Tokyo Bay didn't smell like the ocean Kaito remembered. It smelled of metal and harsh chemicals. Towering over the water were the Mega-Docks—massive, robotic machines that made old shipping boats look like scraps of wood.
Kaito Uchida stood on the bridge of the Vindication, his hand resting on a brass throttle that had been polished smooth by his father's palms over three decades. Kaito was twenty-three, with a lean build forged from years of hauling crates and securing lines on these very docks. His black hair was kept short, usually tucked under his father's old captain's cap, and his eyes—slightly tired and deep-set—were a mirror of the man who had raised him.
He wasn't a master mariner, not yet. He was a commerce graduate who had spent his university breaks as his father's right-hand man, balancing the ledgers while his father handled the wheel. But with his father's passing a year ago, the weight of the Uchida legacy—the ships, the docks, and the crushing debt—had fallen solely on his shoulders.
He wore a dark, practical coat and heavy boots, his posture straight and almost military as he looked out over the bow. He was an affable man, usually calm and slow to anger, but there was a controlled precision to his movements. He calculated every word before he spoke it, a trait that had served him well in business school but felt useless against a world that had simply decided his family's 10,000 DWT vessel was too small to exist.
"The tide is dropping," Kaito muttered, his voice low and steady despite the fact that he was essentially talking to a ghost. "If we don't move now, we're stuck in the silt until morning. And I don't have enough fuel to keep the generators running that long."
The Vindication was a "steel relic," 130 meters of empty, echoing hallways. Since the crew had walked out during the bankruptcy, the ship had become a haunted mansion of iron. Kaito was the brain, but he lacked the hands to run the engine room, the cranes, and the bridge simultaneously.
Then, the air in the bridge crystallized.
A blue interface, sharp and hauntingly beautiful, flickered into his field of vision.
[INITIALIZING SOVEREIGN LOGISTICS INTERFACE...]
[HOST DETECTED: KAITO UCHIDA. STATUS: MAX LEVEL (INFINITE). MAGICAL RESERVES: UNLIMITED.]
Kaito didn't flinch. He simply stared at the screen with those tired, calculating eyes. "I didn't order a System."
[A LIGHT, AUDIBLE SIGH ECHOES THROUGH THE DIGITAL SCREEN.]
[NOTIFICATION: Master, your lack of ambition is... noted. I was originally a 'God-Slayer' template designed for multiversal conquest. However, because your primary desire is to trade, I have been forced to reconfigure into a Mercantile System.]
The voice was feminine, robotic, yet carried a distinct tone of "Pridw"—as if it were a high-ranking executive forced to work in a corner store.
Kaito stared at the blue screen, his brow furrowed. As a commerce graduate, he was used to complex user interfaces and logistics software, but this was different. The text didn't just sit on the screen; it pulsed with a faint, rhythmic light that seemed to match his own heartbeat.
"You say you've reconfigured for 'mercantile' purposes," Kaito said, his voice remaining calm despite the impossibility of the situation. "But even if I accept this... 'System,' I'm a trader with nothing to trade. My liquid assets are nearly gone, and I have just enough capital left to buy a few crates of goods—maybe enough to fill my own cabin, but certainly not a 10,000-ton cargo hold."
He gestured vaguely toward the empty bridge and the dark hallways beyond. "And look at this ship. The Vindication is a skeleton. The crew is gone. I was my father's right-hand man, I know the business side, but I can't manually fire the boilers, manage the ballast, and steer all at once. I'm a businessman, not a miracle worker."
[A SLIGHT SIGH ECHOES THROUGH THE SCREENS FACE, SOUNDING REMARKABLY LIKE A BORED CORPORATE EXECUTIVE.]
[NOTIFICATION: Master, you continue to think in three dimensions. I am the Sovereign Logistics Interface. I do not require a 'crew' of biological entities who need sleep and sustenance. I am capable of possessing and operating this entire vessel—from the heavy engine room to the hydraulic cranes.]
[THE SCREEN FLASHES A BRIGHT, IMPATIENT AMBER.]
[I MERELY REQUIRE YOUR CONFIRMATION. DO YOU WISH TO REAWAKEN THIS 'STEEL RELIC' AND COMMENCE OPERATIONS? YES / NO]
Kaito looked at his rough, precise hands, then at the portrait of his father taped near the radar screen. If he said no, he'd lose the dock by Monday. If he said yes, he was stepping into a world that defied every law of economics he had ever studied.
"Yes," Kaito said firmly. "Do it."
The System went silent. For a few seconds, the bridge was deathly still—the only sound was the lap of the Tokyo Bay water against the hull.
Then, the Vindication shivered.
Deep in the bowels of the ship, a low, tectonic hum began. It started as a vibration in the floorplates and grew into a confident roar. Suddenly, every light on the bridge flickered to life, casting a brilliant white glow over the dusty consoles. The analog gauges spun wildly before settling into perfect, green-lit positions.
[NOTICE: THE 'VINDICATION' IS NOW ONLINE. ENGINE PRESSURE: OPTIMAL. FUEL EFFICIENCY: MATHEMATICALLY IMPOSSIBLE. AUTOMATION ACTIVE.]
The ship felt... alive. It no longer felt like a haunted mansion of steel; it felt like an extension of Kaito himself. The hum of the System replaced the silence, and the once-leaking Crane 2 was suddenly enveloped in a faint, shimmering force field.
