Perhaps sensing a business opportunity, the system immediately provided the answer.
A [Special Entity]—typically associated with a nation or race—carries the faith of most individuals within that group. It can be an object, a person, or even an idea or belief. Examples include famous warships, notable buildings, and renowned historical figures.
Ryou instantly understood that this concept expanded the scope of heroic spirits beyond just humans.
The system then directly answered his second question.
[A special-type contract heroic spirit is a special entity transformed into a humanoid form. Unlike standard heroic spirits, these are not restricted by class but rather by battlefield conditions.]
Ryou understood immediately. For example, if he were to convert the Yamato into a contract heroic spirit, it would take on a form similar to that of a ship girl, gaining significant power on naval battlefields but becoming weaker on land.
It seemed like some crossover between FGO and ship-girl games had occurred, creating yet another money-draining scheme. After hearing the system's explanation, he felt a drop of cold sweat forming on his forehead.
Nevertheless, possessing a special heroic spirit similar to a ship girl would undoubtedly make controlling the entire Yamato easy.
At that moment, another message popped up from the system.
[Note: The attribute boost of a contracted special heroic spirit varies greatly depending on the fame or faith level associated with the warship.
Currently, the Yamato faith under the host's control offers a 300% attribute boost and a 500% potential boost.]
Ryou couldn't help but gasp in surprise. As a spiritual symbol of the Eleventh District, the Yamato's enduring charm had led to a near-unbelievable attribute boost. This was akin to turning a low-level heroic spirit into one capable of rivaling a top-tier hero like Karna.
Regardless, he was determined to contract the big sister with the umbrella.
Out of curiosity, Ryou casually asked the system another question.
"Do other countries have similar warships?"
To his surprise, the system provided an answer:
[America: The aircraft carrier Enterprise, also known as One Ship, One Nation.]
[England: The battlecruiser Hood, known as the Royal Lady.]
[Germany: The battleship Bismarck, known as the Iron-blooded Queen.]
Ryou felt his collector's instinct stir. The idea of acquiring the iconic warships was incredibly tempting!
It was fortunate that, in this alternate world, no world wars had occurred, and each nation's warships were still safely docked at their respective ports, giving him the perfect opportunity to collect them all.
"How many energy points are required to convert the Yamato into a special contract heroic spirit?"
Ryou asked, clearly intending to proceed with the transformation immediately.
In a previous world, after slaying the god Dionysus, he had amassed a large number of energy points, bringing his total to over five million. Contracting with Natsume only cost him a few hundred thousand points; surely the Yamato wouldn't cost much more. It couldn't possibly require the entire five million, could it?
Ryou was confident, thinking that with enough energy points, he could do as he pleased.
However, the system quickly reminded him of an important truth:
Greedy Devs.
[—Converting the Yamato into a contract heroic spirit requires 4,999,999 energy points. Rounding up, the host needs to pay the full five million points.]
The smile on Ryou's face slowly faded.
[—Would you like to proceed with the conversion?]
"Yes!"
Ryou practically gritted his teeth as he responded.
[—The conversion process will take 8 hours. Please be patient.]
Although he was about to achieve his goal of contracting with Yamato, he felt frustrated at being fleeced by the system's greed. He now had the urge to cut something down.
At that moment, Ryou's expression suddenly turned cold.
Those Yamato crew members who thought they could threaten him now had only one use left.
...
Naturally, Ryou wasn't going to wait idly for eight hours. During this time, he returned to the dock to assist Jeanne in handling the prisoners and organizing administrative tasks.
Everyone who encountered him, whether his samurai or the captured soldiers, looked at him with reverence, as if he were a god.
In this world, although there were advanced technologies like the McRucky Enginee and the terrifying zombie-like Kabane, humanity itself had no supernatural beings. Therefore, to them, Ryou, who could run on water and single-handedly capture a warship, was already considered divine.
Some more superstitious individuals even began to believe that he was the embodiment of the Japanese sea god Watatsumi.
The eight hours passed quickly amidst his busyness.
As soon as the time was up, he rushed to the Yamato.
Whether it was an illusion or not, Ryou suddenly felt that the Yamato, floating in the sea, had become more vibrant, almost as if it had come to life.
As he stepped onto the bridge, white starlight began to gather into a human form.
