The fleets gathered once more, and after a brief moment, the Commander issued the order. The ships advanced cautiously through the wreckage, each movement deliberate and calcuted. No enemies appeared on the horizon, only the endless debris scattered across the strange sea's surface. Fragments of ships and broken parts piled on top of each other, floating eerily in the stillness. From time to time, the wreckage was pushed aside by the fleet, creating dull scraping sounds as the metal scraped against metal, only to fall back into silence again.

  In the midst of this, the Commander couldn't help but feel the weight of the moment. The scene before him felt like a graveyard—vast and silent, the remains of countless battles now at rest.

  “It started with just a few fragments, drifting aimlessly with the waves,“ Memphis murmured, her voice tinged with disbelief. “At first, it was one or two pieces, then more appeared... soon, there were groups, then multiple groups. And to think, they're all Siren wrecks. I suppose this is where they all ended up.“

  Enterprise nodded in grim agreement. “I've never witnessed anything like this. Calling this a battlefield feels wrong. It's not even that, it’s more like a one-sided massacre... a dumping ground for their broken remains.“

  “Even if our fleets faced these enemies, it's hard to imagine the result being like this,“ the Commander remarked, his gaze fixed on the wreckage.

  Essex moved toward a nearby broken piece and examined it closely. “This is strange,“ she muttered, inspecting the debris. “Not only are these fragments from various ages, but there are also many pieces whose origins are completely unidentifiable...“ Her expression shifted as she processed the information. “I would have believed these were all from Sirens in the NA Ocean, but the sheer number here? That seems impossible. Unless... Unless there were far more Sirens concentrated in this area than we ever realized...“

  They continued their observation as they approached the location Illustrious had reported. The wreckage seemed endless, piling up as they moved forward. It felt as though they were traversing through hell. The interior of the Singurity resembled a Siren sughterhouse rather than a mere battlefield, fitting the eerie description of what they were witnessing.

  “Over there,“ the Queen said, pointing toward a distant structure. “That building might be what Illustrious saw.“

  Enterprise squinted, tracing the strange scenery. “That building looks simir to something we've identified before...“

  The Commander's eyes widened as he recognized the structure. “This is...“

  It was the White Tower, or at least, half of it. The building appeared motionless, with no signs of reactivation possible. It seemed to have been broken into pieces. The Queen approached and touched it, but there was no response.

  “It’s clear now,“ she said, inspecting it closely. “There’s no sign of activity here. It seems to have been abandoned—or has long since died.“

  Memphis muttered, “Moreover, it turned into a pitch-bck building. I remember from the reports, the White Tower was sentient and had a pale-white jade color.“

  “What I saw back then was simir, but it was bigger and pale white too...“ Enterprise murmured. “Commander, you've seen it, right? With your own eyes.“

  The Commander nodded. “I assume it was Siren's technology that caused this.“

  “I agree,“ Enterprise responded, nodding. “And it seems to be made of different materials than what we've fought before.“ She carefully picked up a shard of the fragment.

  “Then, what caused the top to rip apart, or broken?“ Essex asked, pointing out at the top yer of the White Tower.

  “It... seems to have been cut through by something, like a sword ssh,“ Memphis murmured. “Helena, can you trace anything using your SG Radar?“

  “Let me try.“ Helena stepped forward and activated her SG Radar, scanning the wreckage. After a moment, she turned and shook her head. “Impossible. It’s too old, or too worn out. This White Tower might have long since colpsed, and the top of it is completely gone.“

  “No more clues, huh?“ the Commander muttered. “Assuming this was Siren technology, what could have caused their disappearance from the world?“

  Enterprise then specuted. “One thing's for sure: it might be reted to the Ashes. Remember, after the NY City attack, the White Tower's presence completely vanished, and it became nothing more than a rumor among those who had seen it.“

  “Let's move on. Since we’ve found nothing here, we’ll keep looking for an exit,“ the Commander ordered, and the fleet complied, following his lead.

  Along the way, Memphis murmured, “Speaking of which... the trigger for unching this operation was the storm in the NA waters and the Siren's abnormal reduction in forces. If what we saw earlier was their st-ditch effort to defend their territory... then by pure luck, we struck when they were at their weakest.“

  “Then I may have a theory,“ Essex said smugly.

  Raising an eyebrow, Enterprise replied, “Speak clearly.“

  Essex began, “Based on this, we can reverse-engineer the situation. Whether it was the contraction of their forces before the war, the weak resistance during the war, or the strong-looking st line of defense that is weak on the inside... there’s only one reason why the Sirens made all these strange deployments. The Sirens in the NA waters were disrupted from their core by the Ashes and sunk inside the Singurity.“

  “Looking back at it now, the storm and the ck of a strong Siren presence in the area were essentially what propelled our all-out offensive forward,“ Enterprise said, her tone firm. “But... even if all the new wreckage was the result of the Ashes, what about the older wreckage? It seems impossible to expin how time passed differently from the outside world.“

  “Hmm... I’m curious about that too,“ Essex hummed thoughtfully.