"Incredible," Kaito whispered, relaxing just a fraction as he felt the power beneath his boots. [NOTICE: I HAVE ALREADY POSSESSED THE VESSEL'S CORE SYSTEMS. I AM CURRENTLY BENDING THE OCEAN'S BUOYANCY PHYSICS TO ENSURE THIS RUSTY BULK CARRIER DOES NOT SCRAPE THE BOTTOM. PLEASE ACCELERATE BEFORE I REGRET MY EXISTENCE.]
Kaito felt a sudden, sharp clarity. The "Skill Instant-Mastery" feature of the System flooded his mind. Suddenly, he didn't just know how to help his father; he knew exactly how the Vindication breathed. He knew the tension in every bolt and the exact pressure in the failing Crane 2 hydraulics.
"Thank you," Kaito said, his hand moving to the throttle with a new, divine precision. "And the Crane 2 leak?"
[...SIGHHH. CRANE 2 IS CURRENTLY REINFORCED BY A DIVINE FORCE FIELD. IT COULD LIFT A MOUNTAIN. STOP WORRYING ABOUT LEAKS AND STEER, CAPTAIN.] Kaito stood on the bridge, his hands hovering over the throttle. The transformation of the Vindication was jarring; the "steel relic" that had felt like a cold, hollow grave just moments ago was now vibrating with a rhythmic, artificial heartbeat. The dull, flickering emergency bulbs had been replaced by a crisp, clinical white light that illuminated every dial and gauge on the console.
A surge of genuine, boyish excitement flared in his chest—a rare break from his usually controlled, calculating demeanor. For a split second, he wasn't a commerce graduate drowning in debt; he was the captain his father had always wanted him to be.
But as the ship began to slide forward, cutting through the abnormally deep water the System was manipulating, Kaito's brain ground the gears of his excitement to a halt.
Wait. I'm heading into a dimensional rift with a ten-thousand-ton vessel that is effectively empty, he thought, his brow furrowing as he stared at the digital manifests on the screen. I'm a merchant, not a tourist. If I show up on the other side of a hole in reality with nothing but empty air in my cargo holds, I'm not trading—I'm just wasting fuel I can't afford.
He cleared his throat, remaining firm even as he asked what felt like a painfully obvious question.
"System," Kaito said, his voice regaining its calm, commanding edge. "We're moving, but shouldn't we stop at a local supplier first? I have a small amount of capital left—enough to buy at least a few pallets of high-demand Earth goods. It feels mathematically... unwise... to initiate a 'profitable projection' when I have zero inventory to offer."
[NOTIFICATION: MASTER, I HAVE ALREADY AUDITED YOUR PATHETIC BANK BALANCE. I HAVE CALCULATED THAT YOUR LIQUID ASSETS ARE SUFFICIENT TO PURCHASE REFINED INDUSTRIAL SALT AND STAINLESS STEEL CUTLERY FROM PIER 14.]
[SALT IS A DIVINE CURRENCY IN THE REALM WE ARE APPROACHING. I HAVE ALREADY AUTHORIZED THE PURCHASE. STEER TO THE LOADING DOCK IMMEDIATELY.]
Kaito smiled faintly, his tired eyes narrowing as he calculated the potential margins. "Salt and steel. Simple, essential, and high-density. Good choice, System."
Kaito steered the Vindication toward Pier 14 with a precision he hadn't known he possessed. The System handled the complex thruster alignments, but Kaito's hands were the ones to finalize the docking. As the automated warehouse systems connected to the ship's side, he watched the massive, System-possessed hydraulic cranes swing into action with terrifying speed.
Usually, a load this size would take a full crew and half a day, Kaito thought, watching a pallet of industrial salt fly through the air, stabilized by a faint, shimmering blue glow. Now, we're doing it in minutes with a ghost..
Once the cargo holds were secured, Kaito returned to the bridge. He adjusted his captain's cap, his posture straight and eyes fixed forward as he guided the 130-meter vessel away from the pier. As they neared the Tokyo breakwater, the scale of the "Mega-Docks" became overwhelming—massive, gleaming towers of steel and glass that made his family's shipping legacy look like a footnote in a history book.
He looked back one last time. The city lights flickered like a dying fire. This was the world that had told him he was obsolete.
"System," Kaito said, his voice calm but commanding. "Initiate the rift.".
[NOTICE: COMMENCING DIMENSIONAL PROJECTION. PLEASE CONCENTRATE, MASTER. I CALCULATE THE VECTORS, BUT YOUR MAGIC PROVIDES THE GATEWAY.]
Kaito closed his eyes, tapping into the infinite magical reserves the System had unlocked. He didn't feel like a sorcerer; he felt like a merchant opening a door. A thick, ethereal mist began to billow from the bow of the Vindication, swallowing the black Tokyo waters. It wasn't just fog; it was a swirling vortex of liquid starlight and potential profit.
The Vindication groaned as it breached the wall of white. Kaito knew the risks—the System was a god-like tool, but even it couldn't fully control the temperamental rifts. There was a 90% chance they would emerge in the target world, and a 10% chance they would be trapped in the void until the System could calculate an escape.
As the mist enveloped the bridge, the hum of the Mega-Docks vanished, replaced by a haunting, cosmic silence.
For Dad, Kaito thought, his hand tightening on the throttle as the ship vanished from Earth.