Revisit Azur Lane

"Hmm, so you mean they're not as smart or useful as the Barbarians?"

Zuikaku glanced at the robot a couple more times, then thought of the hardworking Manjuu in the restaurant and made a comparison.

"...Theoretically, yes."

Xuefeng paused for a moment. She had been to so many experimental worlds, but this was the first time she had ever seen a strange creature like Manjiu, which was highly intelligent and powerful. So much so that she often stared at Manjiu while eating at the restaurant. Many of the waiters were so frightened by her stare that they dared not get close.

"Yukikaze, how's the battle going up there?"

Unlike Zuikaku, who was interested in everything new, Shoukaku was more concerned about the battle in the distance. The ominous storm made the air currents extremely violent, and the clouds were also blackened, so these new-era overlords did not even have the opportunity to watch the battle. It was a very unfamiliar experience for them.

"The energy accumulated by the ominous entity is almost exhausted. The number of those that descend can not match the number that are destroyed. At most, there is one more hour before the battle with the ominous ends."

Yukikaze remained calm as she weaved through the midst of the Ominous Fleet. More than anyone else, she understood the state of the battle. Ominous Fleets also had their limits; once their energy was depleted to a certain point, they would dissipate on their own.

This is why she sensed something was amiss: having frequently traversed various experimental worlds, she was quite knowledgeable about breaking through the Mirror Sea. She had noticed the anomaly during her first encounter with the Ominous Sign, and today she was even more certain:

The ominous signs are not the core of this mirror world's development. Even if all the ominous entities are eliminated and the storm dissipates, it will be meaningless.

The real core is someone else.

"Hahaha, how infuriating! I haven't even joined the battle yet, and it's already over."

Upon hearing this, Zuikaku couldn't help but chuckle twice, having witnessed the entire process of the annihilation of the ominous sign without being able to participate.

"No, what has ended is only the battle with the ominous sign."

Yukikaze emphasized the key point, and Zuikaku was puzzled, saying "Huh?" while Shoukaku seemed to have thought of something more, raising his delicate eyebrows slightly: "Yukikaze, are you saying that the core of this world is not the ominous entity?"

"Yes."

The reduced speed allowed Yukikaze to take a deep breath: "The core of this mirror-like sea has never changed from beginning to end. It's just that we were drawn to the presence of the ominous signs and assumed that they were the core."

"what."

Shoukaku seemed to have thought of something, his beautiful blue eyes flickering slightly: "You mean, the core of this mirror world is the testers, purifiers, or even builders who came with us?"

"Yes."

Yukikaze looked in the direction of the port area: "Although the Builder died for unknown reasons, she had already completed the unfolding of the 'Mirror Sea' before that. At that moment, she had already determined that the core was one of the Sirens who came to this world with us."

"what?"

The conversation between the two had become so convoluted that Ruikaku could hardly understand it, but there was one thing she did understand: "So, in fact, as long as we deal with the testers and purifiers who are still active, we can get rid of this Mirror Sea?"

"Yes, even the builder could be the core, or even the most likely one."

Xuefeng nodded: "The Sirens' development of the Mirror Sea has reached an inhuman level. Even if the Builder's body stops operating, the energy within her still exists and can be absorbed by the Mirror Sea and operate on its own."

"Tsk, what a troublesome bunch."

Zuikaku pursed his lips, but quickly smiled and said, "If that's the case, things will be simple."

"Yes."

Xuefeng smiled, his eyes sparkling.

The experimental facilities in this world are really interesting.

Chapter 140 "Necessary Sacrifice"

"Aren't omens the core of this world?"

Sunlight pierced through the dark clouds and scattered across the port dock. Zhou He looked at Xuefeng, who was leading the ship back to the dock, and glanced at the ominous team, which was being attacked by his family and the two sirens. They were almost on the verge of death, and the black vortex was shrinking. He had misunderstood them.

Let's just leave it at that. We're already about to kill it anyway. The rewards for defeating the Ominous Entity are much better than closing the Mirror Sea. Next time we encounter it, we'll prioritize fighting the Ominous.

However, after taking a couple of steps, he examined the Builder's peaceful sleeping face again and pointed, "Xuefeng, do you think she's the core?"

"Well…"

Xuefeng squatted down beside Zhou He's legs and looked down at the Builder. After a long while, she shook her head: "This is also the first time I've seen the Builder's body. But in my experience, whenever a living individual is used as the core of the mirror, there will be energy fluctuations around that person that resonate with the mirror world. She doesn't have that, so she probably isn't one."

