Revisit Azur Lane

"Ah, it's really hard to make a guarantee this time."

Zhou He pressed down his naval cap and looked up at the gloomy sky that had turned from clear to gray. He vaguely remembered a scene in the game where ship girls stared directly at the black storm and then met with the good guy Richard. The process of being dragged by the good guy Richard and trying to make them degenerate into meta should be what is called mental pollution.

With the system's help, he was confident he could make the contaminated ship girls healthy again, but he wasn't as confident that his own ship girls could be immune to contamination. To ensure accuracy, he directly dispatched ten ship girls—facing unknown matters, he needed to try and fail one by one, which was really troublesome.

……

After Ruihe and the others left the safe zone, the dark map was gradually lit up. Ruihe wisely sent out a reconnaissance plane to fly towards the black storm. The result was obvious: Zhou He could now directly see the black vortex that was rotating on the map.

As Zhou He drew closer to the vortex, he discovered the key point—there were multiple black dots of light in the center of the vortex, all of which were black and their specific shapes were unclear.

"Is there life inside the storm?"

Zhou He felt that he had found the key to breaking the deadlock. At the same time, he had his ship equipment deployed and his supernatural power, which was standing on the sea near the dock, contact Ruihe to inquire about her mental state.

"I don't feel good. Many of the carrier-based aircraft I launched have crashed due to the wind. The storm is approaching quite fast. In another half hour, I'm afraid my planes won't be able to take off."

Zuikaku explained the situation directly, which was then relayed to Zhou He by Jintsu. After a moment's thought, Zhou He instructed Jintsu to continue asking Hood and Bismarck if they felt any mental discomfort. Jintsu complied and received the reply: "Everything is fine. They are confident that they can break through this storm directly."

Subsequently, Zhou He had Shen Tong continue to contact and inquire about the situation of the others. None of them had experienced hallucinations or lost consciousness; they were simply under immense mental pressure due to the massive natural disaster.

"So, does that mean our ship girls are immune to the mental pollution of the Nightmare?"

Zhou He calmed down a little. This was the most important point. He only needed one person in Yorktown to suffer from depression. If a few more people were to be mentally corrupted by the ominous signs and become like those on NetEase Cloud Music, he really wouldn't be able to hold on any longer.

"Commander, Yukikaze says she has spotted the enemy around the storm."

Suddenly, Jintsu raised his voice: "She requests permission to attack and engage the enemy."

"Let her be."

Zhou He wasn't worried about Xue Feng's strength. With her 20,000+ durability points, even those guys from the Arbitration Agency who controlled cutting-edge magic technology might not be able to kill her instantly. However, what surprised him was that the enemy shown on the system map was in the center of the storm, not around it.

He examined the map again, and the number of black dots was visibly increasing: the increase was on the outer edge of the storm, while the number of black dots inside remained unchanged, totaling seven!

"Hiss, what's going on?"

This was the first time Zhou He had ever seen such a strange scene on a map. Ordinary enemies would be exposed as soon as they entered the reconnaissance range, even if they hid underwater. But these black dots appeared out of thin air. In the short time he had been thinking, ten more black dots had appeared.

'Addition? Splitting? Projection?'

Zhou He frowned. What exactly was on the other side? If it kept increasing like this, Bismarck's team probably wouldn't be able to handle it.

After a moment's thought, he gave the order: "Shinto, tell Zuikaku to go with Yukikaze to meet that unknown enemy. Also, have Yukikaze tell the Purifier to come over first. I'll have someone accompany her to activate the Siren base's production fleet to assist in the operation."

"Yes!"

Shen Tong meticulously carried out Zhou He's orders. Those who were still surrounding Zhou He perked up instantly upon hearing his sudden command. Montpellier, who was squatting on the beach, eagerly approached and asked, "Commander, now that we've found the enemy, can we launch an attack?"

"That's fine, but what you need to do is not fight, but to help Cleveland and the others hold the line, and bring them back when it's time to retreat."

Zhou He tilted his head, nodded to Montpellier, then stood up and walked towards Hutten and Count Spee, who were not far away, and waved: "Hutten! I have a task for you and Spee."

"What mission?"

Neither of them went into the water; they simply stood or sat on the dock where Bismarck usually sat. When Zhou He called out to them, Count Spee stood up and approached Hutten.

“I need the two of you to keep an eye on the Purifier and watch out for her and the Testers turning against us.”

Zhou He looked at the two, especially Hu Teng—who always seemed very capable. Although he couldn't fully control the ship's equipment, his firepower was incredibly strong, making him more than capable of supervising the Purifiers. The more troublesome one was the Tester. After thinking for a moment, he added, "If the Tester shows hostility towards you, you should first lull her into a false sense of security by talking about cooperation. Once she lowers her guard, just kill her and leave the Purifier alone."

