"So once your Psionic Energy met the requirements and your support for the shipgirls reached the necessary level, Observer Zero was able to recognize your identity and grant you access so readily."
"The first phase of the experiment?"
Gwen paid little attention to Empress's words, which were, in a sense, praise for him. He was far more interested in what she had revealed.
After all, Empress and Lavoce might have been little more than punching bags to Gwen, but that did not mean the Sirens were weak.
If every member of the Arbitration Mechanism had a rigging body of comparable strength—an honest-to-goodness spacecraft—then the Sirens, with more than a dozen space warships built at enormous expense, were hardly weak by the standards of the universe.
Plenty of invaders from the Ultraman universe could not measure up. Take that embarrassing Muzhen alien, who had not even forced Daigo's warning light to start flashing.
If defeating a Siren fleet led by an Arbiter was merely the goal of the first phase, Gwen might have to take the experiment's ultimate objective—and the enemy it was meant to confront—seriously.
"That's right.
"Defeating a fleet led by us Arbiters while we're equipped with weapons designed for use within a planet's atmosphere is only the first phase of the experiment.
"As for the second phase..."
Empress knew what Gwen wanted to ask. She met his eyes and gently shook her head.
"No experimental site in our database has ever completed the first phase, so I don't know what the second phase involves.
"Perhaps you'll get your answer when you see Observer Zero again."
"I see..."
Gwen held Empress's gaze and confirmed that the "Queen" was not lying. Even an Arbiter lacked the authority to know what the second phase entailed. He nodded, accepting her answer.
The