Been a while everyone, heck it's been some months since I last post update of any main story. I'll admit, there's a lot going on in real life that hindered my writing. For example, I had to write a lot of things that didn't involve fanfics which made me sick looking at Word UI alone, university graduation process that was hindered by some cunt because he want money, post graduation travel, getting absolutely sick, and staying with extended family for some time...Yup, that means the progress of my writings happened with some paragraphs each day, not ideal where I used to be able to write some more.

That's not all though. I'll admit that I kind of hit by a sense of laziness especially after I stumbled to a certain reddit post. It was about Azur Lane fanfic, and one particular comment told that their least favorite is Commander Blaze. That's fine? They said the story started okay, but then it summersaulted off the cliff. One person left when Ronald did the thingy and never looked back despite a clear warning not to read it if they can't take it, one said that there's so much porn in it that I was told to get help for I'm a sick bastard in the head or something. They said that Average Among Special was better by a margin, which translated to absolute shit I guess...All in all, it made me seems like I'm the worst author to ever walk this earth or something, and it gained some upvotes too.

I know that not everyone is going to like what I produced and I've made peace with that, I noticed that some people have left the story and even unfavorited it. While the number is a bit small, I admit that reddit post cut deeper than I expected. That means the two stories I have worked hard for were total flaming shit, why even bother updating it? Obviously, I'm not as good as those other authors, with better writings, more diverse stories, better world building that never strays from Azur Lane lore, hardcore immersion and better upload schedule. There's a lot of them on fanfiction and AO3, compared to them who can pass as a genuine book author, I'm just some wannabe shitbag author who want to put what I wrote back then for the public. It's nothing professional grade, there's no world breaking twist, great romance, cool action, heartfelt moments and I'm so sick in the head that I shouldn't write anymore, eh?

...You know what? Fuck all of that. I'll be staying on the road that I've been driving on for four years. I'll say this outright; I dislike some aspect on Azur Lane lore so I actively changed it for my stories, I think they don't have any before they try to steer it which resulted in jumbled mess. I try my best to learn about the characters which sometimes resulted in my own interpretation of them, not perfect but I'm trying to portray them as close to canon as possible. Type II concept can get thoroughly fucked, I like retrofits just fine, but arguing about it won't get anywhere so I've been staying quiet about it...Azur Lane lore complexity is overrated, it's a big mess and I have been tuning out ever since Type II was introduced. I skipped main stories, read the side ones with waifu interactions and now looked for details and characterization from Wiki story transcript instead of reading them in game. I play for boat waifus nowadays, not the stories.

So, while I got emotional damage from all that, I ultimately stood up and get back to my writings. My brand that I sells, where rule of cool tramples over realism when needed, and very fictional in nature because I put mechs, super soldiers and magic inside those fanfics...which is based on Azur Lane, where it uses anime medium in the first place, not real life...Where the smut is anatomically wrong, and laced with rules belonging to a hentai lawbook...Hate me all you want, I'm staying true to the path I have chosen and will not slam the steering wheel just for a handful of people who hate this fic or me. If it doesn't suit your taste? Plenty of other stories out there, feel free to leave this one. Those stories are more realistic, gritty, diverse, lighter or even darker, if that's what you're looking for.

For those who stays with me though, thank you...all of you. Thank you for reading this story, following it, favoriting it and staying with me despite my upload schedule which is none. Thank you for asking about my condition in PMs, showing me that there are people who still care out there. I am touched, and I'll keep writing...Here's the awaited update, happy reading.

- Dasmara

"Humanity…It's a surprise that they have survived this long, with the amount of nonsense they conjured on daily basis…But this? This is quite a surprise, we have miscalculated, that they are willing to lit their world ablaze in another fire of conflict, despite being involved with our experiments directly…Their stupidity and recklessness continue to amaze me"

Observer Zero sat on her big chair as Observer Alpha shown her the footage of what was happening on Reality BLZ28122004, the videos were put on a pause as they were being stopped. In the place where they were, time could flow as they wish to. To stop, to rewind or to advance them, as they like to do. For that is the purpose of observation, to thoroughly look and analyze what's in front of them. To note any changes, to learn more about it. And for this discussion, Zero froze the time flow as she intimately studied the details of the events happening on that world that intrigued her much more lately.

Chemical missiles attack on Rome, waterborne invasion on Hamburg, using their technology to commence invasion on Berlin and launching practically thousands of nuclear missiles to Sakura Empire. Zero wanted to keep interference to that timeline as light as possible, letting their force show more direct result rather than using divine intervention. However, if she doesn't do anything, that timeline could very well be lost…it could not happen yet, not when they haven't learnt everything they could of about that timeline.

"…I'm authorizing a special intervention" Zero declared to Alpha who narrowed her eyes in amusement.

"Oh? Now which one would you like for us to interfere?" Alpha questioned her while she smirked.

"Cut the number of nuclear missiles heading for Sakura to acceptable level, we need their interceptors to have a chance. Sabotage the portal they used for Berlin, make it as natural as possible, like if they trip our alarm and we send in a reactionary force" Zero instructed Alpha.

"Done. And what of the Hamburg?" Alpha asked Zero as she glanced at the screen showing the raging battle within the city.

"It's the place where they deployed their mutants, and I happen to saw something interesting in our prediction algorithm…I would like to see how he could fare against the mutants over there" Zero responded to Alpha.

"Ahh~, I understand. What should we do about Sardegna?" Alpha questioned Zero further.

"Admittedly, there is not much we could do without being overt about it…But do push those responsible for the attack closer to Sardinian shore, we will let them take care of that themselves" Zero said to Alpha.

"Done…I will see to it" Alpha replied while she smiled slightly.

"It is…a great tragedy, a city full of people and centuries of culture, gone overnight into a hazardous wasteland full of green gas…Sardegna officials have made no further report as of now other than asking the citizens to remain calm, to not be swayed by this act of terror. As of now, there hasn't been any clear perpetrators, but several leaked reports shown that the missiles were manufactured by Azur Lane…So far Azur Lane has denied any involvement in this attack that killed hundred thousand of Sardinians"

"Mein gott! It's a carnage! Our people! The men are culled and the women are raped! E-Even from up here as I sit on the helicopter, I-I-I cannot take much more of this! Please! I beg our government to do something! To stop this demonic act committed by these spawns of hell! I implore upon anyone who can help, please help us stop this nightmare!"

"We're taking fire! We have to bail out! Shut the camera off! Get back inside and close the helicopter's door!"

"N-Nein! The world needs to know just how barbaric these wretches are!"

"They are firing at us with machineguns! We are heading back now!"

"WATCH OUT! MISSILE!"

"*BOOOOOM!*"

"Sven can you hear us?! Sven, please answer! We are cut off from our field reporter, someone get a hold of him!"

"...We just confirmed it…They…They just…They just shot down our civilian news helicopter…*sob*…What cruelty! This is a blatant war crime!"

"My mom and dad were there! They were on a two months' vacation trip when this happened! I saw the explosions and the green gas spreading during a video call with them…They are gone! And who do I blame for their deaths?! Give us an answer! Give us their names! I just want to know who's responsible for this!"

"This is just in…The cities of Sapporo, Osaka and Fukushima were struck by nuclear missiles coming from Eagle Union…The…The explosions caused untold amount of destruction…Sakura officials have reported that casualties is in the range of dozens of millions people, despite early warning and interception attempts…There was not enough space on the underground shelter, the people…*sob*…The people were forced to remain on the surface, when the explosion happened…*sob*…Sorry…This is beyond horrible…I-I had a friend on Osaka, and I couldn't reach her…So far, there is no nuclear retaliation from Sakura, despite this being the second time they received nuclear attack in history…Please, we beg those who holds power, to please keep a level head…If nuclear war happens, there will be no future, for all of us"

"There has been no comment beyond official apology from Eagle Union and Royals regarding their nuclear attack on Sakura Empire and Ironblood. It seems the Royals managed to activate their nuclear warhead's failsafe that the missiles exploded over the North Sea, as for the Sakura Empire, eyewitness alongside video evidences reports thousands of missiles were successfully intercepted. Despite that, three have managed to slip past their defenses and struck the city of Osaka, Sapporo and Fukushima in a deadly nuclear attack…Since 1945, this is the second time a nuclear attack has been committed towards Sakura Empire by Eagle Union. Majority of people on social media have condemned Eagle Union for this savage act, including Eagle Union's own citizens. Many have always questioned their decision to keep so many nuclear weapons and this event has caused a global outcry, to commence nuclear weapon disarmament immediately, despite we being at war with the Sirens"

"The top level officials of Azur Lane and Crimson Axis are currently talking behind closed doors, they are talking about the best course of action going forward. The attacks on Crimson Axis members were not committed by Azur Lane, despite the perpetrators using their asset. Azur Lane officials stated that they do not command them to launch the attacks, the invading force are acting on their own and Azur Lane condemns them for what they have done. Azur Lane and Crimson Axis believes that the perpetrator is Crimson Cleanser, a renegade group of Azur Lane military who dedicates themselves in fighting Crimson Axis to their last breath. Before the meeting started, High Commander Lucas Carville has declared that he will bring justice for the victims of the deadliest terror attack in history. He promised us all that he will get to the bottom of this and drag the perpetrators into the light, where we, the whole world, can hold them accountable"

"Breaking news, we have an official statement coming from the attacking force! We are going to broadcast it now!"

"People of Earth! We are the coalition of Eagle Union, Royal Navy and Iris Orthodoxy armed forces who have been given a direct order by President Gabriella, King Victor II and Pope Martin to begin the attack on Ironblood, Sardegna and Sakura. We consider Crimson Axis nation members as hostile elements until they are ready to surrender unconditionally, otherwise we are allowed to exert maximum force in order to force them to cease their resistance!"

"What?! These attacks are instigated by the nations directly? Not Azur Lane?!"

"What were they thinking?! Is this their revenge for the last war!?"

"Professor, your thoughts?"

"It is imperative that we analyze this statement objectively. I think the three leaders have been framed, because the scale of the attack, while devastating, are still small compared to an outright invasion to guarantee victory. You cannot hide the movement of your entire army; the world will eventually see what you up to so this attack is most likely conducted by separate entity that claimed to have been told by the three leaders to do the deed"

"What about Sakura Empire? Can you say that the nuclear launch is a separate attack and not authorized by the president or King?"

"Yes. I believe a rogue element in their upper echelons are the true perpetrators, and if that is correct, we are talking about state level security breach which is not good in the slightest. This means, that their remaining nuclear missiles could launch at any given moment…without the saying of their leaders"

"It seems the aforementioned leaders are ready to give statement regarding the invader's claims, let's hear them"

"I am dismayed that I have been framed for ordering a barbarous act, for our soldiers to invade our allies. I hereby stated that I, and by extension, the whole Eagle Union, do not have any association with the invading force on Hamburg and Berlin. They are irregulars who used our name in order to provoke a war"

"Let this be known, that The Royals do not send any kinds of military force to Berlin and Hamburg. I, King Victor II, solemnly swears that we will uproot those who used our country as a scapegoat and punish them accordingly"

"We are still recovering from the last great war; we do not have any reason to commence an unprovoked attack to our neighbors. The Holy Iris have always values truth, and the truth is that I do not order any of Iris men or women to attack the Ironbloods. This is an upfront to our teachings, an upfront to our effort to ensure lasting peace and an insult to our effort to rebuild our nation. By the power that the Holy Iris has vested in me, I declared that the invaders are to be considered heretics and we will take them on an endless crusade to end their madness"

"The invaders have released documents to the internet, they are an official letter commanding the invading force to start their attack. Eagle Union alongside Royals and Iris governments are currently censoring anyone who is spreading the documents to the world wide web. This move makes us wonder, whether they are really telling the truth in their official statement several hours ago"

"There have been no further comments from the three nations, could it be the documents are legit?"

"It bears their official stamp; those documents are a legit state leader level order. They really are planning to invade and restart the war"

"The three nations leader have released further statement regarding the documents, they deny that the letters were written by them and has stated that the documents are some forms of forgery"

"The timing of their denials doesn't make sense; this is like them trying to cover their own *BEEP*! Any respectable leader who are truthful will IMMEDIATELY prove that they are innocent as soon as the accusation flies! This is like them discussing how to un*BEEP* themselves from the mess they have created! We are at war with an alien civilization and we still want to wage war with our own people?! Madness, I tell you!"

"The whole world pitched in when New York was invaded by the Sirens, and this is how they repay us all?"

"Burn Eagle Union to the ground and the whole world will find peace!"

"The Royals have always been pompous bastards; this just show their true nature even more. I say we make them pay!"

"Those zealots, I always knew those theocratists are up to no good, but they finally crossed the line!"

"Opinions have garnered around the world to put the three nations' responsible on a sanction, this move was immediately approved by the Sakura Empire who has terminated any diplomatic relations with Eagle Union at the moment, even recalling their embassy"

…On Bellerophon's Mediterranean safe house, William sat on the sofa as he watched the news being displayed by TB through the hologram projectors. His left hand was stroking Hipper's back, who had tears running down her face and she hid it by burying her face on her knees. His right hand was head patting the still sobbing Helena, who hugged him as she cried from the amount of horror she just witnessed.

Shangri-La stood behind him with serious face as she compiled everything related with the attacks, she wanted to get to the bottom of this mess. Sheffield stood to their side while holding a tray, she stared at the news screen with blank face, but those who know her well could immediately tell that she was really upset with what's going on...Lena and the other Bellerophon members were within their briefing room, communicating with Nora to get the latest development, William stayed out so he can comfort the ship girls and be their supporting pillar. He can always get the gist from Lena later; the ladies' need him to soothe them.

"…Hood? It's late over there" A screen flashed in front of him and Hood's face shows up.

"How can I sleep knowing what's going on, dear? Everyone is anxious, we're doing our best to remain calm right now" Hood responded while she frowned.

"…Has anyone attempted to leave?" William asked his girlfriend while he frowned.

"Fortunately, no. Most of the ladies are quite levelheaded about this, many knows that they can't exactly help with the situation…The ladies from Sakura piled some form of donations to aid the victims of nuclear attack, they're gathering their salaries to buy food, clothes and other necessities…Zara and Carabiniere are currently contacting the Sardegna KANSENs for situational update, none of them was on Rome when the attack hit so they are relatively safe…and Bismarck has managed to reel in the Ironblood ladies, saying that they'll wait for further instructions on what to do…We have been briefed about the Argos, and we realized that they attempt to bring KANSENs over there so we can…I don't want to think about what will happen if any of the ladies are captured. Hence, the reason why Ironblood government hasn't told any of the remaining Ironblood ship girls to sortie and help. Only the carriers who done so, even that by launching their planes from their remote base" Hood explained the situation to William.

"Good…Keep it that way…" William said to Hood.

"…Dear?" Hood asked him in concerned tone.

"…We had an inkling, that Crimson Cleanser is just some sort of puppet, for the rogue elements within the governments…But we never knew the vastness of their influence, and here's us finding that out…Look at the nuclear carnage, the Mary that's used on Rome and the invasion from Siren portals…How can these attacks slipped by everyone? These must have massive preparations that they can't hide…But it turns out, we did nothing about the rogue force gathering on South Africa, we got complacent believing that the terrorists haven't synthetized Mary, we secured Azur Lane nuclear stockpile while in reality they're never planning to use them in the first place…All these errors…This is preventable…" William expressed to Hood while he scowled.

"…There is no use in lamenting that, dear. It has already come to pass, it already happened…" Hood replied solemnly to William.

"You're right…Now, we focus on cleaning up this mess…We might not be home for the remainder of winter, I hope that won't be the case later" William said to Hood.

"It's fine, Will…We understand. We will hold the fort, until you come back alongside the ladies with you…Should you need our help, we are one phone call away" Hood said to William while she smiled slightly.

"Yeah. Keep me updated on the situation on our base, and don't hesitate to tell me the tiniest detail about it" William said to Hood while he smiled weakly.

"Don't worry, I will do just that…I better get some rest, it's quite late…Do your best and stay safe, all of you" Hood said out loud before she ended the call.

Just as she ended the call, Lena appeared out of the briefing room and told William to join her inside the room. The man was quite reluctant about leaving Helena and Hipper in this state, but Helena seemed to have calmed down and Hipper chose to sleep off her anger as she went to her room. After telling the ship girls that he'll be back later and that they should get some rest or distraction, he walked into the room before Lena closing the door.

In the room, there's a video conference currently going on with them as one of the participants. The others? They were Azur Lane High Command Council and Crimson Axis top leaders; they were shuffling papers and documents as they talked about the current situation. Lucas, Erich and the others, none of them were smiling or even for one second looked relaxed. This was a living nightmare, something they have to gain foothold soon or it could spiral out of control into Great War 2.0…William joined the video conference, that's when Erich immediately noticed his presence.

"Kommandant, a pleasure to see you are fine" Erich greeted William.

"Likewise. Where are we with this mess?" William asked Erich.

