"You haven't even come to see me. I feel that you are avoiding your Master." Marcus pretended to be hurt as he walked over to Valerie's room.
The dhampir trembled as she swiftly bowed to him. The girl was talking with someone who looked like a girl as well.
"I-I was not, Master! I wasn't instructed to see you. In fact, Aurora directed me to continue with my tasks!" The blonde girl said with a professional voice.
"True. However, it's strange; most of the time, people still come to see me even when they don't need to do that." The inventor said that as he walked into her room and inspected it.
Marcus was a little bit impressed by the girl's professionalism. Some of his other maids come to see him either way if they need or don't.
It shows their ambitious nature, unlike Valerie, who impresses him through sheer professionalism.
In other words, she is impressing just through performance, something others should pick up.
"So this is where you have been staying?"
"Yes, I have been keeping contact with devils working for you." She said that while looking at the—girl? Or is it a Boy? Smaller than her. It was a short guy or girl—a shota trap, as they say.
"Oh? Is this rumoured Rias' Bishop?" Marcus looked at the other dhampir. The trap instantly started to shiver, seeing the inventor.
"Y-You are the guy who has an s-space station?"
"Oh? You already know?"
"W-Who doesn't? You are all over the internet."
'Internet? When was the last time I checked things on the net myself?'
At that moment, the inventor had a flashback of the time he was pirating Gundam songs when he was building Freedom suits in his garage.
At that moment, he had a nostalgic smile; both dhampirs, for a second, were weirded out. Is this guy planning something evil?
"What does the internet think?"
"...Umm… I don't think you should check the internet." The trap nervously replied.
"Oh? That's bad?"
"...There are a bunch of conflicting opinions."
"Yes, that's the common thing." Marcus shrugged and then looked at Valerie.
"Your mission is over. We are returning to base. The outpost has been built, and most enemies in the Underworld are defeated."
The girl's eyes widened for a second.
"A-Already!?"
"Yes. Now let's go, or do you want to stay?"
Valerie instantly noticed his test. She acted accordingly.
"I understand. Gasper, see you later. I am sure my Master will send me here again if something is up."
"Indeed. Now let's go." Marcus agreed before motioning to come with him.
As they were leaving, some of Rias' peerage intercepted them.
"Lord Marcus, have you seen our King? She has been missing for a day."
Akeno asked him.
"Don't worry about her. I am pretty sure she is with Sona. Athena has put them through a grinder in simulations."
The Yokai, the blondie and the Queen looked shocked for a second.
"Goddess Athena trained them!?"
"In tactics, yes."
"Oh, I see. Many thanks for telling us."
"Don't mention it."
After that, Marcus, with his small group, left the occult research building.
But once again, they were intercepted by a brown-haired teen.
"I challenge you to a fight!" He pointed his finger at Marcus.
"Is this boy insane?" Atalanta commented with disbelief.
"I'm pretty sure 99.99% of his brain mass is concentrated towards women's breasts." The moment he said that, all of the girls from his group instinctually covered their assets.
"And he is that Gremory's peerage member?" Gu Yuena frowned even more. She is about to summon her spear.
"Relax. I have this covered."
Marcus took a couple of steps forward. The Red Dragon Emperor heard all of that. He was gnashing his teeth from annoyance.
"To your information, 100% of my brain is occupied to become Harem King!"
"Oh? Is that right? Well, then, Mister Future Harem King, why don't you show me your 'power'?"
"With pleasure!"
His red gauntlet appeared on his left hand. The green gem glowed.
[BOOST]
The brown-haired teen rushed forward and tried to punch the Inventor.
The inventor did nothing, no defending, no raised guard, nothing!
For a second, the gauntlet-using teen grinned when he saw that he had a direct hit.
But his smile turned into horror when he saw that his fist did nothing.
The inventor didn't even move.
"So? Are you going to attack?" Marcus asked him. He wasn't impressed.
"W-W-What?"
"What do you mean by 'W-W-What'? I am asking to attack."
The brown-haired teen jumped back, and his gauntlet activated one more time. The boost Increased his attack one more time.
"Are you seriously trying the same thing again? I mean, zero plus zero is still zero."
"Haaah!" The Red Dragon Emperor tried to punch again, but Marcus moved.
