Infinite dendrogram sp v.., p.10
Infinite Dendrogram SP: Volume 1, page 10
The growing workload was stressing Queen out more and more.
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Humpty continued listening to her colleague’s complaints for a short while, and Queen eventually calmed down a bit before returning to her workspace.
I feel like we didn’t talk all that much about work, Humpty thought as she also took her leave.
“Well, looks like the preparations are done,” she said as she glanced at a monitor, which showed the two Superiors about to start their battle.
Considering the problem they had to solve, a clash between Superiors was not a welcome addition to the mix.
“Heh heh heh... Well, Shu? What side of you will you show me this time?”
Despite that, Humpty found joy in this battle. While talking to Queen, she’d agreed with her that Jabberwock was in the wrong here, and in fact did feel that he often took things a bit too far.
However, Humpty actually enjoyed much of Jabberwock’s meddling. After all, Gloria, Abyss Shellder, and the many other problems he’d caused were all opportunities for the subject of her infatuation to shine, and the same applied to his clashes with the other Superiors.
All of it contributed to her desire—her small, personal objective as a Control AI.
Humpty wanted to observe Shu’s adventure.
This was her sole pleasure—one she’d been cultivating since the first time she’d thrown him into a battle against a UBM... No, since she’d led him through avatar creation.
In a way, dragging him into the struggle against Abyss Shellder had also been a self-interested act.
“Enchant me again, will you?” Her face warped in delight, the Incarnation of Death bared her twisted affection toward him.
Act 4: Resolve Compared
South Sea
“Sorry ’bout this, old-timer. I’m off to do somethin’ stupid.”
It was decided that Riella would board Shu’s Embryo, Baldr, and she apologized to Asam for it.
“Very well.” He didn’t stop her, though. Knowing how she felt and how much pride she possessed, he simply couldn’t speak out against it.
Most of the crew probably felt the same way. After all, if they were the type of people to put life and safety over pride, they wouldn’t have been hunting Abyss Shellder with just a single ship.
“Mr. Starling... The commander is in your care now.”
“You can count on me.”
Following that exchange, Asam left the deck and returned inside the ship. He’d be on the bridge, ready to move the Adventure II if something happened.
The only ones on the deck now were Shu, Riella, and the monitor that displayed Satomi.
“We’ll start the comparison as soon as we’re ready,” said Satomi. “Know that I’ll be aiming to sink your vessel. If you care about safety, you’ll equip a Lifesaving Brooch and something else to protect you in case you’re thrown into the water.”
With that, Satomi turned off the monitor.
There were no duel barriers out at sea, so Granvaloa fought by sinking ships instead, and the items he’d mentioned were absolutely necessary for safety.
“You got the Brooch and stuff?” Shu asked. “I can give you mine.”
“I got my own.” Riella was a Granvaloan fleet commander, so naturally she was prepared for this exact situation. “Anyway, let’s head out. We’ll bring down a boat. Help me out.”
“Sure thing.” The two used a magic crane to bring down one of the boats attached to the deck. They would use it to leave this dock and go to the open sea, where Shu would summon Baldr.
As soon as the boat hit the water, the dock’s bulkhead opened up enough to let it through, but kept the Adventure II inside.
Thus, Shu and Riella passed through the opening made for them, leaving the dock behind.
“I knew it.” Looking back from the outside, Shu saw a VLFS that looked like a harbor workshop—and just as he’d expected, it was a mega-float.
However, it was even bigger than he’d estimated.
The side of it that he could see had six bulkheads marked with alternative, more complex Japanese characters for the numerals seven through twelve. Likely it was numbered on the other side as well, meaning there were twelve docks.
Adventure II was by no means a small ship, yet it easily fit in dock number twelve, making it obvious just how massive this structure was.
“I’m used to seein’ it at Granvaloa, but... Man, Mu really is bigger than our city-ships.”
This mega-float was Satomi’s Superior Embryo—“Artificial Continent, Mu.”
Gray’s Laputa was pretty huge, but this is even bigger. Well, Laputa’s an actual fortress that flies, and it’s got that connection system. I guess all that came at the cost of size.
Shu mentally compared it to a flying castle he’d seen in the past.
In all likelihood, Mu could only be this large because of its nature as a mega-float, which could only be deployed at sea.
I guess its skills focus on transportation and production of ships as well as other items. But...
The size wasn’t the main problem here.
“What’s with the front door?” Mu had twelve massive docks, closed off by large bulkheads. However, at its front, there was a bulkhead even bigger than those, marked with the character for zero.
One glance was enough to tell that it was more than twice as large as the others. It pierced through the center of Mu, from the bow to the stern, and the other docks were simply attached to its sides.
What ship needs a dock that large? Shu wondered. The known warship categories aren’t big enough, but on the other hand, it’s not big enough for a whole Granvaloan city-ship... Just what the hell’s in there?
As those thoughts went through his mind, dock zero began to open.
“As an expression of respect to you, who has revealed your Superior Embryo, I will show my masterpiece first,” said Satomi. “Oh, and to the Adventure II’s crew—you watch through the monitor and behold it too. Bear witness to the magnum opus of Satomi Yamamoto, King of Building!”