After explaining the general details, Zhou Hechao and the two who seemed to understand but not quite smiled: "Don't worry, the Purifier's authority is different from other Sirens. Under normal circumstances, she won't have any intention of harming you. When the Purifier comes over, you can leave with her."

"commander."

After Zhou He finished speaking, Hu Teng spoke first. She glanced at Kaga, who was speeding back in the bay, and then turned to look at Jean Bart, who was poised to strike in the shadows: "I don't think your arrangements are wrong, but Bismarck and I must be by your side to ensure your safety."

"My safety?"

Zhou He was quite surprised, but after thinking for a moment he quickly laughed: "Before you leave, I will arrange for someone else to bring Bismarck back, then there shouldn't be any problem, right?"

"Yes."

Hutten nodded decisively. She had never cared about Bismarck's orders, but she didn't want to break her verbal agreement with Bismarck and would not go out until Bismarck returned.

"thank you all."

Zhou He sincerely praised him. Although he was not in any danger in the port, there must be a reason why Bismarck said that, even if he couldn't see it yet.

After assigning the two a formal cooperative mission, Zhou He began to mobilize his troops, gathering Kaga, Jean Bart, Ashigara, and others who had not previously participated in the attack, and placing them in the second echelon. Their mission was to cover the possible retreat of Bismarck's party and their return flight.

The second squad consisted of fourteen people, including the Royal Ark that had been drawn by the destroyer. They quickly left the bay under Zhou He's watchful eye.

"Shen Tong, don't you want to go?"

With most people gone, the port area became quiet. Zhou He was left with only Jintsu, Huteng, and Count Spee. He asked Jintsu, "Most of the Sakura Empire's ship girls are warlike. Jintsu seems to be a strategist, but who knows, she might become a berserker on the battlefield."

"Helping the commander relay orders is what I should be doing."

Shen Tong remained calm. Zhou He nodded slightly. Having a ship girl help with communication was definitely faster than him pressing the icons one by one.

However, soon, dense and distant explosions came from outside. Zhou He frowned and looked at Xi Li and his group, who had already come into contact with the black dot. His expression gradually became serious.

The ominous signs seemed unable to erode her ship girl spirit, but with so many enemies, her own ship girl was bound to be in some danger.

He is ready to perform remote repairs.

Chapter 132 Ominous Entity

"What are these guys? They're disgusting."

Corresponding to the black dots of enemies constantly appearing on Zhou He's map, Ruihe, who was conducting difficult reconnaissance near the front line, also discovered those suddenly appearing figures—very strange. Based on her perception, she could tell that the other side was a living being. Although at first glance they looked similar to them, their figures were blurry and their specific shapes were unclear. They even changed depending on her gaze, sometimes large and sometimes small. Looking at them for too long even made her feel a little nauseous.

"Enemy detected? What are their specific configurations?"

This time, Zuikaku was moving with the main force, and the group was not divided into front, middle and rear echelons. Tosa was right next to Zuikaku. Hearing her shout, he frowned slightly and asked, but Zuikaku's brows were furrowed even more tightly: "I can't tell. The body and ship equipment features of these guys are very blurry. I can't tell what kind of ship they are at all."

"What the hell are you talking about!?"

Tosa hates this kind of irresponsible intelligence feedback. As an aircraft carrier, Zuikaku can't detect the enemy's composition. How are they supposed to fight this battle?

"Go see for yourself if you don't believe me!"

Zuikaku was also unconvinced and, unusually, stood her ground, because what she said was true.

"Don't panic."

Besides Tosa, Bismarck and Hood also followed Zuikaku as escort ships. Her remarks not only displeased Tosa, but also caused considerable trouble for Bismarck and Hood. However, these two prototype ships had participated in wars without aircraft carriers as scouts in the early days, so although they felt troubled, they did not have any particularly strong emotional fluctuations. After thinking for a while, Bismarck named Z23 and U556 and asked them to go ahead to scout. Upon seeing this, Hood also contacted Hermione and Cleveland.

The formation quickly changed. As Z23, Hermione, and Cleveland accelerated, Yuudachi caught up with them. Kursk accelerated slightly but did not keep up with the vanguard reconnaissance force, instead focusing on escorting several capital ships.

After the formation changed, everyone assumed a fighting stance. Not long after, a young girl named Yukikaze riding a wolf ran up from the right side of the group.

