Day 71

"Where did things go wrong?" A fresh wave of guilt washed over me, twisting my insides.

Aime and Corone's faces flashed in my mind, plunging me into another bout of sorrow. I buried my face in my pillow, its fabric quickly dampening with tears. This whole situation was a disaster. I never intended for anyone to get hurt.

"Why didn't they accept my offer for peace?" I mumbled, peeling my cheek from the soggy pillowcase. "What could have driven them to refuse?"

It had to be ROB's doing. That vile, false god must have manipulated the humans for his own sick amusement. Gneisenau, with her years of experience as a German warship, surely knew what she was doing. The fault had to lie elsewhere.

I reached out to Gneisenau, my consciousness shifting locations instantaneously. The German woman materialized before me, though I couldn't interact with my surroundings - my spirit was present, but my body remained behind. It was an ability whose implications I had yet to fully explore.

Gneisenau's eyebrow arched. "You summoned me?"

Clearing my throat, I replied, "Yes, I'd like your thoughts on why the humans rejected our peace offering."

"Oh?" Amusement flickered across her face. "I thought... never mind. Humans are barbaric creatures. They see a show of force and feel compelled to respond in kind. It's as simple as that."

My eyes widened. "Are you suggesting we could have avoided this outcome by sending an envoy instead of a fleet?"

"No," Gneisenau replied without hesitation. "Whoever commands their navy harbors a grudge against us."

"But we could have been allies," I protested, my voice barely above a whisper.

Gneisenau's steel-blue eyes bored into mine. "Don't be naive. Your kind has bathed in the blood of millions. I anticipated the possibility of irrational behavior and prepared accordingly. The rest, as they say, is history."

My gaze dropped to the floor as despair threatened to engulf me. Arms wrapped tightly around myself, I crumpled to my knees with a strangled sob. Scalding tears carved paths down my cheeks. This can't be happening!

The injustice of it all clawed at my throat, begging for release. Was I destined to dance on the strings of some malevolent puppeteer? Could a mere mortal like me hope to defy the cold machinations of fate?

Deep within, a ember of defiance flickered to life. No, I wouldn't roll over and submit!

My fist clenched as I recalled a detail I'd overlooked long ago. Images of arcane circles flashed through my mind as I rifled through my mental blueprints. A summoning ritual? Magic: the last refuge of those who reject reality to chase fantasies.

The summoning instructions had been part of the knowledge bestowed upon me at birth. But could there be more mystical secrets hidden in the world? Surely the mages responsible for repeatedly summoning the kanmusu had thoroughly explored this occult avenue.

Gneisenau knelt beside me, her gaze softening. "I see the anguish in your eyes, Fräulein Ciriel. I, too, once railed against the world's cruelties. Remember, each vanquished foe lays another stone on the path to peace."

I hiccuped. "And what does peace look like to you?"

Gneisenau's expression softened, her eyes misting over with a strange, distant longing. "Peace is a pristine beach of ivory sand, stretching endlessly beneath a horizon of shimmering crimson waters. It's a realm of perfect tranquility, unblemished by conflict and devoid of suffering."

"That's beautiful," I murmured, wiping my nose with the back of my hand.

A faint smile tugged at the corners of Gneisenau's lips. "I dabble in poetry during my downtime."

I gazed down at my clasped hands. "My idea of peace is simpler. I just want a world where everyone coexists happily."

"And I vow to make it a reality," Gneisenau declared, her voice firm with conviction. "We will achieve peace in our time."

Her words washed over me like a warm, invigorating wave. How could I have doubted our cause? This was merely a temporary obstacle. The path forward was clear: we needed to secure Japan's surrender. Once they experienced life under our rule, they would understand our vision. After our victory, I would establish beneficial trade routes, paving the way for the bright future they deserved.

I won't let everyone down. I'll be the hero the world deserves but does not want.

"Then I leave the rest to you. See if the Japanese government is willing to come to the negotiating table before we finalize invasion plans for Yokohama prefecture. I'll have reinforcements ready for deployment within the week."

Gneisenau nodded curtly. "Ja."

As she faded from view, I slumped back in my chair. The situation was far from ideal, but with Gneisenau handling things, I clung to the belief that a brighter future lay ahead.

Day 72

Production back home exploded beyond my wildest expectations.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

A mere handful of ORE-Procurers filled the new warehouses by the western beach in hours, depositing millions of tons of materials that threatened to overflow our storage capacity. My initial base design, I realized with chagrin, had been woefully inadequate.

Labyrinthine corridors and mazes had consumed six of the ten floors in my fortress. While they guaranteed no intruder could breach our defenses, they also crippled our production and resource gathering rates.

I scrapped the convoluted layout. Under my revised plan, the Procurers carved a two-lane tunnel straight down to the spawn room. Each floor between the surface and our innermost sanctum became a gauntlet of static defense checkpoints.

The realization stung: it was far more cost-effective to collapse the entire tunnel network and start anew than to navigate the bewildering maze I'd created.

This overhaul sent our resource income skyrocketing. Fifty more Procurers gestated in the spawn room, their deployment mere days away. Once online, I planned to leverage this expanded fleet to amass materials for an unprecedented naval force: ten Cold War-era aircraft carriers, twenty cruisers, and five hundred World War II destroyers.

I harbored no illusions about how the rest of the world would react. But the die was cast; there was no turning back now.

Day 74

I strode into my office, Raleigh's footsteps echoing behind me. "What's their progress?"