"We have agreed that we need to put a stop of the invasion by sending in Royal Navy alongside Kriegsmarine in a joint operation, we're getting the chemical warfare unit from Dragon Empery to help with Sardegna and are amassing personnel alongside resources to be sent toward Sakura. Eagle Union have initiated a national lockdown and the military are sweeping the government ranks for traitors, the same goes for Royals and Iris…We are patching the bleeding, but I don't think this is going to stop it soon" Erich explained to William.

"At least we are starting…Where do we come in this?" William asked Erich further.

"…Commander Blaze, as much as we'd like for you to continue hunting Ronald Mitchell and his cronies, we don't have a choice but having to involve you in the Battle for Hamburg…We have to show the world that you are an impartial man, a true warrior for whole humanity, not just Azur Lane affiliated…Well, you are already one, we just have to show the world. We need them to see how you fare against the Argos, to show them that this is not the route to go for. Not to mention, you are willing to fight anyone out there who can threaten peace we have built" Lucas explained to William.

"Won't this just push the government to create someone like Kommandant Blaze even harder?" Erich questioned Lucas.

"I won't deny that possibility, but hiding him won't solve anything, it could even worsen the situation" Lucas bluntly answered.

"Hah…We have no control over what they will do, I fear the worst when it comes to this…One day, they might find a way to just do it" Erich sighed then said to Lucas.

"Until that day happens, we prepare ourselves. Keep the ship girls from being involved, keep Commander Blaze away from their hands. The Royals could take advantage of his nationality, we can't let them" Lucas said to Erich.

"Given what we know, I think it is easy to force our hands should they attempt anything" Blackmore quipped as he finished writing something.

"Hey, quit it! This isn't about me, this is how we're going to save what remains of a civilized world as soon as possible…I could stand behind the idea of showing them what's what on Hamburg, but do not expect me to go along with any quarantine attempts on myself or the KANSENs. We are going to fight the Sirens, without any local government trying to interfere with us. We do our jobs, you do yours" William interjected before he stated while he frowned.

"Are you certain that you can remain impartial, Kommandant Blaze?" Erich blatantly asked William.

"You stab my back? Expect me to return the courtesy. Don't fuck us over, and we'll gladly help you out" William said to Erich.

"...Kommandant, you are being quite paranoid over this. We are trying to help you and the girls out" Erich said to William while he frowned.

"Sorry for that, because I'm not taking chances…You know why, chairman…" William replied to Erich.

"…I understand. Let me clarify that we have no intention to change the arrangement we got, the same can't be said for the local governments. Though, I don't see them doing something as stupid as dispersing the organization that just clean up their mess, nein?" Erich said out loud.

"You'll be surprised with how many ungrateful idiots are running the office, chairman. Still, let us worry about that later. We got more urgent matter to settle…Admiral McAllen, Commander Blaze, we have confirmed that the fleet that are attacking Hamburg belongs to Admiral Ashville and Admiral Gibson. They joined forces to overwhelm Hamburg's defense fleet, and it would take an equally if not more ships to fight them head on. Both admirals are veterans who have participated in numerous battles, they are not going to go down easily…We want to suggest splitting up your unit, some of you could help in Berlin while you fight them on Hamburg" Lucas said to Erich then to William.

"…Lena, what do you think of that?" William asked Lena as the group is technically led by her.

Lena thought the whole situation over and concluded that Lucas was right, they needed to split up. But she was unsure regarding who goes where. She didn't want to leave William by his own, but only sending Liu, John and Ingrid to Berlin without her could be problematic. While being good at what they do, the three of them didn't exactly have experience in high command. There could be a time where they need to command some units, but a whole battalion?

No, Lena was overthinking all of this. The three of them had been trained just like her, and if she can do it, they certainly could as well. Furthermore, the fight on Berlin was focused on the ground and air, there will be no need for them to assault a ship. William and Lena have thruster packs that they could use to reach a command ship without insertion vehicles, the both of them are more suited for Hamburg. Still, Lena had apprehension about the Argos', maybe she can let William handle them while she takes care of something else.

"…You three can handle Berlin" Lena said to Ingrid, Liu and John.

"No problem, what are we going to do over there though?" Ingrid asked Lena.

"Your mission is simple, find General Calhoun and apprehend him. Deliver him to us, we'll handle the rest" Lucas said to Ingrid.

"What, we can't kill him?" Liu asked Lucas while he frowned.

"Dead body don't make a good showcase for the public; we need him alive…for now" Lucas said to Liu.

"Go along with it, Liu" Lena told Liu.

"Fine, one wrong move and off with his head though" Liu said to Lena while he scowled.

"Better make him behave later then" Lena said to Liu while she smirked slightly.

"…I'm guessing it's the same with us on Hamburg?" William asked Lucas.

"Yes. Though you get to make quite a scene, turn those Argos into mincemeat and give the world a reason to feel safe with Commander Blaze being at the side of humanity. And if your appearance lure Ronald Mitchell with his Gemini Squad and Antonio Lockwood out into the open? Well, that's a bonus" Lucas said to William while he frowned slightly.

"I'll spare Lockwood, Ashville and Gibson. Do not expect the same for Ronald and the others" William outright stated to the leaders.

"Very well...We'll leave this in your hands, Bellerophons" Lucas said to them while he nodded.

The video call ended, William immediately marched out of the room and back to the living room. He briefed the ship girls on what he just talked on the meeting, and William had an idea to get them on stand by within Ironblood's remote base filled with their KANSENs for joint operation. They will be separated for a while, but for good reason so the girls didn't argue about it. William told them to rest up, or even distract themselves for a bit from the depressing situation this world currently on. The man himself went outside, to gaze at the Mediterranean beach in front of him...He spent some time staring until his phone rang.

"Yes?" William answered the call.

"Commander, it's A. I trust you remember me?" A asked William on the phone.

"I don't know much A in my life, the prominent one is a higher up in Vtuber oriented entertainment company. To what do I owe the pleasure?" William asked A on the phone.

"The Sirens have found our little backwater facility, commander. We are told to evacuate, but I'm afraid it's not possible due to their blockade" A told William on the phone.

"Have you contacted the nearby Azur Lane forces to help you out?" William asked A on the phone.

"Can't do that, not with the fess up Crimson Cleanser caused. Armed forces are on lockdown, and require direct order from Azur Lane Central HQ to move out. Right now? They are spending too much time verifying the attack, and assembling rescue forces that is not affiliated directly with the countries. All that, while Siren fleet is pounding this very facility. I need help, and you could be my ticket out of here" A explained to William on the phone.

"We are but five men spec ops team, several KANSENs and one dropship. I'm not sure we can rescue everyone on the base, Miss" William frankly told A on the phone while he frowned.

"No need to, commander...By the time you get here, it's might be just me left. Everyone else are either escaping on their own or died" A said to William on the phone.

"Wait, what? If that's an option, then why do you stay behind? Why didn't you follow them?!" William asked A on the phone while he cocked his eyebrows.

"First, it is kind of my responsibility as the facility director to make sure everyone escapes. Second, I'm carrying important research material and knowledge that can't fall to anyone, and I mean, anyone that I consider not trustworthy" A explained to William on the phone.

"And what makes me trustworthy in your eyes? I could sell you out" William questioned her on the phone.

"Oh sure, but do that, and you'll doom this world completely. I assure you, helping me out would only help you better surviving this Siren War. Once you rescue me, I'll make sure to repay you properly. Maybe my expertise as resident researcher? Your choice, commander...I'm along for the ride you pick, that dropship or Charon boat on Styx River" A warned William on the phone.

William pondered for a bit. He knew nothing about this A, she suddenly asked for help and even warned him of what will happen if she dies or captured...In a sense, A was asking for his protection, to keep her with him and the other KANSENs...Honestly thinking, the man thought that they got nothing to lose by bringing her aboard. He just needed to notify Lucas after he done so. Given that she's also the one responsible on turning him into who he is right now, maybe she could shed more light on his physical condition. But first, he needed to convince his team to deviate from the plan slightly.

"I'll brief our team, hopefully we'll go there in an hour or so" William notified A on the phone.

"Thanks, I'm counting on all of you. I've sent you my coordinates" A thanked William on the phone.

"Stay safe doc" William told A on the phone.

"Don't worry, I am safe for now. I've left clues for you to find me on the director's office, find the Venus" A said to William before she hung up.

...A pressed the hang up button on her smartphone, she sighed a bit as she glanced to the right toward a giant humanoid cladded in black armor with slanted blue visor. Nyx nodded his head at A, he then walked toward something that's laid above a table by the corner. It's a small black briefcase, and Nyx grabbed it before he walked toward A once again. The woman in question just silently stared at him as she looked at him directly on the visor, her tired eyes behind her glasses hinted of questions being formed in the depth of her mind.

"...You know the deal~" Nyx told A in teasing tone.

"Figures I won't get anything out of you, you have a habit dropping in, telling me to do shit, and then just leave" A huffed as she folded her arms.

"Ouch, that's an accusation and a half! I paid for your help with this dimensional bubble!" Nyx replied as he held his chest plate with his left hand as if he was stabbed.

"This time, your payment isn't exactly conventional. And what about the favors I did for you before?" A retorted while she puffed her cheeks slightly.

"It's the payment for today. Pulling stunts like this isn't easy, you know? I got to have something worthwhile in return~" Nyx casually replied while he shrugged.

"Hah, wish you could repay me with other means...But you did save my scrawny ass from those Sirens, so consider us even...Thank you, Nyx" A said to him while she nodded slightly.

"Don't mention it. And, I don't think you're scrawny, far from one" Nyx told A as he shifted his gaze downwards.

"Hmph, I like honest men...Now with that out of the way, what are you going to do next?" A questioned Nyx.

"I'll go back home for a bit, drop this off, spend some time relaxing and...Well, maybe see what Ash managed to gather from that advanced future reality...I did my part, the rest is up to you" Nyx answered A as he lightly shook the briefcase on his left hand.

"...Alright...I guess this would be the last time we speak privately like this, thanks for everything. I wouldn't be here without you" A said to Nyx while she smiled bitterly.

"Gonna miss me?" Nyx asked A while he tilted his head slightly.

"With who's coming? Hardly~" A replied while she smirked.

"Hahah! I see...Don't worry, I'll still pay a visit later. He hasn't matured, and still need guidance" Nyx said to A as he snapped his finger and created a portal.

"Okay then" A nodded her head.

"A word of advice...Don't make him do the same thing as me, one mistake is enough" Nyx told A as he stepped into the portal.

"Believe me when I say that I intend to do that, without you telling me to" A said to Nyx as the portal closed.

...After briefing the team regarding A and the situation, they immediately took off for the facility that housed A on Mediterranean. Honestly, they were quite lucky that they're pretty close to their rescue target. Shangri-La did her research and compiled their intel; the plans were agreed on and they will immediately commence it the moment they enter the area of operation. According to the incomplete intel they could gather at the moment, the facility was under attack by a splinter of Siren fleet that shown up on Sardegna. It's a remote facility under the guise of Sardinian company, that's how they managed to avoid detection during the Great War.

However, the Sirens chose to attack it and Sardegna fleet was too busy handling their own mess to help. Their KANSENs sortied against the Siren and the unit that launched terror attack at Rome as well, and the closest Azur Lane unit was stationed in Egypt belonged to Ashville so their credibility was questionable. The Iris was under suspicion after the start of terror attack, they couldn't just move their forces out of their borders unless they want to provoke Ironblood or Sardegna. That left A no other choice but William and his team...

The members were questioning William regarding this decision, even Lena who wasn't aware regarding A. William gave them some half truths, that he got in contact with A for information. She's the one who contacted him first, and William became aware regarding her importance that she cannot fall into anyone's hands other than ALASUC. Furthermore, she offered to work for them, so helping her out will earn them nothing but good stuff on the horizon. William managed to convince the team after straightening out some doubts...

William was currently seated on the copilot seat; he was analyzing the layout of the facility based on the data that TB managed to gather. According to the schematics, the place is a disguised as a wine production facility. That included the grape farm, the necessary facility to brew them, the packaging facility and administration building. The science labs are located underground, few levels only from the surface and quite small compared to the ones on Celestial Garden, but well equipped nonetheless. They had requested a satellite to move to the facility's location so they can get a live feed of the situation, but it's being processed and then it will take some time to move them IF the owner accepted. The owner being Sardegna Empire, and they were heavily using them at the moment.

"Commander, a new message has been sent to your phone" TB informed him.

"From who?" William asked her.

"It's from General Blackmore, a file is attached to the message" TB told William.

"Show it on my HUD" William said to TB.

"Understood" TB responded.

And the message screen popped up in the center of William's HUD, it was a short message that replied to his previous request to him. William asked Blackmore regarding the facility they're going to, and Blackmore replied that he will personally conduct search and rescue operation for the survivors. Given that they're stretched thin with the whole fuckery going on around the world, Blackmore can't afford to move large scale forces so the attacking Sirens need to be dealt with before he could move in with his limited aerial units.

"Will?" William heard John called his name.

"Yeah?" The man responded as he glanced toward John behind him.

"Got a moment?" John questioned him.

"...Sure, what you want to talk about?" William asked John as he looked at him.

"I did some digging on our intel for Ironblood front, they said that they have spotted some Argos that's outfitted with a power armor...Sounds familiar" John responded to William.

"So Ronald and his goons are there...Where exactly?" William asked John again.

"Hamburg, they were spotted near the shore. Eyewitness accounted that Ronald and his group are wearing khaki green power armor with unknown features, they also carried a big sword on their back and energy shielding. They must be using your footage on New York to learn about your armor and fighting style" John answered.

"Copy it all they want; we'll see who comes out on top later" William told John in low tone.

"You're not worried?" John asked him.

"What? About them?" William asked John in return.

"I don't know whether Lena will be there or not, but if she doesn't? It's five against one. You're not invincible, mate" John said to William while he frowned slightly.

"I know...But I don't want to involve anyone else...This is my fight, my responsibility. I shot them, they came back to life with vengeance...I should be the one ending them properly" William said to John.

"...I won't stop you; I just want you to be careful about it" John told his friend while he nodded.

"Appreciated...I have much to live for, I won't let myself get killed" William thanked John while he smiled.

John nodded and exited the cockpit, William returned to his task. After waiting for a while, they managed to gain access to Sardegna owned satellite. William informed the team and they immediately studied the layout of the facility, determining their point of entry and hostile forces on the perimeter. Siren deployed a small fleet of mass produced ships and their ground troops...The facility masqueraded as a civilian property so they can't post heavily armed guards. That's the reason their security detail got massacred by Siren, they lack the ability to fight back properly.

While the team discussed the technical planning, William was a bit distracted as he received a DM from Eugen. She sent him a selfie with her panties down and sitting on the toilet, she's holding a pregnancy test kit and the kit had positive test result. William smiled widely and, especially at how happy Eugen looked in the photo. 'Look at what you did to me, better take responsibility for it~' was Eugen's message about the photo which should be enough for confirmation, but she went extra mile by sending him the video of her using the kit as 'absolute proof' that she's bearing his child.

The man replied her messages by saying how happy he is at the result, and he promised that he'll be back home alive and sound to care for her and their unborn child. He chatted with Eugen for a bit about her condition before he returned to the plan discussion, this time he's entirely focused on accomplishing his mission and coming back home in one piece. He was reminded again on what he's fighting for, and he can't stand the thought of making the people he cared about sad.

The plan was concocted, they were ready to deploy...After an hour more, they were approaching the facility from the west. Even from afar, they could see the small fleet posted around the island. At Lena's command, the ship girls deployed into the sea with their rigging equipped. The V-22 that deployed them then flew up high, escorted by Shangri-La's F7F Tigercats. Helena, Hipper and Sheffield approached the mass produced Siren ships and let loose, their cannon fires marked the start of the operation. A few seconds later, the Bellerophons deployed from above. All five jumping down into the facility, Lena carried Ingrid while William carried both Liu and John.

"Sixty seconds to thruster engagement point" TB informed on the radio.

"Hope my thruster could break the fall with you two onboard" William commented.

"Don't worry, I'm not as heavy as John" Liu responded while he poked John.

"Yeah, you barely have muscles. No wonder women didn't give you a second glance" John told Liu.

"Nah, I don't need those harlots, know what I'm saying?" Liu replied to John while he grinned.

"Liu? I...I don't know you're gay..." Ingrid chimed in with shocked tone.

"No! No! NO! That's not what I meant!" Liu immediately answered in panic.

That got a good chuckle out of William and John while Lena laughed out loud, Liu is their target of teasing most of the time but they cared for him a great deal so it's even out...The surface was getting closer with each second, William and Lena activated their jet thrusters at the last second and slowed down their descend. They dropped John, Ingrid and Liu right in the courtyard with several Sirens guarding the buildings around them. William and Lena immediately took off up high while the three Bellerophons fired their weapons at visible targets all around them. Siren Troopers couldn't hold a candle against them, any attempts of retaliation were swiftly snuffed out.

"Just as planned, John, Liu, on me. We're securing an LZ and sweep the compound for anything useful. Ingrid, go with Will and get Ms. A" Lena commanded out loud on the radio.

"Got it" John responded on the radio.

"Righty o, lead the way" Liu told Lena on the radio.

"Let's go Will, like old times" Ingrid said to William on the radio.

"Try to keep up" William replied to Ingrid on the radio.

