Meanwhile in London, when Saint Louis and Gascogne's fight reached its climax.
A 16-years old young girl with white hair and yellow iris waves her right hand to the public.
"Breaking news everyone, Iris Libre is on the verge of being conquered by Crimson Axis."
Her yelling voice quickly draws citizens to the street.
"What? Are you serious?" A citizen asks.
"Of course, details are in these newspapers. One set for 10 Gold," said the girl.
A few people brought the newspaper.
"It's published by the Weekly Royal Navy, I guess this news seems legit."
"What happens next? Are they going to attack us?"
"Oh no, I don't want to die."
Fuss and anxiety quickly fill the street. Eventually, this edition of the newspaper began to sell at various stores.
It only takes about 6 hours to have the entire London aware of the news.
Mayors and Parliament members request an emergency meeting with the prime minister. The Army shifts to Class Two Condition: All personnel must be ready to dispatch for any combat order.
It goes without saying, the Royal Navy quickly received the news.
Queen Elizabeth is skimming through the published newspaper.
"Perhaps we should do this… No wait, maybe that is better…," mumbled Queen Elizabeth.
"Prolonged hesitation and anxiety will damage your health, your majesty," said Warspite.
"I know, I know, but we really need to do something as soon as possible."
As Queen Elizabeth and Warspite discuss the latest news. Arthur, on the other hand, remains silent and looks at the tactical world map. This tactical map has several marks such as arrows, circles, and key terms.
"Commander, what do you think we should do?" Queen Elizabeth asks Arthur.
Arthur takes a deep breath.
"Listen carefully," said Arthur with a deep voice.
Queen Elizabeth and Warspite quickly stand straight to keep themselves focused. They had never seen Arthur with such a complicated expression before.
"Whatever our next actions are, they will impact the fate of the entire Royal Navy."
"Yes, I know. The Crimson Axis will likely attack here right?"
"It's not that simple," said Arthur.
He stands up from his chair and takes out a map of Europe.
First, he circles the area of Iris Libre with a red marker.
"Here is the location of Iris Libre. Now consider it becoming a part of Crimson Axis. What will happen then?" Arthur asks a question.
Queen Elizabeth looked at the map and realized something.
"All the ocean areas that are adjacent to the western continent will be in Crimson Axis's control," said Queen Elizabeth.
"Yes, with them controlling the ocean, we cannot conduct trading routes and military passage to European countries and even North Africa. We will lose a massive amount of long-term profit and influence."
Queen Elizabeth and Warspite's faces turn pale. They seem to understand the meaning behind these losses.
Arthur continues, "we will fall into a negative cycle that a negative consequence connects to another negative consequence."
Queen Elizabeth holds her fists strongly and asks, "Is… is there a way to stop it?"
"Do you mean saving Iris Libre from being conquered? I am afraid the chance of success is low, especially since our main force is absent at this moment."
Queen Elizabeth lowers her head. Was her decision to send battleships and even some royal maids a wrong decision?
"However," said Arthur. Queen Elizabeth raises her head. If there's hope, she welcomes to hear it.
"'On the verge of being conquered' means Iris Libre has not completely fallen yet. While we cannot change the incoming outcome, we can mitigate their losses so they can reclaim their lands in the future."
"Their losses? Buildings, objects, artifacts, people…" Queen Elizabeth thinks for a few seconds. "People! But helping humans is out of our responsibility."
Arthur agrees, "right, therefore we should let humans deal with humans and Kansens deal with Kansens."
Queen Elizabeth's expression switches from hopeless to energized.
"Saving them, but half of the Royal Navy's main force was dispatched to help Eagle Union," said Queen Elizabeth.
To support the Eagle Union from the Sakura Empire's assault, several key members Hood, Prince of Wales, Belfast, and Sheffield. The dispatched Kansens were mostly either battleships or vanguards. Eagle Union has plenty of air carriers so they did not need the support of the Air Force.
"Indeed, which is why we should recall all of them immediately," said Arthur.
"What? But Eagle Union's battle is not over yet."
"Their battle, yes, but not our battle," said Arthur. "Tell me, why did you order the Royal Navy to only clean up the ruins of the naval base, not pursuing the Sakura Empire together? I suppose you don't trust them for some reason."
"Uh…" Queen Elizabeth hesitates.
Arthur guesses, "Was it because the humans there discriminated against the Royal Navy?"
"What? How did you know?"
"Azur Lane educated and trained most of their commanders in Eagle Union and then dispatched some of them to the Royal Navy and Sakura Empire. Commander Joseph was a great example."
Commander Joseph, the previous commander before Arthur, belonged to Eagle Union and eventually was promoted to a commander of Azur Lane. His hostile attitudes and actions gave many Kansens of the Royal Navy nightmares.
"I… I had no other choice. Knowing their personalities, if the Royal Navy joined the Eagle Union, their commanders would criticize us for stealing the glory of victories."
Wow… they sound like those incompetent medieval nobles who had all of the money and power but were afraid to take responsibility themselves. Arthur feels unfortunate for the Kansens of Eagle Union who must listen to their commanders over there.
"It has been several days already, I believe the recovery of the naval base should have reached acceptable progress," said Arthur.
Queen Elizabeth still has her concerns, "What if they want to keep our fleet there so they can attack all they want without guarding their bases?"
"Oh, that is easy, which is going to be our reasonable message to recall our fleets. Remember we are in a 'dangerous' situation."
Queen Elizabeth realizes the perfect reason, "Of course, how can we still dispatch our fleet when our country is in danger."
Looks like Arthur does not need to elaborate any further.
As they are in the middle of the discussion, they hear many voices coming from outside of the office.
Warspite goes outside of the office and asks nearby Manjuus, "What is the matter?"
A Manjuu desperately explains the sight it just saw.
"Your majesty, I believe you should come outside for a moment."
"Warspite, what happened?"
"An eclipse has occurred. The sky has suddenly turned into darkness."