The Divine Throne of Shipgirls

[Bonus Chapter]

"There's one thing that doesn't add up," said Takeyama, still trying to defend Hikaru. "Commander Hikaru and his shipgirls were on deck almost the entire time. I can't imagine when they would've had the chance to do anything."

Shun shot back, firm and cold: "Could you have imagined Abyssal Barbarossa, Abyssal Bismarck, and Abyssal Tirpitz, along with hundreds of thousands of Abyssal forces, being utterly defeated by Hikaru's Tirpitz? They fought an entire battle, and she didn't even get scratched. Could you have imagined that beforehand?!"

Takeyama's face flushed deep red. He couldn't argue with that. "That… that's different in nature."

Shun was determined to pin the blame on Hikaru. That way, even if he'd made an enemy of him, Hikaru would be too busy dealing with this mess—possibly even facing arrest—to retaliate.

Of course, arresting Hikaru was impossible as long as Tirpitz was at his side. But Shun hoped that, when the time came for Hikaru to resist and flee, maybe—just maybe—he'd get lucky and strike him down in the chaos.

He was gambling with his life.

"Commander Wakayama, you left out one final point," said Shun, glancing admiringly at Wakayama like never before. Normally, he couldn't stand the guy. "What's the third suspicious detail about this so-called Commander Hikaru?"

Wakayama curled down his last finger, his lips twisting in a sneer as he cast a scornful glance over the assembled Commanders.

"It's like the lice on a bald man's head—completely obvious. And yet everyone pretends they don't see it, don't hear it. Not just one or two people—all of you."

Marshal Heizou grunted heavily. "Spit it out!"

"Marshal," Wakayama said, "you're one of them too. No offense meant. I just want to ask:"

He pointed directly at Hikaru.

"Who among you knows where this guy actually came from? Who can explain why his shipgirls are so absurdly powerful? Based on academy construction records, the shipgirl who's been with him the longest hasn't even been active for half a year. And Tirpitz? She was just recently constructed. Isn't his background even more baffling than the disappearance of Commander Noboru?"

At those words, even Yamato—who had fiercely defended Hikaru till now—looked hesitant. Let alone the others.

This was the one question no one could ignore. The more they thought about it, the more suspicious it seemed.

Every shipgirl begins at level 1, like a newborn baby. It takes time, training, and combat to grow strong.

Yet every one of Hikaru's shipgirls was outrageously high-level—not only that, they came fully equipped with god-tier gear. It was like every other Commander was giving birth to normal kids, while Hikaru, complete with divine blessings and a full set of myth-grade equipment.

And Hikaru's personal history was just as unbelievable. Just half a year ago, he was a high school student, cramming for university entrance exams. One season later, he was saving the world? How did that make any sense?

All these doubts had been buried in the minds of the Commanders for some time, but out of respect for Hikaru's heroism, no one had dared speak them aloud. At most, they'd ask sideways questions about his training methods, or how he raised such powerful shipgirls—but never directly. They were afraid of offending him.

But now that Wakayama had said it aloud, the crowd couldn't hold back. One by one, the Commanders began demanding that Hikaru explain himself.

They even began surrounding him, banking on the assumption that he wouldn't dare retaliate—not against so many.

Representative Murong stood at the side, arms crossed, her expression grim. Her accompanying cameramen and reporters had already had their devices confiscated—no cameras, no recorders. Today's events must not be leaked.

After all, the defensive victory was just a few days old. If a scandal erupted around the man hailed as its greatest hero, it would be disastrous. Clearly, they would have to suppress all discussion of the matter and handle it with extreme discretion.

Fleet Admiral Gorou squinted. He could intervene at any time—and his shipgirl, Indiana, was already urging him to step in.

Indiana's face was anxious. "We shipgirls can sense what's in people's hearts. Hikaru holds no malice at all. Gorou, are you seriously still upset that he didn't save Inazuma?"

Inazuma was Gorou's destroyer-class shipgirl. She had attempted a special tactic to wound Abyssal Barbarossa but failed—and died in the process.

Could it be that Gorou was still secretly blaming Hikaru for not ordering Tirpitz to act sooner?

[End of Chapter]

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