Time aboard the Eternal Snowfall passed much faster than on Earth.
After two whole months had gone by, for those in the capital, only a single night had passed.
"...Ah, Nia, you've been up there playing for quite a while now..."
Early morning. In the Grand Library of the Empire, Lucoa squinted her eyes, glancing toward the faintly shimmering hull of the Command Ship above.
The time-space magic covering it had just dispersed.
"Tohru, the spell you taught the Commander—its intended use might be... a bit different from what you imagined, right?"
The dragon girl thought for a moment, then buried her head back into the spoils brought from the Re:Zero world.
The Book of Death recorded the life story of every person. Reading about the lives of people from another world brought her no small joy.
"Huh? Greed, Gluttony, Lust... the Death Books of these Witches have disappeared? Is it because the world line has changed? Fascinating..."
"..."
In the Grand Cathedral of Eris, the goddess—dressed in a ceremonial gown after leading her believers through their morning prayer—also gazed up at the sky.
"Mmm... the Hero must be working very hard. If only I could welcome him back personally..."
The pure goddess had no idea what Setsuna was doing above, silently praying for his victory.
A faint, divine blessing followed her prayer, descending upon Setsuna. Jeanne Alter suddenly felt a surge of strength fill her body, frowning in confusion.
"Master, this... did you use magic?"
"Probably just Eris' blessing."
"Now? Ah??..."
"Phew—"
After finishing his morning exercise, Setsuna yawned, stretched, and rose to his feet, feeling refreshed.
He looked at the girls sprawled in every direction, still fast asleep.
The Spirit was curled up in a ball, Kurumi and Origami were tangled together, and Nia—still in Astral Dress form—was hugging Mayuri while mumbling in her sleep.
"No, don't bully me together with the Commander... ah..."
On the other side were a few ordinary human girls. Antilene lay quietly on her side, her half-black, half-white hair covering half her delicate face.
Her clothes were draped loosely over her body, revealing faint glimpses of smooth skin.
"Pretty cute."
Setsuna gently pinched her cheek.
Knock knock knock—
"Commander, good morning."
"Your breakfast is ready. We'll confirm today's itinerary with you shortly."
The Royal Maids entered with practiced grace, beginning their morning routine of cleaning and preparing Setsuna for the day.
Their movements were smooth and perfectly coordinated, flowing like water as they divided tasks and tidied the room.
"My proud Master, Sirius requests that you refrain from doing... strange things with the furniture."
The white-haired, red-eyed maid spoke while wiping down the table.
On the floor-to-ceiling window behind her were two enormous circular marks, along with a pair of handprints beside them—quite a mystery.
Sirius couldn't guess whose they were. Judging by the size, it had to be someone of at least carrier- or battleship-class.
Only when she picked up a few strands of golden hair from the floor did she realize the truth.
"Oh... Richelieu or Victorious, then..."
The maid's cheeks flushed as a rather vivid image formed in her mind.
"...Commander, if it's only natural that the Spirit Squad spends so much time with you and receives your affection..."
"Then shouldn't you also spare a little attention for us...?"
Dido spoke softly.
"After all, the Royal Maids have been with you since the very beginning. If you only dote on the Head Maid, that feels a little unfair..."
"Alright. Next time I'll give you girls a day off and take you with me."
Setsuna patted Dido's head gently.
The shipgirls' affection levels had long maxed out—it was now to the point that he could freely enter any shipgirl's dorm without restriction.
The maids secretly rejoiced, their hands moving just a little faster as they worked.
A party brings joy for a while—but if you keep it going, the joy never ends.
Setsuna once again marveled at the perfect combination of his time-distortion ability and the Eternal Snowfall's temporal field synchronization.
...
After returning to the administrative center of the capital, Setsuna reviewed the reports sent by the Sophons while taking a brief inspection tour of the Solar System.
The Starsea Empire's construction and expansion projects were still proceeding steadily according to plan.
Expeditionary fleets composed of Bulins and Angeloids were pioneering countless star systems hundreds and thousands of light-years away.
Whenever they found a star system with exploitable value, they would construct a small outpost to harvest resources. If they found nothing of note, they would simply establish a sentry station and claim the region.
Every day, thousands of transport fleets shuttled between the Starbases and Earth.
In a galaxy devoid of other civilizations, the Starsea Empire expanded freely—this was practically a paradise for industrial cultivation.
The vassal worlds' development was progressing more slowly than that of the main universe, directed by the Sophons as they oversaw the advancement of the subordinate civilizations.
With resources drawn from over a dozen—possibly even several dozen—universes combined, it was clear that the Empire's growth would face no resource constraints for the foreseeable future.
"Hmm..."
