Revisit Azur Lane

"Fishing, at this time... Hmm, I'll participate."

Kursk pondered for a moment. She called herself a hunter, but she wasn't just a land hunter. Finding prey in the sea was also one of her specialties. The only thing that bothered her was that she hadn't paid attention to the areas near the port where fish could migrate, so it might take some time.

"Thank you."

Zhou He smiled, stood up and thanked Kursk, then reached out and closed the window: "The temperature difference is quite large now, so it's best to be careful."

"Temperature difference?"

Kursk stared at Zhou He, and upon reflection, she realized that Zhou He really didn't seem to be cooling down. As ship girls, they were quite different from the human Zhou He.

She shook her head slightly, then stood up and saw Zhou He to the door, immediately putting what she had just learned into practice: "Commander, please take care to keep warm, and remember to rest if you feel unwell."

"Ah, I see."

Zhou He smiled and waved to Kursk, leaving behind the words "See you tomorrow" before turning and leaving.

"..."

Kursk watched Zhou He go upstairs before closing the door and sitting by the window, his slender fingers tapping lightly on the table, a thoughtful expression on his face: "A strange feeling."

……

The next day, outside the misty window, the sun had not yet risen.

"Yuudachi, you're so warm."

In the bedroom on the third floor, Zhou He, who was half asleep, turned to his side and hugged Xi Li, who was glowing and warm like a hand warmer, with one hand. He had forgotten when Xi Li had crawled into bed last night, and only had a vague memory of it.

"Oh, so the Commander is already awake!"

Yuudachi, who had been pretending to be asleep and waiting for Zhou He to get up first, slid into his arms with a grin as Zhou He pulled on her arm. Even though the height difference between the two was only about 10 centimeters, Zhou He's figure was enough to completely envelop Yuudachi.

"Hey! Commander, don't tickle me! I'm so ticklish... Commander?"

However, before Yuudachi could even enjoy the embrace, she felt Zhou He tickling her leg and couldn't help but giggle—then she lost Zhou He's embrace and turned around with some confusion to look at Zhou He's back as he sat up on the edge of the bed, touching his head with his hand.

"It's nothing, I just feel a little dizzy from getting up so suddenly. Yuudachi, you should lie down for a while longer."

At this moment, Zhou He had regained consciousness, but was still somewhat disoriented. He could only rub his temples before getting up and washing his face in the bathroom. It took a while for his temperature to drop, and his main consciousness finally prevailed over his younger brother. After washing up, he returned to his bedroom.

"Is the commander feeling better?"

As soon as Zhou He entered, he saw Xi Li lying on the bed, helping to cover himself with the blanket. When Xi Li saw him come in, she lifted a corner of the blanket and asked, "Do you want to rest a little longer?"

"It's much better."

Zhou He bent down and pressed down the corner of the blanket, then rubbed Yuudachi's head, whose hair was a little messy from sleeping, and smiled: "Yuudachi is so cute. If I look at her a few more times, even if I get sick, I will get better immediately."

"Hey hey hey."

Yuudachi clearly took it seriously, squinting her eyes and revealing a silly, cute smile, which in turn made Zhou He squint his eyes again, forcing him to stop and go find some clothes to wear.

"No way."

As Zhou He dressed, he suffered from a terrible headache, feeling as if his will was about to be shattered by his desires.

What should I do? Maybe I should buy a ring from the Home Shop?

Chapter 149 Getting better

"The Oath Ring..."

As Zhou He moved closer to the office, he searched the Homestead Shop and saw a wedding ring that looked exactly like the one he saw in the game, but the price was an outrageous 60 Homestead Coins. He couldn't help but exclaim, "So expensive!"

He had accumulated a lot of Home Coins over the past few days, reaching 115, which was enough to buy the ring priced at 60 each. However, the cost-effectiveness was too low. With a little more saving, he could buy a house.

Moreover, he had seen other types of precious metal jewelry before, but none of them were even a fraction of the price of this ring. This was simply outrageous.

"Could it be that giving this ring as a gift has a similar effect to the oath in the game, raising the affinity cap to 200% and increasing attributes?"

Zhou He muttered to himself, hesitated for a moment, and then decided to buy one to try it out—but not now.

The fishing competition the day after tomorrow will give the winning team a building of their choice. He plans to use this building to install one or two public buildings in the port area to improve its fashionability. Therefore, the Home Coins are very useful. Sending rings is a private matter that is not as important as the development of the port area.

Having made a decision, the active thoughts in his mind gradually subsided. At the same time, he picked up the sea map he had drawn yesterday from his office, turned around, and went downstairs. Since it was still quite early, he ran into several ship girls who were also coming downstairs on the second floor and was greeted warmly.

