Revisit Azur Lane

Kursk nodded slightly: "There are enemies to the south, I'll go ahead first."

After saying that, she maneuvered her ship equipment to turn a corner and gradually disappeared into the distance. Only then did Yuudachi open her eyes wide: "Commander, that person's aura of oppression was so strong, it was a bit scary."

"Sigh~ Even our Yuudachi has people she's afraid of."

Zhou He was actually a little scared, but he would never say it. Instead, he teased Xi Li, and Xi Li got angry in just a few words. She stubbornly insisted that she was not afraid of Kursk, but that she was just hungry and not in good condition today. Her cute appearance made Zhou He miss her even through the screen.

"call."

After spending some time coaxing Yuudachi, Zhou He breathed a sigh of relief, recalling Kursk's remarks and image, and couldn't help but shake his head.

He didn't expect to encounter such a tough opponent so quickly. He personally thought that the aloof ship girls were the most difficult to get along with, but they were still a significant fighting force, which was a good thing.

"Alright, it's time to build."

Putting Kursk aside for the moment, Zhou He brushed the sand off his body, switched to the system interface, and claimed the reward for the mission 'Defeat the Siren fleet with heavy cruisers or light aircraft carriers as its flagship' (one Rubik's Cube).

The mission refreshed again: 'Fleet attack, defeat the Siren fleet with battleships or carriers as its flagship' Mission reward (one Rubik's Cube).

"Tsk, this mission, if you're unlucky, you probably won't be able to finish it in a year."

Zhou He was prepared, but he still felt uncomfortable seeing this task.

If Yuudachi hadn't been lucky enough to salvage Zuikaku and Kursk, he would only have two ships left, making it impossible for him to complete the mission.

"Forget it, our strength is already enough. Next, we just need to keep dealing with the Sirens that are coming, capture more ships, and develop the port area, and we can enter a positive cycle."

After shunning the system's unreasonable tasks, Zhou He switched to the building interface. He looked around and saw no doors. He was curious to see how the system would scare him, so he clicked the build button.

Bang!

Two alloy doors collided on the interface, and golden text appeared: The ship has been completed. Please take possession in person.

"Heh heh, now nothing's making a sound, is it?"

Zhou He's lips curled up, and then he heard the rustling footsteps that even the sound of the tide couldn't mask. He turned around abruptly and saw a woman with two tufts of hair on her head, silver-gray hair that reached her ears, and a long, thin ponytail. She was wearing wooden clogs and slowly walking towards him on the beach. Her clothes were very peculiar, similar to the school uniforms of the early days of Sakura Empire, but with a modern design. Her blue long skirt was slit up to her upper thigh, and a samurai sword with a blue engraved hilt was tied at her waist.

As she walked, multiple fluffy tails could be clearly seen swaying back and forth behind her, and the blue fox mask tied to her head further revealed her identity.

"What a busybody."

Tosa stopped three steps in front of Zhou He, his pale golden eyes calmly fixed on him: "What are you thinking, making me appear in this manner?"

"Um…"

Zhou He inwardly groaned. Why was another aloof type here? But since he was already here, he couldn't very well ask the system to return him. After staring at Tosa for a few seconds, he spoke: "To realize my ambitions, I need your power."

"Ambitions? They're all so willful."

Tosa snorted, carefully examined Zhou He, and then looked away: "Then let me see how much effort I should put into assisting you."

"It will not let you down."

When the strange talk ended, Zhou He breathed a sigh of relief and introduced himself to Tosa: "Tosa, welcome to the team."

"Ah."

Tosa glanced at him: "Try to find me some fun to kill time."

Chapter Twenty: Drawing a Pie in the Sky

"Then let's not delay. There are quite a few Sirens wandering around our port area right now. Miss Tosa, would you like to go out and warm up? Our next sortie might be a little late."

After exchanging greetings, Zhou He spread his hands and asked Tosa, who was born in the form of a battleship. Aircraft carriers hold a strategic position in naval warfare, while battleships and battlecruisers are the backbone of the fleet and have a strong influence in face-to-face encounters.

'Has our combat strength really been reduced to this extent?'

Tosa lowered his gaze and turned to look at Zhou He: "Why are you using honorifics with me?"

"unconsciously."

Zhou He laughed. Before he transmigrated, he always kept his distance from aloof people, but now he really didn't know how to deal with them.

"You laid-back guy, just call me Tosa."

Seeing that Zhou He could still laugh naturally, Tosa understood that this commander had considerable courage. She nodded slightly and stepped forward, summoning the massive ship equipment that tightly protected her body under the starlight, exuding safety and deterrence. Zhou He stood behind and looked at it. He hadn't paid attention to Kursk's ship equipment illustration before he transmigrated, but Tosa was his 'married ship' in the game. He would occasionally go into the dock to admire it, so it left a deep impression on him.

In the game, the Tosa's ship armor illustration isn't particularly large. It's unclear whether the artist was lazy, but even with the raised cannons, it barely exceeds the Tosa's height. However, the Tosa in front of him is in its super transformation form. The metal supports extending from the bottom of the ship armor are close to the water's surface, and the hull on both sides is a full three meters high. It supports a total of five main guns, 20 secondary guns, and 4 anti-aircraft guns on both sides. The turrets are very dense, but because of the layered design, it doesn't look bulky. The gaps between the layers are very small, and with decorative (?) parts such as chains, anchors, and radar, it looks really cool.