For some reason, the world slowed down as Rias' pawn saw Marcus' pinky finger move. The finger got closer and closer.
And yet he couldn't do anything! The finger got closer, and he tried to move away. But the finger just kept on getting closer!!!
Eventually, the finger flicked on his forehead.
"Ahhhhh!!!!"
The moment there was a connection, The Red Dragon Emperor felt that his soul was yanked from his body. He simply collapsed on his knees, then face-first into the ground.
He passed out.
"Well, that was underwhelming." Gu Yuena commented on the fight.
All she saw was Marcus walking forward and poking the guy's forehead with his finger.
"Let go. He might recover in a couple of hours."
"Might?"
"Yes, it depends on his will."
"Hmmm, I see."
As everyone walked past the passed-out guy, Valerie slightly bowed to the knocked-out guy. After all, she was a guest in their occult research house.
~~~
Marcus returned to his Confiscator and walked to the bridge.
"""Supreme Commander!!!"""
All the girls operating the ship almost gasped like little girls.
'This vessel is run by girls as well!?' Sirin frowned, seeing all the pretty girls.
The thing was that she didn't see duplicates. All of them are different, with different hair lengths, and all have excellent proportions.
This realisation made her feel a slightly oppressive feeling. Just how good are his life-creating abilities?
"It has only been a few days. There is no need to react like this." With an amused sigh, he walked over and sat on his throne.
"Still, Confiscator is your flagship; our place is next to you." The Captain girl of the ship said with a straight face.
"Smooth, very smooth. But now, we set course to our base."
"Setting course."
"...and what about Scavenger?" Athena asked him as she walked into the room. Next to her was Nyx, who looked like a frightened child.
"M-Master, you left me alone in that place! How could you! I am your Primordial!" She swiftly walked over to his side.
"Left you? You left yourself there. I asked you to come with me; you said 'Hnnn~'. Whatever it means." Marcus repeated what Nyx said to him and then replied to Athena.
"Scavenger is returning to docks. We are taking Confiscator straight to Base. My new ship girl is ready for awakening; I can't make her wait any longer."
"... I see…" Athena nodded while Nyx pulled her lower lip like a cute pet.
"N-Not ignore my plight! Do you know how scary it is to be left alone like this!" Nyx grabbed Marcus' sleeve like a hurt puppy.
"You are a primordial tough it up." The Inventor didn't know if he should laugh or be concerned.
"It's not related to my power!" She huffed at him.
"Fine. I won't leave you next time. Next time, I slap you so hard that you will wake up from your sugar-induced coma."
"O-On second thought, don't." Nyx decided that no, that's not worth it.
"Then decide."
"I-I am fine."
'Is this the Primordial of Night? What am I seeing?' Sirin had a sweaty forehead. She remembers books with illustrations of how terrifying Nyx is supposed to be.
Well, it was not her who saw it, but she saw it through Kiana's eyes, so she knows indirectly.
"Don't look surprised. Gods, one way or another, are just people with too much power." Atalanta clarified as she saw how Sirin was looking.
"This is good and bad. Sometimes, you don't want to give people with peculiar tastes too much power. Especially if they never worked for that power."
The Herrscher looked at the lion girl with a slight frown. Is this huntress picking a fight with her?
"Don't look at me like that. I have no idea about you, but I spent my entire life following a Goddess, which is over four thousand years."
The white-haired girl nearly choked on her saliva, hearing how old this lion girl is!
"You are old."
"You don't say." Atalanta rolled her eyes.
Sirin expected more reaction from her, but it was nothing like she wanted.
"You girl should do something; it will take a couple of hours until we arrive at the base."
Marcus got everyone's attention.
"Sure. I am going to read something. I need to prepare mentally for Ares." Athena said with a sigh as she walked out of the bridge.
As the Goddess said that, Gu Yuena and Atalanta followed her. While Nyx huffed and walked over, and sat down in an empty cushioned seat.
Valerie nodded as well. She decided to see if she needed anything to clean in this place.
"So what am I supposed to do?" Sirin crossed her arms.
"Like always, you can always sit on my lap." His throne turned to the side, and Marcus could see her.
"You…are kidding?"
"Nope."
"There is no way—" She proceeded to leave, but the next second, she was sitting on his lap either way.
