Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch

Morning.

Sunlight filtered through the porthole, casting its glow into the bedroom of the Eternal Snowfall.

Setsuna sat up, his eyelids heavy as he reached over to adjust the blanket covering Mio, who was still sound asleep beside him. Conquering the final boss of an entire world brought an indescribable sense of accomplishment and fulfillment. Especially when she had devoted herself to him wholeheartedly.

"Mmm…"

Sensing Setsuna's presence, Mio slowly woke up. She sat up, picked up the white dress lying on the floor, and looked at him with a pitiful expression.

"I don't have anything to wear…"

Pfft—

"That's on me."

"You were just… too beautiful in that dress."

Setsuna rummaged through the wardrobe and handed her two casual outfits. Sometimes, wearing something can be even more provocative than not wearing anything at all. Thankfully, his inventory space was vast, and he always had something on hand.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Hmm… Yesterday, I felt a strange power in you. It's different from the spiritual energy I possess…" Mio tilted her head, contemplating. "And you left a little of it in me."

"Although I know you're talking about the Wisdom Cube, it's hard not to think of something else in this context…" Setsuna teased, gently ruffling her hair.

He had spent countless nights with shipgirls before. They all drew from the Wisdom Cube, so Mio's unique reaction as a Spirit wasn't too surprising.

"Will we have children someday?" Mio asked shyly.

"Uh… In the biological sense, I'm not sure. But in the Spirit sense? That seems very likely," Setsuna said thoughtfully.

He sat beside her, holding her hand.

"Can you separate out a Spirit Crystal? The core that contains a different Angel?"

"Hmm…"

Mio nodded, raising her hand. A soft light radiated from her body, and from it emerged a sparkling crystalline form.

Since all other Spirits were originally created by Mio herself, this process was second nature to her. With just a hint of guidance from Setsuna, she was able to manage it effortlessly.

"I can. It takes some of my power… but as long as you're here with me, I'm not afraid," Mio murmured, leaning against Setsuna's shoulder, her lips pouting slightly.

"That's perfect," Setsuna said with a satisfied smile, patting her on the head.

"I've already thought of names for our children," he added, clearing his throat.

"Origami Tobiichi, Nia Honjo, Yoshino Himekawa, Kotori Itsuka, Mukuro Hoshimiya, Natsumi Kyouno, Kaguya and Yuzuru Yamai, Miku Izayoi…"

"From zero to ten—our Spirit family has to be complete."

...

After arriving at the control room, Kurumi and a few shipgirls were gathered around having breakfast.

When they saw Setsuna walk in with Mio trailing behind him, her head lowered and her gaze filled with tenderness, they instantly understood most of the situation.

"You're really living the high life, huh?!" Kurumi grumbled. "Enjoying yourself last night while shoving me off to dig dirt on the moon?!"

She put down her bread and began pounding the table with a series of thuds.

"Exploring the universe is a meaningful activity; how could you describe it like that?" Belfast interjected, correcting Kurumi's phrasing.

"?"

"What did you all do yesterday?" Setsuna asked, confused by their argument.

"Last night, Richelieu said to give you two some space, so she took us to the moon," Formidable explained, spreading her hands in a gesture of mild frustration. "We even dug up some lunar soil samples for comparative analysis. The only one who had any complaints was this Spirit here."

"..."

Kurumi felt that ever since she had met Setsuna, events had been spiraling out of her control.

First, she was saddled with a sudden new set of "parents." Then, she was dragged on a casual trip to outer space, landing on the moon—an achievement humanity hadn't managed in over 20 years.

It was all a bit too surreal.

"He's your daddy now, you know—" Mio teased, putting on the demeanor of a gentle and loving mother. She pulled Kurumi into her arms and pointed at Setsuna, coaxing her to call him "dad."

"???"

Kurumi gave up completely, lying flat in surrender. She couldn't out-talk or out-fight Mio anyway.

After some banter, Richelieu turned to Setsuna and asked, "Commander, what's next? Are we preparing to return to the original timeline, or is there something else that needs doing?"

Now that the Spirit of Origin had been whisked away by Setsuna, it stood to reason that the major tragedies and complications in the Date A Live world wouldn't occur.

With the Spirit responsible for the chaos gone, spacequakes would cease to happen every now and then, and the world would return to peace.

"No, there's one more thing left," Setsuna said after some thought, activating the Eternal Snowfall's scanning equipment.

"We need to eliminate DEM Industries and Westcott, cutting off their threat to this world at its source."

Westcott was the founder of DEM Industries and the mastermind behind the Eurasian Sky Disaster.

He was obsessed with capturing Spirits for experimentation. After summoning the Spirit of Origin, he coveted both Mio's beauty and power, aiming to claim her for himself.

Most of the conflicts in the original story stemmed from his schemes.

Even if Setsuna had taken Mio away, there was no guarantee that Westcott wouldn't try to pull off some other stunt—like summoning Spirits again or recreating another Eurasian Sky Disaster.

Not only would that leave the task incomplete, but Setsuna would also have to return to clean up the mess. It was better to uproot the problem entirely.

Currently, they were in 1988. If DEM and Westcott were eliminated on this timeline, they would be permanently erased from history.

Nia Honjo wouldn't be captured, and the series of malicious plans targeting Spirits would never come into existence.

The Date A Live world would be left without any magical forces capable of interfering with humanity, ensuring lasting peace.

"You're talking about him?!"

