"Alright, alright, everyone, pack up your things—we're going home~!"
A few days later, at dawn.
As the sun rose over the space station's platform, Grey's crisp voice echoed throughout the observation post.
"Life Sciences Department, bring all Honkai Beast samples. Once we're back, we'll begin large-scale breeding and DNA matching."
"Physics and Engineering Departments, leave some personnel behind to continue monitoring and simulating the development of the Honkai world."
"The Imaginary Tree research group will remain here too—after all, we don't have a Tree and Sea back home…"
The little girls of the Research Division bustled about in tense but orderly withdrawal.
Hundreds of Honkai Beasts were herded into cages by Angeloids, then ferried one shuttle at a time into the ship.
Countless experiment reports and samples were transferred along as well.
As for those researching local technologies—such as analyzing and copying the Divine Keys, modifying the Cosmic Juggernaut, or observing the Imaginary Tree—they would remain at the space station for now.
Their mission: to continue probing Honkai energy and the Sea of Quanta.
"Come on, come on. This place is too small. Tsk, just wait till you see what a real metropolis looks like."
Shipgirls and dragon maidens urged the companions they had recruited from the Honkai world.
"Eh? We're going to the capital of the Starsea Empire?"
Kallen, Yae Sakura, Yae Rin, even Cangxuan and Dan Zhu looked bewildered.
They often heard the shipgirls boast about their homeland, but they had only been living on the space station recently.
—To be fair, the natives thought the space station was already amazing.
Spacious, futuristic, filled with high-tech marvels they had never seen.
"This is just a casual outpost we built, okay?! Barely anything! It doesn't even let us stretch our wings."
Tohru clicked her tongue.
"Is the Starsea Empire's capital bigger than Tokyo?"
"How about compared to Schicksal's HQ?"
"What about the Commander's residence—how does it compare to the Ming Emperor's palace?"
The locals asked a series of ridiculous questions.
"Use your imagination! Just wait and see!!!"
With nanobots urging them on, everyone packed their luggage quickly.
They joined the evacuation teams and boarded the bridge of the Eternal Snowfall.
Hoo—
In the main control room, Fu Hua turned back for one last look at the blue planet behind them.
In the 15th century, most of Earth was still in a feudal era.
Little did its people know that their every move was being monitored from orbit by a massive space station.
The Honkai-1 Space Station would continue to watch over this world, build a complete mathematical model, simulate and correct its future, and observe the Imaginary Tree and the Sea of Quanta.
On the moon, an outpost was also under construction. That portion of "God" sealed by Dr. Mei was, in the eyes of the Starsea Empire, nothing more than a slightly interesting research material.
So sooner or later, its power would be extracted.
"The next time we come here… might be when we return to the past."
Fu Hua murmured.
"Or maybe when we cross into the future."
Setsuna replied with a smile.
"No need to be so sentimental. If you want to visit, just use the teleport anchors. But don't cause large distortions in the worldline—that'll only make extra work for the Research Division."
"Apart from saving the Previous Era, I have no plans to return here."
Fu Hua shook her head.
She had no special attachment to life here. The immortal's duty was to guard Shenzhou, to fight the Honkai, never to meddle in worldly affairs.
Even though the Ming Dynasty was panicking over the disappearance of the Immortal Phoenix and the Six Disciples of Taixuan, with Ma Feima left dumbfounded on Mount Taixuan with nothing to do—
She couldn't care less.
She and Setsuna had more important tasks ahead.
With Cangxuan, Dan Zhu, and Little Fuxi—the few she cared about—by her side, that was enough.
Boom!!!—
Soon.
With the weightless disorientation of spatial distortion, followed by a brief daze—
The Eternal Snowfall passed through the teleport anchor.
They arrived back in their own universe.
Still the solar system. Still Earth orbit.
But with a single glance, everyone was stunned.
This universe was nothing like the empty desolation of the Honkai world.
Everywhere, spacecraft trailed fiery exhaust as they traveled.
