"Cooperation?"
Akashi did not respond. Su Luo took over the conversation.
Angel Yan nodded at Su Luo's question.
"That's right. We represent the Angel Civilization and have come to seek cooperation with you!"
Su Luo nodded to show that he had heard her.
"In other words... from the beginning, when Akashi asked you to prove that you meant us no harm, your actions were actually meant to use this method to form a Marriage Alliance with me, establish a connection with me... am I right?"
Su Luo's voice was calm and devoid of any fluctuation. After all, he had considered this possibility long ago.
Meanwhile, Akashi finally understood as well. She widened her eyes and stared at the two angels across from her.
When Su Luo brought that up, both Angel Yan and Angel Zhixin's expressions stiffened.
"That's right. At first, that really was what we had in mind!"
Angel Yan sighed inwardly, but in the end, she nodded at Su Luo.
"I'm sorry, Su Luo. For the Angel Civilization, this was the most beneficial method for us, and also the fastest way to bring you into our camp!"
Angel Yan chose to be honest. She remembered her Queen's instructions very clearly: whether seeking a good partnership or true love, the foundation... was honesty!
"So from the beginning, you were directly planning to pull me into your camp. Then what about now? Why has it become cooperation?"
At that, both Angel Zhixin and Angel Yan looked somewhat defeated, while Zhixin also looked a little disappointed.
"Su Luo, we apologize. We did not consider your feelings beforehand. We were too arrogant!"
Feeling Akashi clutching his arm tightly, Su Luo rubbed her little head with his other hand, then patted the arm she was hugging, signaling for her not to be so nervous.
"Too arrogant... meaning, at first, you thought your charms were exceptional. You thought that even if I had never met you before, the moment you arrived, I would develop a favorable impression of you because of your charms and thus would not refuse your oath..."
"You even thought I would accept your oath with the mindset of taking advantage of you, right?"
As Su Luo spoke, he reevaluated Angel Yan and Angel Zhixin. Indeed, to ordinary people, they were incredibly charming. It was no wonder the angels were confident in their own appeal!
But he was not an ordinary person! Did they understand what a port commander was? Did they know what a cube succubus was?!
Using this to test him... did they think he was that incapable of withstanding temptation?!!!
Not to mention, he was still in the sage recovery phase.
Angel Yan nodded, freely admitting it!
"Heh, I really was... underestimated."
Although he was somewhat displeased by the angels' attitude of trying to recruit people at the drop of a hat—
Angel Yan's current attitude of admitting her mistake still satisfied Su Luo.
"Heh... tell me, then. What exactly do you want to cooperate with us on?"
Having more or less figured out the angels' objective, Su Luo did not press the matter further.
After all, he was technically on their turf now. He had yet to establish contact with the port, so to be safe, it would not do to be too arrogant.
"You're willing to cooperate with us?"
Angel Yan looked slightly surprised. Su Luo's tone had grown increasingly cold just now, so she had not held much hope that he would agree so readily. She had originally prepared herself to follow Su Luo afterward and see whether she could soften his attitude...
"That depends on the content of this so-called cooperation."
Su Luo did not clearly state whether he would cooperate or not. He merely indicated that he would hear them out first.
Angel Yan nodded, exchanged a glance with Zhixin, and finally spoke.
"Queen Keisha wishes to seek a new future for the Angel Civilization through cooperation with you!"
Su Luo nodded.
"You just said, a new future?"
Su Luo's tone seemed to be seeking confirmation, and Angel Yan nodded.
"Then... that means you believe, or have concluded, that if we do not cooperate with you, the Angel Civilization's original future will not be a good one?"
Akashi looked at Angel Yan in confusion from the side and made that deduction.
"Can I understand it that way?"
Angel Yan nodded.
"According to Queen Keisha's calculations, it will not be good! Or rather, according to the Queen's predictions, in the future Known Universe, no civilization will have a peaceful existence."
"So you mean that, in the near future, some force or something may sweep across the entire universe in a short period of time? And that force or thing will affect every civilization in the universe?"
Akashi sought further confirmation.
Angel Yan nodded, then shook her head.
"The current order of the Known Universe, the Justice Order promoted by the angels, was established by Queen Keisha..."
As though some special switch had been triggered, Angel Yan became extremely serious and began explaining the Justice Order to Su Luo and Akashi.
A moment later, Angel Yan stopped speaking, and Su Luo gave a light cough.
"Ahem, I roughly understand. Your so-called Justice Order... although you call it 'justice,' it is actually different from what universal values consider 'justice'! Your so-called Justice Order may ensure that the Angel Civilization's actions remain within 'justice,' but your Justice Order is absolutely not justice itself!"
"From what you just said, it can be inferred that your Justice Order has at least three very obvious implications."
As he spoke, Su Luo raised one finger.
"First, the Justice Order respects natural laws! Your Queen denies the existence of higher intelligent beings beyond the Known Universe!"
As he spoke, Su Luo raised a second finger.
"Second, your Justice Order highly recognizes and affirms the value of life to the universe. In other words, it advocates that everyone should cherish life, which is hard-won and extremely precious!"
Su Luo paused before continuing.
"The first two points are the 'justice' within your so-called Justice Order... while the third point embodies the order."
Su Luo raised a third finger.
