The Divine Throne of Shipgirls

Before now, Representative Murong had only read through the official briefing: who fought, who was killed, then finally that Tirpitz appeared and slew the Abyssal Monitor and Barbarossa.

She hadn't imagined that beneath that cold, clinical report was such a tangled story.

If this version of events was true, then even she didn't know what to say. In a moment of despair and loss, with comrades falling all around them, Hikaru still had the mood to "play the meme"? That was deeply inappropriate—if not outright heartless.

Even she felt it was too much.

But Wakayama wasn't finished yet.

"If it had only been that first incident, perhaps it could still be explained—as a failure to aid one's allies in crisis. A sin, yes, but not unforgivable. The real issue lies in what followed. Because of Commander Hikaru's inaction, Commander Noboru's South Dakota was sunk. Noboru held a grudge. And now—Noboru has vanished.

"I won't argue right or wrong. I'll just ask this: if Hikaru didn't order his shipgirls to do it, then his shipgirls must have noticed something. Don't try to claim otherwise. Tirpitz isn't just some ordinary shipgirl. She's the one who decapitated Abyssal Barbarossa and slaughtered tens of thousands of Abyssal shipgirls by herself. Who could possibly escape her detection?"

That argument wasn't just emotional—it was logical. Even Hikaru himself found it hard to argue.

Why? Because on this entire ship, no shipgirl was stronger than his. Not "a little stronger"—far stronger. Based on what Tirpitz and Lexington did in the battle against Abyssal Barbarossa, the two of them could easily wipe out everyone aboard the Silent Horizon and the entire escort fleet, Commanders and shipgirls included.

What the Commanders and Marshals here didn't know was that Tirpitz had survived that three-flagship siege thanks to Hikaru's absurd use of pay-to-win enhancements—revive buffs, no-death lockouts, the works. He'd bought her the power to survive.

So it made perfect sense for them to suspect Hikaru.

Even Yamato seemed a little shaken. She tugged at Hikaru's arm and said, "Don't just stand there smirking—say something! I'm sure your Tirpitz noticed something. Tell us! Otherwise this misunderstanding might really get you killed!"

Hikaru looked at Tirpitz.

She had already risen from his arms. Her long hair fluttered even in the still air, her presence surging with overwhelming pressure as if bracing for battle.

But when she met Hikaru's questioning gaze, she merely shook her head gently—indicating she hadn't noticed anything.

Though Hikaru trusted her completely, he still looked to Lexington for confirmation.

The lady's expression was stormy. Behind her, her full arsenal of six-star carrier aircraft—B-25s (Doolittle Squadron), F9F "Black Cats," and Banshees—lined up in formation. Fewer than a hundred planes in total, yet their presence bore down like a mountain on everyone present.

And why not? Lexington had, under full public scrutiny, commanded these planes to bomb tens of thousands of Abyssal shipgirls to oblivion. She was a fearsome force.

If it were just Tirpitz, people might suspect she allowed Noboru to fall out of malice or negligence. But Lexington? She would never let something like that slide—Hikaru trusted her utterly.

Hikaru spread his hands. "My shipgirls didn't notice anything."

But not everyone was buying it.

Shun jumped out, shouting, "That's the guilty conscience talking! You really think we're dumb enough to fall for this playacting?"

"Commander Shun speaks reasonably," Wakayama added, surprisingly siding with his usual rival. "Let me ask everyone here—do you truly believe that the peerless ghost-god Tirpitz wouldn't detect an assassin? Even injured, Commander Noboru wasn't defenseless. No matter how skilled the attacker, even a fully leveled shipgirl wouldn't be able to pull this off without leaving a single trace."

Those words practically nailed the coffin shut—concluding that Commander Noboru had indeed been assassinated, and his body disposed of.

To be honest, Hikaru couldn't even deny it. Because the idea of someone secretly transporting—not one, but three living people—without anyone noticing was just too far-fetched. Especially when Tirpitz and Lexington had detected nothing.

Murder followed by disposal—it was a perfectly logical theory.

But when all that logic pointed directly at him...

It wasn't a good place to be.

[End of Chapter]

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