Crossover Shipgirls: Building a Dimensional Empire from Scratch Chapter 557: The Local Card Players Have No Manners at All

After the delegation settled into the Starsea Empire and roughly toured the capital.

At their residence, Tingyun gathered everyone.

Like a little Grey, she began assigning tasks to the delegation.

"We have been entrusted by the Xianzhou Alliance and the Luofu to be stationed long-term in the Starsea Empire, facilitating relations between our two worlds."

"Therefore, while we are here, I hope everyone will take the ti to visit other parts of the Starsea Empire and understand this nation from every angle."

"Mm... If possible, it would be even better to make so local friends. The people here seem quite friendly."

Most of the capital's population consisted of little lolis, Bulins, and Angeloids. Facing such adorable girls, it was almost impossible not to lower one's guard at first glance.

As a result, everyone felt much more relaxed. There was none of the usual tension that ca with being dispatched to a foreign nation.

"What are your plans?"

Tingyun looked at Qingque and Sushang.

"I want to see whether people in the Starsea Empire play Celestial Jade... I an, I plan to make friends through cards."

Qingque answered without hesitation.

"Answering those in need, fulfilling all requests; perform one good deed a day, reflect upon oneself thrice!"

Sushang declared energetically, hugging her greatsword.

She was ready to uphold justice in the Starsea Empire.

"..."

Tingyun once again confird that if aningful diplomatic exchange with the Starsea Empire was to happen, it would depend entirely on her.

As for those two, she could only hope they would not cause any trouble.

...

The next day, at noon.

Sunlight stread through the window into the bedroom.

Qingque groggily got out of bed and rubbed her eyes.

Under the attentive service of an Angeloid, she washed up.

The experience felt incredibly novel. Back on the Xianzhou, as the lowest-ranking diviner, she had never qualified for such treatnt.

"Ah—"

After eating, Qingque yawned.

She glanced at the pile of work stacked to one side, along with the ninety-nine unread notifications on her phone, and decided to go out for a stroll first.

Everything in the Starsea Empire was new to her.

She wandered along, looking left and right, grabbed an ice cream, watched little lolis running and skipping about, and Bulins lining up with wrenches on their shoulders. Everything was so amusing.

Most importantly, the Divination Commission's Master couldn't control her here!

Under normal working hours, if she dared to wander around the Starskiff Haven or Exalting Sanctum, within an hour or two she would definitely be dragged back to the Divination Commission by Fu Xuan.

No matter where she hid or how well she concealed herself, it was useless.

There was no other reason—Fu Xuan could casually cast a divination and imdiately learn where she had snuck off to.

But in the Starsea Empire, no matter how all-seeing or infallible that Master Diviner might be, she surely could not enforce the law across universes.

So refreshing.

As Qingque walked and looked around, she searched for sothing resembling a card parlor.

With no fellow card players in the delegation, her hands were itching.

"Hm?"

Before long, after passing several main streets, she arrived at the capital's entertainnt district.

This area had been modeled after R'lyeh Amusent Park from the world of Nyarko—a blaze of lights and color, filled with bizarre entertainnt facilities.

There were interstellar roller coasters that shot straight into the sky, holographically simulated haunted houses, imrsive gas that uploaded one's consciousness into virtual worlds, and more.

Naturally, there were also many little lolis and shipgirls gathered together playing gas, their voices forming a lively din.

"Wow..."

For the N 1th ti in her heart, Qingque praised the Starsea Empire and thanked Fu Xuan for sending her here.

Looking around, aside from video gas, there were also plenty of traditional activities.

So shipgirls gathered around card tables, going back and forth.

Since there was no currency, they either gambled with chips, al vouchers for Totsuki restaurants, or little trinkets they had found in other worlds.

Qingque squeezed over to watch a few rounds. The general rules of the mahjong here were sowhat similar to Celestial Jade.

As for the slight differences, relying on her instincts as a seasoned player, she quickly grasped the essentials.

The more she watched, the hotter her hands felt. She could hardly wait to play a few rounds herself.

Suddenly, a voice sounded not far away.

"Sister Aqua, co play a few more rounds!"

"No more, no more! I'm never playing with you again!! You're even worse than the Eris Church!!!"

A blue-haired goddess stood up from the card table and fled in panic.

"We're one short. Anyone want to join?"

A little loli called out.

"Hm?!"

Qingque instantly perked up. Following the voice, she saw a white-haired little loli with animal ears beckoning to her.