Good morning, Commander.

Bush, who had just stepped out, saw Zhou He, greeted him, and hopped over to him, following him downstairs. On the way, he hopped left and right on the stairs and saw the blueprints that Zhou He had picked up. Curious, he leaned over the stair railing and asked, "Is this the map we'll be using for our voyage today?"

"Yes, the patrol and exploration missions these next two days will be quite strenuous."

Zhou He responded with a smile, saying that he had been forced to close the port by the Sirens for some time, so now that he had the opportunity to go out, he naturally wanted to seize it and light up all the maps that could be explored. When the Sirens besieged the port again, he would be able to adjust his tactics based on the size of the Sirens' overall fleet, which would be very beneficial.

Bush gave an emotional "Oh~" and followed Zhou He to the first floor. During the day, this place was usually quiet, but it was quite lively in the morning and evening. People who got up early to exercise gathered here, while those who didn't have any particular ideas also watched and waited for Zhou He's orders. Especially after receiving the preliminary news, nearly 12 out of the 30-plus people from the port area were lingering here waiting.

"Good morning, Commander. Would you like some tea?"

Hermione, who was about to return to the kitchen, saw Zhou He come down and approached him familiarly to ask him something.

Currently, of the three royal maids, Ambition is serving as Hood's temporary personal maid, Jarvis has no particular preference, and Hermione, who is more familiar with Zhou He, has become the head maid of the port area. She gets up very early every day and when she brings tea to Hood and the others, there is always an extra cup on the tea tray.

"Just give me a glass of water."

Zhou He smiled and held up his finger, then glanced at Hu De, who was holding a teacup. It seemed that the royal family had a habit of drinking breakfast tea, even black tea. He knew his own stomach well. Although he wasn't so much a freeloader, if he dared to drink black tea in the morning, he would have to sit there obediently.

"Please wait."

Hermione nodded and quickly left, while Zhou He strode to the important coffee table on the sofa, unfolded the map in his hand, and weighed it down with a book. He then looked around at the flagships Bismarck, Hood, and Shoukaku, gesturing for them to come closer. He pointed to his own port district, which was not on the original map but had been manually added by him: "This is our port district."

In addition to his own port area, Zhou He added dotted lines to the map to divide the area. After explaining to those present the connection between the dotted lines and his battlefield observation ability, he got to the point: "This time, our goal is to light up as many areas as possible on this map. Considering the long distance, I will take the two aircraft carriers from the port area with you. Depending on the progress of the exploration, you may need to spend the night on them."

Zhou He expects this expedition to take two days, with one day for the round trip. Ideally, the entire map should be explored on the first day, and then everyone should board the aircraft carrier and return by nightfall. If any unexpected events occur and the fleet is unable to defeat the Sirens, the two aircraft carriers can be used as bait to disengage the fleet from the battle.

"That's the task. Next, we'll assign the areas of responsibility."

After Zhou He finished speaking, he paused briefly, took the warm water Hermione handed him and drank it. At the same time, he observed the calm expressions of the crowd. This was the first time that a voyage had taken place without staying overnight at home. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call it an "expedition." He had been somewhat worried that there would be objections, but now it seemed that everyone was not surprised by the situation.

It makes sense. During the warship era, a single voyage would typically involve staying at sea for several months, or even half a year or a year. Now, the distance between home and the ship, which can be covered in less than two days or even overnight, is probably just a game for those who have inherited the memories.

—It seems that not everyone is as restless as him when he's not sleeping at home. He feels like he's becoming a new type of shut-in (staying in the port area and never going out).

After ensuring everyone had no objections, Zhou He began assigning tasks: Bismarck and Hood were responsible for the east and north, respectively, while Sakura Empire was tasked with penetrating deeper into the southern region. Eagle Union's fleet followed behind Sakura Empire's forces, remaining vigilant against attacks from the Sirens' base in the west.

Jeanbart was assigned to the Royal Group, while Kursk was assigned to the White Eagles Group.

"That's it, the meeting is adjourned."

Having laid out all the instructions, Zhou He said no more. As for how to explore and which route to take, all areas, including the Siren base in the west, were very quiet, with only scattered Sirens moving around in each area. There was no need for him to provide detailed guidance.

"Hmph, it seems I can have another good fight with the Sirens this time."

Sitting in the front row next to Zhou He were all the flagships of their respective factions. Ruihe, who was not very quick-witted, wisely stood behind the Shouhe sofa. He was very satisfied with Zhou He's arrangement and said with a smug look on his face.

"A foolish idea."

