also Yamato. Nice to meet you."

She leaned in for a closer look and noticed that even by the standards of the unmodified Fleet of Fog Yamato, KanColle Yamato's rigging looked outdated.

—Her gear was original spec; whatever the real Yamato used, she used too.

"???"

"!!!"

The parasol-holding Yamato on the screen froze instantly.

She stared, wide-eyed, at the hologram. It took her a moment to recover.

"Wha-wha-what are you all saying?!"

"We're shipgirls too. We're all comrades. No need to be so nervous."

Setsuna tried to calm the overly startled girl.

"Eh? Really?!"

Yamato blinked at the Azur Lane girls as they manifested their rigging.

It was easy for shipgirls to identify their kind.

Moe girl + ship rigging = shipgirl. A truth as old as time.

"Have the KanColle base shipgirls gather. I'm coming to meet you all."

Setsuna kept it brief.

"You're coming to the naval base? Already?! But the nearby waters are still blockaded by Abyssals!!!"

Yamato panicked.

"Which route are you taking? When will you arrive? I'll take my fleet to escort you."

Organizing an ocean voyage from the naval base came with immense risk.

Yamato thought they were shipgirls lost in some other corner of the planet.

Even though they'd just met, she was willing to take that risk. She instinctively wanted to support her fellow shipgirls.

"No need for an escort."

"As for the timing... right now."

Shwoom—

Setsuna opened a dimensional gate. The Eternal Snowfall took the lead, followed by shipgirls entering one after another.

Only Yamato's scream remained on the screen.

"Ehhhhh?! Aren't you all shipgirls?!"

"Why are you flyingyyyyy?!"

...

...

Kantai Collection World.

The starships emerged from the dimensional portal and descended from the clouds into this world.

The Eternal Snowfall, carrying shipgirls from two expeditionary fleets, maintained a cruising altitude as they observed the surroundings.

What greeted their eyes was an endless ocean.

The KanColle world shared many similarities with Azur Lane and Arpeggio—their home systems were all oceanic planets, with less continental area than Earth.

On the sea's surface, several pale-skinned shipgirls clad in dark rigging roamed aimlessly.

A thick black mist lingered around them, staining the sea wherever they passed.

Among them were larger Abyssal-class units, surrounded and protected in the center.

"So that's what Abyssal Princesses look like?"

The Azur Lane girls craned their necks to observe below.

"They kinda look like distant relatives of the Sirens? Eh, shame Purifier and Observer aren't here."

Yukikaze scratched her head.

At a glance, Abyssal Princesses did resemble the Sirens somewhat.

Their skin was unnaturally pale, and their rigging featured bold visual themes like black and red.

But on closer inspection, their tech clearly lagged behind the Sirens.

The big-eyed shark-head gear and Observer's tentacle rigging could fire lasers.

Abyssal Princesses, on the other hand, still relied mostly on kinetic weapons—albeit significantly more powerful than standard models.

"Observer and Purifier are still studying the Allspark, tsk. Otherwise, they'd probably find analyzing the Abyssals quite fun."

Setsuna recalled.

Ever since he brought back the Allspark, the Siren girls had holed up at the naval port, studying the artifact, too busy to flirt with the little shipgirls.

Hopefully, by the time the new hull designs were ready, they'd have developed something useful.

"Whatever. We'll just capture a few Abyssals and bring them back. That should be enough for them."

"Hopefully Purifier doesn't bully my little Northern Princess."

The fleet quickly activated engines and began aerial patrols above the planet.

Advanced sensors scanned and mapped the situation below in full holographic detail.

In every sea route and region, Abyssal ships were everywhere.

Human population here was sparse. Most were huddled inland, and sea lanes between nations had been completely severed.

Compared to the Arpeggio world, this place was a little better in one regard: the Abyssals didn't have super-graivton cannons like the Fleet of Fog and couldn't hit satellites.

So the communication networks were still intact for now.

"Hmm... the terrain here doesn't match Earth either..."

Richelieu examined the map on the holographic projector.

The continental plates were completely different, making it impossible to discern the original continents or oceans.

There were still small traces of humanity inland.

Suddenly—

"Commander, something's happening up ahead!"

"On the sea surface 133 kilometers due north, shipgirls are engaged in combat with Abyssals!"

Radar alerts came one after another.

Zooming in on the scene—

A small squad of shipgirls skimming the waves was heavily surrounded by Abyssals.

At the forefront stood a white-haired shipgirl in a red-and-white kimono, wielding a longbow.

She was launching carrier-based planes from her rigging like arrows, firing them into the sky to clash with the Abyssal aircraft.

