Time rewinds to the moment the bomb exploded.
Just as Ais was about to destroy the McRucky Engine, a strong sense of danger triggered within her, a result of her long experience hunting alone in the dungeon. Almost instinctively, Ais channeled all her magic into strengthening her defenses.
Just as she finished her preparations, the pile of wooden crates suddenly burst into a brilliant light.
Boom!
Explosions echoed continuously.
Ais quickly crouched down to minimize her exposure and shielded her head with her hands. The immense force blew her away, slamming her hard against the bulkhead.
"Ugh!"
Her internal organs shook violently, causing Ais to cough up blood. Fortunately, her wind magic, honed and strengthened through constant training, held strong. Despite the intense explosion, her defenses remained intact.
Aside from the shock to her internal organs, Ais suffered almost no injuries.
The explosion nearly obliterated everything within the engine room. Seeing that her goal was accomplished, Ais swiftly escaped from the ship's interior.
Meanwhile, the officers aboard the lifeboats watched in horror as the beautiful yet nightmarish figure reappeared in the sky, coldly gazing down at them.
"How can she still be alive?!"
A lieutenant groaned in despair.
"A ghost! She must be an evil spirit risen from the depths of the underworld!"
Some of the navy sailors clutched their heads in terror, shouting frantically.
But the "evil spirit" seemed uninterested in them. After confirming they posed no threat, she flew away.
Ten minutes later, aboard the Musashi of the Combined Fleet:
"Report! Admiral Yamamoto, the Kamikaze operation has failed, and the target is continuing to damage our ships."
Admiral Yamamoto sighed deeply.
"Forget it. Order all ships to stop resisting once they are targeted."
Facing a supernatural enemy, even self-destruction was futile. Yamamoto had no choice but to abandon any further attempts. Besides, he could barely protect himself at this point.
In less than half an hour, two more battleships had sunk: the Kongou and the Hiei.
The family had finally been reunited, as all four Kongou sisters now gathered on the seabed.
The Yamato showed no mercy and had already begun shelling the Nagato.
On the Combined Fleet's side, after three salvos, they finally scored a hit on the Yamato.
But it was in vain.
As the Yamato sent both the Kongou and Hiei to the ocean floor, the surviving Musashi and Nagato fired over two hundred shells, scoring twenty-five hits.
However...
"Report, Admiral! We scored a hit, but it failed to penetrate the enemy's armor!"
This was the most frequent message Yamamoto Isoroku heard after the initial hit.
The much-vaunted new Type 1 armor-piercing shells, which the country had placed so much pride and hope in, were completely ineffective against the opponent.
Any shell that struck the main armor or main turrets was either shattered or deflected without achieving any significant damage.
A few grazing hits managed to knock out some secondary guns and antennas on the Yamato, but these were insignificant results.
When the first shell hit, there was much jubilation on the Musashi's bridge, but now, even when scoring hits, the observers reported to Yamamoto with a sense of numbness, as if it were merely routine.
Was this the same Yamato he had commanded before? Or had he been on a fake Yamato all along?
Facing this monstrous warship that seemed to be wearing the Yamato's skin, Admiral Yamamoto began to question everything.
"The Nagato has been hit! The No.1 turret is destroyed! Engine power is dropping!"
At that moment, a voice snapped Yamamoto out of his daze.
A gambler's mindset took over once again.
Either lose everything or win big!
This was Yamamoto Isoroku's life philosophy!
Suddenly, those on the bridge noticed that the small figure sitting in the command chair radiated a powerful and commanding aura.
"Signal! Nagato and Musashi are to turn hard to starboard and charge the enemy! Load the main guns with high-explosive shells and the secondary guns with smoke shells! The entire fleet is to cover the Shimakaze! Once we close in, deploy the decisive weapon—the experimental Type 99 steam torpedoes!"
The entire bridge was filled with Yamamoto Isoroku's rapid-fire commands.
The core of the plan was simple.
The fleet would act as bait, covering the fastest ship, the Shimakaze, allowing it to close in on the Yamato and deploy Japan's secret weapon—the Type 99 steam torpedo, an even more powerful successor to the Type 93 oxygen torpedo.
Despite its name, the Type 99 steam torpedo wasn't an old-fashioned World War I steam-gas torpedo. It was powered by a scaled-down version of the McRucky Engine—a black tech torpedo still in its experimental phase, designed as a superweapon.
