Sacred sounds echoed faintly, and suddenly, a series of distant horn blasts resounded from the sky.
Amidst countless feathers gently falling and glowing with white light, Ryou, with six large white wings of light behind him, descended to the ground.
He appeared as if a seraph had arrived in the world!
Witnessing this seemingly miraculous scene, the 20,000 prisoners and the samurai under his command stood dumbfounded.
Seeing the shocked expressions of the crowd below, Ryou allowed a satisfied smile to cross his face.
His relentless effort, continuous practice, and tireless study had finally paid off. Before entering the world of Kabaneri, he had elevated his Primordial Runes to grade D.
Once raised to grade D, the effects of the Primordial Runes increased exponentially.
This time, in front of everyone, he made such a grand entrance by using the Primordial Runes to create an illusion of a seraph's descent, complete with visions and sounds.
From then on, Ryou became a man who could add special effects and background music to himself.
Seeing that both the prisoners and his soldiers were utterly convinced by the spectacle, Ryou, who had previously engraved a sound-amplifying rune on himself, spoke in a voice that reverberated across the entire harbor.
"I am the leader of the four archangels under our Lord,—Michael!"
The crowd was utterly stunned.
According to the timeline of the Kabaneri world, this period corresponds to World War II. Countries had already begun frequent communication via telegraph, and the Catholic Church was no longer so mysterious.
Furthermore, since the victors of the Sengoku period were the Western forces, Christianity was not severely suppressed or eradicated as it was under Tokugawa Ieyasu. Instead, it was heavily supported and competed with Japan's powerful native Buddhist forces.
With the backing of the shogunate, Christianity made significant strides in Japan. Most naval officers came from well-off families and were well-educated, so they were familiar with Christianity and knew who Michael was.
As they recovered from their shock, the relatively few Christians among the prisoners began to kneel and worship him.
It was no wonder they so easily believed his lie; after all, his superhuman feats and today's awe-inspiring entrance had convinced them beyond doubt. Besides a divine being, who could so effortlessly run across the sea, seize a super battleship single-handedly, or descend like a true angel?
The prisoners immediately gave themselves an excuse: We lost to a god!
Unwilling to admit and thus avoid facing the fact that 20,000 people were lost to a single person, the prisoners increasingly believed and reinforced the idea that he was indeed a deity.
This was precisely what Ryou had planned before entering the world of Kabaneri—disguising himself as the archangel Michael.
A mortal cannot unify all of humanity, but a god can!
Even though the identity of Kenshou Yomogawa was already quite prestigious in Japan, it was still far from enough to unite the entire planet's human forces. So, he placed himself on a higher plane above humanity, making it somewhat more plausible!
Jeanne promptly followed his earlier instructions, separating the Christian prisoners from the rest and removing their shackles on the spot.
Seeing that everyone was completely overawed, Ryou's smile briefly flashed. The stage was set for a long solo performance.
He fully embraced his inner actor, deeply embedding the image of the majestic, loving archangel Michael, sent by God to save humanity, into the minds of the prisoners.
If modern people witnessed this scene, they would undoubtedly think it was some kind of elaborate theatrical performance.
As the atmosphere reached its peak, he knew the time had come to move to the next step. He raised his arm and ordered all of the Yamato's crew to be separated.
Ryou held a deep grudge against them; over 300 officers and men of the YaRyou would never trust the original crew of the Yamato, even if they had been brainwashed.
An astonishing scene unfolded as the 20,000 prisoners automatically made way, isolating the 2,000 original crew members of the Yamato from the group.
Just as he expected, even after witnessing such a miraculous display, many of the original Yamato crew still glared at him with deep hostility.
Facing their murderous gazes, Ryou, with the air of a judge, declared from above.
"The Lord is merciful, but His mercy is not limitless. Do not take the Lord's mercy for granted."
Ryou seemed to fully immerse himself in the role of Michael, condemning the Yamato crew for their selfishness and greed, comparing them to the devils of hell, who were utterly evil and cared nothing for others.