Some shuttled between Earth and the moon, others ran supplies to Venus, Mars, solar system starbases, and even more distant places.
It was bustling with life.
"Commander is back, buli!"
The passing Bulin fleets spotted the Eternal Snowfall and cheerfully hailed it.
Some even maneuvered their ships around the bridge in greeting.
On the lunar surface stood a massive space city. The gray-white regolith had been completely replaced by alloy ground plating.
The architecture was futuristic and majestic, with many anti-gravity structures floating impossibly in the air or in orbit.
Angeloids and Bulins bustled about, operating unfamiliar equipment.
If Setsuna hadn't reminded them, many wouldn't have even recognized it as the moon.
"This is the Lunar Research Center," Kayo Senju explained when she saw Fu Hua's puzzled look.
"To meet the Starsea Empire's research needs, we transformed the moon into a research planet. From now on, most experiments will be carried out here."
"Wait, when I went with the Commander to the Honkai world, the lunar research city wasn't nearly this big, was it?"
"Uh… the Bulins and Angeloids build too fast. I can't even find my own lab anymore…"
The little girl scratched her head, realizing that after one trip away, even the research director couldn't find her home.
"..."
"Research… planet?…"
Fu Hua murmured at the astonishing concept.
"Of course. We're also building agricultural planets and industrial planets. I'll take you to see them when there's time."
Buzz—
The Juggernaut switched into anti-gravity mode, hovering outside Earth's orbit.
The group transferred to a smaller shuttle and slowly descended into the atmosphere.
Breaking through the thick cloud layers, they were greeted by an immense and unimaginable megacity.
Constantinople stretched for thousands of kilometers. Its main avenues alone were wide enough for several small spacecraft and shuttles to park side by side.
Unlike pre-space era cities, interstellar civilization cities were three-dimensional.
With the aid of gravity technology, many buildings floated high in the sky, small craft darting among them in a spectacle that was both magical and grand.
On the ground bustled shipgirls, Bulins, and little girls, while overhead Angeloids soared past on powerful wings.
In the distance at Golden Horn Bay, the ports of Azure Lane, Siren, Arpeggio, and Kancolle shipgirls stood tall.
On the sea, shipgirls played and splashed.
When they saw shuttles descending from the Eternal Snowfall, shipgirls swarmed out of the ports, running across the waves toward them.
"Commander! Commander is back!!!"
From Chaldea's base, Heroic Spirits peeked out, joining the shipgirls and Spirits in welcoming Setsuna.
"Uh? It's all girls here?"
Fu Hua and Senti looked around.
Whether it was little girls strolling the streets, Heroic Spirits, Spirits, shipgirls running over the sea, or Angeloids soaring in the sky—
They were all girls.
High-quality ones, of many races.
Humans, magical beings, mechanical beings, and more.
"This is a historical legacy. It just became tradition afterward."
The accompanying shipgirls shrugged.
The Harbor never accepted anyone except the Commander, so with shipgirls forming the foundation, Setsuna naturally inherited that principle.
Over time, with countless Bulins and Angeloids assisting, the Starsea Empire had become something like a machine empire.
"Incredible…"
Staring at the flourishing capital, Fu Hua and the companions from the Honkai world felt as though they had stepped into the future.
They carefully followed the others down the ramp, looking left and right in awe.
Fu Hua and Cangxuan and Dan Zhu had been mentally prepared, so they remained steady. But Kallen, Yae Sakura, Yae Rin, Jilin, and the other true natives were so shocked they couldn't close their mouths.
They trailed after Setsuna for a long while, dazed and speechless.
Even when they finally sat in the administrative center, their expressions remained blank.
"Ahem, from now on, you'll all live here. I'll arrange residences for you."
Setsuna sat back in his familiar seat and looked at everyone.
"Welcome to the Space Age."
...
"Whoa…"
Walking through the bustling commercial district of the capital, everyone was dazzled.
