Sunlight filtered through the sparse clouds, scattering patches of light across the ground of the Titans weapons testing range. A Marine officer in a pale purple striped suit and an officer's cape stood there imposingly. He was Vice Admiral Momonga of Marine Headquarters.
Since Titans had become an Affiliated Nation, the Marines had recently expressed interest in discussing cooperation on weapons orders. If it were merely a matter of procurement, sending a Field Officer would have sufficed. There was another reason he had come personally as a Vice Admiral.
"...So this is that 'Artificial Angel'?"
Vice Admiral Momonga frowned as he watched the somewhat short figure-175 centimeters tall-approach from the other side of the testing range in a manner that... looked like a martial arts master.
"Looked like" was the operative phrase. Her movements and footwork were anything but solid, merely for show, yet possessed a strange, elusive quality. His Observation Haki, too, felt as though it were peering through fog. He could sense no "fighting spirit" whatsoever.
"Your Majesty Babbage, are you sure you want me to test her personally?" He turned toward the legendary Mechanical King outside the arena. "It won't be a problem if I accidentally destroy this thing?"
Judging by appearances alone, she was simply an expressionless, cold-faced young girl with red eyes and black hair. As a martial arts master, he could tell that her ethereal yet sinister aura did not arise from her "will." It was merely an illusion created by visual effects.
Had he not been solemnly informed before the test that she was an "artificial construct," he would never have harmed an innocent girl.
"No matter, Vice Admiral Momonga. Please, do your utmost. I believe she will surprise you."
Standing in the viewing area, Mechanical King Babbage spoke in his distinctive mechanical voice. Other Marine officers and soldiers stood beside him to watch, along with several Clock Tower staff members.
Since a Headquarters Vice Admiral was visiting, Sephiroth had not remotely controlled the Babbage mech through the Signal Base Station this time. He was piloting it in person.
As the person responsible for this reception, Monet attended to the visiting Marines while openly recording something in a notebook. She now wore a gold gear-shaped collar pin, marking her current position as Service Manager.
"All right, then. Let's see what you can do."
Vice Admiral Momonga rested his hand on his katana's flower-shaped guard...
Almost as soon as he finished speaking, both moved. Black Enchantress flashed into dazzling light and hurtled toward Momonga. With a slight flick of her fingers, sharp strands of light sliced through the air like blades, bearing straight down on his vital points.
...How strange.
Vice Admiral Momonga lightly leaned aside, deftly avoiding Black Enchantress's attacks with Kami-e. At the same time, he pushed off and used Soru to appear instantly behind her flank. His katana traced a brilliant arc in the sunlight, cutting toward her shoulder.
This thing's movements actually fall out of sync with my Observation Haki!?
Black Enchantress remained expressionless in combat. The instant the blade reached her, she seemed to defy physics: with nothing more than a light tap of her toes, she slid an enormous distance at incredible speed, easily evading Momonga's slash.
That little force from her feet produces that much reaction force!?
Momonga was still reeling at how his senses seemed to have rebelled during this fight, each developing ideas of its own.
Having opened some distance, Black Enchantress swept her hand back, firing a thick beam of light from her palm-a high-speed Light Whip strike.
It looked much like a certain Shichibukai's technique and struck straight for Momonga's chest. He flashed away again, taking several steps through the air with Geppo and skillfully escaping the beam-whip's attack range.
Even the air is heating up. That strand of light... is it molten iron?
Taking a deep breath, Momonga shouted from midair. Armament Haki wrapped around his katana as he slashed at Black Enchantress-Geppo: Waterfall Slash.
A sword wave from the Flying Slash shot straight toward Black Enchantress.
Black Enchantress immediately punched the ground. Three pillars of light erupted like fountains-Heavenly Destruction.
The two forces collided in midair with a deafening blast. Then, like a grand display of molten-iron fireworks, dense beams scattered across an area nearly a hundred meters wide. The east wind set a thousand trees ablaze with blossoms that night, then blew down stars like rain.
Black Enchantress assumed the Bajiquan posture of the "Horse-Stance Splitting Fist."
The movement meant nothing to Momonga's Observation Haki, but as though there truly were a connection, the countless tiny "points of light" flying through the air gathered under an invisible force, forming several blazing spheres that fired toward him like cannonballs.
Black Enchantress's barrage attack-Fireworks.
I can't keep retreating.
Realizing his opponent might be even better at ranged attacks, Momonga rushed forward with Soru. He dodged whatever projectiles he could, blocked those he could not with slashes, and, when necessary, took the hits head-on to close the distance.
Gripping his sword with both hands, he swung with all his strength-Sea King Spine-Splitting Slash.
Black Enchantress's movements were fierce yet elegant-Light Whip Flurry.
They traded blows, the battle growing ever more intense.
