MV – Chapter 124: Spaceship Dock and the Minor Villain

Just as Lanpeach was about to use a teleportation portal to head to the spaceship dock, a rabbit approached him with a light trot and grabbed his hand.

“Using the portal would be a waste-usa yo. Use the Zero-Gravity Tram instead-usa.”

“Zero-Gravity Tram? What’s that?” (Lanpeach)

“Just follow me and you’ll see-usa yo. Come on, come on, hurry up-usa.”

Lanpeach imagined the tram was probably something like a train, but the mention of zero gravity excited him, so he followed the rabbit leading the way.

Upon closer observation, he realized there were other rabbits in the hallways and rooms as well, indicating that a large number of them lived in this colony. When they saw Lanpeach, they waved their tiny hands, which was quite cute, though the rabbits seemed a bit out of place in this sci-fi-like colony.

As they walked along a passageway made of a soft yet easy-to-walk-on mysterious material, they arrived at a tube-shaped corridor. 

Lanpeach thought they were supposed to wait for the tram here, but the rabbit leapt into the tube with a small hop and was wrapped in a bubble.

“This tube is zero gravity, and the bubble here is the tram-usa. It provides impact cushioning, negates inertia, and allows for high-speed travel through thought transmission-usa yo.”

“Whoa, that’s futuristic!” (Lanpeach)

“Kyaaa~, it’s sho futurishtic!” (Koume)

He thought this sounded fun and Koume, copying Papa-shan, jumped in too. The two were enveloped in a bubble. Meanwhile, Mira and Libra had already teleported using the portal and were nowhere to be seen. Such cold support characters they were.

“So, what’s your name?” (Lanpeach)

“What are you saying-usa? I’m Tete-usa yo.” 

“I couldn’t tell without the hat!” (Lanpeach) 

The admiral rabbit tilted its head. Today, it wasn’t wearing its usual hat, so Lanpeach couldn’t recognize it at all.

The sensation of floating in zero gravity was different from flying, making it an interesting experience. When Lanpeach willed it, the bubble glided forward, moving quickly toward the spaceship dock.

…Something felt suspicious. Was the admiral rabbit really showing him around out of kindness?

Though the doubt crossed his mind, Lanpeach enjoyed the sensation of walls speeding past without feeling any wind pressure, like a safe jet coaster, and soon they arrived at the spaceship dock.

“Wow, this is amazing. It rivals the grandeur of natural landscapes.” 

What Lanpeach saw as he passed through the door could only be described as breathtaking. The honeycomb-like structure resembled a beehive, but instead of bee larvae, warships were docked inside the cells. Lanpeach had wondered what a spaceship dock would look like, and its scale was nothing like a shipyard on Earth.

Each side must be 30 kilometers or more. It was so vast that he could almost see the horizon. Numerous drones floated around the facility, and many rabbits were also busily —lazily floating, sleeping, or reading manga. Only a few of the rabbits were actually working, clinging to ships that were about a hundred meters long. The rabbits were as usual.

“Boss, if you place your hand on this terminal, the teleportation portal to enter the ship will activate-usa yo.”

“Like this? Oh, it’s working.” (Lanpeach)

Tete kindly pointed him to the cylindrical terminal while twitching its nose. When Lanpeach placed his hand on it, there was a beeping sound, and a teleportation portal appeared in front of him, and…

“Uoooh, Tete is registering as the ship’s captain-usa! I won’t let anyone else have it-usa yo!” 

Tete cried triumphantly, doing the butterfly stroke in the zero-gravity space and leaping into the teleportation portal.

“…What the heck was that?” (Lanpeach)

“The first person to register becomes the captain of the battleship. Well, a rabbit always ends up as captain, but it seems Tete was aiming for it.” (Mira) 

“Ah, so that’s why Tete was sticking to me under the guise of being helpful. Quite the strategist. Meanwhile, my own kid just sleeps all the time.” (Lanpeach) 

“Kyu~. Tete sure is determined, huh?” (Mimi)

Mira swam through the zero-gravity space with Libra following behind. Unlike Tete, Mimi was snoozing inside Lanpeach’s hoodie. The rabbits really have diverse personalities.

So Tete was really that desperate to become captain, huh.

“Ahem, the name of this first-time gift ship is the High-Speed Cruiser, Lion Rabbit. It’s 120 meters long, weighs 10,500 tons, and is equipped with 126 Homing Rabbit Beams, three dual-barrel large Rabbit Cannons as its main guns, and 24 missile launch tubes. It can carry two fighter jets and can operate in both…uhm…space…and sky as a versatile cruiser!” (Libra)

“Hohooo, it really does look like a spaceship a rabbit would command.” (Lanpeach)

Libra explained as if this was her opportunity, but it certainly does look like a spaceship that screams ‘Lion Rabbit’. 

The ship’s hull was pure white, with the Homing Rabbit Beams installed like fur made of sharp crystals.

“Aaah-ooh, testing, testing the mic-usa. This is Admiral-Captain Tete speaking-usa. We’ll now commence the maiden voyage of the Lion Rabbit, so all crew, please board immediately-usa yo.” 

Tete’s confident voice echoed, already acting high and mighty as captain.

“Gah! Why is Tete the captain now-usa yo?!”

“Of all people, we shouldn’t have made him captain-usa yo!”

“It was stuck to the boss-usa. We’ve been had-usa yo.”

“I told Mimi to be careful, but what was she doing-usa yo?!”

It seemed like the rabbits were extremely unhappy as they squeaked and complained, but they still boarded the battleship.