Tosa made a sarcastic remark, Kaga leaned back tactically, but Zuikaku didn't seem to care: "I know the main focus is on exploration, but I believe the Sirens will definitely not let us run rampant around their base. We can't avoid Tataka at all."

"Speak of it."

Kaga didn't care about whether or not to fight. She glanced at Zuikaku and the others, then at Zhou He, and pointed to herself: "I've wanted to ask this for a long time. Logically speaking, I should be the flagship, right?"

"..."

"?"

Zhou He scratched his head. According to the seniority system of Sakura Empire, Kaga BB should indeed be the flagship. He didn't need to explain. Tosa gave her a subtle look: "To be frank, battleships are far inferior to aircraft carriers in terms of battlefield control. I would be very uneasy if you were the flagship."

"The second sentence is the truth, isn't it?"

Kaga raised an eyebrow, somewhat unconvinced: "I've been trained as a flagship since the present world, so I do have some command skills."

"Ah."

Tosa did not reply, but turned and left: perhaps Kaga herself did not realize that when she told her about her past experiences, she had basically never won against anyone except Akagi. Her win rate was not 0%, but it hovered around 10%.

Such performance makes it really hard for her to regard Kaga as a flagship.

"Haha, Kaga-senpai is more suited to fighting alongside Tosa. Let's leave the command to someone with the relevant talent."

Seeing this, Zuikaku smiled with great pleasure. When Kaga BB first appeared, she thought Kaga would be very domineering, but after spending more time with her and taking Tosa's attitude as a reference, she felt that Kaga BB was actually someone on a similar level to her. Every time she saw Kaga BB, she felt very close to her.

"Hmph, you'll find out how amazing I am later."

Kaga glanced at Zuikaku. Even though there were many outstanding people in this port area, she still didn't think she was inferior to anyone else. The only person she could unconditionally acknowledge was Amagi.

However, she quickly put the topic of who should be the flagship out of her mind and hurriedly caught up with Tosa, who was leaving the command post, asking her what she wanted to eat for breakfast that morning—Tosa hesitated for a moment before giving her an answer.

"Their relationship seems to have become much closer than before?"

Zuikaku glanced at it, leaned back on the sofa, and asked Shoukaku in a low voice. The latter smiled slightly and said, "After Tosa talked to the commander, his attitude towards Kaga softened a lot."

"That was the result of Kaga's own hard work."

Upon hearing this, Zhou He quickly spoke up to distance himself from the situation.

Kaga's efforts in ignoring Tosa's cold demeanor and trying to get closer to him have been evident to him. He has seen and appreciated her efforts, but after putting himself in her shoes, he believes he could never be as persistent as Kaga. If Kaga were on an aircraft carrier, the two of them would be expressionless—just imagining that scene is absurd enough, and the possibility of them not recognizing each other is quite high.

"Yes~"

Shoukaku smiled faintly. In the port area, Tosa basically only listens to Zhou He. When facing others, he is extremely willful. If Zhou He hadn't said some good words for Kaga, given Tosa's personality, he would only have become more and more annoyed by Kaga's behavior.

"..."

Zhou He was also helpless about this. With more people in the port area, the chances of conflicts between ship girls also increased. Just yesterday, there was a situation where Yuudachi and Yukikaze quarreled because of his orders. In order to avoid this situation, he could only try his best to inform others as soon as he gave the order, so as to avoid conflicts between the two teams due to conflicting orders.

While he can slack off in terms of operational command from his position as commander, ensuring the proper transmission of orders and intelligence details is still quite troublesome.

—The pre-battle meeting ended with discussions and the crowd gradually dispersed. Zhou He also took the opportunity to have breakfast at the restaurant, and at the same time had Hermione move some ingredients to the No. 02 aircraft carrier for storage, to be used for cooking during the trip.

As for the food supplies for Sakura Empire and Eagle Union on their journey, he had other plans.

"commander."

After breakfast, Zhou He went for a walk on the beach. He hadn't gone more than a few steps when someone called out to him. He didn't even need to turn around to see if the voice, which was both heroic and gentle, could only belong to Yorktown. He stopped and turned around, and sure enough, it was Yorktown, with his little tagalong beside him, the adorable Hammanman.

"Commander, I really don't like the way you look at me!"

Harman's intuition was as strong as ever. If Yorktown hadn't been there, she would have complained loudly. Even so, she still looked at Zhou He with dissatisfaction.

"Excuse me, excuse me, Yorktown, is there a problem?"

Zhou He blinked, apologized, and then asked Yorktown. Yorktown's eyes flickered slightly, and after taking a deep breath, he said seriously, "If the Sirens obstruct this mission, I hope the commander can help with the combat command."