Revisit Azur Lane

Faced with questioning looks, Zhou He smiled, snapped his fingers, and pressed his palm down: "I think you might need this."

Before he finished speaking, a blue light appeared in the Japanese-style room. A game console that looked similar to a computer tower, along with its controller, keyboard, and 66-inch monitor, came into view. Seeing their surprised looks, Zhou He smiled and said, "After Yuhei goes back, this room will temporarily serve as a game room for entertainment and relaxation."

"Wow, long live the Commander!"

Once she realized what was happening, Changdao rolled over and lay down in front of Zhou He with her arms raised high. A smile of unexpected happiness graced her face, and her long black hair was scattered all over the ground, making her look somewhat alluring.

Zhou He didn't look at her much, but instead tossed a few more decks of cards and a chessboard next to her and said to the three of them, "Based on my own thinking, these are the only entertainment items I can think of. If you have any ideas, you can tell me directly, and I will help you realize them."

"I understand. But Commander, are you really a pure human? You're too omnipotent; it's a bit strange."

Kashin sat on the floor hugging a pillow, looking up at Zhou He. The bangs that had been covering his left eye were moved to the side, revealing a golden eye that was different from his orange right eye. It was beautiful, but it also had a strange sense of precision.

"Haha, of course I'm a pure race human, but you can think of me as omnipotent in the port area."

Zhou He no longer wanted to explain the system's creation from nothing. After using simple words to fool the system, his gaze suddenly focused on Kashin's face. After examining him carefully, he blinked and said, "Kashin, your eyes are so beautiful."

He hadn't noticed that Cassin had heterochromia when he was playing the game. He still remembers seeing a white cat with heterochromia on the roadside, which left a deep impression on him. Cassin is the same now, giving him a strong visual impact.

Both beautiful and handsome.

"Really? It's pretty ordinary."

Being stared at so intently for the first time, even Cassin couldn't stand it. He lowered his head, letting his hair cover his eyes again, and responded casually.

"It's anything but ordinary, huh?"

Zhou He wanted to say a few more words, but Changdao on the ground grabbed his leg. Looking down, he saw Changdao winking at him rapidly, as if trying to convey some message. However, his bond with Changdao wasn't strong enough for him to understand.

However, it must be related to Cassin's eyes.

After thinking for a moment, Zhou He decided to keep quiet. He smiled at Kashin, squatted down to let Nagashima let go, then stood up, nodded to Ayanami and Haguro, and naturally walked out of the Japanese-style room.

"Commander is amazing!"

Lingbo didn't say anything when Zhou He was there, but she spoke up after he left, and even seemed about to applaud.

"really."

Yuhei, standing beside him, agreed and turned to look at Kashin: "Commander, you didn't even notice? Kashin, that eye of yours is a prosthetic, isn't it? Can you even see?"

Yes, I can see it.

Kashin touched the golden prosthetic eye with her hand. It wasn't that she was deliberately hiding it, but if Zhou He discovered that her eye was different from others, things would definitely get complicated, and she didn't like getting into trouble.

"Well—anyway, let's try this first."

Long Island climbed up to the game console, sat up, and looked at the others with a bright smile, holding it in one hand: "Even without internet, this is still pretty good."

"Ah, but the first thing to figure out is the monitor, right? Where should we mount it?"

Apart from Nagashima, none of the others present were talkative, so when the topic was diverted, Haguro pointed to the monitor.

"I've made up my mind, it'll be right here!"

Long Island is incredibly efficient; he stood up, ran to the wall, spread his arms, and patted the wall with his backhand: "This is the height!"

Later, thanks to Zhou He's efforts, the members who had seemed somewhat idle in the hall started to have things to do, but this also affected some of the structure. For example, Bismarck, who was reading with Z23, was dragged to the reception room to play chess by Huddle, and Z23 and Javelin followed to join in the fun. Zuikaku, one of the Three Musketeers, was pulled away by Shoukaku to try badminton, and Kaga also tried to pull Tosa away, but failed. He then walked into the pet room with his ears drooping and squatted next to the red fox cage.

Zhou He himself was caught by Yuudachi, who was playing hide-and-seek and was the one in the game, and was forced to join the game, where he saw the Royal Ark, whose cheerful smile was so irritating that it made people feel uncomfortable.

……

"Your commander is human? I already guessed that."

Just after the Purification Master finished training the new enhanced executors and left the Mirror Sea, he encountered Hu Teng, who came to ask for a portable data hard drive. After a conversation, the topic turned to Zhou He.

"If I don't tell you, the outcome of your guess will always be unknown."