"Third, and finally, the Justice Order establishes the absolute authority of the Angel Civilization! In other words, you believe that the Angel Civilization is the ruler of the Known Universe."
"And absolute authority represents a high degree of centralization. Thus, through the Justice Order, you have taken the ruling power of the Known Universe into your hands, allowing you to govern the Known Universe more effectively."
"So, in essence, this so-called Justice Order should actually be considered a system of administration, or a set of principles, used by the Angel Civilization to rule what you call the Known Universe..."
Su Luo looked at Angel Yan, considered it, and gave an example.
"If the Known Universe were regarded as a nation, then your Justice Order would be that nation's current legal system. Your Angel Civilization would be the law enforcers, and your Queen would be that nation's ruler... right?"
Angel Yan blinked. She said nothing, but nodded without denying it. In essence, that was indeed the case.
Su Luo nodded as well. He did not offer any particular opinion on this order, nor did he insist on arguing with Angel Yan over whether this Justice Order was truly just... as he had said, it was merely a tool for the Angel Civilization to rule the entire universe. Never mind calling it the Justice Order—if the angels were in a good mood, they could call it the Fallen Order instead!
Besides, as the Commander of the port, he was not from this universe. The angels' order could not govern him anyway. It did not matter, and there was no need to dwell on it.
"Then, the cooperation you mentioned earlier, seeking a new future..."
"In other words... your rule over the Known Universe is about to be overthrown by another civilization, correct?"
Angel Yan sighed and nodded again.
"A new civilization rises and overthrows the old ruling civilization... that's normal! So you want us to help you preserve your rule?"
Su Luo looked at Angel Yan as he spoke.
This time, Angel Yan did not nod. Instead, she shook her head.
"Angels do not fear any challenge. If the order to be implemented by the civilization overthrowing the Justice Order is better for the universe than the Angel Civilization's Justice Order, Queen Keisha will not oppose it! But..."
Seeing that Su Luo had guessed so much correctly, Akashi became interested as well and interjected.
"Hmm... you just said that most civilizations in the future Known Universe would not live peacefully... that means the order to be implemented by the civilization overthrowing the Justice Order would not be very friendly to you, or even to most civilizations, right?"
Akashi looked at Angel Yan, waiting for confirmation.
Watching Akashi stare at Angel Yan with those wide blinking eyes until she awkwardly turned her head away, Su Luo's lips curved slightly.
Angel Yan was too embarrassed by Akashi's gaze, so Zhixin took over the conversation.
"That's right, Miss Akashi's guess is correct!"
"According to the Queen's predictions, the Known Universe may in the future embrace either the order revered by Demon Queen Morgana or the order revered by God of Death Carl."
"Morgana reveres extreme depravity and freedom, while God of Death Carl... he believes in death and the void!"
Su Luo did not have many questions. He had learned a little before stumbling into this situation. Akashi, however, did not understand, so she questioned Zhixin.
"What is the void?"
Zhixin thought for a moment, pointed toward the sky outside, and explained to Akashi.
"This sky is a material sky to the naked eye, and a dark matter sky through the Eye of Insight. Later, God of Death Carl discovered that there was another sky, one that even the angels' Eye of Insight could not see. Carl called it the void."
Akashi blinked and guessed.
"Hmm... a different dimension?"
Zhixin nodded.
"Indeed, scientists on some planets call it the sixth dimension."
"So what exactly is this God of Death Carl trying to..."
Akashi blinked, still not quite understanding what God of Death Carl wanted to do.
"God of Death Carl believes that higher intelligent beings exist within the void, and that those higher intelligences have restricted the development of the Known Universe. The evidence is that the Known Universe has existed for 13.7 billion years, the Shenhe Civilization has a history of 200,000 years, while the Angel Civilization has only existed for 100,000 years... the histories of other civilizations are even shorter!"
"He thinks these civilizations have been restricted by intelligent beings from a higher dimension? And then he is trying to find a way to deal with them?"
Zhixin shook her head.
"No. Actually, what I just described—what the Super Seminary calls ultimate fear, and researching ways to deal with it—was research carried out by the former Super Seminary. As for God of Death Carl... he seems to be thinking of how to merge with the void... or release it."
Akashi frowned and blinked for a long time, feeling that something was off.
Previously, she had thought the relationship between the angels and their Sacred Knowledge Repository was somewhat like the relationship between the Siren mainframe and its bodies. Now... what this God of Death Carl wanted to do also felt familiar.
The port was not without Ashes ship girls. She also knew a little about how World Alpha had been destroyed.
The void was the sixth dimension, while Carl was obsessively researching it and might even want to merge with it, to contact highly intelligent lifeforms from a higher dimension...
Akashi silently compared them in her mind.
Highly intelligent lifeforms from a higher dimension—X; Carl, who wanted to contact higher-dimensional intelligent lifeforms and might even have already contacted them—Good Guy Richard, who had been affected by X Meme Pollution; angels—Antix, the Sirens...
Hiss, it matched. It all matched!
Akashi sucked in a breath of cold air.
She had a feeling this universe was bound to suffer some major disaster sooner or later!
Where were this universe's ship girls and Commander? Hurry up and save it!
(X: An unknown enemy from Azur Lane, supposedly from a higher dimension. Its true form has not appeared in the story, though there are plenty of things similar to its servants. In any case, its true form should be of no low status.)
Before you continue