"You wouldn't sit on my lap, right?" Marcus 'finished' the sentence for her.
"...This is just outright bullying."
"Hmm, I haven't expected a Herrscher to complain and mention bullying that is just cute in its way." The inventor's finger poked her cheek.
"...Whatever."
Sirin has accepted that this is her version of hell. Her power and her abilities are connected to man's whims. That is just cruelty on its own. Plus, he is nonstop teasing and trying to get an expression from her. The Void Queen forgot how often she imagined stabbing him with her powers.
But that feeling has dulled to the point that she no longer cares. It was more like a different feeling slowly manifested in her gut, which made her feel weird and all tingly; she couldn't put a finger on it.
Seeing that Sirin was no longer responding and just sitting promptly on his lap, Marcus didn't bother anymore and instead summoned his screens and proceeded to design ship girls and make DNA for them.
The Void Queen saw everything from her position.
Her eyes slowly widened as she saw a very familiar person!
'R-Raiden Mei!!! This girl is the perfect replica! Even her gaze, clothes, Herrscher form!'
For a second, her breathing hitched. She didn't even realise that she was holding it. What she was seeing was— terrifying! What else can she say? She has watched this guy since she was reborn in this place.
There is nothing of Honkai in this place. The countries are different; there are no relics from the previous civilisation, no ancient technologies to discover, and no Honkai Beasts.
Nothing, yet; this guy is creating a Herrscher—a lawmaker from her world.
Casually.
From what she can see, he, casually and even with lazy hand motions, is 'building' Raiden Mei.
"Your input would be appreciated. Does she look 'proper' to you?" Marcus asked leisurely. His left hand was stroking her waist while his right hand was holding his head. At this moment, he was using his mind to go through windows with different tools to build DNA and looks.
"By 'She', you mean Raiden Mei?"
"The one and only."
"*Hmph!*"
"Last time I saw her, she beat me down and left; I promised to myself that I would kill her next time."
"Oh, such animosity."
"...Of course! But that Kiana Kaslana has a soft spot towards this girl who beat her to the point she was barely alive." For a second, Sirin's eyes glowed.
"Well, that's how—"
At that moment, the airship slightly trembled.
"...what was that?" He didn't like being interrupted like this.
"A missile just hit us."
"And why didn't we pick that up?" Marcus asked with a confused tone.
"Sir, our detection systems are built to detect weapons with energy, not regular weaponry."
"Well, that is something we didn't foresee. Fine, Aurora, note this down for the future."
[Already did.]
"Good, now who attacked us?" Marcus asked with an annoyed tone. The Herrscher sitting on his lap was like a small cuddly pet. The girl can sense the sheer limitless power barely under control from her perspective.
"Calculating trajectory."
"More missiles incoming!" The ship trembled some more. The crew barely noticed the impact.
"Their missiles aren't doing any damage." One of the officers reported.
"That much is obvious." Marcus' eyes rolled. He was waiting to hear who it was.
"Sir, the missiles came from North Korea's west coast."
"..."
"..."
"..."
The Inventor raised his eyebrows.
"This…"
"More missiles are coming our way."
"You know what." He got up alongside the Herrscher; the girl waited for him to speak.
"I am tired of this nonsense. I was trying to be friendly, telling on television that I was minding my business. But no more.
If this punk wants war, he will get it." He said with narrowed eyes.
The officers gulped down from excitement.
"Code Red! Battle stations! I want all of the Starscreams to be launched!" He ordered with a chilly voice.
"R-Right!"
~~~
Alarms started to blare through the whole Confiscator.
[Code Red, All men to battle stations!]
[I repeat Code Red, all men to battle stations]
[Red, Blue and Yellow Wings to launch immediately!]
On the runway, the starscream engines roared to life as, one after another, the jets started to launch.
The forward knights proceeded to line up and wait for their turn. The Spider Walkers, followed by Yeagers, are prepared for their turn. Same with XC-M1 mobile suits.
While the girls who left the bridge ten minutes later could not believe what was happening, It was fine just moments ago!
"Marcus! What is going on!?" Athena rushed into the bridge. She looked all confused. Did some gods attack them!?
"We got hit by missiles repeatedly."
"...Huh? So that's what it was?"
"From the looks of it, those missiles were high yield."
