When Shakespeare and her companions returned from the 「funeral」, the rest of the crew had finished setting up a simple stage next to the Caledonia under Lalla's orders. The red haired captain gathered everyone there and prepared herself to make a speech. Cough. As you all know, I'm not the type to adhere to formalities. In a certain story Antony's silver tongue alone was enough to turn Caesar into an enemy but—— ——Compared to those brilliant dictators and assassins, I'm just a clown bearing the evil of history. Oops, I digress. I will now tell you all the purpose of this trip. Our next destination is the Yucatan Peninsula. There lies a jewel, or should I say part, of a weapon capable of saving the world. Needless to say, we'll look for ways to make ourselves rich as usual. I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities to make money in this continent many can't travel to. ...But now that we're departing from our good old continent—— ——As your Captain, there are some things I must tell you. The motivation behind this unprecedented, long distance voyage. We'll cross the Atlantic and Pacific, and step on many foreign lands. The reason for that goes beyond money and honor. I've always said you all are pirates of the 「Caledonia」 but also members of the 「King's Men」. ——I never said those words because I missed my old business or because I wanted to make you all take part in a play one day. ——The true meaning of those words is, The world is the greatest stage of all, and those who enjoy their lives are the greatest actors! We are pirates. Like all pirates, what we want is one simple thing: 「Freedom」. There are no annoying laws to bind us on the sea. We take everything, we share everything, we live the way we want. However—— Those days will soon come to an end. Why, you ask? Because there is a rope around our necks, tightening more and more each day. That invisible rope has already claimed the lives of many tutelary deities. Their names were—— England, Scotland, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Bohemia, Hungary, Wallachia, Bulgaria, Serbia, Albania, Greece, Italy, And Iberia. ...Some of you may have heard of them. All of them form 「Europe」. A continent that used to be prosperous and free under the blessing of the Gods. That place was truly Arcadia, the golden land. ——But that's not the case anymore. As we all saw when we crossed the Mediterranean, Europe is currently blocked by invincible tall walls. The continent has become an inhabitable place no one can set foot on. There is a legend that speaks of the beginning of this tragedy—— 「On the day of the autumnal equinox, the Emperor landed on Amsterdam.」 To this day I still don't know who this 「Emperor」 is, but the way he ruled his nation was unlike anything we've ever seen. The elders said: 「The Emperor of a foreign land took his servants and swarmed the streets. Then, strange things started to happen.」 「Half of those who saw them couldn't help but join them, as if they were born to be the Emperor's servants.」 「The Emperor's servants didn't eat, dink nor sleep. They just followed their Emperor, singing songs in a strange language and marching forward.」 「They crossed mountains and rivers until they arrived at the ruins of an ancient city at the center of the continent.」 「We don't know what the Emperor did there, but the ruins were suddenly overflowing with energy and the mirror-like walls began to spread infinitely.」 「It was like all the world's fire and lightning was located inside those walls. Everything that came in contact with them, be it people, animals or plants, evaporated into pale dust.」 That's what your ancestors experienced. A century later, these walls no one could lay a finger on caged the entirety of Europe. ——I'm sure everyone remembers the tragedy of Gibraltar from 5 years ago. No one can guess what kind of calamity awaits us next... ...Until someone defeats that natural disaster, until someone steals back the world from the hands of the so-called 「Emperor」. Listen, men! We are pirates! What else could be more exciting than stealing the world!? Let's go an epic adventure that will make our descendants jealous! Of course, I'm aware we're only human, we can't afford to be reckless. Fortunately for us, the opportunity to turn the tide to our favor has appeared before us. Come on, traveler who hides behind an iron mask, Professor who came from another world! It's time for you to speak of the day our destinies crossed 30 years ago! The Captain pointed her finger at 「Iron Mask」, who then took off her mask and showed everyone her face for the first time. The sword Durandal she was holding in her hand read the mood and returned to its original form. Hello, everyone. I am Erwin Reanna Schrodinger. Due to certain reasons I've been hiding my identity until now. The Captain asked me to tell you about my past, so I'll take this opportunity to tell a little story. Unlike most of you, I left my world out of my own volition. Same as our two newcomer Valkyries over there. To be specific, we belong to the same world, and even the same organization. ...This happened a few decades ago. One day I was involved in a certain accident. It resulted in the loss of my 「stability」 as a physical entity. As such, the imaginary energy went out of control, and the unitarity of my quantum distribution was altered—— The people of that world call this phenomenon: 「Quantization」. My entity disappeared and my consciousness fell to the bottom of the 「Sea of Quanta」, the world of lowest energy where I would be trapped forever... ...Or I was supposed to. I was lucky enough to find this holy sword that also came from the outside world while I was slowly sinking into the abyss. The holy sword at the time didn't have a soul, it was just a piece of metal. In contrast, I was a soul without body. Thanks to that difference I was able to stabilize my own existence, and by coming in contact with me, the holy sword was able to regain its former strength. Together we were able to pour enough energy to make a leap out of the abyss. But we were too far away from our original world—— ——There was no 「beacon」 to guide us back to our world. As such, we were unable to specify a landing point and had to 「leap」 blindly. ...And as you all can see, we arrived 「here」, albeit in an incomplete state. I don't believe in things like fate, but I'm convinced there is something only this sword can do in this irregular world—— ——That is, to tear down the walls of calamity that threaten humanity. ...Captain, may I borrow the 「Great Star of Africa」?