Unfortunately, the enemy had overwhelming numbers. Swarms of Abyssal fighters poured in like a plague of bees, quickly overwhelming the girls, who fought with great difficulty.

"Ah, such nostalgic combat methods."

Hakuryuu couldn't help but sigh.

"Back in our day, we also stood on the sea, relying on our rigging to battle the Sirens..."

"The ocean really is the shipgirls' true home."

Setsuna really wanted to make a certain comment.

Abyssal ships fought tooth and nail with the KanColle shipgirls, where every clash was life or death. By contrast, the Sirens had mostly treated battles as a game.

"The star sea is still a sea!"

"No—wait, rescue them first!"

...

On the ocean surface—

A dozen shipgirls darted and danced across the waves, locked in fierce combat with nearby Abyssal Princesses.

Leading them were the Fifth Carrier Division—Shoukaku and Zuikaku.

Behind them trailed destroyers like Akatsuki, Hibiki, Ikazuchi, Inazuma, Yuudachi, and Fubuki.

Whoosh—

Shoukaku launched carrier planes one after another using her bow.

In midair, the toy-sized planes suddenly grew to full size, screaming toward the Abyssals in a diving assault.

Boom boom boom—

But the dense anti-air network and swarming Abyssal fighters shot them down quickly.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Explosions erupted all around, turning the skies dark.

Shells rained down one after another, sending up massive waterspouts.

Under the pounding waves, the lighter destroyers could barely stand.

"Major crisis poi!"

"We're gonna get surrounded poi!!"

A blonde, red-eyed destroyer with floppy dog-like ears dodged desperately, shouting all the while.

"There are too many! My turrets can't keep up!"

Another shipgirl in a sailor uniform with bunny-ear ribbons zipped between enemy lines.

"I'm destroyer Shimakaze! Nobody beats me in speed!"

"Swift as the wind—desu!"

Boom boom boom—

Shimakaze weaved through hundreds of Abyssals.

Unleashing all her firepower, she lobbed multiple torpedoes at once.

Whoosh—

Four Type 93 torpedoes struck a battleship several hundred meters away, throwing up towering geysers.

"Hmph! Can you keep up with Shimakaze's speed?"

She turned to gloat at her fellow destroyers—

"Look out!"

Boom—

Cruisers had locked on. A full salvo nearly flipped her and her rigging.

"This is bad..."

Shoukaku looked across the darkening sea.

There were hundreds of enemies—far too many for this recon unit.

They'd only gone out exploring for new resource sites, but stumbled right into a main Abyssal fleet.

"Requesting backup! Second Fleet requesting immediate support!"

"Our coordinates are K102, D..."

She turned her transmitter to max, hoping to reach the naval base.

At this range, she wasn't sure help could arrive in time.

"Roger that. We're dispatching a fast-response fleet now."

"Hurry! Yuudachi, Shimakaze, Ikazuchi are all hurt! We can't hold much longer!"

Shoukaku tried to launch more planes—but her magazines were empty.

"All units, prepare to break through!"

"Southwest! We'll try to regroup with the reinforcements!"

She charged ahead, opening a path with her body.

"Zuikaku! Provide air support—target the enemy cruisers!"

"Got it!"

The twin-tailed carrier beside her launched her last wave of planes in a desperate counterattack.

Whoosh—

Suddenly, a voice cut through the comms.

"Shoukaku, Zuikaku, fall back."

It was a deep male voice.

"Huh?"

Shoukaku instinctively obeyed, halting in place.

Shwoom—

BOOM!!!

Several crimson-red beams tore through the clouds and slammed into the sea ahead, throwing up walls of steam and water.

Hundreds of Abyssals were vaporized on the spot.

Even their aircraft couldn't withstand the residual energy—igniting midair and melting into liquid metal.

Droplets dripped into the ocean, giving the blue sea a strange mirrored sheen.

The waters boiled. The skies burned.

From the underside of a descending starship, hundreds of Angeloids were released.

They flapped radiant wings and moved to clean up the few remaining Abyssals.

A rainbow of lasers and corrosive missiles lit up the air in a deadly lightshow.

Against interstellar weapons, the Abyssals stood no chance.

BOOM—BOOM!!!

Within minutes, silence returned.

The massive Abyssal fleet had been annihilated.

Not a single plane, turret, or fragment remained.

Shoukaku, Zuikaku, and the native shipgirls stared up at the descending starships, mouths agape.

They had no words.

Beep—

A comms link activated.

Yukikaze's holographic avatar appeared before Shoukaku.

"Hi there! We're shipgirls from the Starsea Empire—nanoda!"

"Don't worry, Lord Yukikaze will protect you all!"

"???"

...

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:

Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven