The sea is helpless against the violent wind. The waves rages and brings forth sweeping tides. Small ships like destroyers would helplessly tumble down or worse be swept beneath the waters.

"Tyrant?" I mutter to myself

As I stand firm despite the waves slamming against my body fruthrr soaking my body drenched from the heavy rain, I see my sister silently standing. Her eyes only focus on the dark horizon and what she holds in her hand is a black wisdom cube. Having it in possession would corrode anyone's wisdom cube and slowly kill the kansen, but that corruption is what's giving her that power. I should have murdered those cowardly officials when they had Tirpitz as the guinea pig for a risky experiment.

(I couldn't recognize her anymore...)

Tirpitz isn't the talkative type and barely expresses any deep emotions when around Iron Blood ships. The only times I observe her being expressive is when she consciously reacts when speaking to Victorious. That Tirpitz no longer exists, and who exists in front of me is just a possessed body. She loses the vibrant sky blue eyes she shares with me and the red veins beneath her neck is the effect of her body being torn from the inside.

"Just as planned, everyone got separated" Prinz Eugen casually approaches her

"Eugen, is that you? The storm is hindering my senses. No...it's just my usual eyes..." Tyrant raises her head

"It's me, and I'm right behind you" Prinz Eugen waves her hand

"I've secured the coordinates to the other world. It's outside our own and may as well be another universe. Their Bismarck is where I need her to be"

The Black wisdom cube on Tyrant's palm floats at least an inch above her palm. Even at my distance, I could see faint black smoke emitting from all of its side. True to its nature, it's harmful to those who dare tryo go utilize it carelessly.

"Will it really bring change to Bismarck?" Prinz Eugen is a bit nervous

"All it needs is just one little event to stray off. The rest will fall in place"

"If one thing goes differently, will I still be the same person?"

"..." Tyrant frowns for a moment

"Well, whatever. Our goal is to prevent Bismarck from utilizing the power of the black wisdom cube. If she uses it, her body wouldn't handle it and she would destroy half of Iron Blood in the explosion"

I remember. My initial plan is to merge the power of the black wisdom cube to me, but Tirpitz warns me how it's more trouble than its worth. Undergoing METAmorphosis and the black wisdom cube would always result in a failed Cognitive Awakening. She convinced me to find a safer solution where I don't have to sacrifice myself. When I returned, she used the cube for herself and rampaged like she's an entirely different person.

"I just want to finally die, but I can't do that yet until I make sure the black cube can never be in Iron Blood's possession" Tyrant exhales

"You want to screw your past self and slap some sense in Bismarck then you'll let yourself be killed. Got it" Prinz Eugen crosses her arms

"This body has long died. The black cube's infection is practically my life support at this point. So long as it's running through my body, I could still move and talk..."

So that's how it is, huh. The black cube begins to eat her away even if she manages to resist it to a degree. It reached to a point that she's practically physically dead and the black cube is the only fuel sustaining her consciousness. Without it...she would permanently die.

"I've met the ghost ships, but never I've seen a zombified ship" Prinz Eugen scoffs at her

"Dead inside and dead outside. Perhaps this is my punishment for trying to spare Bismarck from her fate..." Tyrant gazes up and let the rain trickle on her cheeks

"Good grief. Can you talk at least like a normal person? All you do is complain how being alive is painful and how you regret everything..."

Prinz Eugen throws her head back and forth, complaining without restraint. Fortunately for her, Tyrant has enough patience for a persistent companion like her. It's no surprise she's accompanying Tyrant due to a shared grudge.

"Can I leave the rest to you, Eugen?" Tyrant just sighs

"You do realize I'll die first?"

"Just do what you must in Iron Blood..."

"Fine, fine. This better be worth the trouble"

"Your dear Prince of Wales would survive once King George V realizes something is off"

"...!"

"Same goes for Hipper"

"Who says they are my goals?" Prinz Eugen raises her voice

"...You did"

"..."

"..."

A long awkward silence falls between the two with Tyrant keeping her usual uncaring expression while Prinz Eugen is already irritated staring at her. They don't get along half of the time, specially with Prinz Eugen doing as she pleases when Tyrant isn't keeping an eye on her.

...

...

...

Everything else goes silent as the scenery in front of me is swallowed by pitch black darkness. Rather, darkness creeps from the corner of my vision until it swallows her sight entirely. Even the sound of raindrops immediately gets cut off and even their voices disappear.

"..." I open my eyes

After the whole chaos in the Royal navy facility in Scapa Flow, we all had to flee outside Royal navy territory. I'm not exactly sure of our current location, but at least we're safe from Royal navy's reach for now. They wouldn't be happy that half of their base got destroyed and one of their battleships nearly got her skull crushed.

"Man, that surprised me. One second I got dropped on a warehouse roof, then shells rained all over the place"

Zuikaku wipes off the sweat and dust all over her face and on both her arms with a wet towel. She's not concerned about the earlier destruction and seems way too relaxed about it. Despite her somewhat naive and hardheaded nature, Zuikaku is a righteous person. That's why it puzzles why she's not concerned about Friedrich der Grosse.

"Lucky for you. I nearly got caught in the destruction" Prinz Eugen returns from a fresh bath

All five of us are taking shelter in the only house on this remote island. Rather than be concerned about fleeing from the crime scene, everyone else is acting like they're on a beach vacation. Friedrich der Grosse is calmly enjoying a steaming cup of tea that Belfast pours on her cup.

"Has everyone refreshed themselves? Surely it's tiring fleeing from the furious Royal navy"

Belfast looks around her while pressing the empty metallic tray on her chest. Both Prinz Eugen and Zuikaku are just sitting by the couch and crack open a can of root beer fresh from the refrigerator's chiller.

"Friedrich, you bombed a whole base just to secure Orochi's combat data" I immediately go to the point

"Yes. My whimsical child asked to have it in possession before the foolish humans unlock it. Of course, I can't resist doting and spoiling my children from time to time~" Friedrich der Grosse proudly responds

"You won't get any sense from her. She's completely under control" Prinz Eugen raises her can by her head and reminds me

"It's a form of hypnosis. Friedrich der Grosse is compelled to obey while her personality remains intact" Belfast approaches and whispers to me

I get it already. She's being mind controlled without her knowing it, but I find it uneasy using one of my trusted subordinates as a pawn. I'm barely tolerating this act since Friedrich der Grosse isn't harmed or battling stronger foes.

"Ghost is a dangerous entity. A failure without a mind of its own. In its ghostly form, it cannot be killed" Friedrich der Grosse explains first

"I'm aware of how Ghost needs a physical body to be permanently killed. In short, it needs to be a living kansen" I feel a bit annoyed from the repeated reminder

"In that shadowy form, all it could do is erode kansens. Just direct contact can kill you from the inside out. It's like black cube cancer but way worse because it's excruciating painful" Zuikaku adds while grabbing about three more root beers from the chiller

"It can also eat kansens if they can't get away fast enough. We'll see its capabilities when a fraction of its wisdom cube gets dropped in Iris Libre for a big surprise" Prinz Eugen stretches her legs on the couch

"What do you mean?" I immediately stand up

Everyone else isn't acting surprised or confused which leaves me the only one unaware of a future plan involving Ghost. It shouldn't be a surprise because they all have ulterior motives for even helping, save for Friedrich der Grosse who is here against her will.

"Aurelia plans to use a naval base of Iris Libre to test Ghost manifesting in this timeline's Azur Lane. By naval base, I mean one where Richelieu is staying. I think those religious idiots are the target because Richelieu's preaching annoyed her. Oh, and a dead version of Saint Louis suggested that they let them burn"

Prinz Eugen says all of it without an ounce of care in the world. I know Eugen can be callous and even merciless, but she's not heartless. People and kansens will die if Ghost manifests right in their waters even if it's just a few minutes.

"Why are you surprised with letting people die? I mean, you did leave us to die, remember?" Prinz Eugen's tone becomes serious

"..." I have no words to retaliate

"When that META, which you pumped more than you can handle, became cancerous to you, Tirpitz absorbed the hazardous portion of it to save you. In return, she went crazy and started rampaging as Tyrant" Prinz Eugen stands up

"Eugen, that's enough" Zuikaku grabs her shoulder

"While you're busy searching to further strengthen yourself. Tirpitz transformed into an incomplete META. By the time your selfish ass returned, several died and shortly after the world wiped out ninety percent of us"

Everything she says is the actual event, so she has every right to bear a deep grudge on me. Tyrant murdered some of her fellow Iron Blood ships. The unknown power from beneath the sea boosted Tyrant's strength to unimaginable heights but rendered her as a possessed beast. I couldn't even kill her...and I couldn't stop the annihilation of my beloved Iron Blood. No, humanity got wiped out and my futile resistance now slowly marched me to my inevitable death.

"Setting aside our petty grievances, our shared goal is Ghost. That creature mustn't awaken yet as the method to make it human is still under way" Friedrich der Grosse raises her voice to catch their attention

"What do you mean?" I immediately stand up

"Ghost is automatically moving. In simple terms, its consciousness is turned so its body is only instinctively making sure it survives"

"Well, murdering anyone in sight isn't really a basic instinct" Zuikaku raises her hand

"Ghost felt threatened so it attacked. It only started attacking when the Sirens attacked it five minutes after it was born"

Friedrich der Grosse raises her left index finger and wags it cheerfully. For once, I don't expect the Sirens to indirectly send humanity to their doom. This shouldn't come as a surprise really since there's a different timeline with Welt. At the moment of her existence, the Sirens trying to kill her is what leads to Welt harboring hatred towards humanity.

"It viewed humans as enemies as a result. That impression still lasts up until this day" Friedrich der Grosse crosses her arms

"Is there any chance for Ghost to stabilize?" Prinz Eugen seems hopeful too

"There is a way, but the method will take some time"

"How long?" I'm hopeful as well

"It could take weeks or months. We need the entirety of Ghost's wisdom cube"

Months, huh. Will I still be alive by that time? Another way to secure my fading lifespan is to use the black wisdom cube, but it's what corrupted Tyrant in the first place. Rather than kill her, the black cube keeps her alive no matter how many fatal attacks she receives.

"Having a corporeal body means Ghost could be killed, but it could also gain ego. You're weighing on those two options" Prinz Eugen chuckles

"I see. Ghost can finally learn to think and feel if it becomes like us" Zuikaku lightly hit her curled up fist on top of her palm

"It would take months or a year due to the fact it has instinctive hatred towards humanity. You can thank the Sirens for teaching it during its infant stage" Friedrich der Grosse cheerfully gazes at Zuikaku

Eliminating the threads before they would develop their strength is a logical choice, but it backfired to the Sirens on their attempt against Ghost and Welt. The former mindlessly seeks to slaughter life after being denied by others and the latter just finds humans annoying and intolerable. Welt's case is because she's a mixture of a heartless system and a Leviathan.

"Ghost aside, our current business should be...Orochi" Belfast clears her throat

Friedrich der Grosse has Orochi's combat data, but she's just carelessly leaving it on top of the table. I know it's not a wisdom cube, but it's a vital part of rebuilding Orochi. That cube contains its previous defeat from Azur Lane. If Orochi returns to the sea with its past experience, Azur Lane wouldn't be able to use the same tactic from before. No experienced fighter would even think of using the same attack twice against the same opponent.

"..."

Everyone stares at the black cube with faintly glowing dark light. Its appearance is no different from the other black wisdom cubes used by the Sirens, except for the fact that one cube holds a large amount of information. It's likely to contain data about Welt and why she's an outcast Leviathan.

"Of course, I don't plan to hand it over to the Sirens. My grumpy child dislikes the Sirens as much as kansens" Friedrich der Grosse confidently assures us

"Orochi is in pieces, and the Sirens would send their trash to pick up their scattered trash" Prinz Eugen rolls her eyes

"I need to search for its weapons. Like the long range missiles"

"As much as I admired your determination, some of Orochi's weapons are in human possession and you are greatly weakened after facing near death at the hands of the enforcer" Belfast sternly reminds me

"You need to stay alive. The real game has yet to begin, my child" Friedrich der Grosse giggles

I refuse to play in anyone's twisted games anymore, but I know someone will drag me whether I like it or not. The Sirens are already difficult to deal with, what's more a Leviathan who has past experiences with Azur Lane from other timelines.

"The Sirens have yet to make their move. You need to wait until they begin interfering" Belfast calmly advises me

"I need to be in Azur Lane. If a fraction of Ghost is unleashed without anyone there to stop them, kansens will die" I clench my fist

"Very well" Belfast immediately agrees

"Are you sure about that? That child will be displeased with your actions" Friedrich der Grosse frowns at her

"I shall take responsibility for the interference"

To think even a maid like Belfast is taking a bit of a neutral stance. I can't remove the possibility that Belfast has her own motives for agreeing, but I don't think she's against Azur Lane. She's still working for the Royal navy, but it's highly possible that something or someone is catching her interest as of the moment.

I don't even know which one is an ally or enemy anymore...


Iris Libre base...

The Iris Libre and Iron Blood aren't on the best of terms in the past. They view my faction as relying on might and conspiring with the Sirens to accomplish what we want. On the other hand, many members of Iron Blood view the religious Iris Libre as weak for clinging to their God and annoying for all the preaching. None of it matters now as everyone is united against the Sirens and whatever grotesque monsters are trespassing our world.

"It's a pleasure to have you as our visitor, Bismarck"

Richelieu, the leader of the Iris Libre side, slides over a freshly poured cup of tea to my side. She has this saintly image from the way she speaks and acts all the time. As leaders, we both have to keep up a dignified and respectable image for everyone else. Honestly, sometimes I find it uneasy to be the strict and serious leader everyone thinks I am. I find it hard to just have a casual conversation without formalities or discussing the next strategies.

"I couldn't reject an invitation from the archbishop after all" I put at least one sugar cube in my cup

"I heard your nation found an odd fossil no one can understand"

"Unfortunately, I cannot discuss it because we have yet to make progress" I immediately inform her

"That's understandable"

"Worry not. I will invite you and the others to visit Iron Blood once we determine it's not another dangerous weapon from the Sirens"

Richelieu seems keenly interested when mentioning the "fossil" before. Well, their faction has all forms of strange relics and fossils from ancient times that remain unknown even to the Northern Parliament.

"However, I can inform you that I don't wish to get near it. Just being near the skull alone sends shivers down my spine...as if a monstrous sea dragon is leering at me" I take a sip of my tea

"A Leviathan..." Richelieu softly speaks

"You know about them?"

"My people faced one in the past. An enormous sea dragon with black metallic scales and can assume a human form"

It's not fully visible but the one I tend to hallucinate is somewhat similar. All I could sense is a large sea dragon with metallic skin staring at me with sinister intent. It's supposed to be dead as nothing but a skull, but I fear a form of life still lingers in its bones.

"There's one living in this timeline. She's a rather unpleasant beast who despises kansens and Sirens equally" Richelieu's voice is restraining her own displeasure

"There are enemies we cannot understand other than the Sirens. I hate to deal with more than one threat at a time"

"Have you heard an unknown kansen called Ghost? No one is certain of her identity and she tends to disappear in a blink of an eye thus her nickname"

"I know very little of that kansen"

Ghost? I have little information since my own subordinates couldn't describe it in proper words. The U-boats aren't admitting it, but they refuse to get near that kansen during her rare appearance.

"Ghost is an aircraft carrier, but no one can distinguish what nation she is from. What's more is that she doesn't even use her rigging. She can passively disintegrate or corrupt metals within her range" Richelieu begins explaining

"A mysterious aircraft carrier, huh. Wait, did you say corrupt?"

"That carrier caught one of Jean Bart's shells with her bare hands. The shell didn't explode and unknown black substance engulfed the shell. It's similar to how she can destroy our limbs just by touching us"

I wonder if it's some sort of acidic property or another corroding factor. From how Richelieu describes it, I can understand why no one from my nation would voluntarily confront it. A single touch from Ghost might now just destroy limbs but the rest of our humanoid body as well.

"That's why you do not ever try to get near Ghost even if you want to study her. She's an unreasonable kansen who attacks without discrimination" Richelieu sternly warns me

"I understand-"

My words come to a stop when the ground beneath us rumbles enough for our tea to spill. Not just once, but three times within the first two minutes.

"...!"

Without even a single word, Richelieu and I immediately push our chairs away to stand up and rush out of the room. While we run in and out of the hallway, a shockwave nearly sends two battleships tumbling down.

"Lord Bismarck, some sort of black thing dropped from the sky!" U-556 immediately runs to me

"Hey, Richelieu! Something just crashed into the sea on a nearby island" Jean Bart runs to Richelieu

The shockwave repeats, and this time all four of us hits the ground. My head nearly hits the ground. Fortunately, I pressed both hands on the ground while U-556 hits her forehead helplessly.

"U-556, tell Roon and Graf Spee to investigate whatever is the cause. I will follow shortly after" I immediately order her

"R-roger!"

The U-boat with a reddened forehead immediately pushes herself up and wastes no time as she drags her feet as fast as possible. U-boats are slower than destroyers, but she could match the Z-class with her emergency running speed.

"Jean Bart, you and the others confront this threat. I will join you soon"

Richelieu does the same while Jean Bart helps her stand up. The shockwave is there again, but I use force on my feet to keep the rest of my body standing. It's not just an ordinary shockwave, but one that's like a warning and making my instincts believe it's a danger different from the Sirens.

Fifteen minutes later...

We hurry into a nearby island where it's used as a resupplying station. I immediately stop when I detect an unseen large ship ahead of me. It's not an aircraft carrier, so this force must belong to a heavy battleship.

"Watch out!"

Richelieu slides far to the side while I do the same a second later because a barrage of shells rains on us. Another wave of the shells goes flying into our direction, forcing us to split even further. I just shield my eyes from the violent splashes all over my direction.

"If you don't want to die, don't go near that place..."

An ominous voice warns us but without any sinister intent. It's from a battleship with suspiciously similar turrets from Iron Blood. The appearance of her rigging is darker and sharper compared to mine, so only the turrets have any resemblance. Speaking of her appearance, her head is protected by a full-faced helmet that I can't even see her eyes.

"You sent your Iron Blood escorts and some templar knights. I made short work of them since they insisted on facing...that thing" The unknown battleship cracks her neck

"Are you with the Sirens too?" Richelieu is immediately on guard

"Don't compare me with them. I'm only here so none of you will die"

The battleship stands firmly, so I know she doesn't intend to reason with us or he swayed to move out of the way. I can't help but constantly wonder why she is similar to a shadow of mine. The only difference is her words are tense and lack any emotion.

"I suggest you move out of the way" Richelieu tries to reason with her

"I cannot do that. A part of Ghost manifested in your waters as part of someone's scheme. If you face her, you'll be consumed"

The battleship opens her right palm and manifests an actual steel sword from unknown black energy. When the handle and hilt form first, she tightly grips it. As the blade straightens and solidifies, she points her new weapon towards her.

"If Ghost is there, then we need to get there. My people are in danger" Richelieu loads her turrets

"I forced the kansens who rushed there and beat the others who refused. No kansens are there now while Ghost is still quietly standing as of the moment"

"Why are you in our way?" I draw my own weapon

"I can't have you die yet. It's nonsense right now, but it will all make sense a year from now"

"I see. Then talking with you is pointless..."

Richelieu and I angle our riggings and aim it at our sole target. Even if there are no present kansens in the area like this unknown battleship claims, the fact she mentions Ghost being present poses a huge threat. There's no other choice right now but to damage her enough for us to pass through.