Wooo—
After distributing the equipment, Setsuna piloted the Eternal Snowfall, bringing the shipgirls to the Starbase.
Located 150 million kilometers from Earth, this space kingdom was constructed above the surface of the sun.
Surrounded in every direction by endless stars, with a blazing star beneath their feet.
After descending from the docking platform, Setsuna noticed the number of people at the Starbase had increased since his last visit.
There were now over ten thousand science lolis and hundreds of thousands of angeloids and Bulins researching space technology here.
Projects included FTL tech, starship assembly, colossus-class weaponry, and more.
A blonde-haired, white-dressed little girl came forward to greet Setsuna.
Midori Fuse.
The smartest of the science lolis and the chief scientist here, entrusted with high hopes by Setsuna.
Standing beside her were Hood, Prince of Wales, and Vanguard—shipgirls responsible for daily care of the lolis and overseeing the construction of the Starbase.
Upon seeing Setsuna, the accompanying lolis swarmed around him, shouting "Onii-chan! Onii-chan!"
"How's life on the Starbase?"
Setsuna patted the girls' heads and asked with a smile.
"Hmm... No problems with food, clothing, housing, or transport. It's just that we're so far from Earth, it gets lonely sometimes. The upside is that it's super convenient for stargazing at night."
One of the shipgirls—a golden-haired, blue-eyed knight in armor—replied.
Led by Vanguard and the other stationed shipgirls, Setsuna toured the Starbase.
Compared to the last time, the place had become even more developed.
With energy shields in place, they had even started planting greenery by the roadsides.
Osmanthus and cherry blossom trees were being cultivated.
There were even several parks as large as the Capital's main plaza, where lolis and Bulins could stroll and relax.
If one didn't look up to see the vast, dark space, it would be hard to believe they were on the surface of the sun.
In the distance, Bulin fleets came and went, transporting resources mined from other planets in the solar system to support the Starbase's development.
"In terms of food, we have hydroponic agriculture here. Most vegetables and fruits are self-sustained, and since angeloids don't need to eat, consumption isn't very high."
"As for living conditions... with the Bulins, anything is possible."
Setsuna also stopped by the shipgirls' residential quarters. Inside the main complex, there were even indoor hot springs and other luxuries.
Clearly, there was no need to worry about them suffering or lacking.
Eventually, they arrived at the most important structure of the Starbase:
The Research Facility.
This facility was over ten times larger than the one in the capital, taking up a third of the Starbase's area.
In space, they could research technologies impossible to develop on Earth.
On the open landing zones for starships, groups of science lolis and Bulins were conducting experiments.
"FTL Engine Test #653, commencing."
With the command of a short-haired lead loli—
Wooo—
A small unmanned spaceship on the tarmac emitted a blue glow from its thrusters and slowly ascended.
Then suddenly accelerated, flying toward the stars.
Its speed far surpassed anything Setsuna had ever seen—faster than the Eternal Snowfall or any shipgirl.
In less than a second, it vanished from sight.
"Current speed: 1% of light speed... 12%... initiating warp engine!"
The science lolis huddled over a holographic interface, nervously monitoring the data.
"Ship has reached near-light speed! Traveling at light speed!"
"Run time: 3 seconds... 4... 5 seconds..."
"Engine overload!!! Spatial distortion detected!! Abort light-speed travel!!"
Boom—
A small explosion appeared at the far end of the starfield.
The lolis scratched their heads and sighed in frustration.
They immediately pulled out a portable terminal and began analyzing a mountain of parameters.
"Eh? It lasted a fifth of a second longer than last time. Something's still not quite right..."
"Quick, send the Bulins to recover the ship! Hurry, or the wreckage will be pulled into Jupiter's gravity well."
"A light-speed ship?!"
Richelieu, Yat Sen, Taihou, and the other shipgirls were all stunned.
Traveling at 300,000 kilometers per second was a fundamental barrier for spacecraft in classical physics—essentially impossible to achieve.
Even now, the fastest they could reach was around 1-2% of light speed.