A gentle, mature voice filled with the warmth of a caring wife echoed through the air.
"Yamato-class battleship, first ship, Yamato, reporting for duty. Are you my admiral?~"
Standing before him was a perfect woman exuding the elegance of a Yamato Nadeshiko. She wore a red and white sailor uniform, carried a strangely designed double-layered umbrella, had a long ponytail draped down her back, and a face as beautiful as cherry blossoms.
Feeling a faint connection with the Yamato, Ryou suppressed his inner excitement and nodded with a smile.
"Yes, I am your admiral, Yamato."
"Then, Admiral, shall we proceed with the first activation ceremony?"
With a smile, Yamato closed her umbrella, and without hesitation, she knelt gracefully on the dirty floor, holding her delicate hands together above her head.
Golden light emerged from the void, gathering in Yamato's hands and forming a small, exquisitely crafted golden key.
It was only then that Ryou noticed a brooch on Yamato's collarbone, shaped like the core mechanism of the McRucky Engine, but ten times smaller. The brooch also had a tiny keyhole in the center.
Ryou took the key and instinctively touched the spot where the brooch was located.
"Is it here?"
Perhaps finding his actions a bit too intimate, a blush spread across Yamato's pale cheeks. However, the gentle-natured Yamato did not resist but instead shyly turned her body slightly.
"Y-yes, Admiral, please insert the master key into the lock."
Thinking her words sounded too suggestive, Yamato lowered her head slightly, unable to meet his gaze.
Ryou nodded and slowly inserted the key into the lock, then turned it 180 degrees.
"Mmm~"
During this process, an unusual flush spread across Yamato's fair face, her gentle and intelligent eyes becoming misty, and she let out a restrained yet heated breath.
Click!
A soft sound came from the lock, followed by the core mechanism popping open, revealing a round gem that emitted a dazzling golden light.
The light immediately reminded Ryou of the McRucky Engine's activation and the glowing hearts of the Kabane after they turned into corpses. The three emitted an almost identical radiance!
This McRucky Engine technology indeed hides a great secret!
Without waiting for him to think further, Yamato gently exhaled a sweet, enticing breath, her eyes shimmering with a mix of reluctance and expectation as she looked at him, completely resembling someone who had just experienced an intimate moment with him.
"Admiral, Yamato has completely gained control over her body. Please give your orders."
As she spoke, Yamato demonstrated her control by having the two massive main cannons at the front of the bridge rotate at over five times the speed and flexibility designed, without anyone operating them.
If Yamato's chief designer were to witness this, he might not be able to stay in his grave.
The main cannons of the Yamato are world-famous, and known as the largest caliber naval guns in human history.
The official name is the Type 94 46cm/45 caliber triple-gun turret.
A single volley from such a cannon is equivalent to a B-rank Noble Phantasm used against an army.
Because of this, it's also the heaviest in the world—the entire main turret weighs about 1,700 tons!
Even with Yamato's current core, powered by the mysterious McRucky Engine and using high-pressure steam instead of hydraulic systems to drive the main guns, increasing the turret rotation speed to two minutes per full rotation was already impressive.
But now, the turrets were rotating in just over 20 seconds—how is this even possible?
This is downright unscientific!
Ryou had thought the so-called attribute boost only applied to things like firepower, speed, and armor. He never imagined it would enhance everything across the board.
To put it bluntly, the current Yamato could take on five of her previous self.
Moreover, with the latest McRucky Engine acting as the power core, similar to nuclear power, the fuel consumption of the Yamato has drastically decreased.
She's powerful, visually pleasing, and cost-effective to maintain.
The five million energy points spent to contract this umbrella big sister were well worth it!
After Yamato's demonstration, she stopped, standing quietly, ready to follow Ryou's orders.
With Yamato, all previous problems were solved.
Ryou stroked his chin and immediately issued a series of commands.
He ordered Yamato to lock all ammunition bays and gun turrets, close the sea valves, and shut all watertight doors, forbidding any personnel activity. Then, without any need for tug assistance, Yamato smoothly moved toward the shore under her power.
Typically, such a large warship as the Yamato would require tugboats to dock.
But since Yamato herself is essentially the ship, controlling her body comes naturally.
Yamato docked effortlessly at the pier.
