Chapter 553: Innocence

Emperor Frederick had already communicated with the Nine Major Factions before, and had examined their secret dossiers.

Obviously, the name 'Constructor' does not appear in those secret dossiers, but this time we have encountered a Constructor.

Furthermore, judging by the Royal's reaction, I believe they had previously dealt with the Constructor, but they chose to conceal it from us.

That is to say, they showed us the secret dossiers, but only the ones they allowed us to see, not all of their secret dossiers.

Qin Ge idly stirred the food on his plate with his chopsticks, and thoughtfully said to the shipgirls present.

Then his gaze fell on Tiancheng: 'Perhaps Akagi and Kaga also know this point; otherwise they wouldn't have discovered the Constructor's weakness so quickly. Right, Tiancheng?'

The fact that Akagi and Kaga discovered that weakness on the battlefield was indeed communicated to me personally by them, but they never mentioned it when we were together before.

So as for whether they know of the Constructor's existence, I'm not entirely clear, but from the Royal's reaction I think they must already know of the Constructor's existence.

So what exactly are the Nine Major Factions trying to hide? There would be no problem in disclosing this information, would there? Why deliberately conceal the Sirens' advanced humanoid command units? Enterprise said, not understanding.

Emperor Frederick smiled and said, 'Who wouldn't want an extra card in their hand? Looking at the Constructor's performance today, she has tremendous research value.'

Furthermore, her destructive desire is far smaller than that of the other few Siren humanoid command units; unlike the Testers and Purifiers, that kind which appears on the front line.

Such occasional appearance of the Constructor makes her harder to grasp, and her actions can be more easily concealed. Moreover, overexposing the number of Siren humanoid command units would certainly cause panic.

Perhaps the top-secret dossier that the Nine Major Factions showed me earlier was deliberately intended for humanity and the other factions to see as a top-secret dossier.

All the shipgirls fell silent, each weighing the gains and losses.

At this moment, Qin Ge couldn't help but laugh: 'Actually, this time we hold the initiative; now all the major factions already know that we have discovered the Constructor's whereabouts, and we have provided this information to them.'

That is to say, whether they know of this or not, it is no longer a so-called secret; but it is not they who have brought it up, but we.

Then we can take this as an opportunity to request other things from the major factions as an exchange for cooperation.

'Well, will this work?' Enterprise asked doubtfully, 'Moreover, if others find out we're using this method, isn't it a bit like taking advantage of a fire?'

'Pfft~'

I don't know who let out that snicker, but it made Enterprise feel extremely embarrassed.

Bismarck raised her head to look at Enterprise and said solemnly, 'Perhaps on the battlefield you are a fearless legendary warrior, but in inter-faction relations you are far too naive.'

I originally thought the one to make this mistake would be the commander, but I didn't expect the commander's growth over this period to be so rapid that it made me look at him anew.

But I didn't expect it to be you, the current leader of the White Eagle, for whom I can offer an explanation.

Between factions there inherently exist incompatible ideals; for example, you White Eagle aspire to freedom and equality, while we Iron Blood uphold steel and blood alike—this ideal is fundamentally irreconcilable.

So do not try to bind other factions with your own faction's ideals, or you will suffer great loss.

Moreover, factions can cooperate and coexist only because of shared interests.

Take the existence of Azure Lane as an example: it exists because we faced an enemy we could not defeat. Suppose that enemy were gone—could we then coexist peacefully?

'This...' Enterprise was at a loss for words; although she very much wanted to say she could, her reason told her it was utterly impossible.

'So the reason the Nine Major Factions can currently be together is that none of them can alone oppose the Sirens. Just as said before, all the interests of the Nine Major Factions are primarily based on their own faction's interests.'

'Moreover, even if we cannot obtain something ourselves, we absolutely cannot allow other factions to obtain it. This is also why, last time, our fleet was able to reap gains from the opportunity with the Sakura Empire.' Bismarck said to Enterprise.

'But isn't the commander the commander of Donghuang?' Enterprise asked.

'He used to be, but he might not be anymore.' Bismarck looked at Qin Ge and said.

To Enterprise's astonishment, Qin Ge did not rebut Bismarck's point; he merely ate his meal with his chopsticks, as if he hadn't heard Bismarck's words at all.

'Why?' Enterprise asked.

'Because the stage of Donghuang is simply too small for our liege. Furthermore, as our fleet's strength grows, Donghuang lacks the grasp to command us.'

'It's not that we want to leave Donghuang, but between Donghuang and us, the future will inevitably take two separate paths.' Tiancheng smiled.

'Yes, this is also why the commander was previously so torn—not just about the Grand Fleet, but more importantly about Donghuang.' Weineituo glanced at Qin Ge and said.

'Hmph.' Qin Ge set down his chopsticks and wiped his mouth with a nearby napkin.

He raised his head, somewhat speechless, and said, 'You lot lecturing Enterprise—why are you turning the topic back onto me again?'

'Commander, is all this the same as what they said?' Enterprise asked.

Looking at Enterprise, who still couldn't comprehend, Qin Ge nodded and said, 'Yes, didn't you also hold a meeting before? Actually, from the moment Emperor Frederick reformed the fleet, we have been destined to walk this path.'

Or put another way, the moment I continually summon forth the shipgirls, we are also destined to walk this path.

Although the Nine Major Factions have existed in this world for a long time, the strength they possess is certainly not what we see on the surface, but our development speed is truly too fast.

At a time when they couldn't even dare imagine it, our fleet now possesses more than a dozen shipgirls who have awakened or are about to awaken.

Just as previously stated, as the future tenth major power, we must prioritize the interests of our fleet above all—this is an unavoidable fact.

We can assist the Nine Major Factions in other areas, but on this point we allow no change. Therefore we must seize every opportunity we can to strengthen our own fleet's strength.

When the day truly comes that our strength can surpass that of the Nine Major Factions, perhaps then we can set aside our fleet's interests and open our arms to welcome them.

But for now we cannot; I must be responsible to you all, and responsible for every member of our fleet...