Chapter 701 - 701: If You Don't Even Come to the Parties, How Are You Supposed to Improve in the Starsea Empire?

Ding—

"To celebrate the triumphant return of the Astral Express convoy, the Commander has announced a victory banquet in Pocket Universe No. 12, followed by a vacation there."

As a traditional event held after every expedition, the invitation was instantly sent to every squad.

Taihou, Kurumi, and some of the shipgirls and Spirits who were already intimately familiar with the rules of the game immediately understood, practically itching to rush over and have a few rounds with Setsuna.

Even the more reserved ones like Illustrious and Shoukaku mostly agreed with flushed faces after giving an embarrassed huff.

Then, refusing to fall behind anyone else, they joined the port's shipgirls and headed to the pocket universe together.

Although they had initially been extremely unaccustomed to this sort of group activity, the first time was awkward, while the second became easier.

As time passed, it gradually became a regular Starsea Empire activity for deepening everyone's bonds with one another.

Setsuna's physical constitution was unparalleled. Three or five ordinary people were nowhere near enough to satisfy such an energetic Commander, so naturally, they could only tackle him as a group.

"Ah, my husband is back."

At the capital residence, Tingyun carefully dressed herself up, changing into an elegant and luxurious outfit, applying light makeup, and putting on a hairpin.

She even used a jade comb to groom the fluffy tail behind her until it looked perfectly smooth and silky, without the slightest roughness to the touch.

Firefly was also holding several outfits in front of the mirror, comparing them one after another and occasionally sinking into troubled thought.

"Which one would be better? A dress? Or should I change into something shorter? Ah..."

She kept going back and forth, exactly like a girl agonizing over what to wear before a date.

"Can you help me decide?"

"Whatever, Firefly Girl. I'm going like this."

Sparkle had simply given up and sprawled there, staring at the ceiling as she fiddled with her mask.

"Even if I say I don't want to go, the Commander will definitely drag me there anyway. Ugh... doesn't he have some nickname on the Xianzhou like the Sacrosanct of Orgies or the Calamity Ancestor of Carnal Bliss?"

Normally, participation in the parties was entirely voluntary.

There were exceptions, however. Mischievous little brats like Sparkle tended to receive special education.

"A Sacrosanct is still a Sacrosanct. If you say nonsense like that on the Xianzhou, the Cloud Knights will arrest you."

"???"

"Wait, what are all of you doing?"

Qingque stared at them in utter confusion.

"Aren't we just going on vacation? Besides, we don't really have any work in the Starsea Empire anyway, right? Do you really need to get this excited?!"

"Heh."

Tingyun chuckled softly. While continuing to arrange her hair, she casually replied,

"For this humble lady to find some time to accompany my husband is a rare blessing."

"Hmm... if Miss Qingque is interested, you could come take a look as well. Perhaps you'll even find a few new people to play tiles with."

"Hm?"

Tingyun had only mentioned it casually, but Qingque immediately perked up, her ears practically standing on end.

Everyone who came to the Starsea Empire had different goals and ideas.

Sushang had come to train under her grandmaster. Tingyun and Firefly had come to pursue their husband. Herta and Ruan Mei wanted to study technology from other worlds. Diviner Fu had come to visit this supercivilization and learn their methods of divination...

Qingque's goal was extremely simple: slack off and play games.

The opportunity to meet new gaming partners or learn gambling techniques from other worlds could hardly be better.

"Right!"

The brown-haired girl clapped her hands.

"I've learned some new techniques here too, and I've also received Eris' blessing... Hmm, aside from ridiculously absurd people like Shiro, Schwi, and Yukikaze, I should at least be able to trade a few rounds with everyone else."

"I feel ridiculously strong now! There's absolutely no way I'll lose my panties again! Absolutely not!!"

...

Inside the research center, Ruan Mei received the message and, without much hesitation, briefly tidied herself up before preparing to leave.

"Wait. There's still a huge pile of work unfinished here. What are you doing?"

The Herta stared at her colleague in confusion.

"I'm going to attend the Commander's gathering and conduct research on the Commander."

Ruan Mei answered as though it were the most natural thing in the world.

"The pocket universe has temporal distortion effects, so it won't take very long."

"The Commander brought back a vampire named Kirie from another world. After engaging in reproductive activity with the Commander, she can grow stronger by absorbing energy from him."

"I believe this is a highly valuable research subject and deserves priority."

Her tone remained as calm and indifferent as ever, yet no matter how The Herta listened to it, something about those words felt strange.

"Reproduction? That certainly falls within the field of life sciences... but the way you're phrasing it sounds a little odd."

"It's nothing."

Ruan Mei organized the data in her hands.

"Why can she obtain power through this method while I and the other people of the Starsea Empire cannot?"

"Is it a racial trait of vampires, some particular gene she possesses, or magic taking effect? I need to conduct comparative research."

"If necessary, I will perform another practical experiment with the Commander."

"...Practical experiment?!"

The Herta could not tell whether Ruan Mei was going there for Setsuna or for the research. Most likely, it was both.

This scientist, whose emotions had always been rather detached, seemed to have changed ever so slightly under Setsuna's influence.

"Do you want to come?"

Ruan Mei tilted her head toward The Herta.

"Perhaps we could conduct a long-overdue joint research project and study the Commander together."

"...Together?"

...

"Whoa, that's a lot of people."

Inside the pocket universe, Setsuna looked over the crowd gathering around him.

Aside from a huge number of shipgirls, Spirits, and Heroic Spirits, quite a few newcomers had shown up as well.

"Um..."

Yoshino Tomotake and Mako Hitachi stood squeezed amid the crowd, both curious and somewhat shy.

Little Haruhi was still as fearless as ever, running and bouncing around on the beach.

"Big Brother Commander, is this another new pocket universe? Hmm... this one is way prettier than the last one. It has everything! It's just like a resort city!"

"Do you want me to make this universe even bigger for you?"

"Maybe when there's time."

Setsuna rubbed Haruhi's head, then looked at the timid Yoshino, Mako, Chtholly, and the others with mild surprise.

"You came too?"

"Um..."

Yoshino scratched her cheek.

"Since this was an invitation from the Commander, w-we thought it might be rude to refuse, so..."

"Didn't Miss Ritsuka Fujimaru say before that whenever the Commander summoned us, we had to show up on time?"

"...Aren't you just bullying honest people?"

Setsuna knocked Gudako on the head.

That menace had casually teased them with a few words, and the innocent country girls had actually taken her seriously.

"I'm only trying to make sure they improve as quickly as possible! We're all going to be sisters sharing the same rod eventually!"

Humanity's Evil argued righteously, grimacing as Setsuna pinched her cheeks.

"What?! What kind of sisters?!..."

"You can move around freely here. Just treat it as an opportunity to make friends with everyone else."

Setsuna cleared his throat.

Throwing the newcomers straight into an orgy the moment they arrived would be a little too extreme. It was better to let them familiarize themselves with the environment first.

Then, once again, a crowd of girls immediately surrounded him.

"Commander, Commander! You promised you'd spend time with me first!!—"

"Umu! Master, I have been waiting for you forever! You must properly accompany me for one whole day. No... five days!!"

"Ah, the happy times are beginning again."

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