Chapter 106: Taihou Has Been a Yandere Since Childhood
Looking at Taihou-chan, who had the exact same outfit, hairstyle, and overall appearance as Taihou, Setsuna felt as if he had opened the door to a new world.
So, this was how little shipgirls could be born.
Too cute. Too adorable.
Taihou, overwhelmed by maternal instincts, lifted Taihou-chan by the waist.
"Ah… This is truly the proof of love between me and the Commander—"
"Let go of me!! Let the Commander hold me!!"
Taihou-chan flailed her arms and legs in the air.
After a while, Setsuna motioned for Taihou to put Taihou-chan down. He crouched before her, smiling as he asked:
"By the way, how did you recognize me as the Commander at first sight?"
After all, it had taken Setsuna some time and effort to officially become the Commander of Azur Lane's port. Seeing Taihou-chan immediately recognize him upon birth was quite surprising.
"It's the resonance of the Wisdom Cube! It must have been your power that allowed me to be born into this world, right?"
Taihou-chan hugged Setsuna, rubbing her head against his chest.
"Ah… This warmth, this racing heartbeat… Commander, it has to be you!"
"If you want to devour Taihou, that's fine too! Am I not much cuter than Mom?"
Her voice was soft and childish, but her words were anything but innocent.
"???"
Taihou's face filled with question marks.
What was going on?
Her daughter had just been born, and she was already competing with her for the Commander?!
Should she be proud or worried?
"Commander, you must stay firm! In what way am I inferior to her?!"
Taihou also pressed closer, trying to pry Taihou-chan off.
"No!!"
Taihou-chan clung to Setsuna, tilting her head up as she whined.
"I want to be with the Commander—eating together, sleeping together, always being together!"
"?!"
This was the first time Setsuna had encountered such a dangerous little loli. His mouth twitched as he patted her head.
"How about letting Taihou or some of the other shipgirls take care of you?"
"Wouldn't it be fun to play with the destroyers from the Sakura Empire? Or maybe the Royal Maids could look after you?"
"No way!"
Taihou-chan shook her head without hesitation, her twin tails bouncing like propellers.
"As the Commander, isn't it only natural for you to take care of a growing Taihou? So living with the Commander is also completely reasonable and beyond question~"
"If anyone dares to steal the Commander from Taihou… I… I won't let them get away with it!!!"
Even though she looked small, she still referred to herself as Taihou.
The little loli clenched her fists and even summoned her rigging, looking ready for a fight.
"…"
"Was this child born a yandere?! She's exactly like Taihou back in the day…"
Richelieu and Yat Sen massaged their foreheads, feeling a headache coming on.
They had seen Taihou's yandere tendencies before—her obsession with the Commander had been terrifying.
After becoming an oath-bound shipgirl, she had mellowed out a little, showing more affection than possessiveness, and her jealousy wasn't as extreme.
But now, Taihou-chan was just like the old Taihou.
"If you keep spouting nonsense and having improper thoughts about the Commander, I won't go easy on you."
Taihou grabbed Taihou-chan by the collar, lifting her up like a cat.
"Little shipgirls should act like little shipgirls… Understand?"
"No way!"
Taihou-chan stiffened her neck and started squabbling with Taihou.
When it came to the Commander, she would not back down.
Even if her opponent was her own mother.
"…"
Setsuna pondered for a moment before pointing at the other shipgirls.
"Can you call out their names? Do you already know their identities?"
"Hmm…"
Taihou-chan pressed a finger against her lips and scanned the group.
"I recognize some! Iris Libre flagship Richelieu, Dragon Empery flagship Yat Sen, Royal Navy light cruiser Belfast…"
"And those over there are destroyers from the Eagle Union and Sakura Empire…"
"But I don't know those sisters."
She pointed at the nearby Heroic Spirits and Spirits who were watching the commotion.
"So, when you were born, you already had some basic knowledge about the Azur Lane world and your fellow shipgirls…"
"But anything beyond that, you'll need to learn from scratch… Interesting."
"That means, even though you were created from Taihou's and my consciousness, you're actually a completely new shipgirl."
Setsuna realized he had gained a new understanding of Wisdom Cubes.
"These things don't just grant warships self-awareness, they can actually create life?"
"Of course."
The smug grin on Purifier's face was undeniable as she lounged back in her chair.
"A Wisdom Cube materializes humanity's collective perception of an object, but it's also an energy storage unit."
