It was as if time had stopped, and everything went silent. I could even hear my own heartbeat. I think I must have pressed the wrong button to start a conversation. This is definitely bad, i can think of so many scenarios that could happen after this.
"...Commander."
"Y-yes?" I tensed up.
"Can you explain where did you get that from?"
I asked Helena to leave the chamber and turned to the hologram again. "Something happened on the surface of the waters."
"We assume you are aware of what you are dealing with, right Commander?"
"...Yes, a phenomenon that rarely occurs on a shipgirl, but is actually common in every Wisdom Cube."
"Very well, we trust you to keep this secret until it is naturally exposed to the public."
I sighed, it was a tense one, but I managed to deal with it. "Back to the point I want to make, something happened on the surface."
"This surface you're talking about, is it related to the Siren?" The hologram became distorted.
"...You're right, there is something that doesn't sit right with me. The Metamorphosis phenomenon, the Wisdom Cube, and the power source, why do they exist?"
The hologram became quiet for a moment before it spoke. "It's a simple answer, for evolution."
I raised my brow because of the answer they gave, i asked. "And by evolution, does that means we, now are the one in charge of evolution now?"
"Humanity was never in charge of anything, in fact, it's a plague." The answer was very honest.
I nodded as I agreed with their statement. "The phenomenon, is it human-made or nature's way of showing us not to mess with it? Why are we reliant on the energy cube? Is Metamorphosis a step towards dooming the world?"
There was a delay before they answered my question. "....We don't have the answer for that. The Metamorphosis phenomenon is still a rare phenomenon because of its mystery to turn a Wisdom Cube into an Origin Cube. We have the facility for researching it, but it was one of the first facilities to ever fall into Siren hands. As for your former question, its because of the advancement of technology."
'The HQ definitely knows something is up. I might also try searching deeper for more answers with this opportunity they have given.'
"I also heard from Enterprise's fleet. An unknown guest has appeared on the waters, it destroyed a Siren testing field."
"Really? We have never ordered such a thing. Do you think this unknown guest is someone from another faction?"
'They don't know anything regarding the Ashes?' I expected them to know everything but their question shattered my expectation.
"It is most likely a shipgirl, but it doesn't look like it belongs to any faction."
After I said that, there was no response from HQ Naval, and suddenly the connection was terminated. I sighed, knowing that they might begin searching for the mysterious attacker, which was useless since they would never be found unless they revealed themselves using the device they used.
I got out of the chamber and Helena appeared on the side of the door waiting for me outside. "Commander, how was the meeting?"
I shrugged. "I wanted to say that it proceeded smoothly, but the connection was terminated from the other side."
"Did something happen inside?" Helena asked.
"You see, I think HQ has started their action to identify the mysterious perpetrator who destroyed that Siren testing field." I explained as we walked.
Helena silently nodded, knowing that HQ wouldn't stand still when there was an unidentified ship roaming around in the territory.
"We should also need to get going, I will try to arrange a sortie after Saratoga's fleet and Enterprise's back from their commission."
I went back to the dock to retrieve my belongings, but found that everyone had already left. However, there were still the Manjuus that Akashi had brought to help us. I had lost count of how many Manjuus had been produced by that machine, but their number was overwhelmingly immense.
My communicator buzzed. "Commander, Saratoga's fleet has entered the Harbor."
I looked over the horizon and saw five shipgirls in the distance, with Saratoga as the flagship in the middle. I saluted Saratoga, and she returned the salute as a formal greeting.
"Good work out there, Saratoga." I smiled softly.
"We~ are back, Commander~" Saratoga happily sprinted towards me.
I patted her head and asked, "How was the journey?"
"Ehehe~ it was very tiring. When I heard the port was attacked, I was sad and thought I had lost you." Saratoga replied.
I realized my mistake and said. "Sara... I apologize. I forgot to inform you about my departure after you left the port. When the Sakura Empire attacked us, I wasn't at the port."
Saratoga nodded as if she already knew. "Eh? Commander, where did you go?"
I scratched my head and said. "Well, how do i explain this..."
I explained our journey in detail, taking about 10 minutes to describe the process of finding the facility and our encounters along the way. I purposely left out the story about the corpse we had found, as it was a gruesome and sensitive topic.
"Did you find anything, Commander?" Saratoga asked.
I nodded. "The Siren facility we found was not originally a facility."
"You mean it was something else before it became a Siren facility?" Saratoga asked.
"...Yes" I confirmed.
I searched for the picture in my pocket and handed it to Saratoga. She tried to scrutinize the picture, but didn't find anything unusual about it.
"Check out the background." I said, pointing at the picture behind the father and daughter. In the distance, there was a small white vertical line, but it was actually something big because of its towering structure.
"A white tower, isn't that what happened in the Dragon Empery and Northern Parliament?" Saratoga raised her brow.
"That's right." I nodded. "My only theory at the moment is that the White Tower is the source of why the island transformed into Siren's facility. The Mirror Sea might have formed when it appeared, and it might be what the Siren are currently experimenting with."
'This White Tower never existed in the game. The timeline is also different. Bismarck hasn't sunk Hood yet, but the Sakura Empire is already on the move'
"Commander, were the father and daughter in the picture victims of the Siren attack?" Saratoga asked.
I looked at Saratoga without saying a word. Looking back at their corpses was a depressing and traumatic experience.
Saratoga immediately caught on to what I was hinting at and lowered her head. I pulled her close to my chest.
"I'm sorry, Saratoga. I may not be the best comfort, but let's just pray for the deceased to find peace."
The same thing happened in my former world—war and death—a pair that couldn't be separated wherever it went. I just hoped to live peacefully in this world after we reached the end of the line.
Days after that, Enterprise arrived to the port, it was time to open the curtain for my next plan.