Fu Hua held onto Setsuna's arm, while little Griseo clutched at the corner of his clothes.
Behind them followed Kallen, Yae Sakura, Yae Rin, Cangxuan, Dan Zhu, and others.
Under Setsuna and the shipgirls' guidance, they toured the capital city where they would now live.
Even Fu Hua, who had once seen the peak of the Previous Era's glory, felt overwhelmed by the sights.
Yae Sakura and Yae Rin, once shrine maidens from an island fishing village, found themselves suddenly thrust into the capital of an interstellar empire and looked a little panicked.
The sisters held hands, clutching at Nagato as if afraid of getting lost.
Ji Lin's case was even more extreme. She had come from a tribal era around 2000 BCE and in one step leapt into the interstellar age.
From a world that hadn't even mastered iron, she now faced FTL ships, starbases, and anti-gravity technology.
Even though she had taken crash courses aboard the space station recently, seeing the capital firsthand still made her constantly cry out: What's this? And this? And this again?!—a string of soul-level questions.
"Amazing. How long did it take to build this city?"
Fu Hua asked as she looked around curiously.
"A few years. The beginning was tough, but once we had enough Bulins and vassal worlds, the pace sped up quickly."
Setsuna replied after thinking for a moment.
"A miracle…"
Cangxuan and Dan Zhu sighed sincerely.
They had witnessed firsthand, during the Project EMBER, how hard it was to guide a civilization's growth.
Setsuna had taken mere years to traverse what normally required millennia of progress. It was absurd.
This was a heaven-on-earth forged from the technologies and magics of multiple worlds.
The commercial district was filled with goods from across the universes, dazzling in their variety.
"Here, armor crafted from Danger Beasts of the Akame ga Kill world—excellent defense, able to withstand Shingu-level attacks…"
"These are drops from the Goblin Slayer world, enchantments listed right on them…"
"These are Girls und Panzer replica tanks—Panzer IV H, Tiger P, IS-2, Centurion, all identical to the originals in configuration…"
An Angeloid eagerly introduced the items to them.
From small starships to tanks, magical equipment, daily goods, and foodstuffs—everything was here.
Aside from weapons deemed too hazardous or combat starships, nearly anything one could imagine could be found.
The newcomers' eyes spun with wonder.
"Um…"
They didn't dare to even look at shuttles or high-end magic items.
Yae Sakura and Yae Rin whispered together, then timidly placed a few copper coins on a counter and pointed at some candy.
"Um… how much for this?"
"Didn't school teach you? Everything here is free to use. If you like something, just take it."
Setsuna patted Yae Sakura on the head.
"Eh?"
Like everyone who first came to the capital, they were shocked by such utopian living.
"Here… nothing costs money?"
"We can eat even without working?"
Yae Rin looked up, astonished.
"Of course. But don't waste anything. Just keep studying at school."
Setsuna ruffled her hair too.
After giving the newcomers a tour of the capital, Setsuna led them to a residential district.
With a gesture, Richelieu handed out several keycards.
"Here, household Angeloids will handle daily life. If you need anything else, come to me or the Commander."
The secretary shipgirl briskly assigned the houses.
"I'll live with you."
Fu Hua looked straight at Setsuna and spoke bluntly.
This drew glances from Lin Zhaoyu, Qin Suyi, and others.
"Cough, cough—"
Cangxuan nearly choked.
"First, the Commander isn't yours alone—there's a line, you know."
"Second, everyone needs their own place to live. That's the rule here."
The shipgirls patiently explained the local rules to the immortal.
"Alright."
Fu Hua accepted the arrangement with some regret.
Griseo quietly followed behind, staring at the diverse people of the capital. In her mind, countless new colors began to bloom.
"Commander, I'd like to live somewhere higher."
"It'll be easier to observe everything. I… want to paint a picture of the capital."
Little Griseo tugged at Setsuna, her voice airy and dreamlike.
"Of course."
Setsuna scooped up the little girl and pointed to the highest part of the administrative center.
