Revisit Azur Lane

"Could we sink the Sirens' aircraft carriers? One or two would be fine."

Zhou He recalled his daily missions: sinking the enemy's aircraft carrier. That should be enough to prove that he had launched an attack, right?

"Can try."

After finishing speaking, Shoukaku relayed the message to Zuikaku, who glanced at Zhou He's projection and instantly revealed a smug and proud expression. Then he gave a thumbs up and said a few words.

"This guy."

Zhou He clicked his tongue, not expecting that Ruihe had actually fallen for it.

In an instant, an idea popped into his mind: Zuikaku is so confident, if she fails to sink the Siren carrier, let her slack off; if she does, he'll praise her lavishly.

"Ah."

Zhou He chuckled softly. Ruihe couldn't see it, but Xianghe did—she had never seen Zhou He smile like that before; it was a little mischievous.

Chapter 144 The Allure of Numbers

Zhou He didn't take the completed map out immediately. Instead, he let it air out for a while before rolling it up and placing it on the bookshelf, intending to use it as a reference during future combat meetings.

After dusting himself off, Zhou He walked out of the office and continued to observe the situation on Xianghe's side as he went downstairs. They had been exchanging fire in the air for more than an hour, and the Siren base had only sent less than thirty Executors to approach and try to drive them away. He even wondered if Xuefeng was getting sleepy while waiting.

Although he didn't quite understand how Yukikaze had been persuaded by Zuikaku to go and help with the escort, he wasn't too worried about the two of them getting into trouble with Yukikaze around. So after replenishing the two's lost carrier-based aircraft, he stopped paying attention and hurried down the stairs. Looking down from the corner staircase on the first floor, he saw Yuudachi sleeping soundly, and Hermione and Javelin sitting opposite her quietly reading a book.

Unlike when Zhou He was cooking, this was now the real noon. Sunlight streamed in through the door, and beams of light made Zhou He feel as if he were dreaming back to his childhood afternoon naps. When he came to his senses, he sighed to himself that if he had had such pretty little sisters to play with back then, he probably wouldn't have been very interested.

After all, his enlightenment seemed to come a little later than that of ordinary people. While others were already dating in the first and second years of junior high school, he only started online dating in the third year. Sigh, he was just too honest.

"Commander, would you like to have a meal?"

Noticing Zhou He's presence, Hermione put down her book, got up, and walked over to him. She whispered that Zhou He had been busy cooking but hadn't eaten much. With about ten people gathered around, the cook could only sneak a few bites before the food was served.

"No, I'll have something to eat with Ruihe and the others when they get back."

Zhou He also lowered his voice, walked to the sofa, looked down at Xi Li who was sleeping soundly on her side facing the sofa, and a smile appeared on his lips.

His own Yuudachi is very beautiful, but more than beautiful, she is endearingly simple and cute. I remember that Yuudachi in the game has a modification option. The modified Yuudachi is more dashing than before the modification. From the illustration, she seems to have grown taller (longer legs)? I wonder if his ship girl will look like a completely different person after he uses the system to modify her.

As I walked out of the hall with a cheerful smile, the wind that blew in my face carried the salty smell of the sea and the strong scent of earth. The puddles on the roadside lawn that used to be there had visibly decreased, and the green grass had turned withered and yellow.

"What do you think, Hermione, about paving this area up and turning it into a plaza?"

Zhou He walked onto the paved road and casually pointed to the lawn that stretched from the command building all the way to the sea. It was fine when the sun was out, but on this rainy day, the grass had become a muddy mess. To get to the beach, one had to take a detour from the dock platform, which was quite troublesome. Moreover, both the Siren transfer station in the north and the bases in the south had paved most of the port area with cement, which looked much more professional than his place. He decided to learn from them.

"very suitable."

While Zhou He was upstairs drawing, Hermione was guarding Yuudachi. Now she came out with Zhou He, following half a step behind him. The two were about half a body length apart. She looked up and glanced at the distance from the bay (nearly 100 meters). After considering it, she said, "Simply laying it flat is not enough for the visual effect. It may require the Commander to put in a lot of effort."