The problem was that Momonga's combat instincts and Observation Haki kept disagreeing. Black Enchantress's movements were beautiful, practically a dance of light. Yet years of combat experience kept telling him-this made no physical sense.
Those movements should never have produced the effects he was seeing. The problem was that she was producing them.
His Observation Haki kept sounding false alarms, too. His opponent had no "fighting spirit," yet her movements were extremely fierce. What his Haki perceived constantly fell out of sync with his five senses, making him deeply uncomfortable.
Had Momonga known the term "frame-skipping fighter," he might have wholeheartedly agreed.
Essentially, all of Black Enchantress's movements were meant to look "cool." In reality, 95 percent of her supposed "power generation" came from the pull of magnetic fields supplied by Sephiroth.
Black Enchantress's light attacks poured down like an unrelenting storm, while Vice Admiral Momonga's swordsmanship grew ever fiercer. Their figures darted across the testing range, light beams and sword flashes weaving into a dazzling tableau.
The spectators outside the arena watched with bated breath, afraid to miss even a single detail. Getting to witness a clash between powerful fighters in person-even dying now would have been worth the price of admission!
Monet's eyes flickered, and her grip on her pen tightened unconsciously.
During one fierce exchange, Black Enchantress suddenly spoke-
"Please be careful with what comes next."
Her cool voice made Vice Admiral Momonga pause for an instant, though years of combat training kept him from lapsing into a distracted stupor. Still, he muttered inwardly that this thing could actually talk.
Facing Momonga, who had stirred his Armament Haki and raised his guard, Black Enchantress flickered into dazzling light and charged straight at him.
Vice Admiral Momonga's heart tightened at the sight. He rapidly retreated with Soru while swinging his katana at Black Enchantress-a flash of the long blade.
He did not know what she intended, but since she wanted to close the distance, he could not let her have her way.
However, under Sephiroth's control, Black Enchantress's purpose in this attack was not to defeat Momonga. This was, in a sense-a weapons demonstration.
"This move is why I am called the 'War God.'"
Like hell I believe you! Aside from looking good when you move, what part of you resembles a martial arts master!?
Black Enchantress charged only to a moderate distance, stepped forward with her right foot, slid in and planted it, then rotated her upper body left into a horse stance. With both arms straight and palms pushing outward, she assumed Bajiquan's Horse-Stance Open-Chest Stance-(↓↙←↓↙←x) Ultimate Heavenly Destruction.
Enormous pillars of light burst from Black Enchantress like a volcanic eruption-jets of metal vaporized by extreme heat.
Protected by Armament Haki, Momonga instantly felt heat comparable to Admiral Akainu's attacks. As his Haki was depleted, the shock wave hurled him backward. It took seven consecutive Geppo steps to steady himself.
That had only been a brush with the aftermath. If he had taken a direct hit... Vice Admiral Momonga exhaled, staring solemnly at Black Enchantress as she stood in the wind with the bearing of a master.
This thing is clearly something like an ability user. Why insist on pretending to be a martial arts master?
The test ended there.
Vice Admiral Momonga's personal assessment was that this thing was strange. Against someone seeing her for the first time, she would probably be worth a bounty of around 300 million. If information about her leaked, that would drop to roughly 120 million.
The problem was-she was artificial.
"Your Majesty Babbage, do you intend to sell this model of 'Artificial Angel' to the Marines?"
Once both sides had returned to the reception room and taken their seats, Momonga eagerly posed the question.
"Unfortunately, at present, this construct is expensive to manufacture. Its cost equals that of a mainline warship. Furthermore, away from my control, she cannot use the 'Dance of Light.'"
"I see..."
That made things difficult. Judging solely by her basic capabilities, Momonga felt her combat strength barely corresponded to a bounty of around 10 million, rendering her worthless. But her earlier performance had indeed drawn even the Fleet Admiral's attention.
"Is there any way to improve her?"
Theoretically, provided she could store enough electricity, she could still maintain a certain level of combat ability without anyone controlling her.
"...If research funding is sufficient."
In truth, Sephiroth knew nothing about battery technology. Currently, the batteries used in both his robots and power plants were manufactured using production lines among the relics on the moon. He did not dare modify them casually.
Unfortunately, those batteries were designed for the 1.3-meter-tall robots with two-head-high proportions, so each battery's storage capacity was limited.
Still, thanks to those batteries, simply charging Titans' power plant periodically allowed him to sustain the whole country's current electricity consumption for a month.
Yes, Titans' so-called magnetic power plant was not generating electricity at all. It was merely pretending to.
Underground lay energy-storage arrays made entirely from these batteries. Although the magnetic generators aboveground could also produce electricity, they usually just spun for appearances.
This brought an additional benefit: outsiders believed that Babbage rarely left Anaheim because he was diligently generating electricity.
"Then how much funding would you need?"
"6.2 billion Beli."