"You'll stay up there with Nagato and Yukikaze, not far from me."
"Has the Commander become a lolicon…"
Some of the shipgirls curiously studied little Griseo.
She looked a bit absentminded, dressed in a white one-piece dress accented with blue, her sky-blue ponytail trailing down her back—adorable with a touch of silly charm.
"Huff huff, a new little loli…"
One Royal shipgirl in a leather jacket muttered, only to be immediately arrested by Bismarck.
Just after finishing the housing arrangements for the newcomers,
Setsuna was considering his next move when suddenly—
"Commander!!! Finally, you're back!!"
A familiar voice rang out from the distance.
Orange hair, a white coat, black skirt, and black tights—Gudako sprinted over.
She launched herself straight into Setsuna.
"Wow, you went off to have fun in a new world without me—and brought back even more girls?!"
"Little loli! And, and… tsk, an immortal?"
Ritsuka Fujimaru's eyes swept over Little Cangxuan, Griseo, and Fu Hua.
At a glance, she could tell the immortal was different from the others.
Whether in her bearing or her attire, she resembled immortals from xianxia novels.
"Why is the immortal so flat?"
The thought popped into Gudako's head, though since they weren't close, she didn't dare voice it.
Bonk—
Setsuna flicked her forehead, then briefly introduced them all.
"What about the task I gave you?"
He remembered sending Gudako's team to clear the Fourth Singularity while he slipped away to the Saga of the Shattered Swords world.
"Mission accomplished perfectly!"
The embodiment of Humanity's Evil thumped her chest proudly.
"We solved the Singularity problem—and brought back Heroic Spirits too."
"Mm, they're contracted with me, but that's fine, right? What's mine is yours anyway."
"No problem. They're all the same."
Setsuna didn't care about such details.
"It was just so boring though."
Gudako narrowed her eyes.
"Next time, please send weaker teammates with me. This time, what kind of lineup did you stick me with??!"
"A few Tier 5 shipgirls, and Elma!! A half-dragon demigoddess!!"
"The enemies either got blown away by shipgirl artillery or skewered by Elma's trident. I didn't even get to use my Gundam magic—I just tagged along watching the show!!"
"..."
"I just didn't want you getting into danger…"
Setsuna pinched her cheek.
"Oh, and after we wrapped things up in London, some lunatic calling himself Solomon showed up. The shipgirls and dragon maidens beat him down until he vanished."
"Tsk tsk, he could take a hit, but orbital bombardment was too much. The guy had no way to counter starships."
Thinking about it, Gudako added:
"Other than that, no real surprises. Dr. Roman did look weird when he heard the name Solomon though."
"Alright then…"
Setsuna figured as long as the Singularity was resolved, the rest didn't matter much.
They had only just started talking again when—
Boom—
Rumble!!!
From the distant training grounds of the capital, a golden cross shot into the sky, the very ground trembling beneath it.
"What's this? The Knight King's Noble Phantasm? What is she doing?"
Shipgirls looked on in confusion.
Even in sparring, it was rare for someone to unleash a Noble Phantasm.
"Fighting."
Gudako spread her hands.
"Did you forget which Heroic Spirits came from the Fourth Singularity?"
"Tamamo-no-Mae, Jack, Frankenstein… and Mordred. We met her in the First Singularity—she was summoned by Jeanne Alter."
"She got one-shotted by the Ahoge King with the curry stick back then. This time, when she heard Artoria was here, she insisted on coming."
"And now… she and the King are doing the whole fatherly kindness, filial children thing, yeah."
"…That works."
Setsuna figured the Heroic Spirit base was going to get lively.
But Fu Hua, Cangxuan, and the others were puzzled.
"Knight King? The Knight King of Britain? You mean King Arthur? And Mordred is one of the Knights of the Round Table?"
"Wait—if they're father and son, then why are both of them girls?!"
The group fell into logical chaos.
"..."
"That's just how the Type-Moon world works. You'll get used to it."
—
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