Hu Teng's expression was cold, and her tone was harsh, making the Purifier opposite her feel that she was not there to negotiate, but to rob.

What if the enemy demands a mobile storage device containing the design content of your own base on your own turf?

This is probably the most unexpected thing for the Purifiers in decades.

However, sensing that it would be quite interesting, she decided to concede slightly, her words laced with a hint of tax evasion: "That won't do. At least you have to tell me whether your commander is male or female."

"I have never determined the commander's gender either."

Hu Teng's gaze darkened slightly, and he spoke the truth.

"???"

Purification's eyes widened in shock, almost shining like light bulbs. She had never seen such insincere negotiations. When the council members came to them to form an alliance, although they seemed ready to fight at the slightest disagreement, at least they did offer a lot of valuable intelligence.

"The fact that I'm talking to you like this means that the commander is asking me to extend goodwill to you on his behalf, and that's enough."

Hu Teng didn't feel good. Although Zhou He said she could reveal some information appropriately, even during video communication, the Purifier couldn't see Zhou He's true appearance or voice, which meant that Zhou He didn't want the Purifier to know about his affairs. As for the special abilities Zhou He possessed? She would never tell the Sirens.

"Um, you guys don't think I'm an idiot, do you?"

Purification felt that Hu Teng's words made sense, but once they left this place, they would be enemies fighting to the death again. What was the use of just showing goodwill? Could she possibly be colluding with the enemy?

Tsk.

Hu Teng frowned. Was this guy not an idiot after all?

"You were just speechless! Before I get angry, you still have one more chance to exchange information."

Purification realized he had been underestimated, and his playful expression vanished, replaced by a rare seriousness: "I need to coordinate and command with other bases; I don't have time to waste here."

Hu Teng thought for a moment. The Purifiers weren't interested in anything except information about their own commander, so there was really nothing to talk about. He simply turned and left, leaving the Purifiers with his back turned.

"I just don't get it."

Even the Purification Queen was stumped by her, because she had sent many mainframes into the experimental world, thus collecting a lot of information about the ship girls, such as Count Spee and Akashi who came with Hutten. If it were only these two people, she could easily handle them.

However, Hu Teng has only appeared a few times in the vast number of experimental worlds, and even his combat data has not been collected much, let alone his personality. Basically, there is no record of him.

Judging from her attitude, could it be that the commander behind her is just trying his luck and doesn't necessarily want to cooperate with her?

"If only I could connect to the host, what's going on here?"

Purification was also troubled. Logically speaking, the Mirror Sea shouldn't be able to sever her connection with her own mainframe. Even if she really came to this destroyed world, she should still be able to connect to the mainframe here.

But it didn't work. The two sides couldn't connect. It wasn't just a communication problem. Such an active nightmare entity should have been detected by their equipment and dealt with by their personnel in a short time. But it had been more than a day, and there hadn't been any orders or even reinforcements. It was as if this place was cut off from the outside world. People couldn't get out of here, and people couldn't get in from outside.

But an ominous sign is an ominous sign, and it must be eliminated no matter what.

So, should we give them this mobile device or not?

After much deliberation, the Purifier ultimately decided to give one of the items to Hu Teng.

As for the reason?

Please, this is their base! If Akashi dismantles the equipment, what hard drive can't she get? Giving them a portable hard drive would actually prevent the equipment from being forcibly removed and stop the damage in time.

'Those despicable bastards! How dare they underestimate me like that? Once I've dealt with the ominous sign, I'll teach them a lesson they won't forget!'

Purification thought viciously to herself.

Chapter 138 Mutual understanding is important

At noon, the black storm that had been lingering in the middle of the sea for nearly a day and a night finally began to stir. Surrounded by numerous blurry black figures on the sea surface that were barely affected by the wind, it began to move in a southeast direction.

"The Sirens' fleet has already approached this area. Once the storm disperses, it will be our turn to enter the fray."

The lobby on the first floor of the command building, which stood firm against the wind, was no longer as relaxed as before. Many ship girls, some sitting and some standing, gathered around Zhou He, watching him point and draw on a hand-drawn map that he had just finished on the coffee table.

Yesterday, during the battle with the Ominous Entity, the carriers that couldn't offer much combat assistance cleverly scattered their aircraft in all directions, traversing most of the map near the port. Subsequently, Hu Teng and his two companions made their way to the Sirens base without any obstacles, allowing Zhou He to see the Sirens' production base on the map. Therefore, he obtained intelligence the moment the Sirens fleet set sail and, based on their speed, sketched a rough map of the Sirens fleet and the Ominous Entity's formations when the battle occurred.