Gradually, even the other prisoners began to look at the Yamato crew with disdain, anger, and contempt, their eyes like arrows piercing through the original crew.
Ryou noticed all this and continued speaking as if nothing had happened.
"…You are not as important as you think you are."
Finally, he concluded.
It was time to deliver the final blow and push this grand act to a new peak!
He pointed his finger at the Yamato battleship at the dock and shouted.
"Our Lord is wise and loving. Even a battleship will bathe in the Lord's glory!"
Then, before nearly 30,000 pairs of eyes, the unmanned Yamato battleship began to operate on its own!
The scene was like the appearance of a ghost ship. The main and secondary turrets of the Yamato moved by themselves, without anyone controlling them.
Next, under the watchful eyes of nearly 30,000 people, the Yamato slowly sailed out of the port and fired a full broadside toward the open sea.
When the 460mm shells hit the water, massive columns of water shot up into the sky, as if they were about to overturn the entire ocean.
The sight also overturned the minds of everyone present.
Especially the Yamato's crew, no one knew better than they did the power of the Yamato's 460mm Equalizer Cannon.
Due to the lack of quality gunpowder, the 460mm Equalizer Cannon's power was slightly inferior to the original Yamato on Earth.
Even with high-explosive shells, known for their blast power, the maximum explosion could only create a water column equivalent to lifting a football field into the air.
But what did they see today!?
A single high-explosive shell detonated underwater, creating a water column twice the size of the Yamato itself.
A standard football field covers approximately 7,000 square meters, while the Yamato's deck area is more than 10,000 square meters.
The unmanned Yamato had tripled the power of its shells!
Terrifying, simply terrifying!
The enhanced version of the Equalizer Cannon indeed lived up to its name!
But what terrified the crowd even more was that the battleship had done all this by itself!
A super battleship that could understand human speech and operate independently!
If this wasn't a divine miracle, what was it?
Facing the nearly bulging eyes of the crowd, Ryou directly announced that the Yamato battleship, having been blessed by God, had gained a new soul and no longer required human control.
This sequence of dramatic events earned him countless gazes of extreme reverence.
He then proclaimed on the spot that due to the original crew's resistance, they must be punished. However, God is merciful and would not sentence them to death. Instead, they were to atone for their sins through hard labor.
At the scene, other captives were allowed to convert to Catholicism. Those who converted would be released immediately, while those who refused would be punished alongside the original crew of the Yamato by engaging in hard labor.
Of course, this only applied to ordinary crew members. As for officers, particularly those in positions of department heads or higher, they were all sentenced to hard labor without negotiation.
Ryou weren't doing this out of kindness but rather for multiple strategic gains.
The physical labor these punished naval officers and soldiers would be tasked with was building a city wall.
Yokosuka, being one of Japan's best deep-water ports, is surrounded by the sea on three sides, resembling a boot extending into the ocean. It's an ideal location for defending against the Kabane.
Ryou only needed to block off the inland side with a wall. Defending a single wall is far easier than defending on all sides.
This strategic decision was one of the reasons he was determined to seize Yokosuka at all costs.
If time permits, the wall could be built gradually. However, with the Kabane already having landed on Kyushu Island, they would reach the vicinity of Yokosuka in a minimum of six months and a maximum of a year, according to their pace.
Therefore, to build a wall strong enough to fend off the Kabane within half a year, a large workforce was essential.
Thus, the stubborn prisoners who remained resistant despite witnessing his extraordinary powers were put to use.
Moreover, forcing the most rebellious captives to build the wall would exhaust their physical strength and minimize their chances of rebellion.
As for any accidental deaths, illnesses, or exhaustion during the construction, that would not be his concern.
This strategy achieved multiple objectives, proving far better than simply executing the prisoners.