William landed and the both of them immediately ran for the administrative building, the man rammed the double doors open and Ingrid followed behind him with her FAMAS at the ready. Both of them slowed down as they walked in the corridors and some rooms, occasionally they'll find Siren Troopers and Brawlers to fight. William noted that the Siren Troopers were carrying plasma carbines, which fits perfectly for the environment they operated in. The Brawlers were the standard ones, nothing out of ordinary about them...though their numbers were too small.

"Ingrid, did you notice that the Brawlers are too few?" William asked her.

"Yeah, maybe they don't have time nor people to convert into one" Ingrid commented.

"Great news, but I can't help feeling something's not right here" William told the woman.

"Your hunch tingling?" Ingrid asked William.

"Kind of...I'm not intelligent enough to know what, though" William replied while he frowned.

"I think you mean insight instead of intelligence...But sometimes it's the intelligent people who overlooked those kinds of things, Will" Ingrid told William as she walked.

"What do you mean?" William asked her as he followed the woman closely.

"Intelligent people often see things purely on logic and hard data, they will not consider something like gut feeling or hunch as empirical evidence to support their decision making...Those who can strike the balance between both are often the more successful one, those who can trust their hunch yet at the same time could think logically on the situation" Ingrid briefly explained to William.

"...You're talking about yourself" William responded as he walked slightly behind Ingrid.

"I got to admit Will, I trust data more than my own feelings. Reality isn't sunshine and rainbows, most of the time" Ingrid told him while he smiled slightly behind her helmet.

"...Not saying you're wrong, but I do think there's a reason why morality remains the core of our decision making. Without morality, our humanity would be questionable as we do things that are potentially hideous. Without hard data or factual truths, we'll be acting unreasonable and possibly worsen the situation or jeopardize our future..." William commented.

"And if they conflicted? What will you do? Will you pick morality or data?" Ingrid asked William.

"That's the shitty part of life, there's no definite answer. You could pick either one and you'll get fucked by the other...Our best hope is to pick one, and hope for the best" William told Ingrid.

"Heh...You've been learning, I guess you're hitting more books now than the punching bag or someone's skull" Ingrid commented while she smiled.

"Was I that much of a dimwit before?" William asked Ingrid while he frowned slightly.

"No, I think you're reasonably smart when we first met. I mean, you could ace obstacle course and field practical. People have different kinds of intelligence that they proficient at, I'm at learning and theory while you at field operation and getting the job done...But what I'm trying to say is, you've wised up, Will, even more than you were before" Ingrid told William.

"...I think it's still not enough...I need to be sharper if I want to lead the ship girls without disappointing them" William honestly said to Ingrid.

"Indeed, I share that sentiment...But I'll say this based on my experience, knowledge is both a gift and a curse. Think about that before you learn something" Ingrid said to the man.

The statement caused William to just silently nodded as both of them continued their walk toward the director's office, the man contemplated on Ingrid's words as he walked. But before he could think about it further, plasma bolts started flying toward them from Siren Troopers ambushing the two. William pushed Ingrid to an empty corridor for cover while he soaked up the damage with his energy shield, the man fired several bursts from his assault carbine before he took cover beside Ingrid. The woman nodded her head to indicate that she's fine, lngrid then shown William a flashbang and he knew the plan immediately. Ingrid unpinned the grenade and shoved it to the corridor with Siren Troopers.

BANG!

An explosion was heard and William charged first then followed by Ingrid directly behind him. William meticulously fired his carbine toward the Siren Troopers, he managed to hit some while a few managed to hid behind cover. They hoped they could pop a shot at him, but the moment they appeared, Ingrid shot them without hesitation. The two moved past the ambush corridor and in total managed to take down ten troopers, Ingrid glanced around while she dropped off her empty drum magazine and slapped a fresh one into her FAMAS.

"...There's too few of them" Ingrid commented as she cocked her rifle.

"Vanguards?" William questioned.

"Probable. The lack of Brawlers still unnerves me, they should have the victims and enough time to make a huge number of them. Do they not have enough Larvas? There's no corpses or cocoons around as well" Ingrid told William.

"Do they always bring them for offensive operations?" William asked Ingrid.

"Records indicated that they always airdropped Larva into a building, then they'll use the ventilation system or opened windows to get in and capture people. The process of turning them takes several hours, and judging by the start of the attack and our arrival, we should've seen more of them by now" Ingrid explained to William.

"Huh...It's not like the Sirens to be sloppy like this" William commented.

"Indeed. Something else is going on in here, Will" Ingrid said to William.

"Trap?" William questioned her.

"But if it's her doing, what would A gain from this? My hypothesis is a lure" Ingrid told William.

"How did you come to that conclusion?" William asked Ingrid.

"The Brawlers and light resistance on this facility, Sirens would've sent more units to hold this place. The fact they came with minimum force tells that they either conduct a raid, or lure us to come here for some reason...But if this is Siren trap, then we're deep in cesspool of mess here" Ingrid said to William.

"...Let's just get A and get out of here, if it's a trap we'll shoot our way out...and maybe mix things up a little" William told Ingrid.

"With you beside me? Sure" Ingrid confidently replied to the man.

Both William and Ingrid jogged a bit until they found an elevator, they went inside the elevator and the man pressed the button for underground level three. The door closed and the elevator slowly went down, William checked his carbine that still had 119 rounds and he decided to reload his gun...The elevator came to a stop, and they prepared for the door to open. The door opened and William alongside Ingrid stepped out in a flash, guns aimed toward their surroundings. There's no one in sight on the corridors and their map radar didn't show anything, the floor was deserted.

"I started to believe your theory more and more" William commented as he walked in front of Ingrid.

"Where's the director's office?" Ingrid asked William.

"According to schematics, turn right on that intersection and pass several rooms" William told Ingrid while they walked.

PSIU!

BOOM!

William grabbed Ingrid and pushed her down, his instant reflex when he saw a brief flash of yellow in front of him allowed them to avoid an energy launcher bolt to the face. Ingrid immediately mag dumped her FAMAS to the front side while she fired her grenade launcher, they could saw yellow mists and spurts in front of them before an explosion caused body gibs to be thrown around the corridor. William clicked his tongue as he activated his thermal vision mode, and he immediately noticed humanoid shaped images moving in front of them. The man didn't waste time firing his carbine, tearing holes into the hostiles that were approaching from the front.

"Those troopers are using active camo" William commented.

"Well, I don't have thermals like you" Ingrid told him.

"You got flashlight?" William asked Ingrid.

"Yeah I...Oh! Will, you're genius!" Ingrid said to William as her eyes widened.

Ingrid realized that active camouflage doesn't render someone completely invisible, stuff like that couldn't exist in reality based on the law of physics. The scientists studying the Siren Trooper camouflage module determined that they used an active energy cloak that 'bend' the lights around their body, that's what allowed them to be invisible. However, they are still a solid matter that exist in three dimensional realm, so if they got exposed to light source directly...they'll leave a shadow. Ingrid turned on her helmet mounted flashlight, and she immediately spotted the camouflaged Siren Troopers. The woman didn't hesitate squeezing her rifle's trigger.

TRATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATA!

Ingrid saw one of the camouflaged troopers threw a plasma grenade towards them, she immediately kicked the grenade away from their position. The explosions took down three of said troopers, the rest were firing as they went for nearby cover. William tapped Ingrid and threw his thumb toward the room by the end of the corridor, said room has a double door and very likely to be the director's office from the look alone. Ingrid noted that there's bunch of corpses on that direction, William was telling her to go first while he dealt with the camouflaged troopers.

She nodded her head in affirmation, Ingrid fired several bursts of 5.56mm bullets toward the Sirens before she jogged for the director's office. William confirmed that Ingrid entered the office, then he walked forward as he fired his rail carbine. The accelerated bullets tore through the Siren Troopers, and the remainder that tried to run were shot in the foot by William. The man calmly walked forward and put a bullet or two at the downed troopers, killing them where they laid down due to their non functioning leg. William scanned the area around him, he noted that it's clear for now and deactivated his thermal vision.

"...TB, are you connected to this facility's database?" William asked TB.

"Yes commander, however I could not find any important data that we don't already have" TB said to William.

"So, they purged the data already" William muttered as he walked toward the director's office.

"Does this have to do with the hypothesis that Sirens attack research facility to learn human technology research?" TB asked William.

"Yes...If they purged it, then it's fine...I can always ask A myself" William said to TB.

William opened the director's office doors, and he immediately spotted Ingrid in the center of the room. William closed the door and he observed the office, the director's office usually decorated with comfortable feeling in mind. But this room, it's modern, simple and functional in aesthetics. Still, what made William scrutinized his eye was the fact that the room was a complete mess, papers alongside books were all over the floor, there's three coffee mugs with residues inside them on the table, the computer were still on but the screen was locked, there were several painting or framed quotes on the wall and other miscellaneous stuff...

"...Messier than my study, that's for sure" Ingrid commented.

"If this is her office, it doesn't really fit my image of her...it's kinda cute" William commented as he looked around.

"Cute? You like slobby girls?" Ingrid asked him as she cocked her eyebrows.

"Not exactly, depends on the person" William told Ingrid.

"Hmph...So, here we are...Now, where is she?" Ingrid snorted before she questioned out loud.

"She said something before ending the call back then, we should try to find the Venus" William informed Ingrid.

"Venus? Well...There are three things correlated with Venus here. That solar system module, the Birth of Venus painting and that random pic of Venus flytrap on her table...Which one is it?" Ingrid asked out loud.

"...She's not putting any traps if we get it wrong, right?" William asked out loud while he grinned nervously.

"Like what? Closing the door shut and fill the room with toxic gas?" Ingrid asked William.

"Yeah...Well, I doubt she'll install something like that. This isn't Metal Gear Solid" William said to Ingrid.

Still, after saying that, he couldn't help but to be nervous on what if she really did put a trap? Didn't sound possible especially with the possibility of random people going in and out of her office, but just the slightest what if...William shook his head, he's wearing a power armor, with an air filter on his helmet, an energy shielding that enveloped his body, he got nothing to be scared of! William approached the painting of The Birth of Venus first and ran his fingers on the surface of the painting, but nothing happened. The man cocked his eyebrows as he moved toward the next object, the solar system module. He touched the Planet Venus and even lightly pulled it, but nothing happened as well.

"...Nothing" William said out loud.

"I checked the Venus Flytrap pic, nothing happened as well" Ingrid told William.

"Hmm...We're missing something here, like a context...Find the Venus...Find the Venus...All three are easy to find...Is there a fourth one hidden somewhere?" William asked out loud.

Wouldn't be that much of a puzzle if it's that easy to crack, William walked around and inspected every single thing within the office. Every single item, he even shifted papers and books on the floor. Ingrid proceeded to help him; they don't have time for this. It took them five minutes until Ingrid found a clue, there's fourth item that corelates with Venus. It's a book, 'Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus'. Ingrid picked the book from the floor and tossed it toward William who caught it easily then inspected it, he narrowed his eye at the title and suspected that there were other items around.

"...That's all we found regarding Venus?" William asked Ingrid after searching for a while.

"Unfortunately. We've scoured the entire room; I even unloaded the drawers and else" Ingrid told William.

The man racked his brain for the problem solving method to the puzzle, he walked toward the painting and took it off the walls. He thoroughly inspected the painting, and he found an oddity. The painting was a cheap knock off, it's just a picture of the painting being framed and has glass covering it to look like one. He checked the picture even more closely and noted that there are scribblings on some part of the picture, they are ordinary numbers. William had TB recorded the numbers, it's just number 0 to 9 in unorganized manners. Ingrid also found something on the book, a taped modern key. William took the Venus from the solar system module and the Venus Flytrap plant framed pic, he gathered them on top of the table as he and Ingrid thought about their correlation...

"...The only thing making sense here is the key, but I don't see any keyhole" William noted while he pursed his lips.

"...It must be around here somewhere" Ingrid said to William.

"Will, Ingrid, status? You guys alright?" Liu asked them on the radio.

"We hit a snag here, nothing life threatening. We'll contact you once we found her" Ingrid replied on the radio.

"Alright, better be quick, we got news of incoming Siren dropship reinforcement. They'll be around here in five minutes! We'd rather not be here when they arrive!" Liu informed them on the radio.

"Copy that, we'll work as quick as we can, out" Ingrid said to Liu on the radio.

"Any bright ideas?" William asked Ingrid.

"Try your thermal vision or something, let's look for heat source. Electronic equipment, light source, anything that could provide a clue" Ingrid told William while she folded her arms.

William walked around while he activated his thermal vision mode, he scanned around the room for a heat source and he found something near the solar system module. It's faint, but it was emitting noticeable heat emission. William took off the drawer below the module and he found a socket, with just one hole that could fit something round and small. William immediately grabbed the Venus planet and inserted it to the hole, that produced a beep that produced a slight hydraulic hiss at one side of the wall. That's when both William and Ingrid saw the section of the wall moving down and revealed a metallic door, which has a keyhole on it.

Both of them looked at one another before Ingrid tossed the key toward William, the man easily caught it as he walked toward the door. He inserted the key and twisted it, but it won't budge as the console next to it produced a beeping noise with red light. It's another puzzle, and it's a password related this time. William remembered the numbers, so he told TB to display it on his HUD. The password required three digits of numbers, while there were ten numbers available. The order was 7815943602, only three digits from this number combination...

"...A really make us work for it" William commented while he scowled.

"Is she testing us?" Ingrid speculated as she approached William.

"Give me a battlefield and positioning of our units alongside the enemy, I'll make short work of them anytime. I could do strategy, but puzzles? This is way beyond my expertise" William grumbled while he inputted a code combo, nothing happened so he twisted the key again.

BEEP BEEP!

"Yeah, figures" William muttered.

"Is there any clue or something about that number?" Ingrid questioned him.

"None so far..." William said to Ingrid.

"...Venus is the second planet on our solar system...Venus is also Roman's goddess of love...Hmm...Try 243" Ingrid told William.

BEEP BEEP!

"Huh...225" Ingrid said to William.

BEEP BEEP!

"...What basis for those codes you spouted of?" William asked Ingrid.

"Their rotation for one day and their orbit revolution?" Ingrid asked William in return.

"...So, it's not scientific, but something related to the goddess of love herself..." William commented.

"...But what? What triple digits number that could possibly relate to that?" Ingrid questioned out loud.

William folded his arms as he thought up for the possible correlation, he got to threw logic out of this one and started thinking outside the box...What number related to love? That alone is already an absurd question, he can't afford to waste too much time given that Sirens were approaching the facility to respond to their attack...After thinking for a bit, and that Ingrid tried several more combination, William got a spark of idea. The man immediately punched 0-6-9 numbers and then twisted the key...

BEEEEPPPP!

CHCKLK!

"...How?" Ingrid was baffled that William figured the code out.

"A virgin like you will understand one day~" William said to Ingrid while he smirked.

"How rude!" Ingrid puffed her cheeks while she folded her arms.

"Heheh...Well, we got it. Let's get the doctor out of here" William chuckled then said to Ingrid.

Both then entered through the passageway behind the door, they kept walking before William felt he passed through something invisible. It's like a water surface, but at the same time it's not and that felt strange. William glanced at Ingrid who shrugged slightly, they decided to ignore it but raised their guns in alert carry as they proceeded deeper into the passageway...After walking for a bit, they stumbled upon a reinforced door, like it's made to withstand explosions. William noticed that the door had a crank, the man walked towards it and started moving the crank. It's heavy, but nothing his muscles and armor can't do.

"(Yoooouuuu!) Soulja boy I tell 'em, hey I got a new dance fo you all called the soulja boy (Yoooouuuu!). You gotta punch then crank back three times from left to right (Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh yeeeeaaaah!)...Soulja boy off in this hoe, watch me crank it, watch me roll, watch me crank that soulja boy, then superman that hoe. Now watch me you (crank that soulja boy), now watch me you (crank that soulja boy), now watch me you (crank that soulja boy), now watch me you (crank that soulja boy)..." Something started playing from the PA system by the door.

"...Very fucking funny, A!" William growled as he kept turning the crank.

"Really? I don't get it" Ingrid commented.

"Try to look at memes sometimes, they're just as entertaining as research papers" William answered.

"Sheesh, no need to jab that deep" Ingrid responded while she pouted.

"Sorry, force of habit, I do like it deep~" William answered as he kept turning the crank.

"Habit? What do you...Oh! You pervert!" Ingrid told William as her cheeks reddened.

"Heh...You can tease Liu all the time but can't take one, you glass cannon" William commented.

"...Hah...Speaking of him, what should I do?" Ingrid suddenly asked.

"What do you mean?" William asked her back.

"We both know what's up" Ingrid told William.

"...What do you feel about him?" William asked Ingrid.

"...I'm not sure...While I do have this freedom, I basically has the tamer version of Lena's problem...I don't want to get him involved" Ingrid said to the man.

"Don't use that as a reason. You know Liu for years, you know how determined he could be...If I could make it work, then so could he...Trust him, Ingrid...And if you really don't feel anything toward him, come clean about it and end these years of charade" William said to Ingrid as he looked at her.

"It's not like I would mind trying, but...Hah...You're right...I'll think about it when we're done with this fiasco" Ingrid responded to William while she nodded slightly.