"Ohh, are you a newcor to the Starsea Empire, nanoda?"

"Want to play with us?"

"Of course!"

Without hesitation, Qingque rubbed her hands together and sat down.

Glancing at the table, she noticed the three players looked even younger than she did. A faint sense of guilt at bullying children rose within her.

"My na is Qingque. I'm part of the Xianzhou Alliance delegation stationed in the Starsea Empire. What about you?"

The three lolis raised their hands in turn to introduce themselves:

"I'm Shiro."

"I'm Yukikaze, nanoda."

"My na is Schwi."

"Oh—"

Qingque glanced at the fleeing Aqua.

How unreasonable, she thought. She clearly looks older than Master Diviner Fu Xuan, yet she bullies children at the card table.

The local card players really had no manners at all.

Since she was new here, she decided she should hold back a little and win slightly less from them.

...

One hour later.

Setsuna was in the administrative center, discussing the next sightseeing route with Tingyun.

"You want to visit the Starsea Empire's vassal states and also tour the Magic Division and the Research Division? ...Mm, that's fine..."

"Sophon, send a ship over. Of those vassal worlds, which ones are you planning to visit?"

On the Hyperdinsional Star Map, a brilliant galaxy was projected.

With the Starsea Empire's holand as the center, all surrounding neighbors had been incorporated into imperial territory.

"Oh—"

Tingyun stared in astonishnt.

In her universe, a "world" was defined as anything from a star system to a galaxy.

Limited by circumstances, aside from colossal entities like the Interastral Peace Corporation, few civilizations could control many worlds.

Yet every vassal world of the Starsea Empire was a great world comparable to an entire universe!

And there were dozens of them! If one counted the secondary worlds split off from places like Konosuba, the scope would be even greater.

Compared to that, the Xianzhou Alliance was nothing more than a small civilization.

"Mm... This humble lady is not very familiar with these worlds. Does the Sacrosanct have any recomndations?"

She sought Setsuna's opinion.

"That depends on what you want to see."

"Under imperial governance, the developnt paths of the various worlds are broadly similar. Whether they were previously in feudal, Renaissance, or pre-space eras, they are uniformly elevated to the interstellar age."

"They also all develop outer space under imperial administration... If you're looking for sothing distinctive, the magic worlds like Re:Zero, Konosuba, and Goblin Slayer are ones you probably haven't encountered much."

Setsuna thought for a mont.

"Also, if you're curious about the alien hunting competition Fujimaru ntioned, you can visit the Three-Body world."

"And the VIP project?"

Tingyun blinked.

"Does it require special qualifications? I wonder whether this humble lady..."

"Cough... For now, just forget about that one."

After so discussion, they decided to have Gudako and several shipgirls act as guides and show them around.

"Hm? Where's Qingque?"

Just as Tingyun was about to look for her.

Several little lolis ran in, hopping energetically.

"Commander, Commander, can you take us to eat at Totsuki restaurant this afternoon?"

"Sure. I'll ask Erina and Rindou Kobayashi..."

As Setsuna looked up, he saw Shiro, Yukikaze, and Schwi holding a large pile of items in their arms.

"What's this?"

"We were playing cards with a new guest just now. She seed really unconvinced and got more and more heated the longer she played. In the end, she even used her clothes as chips."

Yukikaze said, swaying her head.

She dumped a heap of still-warm fabric onto Setsuna's desk.

"This is Qingque's coat. This is Qingque's skirt. This is Qingque's hairpin... Oh, and these are Qingque's panties."

"Commander, they're for you!"

"???"

...

At the Luofu delegation's residence.

Wrapped in a blanket, Qingque sat on her bed facing the wall, contemplating life.

"Why did I lose?"

"Why would soone start with a heavenly hand right off the bat?"

"Why would soone be able to deduce one hundred and twenty moves ahead from the very mont they draw a tile?!"

She posed these soul-searching questions to herself.

Beside her, an Angeloid walked in carrying a stack of clothes.

"Your new garnts are currently being produced. Please change into these spare clothes for the ti being."

"Guh..."

Qingque felt fortunate that food and goods were free in the Starsea Empire. Otherwise, she would truly have ended up half-naked and living rough.

Even so, she had already lost her entire fortune. Even last month's salary from the Divination Commission had been donated in full.

There was no helping it—she had gotten carried away.

No one could accept being utterly crushed at the card table by three little lolis.

Of course, to Shiro, Schwi, and Yukikaze, it was rely the addition of so odd trinkets from another world.