With the McRucky Engine's powerful output and low energy consumption, Japan's Naval Research Institute had pushed the torpedo's performance to new heights.
The Type 93 had a maximum warhead of 780 kilograms and a top speed of 50 knots with a range of 22,000 meters.
But the Type 99 doubled these numbers!
It had an astonishing warhead of 1,200 kilograms, a top speed of 65 knots, and a range of 40,000 meters!
Of course, its cost was also astronomical, twenty times that of the Type 93.
The Type 99 was Yamamoto's ace in the hole, the key to winning the war!
"Everyone! The fate of the Empire rests on this!"
Yamamoto Isoroku raised his arm high in a rallying cry.
"Tenno Heika! Banzai!"
The officers and crew responded in unison.
Because the destroyers and cruisers were divided into two wings for a pincer movement, Ais only managed to stop the left wing.
The right wing fleet rapidly closed in on the Yamato.
The Yamato, of course, was not one to back down, unleashing a barrage from its 155mm triple secondary guns, 127mm twin guns, and 25mm anti-aircraft guns.
With a twofold amplification, the 155mm guns now had the firepower of the Kongou-class's main guns, and their rate of fire had reached a terrifying 15 rounds per minute, like a machine gun.
One battleship's barrage was equivalent to that of an entire fleet.
For the destroyers, it was instant death if hit, and severe damage if grazed.
Even the cruisers, which could withstand a bit more, were still no match for the Yamato's insane firepower and were quickly reduced to scrap.
Under such overwhelming firepower, not a single ship could get within 20,000 meters of the Yamato.
This distance was exactly the maximum range for the Type 93 torpedo, meaning any chance of hitting the target was purely down to luck.
In just half an hour, the destroyers had suffered the loss of eighteen ships, and three cruisers had sunk.
Some captains, in a desperate final act, as their ships sank, launched a last-ditch torpedo attack.
But the Yamato elegantly dodged over 95% of these torpedoes, as if dancing on a knife's edge.
The few it couldn't dodge were shot down by the anti-aircraft guns.
Out of more than a hundred torpedoes launched, not a single one hit.
However, with Yamamoto's all-or-nothing order, the tide of battle began to shift dramatically.
The surviving Musashi and Nagato altered their course, changing from a parallel line to a "T" formation, even positioning themselves at the disadvantageous side of the "T."
Facing the enemy head-on, only the turrets in front of the bridge could fire, and the lead ship blocked the firing line of the ship behind it. However, this "T disadvantage" was the best formation for a reckless charge.
Not only did it reduce the area vulnerable to enemy fire, but the rear ships could use the front ships as shields.
As the two battleships charged forward with reckless abandon, the Yamato couldn't just sit idle. It unleashed a relentless barrage on the Nagato ahead.
Yet, for some unknown reason, it seemed as though fate smiled on Yamamoto Isoroku that day.
In three consecutive volleys, the Yamato nearly swept the Nagato's forward deck clean, penetrating two main turrets, tearing a large hole below the bridge on the port side, and gouging out a significant chunk of the bow. But it failed to strike any critical hits on the Nagato.
The Yamato had no choice but to focus more of its attention on the two advancing battleships.
The precision of the barrage from the secondary guns decreased by about 20%, allowing the destroyers and cruisers to advance like sharks smelling blood, all while deploying smoke screens.
Combined with the smoke screens fired by the Nagato and Musashi, the battlefield was soon shrouded in a mix of white and black smoke, severely limiting visibility.
Although the Yamato's firepower remained formidable, its hit rate significantly dropped.
As the reckless charge continued without regard for losses, the two battleships, along with the destroyers and cruisers, closed in to within 15,000 meters of the Yamato.
At this closer range, the Yamato's hit rate and the power of its guns increased significantly, leading to heavy losses for the combined fleet.
The distance between the two sides shrank to 14,000 meters, 13,000 meters... 11,000 meters... 10,000 meters!
In just five kilometers, the combined fleet paid a terrible price, with the area between them and the Yamato seemingly paved with blood.
Only nine destroyers and three cruisers remained.
The Nagato's upper deck was nearly leveled, and the ship had taken on a staggering 10,000 tons of water, leaving its deck almost level with the water.
Despite this, the crew refused to abandon the ship.
On the Musashi, which had moved past the Nagato, Yamamoto Isoroku's face showed no emotion, but the bulging veins on the hand gripping his sword betrayed his tension.