"Well, I'll consider it."

Zhou He thought so too. This was a home he would live in for the rest of his life, so it didn't matter if it took a little more time. It had to be designed to be both beautiful and practical!

Chatting casually, the two arrived at the platform construction area. The drainage here was obviously very good. After nearly two days of torrential rain, there was no water accumulation on the roadside after only half a day of sunshine. The more troublesome thing was that the green belt here was a bit messy after being blown by the wind, and the ground was covered with a layer of leaves where there were trees. Zhou He took a few more glances and planned to scan it after studying the builder's body.

Following the warehouses and houses to the dock, Zhou He immediately spotted Bismarck sitting on a bench deep in thought. Bismarck also noticed him, stood up, walked straight over to greet him, and then asked, "Commander, I heard that you sent the Shoukaku and Zuikaku sisters to probe the Siren base. How is the situation now?"

Zhou He hummed in agreement, glancing at Bismarck's slightly serious expression. A sudden thought flashed through his mind, and he spread his hands, saying, "The Sirens are only defending against their air attacks. They only recently sent out troops to drive them away, so they may be facing a situation where their forces are depleted."

"No, the possibility of the Sirens having an empty army is very low."

Bismarck answered almost without hesitation: "According to Yukikaze, that Siren base is very likely the troop transmission node that controls all the ship girls in this sea area. Based on the troop production efficiency of our Siren base in the Mirror Sea, we can produce at least a squad of fifty Executors overnight. Moreover, the fact that the Sirens in the experimental agency chose to launch an attack on us means that they are at least superior to us in terms of combat strength and numbers."

When she saw the two Xianghe sisters go out, she knew that Zhou He was after the Sirens' base. After thinking it over, she concluded that they would not lose to the Sirens in an skirmish, but they were not enough for a siege. The Sirens from the experimental agency were just not good at on-the-spot command, not that they were really stupid.

Regardless of the time or the situation, as long as a complete victory has not been achieved, we must face the enemy's threat squarely and be prepared to meet their counterattack.

“That makes sense. Let’s test the waters first and see how they react.”

Zhou He's thinking was pretty much the same as Bismarck's. In any case, the Siren base couldn't be taken in a short time. A direct assault would definitely not succeed and would expose their own weaknesses. It would be better to proceed cautiously and wait until the number and quality of the fleet were sufficient before steadily pushing forward.

"Ah."

Bismarck observed Zhou He and, seeing his fluent and composed answers, knew he must have planned ahead, which reassured him. He turned and walked to the berth, glancing down at the ship: "Commander, are you here to investigate this?"

"Yes, although it is only a mass-produced individual, it is still a member of the core management of the experimental agency, so it must have exceptional skills in ship equipment."

Zhou He followed, looking at the Builder mecha that had been submerged in water for several days. He remembered that in the game, the Builder seemed to be active underwater most of the time, but it did not belong to the submarine category. It seemed to be a logistics unit, but its actual combat power was strangely high. If it were a head-on battle, his people might not be able to take down the Builder, let alone capture it alive.

"By the way, it's Akashi who's doing the research and investigation. If I come in person, I'm afraid I'll miss a lot of things."

He smiled, then turned and told Hermione to go to the production workshop where Akashi was stationed to find Akashi. The Builder's main body was only a cute little thing at most 1.6 meters tall, but her ship equipment was very large, with a height of more than 3 meters. It was also fully armed with ship cannons, torpedoes, and other weapons, so it needed to be handled with care.

"Yes, we'll help too."

Bismarck raised her hand and gestured to Z23, who was practicing in the bay. Z23 understood and began to contact U556, who was blowing bubbles underwater. In less than three minutes, U556, riding a red, festive little shark, poked her head out of the water, swam to the shore, and looked up at the two of them: "Big sister, Commander, is there something you need?"