As he said that, the bulkhead fully opened, and a single ship departed from the shadowed dock.
Upon seeing it, Shu and Riella...
“Seriously?”
...said just one word, in perfect unison, both of them surprised by the sight.
Even Shu wasn’t acting or joking. He was completely taken aback—that was just how shocked he was by the thing that had emerged from the dock.
And on top of that, he actually recognized it.
Many Japanese people knew the appearance of this craft, and throughout the world, one could find people who were familiar with it.
However, it wasn’t something anyone would ever expect to see here in Infinite Dendrogram.
“Behold the glorious form of my masterpiece!”
Three triple cannons—two installed at the front, one at the back.
Flanks so covered in AA and machine guns that it resembled a hedgehog.
This awe-inspiring construct could only be one thing...
“I call it...New Yamato!”
...Yamato—the largest and strongest of the old Japanese army’s battleships.
The massive form shocked not just the two who saw it with their own eyes, but also the Adventure II crew who were crowded around the monitor.
“It seems a bit too big. Even for a battleship,” said Riella. Granvaloa’s shipwrights had created battleships as large as three hundred metels.
However, this vessel that carried the name and form of a historic warship made even that seem small.
It was over five hundred metels in length—twice as big as the real Yamato.
Aside from the city-ships, this was a scale impossible even for Granvaloa, and there were no ships this large on Earth either.
It was the manifestation of a different kind of fantasy—the realization of a dream that couldn’t be reached even in the era of the “Taikan-Kyoho” or “Large Ship, Massive Gun” doctrine.
Beholding such a marvel, Shu was torn between amazement and questioning Satomi’s sanity.
“Why would you ever build this?” While the chrysanthemum seal on the bow was replaced by what appeared to be Mu’s crest, the rest of it was basically the real historic battleship—only doubled.
This was no plastic model. It was hard to imagine just how much money and materials had gone into this. Shu himself sometimes struggled to pay for Baldr’s ammo, and trying to guess this New Yamato’s cost made him furrow his brow.
“I guess he makes bank by sellin’ ships... Man. Military nerds and their...” He found this absurd, but also understood the danger.
After all, this Yamato was a superweapon made to suit the world it was in.
If, hypothetically, weapons of World War II were re-created in Infinite Dendrogram, most of them would be at a great disadvantage against the monsters here. Aircraft carriers hosting many fighters would be largely ineffective in the air, for this world had dragons that surpassed these old airplanes in every way, making it difficult for them to gain air superiority.
If anything, even modern fighter jets would struggle against High-Dragons.
The same applied to the weapons used by infantry, as well as tanks—they would struggle even against Demi-Dragons. This was proved by Dryfe’s tank-type Magingears, Geists. Demi-Dragons were a legitimate threat to them unless they were deployed in groups.
That was exactly why the Triangle of Wisdom’s Marshall IIs, which could stand against Demi-Dragons as single units, were so highly valued by Dryfe.
However, WWII’s battleships—especially Yamato—wouldn’t be nearly as disadvantaged.
Yamato’s main battery—the largest of its time—fired shells that could probably pulverize Dragon scales and leave them injured.
The “Large Ship, Massive Gun” doctrine focused on pure firepower, which made it more than usable against opponents in the same environment—in this case, the sea.
And this one here had a weapon twice as large as the real Yamato, doubtless making it powerful enough to pulverize Dragons in a single hit.
Did Satomi build it with this understanding, or was it simply an expression of his tastes?
Whichever it was, one thing was certain—this Yamato was a fearsome weapon.
I’d guess it’s improved in other ways too, Shu thought. It almost certainly boasted a greater cruise speed and higher maneuverability than its real-world counterpart. Like the Adventure II had demonstrated in the battle against Whalunder, Infinite Dendrogram possessed technology that allowed ships to move faster than the speed of sound.
New Yamato’s armor might’ve also been replaced by something tougher and lighter than what was possible in the real world.
It maintained the spirit behind the original Yamato while surpassing it in every way—and perhaps that was what made it worthy of being called “new.”
Baldr would be classified as a wide-scale exterminator, but it was entirely possible that Satomi’s creation might be able to match its firepower.
“Now that I think about it, this’ll be my first one-on-one against a ship.” While Shu had fought many battles against High-Dragon-tier sea creatures like the one from last night, he couldn’t remember a single time that he’d faced another manned battleship.
This battle would be full of unknowns to him too.
Despite that, he had no intention of losing.
“Baldr. Initialize seventh form.”
“Affirmative.”
Thus, Shu summoned his Superior Embryo—“War God Ship, Baldr.”
It appeared over the water, marking the start of the battle.
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“Heh... A battleship Superior Embryo. I could hardly hope for a more interesting opponent.”
On the bridge of his masterpiece, Satomi tried his hardest to suppress his excitement, but it was leaking through regardless.
“This will be quite a productive comparison. Can my New Yamato match a Superior Embryo? And if not, what flaws will be revealed? Regardless, I will have the answer to a question I’ve pondered for a long time...”
Could a weapon built by an Embryo specialized in production win against a Superior?