Hearing Babbage's outrageous demand, Vice Admiral Momonga sucked in a breath of cold air, doing his part for global warming.
-Sephiroth's diary (in Chinese).
October 4, 1515
I rescued Nami and Nojiko. Unexpected bonus: the little fox Carina was there, too. Starting this new diary to celebrate.
October 13
Teasing Nami and Carina is so much fun.
Played that game everyone knows about with Isabella.
October 14
Teasing Conis is so much fun.
Rubbed Lilith's belly. Got hit.
October 15
Encouraged little fox Carina and little angel Conis to debut as idols.
Played with my son.
October 16
Sephiroth, oh, Sephiroth! How could you sink so low! Have you forgotten the research plans you made? Confucius said, "Each day, I examine myself three times." ...This cannot go on!
October 17
Carina's singing is so lovely.
Almost played that game everyone knows about with Conis.
October 18
Laki asked a question she shouldn't have asked.
Had Conis do something I can't talk about again.
-Cocoyasi Island-
Ever since Sephiroth had magnetized Cocoyasi Island with iron sand and brought it back to Sky Island, Babylon had gained another "city-state."
Because of Sephiroth's personal might as a god, his orders were absolute on Sky Island. However, since he was not like this world's bizarre nobles, most of his policies benefited his subjects, so he enjoyed strong support.
Robots and automation also brought his subjects' happiness to what might have surpassed the highest level in this world, excluding cases like the Celestial Dragons.
There were compulsory orders, too. For example, he prohibited ideas such as the "Wingless" being inferior and the "Black Wing" being inherently guilty. This also allowed the people of Cocoyasi to integrate into Sky Island fairly smoothly.
But he was no saint. For Wingless people who had already been serfs, the resentment ingrained in their bones could not be erased by a mere amnesty. So he simply bundled them off to the moon as slaves alongside the other pirate prisoners.
All he could do was ensure that those who came afterward would not suffer discrimination solely for that reason.
Kensuke, the village policeman who was effectively Nami's foster father, was appointed mayor of Cocoyasi City by Sephiroth. Although it was currently little more than a village or town, Babylon's powerful infrastructure-building capabilities would turn Cocoyasi into a city before long.
-The grand theater.
Sephiroth had moved Cocoyasi Island beside Angel Island and built a dedicated passage connecting it to Lovely Street on Angel Island.
Between the two islands, he had specially built a grand theater to enrich cultural exchange.
Carina stood alone in the middle of the empty stage, her figure gently enveloped by a soft spotlight. She wore an outfit that... looked like something a schoolgirl idol trainee would wear.
There were no guests at the moment. This was merely an internal rehearsal. The audience consisted only of Sephiroth, Nami, Nojiko, and some theater employees from Lovely Street.
On the other side of the stage, Conis held a harp. The melody she played was full of poetry and a subtle wistfulness, as though one were strolling down a medieval fantasy street in a world of swords and magic.
As the melody continued, Carina began to sing gracefully-
"Are you going to Scarborough Fair?"
"Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme."
Yes, whether the Rumble-Rumble Fruit helped uncover memories or not, after acquiring the moon's technological legacy, Sephiroth discovered that memories could be recorded onto blank Logic Modules. He could actually digitize deeply buried memories and then reconstruct them.
Besides making it easier to "recall" knowledge from his previous life, this allowed him to recreate songs he had heard as audio despite knowing almost nothing about music theory. The rest was easy.
He only needed someone with musical talent to turn those sounds into sheet music.
"...I suddenly have a bold idea."
As though transformed into an idea machine, Sephiroth wanted to stir things up again.
(Revision issues following review)
The revision issues started here.
Although I also wrote about this back in Chapter 2, some readers caught in an "in-between" state probably couldn't see it.
So I'll explain it again here.
Distribution was stopped, and revisions were demanded. The notice said some chapters had sexual-content issues, while the prompt said safety issues.
I don't know whether someone got upset and maliciously reported me or whether there was some other reason.
This book of mine isn't even popular?
Besides, there are plenty of books that go further than mine. I have no idea what standard they're using.
The problem is, they also threw in "not all problematic chapters have been listed." In other words, theoretically, even revising the listed chapters might not be enough. So it's entirely at their discretion, is it?
Fine. I'll revise the listed chapters first. Delete as much as I can.
If there are still problems, I'll finish this book anyway for the readers following it.
Or they can just ban it and be done with it.
But I'll definitely go after those books with "clear problems" and report them across platforms.
At worst, I'll spend a little money. Random reports across platforms, at irregular intervals and in varying quantities, with "not all cases listed."
With results this poor, did I write 800,000 characters just for that tiny bit of income?
At worst, I'll stop writing here.
Take a guess: would ordinary staff members in the relevant departments take up those reports if it meant adding two more PowerPoint slides to their daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual reports?
Before you continue