Chapter 271: Wisdom Unit and Wisdom Cube

"So what exactly is the thing that the Nine Major Factions are fighting over this time?" Ou Gen Qin Wang asked.

"According to Akagi, at this time last year, the Northern Union discovered a strange fluctuation in the Arctic Ice Plains, and that fluctuation was something they had never seen before. It did not come from the Sirens, nor from any other faction."

"Thus, the curious Northern Union dispatched the Front Line Fleet stationed in the Arctic Ice Plains, led by Soviet Belarus, to the Arctic Ice Plains to investigate."

"They discovered a very strange city in the Arctic Ice Plains, but that city seemed not to exist in this world, appearing extremely illusory."

"They had never discovered this city during previous patrols, so the curious Northern Union's Front Line Fleet stationed there decided to investigate further."

"As for what exactly is inside that city, the Northern Union did not clearly reveal it to other factions, merely saying they had found several things in that city."

"One kind is the shipgirl drill data that Donghuang Supreme Commander Yixian told the commander when we came this time. It can quickly raise a shipgirl's proficiency level, allowing a faction's strength to quickly increase."

"The other kind is called the Wisdom Unit. Its function is to allow a shipgirl who has reached maximum proficiency but has not yet awakened to undergo Wisdom Awakening."

"What!" Qin Ge and several shipgirls stared in shock at Tiancheng, because the thing was truly astonishing.

"Now many shipgirls are stuck at the maximum proficiency level, unable to undergo Wisdom Awakening; the main reason is that Wisdom Awakening is extremely difficult, so each faction has only a few dozen people who have undergone awakening."

"Furthermore, each person's awakening varies, causing differences in strength. Therefore, if all maximum-proficiency shipgirls could undergo awakening, the improvement would be far more than marginal; the entire faction could undergo a qualitative leap."

"If this is the thing, then the Nine Major Factions' agitation is understandable." Qin Ge said.

"But Tiancheng shook her head, 'You've misunderstood; this Wisdom Awakening here is not the usual awakening we understand.'"

"'How so?' Bisimai asked."

"Because the Northern Union conducted an experiment, they had a maximum-proficiency shipgirl use the Wisdom Unit, then conducted a simulated drill with a shipgirl that had just awakened."

"They found that the shipgirl who had undergone awakening via the Wisdom Unit had far less strength than a shipgirl that had undergone self-awakening." Tiancheng said.

"This..." Qin Ge and the shipgirls were somewhat doubtful, "Then what use is this Wisdom Unit?"

"Tiancheng said, 'My lord… cough… I think you've misunderstood one thing. Not every shipgirl can self-awaken; for those shipgirls who have not self-awakened, or those who have gone over a dozen years without awakening, this Wisdom Unit is the key to further boosting their strength.'"

"Although they are slightly weaker than shipgirls who self-awaken, they are still much stronger than ordinary maximum-proficiency shipgirls. Cough… don't you think the shipgirls following those commanders would not be tempted by such a thing?"

"Who can guarantee that they can rely on their own strength to undergo Wisdom Awakening? And how long can they wait?"

"Free shipgirls are fine to talk about, since it's just oneself, but what about us shipgirls with commanders? Isn't Wisdom Awakening the fastest way to boost fleet strength?"

"Or are commanders supposed to wait for their shipgirls to self-awaken over ten years, twenty years, or even several decades?"

"Qin Ge blushed and nodded, 'Tiancheng's consideration is thorough; I only thought of self-Wisdom Awakening to greatly boost my own strength, but I didn't consider that many shipgirls cannot self-awaken.'"

"Indeed, those shipgirls capable of self-awakening are indeed a minority; most maximum-proficiency shipgirls cannot self-awaken, for example, Guanghui in the Qin Ge Fleet, who has been at maximum proficiency for many years but has never grasped the opportunity for self-awakening."

"You didn't say earlier that the Northern Union obtained several kinds from that city? Besides this Wisdom Unit, what else did they get?" Ou Gen Qin Wang asked.

"Of course, there is another very important thing; I think this is the key that all major factions are fighting over." Tiancheng said.

"What thing?" Qin Ge asked.

"A purplish-black Wisdom Cube." Tiancheng said solemnly.

"A purplish-black Wisdom Cube?" Qin Ge and the shipgirls exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes." Tiancheng said.

"But if they had such a Wisdom Cube, why wouldn't the Northern Union just use it right away?" Qin Ge asked.

"This Wisdom Cube is different from the common Wisdom Cube we see; it cannot be summoned immediately." Tiancheng said.

"Why?" Ou Gen Qin Wang wondered.

"Because ordinary Wisdom Cubes can be directly summoned; could this purplish-black Wisdom Cube have some summoning restriction?"

"Seeming to guess what others were thinking, Tiancheng directly said to everyone, 'Exactly, it has a summoning restriction; precisely because of this restriction, other factions have a chance to contend for this different Wisdom Cube.'"

"Because after the Northern Union obtained these, they were hit by the Siren Tide, namely that strange Siren Tide; they did not invite any faction's help, but instead bore it themselves, and thus all eight other major factions set their sights on them."

"After the envoys of the eight major factions arrived at the Northern Union, under pressure, the Soviet Union had to reveal everything their faction had obtained from the Arctic Ice Plains."

"After all, the eight major factions were using the Azure Lane's name to suppress the Northern Union, so as long as the Northern Union was still considered a member of Azure Lane, they had no choice but to comply."

"Precisely for this reason, this gathering of the Nine Major Factions took place. As for why this time is an opportunity for the Nine Major Factions, it is because they came to discuss the ownership of this Wisdom Cube."

"This Wisdom Cube has a summoning restriction: one must constantly hold this Wisdom Cube while fighting, cough… and obtain real-time combat calculation data; once the data accumulates to a certain extent, only then can it be summoned using the power of an ordinary Cube."

"Logically, the Nine Major Factions should each select their finest commander to undertake this task, but because no one knows how long this data needs to be collected,"

"Most factions' finest commanders are elderly, cough… they lack the energy to undergo such a lengthy trial, and for the sake of fairness, this is why the Academy students' competition was arranged."

"Cough cough…"