Chapter 529: Secret

Growth always comes with growing pains; this kind of experience will forever be etched in the heart.

After Guanghui's explanation, Qin Ge somewhat understood his shipgirls' thoughts and also knew his own thoughts, though they were merely his own.

The previous hesitation was gone; facing such a lovely person, Qin Ge's response was a deep kiss.

It seemed that only this expression could convey his inner feelings; at this moment, any language lost its original charm.

After everything became clear in their hearts, the two held hands and supported each other as they descended the peak.

As night fell, Qin Ge, after a busy day, returned to his room. But soon the door was knocked; Qin Ge went forward, opened it, and found Emperor Frederick standing outside.

"Emperor Frederick, good evening, please come in." Qin Ge did not ask why Emperor Frederick came so late, but according to his understanding of him, since he came at this hour, there must be something.

"Heh, my child, it seems you already know what I have come for?" Emperor Frederick said after entering and speaking to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge smiled and said, "I don't know, but lately you've been frequently visiting the envoys of the other nine major factions, so it must be related to this."

Emperor Frederick nodded, then sat on Qin Ge's sofa, saying, "These days I have been going to the Nine Major Factions' testing site just to request from them some secret research dossiers concerning the Nine Major Factions' research on the Sirens."

After all, my child, you have provided them with much data; therefore we must correspondingly obtain the right to know some of that data.

"Hmm, I also previously queried some special data from the Sakura Empire's dossier, but saw nothing particularly abnormal. So, Emperor Frederick, what abnormal issue did you discover this time?" Qin Ge walked to the side water station, pouring tea as he spoke.

"That's right; I investigated the Nine Major Factions' dossiers and discovered some interesting matters. I think you need to know about them, which is why I came so late." Emperor Frederick smiled.

Qin Ge wondered, "What interesting matters?"

Emperor Frederick said, "Do you know why the Siren Tide occurs every October?"

Qin Ge shook his head, "I don't know; no one has ever spoken of this."

Emperor Frederick said, "Actually, the timing of the Siren Tide each year used to be irregular, but there was always a pattern: it occurs three months after the Commander Academy's graduation."

"Ah?" Qin Ge exclaimed in surprise, "So you mean the current Siren Tide timing is based on the Commander Academy's graduation time?"

"Yes." Emperor Frederick nodded, "The Nine Major Factions once tried countless methods to avoid that weak period when newly graduated commanders are at their weakest, but without exception, they were all discovered by the Sirens, who then launched Siren Tides targeting each faction."

Therefore, they later decided to unify the annual graduation time of commanders to the end of June.

"I see." Qin Ge nodded.

"And combining this situation, it can be clearly expressed that the Sirens actually know full well whatever happens in each faction."

"Furthermore, my child, you previously encountered several high-ranking humanoid Sirens in the Mirror Sea, did you not? In your conversations with them, they once mentioned that this world is merely one of their test fields."

"Therefore, it can be inferred that such test fields are countless; after all, the data summed up from an experimental site is merely what happens in that test field, so to obtain precise data one must conduct countless experiments." Emperor Frederick said.

Qin Ge confirmed, "Indeed, I had suspected this before; since before a mission they proclaim themselves as an experimental agency in this world, there must necessarily be other agencies as well."

After all, a research institute or a scientific research and development team absolutely would not consist of just a few experimental personnel.

Moreover, the creator behind them also arouses doubt: what level of technological civilization could produce beings like shipgirls and Sirens?

"And this is the second thing I discovered in those secret dark places. In the dossiers of the Nine Major Factions, a certain word appeared simultaneously; although its frequency is very low, if all nine major factions have this word, it indicates that this thing possesses a very deep secret." Emperor Frederick took the tea from Qin Ge's hand and said.

"What word?" Qin Ge wondered.

"Elemental Magic Cube." Emperor Frederick said.

"Elemental Magic Cube? What is that? So far I have only heard of the ordinary Wisdom Cube, and then there is your guys' research cube; could the Elemental Magic Cube be the beginning of everything?" Qin Ge looked at Emperor Frederick and said.

Emperor Frederick slightly shook his head, "Currently we cannot detect it; our data is very limited, and such a term appears only a few times in the Nine Major Factions' dossiers, not significant enough to be important, meaning that the Nine Major Factions' understanding of the Elemental Magic Cube is still partial."

"Then Emperor Frederick, what is your speculation about the Elemental Magic Cube?" Qin Ge asked.

"The character 'Yuan' has many explanations, but among them the closest meaning is 'origin,' 'first,' and 'element.'" Emperor Frederick smiled, "There is a problem I feel is worth discussing: aside from the magic cubes we currently see, who created the first magic cube?"

"How did the first shipgirl appear? How did the first Siren appear? What is the difference between today's shipgirls and the original shipgirls?"

"You know, my child, you said before that shipgirls and Sirens share the same origin, didn't you? In this world, Sirens currently possess such high-level combat power; one would expect shipgirls not to lag far behind, yet in this world shipgirls have nowhere near reached that ability—what is missing?"

Qin Ge frowned and said, "So Emperor Frederick, you mean that in this world the reason shipgirls lag so far behind Sirens is mainly due to the lack of the Elemental Magic Cube. Even the Wisdom Cubes we see now might be defective products."

"Such a judgment cannot be ruled out." Emperor Frederick narrowed his eyes and said.

"Therefore I feel that our fleet ought to organize a specialized research team to analyze and test the Wisdom Cube. Moreover, for this world, the number of shipgirls that have appeared is really too few."

"According to the history you spoke of, child, from World War I to World War II, the number of warships produced exceeded several thousand, but in this world there are at most only three hundred shipgirls..."

According to the history you said, child, the number of ships produced from World War I and even up to World War II exceeds several thousand, but in this world there are at most only three hundred shipgirls……」