It had been a while since he last checked the Civilization Panel, so Setsuna opened the statistics interface.
[Civilization Overview]
[Type: Technological Civilization]
[Development Level: Space Age (Faster-than-Light)]
[Territorial Range: 1,256 Star Systems]
[Population: 230 Million]
[Species: Humans, Shipgirls, Sirens, Dragons, Catgirls, Spirits...]
"Hmm..."
On the holographic map, the Starsea Empire had already become a true behemoth.
Its borders stretched across thousands of light-years—from the Solar System to Vega, from Pisces to Taurus.
The constellations once used by ancient astrologers for fortune-telling and horoscopes were now mostly under Imperial control.
Those distant, unreachable stars—once viewed only through telescopes—were now only a brief journey away aboard FTL starships.
While soothsayers gazed at the stars to divine fate, the Bulins and Angeloids pondered how many resources could be mined from them.
The only shortcoming was that the Empire was still sparsely populated.
Two hundred million citizens were hardly many for a single planet, let alone spread thin across more than a thousand star systems.
Fortunately, the Bulins and Angeloids were exceptionally efficient. A single small team could establish a simple shelter and a basic industrial system on a barren planet, gradually developing it over time.
"According to the Sophons' calculations," Yat Sen added, "at our current rate of growth—and assuming the Bulin replication continues steadily—our population should surpass ten billion within five years."
"As long as they have time and resources, our population growth will skyrocket. Though... having the entire Empire made up of Bulins and Angeloids would be a bit strange, wouldn't it..."
Bulins created more Bulins, and Angeloids produced more Angeloids. With sufficient numbers and resources, the growth rate was exponential.
The shipgirls could have never imagined that one day they would be living in a Bulin Empire.
Indeed, the Bulins had become the very foundation of the Starsea Empire.
"I don't mind raising a few more species," Setsuna said with a chuckle, "but none are as efficient as the Bulins and Angeloids."
After obtaining catgirl manufacturing technology from the world of Nekopara, mass-producing catgirls, foxgirls, or any kind of beast-eared girls was trivial with the Empire's genetic engineering.
However, their main purpose was simply to be cute. They were fine for light chores like washing, cooking, and cleaning, but not suitable for shipbuilding, construction, orbital deployment, or ground combat.
At the Empire's current stage of rapid expansion, it was clearly wiser to allocate resources to the Bulins and Angeloids.
"Why don't you try breeding with the Horsegirls instead?" Gudako popped up suddenly.
"I mean, Special Week and Silent Suzuka seem to like you quite a bit—they've been training diligently every day..."
Bonk—
Setsuna flicked her on the head and picked up the sleeping Shinano from beside him.
"First of all, different species. Second—why would I, when I can just have more little shipgirls instead?"
"Zzzz... Commander, n-no, don't tickle me..."
Shinano-chan's ears twitched as she half-opened her drowsy eyes, nuzzling her head against Setsuna's chest.
"Tsk, little Shinano is just too cute."
He stroked her furry ears a few times—the sensation was exquisite.
Soft, fluffy, irresistibly adorable.
"..."
"Pervert..."
The two exchanged a few playful words.
Then, something came to Setsuna's mind.
Beep—
He opened the Species section and tapped on the Encyclopedia function.
This feature had existed since early on, but at that time, only a few species had been unlocked—himself, the shipgirls, Spirits, and a handful of others.
Now, however, it had expanded significantly, and unlocking new entries even granted small rewards.
Shuaa—
Before him appeared the Starsea Empire's Species Encyclopedia.
He had already unlocked a considerable portion—Sirens, Catgirls, Herrschers, Horsegirls, Goddesses—all fully illuminated.
Even the Undead were listed.
Even though there was only one true Herrscher—the Herrscher of Sentience, Senti—it still counted as unlocked.
Furthermore, some species were divided into subspecies.
For example, [Shipgirls] were divided into Azure Lane Shipgirls, Arpeggio Shipgirls, and Kancolle Shipgirls.
"Hmm..."
Setsuna flipped through the already unlocked species before turning to the greyed-out, still-locked ones.
By simple logic, any species listed in the encyclopedia should at least exist somewhere—or at least be traceable to a corresponding world.
—After all, the system wouldn't include a category without a matching reality.
It could serve as a useful reference for future expeditions, allowing him to prepare in advance.
"Let's see... are there any suitable for labor or construction? Preferably good-looking ones, too..."
"Might as well diversify the Empire's gene pool a little..."
He scrolled through page after page—
Then suddenly, he noticed an entire cluster of neatly grouped species icons, clearly originating from the same world.
"Flügel, Elves, Ex-Machina, Werebeast..."
"Hmm?"
—
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