That might have actually been the main question he wanted to answer with his comparisons.
“Rusalka was no good for this. I already know that their combat style makes straightforward comparisons impossible. But if this one is suitable...”
Whether he won or lost, he could advance his shipbuilding even further. That fact filled him with immense joy.
“Heh heh heh heh. HA HA HA HA HA HA!” His happiness was so great it made him burst out laughing...
“Baldr. Initialize seventh form.”
“Affirmative.”
“Huuuh?”
But the joy vanished the moment Baldr appeared.
◇
Asam and the rest of the crew were also watching this through the dock’s monitor.
“And there’s Mr. Starling’s Superior Embryo.” He had been unable to see it clearly in the darkness last night, but its silhouette matched what little he had made out.
Asam already knew this, but its appearance surprised the rest of the crew as they realized that Shu was the one who’d beaten the chimera.
“But it’s...” However, there was something else about Baldr that shocked and perplexed Asam as well as the crew.
He could now see clearly something that he’d failed to notice last night. It was obvious enough that he likely would have seen it if it hadn’t been for the darkness and chaos around him.
Or maybe he had seen it but subconsciously rejected it as too absurd.
Shu had actually revealed this information himself, but it had likewise slipped Asam’s mind.
For these people of the sea, the battleship was just that unbelievable.
This wasn’t about its cannons or the silhouette, but something more fundamental.
“That explains the sounds.” Baldr was under half the size of New Yamato, but it was definitely a battleship.
However, some would be inclined to add that it wasn’t a battleship for the sea.
Baldr’s overall shape was closer to that of a tank than a ship...
...and it was blasting air from the bottom of it to float above the water’s surface, for it was a hovercraft.
Granvaloa had hovercraft technology too. However, it was mostly used on disembarking vessels meant for landings—certainly not to make battleships float above the open water.
Doing so would mean forsaking the silent sailing that protected them from ambushes in deep water, and keeping an entire battleship hovering was a tremendous waste of energy.
For a Granvaloan, looking at Baldr was like seeing a person fly through the sky by just holding a fan in each hand and desperately flapping.
It invoked less disbelief and more confusion.
However, there was someone who felt this in even greater measure.
◇◆
“Huh, it’s actually hoverin’.” The moment Shu deployed Baldr, Riella was flung into its bridge and immediately realized it was a hovercraft based solely on the feeling of the deck below her—though it was more like confirmation of something she’d already suspected.
“I’m pretty sure I told ya that my main ship’s a hovercraft,” Shu said.
“I remember that, but for us Granvaloans, this just doesn’t seem sane. I saw the fight last night, but if I wasn’t aboard it right now, I still probably wouldn’t believe it.”
“You saw it?”
“Maybe it’s my blood, but I got good night vision. I have Legendarian ancestry.”
The first adventure fleet commander from six centuries ago had been an aquatic demi-human, and while the relation was distant, this blood still coursed through Riella’s veins. Like her advanced eyesight, this night vision was a remnant of abilities that had helped her ancestors swim through the sea at night.
While Shu and Riella had this exchange...
“Wha? H-Hover...?” Satomi’s voice coming from New Yamato’s speakers took on a completely different tone, with no hint of the pride it had shown earlier.
It was as though he had seen something he couldn’t believe, or didn’t want to believe.
“Hovering? In the open sea? And what’s with that broadside?! It makes no sense! Is that like some anime space battleship?! It’s not realistic!”
“That’s beary rude. It’s not a space battleship, but a land battleship. Amphibious too.” In response to Satomi dropping his persona, Shu donned his own wacky bear persona he’d put aside. “And if we’re talking about space battleships, it’s your Yamato that’s—”
“SHUT IT!” Satomi bellowed, stopping Shu from saying something dangerous. “And wait, it’s amphibious?! That’s even worse! Keep that nonsensical thing out of the sea!”
“I don’t think I wanna hear that fur-om a guy who made a double-sized Yamato.”
“Fool! Enlarging warships is the very core of the ‘Large Ship, Massive Gun’ doctrine. That’s what we follow here at GFRS... The Granvaloa Fictional Record Society!”
“...Oh yeah, that’s what that stands for.” While the clan was registered as “GFRS,” their homepage revealed that their full official name was “Granvaloa Fictional Record Society,” and the “record” in their name referred specifically to war records.
As the name suggested, it was a group of military buffs, specifically those who liked historical fiction or alternative history novels and manga. They found joy in using the technologies and materials of Infinite Dendrogram to research fictional military tech that might have really existed and develop actual weapons based on that.
It was similar, but at the same time quite unlike the Triangle of Wisdom, who’d given their all to create humanoid robots that could be piloted.
And being the head of such a group, Satomi Yamamoto simply couldn’t stomach Baldr—this ship so detached from reality that “fiction” didn’t begin to describe it.
“We are a group who seriously think about technologies that could have really existed! Your hovercraft makes zero sense! It’s unacceptable!”
“Again, my Baldr isn’t that much more outlandish than your Yamato times two—”
“NO!” Satomi wouldn’t listen. He was too enraged—furious, even.