Clothes and panties were useless to them anyway, so they had simply given them to the Commander as a souvenir.

"Doesn't this feel strange no matter how you think about it?! Could it be that they ganged up on and cheated when they saw I was new here?!"

Qingque muttered at the Angeloid.

"Based on analysis of their matches against other residents of the Starsea Empire, there is no need for them to cheat."

The Angeloid gave a perfectly logical answer.

"It is recomnded that you read more materials on the Starsea Empire and better understand your new card friends."

"Oh... That makes sense."

She thought for a mont, pulled out a small notebook, and began looking up information while taking notes.

In her eyes, the Starsea Empire was a hidden-dragon, crouching-tiger ultimate trial ground. Without adequate preparation, she would likely lose everything again.

After losing even her last pair of underwear, Qingque resolved to reflect deeply and achieve enlightennt in her own Longchang mont:

"Mm..."

"It is known that the Starsea Empire has certain strange individuals—for example, so shipgirls whose luck is inexplicably good, as well as humanoid supercomputers. Playing cards with them is basically asking for trouble.."

"At the sa ti, many people here seem to worship the goddess Eris. Believers of Eris appear to have better luck than ordinary people. Playing cards with them would also be a guaranteed loss."

"However, when Eris believers play against each other, it seems unaffected. Their good fortune cancels out, leaving only pure skill and draw luck to determine the winner..."

She carefully summarized several characteristics and tapped her head.

Suddenly enlightened.

"So I should also start worshipping Eris. Ask the goddess for a blessing or a buff, then go back and clean out all the card players on the Xianzhou?"

...

anwhile.

Unlike Qingque, who had arrived in the Starsea Empire for two days and promptly lost even her underwear at lightning speed.

Tingyun felt she ought to accomplish sothing more serious.

For example, exploring more of the Starsea Empire so she could report back to the Luofu and the Xianzhou Alliance on what kind of civilization this truly was.

Buzz—

A small spacecraft carrying her, Sushang, and several other mbers of the Luofu delegation departed from the capital of the Starsea Empire.

Passing through a transmission anchor point, it descended into a new star system.

It was still an identical solar system and Earth, but Tingyun noticed this place was clearly not as prosperous as the capital.

Human cities dotted the planet like stars, and a number of spacecraft traveled through the system.

The onboard AI and Sophon provided tily explanations.

"The current world is World No. 10, the Aka ga Kill world."

"In Year One of the Starsea Empire, the Commander led a fleet to this world, defeated the Empire, the Southern Kingdom, and various separatist forces. The planet was unified..."

Flying low over the cities, the crowds below stopped when they saw a starship bearing the Starsea Empire's insignia. They lowered their heads in salute to the suzerain nation.

The AI explained the general situation of this world. The delegation listened with fascination.

It felt as though they were tourists riding in a sightseeing vehicle.

"Are the Starsea Empire's resources supplied by tribute from its vassal states?"

Tingyun asked an additional question.

"In principle, yes. After stabilizing order in vassal states, we elevate their technological level and living standards."

Sophon answered.

"Objectively speaking, this is conducive to stabilizing world situations and developing more resources. However, military and political authority in each vassal world is still appointed by the Empire."

"Impressive."

Tingyun sincerely exclaid. She was clever and quickly grasped the logic.

Simple plunder could never build a super-empire spanning the universe. Relying on advanced technology to control various worlds was sowhat similar to the Interastral Peace Corporation—yet on a far more sophisticated level.

The Starsea Empire possessed near-absolute control over its vassal states. The Sophon network could monitor every detail.

"However, after the successive completion of Galactic Wonders in the Empire's native world, dostic resource production capacity has beco sufficient to et most demands. Therefore, materials are often in a state of surplus."

"How wonderful..."

The Luofu was already the most comrcially developed and prosperous vessel in the Xianzhou Alliance. Yet compared to the Starsea Empire, Tingyun felt it seed pitifully poor.

Boom—

The spacecraft passed through other worlds in succession. Each world presented a new landscape.

Worlds such as Demon Slayer, Aka ga Kill, and Date A Live had developed in broadly similar fashions after conquest. Many were essentially identical solar systems.

anwhile, worlds like Azur Lane, Arpeggio, Konosuba, Re:Zero, and Darling in the Franxx displayed entirely different scenery.

"This is the Azur Lane world, also the holand of the shipgirls. It now functions as a resort world. You are welco to visit for leisure when you have ti..."