注：

“非洲之星”是库里南钻石（Cullinan Diamond）的一个别称。这颗钻石是人类迄今发现的最大天然钻石原石，重3106克拉（约相当于621克）。

英帝国政府于1907年得到该钻石后，命宝石匠将它切割成了9大块（及许多小块），以便进一步雕琢加工。其中最大的一块（530.2克拉）被镶嵌在王室权杖的顶部，次大的一块（317.4克拉）则被镶嵌在帝国皇冠的正面。

 Wait! Are you planning to use it to do 「that」? ...You don't want to sell it anyway. ..... ...F-Fine. I suppose all jewels no matter how precious are destined to be cut. At least cut it nicely, okay? 10 minutes later, a rough diamond, about the size of an eggplant, was brought from the Captain's room. Its size was certainly amazing. As far as its surface is concerned, it was closer to glass rather than a diamond. ——Just by touching it with a hand one can tell it's the world's purest crystal, its smooth texture quickly adapted to the temperature of the palm. While everyone was busy fawning over the diamond, Schrodinger placed the holy sword upside down in the center of the table. Her right hand holding the hilt was glowing purple, as if it was pouring energy into the sword. 「I'm ready」 she said. She extended her left hand towards the man behind her, and told him 「bring me the diamond」. She held the world's most precious jewel gently, as if she was a potter molding a clay pot, a carpenter using a plane. She put the jewel next to the sword, and gently but steadily began to rub it, like putting margarine on a slice of bread. When Schrodinger lifted the sword for inspection, the section where 「margarine was put」 was smooth and clear. While the sailors hold their breath, Schrodinger spins the diamond, as if she was peeling a potato. And lastly she returned the jewel that was cut to the captain. 「This isn't my area of expertise, so the only thing I could do was to keep the size of the stone as small as possible.」 「...I hope the diamond didn't lose its value.」 With an expressionless face, Schrodinger pulled the sword out of the table, causing the light to disappear. She promptly left the stage and returned to her seat. What a wonderful performance, Professor Schrodinger! You got me worried for a moment there, I thought the 「Great Star of Africa」 was going to be split in two! I would had done that if I didn't know better and know you would ask to be compensated later. ...Anyway, Valkyries—— It seems there is something you've been wanting to say for a while. Feel free to say it now. .... Umm... A-Are you that Schrodinger, the one from the famous 「dead but also alive」 thing? ...Excuse me? ...I think Bianka-sama is referring to the 「cat that is both alive and dead」 experiment. ...Ah, that silly thing. That silly thought experiment is what comes first to people's minds when they think of me? ...Eh? S-Silly? 「Schrodinger's Cat」 is very popular, you know? It's just a dumb example of a paradox. I have no clue why it became so popular. ... ..... Nevermind that. This isn't the time to be talking about the past. Feel free to think whatever you want about my past. What matters now is solving this world's biggest problem. (.....) ...Actually, I have one hypothesis regarding that. I have no proof of it, but I feel like I should tell you about it. ...? I theorize the 「universes」 we are in right now has a life span—— And that it is much shorter than the life span of a 「regular」 world. If that's the case, we need to hurry. Seeing as how the owner of those 「walls」 don't seem interested in the outside world, it might be possible they don't know about it. You mean... Of course, this is just my speculation. There is no evidence to deny it, but neither to confirm it. It may even be possible the people inside the 「walls」 are traveling back and forth to the outside world. Hahaha! Rather than worrying about that, we should be worrying about the weather outside! The weather? Is there a storm coming? No, I'm talking about something else. Our next destination is a tropical zone. Don't you think it'll be suffocating to be wearing these clothes in that kind of weather? Always thinking ahead, your brilliant Captain has prepared new clothes for the occasion—— ——Now, strip and put them on! ...? H-Hey! Don't just throw them at me! Besides, there is no way I can change right here! Also, these clothes—— No problem, we just have to make all the men leave the room. ..... Don't worry, Bianka-sama. I will act as your wall. ...Rita! That's not the problem here!! T-These clothes... are they the correct size? There is no problem. You look great, Bianka-sama. ...Don't say another word, Rita. More importantly... Hey, Captain! Your new clothes are practically the same as the old ones!! Of course, I am the Captain. It'll be a problem if the sailors don't recognize me at first glance. Ah, if the ship gets too hot I should make everyone work in swimsuits. ...What are you saying!? Just so you know, I'm not taking part on that. Ah, right. Schrodinger doesn't need to regulate her body temperature. ——It's all about being stylish. A 「Valkyrie」 should be wearing pretty, cute clothes! This is the perfect opportunity, it would be such a waste otherwise. S-Stop saying weird things! And I think you misunderstood what Valkyries are!—— Agh! Rita! What... The size doesn't seem to be a problem. Next it's the skirt... Heh, it does look great on you. ...Y-You think so? Yes. Specially that ribbon. It looks very cute. ..... Now that everyone is ready let's start the 「live stream」 right away. ...L-Live stream!? ...It's just a wireless video call. The other day I was told to set up a communication channel between the Caledonia and Alexandria. ——Here we go. Turururu... Hello, Professor Schrodinger. Are you all already crossing the Atlantic Ocean? Yes. Is Shelley busy right now? She's in the study, should I call her? Nah, it's nothing important. I want you to call Jimmy instead—— ——Let's have him decide who looks the cutest in these new clothes. ...Hey! ...Hehe. Understood. Please wait a moment. ...Jimmy! The Captain is calling for you! On a certain day in the 13th century BC, at Mount Ida in the outskirts of Troy, Prince Paris was tasked with giving a golden apple to the 「most beautiful Goddess」. The candidates were the Queen of the Gods Hera, the Goddess of Wisdom and Warfare Athena, and the Goddess of Love Aphrodite. 「O handsome Prince Jimmy Paris, please tell us, who is worthy of getting this large, gorgeous and invaluable golden apple?」 「I am Hera Shakespeare. If you give me the golden apple, I promise I'll make you the richest man in the world.」 「Paris-sama, I am Aphrodite Rossweisse. If you were to give me the golden apple, I will bestow my blessing upon you so that you may never experience unhappiness in your love life.」 「Listen, you fool! The one who should have the golden apple is me, Athena Ataegina! Hand it over and I'll turn you into an invincible hero!」 ——A bunch of nonsense. After all in the outside world it's March 5th 2012—— Not even in a universe in the Sea of Quanta the Goddesses will begin to fight out of love. ...However, just as the sun rose in the horizon, the crew of the Caledonia were involved in another kind of battle. Next day, 12.19.19.17.18 2-Flint of the Mayan Calendar of Yucatan——