The officers on the bridge took off their hats in respect.
Yamato sighed softly at this scene and aimed its main guns at the Musashi, its sister ship.
The Nagato was beyond saving; even if left alone, it would sink within ten minutes.
Yamato had no habit of mercilessly slaughtering an enemy with no chance of resistance.
Ten minutes later, the Nagato sank.
By then, the combined fleet had closed the distance to about eight kilometers.
This was a dangerously close range!
The Musashi's armor-piercing shells, though still unable to fully penetrate the Yamato's armor, had begun to leave deep grooves in it.
The Musashi itself was in bad shape, with its No. 1 main turret blown off and its No. 2 turret jammed, unable to rotate and requiring the ship's hull to be adjusted for targeting.
Fortunately, the Musashi was charging directly at the Yamato, so the impact wasn't too severe.
The remaining six destroyers, except for the Shimakaze, launched all their torpedoes at the Yamato, then positioned themselves as shields in front of the Shimakaze.
By now, even the most naive would understand the plan.
The Yamato's engines roared to life!
Having previously reduced speed to ensure the accuracy of its main guns, the Yamato now ramped up its engines to full power, accelerating to an incredible 60 knots.
Then, with a deft maneuver akin to a seasoned captain's drift, the Yamato veered sharply, fleeing at breakneck speed while maintaining the same course as the combined fleet.
Seeing the Yamato outpace the fastest destroyer, the Shimakaze, by 50%, the combined fleet's officers, including Yamamoto Isoroku, were stunned.
Was this a 70,000-ton battleship and not a speedboat?
"Dammit! Aim for her rudder and fire! Don't let her escape!"
Admiral Yamamoto was the first to react, immediately issuing orders.
At eight kilometers, battleships didn't need targeting equipment to hit—direct fire would do.
Soon, the Musashi adjusted its gun barrels slightly downward and unleashed a barrage at the Yamato's stern.
At this point, the torpedoes fired by the five destroyers proved their worth.
Over fifty Type 93 oxygen torpedoes spread out like a massive net, slowly closing in on the Yamato.
The Yamato had no choice but to flee at full speed, making minor course corrections along the way.
It seemed the heavens were either favoring the combined fleet or showing special favor to Yamamoto Isoroku, the supreme gambler.
A high-velocity armor-piercing shell landed in the water near the Yamato's stern, hitting the port-side propeller and turning it into twisted metal.
The Yamato's speed visibly dropped.
"The enemy ship has been hit! Its speed is decreasing!"
"Banzai!"
"Yoshi!"
The Musashi's bridge erupted in cheers, and even Yamamoto Isoroku breathed a sigh of relief.
Had the Yamato managed to pull away again, the combined fleet would have stood no chance at all.
When the Yamato's propeller was hit, the ship's bridge groaned as if in pain, and a large gash opened up on Yamato's left ankle, blood pouring from the wound.
"What a disgrace. It seems I'll be troubling the Admiral," Yamato sighed, glancing at the injured area.
With half of its power lost, the torpedoes gradually closed in on the slowing Yamato.
But thanks to Yamato's exceptional maneuvering skills, the ship narrowly avoided the torpedoes.
One by one, the torpedoes passed within three meters of the Yamato's hull.
However, as the Musashi took its revenge, it did not escape unscathed.
An armor-piercing shell grazed the Musashi's bridge, turning the once jubilant atmosphere into a scene from hell.
Shrapnel tore through the bridge like bullets, riddling many officers with holes.
The shockwave left the survivors, including Yamamoto, with blood streaming from their ears, and their eardrums ruptured.
The brutal chase continued.
The combined fleet managed to close the distance to just five kilometers.
But the cost was steep: except for the Shimakaze, tasked with the final mission, the entire squadron had been wiped out.
The Musashi's forward main turret was destroyed, and the bow, including the foredeck, had been gnawed away as if a giant dog had chewed on it, leaving it unrecognizable.
The bridge had been half-sheared off, forcing Yamamoto and the remaining officers to command the battle from the exposed deck.
"Die, you demon!"
With a shout from the Shimakaze's captain, Masao Sugiyama, the Shimakaze made a sharp turn.
Plop! Plop! Plop!
Fifteen heavy objects splashed into the water.
The Type 93 oxygen torpedoes, in which Yamamoto had placed his last hopes, shot towards the Yamato like arrows loosed from a bow!