Mio frowned slightly, recalling the somewhat deranged man who had summoned her.

"But according to what you said, he's very powerful. A pureblood wizard's strength is immense, and he also has special devices that amplify his abilities..."

Hearing that Setsuna planned to target this troublesome figure, Kurumi became serious.

"So what's the plan? Find the DEM headquarters first and assassinate him? I might be able to manage that, but locating him will be difficult, and there's a risk of being surrounded."

"I know Westcott is impressive—but that's in the future," Setsuna replied nonchalantly.

Based on the timeline, DEM had not yet captured Nia Honjo, so Westcott wouldn't have access to the absurd abilities granted by the Demon King Beelzebub. Neither the Nibelcole nor the Three Demon Kings, Athiel, Belial, and Qemetiel existed at this point.

Thus, for the most part, he was limited to relying on DEM's armed forces and the magic he wielded as a wizard.

"His magic, CR-Units, or any other devices—can they even reach something outside the atmosphere?"

"Uh..."

Kurumi and Mio paused in confusion.

"Probably not?" Mio admitted hesitantly. Even as the Spirit of Origin, her abilities were constrained to operations within Earth's confines. There was no reason to believe Westcott could achieve more.

"Exactly."

Setsuna turned, gesturing outside the bridge window at the Eternal Snowfall's nearly two-kilometer-long axial main cannon.

"Guess what this thing is for?"

"Tsk." Kurumi clicked her tongue in disbelief.

"Honestly, I doubt he'll even last to the third phase. Activating a half-powered Susanoo Gundam against him would already be giving him too much credit."

With the plan decided, the Eternal Snowfall gradually descended into Earth's atmosphere.

Illustrious, Belfast, Formidable, and Richelieu all manifested their ship forms, deploying hundreds of carrier-based aircraft for a sweeping search across the planet.

The shipgirls' sensors, typically designed for large-scale warfare, were less suited for pinpointing small, inconspicuous targets.

However, as was the case when they located Kurumi earlier, the energy emitted by wizard was unmistakably distinctive amidst Earth's mundane background. Finding these unique individuals was effortless for their detectors.

Before long, from Siberia in the north to South America in the south, the skies above Earth teemed with space-age aircraft.

Governments worldwide were astounded by these mysterious planes appearing overhead. Cloaked with optical camouflage and stealth systems, they were nearly undetectable unless viewed from close range.

Even the most advanced fighter jets scrambled to intercept them were hopelessly outpaced. In mere moments, the space fighters would leave them far behind, not even a vapor trail left in their wake.

Anti-aircraft missiles fired at them couldn't catch up to the black-and-red planes; the jets were simply too fast. There was no effective countermeasure.

Some nations began to suspect their rivals had developed advanced new weaponry, sparking heated accusations on the international stage.

Finger-pointing escalated, with accusations of airspace violations and developing weapons of mass destruction flying back and forth.

Setsuna paid no attention to the opinions of the natives. After all, this world was destined to fall into his grasp sooner or later.

He controlled the carrier-based aircraft to perform ultra-low-altitude cruises over the cities, meticulously scanning every individual within. The collected data was then uploaded to the main system for analysis.

[Target Identification Code DX14257: Ordinary human, normal, no special reactions detected.]

[Target Identification Code XXXX: Ordinary human, normal...]

...

As the lines of information scrolled rapidly across the screen, Setsuna felt as though he was conducting a global census.

The efficiency of the carpet-style search was impressive.

Two days later, the reconnaissance aircraft from the carrier shipgirls finally delivered the news.

"In the capital of Britain! Target sighted!!"

With a roar, several starships activated their thrusters, surging toward the British Isles from all corners of the world.

In a corner of the London suburbs, within a heavily guarded building, a man with silver short hair, wearing a black suit and white tie, was seated on a luxurious sofa, flipping through a report in his hand.

"The Spirit of Origin has disappeared again?..."

"Who took her away, and where would she have gone... the Far East?"

After summoning Mio, DEM Industries had been working tirelessly to secure control over the enigmatic Spirit.

It wasn't just her powers they sought to exploit—Westcott himself was deeply captivated by her beauty.

From the intelligence gathered, not long after the South Kanto Sky Disaster, DEM operatives had reported sightings of the Spirit of Origin in the area.

But by the time Westcott mobilized his armed forces to the Far East for a thorough search, the Spirit had seemingly vanished into thin air.

Numerous Spirit-detection rituals yielded nothing, and even a full-scale sweep failed to uncover the slightest trace of her.

Rumors surfaced of sightings in Egypt, Northern Europe, and Hawaii, but the tales were so fantastical that Westcott dismissed them outright.

"Let me... find you..."

As he mulled over the possible whereabouts of the Spirit of Origin, an ear-piercing alarm blared through the building.

The shrill sound jolted him from the sofa. Before he could contact anyone, he instinctively turned toward the floor-to-ceiling windows.

Several black-and-red carrier-based aircraft were diving toward the building at ultra-low altitudes.

Dozens of missiles, trailing fiery contrails, shrieked through the air and shattered the glass.

The aircraft were so close that he could clearly see the markings on the missile heads: a blue anchor and a black-and-red eagle flag—the signature of the Azur Lane Naval Base Armory.

Boom!

A series of explosions rocked the building, shattering the ceiling and flooring.

Before the steel and concrete collapsed over him, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a dark gray, colossal battleship hovering in the sky, its massive form blotting out the sun.

"What... the hell... is that thing..."

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