Yet these lolis were already working on things that defied common sense.
"Yes. Not just a light-speed ship—we're trying to exceed it."
Midori Fuse nodded.
"This project is actually a bit simpler than expected. Since we don't have manufacturing or engineering limitations, we just need to finalize the theory and blueprints. The Bulins will handle the rest."
In the shipyard, they saw a huge number of color Bulins holding neko hammers and holographic blueprints, busily hammering away at the ships.
Each vessel had a number painted on it.
The one that exploded just now was #653. Nearby were #654, #655, #656, and so on...
"?"
"They can build light-speed engines too?!"
The shipgirls blinked in disbelief. Thinking back to all the times they had the Bulins doing basic construction work now felt like a waste of talent.
"We don't know either. We just design the blueprints. If the color Bulins say it's possible, then it's possible."
Midori had gotten used to how the Bulins worked—nothing surprised her anymore.
"Have you run into any problems?"
Setsuna asked.
He had noticed they were already on their 600th+ trial. Clearly, the results weren't ideal.
If it wasn't an issue with the Bulins' fabrication, then there must be some theoretical flaw in the designs.
"Uh... yes, that's right..."
Midori scratched her cheek in embarrassment.
After a moment of hesitation, she led everyone into the research complex.
In her main laboratory, she pushed a stack of calculation reports and design documents in front of Setsuna.
"We've mostly completed the theoretical framework for both light-speed and FTL vessels. But there are a few parameters we just can't pin down precisely."
"Because we're creating a brand new theory, there's no existing knowledge we can reference. We have to experiment our way through it."
Setsuna didn't understand the specific designs or formulas,
But he knew that Midori's research team was working on something completely unprecedented.
Faster-than-light travel.
They had studied the works of Newton, Einstein, Planck, Dirac—the greatest minds in physics.
Now, they were taking it one step further, building an entirely new theoretical system from scratch.
No wonder it was so difficult.
"So how long will it take to figure it out?"
Yukikaze asked eagerly.
"That... I'm sorry, but I can't give a definite answer."
Midori shook her head.
"Our current test results are completely chaotic. We haven't found any consistent patterns yet."
"It could succeed on the next try. Or the 700th. Or the 1000th. Maybe even later."
She smiled softly, showing a surprisingly mature expression.
"That's just how research is, right? No one can say for sure that success will come on the next attempt."
"..."
The shipgirls looked a bit disappointed.
But they understood. You couldn't rush things like this.
After some thought, Setsuna asked:
"Is there anything I can do to help?"
He was deeply invested in the progress of the FTL project—it was the gateway to large-scale space exploration.
Below light speed, all are ants.
"Hmm..."
Midori rested her cheek on her hand, thinking.
"The supplies you've given us are sufficient... If I had to say what we need next..."
"If we could just get a physical object to study, that would help immensely."
"A physical object?"
"Yes."
The little loli nodded earnestly.
"Something based on similar principles—be it FTL travel or space-warping capabilities."
"Having a physical reference would solve all our theoretical problems."
She elaborated a bit more. It was like trying to reinvent aircraft, tanks, or missiles from the ground up with nothing but guesses and scattered clues. Nearly impossible.
But give them something similar to reverse-engineer, and they could quickly adapt it. At the very least, they'd be able to create a knockoff version.
"..."
"FTL... warp drives... a physical model..."
Setsuna leaned back on the couch, thinking.
He couldn't contribute directly to the research, but fulfilling a request like this should be possible.
What if he just stole one from another universe?
Swipe—
A star map unfolded before his eyes.
After browsing a few nearby neighbors, he spotted an ideal target.
"What do you think about a Transwarp Key? Or maybe a Spark? They've also got Transwarp tech over there, right?..."
"Eh?"
Midori Fuse and the other science lolis blinked.
"In theory, if it can cross the universe, then yes, it should work..."
"Perfect."
Snap!
Setsuna snapped his fingers.
"Let's go borrow—ahem, I mean requisition—some things from the Transformers."
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