"Good. He's been trying for so long, just give him the chance" William advised to Ingrid.

The door finally fully opened after William cranking on the crank for a minute, he theorized that this kind of access was designed so the owner within the room could prepare for unwanted entry. It's honestly kind of make sense for him, though that Soulja Boy song playing was just to make fun of them or something, A does have some sense of humor. William entered the room with Ingrid in tow, it's a big room painted in comforting sky blue ceiling and warm green color for walls. It's a personal shelter, that has everything someone needs to survive for extended amount of time. And near the center, on the white sofa, there was a person seated while playing a handheld console and munching on Pringles...

"...A?" William called out to her.

"Hmm? Oh! Finally, you took a bit solving the puzzles that I started gaming!" A looked toward him and commented while she smiled.

"You were watching?" William asked her.

"Of course! Congratulations for getting through that test, I was right about picking you~" A pocketed her console and stood up.

"A test huh..." William pursed his lips.

The man observed A, a slightly pale skinned brunette with long hair that has some white streaks like Bremerton, she possessed half opened uninterested looking grey eyes that's framed with red glasses, she's a bit slender but upon closer inspection she's quite endowed, and she's dressed casually with lab coat completing the look...A walked towards William and she's just as tall as his chest, A put her hand on her right hip as she threw her thumb toward a briefcase on a table. Ingrid noticed and picked it up, she checked the contents and was pleasantly surprised that it's full of research papers and notebooks.

"Thank you, that one needs to come with us" A told Ingrid.

"I thought you got everything memorized, given your laidback manners. Guess my assumption about the genius scientist was wrong" Ingrid commented.

"There are so many things I want to ask or know, but this is hardly the time. We get you out of here first, then we'll talk" William said to A.

"Agreed! Lead the way, commander" A said to William while she smiled.

"Alright A, stay behind me and keep your head down" William asked her as he readied his assault carbine.

"Fufufu, will do~. Careful though, I'm basically an unarmed NPC during escort mission on those shooter games~" A answered while she grinned.

"Too right, which is why I immediately assume you have no weapon training" William responded while he started walking.

"Does light gun game like Time Crisis and Ghost Squad works?" A asked William while she followed him closely.

"Heh, I'm afraid not...You game often, doc?" William asked A.

"Quite a bit, one of my favorite things~" A said to William.

"Maybe we should play together sometime...Athena, target secured. We're moving topside now" William said to A and then to Lena on the radio.

"Outstanding! We're going to have double time it to secure an LZ!" Lena said to William on the radio.

"How many are there?" Ingrid asked Lena on the radio.

"Three versus hundred-ish! This is an absolute dog pile!" Lena answered on the radio.

"Helena, do you copy? What's your status?" William switched radio channel before he asked Helena.

"Commander? We just finished with the last of the Siren ships on the north side, do you need us for something?" Helena asked William on the radio.

"Lena and the others are getting overwhelmed; can you and Sheffield get groundside and help?" William asked Helena on the radio.

"Okay! Moving now!" Helena said to William on the radio.

"Thanks you two" William said out loud on the radio.

...It didn't take long until they reached the surface area, A glanced from behind a broken window and she could describe the whole sight as a battlefield. She never been in one outside of games, so she wasn't that surprised with the sight. What affected her the most was the smell and atmosphere, it smelled of death. Humans, Sirens, their corpses were all over the place. A stood cautiously behind William, she could hear gunshots and energy weapon fire sounds from all around the area. The fight wasn't over yet, and it's still quite intense. William wordlessly motioned his left hand to Ingrid; A couldn't figure out what it means but Ingrid nodded her head and put the briefcase next to A. Then William started jogging to a hallway to their left, he stood beside a window and readied his carbine.

Ingrid glanced at A and put her left index finger to her helmet chin, signaling A to stay quiet. She nodded her head and glanced outside, she waited for some time but she saw nothing of interest on the courtyard. She wondered whether William and Ingrid going to face something invisible until she saw something approaching from the sky in high speed, the thing then slowed down as best as it could, narrowly hitting the ground before stabilizing and touching down on the ground. It's a Siren dropship, and it's unloading a fresh batch of Siren Troopers.

"Cover your ears, doc" Ingrid told A.

A wordlessly did and Ingrid fired her grenade launcher at the Siren group, the grenade explosion downed seven and killed four troopers. The rest were confused but got no time to recuperate as Ingrid magdumped her FAMAS at the group, her rapid fire was followed by William as he flew at them while firing his carbine. The man waltzed through their group, cutting down their numbers with accelerated bullet barrage and well timed kicks. But that's not all, the man entered the dropship and swiftly moved to the cockpit area. He touched the dropship's console and TB immediately hacked her way in, within few seconds the dropship was under TB's control and she used the chin mounted plasma cannon to mow down any Siren Troopers on sight.

William dropped down from the dropship and flew inside a building area, that's where he saw John currently reloading his gatling gun while under fire from several Siren Troopers. William provided assistance by gunning the hostiles down, however there were reinforcement approaching from the back. John finished his reload and he started firing at the troopers pinning him down, William landed and covered John's rear side by firing at approaching Siren Troopers. Both pressed their backs to one another as they emptied their magazines at the relentless enemy forces, emptying their magazines with prejudice.

"I'm reloading" John told William.

"Make it quick, there's so many of these cockroaches" William responded as he swapped his carbine's magazine.

"Is it just me, or they are converging on John and Will?" Liu asked out loud on the radio.

"No wonder we don't get anything here! Get out of there you two, we're going for hot extract! Manjuus, bring the Osprey down! Ingrid, Helena, Sheffield, get A inside the Osprey and protect our ride!" Lena instructed on the radio.

"Chirp chirp!" "Yes ma'am" "Yes admiral!" "Understood" The Manjuus, Ingrid, Helena and Sheffield responded on the radio.

"That's our cue to leave John, your route or my route?" William asked John as he fired his carbine.

"Yours, I'll provide cover" John responded.

"Alright, hold on tight and give those wankers some parting gift!" William told John as he activated his jet thrusters.

William grabbed on John's torso armor and flew up with maximum power while John fired his gatling gun at the chasing Siren Troopers, they flew out of the building and to the center of the courtyard where the V-22 was hovering then descending slowly to land. All around it, the group collectively held their ground from dozens of Siren Troopers entrenching themselves within the building. None carried heavy weaponry to just blast them despite behind cover, and the 40mm grenades William and Ingrid had were limited in numbers and destructive potential. The Osprey opened the rear hatch, and Ingrid brought A inside before the rest followed suit while firing their weapons. The aircraft immediately took off while being covered by the hacked dropship, they flew low then stopped to pick up Hipper and Shangri-La who're still on the coast before they flew up high.

"Phew! Too close for comfort back there! Haven't had that sensation in a while" Liu commented out loud as he removed his helmet while grinning.

"In a while?" Hipper questioned.

"That's just Liu's thing, the rest of us aren't so often get surrounded before narrowly escaping death" Lena answered Hipper's question.

"Hey, you make it sound like I'm bad at stealth!" Liu complained while he frowned.

"You aren't the most proficient, still better than most though" John chimed in.

"Feh! You don't get to judge me when your ass is that big and practically a beacon for the guards!" Liu told John.

"Here I was trying to comfort you..." John muttered under his breath.

"Anyway, how's the water action, Shangri-La?" Lena asked her.

"Our intel is off the mark, we overexaggerated the number of Siren ships around the area. There weren't any Siren KANSENs and no signs of their carriers, no wonder the airspace is clear" Shangri-La reported to Lena.

"Hmm...Ms. A, I'd like to know what happened back there" Lena shifted her gaze to A.

"Ah, it's basically standard Siren assault. They detected activity near their formation, they sent a scout group to check it out. They caught our facility severely unguarded, the biggest firepower we got in our arsenal is a shotgun, and there's only handful of them" A told Lena while she folded her arms.

"A scouting group of several Siren destroyers, three light cruisers and at least a dozen of dropships?" Shangri-La commented.

"To them? Yes, that is a scout group" A told Shangri-La while she shrugged slightly.

"...Your facility was masquerading as a wine factory, why would the Siren attack it? The fact that they were right that there's a laboratory beneath it can't be coincidental" Lena asked A while she frowned slightly.

"It's because of this" A shown the group a Wisdom Cube she's been carrying inside her lab coat pouch.

"A Wisdom Cube! You're carrying one around? What for?" Ingrid asked A.

"This Wisdom Cube was the one attached to the facility, and around one hour before they began attacking, it reacted to something and produced a latent energy wave that could only be picked up by sensors. I guess the Siren decided to check it out and that's how they found our little clandestine lab...I know what you're thinking, what does it react to? It reacted to the attack committed by Crimson Cleanser" A revealed to the group.

"...Wait, I heard something like this also happened when Brawlers were spotted in New York...Did the Wisdom Cube reacted to how humanity were feeling back then?" Lena asked A while she frowned.

"Yes...The anger, the sorrow, the despair, the thirst for vengeance, the cube could feel it. The whole world was feeling it, but this one was very affected because of its close proximity to the event in Rome...Look closer, the glow isn't as blue anymore" A said to them as she shown her cube.

"...It's...faint blue...there's hint of purple..." Ingrid noted.

"...Wisdom Cube still has so many mysteries to itself, but one thing we can be sure of is how it could feel humanity's thoughts and feelings. It could feel our latent collective unconsciousness, and as a ship girl's soul? This cube, has unlimited potential...However, just as dictated by the universe, any positives must have negatives to exist. The Wisdom Cube are the same, it can be corrupted" A told the group.

"Corrupted?" John questioned.

"When the cube lost its blue glow, it will glow with dark purple and blackish color. A well of corruption...It's power will become tremendous, but it's stability would be nonexistent. Anyone who use it will be immensely powerful...But they will pay the ultimate price for using it...With KANSEN having Wisdom Cube as their soul, you know where I'm going with this, don't you?" A revealed to everyone.

"It can't happen, no matter what...Not when the price is that steep...You speak as if you're a true expert on this cube and KANSENs, I suppose not even my mother knew about this ordeal with this amount of detail...Who exactly are you?" William questioned A while he glanced at her.

"Oh right! Sorry for the late introduction, but I suppose I can say that I'm the reason KANSEN existed in our world, commander...My name is Anzeel, glad to finally meet the person who's been taking good care of them~. You have my thanks, Commander Blaze~" Anzeel introduced herself while she smiled.

...Meeting the creator of the KANSEN was not something William thought will occur when he went to save A, reality just hadn't settled in that he's seated in front of the person who saved this world from being ravaged by the Sirens...and probably the one responsible in helping created the Sirens in the original world where Siren was first conceived. It's a hypothesis in his head, but Anzeel bluntly told him that it most likely the case. She did assure him that she has no such intention in this world, she only want to fix the mess that her other self had managed to create. The reason? Jokingly, it's because her game catalogue would be severely cut if the world is destroyed. The serious one? She felt responsible for the Siren, despite her note exactly the one who created them. The concept of KANSEN is still her original idea, so it getting abused by someone else to create Siren still mean it's her fault.

"Master, Madam Anzeel, here's your tea" Sheffield served William and Anzeel a cup of tea.

"Ah, thank you Sheffield! Still, calling me madam is quite stiff. How about mama?" Anzeel asked Sheffield while she grinned.

"Pardon me but I have to refuse" Sheffield monotonously answered with blank face.

"Ahahahaha! Joking, joking! You're so cute, Sheffield, your expressionless face is like a doll!" Anzeel said to Sheffield while she grinned.

"Thank you. I shall take my leave" Sheffield bowed slightly before she walked out of the room.

"...Mama?" William questioned her.

"Well, they are my children, despite not directly creating them" Anzeel answered before she sipped her tea.

"I suppose...You know so much stuff about this uncharted area of science, why are you not the lead scientist on the headquarters?" William asked Anzeel.

"If the world governments knew who actually created the KANSENs, what do you think will happen?" Anzeel asked William in return.

"...Right...Did Lucas helped you staying anonymous?" William further asked her.

"Yes. The old man realized what could happen if the world knows, so he protected me by shifting me around from place to place with a different name and clean record. That's how I managed to avoid exposing myself even to Azur Lane High Command Council, and still remained anonymous to our science division. My persona, A, or Annabella, as my colleague knows me, worked her butt off from the ground to attain my position as the facility director on Sardegna" Anzeel explained to William while she smiled.

"Huh, he really has a habit helping out young women from precarious situation. You, Rosa, Victoria..." William noted.

"Fufufufu...Yeah, I suppose whatever his reasoning is, I did feel grateful that he helped me out" Anzeel giggled slightly before she stated.

"...You were saying that you want to stay on our base as resident researcher before, I and the girls will surely be more than happy to let you. But sorry to say, we don't have a dedicated lab just yet. Akashi could surely help, but it'll be a while before you could get the setup you want. Not to mention, the funding for said facility. Money is currently focused for Fredrich, based on what Hood told me, she's almost complete" William explained to Anzeel about their situation.

"Oh, Priority Research Ship! So Fredrich is with you...Well, I don't need expensive setup just yet commander, so a spare room I could use to work with is already enough. Besides, I think my anonymity was compromised recently" Anzeel told William.

"Compromised? With what? By who?" William asked her as he cocked his eyebrows.

"Crimson Cleanser is my best bet. Someone has been prodding my profile, especially background alongside my activity and thoroughly research them. While I'm not a hacker or computer specialist, I do notice the taps they've made back when Azur Lane Intelligence Division was still compromised. It was the time when Lucas asked me to create the serum, they already know to go for me and further prodding on my supposed location proved just that" Anzeel explained to the man.

"...Then it is safer to be with us. I'll arrange a pickup for you, Hood will explain to you how the arrangement works within the base" William told Anzeel.

"Thank you...You're not going to ask, commander? Why you haven't turn into Argos?" Anzeel thanked then asked him.

Should he? William did want to ask, but he felt gnawing feeling inside that unnerved him about the topic...Did he really want to know? To know why he remains human while the others turned into a freakshow with intelligent of a goblin? Yes, he really did. But the man contemplated whether he's ready to hear it. Anzeel seemed like she'll answer his every question, William took a deep breath and exhaled slowly before he decided for himself...The truth might not be pretty, but it's preferable to know it rather than remain ignorant. Yes, it is easier to blame someone else if he's ignorant. But that's not him, the real him would want to know...and suffer anything that comes after the reveal...

"...I do want to ask...But I have my doubts that you'll say everything" William told Anzeel.

"Of course, I'm not going to say everything, there are things I don't quite understand as well. I'll reveal things slowly so you could process it when the time is right...Regarding you turning into what you currently are, I'm sure you're aware that the procedure back on HQ was a failure. You'll be turned into Argos, if not for me doing something drastic...That drastic thing, is Soul Merging" Anzeel dropped a conversation bomb.

"...Soul...Merging?" William managed to utter in confusion and disbelieve.

"This procedure was a big gamble, the slightest error to the process would definitely maim and kill you...Soul merging is the addon to the procedure of soul forming, an experimental method of creating 'soul' from a Wisdom Cube. The complete process is used during the summoning of a ship girl, using the soul of their ship and transfer it into the Wisdom Cube before giving it a new humanoid body" Anzeel simply explained.

"And a KANSEN is created from the process...So you're telling me, I'm literally a KANSEN? A male one?" William asked Anzeel as he pointed at himself.

"No, you're a half KANSEN, like intended result from that serum but with extra steps. Your soul and the soul from Wisdom Cube, merged, thus the cube gave you the genetic that KANSEN has and further enhanced by the serum you previously took. It is why you're so strong, just like the girls. Your kind, could theoretically break the law of physics...No, you and the KANSENs existence alone already break the laws of reality...Yet here we are, and the world is not ending yet...I guess there's some things even we don't know about how the universe works" Anzeel told William while she smiled bitterly.

"...So I have two souls within me?" William questioned.

"No, just a merged one...The other soul is inert, it has no identity, it only served as the basis to reinforce yours so it could take the toll of having your entire existence...modified" Anzeel said to William with serious face.

"...This...doesn't make sense...I'm at loss for words..." William honestly thought out loud.

"...Even I don't fully understand what I'm doing, commander...I told you what I know so far" Anzeel admitted to William while she frowned.

"Hah...This procedure...can it be repeated, as much as you want?" William asked Anzeel after he sighed.

"No. It only works with you so far, because you have high attunement to Wisdom Cube. If not...Well, I don't know what will happen exactly..." Anzeel admitted to William.

"...You're doing it despite not knowing what will happen if it fails?" William asked Anzeel as his eye widened.

"That's why I said it's a big gamble, I know it could work, I just don't know what will exactly happen to you if it fails. The people that tried this are no longer here, all died without having their physical form disfigured. It could be different with you, given your body was being modified...I have to save you with any means necessary back then, and it paid off...You gave your consent before, that's why I feel no remorse for doing what needs to be done...But, if this is not what you want...I'm sorry" Anzeel said to William before she apologized as she hung her head slightly.