"We'll pull this thing out of the water in a bit. 556, can you help push it from below?"

Zhou He squatted down and spread his hands towards U556 to explain.

"understood!"

U556 sat on the little shark, raised its hand and clapped with Zhou He's outstretched hand. After responding, it grinned and pulled away before diving back underwater.

"Submarines are really amazing! How long can the U556 stay underwater at one time?"

Zhou He clenched his fists. Even though U556 had just emerged from the water, his hands were surprisingly dry, which was quite amazing.

"It can last up to 1 hour and 48 minutes, but it's best to come up for fresh air every hour."

Bismarck had a deep understanding of her own people, but as she spoke, her brows furrowed slightly: "U556 has gained a more flexible body, but as a submarine, it will be difficult for it to exert its deterrent power without a large number of them."

In the game, submarines can inflict high torpedo damage on enemies, making them very useful.

However, in reality, submarines are not as useful as imagined. First of all, they are very slow. For example, the U556 can only reach a maximum speed of about 14 knots. Once a long-distance rescue mission is carried out, everyone else may have already finished before the U556 can barely reach the scene.

In addition to its slow speed, the submarine is very fragile. Once detected by enemy radar, it only takes a few destroyers to carry out anti-submarine warfare. You either have to withstand their firepower or dive directly into the deep sea, observing the entire battle from the sidelines, while also being wary of enemy submarines.

For a submarine to be effective, it either needs to ambush and kill with a single blow, or it needs to act as a mobile scouting point to ensure that enemy torpedoes don't suddenly appear under your feet.

"Will have the opportunity next time."

Zhou He supported himself on his knees and stood up to look at the sea. He did not make any promises to increase the number of submarines, because this type of ship was somewhat rare. If he could unilaterally name the ship girls he wanted to join, then he could try to form a submarine squadron in the short term.

'Om—'

As the two were chatting casually, a discordant mechanical roar came from behind them. Zhou He turned around and saw a tracked vehicle that had been modified into a strange forklift. The green-haired cat was sitting at the very back of the tracked vehicle, using amazing turning skills to safely stop the forklift next to Zhou He on the street.

"Commander, thank you, meow."

Akashi jumped down from the open-air driver's platform, patted the track of the tracked vehicle next to him with his palm, and proudly explained: "This is a modification I made by dismantling the old thing provided by the commander, meow. It's safer for carrying valuable cargo, meow."

"You're welcome. After all, I need your help to gain a more comprehensive understanding of the situation."

Zhou He understood that the "old things" she was talking about were the tanks and anti-aircraft vehicles he had previously created. From the perspective of before he transmigrated, they were indeed still usable, but in this world decades later, they were indeed a bit outdated.

Although they were hand-made by Zhou He, they haven't been able to officially go on duty yet.

"Meow meow~"

As they were talking, Zhou He's hand insidiously climbed onto Akashi's cat head. Akashi was initially uncomfortable, but then her expression became relaxed, her eyes glazed over, as if her intelligence had been drained. After Zhou He withdrew his hand, her intelligence returned, and she threw a thick, heavy rope down from the tracked forklift she had modified. She then confidently ordered Zhou He and the others: "Tie this to the Builder, meow. I'll use this to help you get her out, meow."

"Please, U556, help me out again."

Zhou He bent down and picked up the rope that Ming Shi had dropped. It felt relatively rough when he touched it. He hadn't provided Ming Shi with any support or these things. These were probably something that Ming Shi and Ling Min (possibly) came up with and made together. They weren't very useful, but they were commendable.

After handing the rope to Bismarck, Bismarck summoned U556 again. Then, she grabbed one end of the thick rope and plunged into the water, binding it from various angles around the Builder's body. Meanwhile, Akashi tied the other end of the rope to a tracked forklift, seemingly preparing to use the machine's power.

"It's starting, meow."

Everything was completed in a coordinated manner. Akashi drove the car from the front, steering and pulling, while the ropes tied to the back were quite heavy, so the rough ropes rubbed against the edge of the dock, making a strange sound.