As for the soldiers who chose to convert on the spot, Ryou would not trust them immediately. For the first year, they wouldn't even have the opportunity to approach the battleships. Instead, they would undergo continuous indoctrination in Catholicism until 99% of them became devout followers.
Regarding the original Christian naval officers, he assigned them positions similar to political commissars within the captives.
These newly appointed priests would later become powerful tools for him in controlling the ideology of his military.
This grand spectacle of religious manipulation elevated his prestige to new heights.
Even though Ryou disguised himself as a non-native deity in Japan, in a country deeply rooted in superstition, an outsider god who could perform miracles was far more convincing than the elusive, unseen native gods.
With Ryou's prestige soaring, neither the Shogun nor the current emperor seemed untouchable in Yokosuka.
The most direct consequence was that the once-defiant prisoners quickly lost their fighting spirit.
The samurai and foot soldiers of the Yomogawa clan were no longer filled with anxiety, as if following their lord in rebellion would soon result in execution. Instead, their faces were now brimming with confidence and pride, firmly believing that they were not acting out of selfishness but for the future of all of Japan, saving the people from dire straits as true saviors.
If this were a game, Ryou would receive a notification indicating that the morale of his troops had significantly increased.
This was precisely what he desired.
As the saying goes, "Without legitimacy, one cannot command obedience."
To overthrow the shogunate's centuries-old entrenched rule and even challenge the belief that the emperor's lineage was divine, Ryou had to elevate himself to a position equal to or higher than theirs.
In peaceful times, his strategy would never have succeeded. Even if he occupied Yokosuka, the shogun could command the national military to subdue him quickly.
But now, in an era ravaged by the Kabane hordes, even if the shogun issued a national decree to attack him, the northern regions might send a token force at most, while the southern regions, especially those near Kyushu and Shikoku, would likely ignore the order.
With the Kabane sweeping north like a tidal wave, these territories were too preoccupied with their survival to heed a call to arms against Ryou.
Even the shogun's stronghold at Kongoukaku and the emperor's residence in Kyoto dared not act rashly.
This gave Ryou ample time to strengthen his position.
He had timed his moves perfectly.
However, just as he was beginning to stabilize the situation in Yokosuka and was preparing to focus on development, trouble arose in Aragane Station.
The issue was straightforward: to fully develop Yokosuka, Ryou decided to abandon Kongoukaku Station entirely.
Only a small contingent would remain as a forward outpost, while the families of the samurai and the civilians under the Yomogawa clan would all relocate to the safer Yokosuka.
In peaceful times, Aragane Station, with its extensive connections, would have been a priority for development.
But in the face of the impending Kabane horde, Yomogawa Station became a liability.
Anyone who has played zombie tower defense games knows that the more territory you need to defend, the more likely it is for breaches to occur, leading to a catastrophic overrun by the horde.
Moreover, the Kabane are far more dangerous than zombies, possessing no weaknesses and even greater strength and speed.
If not for the lack of widespread aviation at this time, the Kabane's spread would be far faster, leaving humanity with little time to build defenses. The human race would have been wiped out many times over by now.
However, some people, especially the elderly who were deeply attached to their homeland and extremely stubborn, would not leave unless a knife was held to their throats, no matter how persuasively they spoke, even if it was for their good.
This was precisely the situation at Aragane Station.
With the incitement of some ill-intentioned individuals, a large number of elderly people refused to leave Aragane Station, causing the entire relocation process to grind to a halt.
No matter how Ryou's samurai pleaded or described the horrors of the Kabane, these stubborn old folks were adamant—they would not budge unless forcefully removed.
When Ryou heard this news, his face immediately darkened.
He had fought tooth and nail to give the people of Aragane Station a chance at survival, and now these old troublemakers were not only unhelpful but were also actively dragging him down!
Ryou immediately drew the primordial rune symbols for "wind" and "flight" on his body.
Whoosh!
Under the awed gaze of the onlookers, he soared into the sky like an arrow, heading straight for Aragane Station.