"...Raise your head, doc...I wouldn't even be here talking with you if you don't do it...In a sense, I'm grateful that you saved my life and preserved me from being turned into those monstrosity...I agree to being modified without much thought put into it, I was being kind of reckless and stupid...But I have no regrets, you gave me the power to personally take the fight to them, you allow me to give the KANSENs children to love...and the fact that I've not turned into Argos, all of those are already enough things to thank for endlessly...I'm grateful to you, Anzeel" William told Anzeel while he smiled slightly.

"No need to...This whole metaphysical science...I'm just glad it worked out...Let's end this discussion today, I don't want to overwhelm you, commander" Anzeel told William while she smiled.

"Yeah, I have enough to think about for some time...Let's talk about fun things instead, like games. What do you usually play?" William asked Anzeel while he nodded his head.

"Heh, I'm an avid gamer, commander. You named it, I've played it" Anzeel responded while he grinned slightly.

Both of them spent around an hour discussing the games they played, and even anime that they've watched. William honestly thought that the doctor has a good taste in games and anime, even the woman is leaning to old school gaming practice instead of the modern one. She still played them, but she doesn't really like how the industry currently goes. William and Anzeel did not hesitate to shook hands firmly with one another, all the while saying 'Comrade!' to one another. Luckily there weren't any Northern Parliament people around, it would definitely create a misunderstanding.

...After talking with Anzeel for some time, William contacted Hood and the fleet representatives. He explained everything that happened so far, even the part of his modification that Anzeel had revealed to him. It's surely a lot to take in, but none of the girls present were put off by the information. In fact, they were just glad that William didn't die or turned into Argos...After discussing it for a bit, the ship girls agreed to let Anzeel stay and they'll sent the Acheron to pick her up. Bismarck also told William that several Ironblood KANSENs will be joining his team including her, she said it'll provide morale and firepower boost to their fight on Hamburg. Chairman Erich had sent the request for ALASUC involvement in the fight, they will be strictly fighting on the water instead of land due to Argos presence.

After the arrangement, the man was told by Lena that she's coordinating with their representative on Hamburg and told William to rest. He agreed; thus, he walked out of their Mediterranean Safe House. He sat down on the sand, gazing out to the sea as his mind sorted out what he learned today...He's still William Blaze, but at the same time he's something new altogether. There's a lot of theory concerning soul out there, religiously or even scientifically so Anzeel's view is just one of the approaches. The man doesn't feel any different compared to himself prior the modification, Anzeel didn't spoke about anything that might change and so far, the doctor's words on Terranova hasn't come to fruition...He's still the same old him.

...He's afraid of the changes, afraid to lose himself, afraid that the changes could hurt those who he cares about. The future is uncertain, but one thing he's sure about is his will to fight. The man has so many reasons to continue the fight, if bullets run out then he'll use his blade, if his blade broke then he'll use his fists. The man thought whether he's a chosen one, because of his high compatibility with the Wisdom Cube itself. What are the odds? That a man like him is a member of Azur Lane military, and the leader of the KANSENs themselves? Fate either played a direct part, or someone has been making a long scheming game that spans for centuries...Just as he thought that, his visor was covered by a pair of hands.

"Guess who?" The feminine voice asked out.

"Too easy, Helena" William answered.

"Muu, I thought I made my voice sounded like Shangri-La" Helena pouted as she let him go and sat beside the man.

"Shangri-La won't do something like that, she's...refined with her pranks" William told Helena while he smiled.

"Are you saying that mine lacked the finesse she has?" Helena pouted harder.

"Ahahaha. Yes, but that's what makes you cute" William said to Helena while he smiled and took off his helmet.

"You always flirt to get out of trouble" Helena threw her face to the side as she folded her arms.

"It's quite effective, don't blame me" William admitted while he grinned.

"Hmph...Are you tired, William?" Helena snorted playfully before she asked the man.

"...Honestly, a bit...No one can fight continuously without a break...But what made me tired is the fact that I'm so close to correcting my mistake...I'm itching to do it" William told Helena as he gazed at the sea.

"You're talking about Ronald, right?" Helena asked him.

"Yes...He's the only thing preventing me from moving on from my past mistakes...I've talked about this so much it's old news to you ladies at this point" William said to Helena while he frowned.

"...I understand...I remembered when he used Mary to poison our friends...and I even heard of what happened to Serina...I struggled a bit thinking on how can a man be so vile, he's literally the very opposite of you...Has he always been like that?" Helena curiously asked the man.

"...No...Well, he's kind of an arsehole as a man, but any soldier could rely on him. His sense of camaraderie has always been quite high, he's just proud to be the soldier of Azur Lane. To be in the thick of it, against the evil ravages of modern 'Nazism' and their expansion...He's eager to fight, quite good with sniper rifle and a very good soldier...So good, he never questions orders...One day, that changed...He questioned everything, which resulted in us stood with guns pointed at one another" William briefly recounted.

"...He's never been kind in the first place?" Helena concluded.

"He still has basic human decency, but kind? Not the word any of us would associate with him. He fights with ferociousness, do not hesitate risking civilian lives and do whatever it takes to complete the mission...Some called him a glory hound, some called him an arse kisser, some called him outright lunatic...Despite all of that, he never escaped his idol's shadows, The Nimbus Knights...It's no surprise to anyone when he believed the traitors more than us...He idolized me and the others, then one day we chose to side with the 'enemy' and that broke him, at least that's what I can gather..." William explained to Helena.

"Then why would he be this spiteful to you, William? I understand that he wants to kill you, but to go so far as hurting everyone else to get you?" Helena asked the man while she frowned.

"It's just in his nature...Remember, he'll do whatever it takes to get the job done. And ever since I shot him, I have become his mission in life. He wants to take my life, to make me suffer as much as possible in the process. How to do that? Target those who I love and care...He learned what he could from how we work, and used it against me. The guerilla style hit, the long range sniping, the ambush, using hostages...It made me realize, that teaching is a heavy responsibility...What happened to Serina, was because I wasn't being careful enough...In a sense, I did underestimated him...I should've been more proactive, even if I have to shackle Serina for a bit" William admitted to Helena.

He trusts the ship girls, that's why he did not hesitate in teaching them what he knows. Even though what he did taught them is quite limited, he's more at ease at teaching them then teaching someone else. Ronald was among the best within Task Force Nimbus back then, a high profile individual who often went with William during missions that involved a lot of personnel. William and Lena taught them on how to fight better, so they would not hinder the two Bellerophon graduates. It backfired now, and it served as important lesson in the long run. Never again, the man vowed that he will try his best to not repeat that again.

Helena rose up and stood in front of William, she leaned down slightly before she hugged the man and rested her chin on his left shoulder. William snorted slightly before he returned the gesture, Helena seemed to pick this habit up from St. Louis...Lou once said that a hug is the best comfort one could give to someone, she wasn't bullshitting as it was proven scientifically. Someone needs certain number of hugs each day, hug releases natural pain killer in someone's body, etcetera etcetera. But the simpler fact was that Helena only returned the gesture that William gave her before, totally not an excuse to just act all sweet or something, oh no...

"...Lou must've taught you that" William commented while he smiled.

"What? That hugging is the best comforting gesture to someone?" Helena responded while she smiled.

"That's her exact words...Thanks Helena, I feel better now" William told her while he smiled slightly.

"William, I'll be here for you" Helena said to the man as her cheeks reddened.

"I know...I just don't want to overburden you with too much of my thought, I believe it's something I need to figure out myself" William said to Helena while he smiled a bit.

"Yeah, I...might not be able to provide all of the suggestions or solutions...But I still like to hear what you have to say. So, don't keep me in the dark, okay?" Helena suggested to William while she smiled.

"Hmph, nosing your way in to my personal business like a girlfriend? What, you like me or something?" William asked Helena while he smirked.

"Muuu! You already know that! Why would you ask something that's so obvious already!?" Helena protested as she lightly beat his chest piece up with her fists while she pouted.

William only chuckled in response, teasing his ship girls is a past time he often indulged. If there's anyone to blame for this, someone could blame Eugen since it's her who kept edging him on to poke harmless fun at her or the girls. William was about to say something to Helena when his phone beeped, the man noted that it's a message from Lena and she told him to come to the briefing room. He rose up while carrying Helena, spun her once in the air which caused her to yelp cutely and then put her feet down on the sand. He parted with Helena after patting her head and made his way into the briefing room, there's only Lena over there and a video call screen with a man he didn't recognize.

"Ah, there you are. Will, meet Lord Andersen Richter, the Chancellor of Ironblood" Lena said to William.

He's a relatively young man, looked to be in his mid-thirties with side swept light brown hair. His grey eyes looked tired and his eye bags were slightly dark, the man was frowning as he shifted documents around and signed several of them until he heard Lena introducing him to William. The man stared at William with his utmost attention, despite looking quite tired. The Chancellor of Ironblood, the number one man of the country that's currently under attack by terrorist group. Andersen sighed slightly; William concluded that he had a lot to talk about.

"Kommandant Blaze, it is good to finally be able to speak with you. I've heard lot of things about the man known as Azur Knight" Andersen greeted William.

"Well met chancellor, my reputation precedes me" William noted as he nodded.

"Indeed...Kommandant, I will get straight to the point. You already know what is happening in my country, and I heard of the plan to tackle the issue on Hamburg from Chairman Sternberg...I am here to formally ask your help, to show my people that Azur Lane is not the enemy. Not Eagle Union, not Royal Kingdom, not Iris Orthodoxy, but a group of lawless madmen known as Crimson Cleanser...I ask you, to bring them hope in the coming counter offensive. To show that you are their light in the darkest hour, an unbiased man who fight for humanity itself" Andersen requested to William while he frowned slightly.

"...Chancellor, I have one request if I to accept your plea for help" William told Andersen.

"Name it, kommandant. I am willing to pay any price, as long as my people are saved from these scums. Money, privilege, fame, women, name them and I'll see that you are rewarded properly" Andersen told William with serious face.

"He's a bit desperate..." Lena muttered to herself.

"I ask you and those after you to never interfere with my business and mine or my associate's life. I will help you and your country, as long as you remain amicable with me and my division. Don't get in my way, let me do what I do best. Backstab me once? Everything will be over for you...Do we have an understanding?" William stated to the chancellor.

"I accept your terms, kommandant. I will see to it that this will be recorded as a formal agreement" Andersen immediately agreed to William.

"Good, I do hope you could uphold them...Now, we talk about war. What is the situation within Hamburg, chancellor?" William asked Andersen.

"It is better that you could assess that yourself, to see the extent of damage they have occurred to the city" Andersen responded as he sent a file to their safe house.

Lena received the file, operated the console and displayed the data alongside the battlespace as hologram projection. TB helped by sorting the data out, categorizing local skirmishes, enemy positioning, incidents and contested hot spots. William and Lena immediately studied everything they could in short time, they got the gist of it and that's enough for them to imagine the situation on Hamburg. Despite their limited number, Crimson Cleanser managed to hold out properly in the city, even established multiple firebases around Hamburg's Elbe River Bank. They did have simulation training 'in case' they have to fight on Ironblood, it's the reason why they're so quick to lockdown key points all around the city.

Still, the damage to the infrastructures were extensive, and the number of civilians killed in the crossfire or outright being gunned down were lightspeed ahead in terms of war crime. They don't have information on Crimson Cleanser supply chain on Hamburg, but the ones on Berlin did receive some aid coming from several countries on the Eastern Europe. That being said, the one on Berlin fared better compared to their forces on Hamburg. Hamburg's resistance wasn't doing so good in holding their territory, most of them were pushed to the city outskirt. Probably had to do with the fact that Crimson Cleanser had two armada's worth of ships over there, that certainly provide their ground troops with ample fire support from the river. Not to mention, the Elbe's mouth to North Sea was blockaded by Crimson Cleanser fleet.

"Ironblood ground forces and navy were caught off guard by the sudden invasion, it's especially bad that we don't have enough units to plug the hole in our perimeter and it's worsened by their fleet's constant fire support. Our troops are doing whatever they can from letting the entire Hamburg fall, that's why the counter strike operation is paramount to retake key areas and push those terrorists back" Andersen told the two Bellerophons.

There's video of Argos doing their own carnage and rape, it's so bad that Lena gagged from what she saw. Monster is a word, and Argos fits perfectly to the word's description. William was repulsed but he kept watching to learn about them, how they behave in certain situations. They are as strong as a Brawler, maybe even more. They are quite slow, so speed and nimbleness could do the trick. However, they fight with mob mentality, rushing to an enemy in disorganized and unpredictable manner compared to using smart strategy and formation. They did show that they could ambush and flank, but they rarely do so. It takes a high power weapon to effectively kill one, even using a rifle would take an entire magazine to wound one, not kill, but wound it.

5.56mm is not powerful enough to take it down, 7.62mm seems more capable but it still took more than thirty rounds to properly kill it. This did make William wonder, what are those things made of?! Their muscles might be too thick for rifle bullets and their bones are too tough to break, he's in luck that his shotgun is 8 gauge and his carbine is basically an accelerated 9mm bullet. If that fails, he could use his Siren Slayer. William had some doubts, but he won't know until he faced with one to ascertain whether he could kill it by himself or not...The man narrowed his eye at one crucial info, Argos are more likely to target a group with women then all men...There's a video that shown two fireteam ambushing a group, said group chose to go after the one with female soldiers in it than the other...

"These...lust ridden monstrosities are the result of someone trying to play god..." Andersen commented as he watched them reviewing the videos.

"...I'll be blunt chancellor, hasn't your science unit also tried making super soldiers? What makes you disapprove this one?" Lena asked Andersen while she frowned.

"The very fact that we did not go this far. We certainly tried, and we put a stop to it once Argos might be the intended result...Gene mutation is not the answer, there's too many risks at play with said approach with our current technology" Andersen admitted to Lena while he frowned.

"...So, you will continue if said technology permits it?" Lena asked Andersen further.

"...I'm not at liberty to say, my view on this matter and my successor might be different...But personally, I believe there are some things in this world that we shouldn't tamper with. Our human body and our humanity, are among them. But as they said, the need of many outweighs the need of few. I personally disagree with unethical super soldier experiment, but Ironblood armed forces has the need for them" Andersen answered Lena.

"Sakura Empire could form one with their Seraph Units, perhaps you should learn from their concept" Lena suggested to Andersen.

"Agreed. But for now, Willam Blaze remain our best hope...as the only available and successful super soldier" Andersen stated while he frowned.

"...I get the gist of the situation...When will the counter offensive starts?" William asked Andersen.

"In two days. You will have free reign to command our remaining KANSENs and priority for support, that includes ammo resupply to aerial strike. I trust you could do what needs to be done, kommandant" Andersen said to William.

"It will be done; I'll personally make sure of it" William replied without hesitation.

"Gut...Vielen dank, kommandant. I will prepare for the necessary document and order the one in charge of the operation to accommodate you, please make your way to Ironblood as soon as you're able" Andersen thanked the man before he disconnected his transmission.

"...The man seems a bit too desperate" Lena commented.

"Is the situation that bad over there? Does Ironblood don't have enough troops or asset to throw in the defense of their fatherland?" William responded while he frowned slightly.

"...No, there must be something else. Pressure from within? Public outcry? This did highlight the fact that Ironblood is vulnerable to a sudden and lightning attack, even though it's only two cities, moving reinforcement and reserve units still needs some time" Lena commented further.

"...Either way, the fact that Andersen folded to my terms too easily seems suspicious..." William noted as he stared at the map of Hamburg.

"Well, it could be that he's just that kind of person. I know nothing about the man" Lena told the man while she folded her arms.

"Yeah, same here...But maybe I am overthinking all of this...I have become so paranoid of these people, always assuming that they'll backstab me when the timing is right" William said to Lena while he frowned.

"...Given what you've become, I kind of understand...But try not let the potential distract you from the real problem, alright?" Lena said to William.

"Yeah...Let's get ready, we're going to get extra busy soon" William said to Lena.

Several hours later, the Acheron dropship arrived on the safe house area. The occupants disembarked and William smiled slightly as he saw Bismarck, Tirpitz, Graf Zeppelin, Z23, Leipzig, Koln and Konigsberg walking towards him. They're the reinforcement that's going to follow him to Hamburg, Anzeel escort was consisted of Enterprise, Ark Royal, Zuikaku and Hiryuu. They all assembled in front of him, each had varying expressions on their face. Happy, worried, and indifference in case of Graf Zeppelin. The girls chatted for their brief reunion, some also talked with Lena and the Bellerophon members inside the safe house after greeting William. Bismarck and Enterprise met with their commander in front of the safe house, their faces lit up slightly when they saw the man healthy and well.

"Kommandant" "Commander" Bismarck and Enterprise reported as they threw a salute at him.

"...It's good to see you all" William responded as he replied their salute.

"Likewise, William...The Ironblood ship girls and I are ready to support you in the battle for Hamburg" Bismarck stated as she stared at him with serious face.

"Good, I assume you have heard and read of the general plan of action" William said to Bismarck.

"Ja, thus why we will fight on the water to deal with their fleet instead. After that, I will consolidate the remaining Ironblood KANSENs and bring them home to our base" Bismarck said to William.

"We understand that you have other matters to attend to, kommandant. A very important one" Tirpitz said to the man from his left side.