"So, there's only one candidate left."

At some point, Zhou He's gaze shifted from the builder to the top of Xuefeng's head. Xuefeng's hair was beautiful. In the game, she often styled her hair with bow hairpins and ribbons to create a pleasing hairstyle (skin illustration). However, his Xuefeng meta had never used ribbons or hairpins to style her hair since joining the game. As a result, her long, snow-white hair was simply scattered over her shoulders, making her look more mature and more endearing than in the game.

"A test subject who never showed up from beginning to end..."

Xuefeng lightly pressed her hands on her legs, stood up, and looked up. As she spoke, her eyes met Zhou He's in mid-air, and her eyes widened involuntarily. But Zhou He looked away at that moment, put his hands behind his back, and looked at the distant sea with a smile as if nothing had happened: "The test subject did not show herself, but I know where she is now."

"...Where is she? I'll go and kill her."

Xuefeng lowered his head, his voice becoming softer and carrying an almost inaudible urgency.

"Not in a hurry."

Zhou He pointed to Akashi, who was running around at the stern of the transport ship, and said with a smile, "Let's help unload these things first. It will probably take a long time if it's just me and Akashi."

The ominous sign hasn't even died yet. If Xuefeng is sent to carry out the decapitation operation now, he'll lose his emergency mission reward.

"what."

Xuefeng then realized what was happening, jumped away from Zhou He and into the stern of the transport ship. Together with Mingshi, they gathered up the materials that had been tossed about during the return voyage, and picked out the lighter items to pass to Zhou He, who was standing on the dock. The three of them worked back and forth for a while, and it took them almost half an hour to move everything to Mingshi's production workshop.

"Is it really possible to deduce the production method from these things?"

Watching Akashi fiddling with parts and materials in the workshop, Yukikaze glanced at Zhou He, who was leaning against the wall with one hand, his collar unbuttoned, seemingly trying to look cool but actually struggling. A strange smile crept onto Yukikaze's lips, but he quickly suppressed it and asked.

"It's definitely not up to me to do it, but Akashi can."

Zhou He coughed lightly and answered in a serious tone.

"Really~"

Yukikaze stared at him, letting out a cryptic chuckle, and spread his palms out to him: "Now you can tell me the location of the test subjects, right? If the ominous signs are eliminated any later, the Purifiers will definitely take control of the Siren fleet and engage in battle with Yuudachi and the others."

"If a real fight breaks out, the Purifiers will be the ones who lose."

Zhou He glanced at the battlefield. The massive storm that had originally occupied more than ten nautical miles had been almost completely dissipated. The red Siren fleet had completely surrounded the remaining black ominous entities. Yuudachi and the others had already withdrawn from the core battle zone, seemingly sitting on the sidelines watching the tigers fight.

In the two minutes he observed, the original twenty-odd black entities vanished instantly, and the storm dissipated as well—after four hours, the ominous entity was completely defeated.

"The tester is currently located directly east of our port area, leading a fleet of approximately 300 Executors southward. It seems they are preparing to surround our forces."

His gaze shifted and fell upon the test subjects who had appeared in the area that Yorktown and the others had explored. Unlike his younger brother, these test subjects from the experimental unit each had their own large display point, with their respective icons representing tiny figures.

"Three hundred?"

This number made Yukikaze squint.

The most troublesome problem with the Sirens is that their production speed is simply too fast. The combined productivity of all factions in a world cannot match theirs. This is also why the Experimental Agency can unilaterally control the experimental world. The entire world combined cannot defeat them, not to mention that these factions are scattered all over the world. In addition, with the unilateral suppression of technology, even if the factions engage in joint underhanded actions, they can only do so with their 'tacit approval'. The Purifiers' so-called 'natural calculation system' predicts the theoretical future, while the Experimental Agency uses various means to push the progress of reality toward the predicted future.

Most of the destroyed worlds were those where one of the factions discovered the deception and attempted to break free from the Sirens' control, but failed. This resulted in the mass extinction of one or more factions, leading to worlds that deviated significantly from the predicted future and were thus abandoned.

Getting back to the point, the 300-person executor squad is ten times the number of Zhou He's ship girls, but for Yukikaze, it's just a number. At their level, the difference in quality cannot be made up for by quantity.

"I'm going."

Gathering his thoughts, Yukikaze's eyes sharpened again as he turned and walked away.

