Starting a modern large cruiser from the Zumwalt hull

What hull should underpin a modern 25,000-ton cruiser with heavy guns and modern defences?

Use the Zumwalt hull as the available large, power-rich baseline rather than stretching the Arleigh Burke design further.

A proposed large cruiser with heavy guns and modern defences needs a suitable design baseline. Arleigh Burke hulls appear cheaper partly because decades of production have amortized their machinery and processes. A much larger combatant needs more room, power, and growth margin than continued enlargement of that older platform readily provides. The Zumwalt hull offers the practical off-the-shelf starting point for such a ship.