"And it's the reason why I wouldn't be able to lead you completely during the battle. With you and Bismarck at the helm though, I don't have to worry about the seaborne fight" William replied while he smiled.

"Oh dear, seems my escorts has arrived" Anzeel exclaimed as she stepped out of the cabin.

"...Dr. Anzeel?" Enterprise called her name.

"Yes Enterprise, that's me" Anzeel replied while she smiled.

"So, you're the one who created us" Bismarck talked to Anzeel.

"Yes, I am, Bismarck" Anzeel casually replied.

"...It's strange, meeting the one who made me into a real person...It's like meeting a god, in a sense" Bismarck commented as she folded her arms.

"Fufufu! I am far from one, so no need to treat me as such" Anzeel told Bismarck while she smiled.

"Commander, we already set everything up so Dr. Anzeel could live and work with us" Enterprise told William.

"Excellent, good work" William praised as he patted Enterprise's head.

"Thank you..." Enterprise replied while she smiled slightly.

"Oi shikikan! You and the others better be careful out there, and smack them in the face for us!" Hiryuu said to the man while she frowned.

"Yeah, they have to pay for what they did to our people! I won't ever forgive them!" Zuikaku chimed in while she scowled.

"Rest assured you two, I plan to do so" William told the two girls while he nodded.

"Be sure to come back home soon, milord. You are already missed" Ark Royal added while she smiled.

"As soon as the fight finished, Ark. Want souvenirs?" William asked the woman while he smiled.

"Your glorious tale should suffice; I look forward to hearing them" Ark Royal replied while she smiled.

"Commander, should you need advice or have any developments during your fight that require my expertise, do not hesitate to call me. I'll be sure to help you as best as I can" Anzeel told William as she carried her briefcase.

"That's reassuring doc, welcome to the team" William responded while he grinned.

"Fufu, thank you for saving my life back then" Anzeel thanked the man.

"Not just me, but you're welcome. I'll see you soon" William replied while he smiled.

...After preparing everything, the Acheron Dropship took off and immediately head straight for Azure Island. The Bellerophon and the ship girls rested for a bit, preparing their necessities before boarding the Osprey and headed straight for Ironblood. They landed on Ramstein Airbase and the Bellerophon split up after some parting words, promising to one another that they'll hold reunion on Azure Island once this fight was over. Then, both groups took different transports as they headed for their respective mission area. For William, Lena and the ship girls? They're heading for a remote Ironblood base in coastal area, a base that housed the remaining Ironblood ship girls.

Once the news that they're approaching the base, the KANSENs prepared themselves to greet Bismarck and their would-be commander. They all heard the tales, they watched the videos, they knew who to expect when he arrived. The V-22 carrying them touched down on an available helipad, the hatch lowered and ship girls flocked out to meet with their fellow KANSENs. They greeted one another, chatted and shared some words as they reunited after being separated for quite a bit. They stopped when Bismarck disembarked from the V-22, behind her was a giant dressed in cobalt armor. The ship girls immediately lined up, and saluted at Bismarck and the man.

"Ladies, thank you for your service for Ironblood and to humanity! Its an honor for me to see all of you once again!" Bismarck greeted them as she replied their salute.

"Lord Bismarck, we are pleased to see you well" A woman with twin tailed black hair stepped to the front and stood at attention.

"Ja, you've done well leading them when I was absent, Strasser" Bismarck responded to the woman.

"Danke. We have heard of the plan and are ready to execute them at your command, although I suspect that you won't be leading us for this one" Strasser said to Bismarck as she stared at William.

"No, I will still lead you for the battle. However, the highest command has fallen to the hand of our commander from ALASUC, William Blaze. Starting from today, you and the others will also be under his command" Bismarck declared out loud.

"Greetings everyone. My name is William Blaze, the commander of Azur Lane Anti Siren Unit Command. We will be fighting together from now on, so I hope I could get along with all of you. I know what has transpired here, and I know that we will take the fight to the enemy soon. While technically I'm supposed to lead you directly, I have another task that require my attention before I could do just that. It is the reason why Bismarck will be the one commanding you ladies directly" William briefly explained to the ship girls.

"If I may ask kommandant, what is the task that you suppose to do that you would leave command to Lord Bismarck?" A pink haired woman asked William.

"My task is to hunt and neutralize several key personnel within Crimson Cleanser that has been spotted in Hamburg, they are Argos that somehow managed to retain their human aspect somehow. They are my responsibility to handle, so while I do that, you will be temporarily led by Admiral Helena McAllen beside me" William answered the question as he gestured toward Lena.

"Well met ladies. I will be in charge temporarily while William handles his task. I may have higher rank than him, but the man beside me is de facto leader of your group and you will refer him as such. Once my part is over, I will hand the command back to him...Do you get me?" Lena asked the ship girls out loud.

""""""""""""""""""""Jawohl!"""""""""""""""""""" The new Ironblood KANSEN members replied in unison.

"Perfect. We don't have time to waste, so let's get the orientation sorted out and talk about the technical details of the plan" Lena said out loud.

"Then follow me to the briefing room, let us consolidate our strength and tactics" Strasser offered as she gestured toward a building near the helipad.

...Whistling sound could be heard steadily but slowly approaching before explosions rained upon an Ironblood defense outpost on Hamburg southern perimeter, the Ironblood riflemen ducked their heads behind their sandbags and rugged shelters while holding their G36s. Many of them cursing the fact that they were easily routed out of the city, those Crimson Cleansers must've studied their city layouts and prepared for this since long time ago. One of the riflemen glanced to the side and saw an embedded journalist broadcasting the live situation on the frontline, she and her camera crew occasionally flinched when a mortar fell too close to their position.

"Heads up! Hostile light vehicles convoy, twelve o'clock!" One of the watchmen alerted the outpost on the radio.

"Launchers!" The captain in charge immediately ordered.

Several soldiers shouldered their Panzerfaust 3 Rocket Propelled Grenade, they took aim at the approaching Crimson Cleanser vehicle before they fired once the command was given. Several 110mm RPG projectiles flew toward the convoy, hitting some MRAPs in the front and blocking the rest from commencing their push. The Crimson Cleanser soldiers immediately disembarked and started firing at the outpost, their vehicles' mounted weapons also started firing. The captain ordered his men to retaliate, the outpost's defensive emplacements lit up. Machine guns, grenade launchers, anti-vehicle missiles, all fired at the incoming enemy forces. Despite being outgunned, Crimson Cleanser managed to set up perimeter right in front of the outpost using their wrecked vehicles.

"Combat just started with Crimson Cleansers! Ironblood troops are exchanging fire with a convoy that's heading for this outpost!" The journalist said to the camera while she frowned.

"Whatever you do, do not get out of this fox hole!" A soldier said to her before he sprinted out to drag his injured friend.

"...Casualties are mounting up, I don't know whether this outpost could hold" The journalist said to the camera.

"We're bailing out?" One of the crew asked her.

"No, we stay. The world needs to know the truth of what happens here...How's our view count?" The journalist asked the cameraman.

"50K and keeps climbing, fast" The man said to the journalist.

"Viewers, we thank you for your participation...and concern, as some told us to just run. But no, me and my team have vouched to report this battle for you directly from the front. With what is happening, we aim to provide an unbiased view of the situation. Everything you see here is uncensored and won't be cut, so for you who are squeamish, this won't be pretty recording to see" The journalist said to the camera.

"Make some room! Medic!" The soldier returned while carrying his friend.

The journalist and her crew stared at the Ironblood rifleman giving a first aid to his fellow soldier, the man was shot in the upper shoulder and a good chunk of his left shoulder were torn and bleeding heavily. The man was helping him until the medic arrived, only then he picked up his HK417 and started precisely firing at the enemy troops two hundred meters away from their outpost. The man's face looked grim as he putting lead downrange, he eventually emptied his magazine so he swapped it in a trained manner and under three seconds. The journalist hunkered down but the cameraman often peeked from the foxhole's slot with his camera, catching the image of Crimson Cleanser forces retaliating with their own weapons fire.

"Armor inbound! Ready the missile!" The captain ordered on the radio.

"Bearing 0-5-6, range 231 meters. Target acquired!"

"Feuer!"

WHOOSHHH!

BOOOMMM!

"Hit on target! It's still operational!"

"Reload! Infantries, suppress it with Panzerfaust!"

The M1 Abrams Tank that's in front of them got hit by a missile, its engine took a direct hit and it's disabled. However, the turret was still operational and it's 120mm cannon fired at the outpost. The shell hit the outpost's missile emplacement which disabled it and killed its operators, the coaxial machine gun also opened fire and suppressed those who were looking to retaliate. Coupled that with the intense infantry fire, it got many Ironblood soldiers pinned down to their fortifications. The captain hunkered down on his command fox hole; he clicked his tongue as he observed the fight with his binocular. It's not looking good for them, and Crimson Cleanser could push through if nothing is done about that tank.

"Outpost Seventeen, this is Tiger Actual. What's your status Hauptman, over?" Tiger Actual asked on the radio.

"Outpost Seventeen here, we are currently in combat with medium sized convoy and infantries. They got armor support, one M1 Tank. Our missile launcher was taken out, requesting fire support, over!" The captain reported to Tiger Actual on the radio.

"Understood. We have an Unmanned Aerial Combat Drone on station, we're routing its flight path to your position. Keep the enemy occupied, the UCAV only has one AGM left so we have to make it count" Tiger Actual informed to the captain on the radio.

"Jawohl mein Oberst! We'll get it done! All units, do not stop firing! Pin them down so fire support could take out that tank!" The captain responded on the radio then to his men.

The soldiers gathered their courage before they started firing back at the Crimson Cleanser advancing forces, it halted their movement as the infantries immediately ducked for cover while the tank was forced to play whack a mole with the troopers. It was a stalemate, the fierce fire exchange continued despite the Crimson Cleanser outnumbering the outpost's defenders three to one. One of the riflemen raised from cover and fired a Panzerfaust 3 toward the tank, the projectile hit the barrel and damaged it. The tank couldn't retreat, so one of the crew opened the top hatch and started firing the M2 heavy machine gun attached to it.

But with the tank being disabled, it's an easy target for the UCAV. It flew overhead and launched an anti ground missile, the missile flew and impacted the tank before blowing it up. With the convoy losing a tank, the rest of the infantries were starting to pull back, especially when the defenders started pushing from their outpost to chase them. Ironblood Troopers rushed forward with their HK417s and G36s in hand, they reached the part where the convoy was stopped, but they stopped dead on their tracks as one of them got hit in the face by a flying traffic sign. The trooper was dead instantly, his head was crushed from the sheer force behind the improvised projectile.

The troopers were frozen from the sight before them, the terrorists did retreat but something else were approaching them. A big group of Argos marched towards their position, donned in improvised armor and carrying improvised weapons. Clubs from street lamps, polearms from traffic sign and spears from trees. They marched and occasionally roared like orcs in media as they approached the outpost, there's at least thirty of them and they're led by someone in almost equal stature but wearing khaki green power armor. The group marched despite the troopers firing at them as they retreated back to their outpost, at least their fighting chance was higher with the remaining defensive emplacements within the site.

"Mein gott, Argos...They're here...We won't make it" The captain muttered.

"Hauptman, what should we do?" One of the troopers beside him asked the man.

"...Retreating is our only option if we don't want to get slaughtered, but our triage is five hundred meters from this outpost and folding here would result in their destruction...We cannot allow that to happen, we will stand our ground and buy our comrades some time to escape!" The captain decided out loud.

"Hauptman, their leader spoke to us!" A trooper told the captain.

"To the commander of outpost before us, we will give you one chance to surrender! Let us through and your outpost shall be spared, think of your soldiers! Think of their families!" The man in khaki armor spoke.

"...I don't think you understand the whole concept of mercy! Do you think we are blind to what you have done so far to our city?! To our people?! Letting you go would be the biggest mistake any sane man could do! You would just slaughter our families, our friends and our nation if given the chance to! So, I'll say this to you just once, arschloch! Verpiss, dich!" The captain angrily shouted to the base PA system.

"...I've tried" The armored man said to someone on the radio.

"Why would you? I told you to kill them all" The other man responded on the radio.

"Yeah yeah, and I told you I want to see the journalist live streaming from that outpost. Guess that's not an option anymore...Oh well, she'll just have to get the live stream of Argos rampaging around" The man told his friend on the radio.

The outpost's defenders were waiting for the Argos group to make their move, all eyes were trained on the leader who climbed atop of the destroyed M1 tank. He sat there before he threw his right arm forward, the Argos got the cue and they roared as they unleashed their war cry. The Argos marched forward, they were grinning from ear to ear at the prospect of slaughter and rape. The outpost defenders immediately opened fire, and as expected, their firepower wasn't enough to put an Argos down quick enough, especially that they were equipped with heavy duty armor outfitted by Crimson Cleansers.

The female soldiers felt fear assaulting them, they heard of what happened to those who got captured by those monsters. None of them want that to happen to themselves, so they retreated to the center of the outpost preemptively, and the men around them can't exactly blame them for losing their cool, they would too if Argos target men. They managed to take down ten Argos that were steadily advancing towards their outpost perimeter, now they're less than twenty meters away from the fortifications and the troopers around were running out of options to fight them. Getting in close quarter with them is suicidal, so they chose to back down slowly.

The journalist and her crew also followed suit, they recorded and reported of the event directly. The journalist could be heard reporting in shaky tone, she knew that she's in deep cesspool of shit. She wasn't a stranger to the acts of violence and horror on the combat zone, this isn't her first rodeo. But when faced with something that subjectively worse than Sirens, she found herself dreading her immediate future. Still, her camera crew remained steadfast, capturing the image of direct combat in front of them. This is why they took this job, to give a live report of war and battle. They are prepared to give their lives, for the sake of displaying the truth on the battlefield.

"This is hopeless!" One trooper commented out loud.

"There's nothing more we could do, Hauptman! Let's save ourselves! Do not let your soldiers die for something like this!" A lieutenant spoke to the captain on the control tower on the center of the outpost.

"...How's the triage evacuation?" The captain asked the lieutenant.

"They just started" The lieutenant reported.

"...Scheisse! Verdammt! We retreat slowly, buy our friends there as much time we could possibly give!" The captain ordered.

"Jawohl! We-" The lieutenant responded.

"Alle Einheiten! Achtung! Achtung! Der Kommandant Blaze ist angekommen! Knightfall! Ich wiederhole! Knightfall!" Suddenly, their radio blared to life, it's a general alert on all channels.

Every Ironblood units on Hamburg heard that message, and each soldier who did widened their eyes. Yes, the stories of Azur Knight's performance on New York are legendary among the soldiers, the videos that captured his prowess in battle had been watched millions of times in under a day, and the media relentlessly put him on the spotlight, both corporate and independent. The soldiers collectively felt relieve, they had hoped, that the man will side with them on their trying times. Many had hoped that he will come to help somehow, no matter how nonsensical it is for him to fight a battle that has no correlation with him directly. The soldiers secretly hoped that he's an unbiased man, and their hope was answered.

The famous Azur Knight had arrived, and where he went, so did the KANSENs followed. It was a news full of hope, that the enemy navy that had been harassing them will be dealt with soon, that the ground units will receive help from someone that could possibly take down Argos by his lonesome. To some people, it's a weird occurrence. It's clear that William Blaze is a member of Azur Lane, he fought the Ironblood too in the past. Why would they cling to hope that this man will be the hero that save the Ironblood? He's not from here, nor he's fond of this place. But for many, they don't need complex reasoning. They know what he's capable of, they know that he's on their side. For many, that's more than enough. And for those on Outpost Seventeen? They might as well roar in happiness.

DUMMM!

Something fell from the sky, and created a large dust cloud all around it. That something was a hunk of cobalt colored armor, it performed a super hero landing right between the defenders and the group of Argos. The impact halted any activity from both, as they watched in surprise at the thing that just interrupted them...The armor rose from its position, and revealed itself to be the very man that was referenced on the radio. William Blaze had arrived on Outpost Seventeen, his Serpent Armor was polished clean, his golden visor glinted from the sunlight reflecting on it, his massive figure stood tall in defiance and his gaze focused on the group of monsters before him.

Loud cheers could be heard from his back, some with a modicum of relief, some with tears welling on their eyes, others with unmatched fervor at his appearance. The journalist felt her legs wobbled slightly in relief; her camera crew now refocused their camera sight on the Azur Knight. They knew that they're about to get either the greatest testament of force, or the most despairing news for those who are worried about the Argos. William was glad that he managed to get here in time, he didn't choose this location out of random factors. It's based on the fact that one of the Gemini Squad was spotted here, and thus he made his landing.

"Target sighted, commander" TB alerted William.

"So it seems...Who's that one?" William asked TB.

"Unknown at the moment, I suggest a more direct approach of identification" TB suggested to William.

But before he could respond, he heard a laughter, almost maniacal one coming from the Gemini Squad member. He had a hard time controlling himself, the man was holding his stomach from the intensity of his laugh. It took him almost a minute before he could stand up and gazed directly at William, the leader opened his helmet and caused William to widened his eye. He's a slightly tanned man with blonde hair and green eyes. Yes, he knew who the leader was, and knew exactly why he laughed loudly. The man was known as Stanley Oliver, and his face was maimed. There's a huge gash crossing in slanted angle from his right forehead to his left jaw, the blonde man grinned amusedly yet his eyes displayed the most ravenous look a man could have.

