NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 48: Chapter 048 - Maskot Azur Lane
The Next Morning
Reuel ordered one of the Cadia Shock Trooper officers to deliver two thousand tons of small fish to the newly opened farming site. The Cadia soldiers didn't fully understand the purpose of this command, but as always, they followed it without many questions. To them, orders from His Majesty the God-Emperor were not up for debate.
From the break of dawn, high-ranking officials from the Adeptus Administratum began arriving, accompanied by low-caste serfs working as farm laborers, as well as a group of Tech-Priests from the Mechanicus who looked both curious and full of anticipation. They came not just to observe, but to study—with scientific fascination—how Azur Lane's mascot creatures, the yellow Manjuu chickens, could be trained as agricultural workers.
Reuel appeared at the site with four loli shipgirls: Ning Hai, Ping Hai, Akagi, and Kaga. Thousands of Manjuus accompanied them, each wearing a comical expression and tiny straw hats perched on their round heads. The shipgirls immediately began issuing instructions.
"Come, follow me," said Akagi, her voice firm but gentle. "Plow the land first, then plant the seeds."
She demonstrated the spacing for planting: each row separated by 30 centimeters, with a minimum of 20 centimeters between each corn plant. Fertilizer was to be applied once every ten days. Everything was explained clearly and straight to the point.
Outside the walls of Constantinople, in the designated agricultural zone, Akagi and Kaga began demonstrating how to farm to the Manjuus. Meanwhile, Ning Hai and Ping Hai stood guard over buckets of fresh small fish, which were only handed out to Manjuus who obeyed and worked well.
The two girls from the Sakura Empire bent down, showing how to plant seeds with one hand while holding a simple farming tool in the other. Spectators, including the Cadia Shock Troopers, Astra Militarum recruits, and new arrivals from the Resident Evil universe, could only stand in stunned silence.
"...Seriously? They're teaching chickens how to farm?" one of the soldiers exclaimed, nearly unable to believe what he was seeing.
A crowd of yellow Manjuus swarmed around the four shipgirls, chirping cheerfully, looking serious yet still resembling adorable plush toys.
"Understand?" Akagi asked them.
"Pyuu! Pyuu! Pyuu!" they responded in unison, nodding enthusiastically.
Akagi handed a handful of seeds to one of the Manjuus as a practical test.
The little creature stared at the seeds with a thoughtful expression… then without hesitation, gobbled them all up.
"Damn it, those are for planting, not eating!"
"Kwee! Kwee! Kwee!" The Manjuu looked startled, then acted as if it were completely innocent.
Akagi immediately pulled a dried fish snack from her pocket. "If you till the soil, you get fish. If you eat the seeds, you get smacked. Got it?"
"Pyuu…"
After a few light smacks from Akagi and Kaga, the Manjuu seemed to begin understanding the pattern: plant seeds = reward, eat seeds = punishment.
Driven by their basic instincts—to gain rewards and avoid pain—the Manjuus began trying to dig the soil with their claws. Some even started using simple farming tools with an adorably clumsy effort.
"This is like a Pavlovian experiment…" whispered one of the Tech-Priests, caught between awe and confusion.
Even the Adeptus Administratum began taking serious notes. The shipgirls' training methods turned out to be highly effective, despite looking like a farce at first.
No one at the port had expected that these mascot creatures—usually just seen as decorations—could actually… farm.
---
Reuel watched Akagi train the Manjuus like one would train working dogs. Holding his chest as it occasionally shook with barely contained laughter, he voiced an idea.
"Manual farming like this is too slow. What if we ask Akashi and the Tech-Priests to build mechanical plows, or mini-tractors specifically for the Manjuu? They could operate them themselves."
Imagining Manjuus in farmer hats driving little tractors across vast fields, cultivating land on every planet that would become an Agri-World under the Imperium of Man… it felt like a bizarre dream slowly turning into reality.
The Other Side
While Akagi and Kaga were busy hurling small Manjuus like training balls with full force while shouting at the top of their lungs, Reuel finally took the time to open the civilization overview interface—for the first time in a while.
[CIVILIZATION OVERVIEW – FOURTH NATURAL DISASTER]
Civilization Type: Scientific-Technological, Theocratic, Totalitarian-Authoritarian, Militaristic, Futuristic Feudal, Dystopian, Extreme Xenophobia
Technology Level: Space Age VI
Population: 6.2 billion
Species: Humans, Ship Girls, Manjuu, Adeptus Mechanicus
Territorial Reach: Sol System – radius ±15 trillion kilometers (up to the outer edge of the Oort Cloud)
It's been almost three years since I was thrown into this world. And it seems… I've officially stepped into the Space Age—or perhaps it should be called the Age of Magic.
The technology of Azur Lane barely meets the definition of "technology" in the hard, rational sense.
Meanwhile, Warhammer and StarCraft still fall within the framework of technology, albeit sometimes... tinged with mysticism. Especially when it involves the Tech-Priests of the Mechanicus, who believe that every bolt and cable in an Imperial warship possesses a "machine spirit" that must be worshipped.
But admittedly, this interdimensional invasion turned out to be a surprisingly decent beginning—as long as you end up with the right neighbors.
The listed population of 6.2 billion likely includes myself, the Ship Girls, Bulins, Manjuus, the Warhammer and StarCraft people, as well as civilian inhabitants of Cadia and newcomers from the Resident Evil universe. The Manjuu are classified more like pets, yet still counted as demographic entities.