The Builder's mech was huge, and U556 pushed hard from behind. Bismarck, being quite heavy, jumped into the water and deployed her ship equipment as the Builder's mech floated in the air. She reliably lifted the three-meter-tall thing by pushing hard from the dock wall!

She's practically a superhero.

"That's awesome."

After working together to pull the builder out of the water, Akashi began loading the truck. Many ship girls from the vicinity came to watch and help. Zhou He didn't pay any attention to them. Instead, he reached out to Bismarck on the water's surface, pulled her out of the sea, and praised her with a smile: "Bismarck, you guys are really amazing. Could it be that your physical abilities will also be enhanced after deploying your ship equipment?"

"Yes."

Bismarck subtly smoothed down the seawater-soaked parts of his clothes and organized his thoughts: "After deploying the ship's equipment, we will enter a state synchronized with it, and our physical abilities will be enhanced to varying degrees. Even if we are hit head-on by enemy shells, we will not be pierced and blown apart. At most, we will be seriously injured and unable to get up."

"?"

This was the first time Zhou He had ever heard of something so important. No wonder Xuefeng was able to escape from the Siren pile without getting hurt.

But if we calculate it this way, as long as his ship girls improve their stats, they might even be able to take the main gun head-on and emerge unscathed in the future?

The level advantage in games actually manifests in this way in the real world.

Chapter 145 Zhou is a Siren (?)

Zhou He was quite interested in the builder's 'disassembly' work, and followed Ming Shi's tracked forklift to another empty workshop that was not yet in use.

It's described as spacious because there aren't any large machines piled up here, but basic robotic arms and construction platforms are present. Moreover, in the middle of the workshop, you can see many mechanical parts piled up, some of which are rough-looking semi-finished products, and others are just circuit boards. There are also many circuit diagrams and design drawings posted on the walls.

"Could this be a sensitive work area?"

Zhou He glanced at Ming Shi, who had jumped off the forklift to study how to arrange the Builder's body, and moved closer to the area where parts were piled up in a polygonal shape with tables of varying heights. He immediately spotted a product discarded under the table that looked about 80% the same as the drone Ling Min had given him. It appeared that the wings had been modified, making it look more portable.

"Yes, this is my research institute. How about it? Doesn't it feel great?"

A proud and energetic voice rang out from the entrance, causing Zhou He, who was about to go in and try out the new drone, to pause. He turned around and saw Ling Min herself, wearing huge goggles and a white trench coat. The latter walked over and waved to Zhou He with a smile on her face: "Commander, welcome to my workshop. I plan to make some mechanical toys to sell in the port area in the future. If you have any good ideas, Commander, please remember to let me know."

"Yes, what about an aircraft carrier that can fly in the sky?"

Zhou He didn't know much about mechanical structures, but he had a lot to say without even lifting a finger. He immediately mentioned a few things: "Or a ball-shooting machine that puts tennis balls in and can automatically shoot them out at a set time, or a small mechanical animal that can move."

"Hey, hey, stop! Let me write this down!"

Ling Min hadn't expected Zhou He to make suggestions so readily. She rushed over and jumped into the round table, pulling out a small blue notebook to jot down the items Zhou He had mentioned. After finishing, she put the pen down behind the Flying Carrier and looked up at Zhou He: "Commander, I just checked both carriers. There's basically no damage on the outside, but some small parts on the island superstructure are malfunctioning, which I've already fixed. The bigger problem is inside the engine room. Both carriers have less than half their carrier-based aircraft left and need to be replenished."

"Really? Thank you for your help."

Zhou He nodded. He didn't manage the boats he had made by hand much. He hadn't even maintained the patrol boat from the beginning. It wasn't that he was lazy. One reason was that he didn't know how to maintain them. More importantly, he couldn't handle all the work by himself. He had the idea of ​​'tearing them down and rebuilding them when they got old and broken'.