"Snow Wind".

Watching her retreating figure, Zhou He called out, and before she could turn around, he continued, "Be careful."

"I'm tired of hearing these lukewarm instructions."

Xuefeng took two steps forward, then stopped abruptly, turned to face Zhou He, put one hand on his hip, and proudly raised his chin: "The blessing for my (Lord Xuefeng's) attack should be more elegant, more magnificent, and different from ordinary people, so that I will be more motivated!"

Zhou He was taken aback when he saw this. He scratched the back of his neck and looked left and right. He looked at Xue Feng's proud little expression with his eyes closed, waiting for praise. It was as if something was tickling his heart, making him not know how to answer for a moment.

"Hey!! What do you want to say too!?"

Xuefeng was initially feeling quite pleased with herself, but before she could get a reply, she secretly opened her eyes and saw Zhou He's indescribably strange expression. A sense of shame immediately welled up from the bottom of her heart. Feeling her cheeks burning, she jumped up and glared at Zhou He with what she thought was a fierce expression, then turned around and ran away quickly without waiting for his reply.

After Xuefeng ran away, Zhou He squatted down and covered his face with his hands. It wasn't that he was deliberately not talking, but Xuefeng's sudden cuteness had overloaded his brain. This strong contrast was too much of a burden on his heart.

It took him a while to give the others new instructions.

……

"The ominous sign isn't really the core issue."

Within the island's safe zone, Zuikaku reluctantly retrieved her aircraft to replenish ammunition—she had been crouching for a long time, and in the instant when the ominous storm was too small to affect the carrier-based aircraft, she launched a dive bombing attack on those strange ominous entities like a hungry wolf, feeling extremely satisfied.

"Yes, the commander has relayed a message to me. According to Yukikaze's assessment, the core of this world is the Testers, and they are preparing to encircle and annihilate Kaga-senpai and the others."

Xianghe, who was standing nearby, processed the instructions conveyed by Zhou He and explained the situation to the people around him.

Zhou He's new instructions were simple: the aircraft carriers would launch an air attack on the fleet led by the tester, while Bismarck and the others would move westward while remaining vigilant against the Purifier fleet, trying to increase the distance between themselves and the fleet led by the tester, thus creating time and opportunity for Yukikaze to carry out a decapitation strike.

“Tester, I remember she was taken down by those two senior First Carrier Division soldiers from another world last time. This time it’s our turn.”

After hearing Shoukaku's words, Zuikaku became eager to try. Shoukaku also narrowed her eyes. Zhou He had once praised her and Zuikaku for surpassing the two from the First Carrier Division. They couldn't perform too poorly this time.

"First Carrier Division..."

Yorktown couldn't help but murmur when she heard that familiar name. In her memory, her last stop was the battle against the Sakura Empire carriers. Now, Akagi and Kaga, as members of the First Carrier Division, have not joined the port, nor have her two sisters.

She clasped her hands to her chest and silently prayed that the company and Bumblebee would be able to join the port area before the Akagi sisters joined.

As for Kaga in battleship form? Both her existence and her usual behavior are too strange, to the point that Yorktown doesn't even consider her as the historical aircraft carrier Kaga from their memories.

"In short, we're just creating opportunities for Yukikaze, right? Yukikaze has already come out."

Royal Ark wasn't particularly interested in their past, because the person she was covering for was the destroyer Yukikaze. Her mind was racing, and she was on high alert, interrupting the other three navigators' reminiscences of the past.

"I think it'll really be over after this battle. I'm tired and want to go home and play video games."

Long Island chimed in from the side, but it was impossible to tell from her words whether she was genuinely tired or just pretending.

"Ah."

Shokaku and Zuikaku exchanged a glance, then fell silent and began adjusting the flight targets of their carrier-based aircraft, which were still navigating the map outside, while releasing more carrier-based aircraft to circle overhead.

As they made their move, Bismarck and the others, having received orders, also began to move away from the battlefield.

The Purifiers who observed this were also astonished: "The ominous entity isn't the key core after all?"

This time, she genuinely didn't know.

Generally speaking, they have complete control over the mirror-like sea area, mainly because of the surveillance equipment they have installed there.

The ominous signs themselves have the characteristic of interfering with and distorting electronic devices, so they don't install too many monitoring and management devices in areas where ominous signs exist. The current mirror-like sea area overlaps with the area where ominous signs are active. The sudden death of the builder is an extremely rare case, practically the only one of its kind.