Raleigh's eyes gleamed with pride. "My new sisters exceed expectations, Boss. With sixty-one Procurers and fifty million drones at our disposal, we'll meet tomorrow's deadline for the new battlefleet materials. We've already located several promising mines on the ocean floor."

"Excellent." I nodded, a hint of excitement creeping into my voice. "I've been developing a new drone for civilian management."

Raleigh leaned forward, intrigued. "Oh? I'm all ears."

"Behold, the Enforcer." I gestured to the corner where the prototype loomed. Its skeletal frame, fashioned from blackened alloy, stood motionless. Crimson pinpricks of light flickered in its eye sockets, giving it an eerie semblance of life.

"Impressive," Raleigh breathed, circling the drone.

"It's a budget-friendly alternative to the Terminator, if you will," I explained, running a hand along its cool metal surface. "The Enforcer operates on standard drone intelligence - nothing fancy. I've used aircraft-grade alloy for the frame. It won't withstand heavy fire, but that's offset by its low production cost." I picked up the drone's sidearm, turning it over in my hands. "Each unit comes equipped with a collapsible baton and this 1911 pistol."

Raleigh nodded, her eyes never leaving the Enforcer. "I do not know what a terminator is, but I get the gist. And their primary function?"

"Crowd control, mainly," I replied, holstering the weapon. "They're our first line of defense against civil unrest."

Raleigh's eyes gleamed with a calculating intensity as she assessed the skeletal drone. "How cost-effective are these units?" she inquired, her voice tinged with professional curiosity.

A smirk tugged at the corner of my mouth. "These mechanical marvels require barely two and a half times the resources of a standard ORE mining drone. We can churn out millions without breaking a sweat or our budget."

I ran my hand along the drone's cold, metallic frame, feeling the smooth contours of its gleaming dark skeleton. The red glow from its eyes cast an eerie crimson sheen across my skin, reminding me of the intelligence that lay dormant within these seemingly fragile frames.

"Their marksmanship leaves much to be desired," I continued, chuckling at my own understatement. "But precision isn't the point here. These walking toasters are so economical that we can overwhelm most adversaries through sheer numbers alone."

Raleigh nodded, her expression a mix of admiration and concern. "A sea of metal and glowing red eyes... It's an intimidating image, Boss."

"Exactly," I agreed, my voice dropping to a near-whisper. "Against a well-fortified military position, they'd be scrap metal in minutes. But for crowd control or dealing with an unruly civilian population?" I snapped my fingers. "Child's play."

The implications hung heavy in the air between us. Raleigh shifted uncomfortably, her eyes darting between me and the Enforcer drone. I could almost see the gears turning in her head, weighing the strategic advantages against the moral implications.

"Don't worry," I assured her, sensing her unease. "They're a deterrent, a show of force. Their very presence should be enough to maintain order in most situations."

Raleigh's posture relaxed slightly, but a shadow of doubt still lingered in her eyes. "If you say so, Boss. I follow, you lead. Is there anything else you need from me?"

I leaned back against my desk, drumming my fingers on its surface. "Not at the moment. However, I'll require your assistance tomorrow with a new troop transport design." I paused, considering how to explain the next part. "It's a bit... unconventional. We'll need to construct it at full scale."

Raleigh's eyebrow arched in surprise. "Full scale? That's unusual for our production methods."

I nodded, a wry smile playing on my lips. "Indeed. As we've discovered, living cargo doesn't take kindly to our shrinking storage technology. The reasons are... complex, to say the least."

"Understood," Raleigh replied, her professional demeanor returning. "I'll prepare the necessary adjustments to our production line."

As she turned to leave, I called out, "Oh, and Raleigh?" She paused at the door, looking back over her shoulder. "Remember to attend the summoning ritual in nine days time."

She nodded curtly, her expression unreadable. "Of course, Boss. Dependability is my middle name."

The door clicked shut behind her, leaving me alone with the Enforcer drone. Its red eyes seemed to bore into me, as if questioning the path we were embarking upon. I shook off the unsettling feeling and turned to my computer, pulling up the schematics for the troop transport.

As I immersed myself in the design work, a part of my mind couldn't help but wonder about the future we were building. These Enforcers, the massive fleet under construction, the new transports – all pieces of a grand strategy. But to what end? Peace through strength? Or something darker?

I pushed the thoughts aside. There would be time for philosophical debates later. For now, there was work to be done, a kingdom to build, and a nation to subdue.

I turned my attention back to Project Anzu, the battleship design that had consumed so much of my time. With only a few minor adjustments left, the behemoth would soon be ready for its two-week gestation in the spawn room.

A pang of frustration hit me as I considered the limitations of our summoning capabilities. If only we could conjure ships that hadn't been destroyed; it would have drastically accelerated our timeline. Instead, we were bound by the slow crawl of gestation, waiting for Anzu to emerge and make its thunderous debut.

The thought of summoning circles brought Aime and Corone to mind. Their resurrection was approaching, though the arcane rules of the ritual demanded a thirteen-day waiting period after a ship's demise. This mystifying requirement highlighted my lack of expertise in the occult arts.

I leaned back in my chair, fingers drumming against the armrest. Perhaps the kanmusu or even our human adversaries in Japan could shed light on these esoteric practices. The idea of gleaning knowledge from our enemies was intriguing, a potential silver lining to this conflict.

A wry smile played across my lips. In my quest for understanding, I might just find an unexpected path forward.