注：

严格来说，这个日期的前半部分（12.19.19.17.18）是属于长纪历的，而后半部分（2-燧石）则属于以260天为周期循环往复的“卓尔金历”（Tzolk'in，类似于干支系统）。

玛雅人的长纪历使用一连串向前进位的数字表示日期与年代，大致上以20为基数。日数的单位称为金（k'in），而20金为1乌纳（winal或uinal），18乌纳为1盾（tun，360天，约1年），20盾为1卡盾（k'atun，约19.7年），20卡盾为1伯克盾（bak'tun，约394.3年）。而比“伯克盾”更高、但极少被使用的四个单位，则依序为皮克盾（Pictun，约7885年）、卡拉盾（Calabtun，约157703年）、金奇盾（Kinchiltun，约3154069年）及阿托盾（Alautun，约63081377年）。

p.s. 在我们的世界里，2012年12月21日的长纪历对应数字是：13.0.0.0.0。（这让它有了所谓“世界末日”的意义。）

 This is your last warning. If you reject the teachings of God and decide to celebrate the 「New Era」 in such barbaric way—— We will break the ceasefire treaty of the sacred holiday and put a stop to your celebration with violence. Hmph. Bunch of faithless dogs of the Federation! The 「ceasefire treaty of the sacred holiday」? Have you forgotten the traditions your ancestors left behind? Unforgivable! How you dare, you barbarians reject the teachings of the High Priestess—— ——Stop. Our words can no longer reach them. Let them be cursed forever by the Gods of Venus. Grandma, Federation Officer, please stop. Don't fight anymore! ...Hm? Don't be silly, you think they would stop just because you asked them to? Heh. ...Who are you? You wouldn't understand even if I told you but—— ——I am a Valkyrie who uses violence to suppress violence! Captain, say something too! Cough. As the saying goes, harmony brings wealth—— May I ask you to quell your anger? The Gods willed my ship to land at this exact moment—— ——Taking that into consideration, why don't you two make a truce?