"To shake Daedalus class, one needs a ballistic missile at least."
"...so what are you going to do?"
"Make an example." He said with a severe tone.
"It appears a warning shot from Ars Almadel Salomonis is not enough.
In that case, I will level the whole country." As he said that, a blinding light followed a pillar of light smashed somewhere.
"...that is…"
"Ars Almadel Salomonis. Their time has come." Marcus quoted an altered phrase from a certain Noble Phantasm
~~~
People from hundreds of kilometres away saw a massive pillar of light slam into the horizon. The pillar curved at a weird angle as if someone controlled it.
This light slammed at a specific location; for a second, all sound ceased, followed by a high explosion. This explosion was so loud that for a few seconds, people from hundreds of kilometres away turned deaf.
Not that Technocracy forces care about this bombardment; instead, the Starscreams and troops continued to get deployed.
The forces started by attacking military posts, ammo deposits, and barracks of any kind.
With a loud whistling sound, a Spider Walker was dropped, followed by gunships, which dropped Forward Knights.
The next second, like meteorites XC-M1, one after another landed and walked towards their first target.
A few seconds later, another pillar of light slammed into another location, erasing something.
A massive explosion followed; the force was so powerful that the sheer force even erased sound.
~~~
"...By God…do you see what I am seeing?" The border patrol in South Korea looked at the light show which was happening many kilometres away.
This was not war; it was extermination. The Space station was using precision orbital bombardment.
Since this weapon is so deadly, countries try to monitor this thing.
But now, this weapon is climbing into a higher vantage point and starting to rain bursts of energy every few moments.
"...Yeah."
As they were talking, a jet blasted past the border and released rows of missiles, destroying every single military-related building on the opposite side.
The shots were precise, and they erased anything that held any military importance.
In less than a few hours, the country's military was gone.
All that was left were stranglers.
The guards and their officers looked at each other with wide eyes.
"...what the hell just happened? How did they provoke that Marcus Goldman?"
"Remember!? The airship flew over us! This means it went past the North!"
"...You mean they attacked him!?" He replied with a loud gulp.
"And this was his response!?" He pointed at rising smoke in the distance. There are large clouds of smoke in the distance.
At that moment, a three-metre humanoid machine removed the barbed fence.
"Everything beyond this fence is for you people to take. Do whatever you want. My Supreme Commander doesn't care what you do with it."
After saying that, the machine looked to the sky, and the jet packs ignited and flew away.
"...Right. So—who is going to inform the commander?"
~~~
An emergency meeting was held in the restored Pentagon less than a few hours after the initial attack from Ars Almadel Salomonis. By this point, the weapon has been shot at least six times.
"W-What did you just say?"
"North Korea doesn't exist anymore." The general repeated what he said a few moments ago.
"The Space gun blasted that place to bits and pieces. From what the Allies told us, his winged airship was flying from Japan and passing the Korean peninsula, and the North side shot missiles at the airship.
The next thing was a barrage of shots from the station and an actual military invasion.
In a few hours, the entire country was overrun."
The listening people couldn't even speak as the voice was stuck in their throat.
"Didn't we shoot ballistic missiles at the station?" The Secretary of Defence said with a fearful voice.
"...yes, and his response was machines, which caused billions of dollars of losses. We lost a carrier strike force." The older man said with a plain voice.
"Does this mean that next time something similar happens, he will respond like this?"
"I think so. He did say that it depends on his mood. It appears that this time, he was not in a good mood."
"...Yes, and a country ceased to exist. No matter how bad it was in that place, it doesn't deserve what Marcus Goldman has done."
For a few seconds, the people didn't say anything.
"...We still need to prepare a statement."
"Yes. A message of caution."
~~~
Other countries reflected on what has happened in a small hermit country in the Korean Peninsula. Marcus Goldman has revealed his anger.
And what he can do when he is angry. It was not war but literal extermination.
Only a few small towns are all that is left.
Not a single large city is left. The ones that are reflecting the most are the more authoritarian countries. Strict, non-provoking laws have been passed overnight. Just mentioning 'Marcus Goldman' in a single sentence is forbidden by law.
Nations which considered waging war silently pulled back whatever they were planning.
Other more liberal democratic countries released statements that they are 'strongly recommending' not to provoke Marcus Goldman. After all, everyone has their 'breaking point'.