The territory includes the entire Sol System, extending out to the edge of the Oort Cloud. This area is used as the initial base for building Pioneer Fleets and interplanetary settlement colonies. Cities for the nobility of the Imperium of Man on Terra Aeterna are still in the planning stage. Once established, the territory will expand even further.
Yet, the most significant advancement so far lies in the technology sector.
With multiversal support from Azur Lane, Warhammer, and StarCraft, this civilization has leapfrogged the Bronze Age, the Steam Age, and even the Electrical Age—straight into Space Age Level VI. A leap that's... absurd, but real.
That said, we're still quite far from what's referred to as the "Fourth Natural Disaster."
As far as I know, reaching it requires at least ten more levels of technological advancement—if my memory isn't failing me.
Are there more advanced civilizations beyond this level? Unknown for now.
"Hm?"
Reuel noticed a new icon in the species interface: "Species Illustration."
Curious, he tapped the icon.
[Illustration Book – Ship Girls]
"Azur Lane's Ship Girls are born from Mind Cubes. They are hybrid beings between artificial intelligence and magical entities. Possessing high maritime adaptation and expertise in naval warfare. Most fall within the 'lawful good' moral spectrum. They are capable of utilizing various technological systems efficiently and can be enhanced through weapons and combat hardware upgrades."
Interestingly, humans weren't listed as a separate species in the catalog.
Perhaps because I myself am human, the system doesn't consider it necessary to record my species. Or maybe it's because I'm labeled as the "central control entity," unlike my allies like the Ship Girls and Tech-Priests.
Reuel scrolled further through the illustration book.
The Ship Girl descriptions were very clear: they were tech-based beings, mostly lawful, honest, and relatively easy to understand. Even the more extreme personalities like Akagi, Taihou, or Roon from the Chongsakura and Iron-Blood factions still fell within controllable limits—as long as you knew how to handle them.
But what truly caught his interest were the locked illustrations—gray icons yet to be unlocked.
"Elf… Eldar… Hero Spirits… Valkyries… Herrscher… Magical Girls… Dragon Girls… Catgirls… Kivotos Superman… and—what the hell is that?—a bunch of bizarre species from other universes?"
Reuel raised an eyebrow.
"Seriously? This illustration book has that many entries?"
Apparently, this universe still held far too much untapped cross-reality potential.
And that illustration book… might just be a kind of Pokédex for interdimensional beings.
"And what do you mean there are Eldar in there?! I'd rather die than ally with those arrogant xenos bastards."
Reuel let out a loud snort, his expression turning grim in an instant. On the system panel, he saw a lineup of character and faction illustrations from various other universes. Most of them were still grayed out—locked, inaccessible.
Among them, he spotted the silhouettes of the Primarchs from Warhammer, generals from other universes, and... only seven major civilizations listed under the category "currently inaccessible":
Human Faction
Warhammer 40K
Star Wars
StarCraft
HALO
Gundam
Stellaris
Mass Effect
An additional note appeared:
"Collect a variety of species to unlock special rewards."
"Host is kindly requested to develop the civilization, expand the territory of the Imperium of Man, and enrich species diversity~"
"The Host may also utilize the most basic method: total war, to obtain additional species. The Host is permitted to do anything to them—including the total annihilation of entire species."
"War points will be calculated based on seized resources, conquered species, captured planets, number of prisoners of war, and other military actions."
The system spoke quickly and enthusiastically, as if it were selling a galaxy conquest DLC pack. Reuel could only stare at the screen with a blank expression.
"…Wife Pokémon?" he muttered flatly.
"What the hell is this, total war? Who am I supposed to fight? Not a single alien has shown up so far!"
He rubbed his face with one hand, while the other tapped the interface panel impatiently. That was when something important crossed his mind:
Diplomatic Mission.
"Recruit thirty individuals to join the Imperium of Man."
A simple task. Looked easy on paper.
Reuel nodded slowly. They already had housing, basic infrastructure, even the first planetary colonies. Population? Over six billion. Ship girls? Fifty, just from the Vanguard fleet alone. Not even counting Bulin, the Manjuu, Cadian civilians, the combined StarCraft forces, or the new recruits from the Resident Evil universe.
Then why the hell hasn't this mission been marked complete?!
"Are the ship girls not counted? Aren't they from a major franchise and technically considered 'highly sentient individuals'?"
Frustration peaked, and Reuel finally shouted into the air, hoping the system was listening.
"Hello? Hello? Is this a completion bug or what?!"
The system responded in a flat but mechanical voice:
> "Confirmed."
"Mission Objective 1: Recruit 30 individuals to the settlement – COMPLETED."
"Mission Objective 2: Establish a civilization – INCOMPLETE."
Reuel narrowed his eyes in confusion.
"What the hell do you mean, 'incomplete'?!"
"Your current civilization is not yet distinguishable from others. Host is requested to further develop political, social, and ideological structures in order to qualify as a formal civilization."
"Host has not yet officially announced the name of this civilization to the populace."
"Naming a civilization cannot be a unilateral decision. Acknowledgment from subordinates and other parties is required."
Reuel fell silent at once.
His eyes slowly widened, then he looked down, stroking his chin. Of course. All this time, he thought everything had been finalized, but one crucial thing had been left undone: he had never publicly declared the name of the civilization he was building.
Never discussed. Never announced. Not even mentioned to anyone.
And the system didn't recognize silent monarchy as a legitimate form of government.
"…No wonder the mission isn't complete."