"William! Oh, I made a bet with Ronald that you'll be here tomorrow! You made me lost, fucker!" Stanley told William while he grinned.

"Stanley Oliver...How low you've fallen" William commented.

"Fallen? You're not wrong. How can I get up with a face like this? No one will accept me, no one! Especially, not after what you've told the Azur Lane High Command regarding what's going on back there...I'll be hunted down for the rest of my life as an ill dog, struggling to survive in every corner" Stanley said to the man as he stood up.

"Do you want revenge? To kill me? To take my life?" William asked Stanley.

"Surprisingly? Not at first! I 'somewhat' understand the position you and I took. We have our beliefs, it clashed, so we clashed with one another. You gave me this scar, before you lodged your blade in my chest" Stanley rubbed the long gash on his face.

"You leave me no choice back then, I had to do it!" William told Stanley.

"You bested me, and I could accept that...Until what you've done to my best friend" Stanley demeanor immediately changed.

"What?" William wondered out loud.

"You don't even know him, do you? He's the few people who was going to greet you on Southern Ironblood! You blasted him to bits, William! I don't know what to tell to his wife, I can't say anything because I am legally a dead man! He's been with me since we were kids, do you know how it's like? To know the man that helped you throughout your life, got obliterated and his loved ones not knowing what happened to him? I couldn't bear with it, knowing he's in the afterlife with no closure" Stanley coldly declared to the man.

"Is that it? That's your reason wanting to end me? A bit shallow, don't you think?" William openly stated to Stanley.

"Shallow? Oh, I figure you'll understand. You also lost Charles, Michael and Yuri, didn't you? I thought you'll understand why losing your best friend would want you to get revenge for him" Stanley told William as he shook his head.

"Don't get me wrong, Oliver. I want to get revenge and justice for them as well, but unlike you? This whole shiteshow is too personal for me now...We are not the same, you can't beat me with such weak reason to fight. I am far more determined to put you down" William daringly stated to his former men.

"Heh...Maybe...But we'll see about that!" Stanley replied as he put on his helmet.

Stanley noted that Ronald was aware of what's going on, he was putting the plan in motion. Stanley's task? Kill him IF he could. The man honestly had no confidence facing William in direct fight, but he had to put a convincing performance...This was his chance to ease his best friend's soul in the afterlife, his chance to end their thirst for vengeance. And Stanley did not hesitate to use his tools to do so, the Argos that were with him. Stanley nodded at one of them and the Argos walked forward, the other creatures roared like a cheer, as one particular Argos walked ahead of the group and stood in front of William.

To the man, the Argos in front of him didn't look all that different to the ones around. But he knew immediately what's this all about. Like the old tales or tradition, send your best champion in a trial by combat to demoralize enemy forces or even make them surrender. Given that becoming Argos regressed their social and mental capability, it's no surprise this kind of stuff return in the modern day. The Argos in front of William roared as he flexed his muscles, a tactic to intimidate the man before him. However, William did not feel threatened, not in the slightest bit.

"Not keen on facing me yourself, Oliver?" William asked out loud.

"Earn it. Just like in those video games you like so much, beat them up and you'll get to face me!" Stanley said out loud.

...William sighed then walked menacingly toward the Argos who growled as he started running toward William, there's only ten meters distance between the two. Three meters tall of raw muscles were charging at him, and William still hadn't grabbed his Siren Slayer. He could do that, but he chose not to, not yet. He had to make a statement, a very blunt statement, especially with cameras being focused on him. He needed to show the world, that he's not Argos. No, he's something far better, and on humanity's side as well. If this doesn't get the message across, then William don't know what will.

The Argos was in imminent range and he threw a right hook at William's head, the man backhanded his right hand with his left and caused the Argos' right arm to be thrown to the side. The sheer force used was enough to send the arm moving away in the blink of an eye, and the sound was so loud that the punch produced a big thud that could be heard throughout the outpost. The Argos was stunned from having his strength failed the creature, and that move left the Argos vulnerable. William took advantage of his confusion to launch an unrestrained uppercut at his full power, his fist connected and the whole area could hear a very loud thud that's followed by a loud crack.

SCRACKLSHHHHH!

"Strength, does not equal to victory" William stated out loud.

...The whole area fell silent, the Argos were stunned, the humans were astonished and shocked. William doesn't fight with his full might most of the time, and that alone is enough to kill Brawlers. Not only that, his body was still growing to its full potential. The result from this though? With a full might, the Argos before him stood still...headless. Red blood spurted out of the severed neck, the creature's head flew up before landing in the middle of Argos group. The uppercut not only severed his head alongside half of his spine with it, but crushed his jaw as well. The other Argos stared at William who stood up and then set his CQC stance, his fingers wiggled at them, signaling them to come and get him.

"...Mein gott..." One trooper exclaimed.

"He...decapitated an Argos...with his bare hands..." Another exclaimed in astonishment.

"...He's even stronger! How is that possible?! Just what is he!?" A trooper asked out loud.

"...Guys...Did you get that on stream?" The journalist asked her camera crew.

"Every millisecond of it, you should see the chat, the 500k viewers are raving it crashed the chat room!" One of the crew told the journalist while he grinned.

"KILL!" One Argos roared loudly.

Two Argos in front of William charged at the man, he adjusted his footing before he dashed forward and sent a lightning jab toward one Argos' armored stomach. The Argos' body lurched and blood spilled out of his mouth from the impact, the other tried to flank William but the man hunched back and sent a horse kick to his chest. The second Argos was staggered and William took that chance to use the Argo's knee as a footing before jumping, and then he uppercut the creature, this time he didn't severe his head but sending the Argos flying up and backwards regardless. William landed and immediately jumped again and sent a 720 degrees spin tornado kick toward the other Argos' head, crushing his left temple and sending the creature flying and spinning to the side. William touched the ground and backflipped once, just for the style points.

More Argos charged at William; the man noticed that the showing off part was done so it's time to fight seriously. They're using their makeshift weapons, one threw a spear at William who dodged it, took the lodged spear on the ground and threw it back toward the Argos. It landed on the nearest one's left shoulder, lodging on it and temporarily disabled the creature from attacking. The closest one managed to eat a full powered left haymaker from William, collapsing his face and skull before throwing him back. The second closest one launched his club at William who tanked the attack with his crossed arms, he got thrown several meters back, yet he landed and immediately stood up at the ready. The said man gritted his teeth slightly from the numbing pain, but it was nothing he couldn't handle. His shield recharged while the man jumped back into the fray, with his right leg extended.

He dropkicked an Argos' face, sending him to the ground with a loud thud. The nearby Argos swiped his makeshift polearm at William who flipped himself backwards to avoid it. The Argos behind him managed to grab William, but he headbutted the Argos before judo throwing it to the ground and tore his right arm from its socket. He used the severed arm and smacked the closest Argos in the face, then he jumped before elbowing the creature in the face, breaking his jaw and nose from the hit. William was about to get the other Argos when one caught his left arm and threw him to the side, the man used his jet thrusters, redirected himself before giving the one who thrown him a full powered lariat to the neck.

That resulted in another severed head, but William didn't stop his right arm as he used the momentum to throw an extra powered right haymaker toward the Argos behind his victim. His right fist connected and the Argos died as his skull caved from the sheer impact force, the closest one tried to grab him and almost succeeded if not for William uppercutting him. But he didn't stop there, while the creature was lifted off the ground, William jumped slightly higher than him and performed a full powered mid-air axe kick, hurling the Argos back to the ground with his kick that produced a loud thud. William finally grabbed his Siren Slayer and he blitzed down with a full powered vertical slash. The slash managed to cleanly split an Argos into two, directly in the middle.

"Holy shit! He finally used his blade! Look at the size of that thing, it must've weighed at least twenty kilos!" The cameraman said out loud.

"I...I...I don't know what to say...The way he fights, I've heard the stories and even watched some of the recordings...But to see it directly like this..." The journalist commented.

"He fights like a god of war, isn't he? No mere man could do all of that and holding their ground singlehandedly against Argos" One of the crew said to the journalist.

"The strength, the speed and his moves...He's equal or even better than a KANSEN, minus the firepower of one..." The journalist noted.

"I heard a rumor saying that he's a male KANSEN or something, is that true?" The crew asked the journalist.

"It's unconfirmed, but...the evidence before us is pretty clear. Argos seems like a poor imitation of him...This is like a slap to the face for those who created Argos, that he's better than their creation..." The journalist responded to the crew.

"Hauptman, should we help him?" A trooper asked the captain.

"Nein, we'll only be a hindrance to him...We sit this one out" The captain responded to the trooper.

WHUNK!

STAB!

William managed to kill several more before he whirled his blade at an Argos, lodging his weapon on the center mass and killing him almost instantly. He couldn't get his weapon back before an Argos body decked him, sending him flying to the hug of another. The Argos hugged the man tightly while the one that thrown him charged at them, William gritted his teeth before he engaged his thrusters at maximum speed, bringing him and the Argos up while scorching the creature behind him. William spun the Argos, loosening his grip on him before throwing the monster down to the ground. The Argos hit the solid surface, creating big thud and cloud of dust. But it couldn't react before William dove down and launched a full powered punch to his chest, instantly caving it and creating a loud thud and larger cloud of dust.

DUMMMM!

There's only three remaining Argos, and one of them grabbed his Siren Slayer. William was not amused, but that's somewhat his fault so he didn't vocalize his displeasure. Instead, the man challenged the three Argos to come and approach him. The Argos roared as they all approached him at the same time, William snorted as he summoned his ASM2 Shotgun and unloaded his 8 gauge pellets at the approaching beasts. However, William could notice that they took them pretty well...His shotgun couldn't do much as the Argos only suffered bruises from it, so he switched to his GPM Assault Carbine and unloaded accelerated 9mm rounds. This time he could kill one after sustained fire with the bullets failing to go through his body, and that irked him to no end.

"Not even the carbine huh" William muttered to himself.

William stored his carbine and took out his pistol, this thing is built to kill stuff so he's confident it'll get the job done! William fired the gun at the Argos' left thigh, the projectile blew prematurely but it did chip the flesh. William clicked his tongue; firearms are not so effective against this creature. The Argos roared in furry and threw William's sword, the man jerked his head to the right and avoided his thrown blade. The Siren Slayer was embedded deeply on a sandbag of a machine gun emplacement, shocking the crew manning it. William would've grabbed it, if not for the Argos ragingly swung his arms at William who had to defend himself.

"Let's end this show" William muttered to himself.

The Argos roared as he about to hammer William to the ground with his fists, but the man tanked the attack directly by grabbing the Argos' arms. This time, it's William who roared as he lifted up the Argos and slammed him to the ground, then he lifted the creature again and slammed him to the ground. Then again, and again, and again, each time being faster than the last. Then he jumped as he slammed the Argos to the ground, the creature actually bounced from the sheer strength William used for that throw. The man roared as he spun in the air to gain momentum before performing a flying side kick, kicking the Argos away and caused him to land near Stanley, as a headless body.

William landed on the ground, the jet thrusters on his back died down as he stood at the ready while he stared at Stanley...The people behind him were awestruck, astonished, and some downright feared him. They were struggling to kill those thirty Argos, and here he was slaughtering twenty of them like a warmup exercise. He did not struggle at defeating them, his sheer power alone is enough to wreck those Argos' bodies. Many thought that he should just switch his armor color to green, at least that way he would be cosplaying as Doom Slayer...Stanley laughed as he walked toward him while clapping his hands, that was a magnificent show that William just put.

"Well played, I am almost impressed!" Stanley said out loud before he stopped clapping.

"Is there something you're dissatisfied with?" William asked the man.

"Yeah, one thing. You resort to your blade near the end, that became too easy" Stanley commented as he grabbed the greatsword from his back.

"I'm not here to play games, nor to entertain you" William replied while he scowled.

"Too right...Well, you did wipe my Argos group. I'm a terrorist, but that doesn't mean I don't have honor...Come then, I have to give my best friend some solace!" Stanley said to William as he twirled the greatsword with his right hand.

"Sir? Here's your blade!" A trooper carried the Siren Slayer and offered it to William.

"Thank you...Tell everyone to stay back and stay alert, this is just the start" William thanked the trooper.

The trooper nodded his head then saluted before he walked back to his position, William spun his blade twice with his right hand as he walked toward Stanley. William sighed slowly, he blinked once and his eye turned laser focused on his target...William remembered that Stanley Oliver was one of the best CQC specialist within Task Force Nimbus, he's quite trained with knife and unarmed combat. So him carrying a greatsword was quite a surprise to William, but this imminent duel won't have to be so hard. Both had big weapons, combating him would be easier. But William couldn't afford to underestimate him, there's no telling what trick he has or how far he has improved.

"Come on, avenge your best friend" William taunted Stanley as he shouldered his Siren Slayer.

Stanley sprinted toward William with his greatsword at the ready, the man swung his blade downwards and William swung his up. The blade met in the middle and produced a loud clank and sparks, William immediately noted that Stanley's strength was comparable to him. He's not as tall as the Argos, but he's certainly deadlier, because he still had his skills and techniques. After parrying the attack, William backed himself instead of attacking, which surprised Stanley who widened his eyes. He knew William is an aggressive man in a fight, he's quite relentless so him defending himself outside of necessity? It's outside his prediction.

William was testing the waters, and he immediately concluded that Stanley was quite surprised that he didn't relentlessly attack him, that man still remembered how William fight so he got to be careful in fighting him. There's a big chance that Stanley had learned how he fight and his techniques, he need to be aware for a counter...William set up his stance, just in time as Stanley blitzed forward with upwards diagonal slash. Instead of blocking or parrying, William immediately dodged the greatsword and thrusted his broadsword at Stanley. He spun his body around and sent a backhand at William, who was caught off guard by the move and got his helmet hit. Stanley didn't let up as he continued the attack by sending a side kick using his left leg, but this time William caught it, lifted him up and slammed him to the ground.

With his enemy on the ground, William jumped and swung his Siren Slayer downwards. However, Stanley rolled to the side and avoided the attack. William clicked his tongue as he raised his blade, because Stanley countered his move by swinging his greatsword. William deflected the big sword with his before he unsheathed his left wrist blade. He lunged toward Stanley, but his blade was stopped by his energy shielding that flared blue when the weapon stabbed him. Stanley immediately reacted by jabbing William in the head, the man avoided the jab by rolling to the left. He got up but Stanley was instantly in front of him with side sweep sword swing, William jumped backward and gain some distance between them...He's actually having difficulty landing a sure kill hit.

"What's the matter? You're not as aggressive as you were during the war! You have gone soft, William!" Stanley told William as he twirled his greatsword one handed.

William did not answer, he's busy analyzing his opponent for any weakness he could exploit. But the words did make him wonder, is he soft now compared to who he was before? He shoved the thought back into his subconsciousness, he got a duel to-...William watched Stanley nodded his head upwards and opened his arms, as if inviting him to attack...The man snorted slightly as he realized one thing...Why should he fight in equal with him? This wasn't some honor bound duel, he's not soft, he's just a bit of a dumbass for going along. William put his Siren Slayer on the back, summoned his GPM Assault Carbine on his left hand and started firing one handed, that managed to caught Stanley off guard as he took hits that collapsed his shield as he engaged his jet thrusters and escaped.

However, William was one step ahead as he fired the grappling hook toward Stanley's armor so he carried him along. William also activated his jet thrusters, he balanced himself while being carried around so he won't hit buildings. The man reeled himself toward Stanley with his grappling hook, the process was quite slow but he managed to get in range without crashing into obstacles along the way. William took his Siren Slayer and slashed forward, the impact cut through Stanley's right shoulder, causing the man to scream in pain. He struggled to control his flight and crashed into a building in front of him.

But the commander of ALASUC detached himself before that and landed gracefully, while Stanley unceremoniously fell, landed and rolled on the ground while his blood spurted profusely from his amputated right arm. They're in some kind of intersection on Hamburg's downtown, there's no enemy units in sight, but William figured he's deep inside enemy territory now. TB was quick on the uptake as she wordlessly monitored his map radar hybrid for any hostiles around, she found some within a kilometer radius, but they're still in place so she didn't say anything...William walked toward the downed man, he writhed on the ground, trying to get up despite losing blood and in utter pain. Stanley however, failed to as William stepped on his back, and forced him back to the ground.

"...For a terrorist? You're too focused on the concept of honor, you lost because I'm willing to fight without one" William told Stanley as he tightened his grip on his Siren Slayer.

"Gh...I know..." Stanley admitted.

"You do? Then why still choose to face me like that? You're luring me for your friends?" William asked the man.

"Somewhat...I honestly...don't care, whether I live or not...I've told Ronald that...I couldn't care less about you, I'm here just to help him because I owe him something...I've repaid it, so I can die in peace...being able to kill you is just a bonus..." Stanley honestly told William.

"So avenging your best friend was a lie?" William asked Stanley.