  Enterprise continued, “Then there are those wrecks of mass-produced ships, which are unmistakably man-made. We may have only come across a handful, but even that handful represents a significant portion of the ships in the area. If we had lost that many ships at some point, we would’ve known by now.“

  “Hehe~ Maybe I can answer this question~!“ Saratoga said with a pyful wink.

  “Sara? What’s your take on all this wreckage?“ Enterprise asked, clearly intrigued.

  “The common theory is that Singurities are dimensionally divergent!“ Saratoga replied, her tone filled with confidence.

  “Dimensionally divergent?“ Enterprise tilted her head, clearly puzzled. “What does that mean exactly?“

  Saratoga grinned. “A Singurity isn't just a three-dimensional space with a fixed volume. It's more like a manifestation of something far more complex. Ever heard of the observer effect? It's likely that the inside of a Singurity is strongly influenced by what its observers perceive.“

  The Queen, catching on to the conversation, chimed in enthusiastically. “Ah! I remember that theory! There’s definitely something to it!“

  Saratoga raised an eyebrow. “Hey! At least let me finish expining before you try to steal my thunder!“

  The Queen huffed in a pyful manner. “The person who proposed this theory was my subject! So I have the right to partake in this conversation.“

  Saratoga smirked wider. “Fine, then! But have you really read the contents of the paper carefully...“ she asked, her tone teasing, clearly aware that the Queen had probably just wanted to strike up a conversation.

  Elizabeth stammered a bit. “W-well, Bel has read it...“

  “Pfft...“ Saratoga barely contained her ugh as she saw the Queen fluster.

  “Hey! Don’t scoff at royalty!“ Elizabeth retorted, crossing her arms with a pout. “Go on then, continue with your expnation if you're so eager to share it.“

  “All righty then,“ Saratoga began with a confident grin. “When the inside of the Singurity is directly observed, it continues to expand. That's why it feels like there's no end to it. The space we saw earlier was vast, and maybe we were just looking too far. If we kept scouting, we might end up getting stuck in an endless sea of wreckage. The good news is that the Ashes and the Sirens seem to be able to come and go at will! That means there must be a way out of the Singurity. I think it’s best we proactively reduce the observation range. We’ll recover the reconnaissance aircraft, shut off the radar, and move forward along this narrow route, relying only on our line of sight. That way, we might just find a way out of here!“ she expined, her voice full of determination.

  The Commander, clearly feeling out of pce in the conversation, interjected. “Is this based on your hypothesis about getting out of here?“

  “Correct!“ Saratoga replied, her tone confident. “I believe if we go back where we come from and just go straight, we might uncover something that can help us.“

  The Commander nodded, giving a decisive order. “Alright then. All fleets, change course. Head in a straight line and charge forward.“

  ※ ※ ※

  The fleets moved steadily toward their initial location, continuing in a straight line toward the horizon. The wreckage of the Sirens stretched endlessly, covering the sea in a somber bnket. The fleets passed through the desote expanse, with no sign of enemy forces. It was eerily quiet, as if the area had already been abandoned. There were no battles, no skirmishes—just the quiet drift of the fleets through a graveyard of broken ships.

  The silence of the fleet was broken by Memphis’ voice. “Hold still,“ she said, pointing toward the horizon where faint shadows flickered in the distance. “There are five figures. Three of them seem to be Sirens... and the other two... they’re fighting.“

  “Is that them? The Ashes?“ the Queen asked, her tone both curious and cautious.

  “Probably,“ Saratoga frowned, her eyes narrowing as she tried to discern the shapes. “It seems we’ve stumbled upon our way out, or at least a major clue.“

  Elizabeth furrowed her brow, gncing toward the Commander. “We can’t use TB’s scans to identify them since it would mean observing a greater area, correct?“

  The Commander shook his head. “Unfortunately, TB hasn’t been responding since we arrived here. We’re running blind.“

  The Queen turned to Belfast, her tone more direct. “Bel, can you identify those figures?“

  “Certainly, Your Majesty,“ Belfast replied, stepping forward with composed precision. From her rigging, she deployed a scouting drone that ascended smoothly into the sky. All eyes followed its trajectory as it sped toward the distant figures, scanning the scene for further crity.

  After some time, the drone descended, and Belfast reported her findings with an air of calm precision. “There are four figures I’ve identified. Three of them are from the Arbiters system, or at least, that’s what the Ashes have referred to them as. The other is Hiryuu. But the st one… It looks like Ark Royal.“

  The Queen’s smile turned contemptive as she gazed at the distant figures. “Oh? So that’s the Ark Royal who saved the Eagle Union Research Fleet,“ she said softly, her voice tinged with curiosity. “At st, we meet, Ashes...“

  Baltimore, still observing the scene, murmured thoughtfully, “Two Ashes members in one pce? That’s gotta be a first. What could possibly bring them together like this?“

  “They’re holding their own against the Sirens,“ Essex remarked, her tone a mix of admiration and unease. “No surprise, considering how terrifyingly strong they are.“