"If you use a Wisdom Cube on an unclaimed warship, it might give birth to a wild shipgirl, or it might not do anything at all. Either way, mass-produced ships rarely turn into unique individuals like you all."
"But if we inject a specific consciousness into the Wisdom Cube beforehand, we can summon a corresponding shipgirl. The only problem is, they'll always appear in their child form."
She finished her explanation before glancing slyly at the other shipgirls.
"Just so you all know, this was just an experiment. Don't come knocking on our door every time you want to make a little shipgirl."
"The Terminal Unit has more important things to do. We are NOT in the business of making babies for you and the Commander!!!"
"…"
Purifier absolutely did not want the day to come when they finally reestablished contact with the Tribunal Faction, only to be questioned about why they had spent their time helping shipgirls have children.
It was too weird.
They were supposed to be war machines, not fertility deities!
However, despite her words, the shipgirls didn't feel the slightest bit threatened.
"Ahem… I have a question!"
A Royal Navy carrier in a leather jacket with side-swept bangs suddenly raised her hand.
"Can shipgirls have children with other shipgirls? For example, me and my cute little destroyer sisters… huff, huff…"
"???"
Enterprise turned her head, her eyes widening in horror.
"Someone throw Royal Ark out IMMEDIATELY!!!"
"…"
"I'm too tired for this."
"Extracting and merging the energy from Wisdom Cubes takes a lot of mental effort. I can't do it too many times in a row."
Compiler yawned, climbing back onto her jellyfish rigging and floating away.
"Ah…"
The other shipgirls let out a collective sigh of disappointment.
"I was really looking forward to seeing a little Enterprise, a little Formidable, or a little Belfast…"
Chaldea Master, Gudako, clicked her tongue.
"Well, it's not impossible in the future…"
Setsuna thought for a moment.
If he wanted to achieve full shipgirl domination, he couldn't leave any little shipgirls behind.
After all, Amagi-chan and Little Cheshire were so unbearably cute.
But before that… he needed to properly win over the adult shipgirls first.
The next day, as soon as Setsuna sat down in his office with a few shipgirls, Taihou walked in, leading Taihou-chan by the hand. Naturally, she had become the little shipgirl's guardian.
The two of them wore identical outfits, styled their hair in matching twin tails, and had the same hair accessories. The only real difference was that Taihou-chan hadn't yet developed Taihou's exaggerated figure—she was still a loli-sized aircraft carrier.
Taihou sat down neatly beside Setsuna, ready to help him handle his work. Taihou-chan found a chair for herself, climbed up with some effort, and sat on it, swinging her short legs that couldn't quite reach the ground while flipping through a book.
The scene was peaceful, much like a parent bringing their child to work.
"Tch—"
While reading, Taihou-chan sneakily observed Setsuna and the other shipgirls. She felt a little out of place among Richelieu, Yat Sen, Formidable, and the others.
"Those big sisters with things bouncing on their chests… are they the ones distracting the Commander?"
"When Taihou grows up, I will definitely capture the Commander's full attention, so he won't look at anyone else ever again~"
"…"
"Little kids shouldn't be thinking about such things."
Formidable ruffled Taihou-chan's hair.
"At your age, playing with little Akagi would be more appropriate. She's also an aircraft carrier..."
"?"
"Who are you looking down on? I'll definitely grow up to be bigger than you, even bigger than Mom!"
Taihou-chan pouted, huffing in frustration.
"…"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So shipgirls can really have little shipgirls, huh?"
Meanwhile, the Heroic Spirits observed Taihou-chan with fascination.
"Come to think of it, the Spirit of Origin can give birth to more Spirits, shipgirls can have little shipgirls, and dragon girls can probably have little dragon girls too…"
"It feels like we're the only ones who can't."
Jeanne Alter poked the Jeanne d'Arc, Nero, and Artoria beside her.
"Oi, you guys, think of something!"
"Huh? Think of what?"
Artoria asked as she stuffed her mouth with buns, savoring Ning Hai and Ping Hai's superb craftsmanship.
"The factions in the base are all forming families—shipgirls and Spirits already have kids, and that dragon girl Tohru is practically glued to him every day…"
"But us Heroic Spirits? Forget about having little Heroic Spirits—we don't even have anyone who's gotten into the Master's bedroom."
Jeanne Alter spread her hands.
"We're all from Chaldea, so why aren't we making moves?!"
"Doesn't anyone here match the Master's tastes?! Is something wrong with us?!"
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