They are basically saying that he is one man's country. If they provoke him in any way, a whole ass country will attack you.
It took a while for people to realise, but no one would do anything to stop this man.
No government will do that.
~~~~~~Later~~~~~~
A trip which should have taken 2 hours took over 8 hours. Marcus was extremely annoyed, so he made several precise orbital bombardments.
He tried to be the nice guy. But no one gives a damn.
"Aurora, I want the Confiscator retrofitted. By tomorrow morning."
[Understood, I won't disappoint you]
"I know." With a nod, he stood up from his throne and proceeded to leave the bridge.
His maids, Fiance, and pets followed him. None of them spoke since they could sense Marcus' annoyance.
At that moment, Atalanta decided to 'save the day'.
"Are we going home?"
"... That's the plan."
"I thought we were going to awaken Tirpitz." The Lioness reminded him.
"...oh, right." A small smile appeared on his lips.
"You are right, let's go."
The atmosphere immediately lessened.
Athena, Gu Yuena, Nyx, and even Sirin slightly nodded at Huntress.
His brooding was suffocating. He is subconsciously releasing his enormous power.
Now, it has lessened to the point that it was bearable.
As the Confiscator landed, the rams lowered, and the aurora bots proceeded to start their work. Metallic hands rose from automated assembly lines. Specialised magnets moved to hold the airship in place as the removal of energy wings began.
"This place is not bad. I guess it's a space elevator?" Sirin asked as she looked around.
"Nope, this is Spaceport."
"Spaceport? Are you skipping the entire stage? No, it's because of your technology that you can ignore the atmosphere." The Herrscher reasoned out loud.
"Indeed, I don't need an elevator to work in space. My Ars Almadel Salomonis can work as if it's a shipyard and construction site for space industries." Marcus explained to her.
"I see. Then It makes sense to build a port. I was slightly concerned that you are building a port for ships which doesn't exist."
"Concerned? Is my Herrscher concerned? How cute."
The white-haired started to defend herself all over again.
As the group left the Confiscator, Quinella looked around for a second; she made sure she was away from her creator.
'Hehe, I finished all the tasks at hand. Now, I only need to lay low. Once he forgets that he grounded me, I can slip in and cuddle like nothing has happened!'
The platinum-haired beauty grinned for a second as she walked down the ramp and looked at the progress at the space centre.
Her eyes were on the tower.
The Aurora bots are nearly finished with this. The only thing left is the top floor for ships to dock and the communication floor above.
That means that six Daedalus class airships can dock by this point.
"Beautiful, we are almost there—the very space to take as ours." Part of her was excited about this. She had this strange feeling that Earth was too small. As if she had already done this before, and there was no excitement to conquer something she had done before.
Not that she can explain such a thing. It's not like she was alive before, right?
As she left the construction site and walked to the platform, her eyes gleamed, seeing the tube. Her hand went to the glass-like tube and touched it.
One of her earliest memories is of her talking about this to Marcus! About trains in space. And now they are here!
Stuff like that made her heart race from excitement.
As the anti-gravity train arrived, with a hiss, the doors opened, and the assistant entered and took her seat.
"Take me to base."
[Not going to Master's house?]
"Nope. Not today, we can allow that new girl to have all the fun."
[Master is at base, too. You might meet him.]
Quinella, for a second, had a panicky look; she swiftly started to think.
"I-I see."
[On top of that, you have things to review. The Technocracy Act]
"...Technocracy—act?"
The beauty was confused for a second and checked what the hell was that!
'This is— it's like the dissolution of the Roman Republic and the creation of the Roman Empire.'
'Or more like standardisation of everything and faction creation.'
For a second, Quinella wanted something more pompous, but it's just the faction 's official creation.
In a way, it's about time. They are so big now that they do need a name.
"Let's check the details."
~~~
Marcus, with his girls, arrived at the base.
"To think you have a house next to a train platform," Sirin commented. How strange it was! They just left the platform, took a corridor, and the place looked like a house! Corridors with holographic paintings. Mech statues at corners.
"All that you saw is my workshop. The train network connects all of it. In simple terms, the entire nation is my garage as the trains run from the Baltic Sea to my house two hundred kilometres away." He explained as plainly as he could.