"World No. 6, Chocolate and Vanilla. It is the original world of the catgirls in the capital. Mm, they are products of genetic engineering rather than a naturally evolved species..."

"World No. 17, the Three-Body universe. Due to the abundance of extraterrestrial resources in this universe, the Starsea Empire conducts certain astrophysics and cosmology experints here."

In another unfamiliar solar system, Tingyun saw a brand-new version of Earth.

"Extraterrestrial resources?"

It was the first ti she had heard extraterrestrials referred to as "resources."

"Yes. Commander Grey clears out extraterrestrials that approach too close to outposts during her spare ti, and captures alien lifeforms for experintation."

Sophon replied.

"The Synaptic Lathe requires large quantities of sapient organisms as fuel. Unfortunately, the combustion efficiency of the alien lifeforms captured thus far has not been ideal."

"Higher-quality wetware candidates exist in stronger universes. Therefore, Commander Grey intends to experint with the Abominations of Abundance."

"Ah?!"

Tingyun stood stunned for quite a while before finally understanding why the Starsea Empire delegation had been so enthusiastic about helping the Xianzhou eliminate the Abominations of Abundance.

So they were truly here to capture fuel.

"May this humble lady boldly ask... you wouldn't happen to...?"

As if anticipating her question, Sophon answered concisely:

"Commander Grey considers the Xianzhou people to be below average in both physical capability and computational capacity. Additionally, they cannot self-replicate or resurrect to achieve cyclical sustainability. Therefore, they are not under consideration."

"???"

"Er... thank you?"

Tingyun was unsure how to respond.

"Would you like to experience capturing extraterrestrials?"

Gudako proposed once again.

"Eh?"

"The rules are super simple. We pilot faster-than-light ships and tour more distant star systems."

"Once we detect an alien howorld, we toss over a photoid, then dispatch Angeloids to retrieve samples for analysis."

"For especially difficult star systems, we can apply to the Commander to deploy a Dual-Vector Foil. Uh, though we can't use it too close to the solar system. This outpost is still useful for now."

"???"

Tingyun and Sushang were thoroughly frightened.

In the eyes of the Starsea Empire, destroying an alien civilization seed to be a routine matter.

Sothing that could even be casually assigned to little shipgirls.

"It is aningless to judge extraterrestrial civilizations by human moral standards and assu they share the sa morality."

Sophon smiled faintly.

"Oh..."

The Yaoqing vessel had once been the most martial among the Xianzhou Alliance.

Yet compared to the Starsea Empire, which waged war across the multiverse, it still seed sowhat lacking.

After roaming through nurous vassal worlds, the delegation marveled at the various technologies and magics of different universes. Tingyun discovered that despite working in the Sky-Faring Commission for so many years and traveling with the Whistling Flas rchant Guild to many places, the knowledge she had gained was still less than what she had seen in just these two days within the Starsea Empire.

When the starship returned to the capital, everyone still felt reluctant for it to end.

"Mm... Since arriving in the Starsea Empire, there has been sothing this humble lady has wished to ask."

She smoothed her hair, hesitating.

"There are only girls in the capital, correct? Oh, I an aside from the Sacrosanct."

"This is determined by the Starsea Empire's developntal history. I believe it has already been explained to you earlier."

Belfast smiled.

When passing through the Azur Lane world and the Black Bullet world, they had already introduced the general background.

A civilization built upon a naval port could not be viewed from a conventional perspective.

"Mm, this humble lady understands the reasoning..."

Tingyun paused.

"However, since the Starsea Empire is so prosperous, its civilization should continue for thousands, tens of thousands, even longer. In that case..."

"Hm?"

Belfast knew what she was implying.

The average lifespan of ordinary Xianzhou people was around eight hundred years. Foxians and other outworlders were even shorter-lived.

From their perspective, the Starsea Empire would likely collapse within a millennium due to a lack of population reproduction.

"How long do you think I can live?"

Gudako pointed to herself and blinked.

"Mm..."

It was sowhat impolite to speculate about soone's lifespan, but since the other party had asked, Tingyun answered.

"The Starsea Empire surpasses the Xianzhou Alliance, and you appear to be human. This humble lady boldly estimates... perhaps over five thousand years?"

Pfft—

Gudako shook her head and wagged a single finger.

"No. The Starsea Empire has already conquered death."

"Eternal life here is an ordinary matter. Reversing life and death is rely a single sentence from the Goddess of the Underworld."

—

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