080 Drifting Arc 20 True Imperial Fleet

If we keep going like this, the Anoi Fortress and the True Empire's fleet are gonna clash.

The True Empire should be burning to reclaim their princess.

There’s gotta be a better way.

“Kae, can you make it back on your own in a battleship?”

“What are you saying, big brother?”

“I mean, if the princess they’re trying to recover comes back, there’d be no need to fight, right?”

“That’s true…”

“So if you just let me know when you find me, we could wrap this up neatly?”

“But I don’t know the way back by myself.”

“No good….”

I twist my brain trying to force out a solution.

“How about we just lie in wait on the subspace side of the Dimensional Jump Gate and get you back quick?”

“That’d work, but Grandfather won’t buy it.”

“Grandfather?”

“He’s my supervisor. My keeper.

Old family of courtiers who’ve served the True Emperor since time immemorial—prideful about royal blood and all that jazz.

They’d go to any lengths to erase the fact that I was captured. Even if it meant annihilating the entire opposing side.”

“Another pain in the ass, huh.”

We might not get anywhere unless we show some of our strength.

But if we kill them, resentment sticks around. No room for negotiation after that.

Come to think of it, enemy forces sending manned ships? That’s rare. Real rare.

“Kae, I know this is awkward. If you’d rather not talk about it, I get it. But… is the True Empire’s military all manned ships?”

“Nope. Mostly unmanned. And honestly, there’s nothing secret about it.”

“Right. So… can you tell a manned ship when you see one?”

“I don’t know the exact difference, but one thing’s for sure—manned ships are almost always Personal Ships. That’s one-of-a-kind, no question.”

"Right. So if it's a mass-produced ship, the odds of it being unmanned go way up."

I’d figured out a rough approach to contacting the True Empire.

If that doesn’t work, force is unavoidable.

Kae-de and I boarded her Personal Ship and lay in wait for the True Empire’s fleet at the Dimensional Jump Gate.

The captured battleship—Kae-de’s Personal Ship—was under my command, but all I had to do was picture “lending it to Kae-de,” and suddenly she could use it.

Guess it’s because I see her as family.

That’s probably why I could lend RIO to President Kamizawa too—she’s a comrade, not just a subordinate.

Incidentally, the captured battleship’s energy distributor had already been repaired inside the Dimensional Storage Vault.

The Dimensional Jump Gate had already been breached by enemy forces—system intrusion alerts were active.

They’d be here any second.

Only my personal ship and Kae's personal ship were on the front line, ready for negotiations.

Still, defensive forces were already deployed in the rear.

Enemy vessels were emerging from the Dimensional Jump Gate into normal space.

As expected—just mass-produced ships, probably unmanned. No need to hold back.

I used the Anti-Ship Radar and Tactical Weapon Integration Control System to assess the threat, locking onto multiple targets simultaneously.

With the added Long Barrel 5cm Railguns—three in total—I kept firing Erosion Bullets in rapid succession.

Thanks to the infinite ammo reserve, I kept seizing control, neutralizing them one after another.

Never thought I’d actually benefit from the high rate of fire of such a small caliber here.

The enemy flagship—presumably—finally broke through.

I sent a transmission. Started negotiations.

‘To the commander of the True Empire. Hand over the princess. Go home. Please.’

‘It’s me. He’s not your enemy. He’s my brother, Akira.’

Kaei relayed it to the commander, voice cool and regal.

The True Empire commander seemed confused. No reply. No attack.

I focused on neutralizing the incoming enemy vessel—using Erosion Bullets.

‘Cease fire. If you come any closer, I’ll have no choice but to neutralize you.

If you agree to a truce, stop your ship. I won’t shoot a stopped vessel.’

‘Please. I don’t want any more bloodshed.’

Still, the enemy ship charged forward. I fired an Erosion Bullet. Neutralized it.

Fine. No choice. Time to scare them.

"Can you see that cluster of rocks three o’clock from your position? Keep your eyes on it."

I aimed my 5cm Long Barrel Railgun at the rock cluster.

Lock on. Fired the G-Bullet.

The G-Bullet struck the rock.

The projectile, suddenly supercharged with gravity, slammed into the rock with immense energy—velocity and mass combined.

The rock disintegrated into nothing.

A transmission came from the enemy flagship, watching.

"Cease fire. But this isn't surrender."

"Understood. We’ll hold our fire too."

I halted, eyes still sharp.

I heard Kaei let out a relieved breath.

"The crew member beside me is your princess. We’ll return her. We don’t wish to fight."

"He’s her brother. The gem reacted—no mistake."

"!"

The true Empire’s commander inhaled sharply.

"Are you certain? Then there's no point in fighting. We'd prefer to talk, if you please."

"For now, return the princess. Listen to her words. Then we'll set up a meeting."

"Understood."

"Kae, handle that conversation. Communications could be bugged."

"Got it. Leave it to me."

I send out Kae's Personal Ship and fall back.

Once I confirm Kae is safely under the True Empire's protection, I deactivate the Erosion Bullets locking down the enemy ships.

Since they didn't use a Nauru Crack, the Erosion Bullets only seized control of the internal network—so just lifting the restriction frees them.

Technically, we could reassert control easily. But I'll keep that to myself.

And so the True Empire fleet departs.

External comms are in ‘quotation marks’, internal fleet comms in “double quotes”.

Unified the True Emperor faction under the True Empire.