"The mission to Japan is over; you all can relax and do whatever you want. I have things to do."
As Marcus tried to dismiss them, not everyone decided to do their thing.
Athena wanted to see the ship girl, and Sirin joined. Nyx decided to explore. She doesn't care about this pet project of his.
While Atalanta and Gu Yuena know better than to get in the way of his special moment, this is a special time for him.
At the same time, Valerie retreated to find the head maid; she needed to report to work.
Seeing that he has two girls following him, he could only eye roll.
After taking the lift to the workshop level, Marcus walked past his workshop and went to the genetics wing.
"Well, isn't this just creepy? I am getting flashbacks." Sirin sarcastically commented how the surroundings changed. Now, they are in a white, almost plastic-like room. This place was the genetic wing based on Kamino from Star Wars.
"Flashbacks?" Athena asked curiously. Has this new girl been in this kind of area before? Didn't Marcus say that he didn't alter her at all?
"You could say that. I have been a lab creation all my life. I have been experimented on to become a Herrscher, then when I escaped and waged war, I was killed and then resurrected in the lab again.
Eventually, I died, and yet again, I awakened in a lab."
"Not a lab. It's a healing and creation chamber. I ensured you return to life in a different place, not my genetic wing.
That is why you awakened in Scavenger, not my base." Marcus clarified to her.
"Think of that place like a hospital. Not a research place."
His explanation only made Sirin huff and look away.
"You and your explanations, which make sense! And I can't simply stomach them!" The Herrscher is slowly getting stuffed by those 'positive' energies.
As a cynical existence, she can't stomach any of it but is forced to eat these as she is powerless! Usually, she would blow away anyone trying to get close to her. But in this place, she is as powerless as one could get.
"Heh, just get used to it."
"As if!"
The girl looked away, and instead, her eyes gazed upon this place. The whole DNA theme is overloading this plate.
She can see it's being used on walls as decoration. Some of them emit light.
Eventually, they ended up in a similar place where she awakened in person.
A room full of tanks, only one was in use. Inside this tank was a girl with snow-like hair. Her hair was very long, just like how it was with Sirin at first.
"This is Tirpitz? What is her character? I mean, you made her from a ship." Athena asked curiously. She is interested in this resonance process.
"The Lonely Queen of the North. That is her 'title' given by the Royal Navy and the Allies in the Second World War. She was used as a symbol to deter from attacking Norway, which Nazi Germany conquered.
In a way, that's all she did in that conflict; all that resonated to create what you see in front of you."
Marcus said with a small smile while he looked at the new beauty.
"How does that even work? I mean, you created memories based on that?" Athena was as confused as ever.
"Not quite the metal of Tirpitz tells the tale. It works like sonar. You send a pulse which bounces from the metal. It's like that.
All you need is to send waves at specific frequencies. It's like people noticing resources—sending a signal and getting a particular frequency back.
It's like that, only on a more complex frequency. It's based on brainwaves as well. After all, the brain sends waves through the nervous system."
The Inventor explained with a small smile.
"...You telling me you can create people from that!?" Sirin was dumbfounded. She then motioned to her hand.
"So if I were to bring a rock to you, would you make it into a person!?" She pointed at her hand as if implying that if she was to bring a small rock, he could turn that into a person!
"Theoretically, yes, but there is a whole energy remnant thing required—something like a haunted place. If you haven't realised yet, strong emotions leave specific residue behind.
Most of the time, it sticks behind in certain things. Like, for example, a warship."
"...Oh, so it's like that. There are certain things you need to pass to create a person." Sirin sounded relieved. She was getting spooky a few moments ago. This guy was in the realm of literal gods. Well, he is, but not as crazy as she imagined at first, but still crazy.
"Precisely. Now then, let's awaken the sleeping beauty." As Marcus said that, he looked at Tirpitz. That moment, her eyes snapped open; her eyes were icy blue, like a clear sky in the arctic.
The liquid started to drain out of the tank; the girl stood on her two feet. She slowly removed her breathing mask. The whole time, she looked at Marcus and no one else.
Just like Enterprise, Tirpitz is very, very grateful for a second chance in life. And like that Aircraft Carrier, she will give 120% for all the tasks he will ask her to do.
~~~
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