"...No...That part is true...You did kill him...But I know, right from the start, that I won't be able to...kill you...You were the best among us...how can I ever to match you, William? You wipe the floor with Nimbus Knights before, I was just an ordinary soldier who happened to stand out a bit...There is no way I can match you in combat..." Stanley said to William as he started sobbing.

"But you still fight with your utmost, someone who has no confidence in his skill won't fight like you" William couldn't help but noticed that about Stanley.

"I guess...some part of me...still want to prove it...That I belong to our task force back then..." Stanley said to William.

"...Your best friend must've meant a lot to you, for you to go this far" William told Stanley while he frowned.

"Yes...for he's the reason I'm living...why I'm glad to be back from the dead...to survive...and you killed him..." Stanley admitted to him.

"...I'm sorry...I should've finished you off when we fought back then" William apologized to Stanley while he frowned deeper.

"Yeah...You really should...At least that way, I won't have to...experience it...experience this..." Stanley told William.

William could note that Stanley was losing consciousness, he'll soon die from severe blood loss. The man however, couldn't help but to shake the strange feeling he got from his words. Experience this...What? This whole fuckery? William racked his brain when he noticed it...He couldn't move his body and the sound around him stopped, as if the world itself stood still...This wasn't the first time, this happened when he went to Iris! He waited for an object to came across his vision, and he did saw it. A spectral looking and glowing purple butterfly flew towards him from above and hovered in front of his face, the butterfly flew down and landed on Stanley. The butterfly rubbed its legs around Stanley armor's backside, especially at the unique circle of a device on the center mass of his back plate.

"Great misfortune will befall you, should you choose to remain idle" William could hear a woman's voice reverbing inside him.

The purple butterfly flew back to his face, it landed on his visor for a bit before flying upwards and disappeared...The world resumed once more and William could feel himself regaining control of his body, the man immediately flew upwards as fast as he could. He won't question on what's happening back there, it happened once before and it saved him. This being the second time? It just cemented that the woman who spoke to him within his mind just want to help him...William kept flying upwards as he looked down, and the warning that was given by the woman was proven true a few seconds later.

KHIIIIIIIIIINNGGGGGGGBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!

A bright blueish explosion, best described as a mini nuke, occurred where Stanley laid before. The explosion caused a shockwave that rattled William to the core, and he struggled to remain airborne from the turbulence that the explosion caused. The man hovered and he looked down while he panted slightly from the surprise, he could very well die from that! It's like Stanley was wearing a dead man switch or something! And that explosion was too big to be something from a conventional explosive!

"TB, assessment" William instructed TB.

"The catastrophic explosion originated from Stanley Oliver's armor, explosion pattern and color does not match any conventional explosives that human military uses. The explosion is five hundred meters in diameter and produced approximately seventy meters deep crater" TB assessed the situation below him.

"...If one of them produced something like this, the other four could also do this and caused a massive damage to the city itself...and it's most likely going to be my fault if that happens" William concluded while he grimaced.

"Commander, Anzeel here. I saw your live view just now, that explosion must be caused by his armor's Wisdom Cube" Anzeel contacted William on the radio.

"I know it can explode, but essentially turning one into a mini nuke? How?" William asked Anzeel on the radio.

"Normally, a damaged Wisdom Cube would just be inert, like the case when a ship girl dies, her Wisdom Cube would just snuff out, there will be no more energy brimming within it. To do this, they'd have to modify the energy extractor so it won't only take power from it, but be able to disrupt the Wisdom Cube itself into overloading or destabilizing its energy potential someway somehow" Anzeel briefly explained on the radio.

"Something tells me that the others also rigged their armor to do this as well" William commented on the radio.

"Yes, most likely. I suggest you disable them, at least that way you should be able to neutralize your targets without causing a massive explosion. Based on the image I took and the armor's general design, it's most likely that the Wisdom Cubes are located on their backs" Anzeel told William on the radio.

"Got it doc, I'll do what I can for them" William replied to Anzeel on the radio.

"Could you feel that explosion? That's the anger Stanley's been holding on to, despite him saying he didn't care, William" Suddenly, a familiar voice could be heard on William's radio.

"Wha, Ronald?! How did you-" William was surprised.

"Heh, Ashville's neat little gadget, of course. That old man has a kink for experimental technology, it works wonders" Ronald told William on the radio.

"Where in the bloody hell are you!?" William snarled as he surveyed the area from above.

"Ooh~, can't wait to face me huh? Come on, don't treat the man who made you an uncle like that~" Ronald menacingly said to William on the radio.

"You're beyond forgiveness, motherfucker" William practically growled in response.

"Heheheh! Never looking for one in the first place, no, all I want is for you to suffer then die" Ronald told William on the radio.

"Where are you? Let's settle this, man to freak" William asked Ronald as he flew down.

"Ah ah, you want me? We'll play a little game first" Ronald told William on the radio.

"We both know we don't have time for this" William bluntly responded on the radio.

"Oh, I assure you, we do. The game is simple, we'll treat this like a gauntlet. You beat Stanley, so you beat Stage One. Now, you go ahead to Stage Two. There, you'll find Maria, you do remember her?" Ronald instructed William on the radio.

"How could I forget..." William said to Ronald on the radio.

"Beat Maria? And you go to Stage Three, then four, and finally five. You'll face your sin one by one, William" Ronald said to William on the radio.

"...Alright, I'll play along. Where is she?" William asked Ronald on the radio.

"Right on, let's see whether you could beat them all and reach me. This is your only chance~" Ronald told William on the radio.

"Shut the fuck up you fucktard, give me her location" William immediately responded while he scowled.

"Yooo, you're more pissed than usual! I like it! Alright, meet her on Spielpatz Zum Jaegerfeld. It's a small playground, she's waiting for you there" Ronald told the location to William on the radio.

The man didn't respond yet he immediately put a waypoint for the location and traveled there, he didn't have the time nor the patience to deal with Ronald egging him on the radio. He knew just what button to push, and William blamed himself for getting angry so easily. He couldn't help it, Ronald was the embodiment of his mistake and he kept coming back to remind him of it. And one fatal mistake in dealing with him, it could result him losing his life, especially now that he had to deal with Gemini Squad one by one. Something was off about that, why do that instead of grouping together and overwhelm him?

"Lena, I took Oliver down. I'm on my way to face Maria" William reported to Lena on the radio.

"He faced you alone? I thought they're going to swarm you" Lena asked William on the radio.

"That's what I thought as well, but they have something else in mind...I don't like this, it feels off" William told Lena on the radio.

"Going by common sense, yeah, it's extremely stupid...But I guess there must be something they want to prove to you, or say to you" Lena guessed on the radio.

"Oliver was telling me about how I killed his best friend, that he got no more reason to live after that...You think they're doing this just to guilt trip me and make me feel bad?" William asked Lena on the radio.

"Well, do you?" Lena asked William on the radio.

"Somewhat. But they made their bed, time to lie on it. Forgiveness isn't on the radar after what they've done, I might actually would if they didn't murder James, our friends, poison my ship girls, killed Jenny and violated Serina" William responded on the radio.

"Then you have no reason to doubt yourself. Hear them out, but finish them so we can end this nightmare" Lena advised William on the radio.

"Roger that. How's your end?" William asked Lena on the radio.

"Oh, we're just about to move. The order will come in exactly...now" Lena told William on the radio.

"Attention all units, Counter Offensive Operation HAMMERSCHLAG is a go. I repeat, Operation HAMMERSCHLAG is a go. Commence phase one of the operation" There's a general broadcast on their joint military channel.

Operation HAMMERSCHLAG was a counter strike operation that was conceived by ALASUC and Ironblood Military Command, it was the plan to eliminate Crimson Cleanser forces and retake Hamburg from their hands. The force prepared for this operation was massive, thousands of personnel was involved, thousands of ground alongside air vehicles, enough supplies to fuel the offensive for the next week which steadily increased as time went on, and ALASUC KANSENs sortieing into Elbe River to sink Crimson Cleanser combined fleet. The first phase of the operation was to rendezvous with the perimeter defenders and prepare to push into Hamburg, while the ground forces do that, the ship girls will wreak havoc and make sure those ships won't be able to harass the advancing units.

William found the spot that Ronald mentioned, and sure enough there's someone there. Armored Argos fit their description, but William knew that she's Maria Anderson, the member of Gemini Squad. Despite being a woman, there's no shred of womanly features that he could identify from her current state. William remembered that she's used to be the task force's demolition expert, he didn't know her that well but he did know her name. The man landed in front of Maria, who stood as she gazed at the playground within the small park. William stood behind her as he prepared his shotgun, he was about to aim and fire when he heard something.

"You came" Maria spoke to William.

"Got no choice, and I don't want pleasantries so I'll skip that. Why do this? Why choose to face me all by yourself?" William asked Maria.

"Back in the day, in Nimbus, I was known as the explosive master. You name it, I'll blow it up...Life was good, especially when I got the chance to stick it to those nazis. My great great grandfather fought against them, like hell I'll let them spread that cursed ideology especially when it runs unchecked" Maria told William, not answering his question.

"You forgot that they're people" William bluntly told her.

"People? Don't make me laugh, they're sub human at best. They let their country changed back to Nazism, these people don't deserve to live. They could infect everyone else, and I don't want our way of life to be disrupted" Maria told William as she turned around and looked at him.

"...I see..." William nodded his head.

"You...don't disagree?" Maria was shocked to hear William not rejecting her idea.

"...I do put some people as sub humans as well, so I won't feel remorse for killing them. No...I put my enemies in that category, that's why I'm so good at killing them, because I do not see them as a human. But you? You're a special case, Anderson. You kill people solely because of their beliefs, you're a fucking zealot, an extremist dressed in civilized clothing!" William told Maria as he stared at her.

"So? They're spreading cancer, William. Cancer that could kill modern humanity, if left unchecked" Maria replied in utmost confidence.

"And you think the system you believe isn't one?" William asked her.

"What?! How dare you!? The system Azur Lane championed isn't a cancer, it's the proper way to live!" Maria was very offended by that question.

"First off, Azur Lane does not champion anything, it's a military alliance, not a political movement or at least not on the surface. Second, do you ever look at Royal Kingdom? Iris Orthodoxy? Dragon Empery? They're not democratic, two are monarch-based government and one is a theocracy...Once you run out of enemies, you'll turn your friends into one. You spoke of cancer? You're the prime example. The world was fine without zealots like you championing your useless cause, people could get along despite their differences until you loud intolerant fucks get added into the mix. You're very much the same people as those Azur Lane war criminals during Dradetheus, no wonder you sided with them!" William fired off while he scowled.

"Of course I would, I join the military so I got to kill them! There's nothing I hate more on this world than those supremacist assholes!" Maria bluntly told William.

"I've heard enough" William coldly remarked.

William fired his shotgun several times, disabling Maria's shielding before he sprinted towards her. However, the large woman stood her ground and grabbed a Milkor 40mm Grenade Launcher from her right thigh. She started firing at William who had to dodge to the sides and flew around so he won't get hit by grenades, not even he's confident that his armor's shielding could take a direct hit. He had to disable her armor's Wisdom Cube on her back, William waited until Maria fired her sixth shot before he dove down towards her. Maria lunged her right fist towards him, but William deflected her punch and took her down with a well placed lariat. He knocked her down to the ground, the man quickly flipped her, unsheathed his right wrist blade and jabbed the circle on her back armor.

William didn't stop with one stab though; he pulled back then stabbed her several more times until he jumped off of her and stood with his shotgun pointed at the woman. Maria groaned in pain as she raised herself, blood could be seen seeping from the hole on her back armor...William found this strange, why didn't she offer more resistance? She's...too easy to take down! Unlike Stanley, William barely made an effort...She's a member of Gemini Squad, right? The one who kidnapped Eldridge? The one who killed Spetsnaz operatives on Voronezh? How could she fight effectively like that yet struggled with William right now?! Stanley gave him harder time!

"What's wrong? I thought you're a member of Gemini Squad, hate to admit but you lots did cause some trouble back then" William asked the woman.

"...Just because I'm in a group with them? I'm flattered...But I'm the scheming and planning type...Never been that good with direct combat..." Maria told William.

"How did you manage to get in Task Force Nimbus back then?" William questioned her.

"How? Heh...Your attention is only for those who can fight, William...You never notice me until I started shooting at you..." Maria told William as she prepared her fighting stance.

In a sense, she was right. Outside of several people, he only knew the Nimbus members by their name. He knew jackshit about them in depth, Maria was among those people. He honestly couldn't see why would she went this far for him? But he could guess that him 'killing' her was enough reason for retribution...William pursed his lips as he dashed forward with a gut punch, but Maria managed to stop his right fist. The man immediately reacted by launching a left hook, Maria also caught his left hand and that left William with limited options. William threw her back and slammed the augmented woman against the ground, his hands were freed and that's when he used his shotgun and unloaded several shots which damaged her armor plating.

Her shields were nonexistent, so William summoned his Siren Slayer and stabbed her on the torso. He made sure to hit her liver while avoiding her heart, he'll assess whether Anzeel's theory regarding the Wisdom Cube was true or not. Judging from the fact that her armor didn't seem to function properly, there's a possibility that the Wisdom Cube was destroyed. William glanced at Maria who started coughing...This fight felt anti climatic. This was supposed to be him fixing his mistakes, but the way this went made him felt unease. How did Stanley, Maria and possibly the other two to agree in fighting William one on one? Wouldn't it be easier to just gang him up? Especially with each kill potentially result in such a massive explosion. Stanley was a bit understandable; he didn't want to live anymore. But Maria?

"Tell me, why would you want to kill me?" William asked Maria.

"Guhk...Why? Why...I just felt sick...looking at you and Helena...oh so perfect soldiers...Guhuk! Oh...neglecting the less...capable members...for a clean up job...never brought us...for the real action out there...I want to go out much more...to take those...Nazis down..." Maria struggled to say anything.

"...You're twisted love for your beliefs, and your utter hatred for the enemy, has made you into a very bitter person...which leads to your envy for us, wishing harm to me and Lena for supposedly hindering you...I'm sorry, I should've killed you back then...I'm not going to make the same mistake, I'll free you from your misery" William stated to Maria.

The man lifted his blade and swiped it across Maria's neck in maximum speed, decapitating her almost instantly. Despite her dying, there's no explosion or signs of it so Anzeel's theory was proven true...Still, after facing both Stanley and Maria, he came to a realization...Stanley didn't have any reason to fight him at first, he just believed the high command more than him. But then William became a target because he killed his best friend, thus he agreed to fight despite knowing he's most likely going to lose. Maria was bitter to him and Lena since the start, for supposedly holding her back from doing what she believed was the betterment of mankind. She got excited when they were ordered to kill soldiers dressed as civilians, and got more fervor when she found out that they're actual civilians...This was real eye opening to him, there's more going on back then without him realizing it, given how focused he was at those he only cared to interact more.

...He wondered what problems did Jackson and Smith had with him, they must've had some since they agreed to help Ronald. He'll get his answer, on why these four would die for that sick madman. Just what did he do that Stanley, Maria and possibly Jackson and Smith to face him one on one, despite knowing what he could do...William put his blade on his back before he flew up, his mind travelled toward the possibility of the ship girls doing the same thing like his former task force members...The man shook his head, the guilt would wreck him completely...He needs to pay attention to those who didn't interact or didn't get the chance to interact with him that often...He can't let something like this happen to the KANSENs.

"No explosions? Heh, seems you figure out our dirty little trick" Ronald commented on the radio.

"Next location, now" William demanded on the radio.

"Oh? No second thoughts for Maria? Poor girl, she's the epitome of hardcore freedom fighter! She joined the military to do the real effort, not sitting behind social media and scream Nazis at every passerby to her home post! She did something real, by killing them directly, a real cleanup effort to keep the free world safe! She should be given medals for trying to act, in my opinion" Ronald told William on the radio.

"You five are war criminals and there's no sugar coating would be able to dress that up. You relish in killing helpless civilians, that is it. Don't give me the higher cause speech bullshite!" William spat Ronald on the radio.

"Heheh! Gotta admit that you're not wrong. But there's more to it than that, Will. Otherwise, we won't be having this conversation right now" Ronald chuckled grimly then noted to William on the radio.

"You told them to fight me by themselves, why?" William couldn't help but asked Ronald on the radio.

"Why? Don't worry, I'll answer that when you get to meet me. For now, you could try meeting with Jackson. He's waiting for you on the rooftop of Lindtner Hamburg" Ronald gave him the location on the radio.

"...TB, the next time that radio call happens again, track its location" William instructed TB.

"Yes commander, preparing to use Hamburg communication towers and other sensors" TB notified William on the radio.

William nodded his head slightly as he pinpointed the location that Ronald gave him, he found it and then changed his flying course. The battle had only just begun, two of the Gemini Squad members were dead, there's something going on with them that they used this dumb tactic to face William instead of fighting as a single unified team...What did Ronald try to achieve with this? He's basically sending his team to die, and the fact that they were willing to do just that was quite disturbing to William. Still, he was promised answers, so he'll get there. If he doesn't get it, he'll coerce it out of Ronald's mouth. With that in mind, William arrived at his destination before he dove down, the man landed at the rooftop and his eye trained to his next target...and it's full of resolve.