  Belfast inclined her head, offering her analysis. “Among the five targets, four are known entities—Arbiter Temperance, Arbiter Strength, Arbiter Hermit, and Hiryuu. These individuals were encountered during the early stages of our operation.“

  Essex’s brow furrowed as a thought struck her. “By the way, isn’t that Ark Royal the same one who disappeared from our radar? The one who saved our scientific research fleet?“ She paused, the gears turning in her mind. “But... how is it possible? How did the Ashes even appear on our radar back then? It doesn’t add up...“

  Memphis raised her voice, cutting through the growing tension. “I don’t think now’s the time to be worrying about that, Essex. We need to—“

  Before she could finish, a massive spsh of water erupted nearby, sending waves rippling through the area. Hiryuu was flung across the water, crashing into the fleet’s vicinity before regaining her footing. She smirked as she dusted herself off, summoning her rigging with ease.

  “A bit te to think about hiding now, wouldn’t you say?“ she taunted, her voice carrying a mix of amusement and defiance.

  “H-Hiryuu?!“ Memphis gasped, startled by the sudden appearance of the Ashes shipgirl.

  Hiryuu’s azure eyes scanned the fleet, her smirk widening. “You showed up at just the right time. I knew I could count on you to appear when I needed you.“

  As the tension thickened, another figure emerged—Ark Royal. She approached Hiryuu, her piercing gaze momentarily shifting to the fleet before returning to her ally. “What’s going on, Hiryuu? Is this what you’ve been up to all this time?“

  Hiryuu chuckled, brushing a hand through her hair. “Our hit-and-run tactics work well for dealing with detached Sirens. But when it comes to invading a stronghold…“ She gestured toward the fleet with a mischievous grin. “Having the backing of a big fleet doesn’t hurt.“

  Ark Royal crossed her arms, her tone sharp but not without a hint of concern. “I'm aware. But do you remember what Takao said about minimizing contact with outsiders?“

  Hiryuu smirked, unbothered by the scolding. “It's a little te for that now. They found me before I found them,“ she replied with a casual shrug. Her voice turned serious as she gestured toward the Commander, standing resolutely on King George V's vessel. “Look, the Commander is our golden ticket out of here. I guarantee you, the Arbiters won't come after us with them around.“

  Ark Royal followed Hiryuu's gesture, her sharp eyes locking onto the Commander. For a moment, her expression hardened, scanning him with intent scrutiny. Then her gaze softened, a flicker of understanding washing over her features. “I see...“ she murmured, her voice quieter now. “So that's why...“

  “See? Now you're convinced,“ Hiryuu smirked, clearly enjoying the moment.

  The Commander stood still, observing the exchange in silence.

  Ark Royal chuckled softly, breaking the quiet. “Not one to talk much to strangers, are you?“

  Hiryuu shrugged and gestured toward the Commander. “One of G’s priorities is him. If we survive this, she might even thank you for lending a hand.“

  Before Ark Royal could respond, the Queen stepped forward, her expression hesitant yet firm. “Are you... truly Ark Royal?“

  Ark Royal turned her sharp gaze to the petite battleship. “Your Highne—yeah, I am Ark Royal,“ she replied, her tone both respectful and detached. “But not the one you’re familiar with. Apologies for my rudeness, but we’re not going to delve into that topic right now.“

  The Queen hesitated, then reluctantly nodded. “...I understand.“

  “Please don't take offense; she's always like this,“ Hiryuu said with a wry smile. “Having said that, perhaps you could take a leaf out of her book.“

  She straightened, her expression turning serious. “Now, let’s get back to the point. After observing you for a while, I don’t believe you’re a solid ally of Antiochus. That being the case, I’d like to propose a temporary truce between us. Together, we can get out of this sticky situation. What do you say?“

  Hiryuu’s sharp gaze lingered on the Commander and his fleet, awaiting a response.

  All the girls turned to Greynar, their gazes heavy with expectation. His decision carried the weight of potentially altering the course of their entire mission.

  The Ashes were willingly proposing a truce, and on the surface, it seemed there were no disadvantages to accepting. Yet, the underlying mystery gnawed at him—why were the Ashes so fixated on him? What was it about him that convinced them to extend this olive branch?

  He clenched his fists subtly, trying to suppress the unease bubbling beneath his calm exterior. Could his past have some hidden connection to the Ashes? For now, he had to focus on the present. Whatever y in his history would have to wait. His decision now would determine the fate of everyone in the fleet.

  Turning to everyone, Greynar noticed the eagerness in their eyes. Despite the tension, it was clear the fleet shared a common sentiment—they saw the Ashes not as enemies, but as fellow shipgirls with a mutual goal: the elimination of the Sirens.

  After a moment of contemption, Greynar exhaled deeply, his resolve firm. He nodded, breaking the silence. “Fine. Let’s have a truce and work together to get out of this Singurity.“ His voice carried authority and determination as he turned to his fleet.

  “All fleets! Prepare for the decisive battle!“ he commanded, his voice cutting through the stillness. “Launch all your firepower on the Arbiters!“