The Sirens have two bases located directly north of the port area, and two more located in the southeast and southwest directions, forming a strange triangle. Zhou He didn't care why the Sirens built them this way; he only knew that by defeating the Ominous Sign and solving this Mirror Sea, he could obtain the rewards for the two missions: 'Defeat the Ominous Sign Entity' and 'Explore the Mirror Sea'.

Leaving aside the reward of the Wisdom Cube, these two tasks together gave three furniture selection boxes!

What does this mean? It means that he can implement three large buildings at once: the Eagle Union Base, the Sakura Empire Base, and the Royal Navy Base, solving the housing problem for more than a hundred ship girls in the future. Even if he doesn't implement these faction symbols, he can invest in large-scale facilities for living and entertainment such as amusement parks and greenhouses, strengthening the infrastructure of the port area.

Not to mention the two rewards of the research ship materials and the increased attractiveness to meta ship girls after the emergency mission—although facing an unknown enemy is both troublesome and exciting, the mission rewards are really plentiful. Even if this is a tutorial level arranged by the system, he accepts it!

"The Siren fleet to the southeast is expected to clash with the Ominous Entity at a certain point. Judging from the distance, the Sirens to the north will not arrive for some time after the battle begins. Before they arrive, our main battlefield will be the area north of the Ominous Entity..."

Zhou He explained the general direction of the operation, then called on Xuefeng, instructing her to go straight to the Siren base where Hu Teng and the other two were located after arriving at the battlefield, assist them in recovering the special materials, and bring them back to rejoin the main force.

"It is important to note that the aircraft cannot form a combat capability in the operation against the Ominous Sign. Therefore, during the operation, Shoukaku, Zuikaku, Royal Ark, Long Island, and Yorktown, you should not leave the safe zone of the port area. The carrier-based aircraft you launch should first conduct large-scale reconnaissance of the surrounding area, and second, follow Yukikaze and the approaching Siren fleet. If they make any 'treacherous' moves, attack them immediately."

When his own people went out to fight, Zhou He never pursued a great victory. He only pursued one thing: the safety of his own ship girls, which he emphasized separately.

"...That's the general situation. There will definitely be issues that I haven't mentioned when the battle actually takes place. In the event of any unforeseen incidents, Cleveland, Jintsuu, Hood, and Bismarck will be in charge of commanding and handling them. Is that alright?"

After the pre-battle meeting, Zhou He assigned command ships, without prioritizing any particular method; whoever's approach was deemed most suitable would be used.

"no problem."

Having fully grasped the situation, Hood naturally replied: "The main fighting force this time is the Sirens. We just need to stay on the sidelines to prevent any accidents from happening."

"Ah."

Bismarck agreed: "But more important than fighting is gathering intelligence, whether it's the Ominous Sign or those enhanced Sirens. We need to wait for the Ominous Sign crisis to pass. We can't be sure the Sirens won't attack us. Conserving our strength during the battle is equally important."

Zhou He and the Sirens formed an alliance, and they temporarily trusted the Sirens. However, once the common enemy disappeared, the Sirens would no longer be allies, but enemies that needed to be eliminated. There was no disagreement about this.

The others present had no objections to the two men's statements—the main purpose of Zhou Hejia's pre-battle meeting was to get everyone to reach a consensus. Since the wartime cooperation had not yet met the standard, it would be too dangerous if there were further differences in understanding.

Shortly after the exchange, the gathered crowd split into several small groups. Zhou He and Bismarck and other veteran generals discussed the possible situations after the Mirror Sea was lifted. Some people listened in, while others were not interested. For example, Zuikaku whispered to Shoukaku about how cunning Kaga was to appear in battleship form.

Shoukaku simply smiled without saying anything. She thought it was quite good. After all, the two who were causing trouble for her and Zuikaku were not quite normal, and had little to do with Kaga from the battleship era. Moreover, this senior had a very good personality, and there was not much of a barrier between them.

Kaga herself was even more important. Because she could never gain Tosa's approval, she began to wonder if it was because she and Tosa did not have any common interests. She went to Ashigara, who had joined the group but was hanging out with Tosa, to ask him about the situation. Ashigara told her that she and Tosa hardly communicated and only practiced swordsmanship together.

"I don't understand."

Kaga didn't know much about swords. There was a group of people like that in her time, but Akagi, Amagi, Nagato, and other higher-ups weren't interested in it. Having always followed them, she naturally hadn't come into contact with this kind of thing.

"It's alright. Princess Tosa is clearly the type who is cold on the outside but warm on the inside. After all... you see, even if she seems unwilling, she will still help complete the things that have been asked of her."