Having a shipgirl is just this convenient.
The samurai and foot soldiers waiting there immediately swarmed aboard and arrested all the crew members on the Yamato.
At this point, Ryou had completely dismantled the resistance at the Yokosuka naval port.
However, when introducing Yamato to Jeanne and Ais, a small issue arose.
He explained everything about Yamato and her origins to Jeanne and Ais.
Jeanne and Yamato exchanged greetings in a very friendly and harmonious manner.
Everything seemed normal up to this point.
But in the next moment, he was shocked to see black mist rising behind Jeanne, with faint flames burning within it.
Simultaneously, Jeanne's class on her status screen was rapidly switching between Ruler and Avenger.
"Ryou-kun, you are something—going out for a bit and bringing back another beautiful girl~"
Yamato and Ais stood nearby, looking as beautiful as flowers.
Yamato maintained her serene, traditional Yamato Nadeshiko appearance, with a faint smile on her face as if Jeanne's words were not directed at her.
Ais, meanwhile, was munching on a potato cake she'd found somewhere, looking on with a curious expression.
"Jeanne, Jeanne, please calm down! You must stay calm!"
Ryou hastily broke into a cold sweat, trying to soothe Jeanne.
It took quite some effort for him to calm her down.
...
After finishing his administrative duties, it was already midnight.
Only then did Ryou remember that he hadn't had time to check all of Yamato's attributes.
He quickly opened the system to take a look.
After reviewing, Ryou had to admit that Yamato was indeed different from ordinary contract spirits.
She didn't have attributes like Strength or Agility. Instead, she had attributes such as Firepower, Defense, and Speed.
Her skills and Noble Phantasms were all related to naval battles and warships.
Once on land, she would be nearly half as effective.
She also had two modes: a normal state with no consumption and a battle state.
In her normal state, Yamato looked like an ordinary girl, aside from some unusual accessories.
In battle mode, she had two further modes: a shipgirl state, where only her ship gear was summoned, and a full combat state, where her entire body was summoned.
The full combat state had the most terrifying consumption rate.
For example, if Yamato's consumption in normal mode was 0, then in the shipgirl state, it would be 1. But once she summoned her full body and entered full combat mode, her consumption would be 100!
After becoming Ryou's contract spirit, Yamato no longer consumed fuel but rather magic crystals that had to be exchanged from the system.
Moreover, Yamato required the highest purity magic crystals.
A single magic crystal worth 100,000 energy points could only support Yamato in full combat mode for one day.
Of course, simply summoning her full body without any activity wouldn't consume any energy.
A gold-eating waifu!
And this was with the energy-saving black technology of the McRucky Engine installed; otherwise, the magic crystal consumption would be at least three times higher!
Ryou suddenly felt like a salaryman working hard outside to earn money just to support his beautiful but extremely costly wife at home.
And yet, this wife wasn't only beautiful and pleasing to the eye, but also exceptionally capable.
It left him with no thoughts of divorce, only the desire to work hard to earn more.
It was truly a feeling of both pain and pleasure.
...
Early the next morning, Ryou was already immersed in a busy day.
The most critical issue was dealing with the naval prisoners.
He had about 3,000 loyal samurai and foot soldiers, but the number of prisoners from the Yokosuka naval port had reached nearly 20,000.
This was an extremely unstable factor.
He had kept these prisoners because training naval personnel was not easy.
After all, like the Air Force, the Navy is a technical service, and it takes over five years to train a qualified sailor.
But when the system provided him with another option, he realized he didn't need these naval crew members as much as he thought.
Not to mention, these guys were all restless elements.
So, he decided to solve this problem once and for all.
Under his orders, all the prisoners, including the separately detained officers, were gathered at the pier.
The samurai loyal to the Yomogawa family stood on the outskirts of the crowd, holding steam rifles, ready for anything. The safety on their steam guns was off, and the muzzles were pointed directly at the crowd. Any slight movement from the prisoners would be met with a bullet.
Despite this, the prisoners still vastly outnumbered the guards.
To maintain a deterrent effect, small-caliber cannons and the latest steam machine guns were also set up, their dark barrels pointing directly at the crowd.
Once the prisoners were all gathered, Ryou made his entrance in a way no one could have anticipated.