“But isn’t this spaceship kind of useless?” (Lanpeach)

“What are you saying? We’re planning to use this ship to suppress the Demon Seed. Ah, spend the remaining 2,000 EXP at the lab to add extra armor and thrusters to the Sword Saint’s Garb. We need to prepare for aerial combat from now on.” (Mira)

“Yeah, yeah.” (Lanpeach)

Mira’s instructions were precise. There was no doubt about it. But now he is out of EXP!

Lanpeach obediently followed the instructions, almost as if he were checking a strategy guide. He also looked like a minor villain being bossed around by his boss.

“Boss, hurry up and get on board~. Friends are also waiting at the port-usa yo.”

“Wait, this mic was connected to the terminal too?” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach swam through the zero-gravity space with a wry smile and entered the Lion Rabbit through the hatch. When he reached the bridge, it resembled an anime spaceship, with a semi-circular shape and tiered desks for the operators. The engine already seemed to be running, and a semi-circular monitor displayed the view of the bulkhead ahead.

Lanpeach sat in a chair and placed Koume on his lap. Koume’s eyes sparkled with excitement as she curiously looked around.

“All systems green. Lion Rabbit, launching-usa!”

“Wait, won’t the air be sucked out into space once the bulkhead opens?” (Lanpeach)

“It’s fine. The dock is protected by a control system, so even if the vacuum is just one millimeter beyond the field, the air will remain, and harmful UV rays and radiation will be blocked.” (Mira)

“Wow, that’s some unimaginable technology. Do I even have a place here with all this?” (Lanpeach)

“You may seem like an old TV right now, but it will be necessary soon. I’ll do my best to make you stronger, so be prepared.” (Mira)

“Right, right. If Soldier doesn’t get stronger, we’re done for. We’re nearing a branching point of no return after all.” (Libra)

“Thanks for the ominous line.” (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach sighed at the support characters who wouldn’t tell him the important details as he watched the monitor. He was secretly excited at the idea of heading into space, something that had been impossible even in his previous life.

But with almost no vibrations, it was less thrilling than an amusement park ride, and he was quickly disappointed.

“We’ve arrived at the port-usa. Beginning resupply.”

“Let’s board the remaining passengers-usa.”

The operator rabbit gave a report, and the admiral rabbit nodded. The Lion Rabbit reached the spaceport and docked with a tube-shaped boarding bridge.

Then, a group of girls entered all at once, making the place noisy in one go.

“Um, Lan, i-is it really okay for me to be here?” (Chihiro)

“Dry will sit in this chair.” (Dry)

“Stepbrother, you’ve advanced so much that you can board a ship like this… Honestly, can I punch you?” (Nono)

Chihiro, Dry, and Nono each took their seats; Chihiro looking a bit reserved, Dry seemingly enjoying it, and Nono glaring angrily as if demanding he send more money home.

“Wow, it’s a spaceship, a real spaceship! This has been my dream. So, do I press this button to launch?” (Touka)

“Mumumu, there’s unknown technology from the Underground District here! Hey, can I go check out the engine room? I swear I won’t touch anything.” (Mana)

Touka and Mana had no intention of sitting down at all with all their excitement. It must have felt like a dream come true for them.

“Even though it looks like a harem with all these girls, it feels more like you’re a teacher leading a class.” (Mira)

“You don’t have to tell me. I know.” (Lanpeach)

Mira always finds a moment to diss Lanpeach. Yeah, Lanpeach knew full well that the only one who might have romantic feelings for him was probably Chihiro! Could he cry now?

“We’ll start with a flight around the Earth-usa.”

“Could I swap seats with you, operator-chan?” (Touka)

“No-usa yo. You’re not allowed to touch the switches, usa~.”

“Hey, Touka, stop that. Koume, sit on Touka-oneechan’s lap.” (Lanpeach)

Touka was trying to take the operator rabbit’s seat. To her, it probably felt like she was a wolf among a flock of rabbits. In other words, she was about to cause trouble.

Koume obediently climbed onto Touka’s lap, and Touka gave up, finally settling down. Still, Lanpeach had a feeling Touka might press a self-destruct button just for fun.

“Ah, you can see Earth now. Yup, Earth looks like a die!” 

“That’s true. I didn’t know Earth looked like this.” 

“Ooh, moving! Want some tofu miso soup now.” 

“Wait, aren’t planets supposed to be spherical? Am I remembering wrong?” 

“Hoho~, so that’s why you couldn’t travel the world without using teleport portals. This is an amazing discovery.” 

The girls raised their voices in surprise. Just as they said, while Earth was supposed to be a sphere, it was now divided into tens of thousands of blocks like the sides of a die. Each side was about a thousand kilometers long, forming a perfect cube. It was hard to grasp, but somehow it still had clouds, seas, and was habitable. What on earth is going on?

In games, there were often invisible walls that prevented players from going beyond certain areas. But in reality, the world itself had been divided into sections. It was a truly surprising revelation.

[It’s the aftermath of the Demon War, or rather, the Spirit War. In the end, we had no choice but to sever dimensions and seal off various regions.] (Mira)

Mira spoke calmly as she gazed at the Earth with quiet eyes. Dimensional severing? That sounded like an interesting story. Lanpeach looked at her with expectant eyes, intrigued.

[What’s your point?] (Lanpeach)

[Isn’t it nice to be able to see this amazing Earth? More importantly, what do you think will happen in the war against the Demon Seed?] (Mira)

[Hmm, doesn’t Yoroizuka have some chance of victory? If not, he’d be an idiot.] (Lanpeach)

Lanpeach let out a light sigh and answered Mira with a blank stare. 

(You girl, you have no intention of revealing anything anyways!) (Lanpeach)

[That’s right. I’ve revised my calculations; in a one-on-one fight, we could win. But the troublesome thing about the Demon Seed isn’t fighting just one of them. You’ll understand if you watch for a few days.] (Mira)

Just as Mira said, the national army overwhelmed them on the first day, but…

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