Resonance Tuning Fork (before battle)

Just like Ishmael said, two massive vessels were approaching us not far from where we were.

<We're not exactly on a collision course with them, though...?>

Ishmael didn't entertain me with an answer. Instead, she took the helm and threw it wildly in one direction.

<Woaah!>

This skill... Splashy drift...?

Huh, didn't know ships could drift like a bus...

Charon, impressed. Redhead... not bad.

You have competition, Charon.

...! Hold up.

That's weird. She turned the helm all the way... Why are we still headed between those two ships?

I-it's like we're stuck on rails...

Though Ishmael turned the Mephistopheles' helm around to the opposite direction of the two ships...

... We were getting dragged even faster by them.

And there was nothing we could do about it.

Ishy?! Don't tell me you hit the reverse gear?!

I turned the engine off.

What...

Woah... are those ships melding into one another?

You bloody loon!! That's what you've got to say?! We're about to get squashed like bugs!

You, swabbie! What happened to all of that bravado from earl -

Shut up.

...!

I'm going to use the momentum of the pull when it's the strongest to get us out of here. And...

W-we're going to crash!!!

Now.

Immediately before the crash, Ishmael deftly revved the engine and adjusted several levers in a series of decisive motions before speeding us between and past the two vessels.

The back of our ship...

The ship's stern was crushed... but it was better than getting completely sandwiched between those two ships.

Mephistopheles' engine can reconstruct damage of this severity within the next few days.

Wait, this is more than just some damage... It's like they deleted a part of our ship.

Gone, as though it had never even been a part of the ship's blueprint.

I took another look at where the stern used to be. It was as the Sinners said; the stern wasn't crushed. It was effectively deleted as though it had never been there.

It left a bizarre looking cross-section behind.

It's U Corp.'s Singularity, the resonance tuning fork.

Ships operating in the Great Lake can merge and separate when needed. As though they've always been a single vessel or as though they've never been parts of the same ship.

Resonance tuning forks used by vessels of that size are strong enough to pull in smaller boats without tuning forks like ours, or even ones with tuning forks with mismatching wavelengths.

... Oh, right. Apologies for taking the helm without your orders, Manager.

<No, don't. You just saved all of our lives...>

I wasn't trying to. But thank you for understanding anyway.

Oh, and please accept my apology for giving unsolicited advice. A certain somebody won't stop flapping her gums at me, so I had to. It's not like I can plug my ears in the middle of a voyage, right?

......

Tsk. I've heard my share of blunt, foul-mouthed talk during the war. She's not the first to do so.

Doesn't matter. As long as she can live up to her words... No need to get in the way, I suppose.

I'm sorry, Executive Manager. I must... take a short break.

Be not so crestfallen, Commander... I mean... Captain...!

Silence. Executive Manager is our commanding officer. Always been.

Downcast and shoulders slumped, Outis made her way into the ship cabins(formerly the bus cabins).

Our destination is near. Welcome to one of the Five Great Ports of U Corp., the Marlin Port.

Faust's voice was dry and emotionless, as though what had just happened didn't affect her one bit.

Wow... That's so big.

That has to be one of the biggest ships I'd ever seen.

Hong Lu was right. We were approaching a massive ship, so large that it could almost be mistaken for an island.

Whichever was the case, it was clear that the port was a mega-structure built from countless metal shipping containers.

Mist fades, and what was unseen before unveils itself. I scarcely did expect the pall to shroud a structure such as this.

Ship...? I don't know, can we really call that a ship at this point?

<Can't help but agree there. Ishmael, does that count as a ship in the Great Lake?>

Your landsman common sense is useless at the Great Lake.

Ships that use resonance tuning forks like those are as common as crimes are in the backstreets. Or, I guess, as common as the Whales are in the Great Lake.