The base spent a few days in total mobilization.
The armory, the Wonder builders, and the Bulin assembling starships all temporarily set aside their tasks to clean up the unused dormitories and cafeterias across the city.
Clothing, bedding, and various living supplies were prepared in advance to ensure that the rescued could move in immediately.
Ning Hai, Ping Hai, Zara, Pola, and other shipgirls also organized a crash course for the Purple Bulin, teaching them some basic cooking skills.
A few days later.
On the open plains outside the capital, hundreds of shipgirls stood in perfect formation.
The smaller teams of Heroic Spirits and Spirits stood to the side.
A little further away, Purifier and Observer led tens of thousands of lower-tier Siren units.
These Executor-class Sirens were identical in appearance and attire, standing in formation with expressionless faces.
They looked like a mass-produced army, their discipline outmatching any human military drill by hundreds of times.
"So these are basically military Bulin…?"
The shipgirls, seeing the Siren army assembled at full scale for the first time, couldn't help but be curious.
"Your Bulin have self-awareness. Executor-class Sirens do not. As the name suggests, they are purely 'executors'—they exist only to carry out the will of us higher-tier Sirens."
Purifier answered lazily.
"They're not as smart as Bulin, and they can't build anything… but when it comes to combat, they don't hold back. Just three or four of them could wipe out an entire fleet from a pre-space civilization."
The Siren technology tree was fully maxed out in military applications, leaving everyone else speechless.
Thankfully, they were now allies, so no one needed to worry about fighting for survival.
"Is everyone here?"
Setsuna scanned the mobilized shipgirls, Bulin, and Sirens.
He had never organized an operation of this scale before.
"Follow my command. Priority is to rescue the Cursed Children. If anyone dares to interfere… open fire at will."
"Understood."
Whoosh—
Setsuna raised his hand and opened the dimensional portal.
[Opening Dimensional Portal: Earth → Black Bullet World]
Buzz—
The sky above the capital distorted violently, and a portal far larger than any before roared open.
"All personnel, board the ships!"
The shipgirls began summoning their ships one after another.
The Spirits, Heroic Spirits, and tens of thousands of Executor-class Sirens smoothly boarded their respective vessels.
When going off-world, the shipgirls functioned as mobile transport platforms for everyone else.
Boom—
Setsuna manifested the Eternal Snowfall and engaged the plasma thrusters, leading the fleet through the portal first.
Hundreds of starships, fully loaded with Sirens and Heroic Spirits, followed closely behind.
…
Tokyo City.
This place was once one of the most prosperous metropolises in all of Asia, filled with towering skyscrapers and endless vibrance.
But now, it carried a sense of desolation and decay.
Many buildings in the suburbs appeared neglected for years, some even bearing signs of external damage—the scars left behind by the Gastrovirus invasion.
Though the war had managed to contain most of the Gastrea outside the city, occasional virus-infected mutations still occurred within.
As a result, the majority of humans viewed the Cursed Children with hostility.
...
At the corner of a hallway, a white-haired girl in ragged clothes, with a blindfold covering her eyes, stood begging.
Her face was smeared with dirt, and malnutrition had left her frail and thin.
Around her neck hung a sign that read:
"I am a Cursed Child from the Outer Area."
In front of her lay a small bowl, empty.
Her voice, despite her circumstances, was gentle and melodious, a level of talent fit for a professional singer on stage.
Yet, every passing pedestrian merely glanced at the sign around her neck and walked away in disgust.
Even after singing for nearly two hours, her throat hoarse from exhaustion, the girl continued to persist.
Suddenly, two teenage boys with their arms around each other noticed her.
One of them cracked open a soda can and casually tossed the pull-tab into her bowl.
Clink—
The metallic sound echoed within the bowl, eerily similar to that of a coin.
The little girl's face brightened, and she bowed deeply in gratitude.
"Thank you very much!"
But as she knelt down and felt the pull-tab with her fingers, a fleeting expression of sadness crossed her face.
"Uh…"
"Puhahaha!!"
The two burst into laughter.
"Man, you're too much."
The short-haired youth patted his friend's shoulder, grinning.
"Who cares? Freaks like her should just hurry up and die anyway."
His laughter continued, blending with the noise of the street protest marches nearby.
Crowds gathered, holding up signs as they marched through the streets.
"Never Forgive the Gastrea!"
"Expel the Cursed Children!"
As they shouted slogans, they drove away the begging children scattered along the sidewalks.
With their distinctive red eyes, Cursed Children were easily identifiable.
"Hey, freak, why haven't you scrammed yet?"
Several more young men gathered around the blindfolded girl, pushing and shoving her.
"Aren't Cursed Children supposed to be immune to diseases? How'd you go blind?"
"M-Mama didn't like my eyes… so…"
The little girl, now surrounded and helpless, stammered timidly.
"Hahahaha!"
"Serves you right! You totally deserved it!"
The crowd erupted into cruel laughter once more.
In this world, mocking Cursed Children was seen as perfectly normal.
Perhaps it was the thrill of tormenting the weak that fueled their sadistic pleasure, or perhaps they simply needed a target for their frustration.
Either way, no one ever stood up to stop them.
Even the high-ranking officials paid little attention to the Cursed Children, treating them as mere tools for fighting the Gastrea—used and discarded when no longer needed. Let alone the common people.
As the young men continued mocking the little girl, they suddenly felt a chill in the air.
"Huh...? What the hell?"
They looked up—
Their expressions froze.
Their laughter died instantly.
Above the city, the sky twisted violently.
A massive portal appeared amidst the clouds, its diameter spanning several kilometers—far beyond what any human-made aircraft could comprehend.
Hummmm—
From the rift, a dark gray warship emerged.
The three-kilometer-long Eternal Snowfall descended first, blotting out the sun as its shadow engulfed the city.
Its axial-mounted main cannons, its cold, imposing design, and the eerie blue exhaust trailing from its engines struck terror into the hearts of all who witnessed it.
"Is that… a Star Destroyer?!"
"An alien mothership?!"
The protesting crowd fell into stunned silence.
They forgot their slogans, their placards slipping from their hands.
And then—
More ships followed.
One after another, hundreds of warships emerged from the portal, forming impeccably disciplined ranks.
The battleships came first, followed by the armored carriers, cruisers, and destroyers.
They assembled neatly, with Eternal Snowfall at the helm.
When the last few ships had exited the rift, the entire sky over Tokyo and its surrounding regions was swallowed in darkness.
Only a few rays of sunlight managed to pierce through the gaps between the metallic titans.
Above them, the glimmering metal hulls of interstellar warships reflected the sunlight, casting an oppressive and surreal glow.
An indescribable sense of pressure and fear descended upon the city.
The people below could not understand.
They refused to believe.
Where had these colossal warships come from?
Even Hollywood's best special effects couldn't match this spectacle.
And given the state of this world, Hollywood had likely ceased to exist altogether.
"Welcome to Black Bullet World."
On the bridge of Eternal Snowfall, Setsuna gazed down at the panic-stricken masses.
"This is far worse than I expected..."
Standing beside him, Mio and several Heroic Spirits shook their heads in dismay.
Seeing the cruelty toward the Cursed Children with their own eyes only deepened their revulsion toward this world.
"All units, begin operations."
"Activate electromagnetic interference—prepare for orbital airdrop."
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