Yukikaze's arrival brought more information. She ran quickly and soon arrived at the middle of the group, explaining to Bismarck: "According to the Purifier, these enemies are the real entities of the ominous signs, and the storm that follows is just a celestial phenomenon formed during their convergence."

"Oh? So you mean we win as long as we defeat these enemies?"

Zuikaku was slightly surprised, but she didn't think that she and her group could break the storm of natural disaster.

Bismarck frowned: "The commander didn't mention this before we set off. It seems the Purifiers intentionally withheld important information."

"It's impossible to get completely accurate information from the Sirens. We still need the Purifiers' help to resolve things here first, and then we can settle accounts with her properly."

Xuefeng also snorted coldly. The fact that her home world was forced to the brink of destruction was the work of the experimental agency in that world. If she hadn't learned during her initial world wanderings that killing these mass-produced individuals was pointless, she would have shot this guy who was hiding information long ago.

"Do you need the Sirens' help?"

Everyone present felt a sense of displeasure. Although they all understood that the enemy of my enemy is my friend, they had fought the Sirens to the death before, and now the Purifiers were hiding information. How could they trust them?

However, the ominous sign didn't give them much time to worry. The vanguard, including Yuudachi, had already started exchanging fire with the other side. The sound of artillery fire was very dense, and the landing range of the shells varied greatly. Many shells landed directly in front of Bismarck and the others, making it seem like they weren't being targeted at Yuudachi and the others, but rather that they were being targeted at those behind them.

"This is what's called an ominous entity. The vanguard and the capital ship are mixed together, and it doesn't seem to have any intelligence."

The crowd stopped their discontent with the Purifiers. Based on the impact points of the shells, Hood quickly deduced that the enemy had no commander and was just a large, strangely appearing mob.

"But it's dangerous enough. It seems the commander anticipated this situation and that's why he sent us ahead."

Bismarck waved his hand, praising Zhou He while taking command of the battle: "Yukikaze, your ship equipment is the strongest among us, even surpassing the new battleships. We'll guide you from the outside, and you'll charge directly into the storm and try to blow it up from the inside."

"Got it. Please be safe."

Yukikaze didn't say much, but patted the white wolf lightly. The wolf immediately accelerated and overtook Bismarck and his group in the blink of an eye.

"Zuihe, the reinforcements should be arriving soon. You should retreat and join them."

This was Bismarck's second arrangement. While she was speaking, a large number of carrier-based aircraft flew in from the rear of the formation. Her radar had already detected the aircraft, so she deduced that Zhou He had sent support. Unfortunately, these carrier-based aircraft began to wobble and lose their formation as soon as they approached the storm, making it impossible to assess their combat effectiveness.

"Be careful."

While Zuikaku was still in the air, its carrier-based aircraft naturally observed the second attacking force. They even saw Purifiers with tentacles tied around their waists, seemingly dragging something as they approached the port area. After leaving a few words, they began to retreat.

As Zuikaku sailed away, Bismarck, Hood, and Tosa faced the enemy's barrage of artillery fire head-on. Before the battle began, there were many things they had to think about and worry about, but now that they had confirmed that the enemy was just a naval fleet similar to their own with some unique characteristics, everything became simple.

Take the truth into your own hands.

……

Half an hour into the battle, Zhou He, who was watching his ship girls' health bars and keeping an eye on the battlefield, saw the Purifier approaching the port from afar. Looking through his binoculars, he saw that the Purifier had a metallic tentacle tied around its waist and its face was flushed red, whether from the tentacle or the weight of the Builder's body.

Moreover, Zhou He was just saying it casually at the time, and he did not expect the Purifiers to be so diligent, even personally delivering it to the Builders.

“Cassian Long Island, go over there and bring in what the Purifiers brought back.”

Zhou He looked around. Besides the three people who had been called back, Cassin and Long Island, who had been late earlier, were also there, sitting leisurely on the steps reading books. He could only say that the difference in mental fortitude between ship girls was truly enormous. Yorktown's fear of the dark made her unable to fight, while Long Island and Cassin were a pair who were truly fearless and relied on their big hearts.

"Yes~"

Long Island, who seemed lazy, quickly put down his book after hearing the instruction, stretched and stood up, turned to the side and reached out to pull Cassin up as well, and then hopped into the sea.

"Commander, besides monitoring the Purifiers and Testers, do we have any other missions?"

Hu Teng watched the two White Eagles sail away into the sea, not in a hurry to set off, but instead asked Zhou He, "With the combined combat power of her battleship and Spee's heavy cruiser, it would be a bit unreasonable to just 'monitor' them."

"I do have some ideas, but whether they will work out depends on whether the Purifiers will give me face. Come with me."