Chapter 1024: Summoning Peter the Great Ship-Girl

The matter of Russia’s two demigods was merely an interlude. After a night’s rest at the hotel, Chen Yu was prepared to help the Russians summon the ship-girl of the Peter the Great.

All the necessary preparations for summoning the ship-girl were explained beforehand by Chen Yu to the Russians, and they had already been completed in advance. Chen Yu only needed to perform the final step of the summoning.

Even though all countries had their eyes on Chen Yu’s technology, he wasn’t worried about the technology leaking at all.

The Russians may have learned which preparations to complete in advance, and even obtained the magic array diagrams drawn by Chen Yu for summoning the ship-girl, but they still didn’t understand how to summon a ship-girl.

Countries had conducted research, but upon doing so they found that the initial preparations or the summoning magic array were not the core of the ship-girl summoning technology. These were merely to reduce the summoner’s expenditure and burden, and to enhance the summoned ship-girl.

The true core of summoning a ship-girl was Chen Yu himself and the summoning magic he cast.

This spell, originally used for summoning heroic spirits, had been modified many times by Chen Yu, becoming akin to the divine arts; not the kind that priests receive from deities, but the spells that true deities use.

It requires divine power to cast, along with abundant knowledge and a powerful soul and spirit to harness the multitude of Power of Faith gathered by the ship-girl’s essence during summoning.

The belief people place in warships is diverse, especially in modern times, where the prevalence of various films and games has personified these instruments of war.

This is both the foundation of Chen Yu’s ability to summon ship-girls and the greatest disturbance during the summoning process.

Because when the ship-girl’s soul is finally taking form, Chen Yu must discern from these beliefs which are beneficial, positive worship, and which are harmful, negative emotions.

After all, this is a war machine of demigod level strength, a great weapon like a warship. If its personality were crafted toward the dark tendencies found in some extreme fiction, it could become uncontrollable.

Couple this with humanity’s tendency toward self-destruction, and Chen Yu certainly does not trust people to honestly use this technology solely for summoning war machines; after all, this technology was originally meant for summoning heroic spirits.

Moreover, this technology can alter the world’s balance and even impact one’s life and death, so Chen Yu would never give it away.

Under the expectant gaze of a group of Russian officials, Chen Yu stood in front of the Peter the Great docked at the pier, made a few small adjustments, and began the summoning.

Moscow, though an inland city, is traversed by the Moskva River, which connects to the crucial Volga River of Russia. Moscow itself is also an important Russian port, so even naval warships can sail into Moscow.

This is also why, during the October Revolution, the Aurora could shell the Winter Palace.

While summoning a ship-girl, an activity that can cause quite a stir, should ideally be done in a hidden dock, like the one constructing a yacht for Chen Yu at the Saint Petersburg Shipyard, which houses large docks isolated from the outside view and can ensure that no matter how much of a commotion occurs during the summoning, there won’t be any issues.

However, the Russians evidently had their own considerations, so despite the enormous effort required, they brought the massive warship Peter the Great to Moscow, allowing Chen Yu to conduct the summoning there.

Chen Yu didn’t bother with the Russians’ intentions, focusing all his energy on summoning the Peter the Great.

This warship is the fourth of the Kirov-rank sister ships and the last to be completed. Although launched in 1989, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia’s defense budget was severely cut, and the ship was forced into stagnation in 1991, almost facing dismantlement.

Only in 1992, after the Russian government at that time cut other defense expenditures, did it receive enough funding to be completed, becoming the flagship of the Northern Fleet of the Red Navy.

As one of the many legacies of the Soviet Union left to Russia, the Peter the Great bears profound emotional significance, embodying the powerful feelings from the two generations of Russians from the Soviet Union to modern Russia.

Feeling the gathering Power of Faith during the summoning process towards this warship, Chen Yu couldn’t help but appreciate the ship’s importance to the Russians.

In the Soviet era, it bore countless emotions and efforts for a crucial national defense military strength, while in the Russian era, it has become one of the few remaining large surface vessels, as the Russian Navy’s combat strength rapidly declined with many ships decommissioned and stored.

To say it is a stabilizing force of the Russian Navy is no exaggeration at all.

However, feeling the emotions embodied in this Power of Faith, Chen Yu suddenly realized the ship carries more of the beautiful sentiments from the Soviet era, while the modern Russians’ feelings towards it aren’t as significant.

Indeed, the collapse of the Soviet Union not only destroyed the Red Empire but also shattered the Russians’ confidence and pride in their nation, even neglecting and failing to revere their own national treasures.

It’s no wonder the Russians want to summon a ship-girl in Moscow; perhaps they wish to rekindle public worship and belief in this warship through this event?

Speculating as such, Chen Yu nevertheless didn’t pay it much mind, merely controlling the gathered Power of Faith, infusing it into the gradually forming soul of the Peter the Great, guiding the nascent soul to absorb the beautiful expectations and beliefs regarding it, aiding in its soul’s formation.

When all of the Power of Faith had been infused into the soul of the Peter the Great, the new ship-girl appeared before Chen Yu in a flash of light.

“Здравствуйте, товарищ! I am the Kirov-rank fourth ship Peter the Great, hull number 099, reporting to you. You may also call me Yuri Andropov, though I dislike that name.” A tall Slavic woman in a naval uniform, draped in a Soviet-style navy coat, stood before Chen Yu, saluting with a hand holding her naval cap.

Upon witnessing this scene, the expressions on the Russian officials’ faces were extremely complex, with some turning pale.

They intended to summon a new demigod that would follow the Russian government’s orders. To this end, they even forewent potentially stronger forces like the Aurora in favor of Peter the Great, yet the distinctly Soviet flavor of Peter the Great’s voice made it seem all their calculations came to naught.