Multiverse Cross Ex

"Welcome back, Commander."

As the helicopter touched down on Ataraxia helipad, Mitsuya stepped out, his gaze shifting briefly toward the students—Tsukuyomi's workforce—lined up to greet him.

They saluted in a disciplined, military-like fashion.

He blinked but paid it no mind, walking past them without a word.

After the events on the deserted island, Mitsuya had begun taking on more missions than Amaterasu.

Once considered Ataraxia's main force, Amaterasu had now been reduced to a sub-force.

It wasn't just that his power had surpassed them—it had affected their morale.

His overwhelming strength had created an unspoken inferiority complex among them.

To fix this, Reiri had only one choice.

For Mitsuya and Navi, however, something else had taken priority.

They had reached a block in their research.

They had obtained the Hybrid Cores and conducted extensive analyses on them.

Navi had run multiple simulations on their composition, and just as the AI had speculated—

It was possible to forcibly use the core to alter Mitsuya's body composition.

However, after running countless tests, the results were clear—

It would do more harm than good.

According to Navi, the cores' composition was linked to something far more foreign than it had initially accounted for.

Against something like this, taking risks was unwise.

Unless they could guarantee its safety, they wouldn't take their chances.

And truly, it was the right decision.

It would have been a disaster if Mitsuya had used the core's composition to alter his own body.

After all, the cores were—

Additionally. Currently.

"Finally! Hahahahahahaha!"

[Congratulations, Master.]

Mitsuya laughed, staring at the data pad in front of him.

[Dimension-Cross-Armor-Purge.DLC]

Though it had taken a full month, [Project Armor Purge] was finally a success—at least in simulation.

Navi had encountered no issues while running the tests.

They could use quantum tunneling for atomic restructuring by introducing different atomic structures.

For example, converting Cross's frame and skeleton into something more durable—or something closer to nanites that could adjust its structure.

Navi could handle the calculations for that, but the real issue was whether Mitsuya himself could withstand the use of quantum entanglement and tunneling for continuous restructuring.

"Not possible."

[Navi agrees. For the current Master, it is impossible.]

After a month, Mitsuya had transitioned into an official scientist at Nayuta Lab, with Kei acting as his supervisor.

Right now, he was inside a classroom-sized lab, where he worked alongside Navi whenever he wasn't in class or on missions.

[There is also the possibility that Master may not be able to withstand the strain of continuous quantum restructuring and thus—]

"Endangering myself, Navi, and Cross. Especially when I still have a time limit. Not only would my ten minutes be cut even further, but I might not be able to handle it at all."

"Even now, I rely on your calculations just to manipulate «Territory», and even then, I still suck at it."

[Perhaps it is due to the way Master's powers function.]

"Hmm? Explain."

[Understood.]

Consider this—

Running a high-end application meant for specialized hardware, but forcing it onto a low-end PC instead.

What would happen?

There's a high probability the low-end PC would crash.

But let's say the PC somehow manages to run the application.

Even then, its performance would be drastically slower compared to how it would function on proper hardware.

[In this case, Master is the low-end PC trying to run a high-end application—which is Cross.]

"..."

Mitsuya slapped his forehead.

"Of course… why didn't I think of that?"

He had asked the darn rob to make him capable of piloting Cross, and perhaps this was one of the nerfs the darn rob had talked about.

And in this case—Navi's example was literally him.

"I gained the ability to run a high-end application… but I lack the computational prowess. And even with external processing power, I still suck."

He deadpanned at the analogy, exhaling in frustration.

He had thought as long as he gets to drive Cross then he's at peace. He still was, but, there was no more helping it.

"Perhaps… I should have just stolen that from him instead."

[Is Master sulking?]

"Pipe it, Navi."

All Navi did was reduce the burden—it didn't outright manipulate Mitsuya's or Cross's abilities itself.

{Mitsuya-san? Anything wrong?}

Kei entered the lab, walking up to him. Mitsuya adjusted himself at the table, turning to her with a slight smile.

{What you requested has been completed.}

Mitsuya nodded, picking up the white lab coat resting on the table before slipping it on.

"You guys work really fast."

{You have your engineers to thank for that.}

"Those guys are way too enthusiastic."

Project Hybrid-3 Fusion Reactor (Hy-3 Tokamak Core).

A device made feasible through Navi's calculations and simulation.

With this reactor, they could power Ataraxia for decades, potentially replacing their current reactor entirely.

This is only possible by harnessing the power of Hybrid Cores.

Since the cores gradually regenerate their energy, Navi had run several simulations on their potential use.

This came after studying the core's composition.

And since Mitsuya could also, to some extent, manipulate their composition through "bonding," they had been experimenting with that as well.

However, before any of that, they needed to build an environment suitable for the reaction.

In short, Mitsuya was turning Ataraxia into a battleship.

Of course, he hadn't told Reiri or Kei what he was doing.

With hybrid technology, even Ataraxia itself could fight against the Alternate World, without needing to sacrifice human "workforce."

The reason why they had been on the losing side wasn't just because of technology. It was also because of manpower.

But what if alien technology was brought into the equation, by fusing magic, technology, and quantum mechanics into one?

In a certain world, far from this dimension, humanity had built a weapon known as the [Dimensional Weapon: Dimension Severing Cannon].

A weapon capable of warping gravity and, by extension, collapsing dimensional space inward until it imploded.

That world had once faced the same situation as this one.

Hence, Mitsuya saw no reason to let this world rely on a protagonist who powered up using love and eros.

Humanity—when given the right tools and knowledge—was strong.

If the humans of that other world had created a weapon that could destroy an entire dimension, then why shouldn't he?

Of course, he couldn't compare their circumstances. Circumstances between worlds are different.

But now that he exists. With Cross by his side, it is possible.

As for Amaterasu, Mitsuya occasionally shared his energy with them as well.

Since he could recharge them to full power while carefully controlling the output—ensuring they didn't unlock their Forbidden Armament—It would take over a month of daily Hybrid Gear usage before their Count depleted.

And with that, Ataraxia was completely in his hands.

'Hehehe… hahahaha~'

Soon, everyone shall be wielding weapons and driving battleships capable of annihilating the AU.

However—

Even with that, whenever the world or it's destiny goes off course, the world would find a way to re-adjust itself one way or the other for balance.

5th month of X.

12:35 PM. Tokyo's Megafloat.

On this day. Tokyo's Megafloat was attacked.