Elizabeth looked completely innocent. "How is this betrayal? In the Admiral Qualification Exam, a person's temperament is extremely important. If you're too radical, twisted, cowardly, incompetent, blindly obedient, or easily corrupted—any of those will get you disqualified. This is something every newbie must go through. After all, a base commander is responsible for protecting the peace of an entire region, and that means lives are on the line."
"And you just let me pass something that serious this easily?"
"You're good at telling stories, and you're a decent guy. Besides, this isn't the only evaluation. What you just did was just this year's version."
Hikaru let out a dry laugh. Great, apparently being good at storytelling now qualifies someone to be an admiral. What logic.
Elizabeth narrowed her eyes at him. "I have a feeling you're thinking something rude. We shipgirls are pretty sensitive to the hearts of people. Usually one glance is enough to see what someone's really like. You're just… special."
Hikaru didn't want to keep arguing. He had this uncanny feeling she could read minds. So instead, he nudged the snoozing Glowworm awake in his arms. "I don't see any Abyssals around."
From their vantage point, the sea stretched out in two starkly different hues—bright blue and pitch black—divided sharply down the middle. That black sea extended toward the far ends of the horizon in both directions.
"Once we cross into the Black Sea, the local Abyssals will naturally start showing up. Want to rest at the nearby base first?"
Hikaru gently stroked Glowworm's head. "You ready, Glowworm?"
"Super ready! I wanna blow up some of those abyssal freaks!"
Elizabeth nodded. "Alright then, let's begin."
The three of them crossed the dividing line of the sea, and in that instant, a wave of oppressive, gloomy, and destructive emotion surged over Hikaru. His eyes dimmed briefly—then sharpened again, full of resolve.
Elizabeth glanced over at him, impressed. "Your mental resilience is… astounding. I've never seen a rookie hold up this well."
"It's nothing," Hikaru replied, shaking off the lingering sensation.
He could feel it now—the sea, the air—everything seemed to radiate hostility. He figured that's how the Abyssals detected enemy presence from so far off in these blackened waters.
They slowed to 20 knots as they moved forward. Elizabeth, walking on the water with her propulsion boots, began to explain a few things.
"These Black Seas spread wherever an Abyssal Flagship appears. If someone can sink one, the surrounding sea returns to normal. But that's easier said than done. Even our so-called 'Golden Route' to the New World is still riddled with blackened patches."
Hikaru nodded. "Yeah, I read that some sailors come back from just one voyage angry, unstable, even insane. It takes months for them to recover."
"That's the suppression effect of the Black Sea," Elizabeth sighed. "I've been around almost thirty years now, reached level 80 from constant battles, and the more I fight, the more hopeless this all seems. The Abyssals are born much faster than we are. Just last month, a base on the Golden Route got wiped out—literally turned to ash by over ten thousand aircraft."
The "Golden Route" referred to the main trans-oceanic line between East Asia and the so-called New World—the former North America. Any base capable of holding position there was top-tier. Someone like Masaki, with just one max-level destroyer, wouldn't last a second.
Those major routes and frontlines were where the elite shipgirls gathered. Newbie admirals like Hikaru were generally stationed at coastal bases, defending the land.
The Hawaiian archipelago, for example, was a major forward base and critical node on the Golden Route. Hikaru grew curious and began asking Elizabeth about it.
Though the Black Sea was technically Abyssal turf, that didn't mean they were crawling everywhere. Hikaru and Elizabeth sailed for a good half hour without encountering a single one—just a cruise ship bound for Huadu.
The cruise ship's escort was downright luxurious: over thirty shipgirls. Hikaru chatted briefly with one of them on patrol and learned they were from the old Indonesian region.
Even with that many guards, the voyage wasn't exactly safe. Hikaru noticed fresh gouges in the ship's armor, clear signs they'd been in a recent fight.
Still, since Abyssals mainly targeted shipgirls, it was technically possible to cross the sea—as long as you didn't run into a Flagship. Regular Abyssals were like beasts; Flagships were intelligent, cunning monsters.
Many less-capable admirals made their living escorting cargo ships, taking on these kinds of lucrative protection jobs.
Once the cruise ship faded from view, they finally encountered their first Abyssal.
It wasn't a swarm, just a lone figure—likely just born in the Black Sea.
Elizabeth let out a whistle. "We're in luck. That's a Type-II, H-class Light Cruiser. Roughly level 21. Typically armed with +3 medium double guns and +2 heavy torpedoes, Model 1. Glowworm, you think you can take her?"
Glowworm nodded eagerly and surged forward on her propulsion gear. "Glowworm fears no one!"
As she rushed ahead, Hikaru and Elizabeth hung back to observe. Elizabeth used the opportunity to give Hikaru a lesson on identifying Abyssal Light Cruisers.
"There are four general grades, each with up to five models. Type-IVs are golden-rarity and can reach level 100. You can usually tell their class by the glow of the magic patterns on their rigging. This one's purple—Type-II. Some IIs are tougher than others; like, an 'ei'-class might be level 70, while an 'ε'-class could be under level 20. But near the coast, high-level Abyssals are rare. This one's H-class, so its rigging probably includes…"
Elizabeth was a diligent instructor, clear and thorough. Hikaru focused on remembering every detail.
Judging enemy strength before a fight was a vital skill—an essential part of an admiral's education. Abyssals never told you what they could do; you had to figure it out.
Far off in the distance, Hikaru could see Glowworm nearing the target.
The Abyssal cruiser looked like a blindfolded girl, her eyes covered by the rigging. She didn't rely on sight to detect enemies—her two monstrous, metallic jaws did the work.
Suddenly, the Abyssal raised an arm. The twin steel beasts flanking her opened their glowing maws and unleashed a barrage of laser-like beams straight at Glowworm.