There were still many things Takumi hadn't figured out yet.
Those massive starships surely contained a trove of knowledge. He'd need time to sort through it all later.
After all, when he initially collected them, he hadn't checked them one by one.
Even if one ship turned out empty, the others were bound to hold valuable tech.
After eating his fill, Takumi headed out with Bronya.
By the time they arrived at the Academy of Sciences, Velvi was already waiting.
Seeing Takumi, she couldn't contain herself.
"Bring it out!!"
She was bursting with anticipation. Now that Takumi was back, she wanted what he promised.
Seeing how eager she was, Takumi rolled his eyes.
"Why are you in such a rush?"
"You want me to unpack a starship here? Are you serious?"
Velvi paused, then realized he had a point.
She promptly dragged Takumi to the rear courtyard of the research facility.
There, they had a massive open space. It should be large enough to fit the ships.
But before they walked far, Takumi opened a space portal in front of her.
Velvi blinked, but without hesitation stepped in.
Bronya followed right behind.
The three of them arrived on another continent.
No one lived here. It was just open plains and scattered trees. Mostly wild beasts.
Once there, Takumi opened a massive space rift.
Starships began flying out one after another.
As they emerged, Takumi issued a command:
"Prometheus, take over the ships."
Instantly, the ships powered up.
Prometheus began interfacing with them.
They flew off to locate landing zones.
Some ships were enormous. Keeping them here would take up too much space.
That's why Takumi had Prometheus manage their deployment.
Watching the ships, Velvi was ecstatic.
"Yes, yes, yes! This is amazing!!"
She was completely thrilled.
These ships belonged to a totally different technological lineage.
She absolutely had to study them.
Especially the main cannon.
From the outside, it resembled a particle cannon, but she could tell it wasn't ordinary.
Takumi had retrieved at least a hundred intact ships.
They flew in all directions to find suitable docking zones.
Prometheus started extracting their onboard data, uploading everything to the network.
Takumi no longer had to do anything himself.
Prometheus would handle the rest.
After all the ships were released, Takumi stopped one and had it land in front of them.
He opened the hatch.
Without hesitation, Velvi ran inside.
Takumi followed with Bronya.
Inside the ship, Velvi bolted ahead toward the bridge—only to get lost shortly after.
"Which way to the bridge?" she asked, bewildered.
Takumi sighed.
"Follow me."
He took the lead.
Honestly, if you didn't know the layout, don't rush off like that.
You'd think she was a seasoned crew member the way she sprinted in.
With Takumi guiding them, they eventually reached the bridge.
Velvi quickly issued instructions:
"Prometheus, compile all ship data. Move the ships to other facilities. Let the mechanoids handle retrofits and present upgrade proposals."
Takumi had already assigned those tasks.
There had to be plenty of useful information in the ships.
And the ships themselves were definitely reusable.
He left it all to Prometheus.
While Takumi was issuing commands, Velvi had already started reviewing the data.
Strange text? That didn't slow her down one bit.
Once she got a grip on the systems, she immediately began dismantling components.
Bronya joined in.
Meanwhile, Lala messaged Takumi through the group chat:
Lala: [@takumi Where did you guys go? Where is everyone?]
She had planned to check out what Takumi brought back, only to find him missing.
Seeing her message, Takumi opened a portal.
Lala stood on the other end, looking confused.
"Come on over," he called.
Lala ran through eagerly.
"Are these the ships you brought back? Let me see!!"
She darted over to Velvi and joined in the dismantling.
Both were beyond fascinated by the ships.
To Lala, they were priceless.
These ships were more advanced than anything she'd ever seen—capable of world-hopping.
Of course they had to study them.
Seeing this, Takumi spoke:
"I'll set up a research facility for you here. If you need anything, just have Prometheus arrange it. Call your assistants, too. The ship is all yours to take apart."
He assigned the task on the spot.
Since they were so eager, he'd let them go wild with it.
Velvi replied without even looking up:
"Do as you please. We might not be heading back for a while."
She was totally on board.
This was too good an opportunity.
As for her assistant?
She'd bring her along for the experience.
She was quite fond of Shinonono Tabane.
Takumi didn't say more.
He stepped outside and began construction.
First, he set up a massive landing pad.
Then he built offices and other facilities.
This area would become a major research base.
Within minutes, ships were landing under Prometheus's control.
In no time, the grassy plains had transformed into a massive starport.