I Died and was Reincarnated as a Warship in a different world

If I had gone through anything similar earlier in my life, it would have prepared me somewhat. But nothing could have prepared me for this. My body was no longer human; it had altered in ways that were incomprehensible. I had developed an ability unlike any other; to take on a form such as no other could: IJN Fusō, the grand warship of my world, or partly a hybrid of flesh and steel, a grotesque amalgamation. My mind reeled, grasping to comprehend such a reality.

When I first came into this world, there was an unnerving feeling in the air. Something weighed it down and reeked of something. But the further in I traveled, the more wrong I seemed to have been.

The city before me lived in ways I never knew it could. Flickering lights on the streets cast a warm glow across the cobblestone roads. The sound was complete with any busy chatter, and the hum of nature could be heard distantly. Birds sang from hidden treetops, and rustling leaves started playing beneath the human sounds. I blinked in disbelief. "This is nothing like I thought it would be," I muttered under my breath, overcome with the vibrancy of the scene before me.

As I walked down Katasaki Street, my eyes fell on a star-shaped object, but I couldn't quite place what it was. I slowed down to try to get a glimpse, but before I was able to focus in, I was interrupted.

A soft voice, yet commanding, cut through the noise around me.

"Hey there, cutie. You're one good-looking warship."

I turned around, startled, to a woman standing before me. Tall, her face was stern and strikingly beautiful. Sharp features coupled with silent command in her eyes turned her figure into an almost-film-like persona: a powerful, gracile figure. There was something in her eyes that cut through me, as if she knew exactly what I was.

I had paused, confused. "Sorry? How do you know this?"

Without missing a beat, the look in the woman's eyes sharpened as she leaned in a little, her voice dropping lower. "I've heard you are a new 'hybrid' warship from another dimension." She held her words a moment, letting their weight settle. "The Admiral sent me. He would wish to meet you personally."

Her words caught me by surprise. The admiral? Why would a figure of such authority take any interest in me, a stranger just arriving into this world? I barely knew what I was, let alone why I'd been brought here. There were so many questions racing through my mind, but in her eyes I saw she wasn't offering answers yet.

She continued, her voice firm but not unkind. "Treat him with respect. Do not get on his nerves. But looking at you, I think you'll be just fine."

Before I could respond, she reached for my hand. Her touch was surprisingly warm—human—but her grip was unforgiving, allowing no room for protest. "Now, follow me to HQ."

I had no option but to follow. And with every step through the streets, the festive air I had been so enchanted by only a few moments before, fled to the back of my consciousness as my mind turned endlessly about the admiral, and what he might possibly need with someone like me. I was a warship, yes - but I knew nothing of this world nor of any purpose that I was meant to serve.

She walked beside me, not a word said; her confident, sure stride contrasted with my inability even to keep pace with my own swirling thoughts. Why had I been brought here? What awaited me at HQ? And who was this admiral I was about to meet?

All those unknowns stared me in the face, while I had no choice but to charge ahead.

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