Left with no choice, Raize quickly entered the shipgirls' link network group and began explaining.
[Raize]: @All Shipgirls. Laffey being top-tier isn't that complicated. At the beginning, I only had one wisdom cube and no construction dock. I was extremely eager for a shipgirl to appear, so Laffey's cube was always carried on me and nurtured with my power.
[Raize]: After the Manjuu and I finished building the construction dock, I couldn't wait to let Laffey be born. That's why she was top-tier. Later, once wisdom cubes were abundant, I simply wanted all of you to be born first. As for power, it can be accumulated step by step.
[Raize]: @Hammann @San Diego. If you feel it's unfair, as your Commander I won't refuse to guide you. Honestly, at your current rate of growth, with my technical assistance, reaching Laffey's level would take less than a few months.
Raize finished all this in one go, and the previously noisy chat fell silent for a few seconds.
After seeing Raize's explanation, the other destroyer shipgirls also stopped chasing Laffey around their small world.
Roon, whose black-and-red spiritual pressure was burning and terrifying, clicked her tongue in displeasure after reading Raize's explanation, but ultimately withdrew her unleashed power.
[Javelin]: Ehehe~ Commander himself captured! So that's why Laffey-chan is special. Waaa… Commander, after your explanation I'm even more envious. Why wasn't I the initial shipgirl?
[Ayanami]: We always see the Commander's avatars in the port. I wonder what the Commander's true body is doing.
[Prinz Eugen]: I'm currently by one of the Commander's avatars, asking about what happened. I didn't expect the Commander's true body to appear directly—what a pleasant surprise~.
[Friedrich der Große]: Oh~ my child, what are you doing now? Would it be convenient to have a detailed talk with me?.
[Raize]: …Training, gaming, handling company affairs, and squeezing in time to go to school. A while ago I just fought with some bugs from another world.
[Roon]: Bugs? You mean the Commander's enemies, right? Why didn't you let us sortie?
[Bismarck]: Commander, we are your shipgirls. One of the meanings of growing stronger is to fight for you. If there's combat, please inform us!
[Monarch]: Commander, I'm a research shipgirl cultivated by your own hands. Fighting for you is the best return. This body was born because of you; dying in battle for you is only natural.
[Ding! Raize has uploaded a memory video file. Please review.]
This memory file allowed the shipgirls to view the battle from a third-person perspective. Seeing how eager the shipgirls were to deploy, Raize didn't hide or conceal anything—after all, they were all his own people.
The shipgirls were impatient to go to the battlefield. Raize wouldn't stop them, but shipgirls who had not yet fully grown were another matter.
Letting them directly see how powerful the enemy was posed no problem—let them judge for themselves whether they could intervene in such a level of battle.
[Raize]: …That kind of enemy isn't something you can deal with right now. I've never treated you as flowers in a greenhouse. I might hesitate with very young shipgirls, but for you, I trust and expect a great deal. When it's time to fight, I won't hesitate to use you.
[Cygnet]: So scary… Has the Commander always been facing enemies like that alone?
[Cheshire]: …Darling, I'll definitely work even harder to become stronger. Standing by your side won't be Laffey alone.
[Friedrich der Große]: Undead, the power of death, beings from another world… they are indeed terrifyingly strong. Facing the gaze and the deathly aura emitted by that skeleton, I truly felt as if I were confronting death itself.
[Roon]: Hehe~ It really is a powerful enemy. Even if we all went together, we wouldn't be a match. But the Commander's murderous aura during battle—I really like it. The scent of iron and blood is so intense…
[Prinz Eugen]: Hehe~ Indeed. The Commander unexpectedly has great affinity with us Iron Blood shipgirls. Commander~ seeing you fight like that made me a little infatuated~
[Ayanami]: The Commander is clearly very gentle and takes good care of every shipgirl. I didn't expect such a stark contrast in battle. It's a bit scary, but Ayanami doesn't dislike it.
[Bismarck]: Scary? That's exactly how it should be. To enemies, one should be utterly ruthless and aim to kill at every turn!
The other shipgirls carefully observed the skeleton fighting Raize and acknowledged how powerful the opponent was.
But the Iron Blood shipgirls were unfazed. Not only were they not scared, they instead expressed approval of the Commander's ferocious demeanor in battle.
Only a man like Raize was suited to be the commander of their Iron Blood shipgirls.
At present, the Iron Blood shipgirls' favorability toward Raize increased somewhat, and they also felt a deep sense of inadequacy regarding their own strength.
The joy from the powerful strength they had gained from Raize dissipated considerably.
This was especially true for shipgirls like Roon, Friedrich der Große, and Bismarck, who pursued strength intensely.
Roon wanted to personally experience that level of slaughter. Friedrich der Große, who treated Raize like her own child, could not tolerate lacking the power to protect him.
As for the militaristic Bismarck, while recognizing her own shortcomings, she also understood that she was not yet qualified to intervene in Raize's battles—something she, as a leader, could not tolerate.
She had become stronger, but it was still not enough for Raize.
---
Three in the morning.
After finishing his exchanges with the shipgirls, Laffey changed into relatively cool sleepwear under Raize's deliberately averted gaze. The bunny-ear headband was removed, and her snow-white twin ponytails fell smoothly down her back.
Covered only by a thin blanket, Laffey curled up like a child and drifted into sleep.
Raize, at her side, turned off the desk lamp and the other lights in the room, muted all sounds, and did not disturb her rest.
[Dies Irae, buffer progress: 89%.]
[Kajiri Kamui Kagura, buffer progress: 67%.]
Raize sat at his computer desk and casually picked up a rainbow pudding from the plate, tossing it into his mouth.
Savoring the supreme delicacy on his tongue, Raize narrowed his eyes slightly. While progressing through the game, he cast a satisfied glance at the system projection directory visible only to him.
Thanks to his series of operations, the popularity of these two games had fully spread. At the current buffer rate, it wouldn't take long to unlock a large new game.
Looking at the gradually lighting icon of Dies Irae, Raize roughly estimated that at this speed, it would be fully unlocked by noon tomorrow.
However, at this moment, he could first tackle the newly unlocked daily game.
[The Incredible Hulk (2008)]
Even if one had never played it, they would surely know the famous Hulk.
That's right—this game was based on the 2008 movie adaptation, similar to the previous Iron Man game.
It was a game filled with raw violence, somewhat akin to Prototype. Aside from completing required missions, players could wreak havoc freely across the map.
The only limitation was that you still couldn't enter the water.
After completing this game, Raize should obtain something quite satisfactory. If he could gain the Hulk's abilities, his power would rise to a new level.
Especially that trait of becoming stronger the angrier one gets—it would be perfect. As for the side effect of losing reason in that enraged state and becoming a monster that can't distinguish friend from foe…
Raize believed that his Kirby wouldn't be dominated by such power. Just how overbearing Kirby's power was—he knew that best since acquiring it.
But just as he was fully immersed in the game, his ears twitched slightly, catching a faint sound.
It was the sound of slippers softly moving across the floor.
As for who it was—
He first ruled out Eu, then Asia. The footsteps outside the door were very light; only Haruna and Sei fit the weight.