"I've made my move."

Leaving behind these words that Zhou He might never hear, Tosa stepped onto the sea and began to move. The surrounding seawater was pushed aside by the contact with the ship's equipment, forming dense ripples.

"Wow, that's powerful. With shipboard propulsion like that, it must be very strong too."

Zhou He whistled as he looked at the tracks left by the Tosa. The ship rigging of Yuudachi, Hermione, and even Zuikaku was light, while the ship rigging of the heavy cruiser Kursk and the battleship Tosa was really heavy, giving a great sense of security.

……

The destruction of the northern heavy cruiser fleet sealed the Sirens' fate in the other three regions.

The MVP of this half-day battle was Zuikaku. On the way back, she found and met up with Tosa. Attracted by her appearance, she asked her some questions and was surprised to find that she was actually Kaga's sister. She asked Kaga about her with great interest.

However, she asked the wrong person. The memories that Tosa-sama inherited were only of Tosa's busy life as a non-built ship. Her memories of her glamorous older sister, Kaga, were pitifully few, almost equivalent to only knowing that such a person existed.

"Haha, everyone is suffering because of them."

After learning the cause and effect, Zuikaku smiled and comforted Tosa, saying, "It's alright. Kaga-senpai will definitely join the port in the future. We'll visit her together then, and she'll be very surprised to see you."

Tosa didn't respond. She couldn't tell whether Zuikaku was genuinely cheerful or just naturally cunning, so she didn't dare accept Zuikaku's invitation.

During their conversation, the two met up with Hermione and entered the harbor bay, where they saw another ship girl standing and talking with Zhou He on the beach.

"I go first."

Kursk also sensed the presence of the four people, ended his conversation with Zhou He, and headed towards the island: "Let me know if there are any missions."

Zhou He looked at Kursk's back, or more precisely, at the mechanical tail that extended from the side of her skirt and rested on the ground, and raised his voice: "Remember to go back to the command post tonight to rest. We'll prepare an extra portion for you for dinner."

Kursk waved behind his back, as if to say he understood.

"Hmm, as expected of the ship girls from the Northern Alliance, they're easier to get along with than I imagined."

Zhou He smiled, feeling quite pleased with himself. Kursk had returned earlier than the others to explain her 'operation instructions' to him. This self-proclaimed hunter from the snowfields—let's not dwell on why a ship girl at sea would be a hunter—she excels in hunting techniques such as concealment, ambush, reconnaissance, and counter-reconnaissance, which are special attack techniques against Sirens. Therefore, she prefers to act alone and hopes that Zhou He will assign her separate tasks when formulating tactics in the future.

In Zhou He's view, her self-description was perfect for being a "surprise weapon," a very versatile position.

"The commander seems to be in a good mood. What did that ship girl named Kursk say to the commander?"

The four people who landed later came to Zhou He's side. Zuikaku squinted and looked at Kursk walking away. They hadn't even had a chance to say a word. Why did he leave?

"We'll make minor adjustments to our attack tactics going forward; it's nothing serious."

Zhou He cut to the chase, his smile fading as he looked at the four ship girl girls with distinct personalities before him: "You've had a tough battle. You've fired the first shot in our counterattack against the Sirens, especially Zuikaku, who deserves praise."

"With me here, victory is inevitable."

Zuikaku, who was singled out for praise, wore a proud smile, showing no intention of being humble.

“Yuudachi, Hermione-Tosa, you’ve worked hard too.”

Zhou He, having shared his praise equally with everyone, spread his hands and addressed the four people after the commendation: "Since you're all here, I have a choice for you: should our port area's first development project be a 'seaside resort area' or an 'island hot spring pool'?"

"spa?"

"Do we have hot springs on our island?"

The four, including Tosa, were all moved. Taking a bath at home is comfortable, but it's not quite the same as a hot spring.

"Yes, it seems that everyone prefers hot springs."

Zhou He remained calm. This was something he had just thought of. His ship girls would fight for half a day or a whole day when they were out there, and they needed to rest and relieve their fatigue after returning home. When it comes to relaxing, hot springs are the best choice.

Including tomorrow, I'll have 20 Home Coins, enough to buy a large hot spring.

As for why there's a choice between two options, it's simply to make everyone feel more involved and excited. Otherwise, if everyone just accepts whatever he says, it will definitely affect everyone's enthusiasm in the future.

"I want to soak in a hot spring!"

Xi Li raised both hands to vote, and Zhou He looked at her with satisfaction. Then his gaze moved down to her waist, and his eyes opened slightly. The bag of beef jerky was gone.

"Hehe, I accidentally dropped the rations the commander prepared."

Yuudachi touched her head and stuck out her tongue cutely: "I ran too fast during the fight, and the ropes came loose before I even ate a few pieces."

"...I'll cook in a bit."

It was just a bag of beef jerky. Zhou He forgave Yuudachi because she was cute. He then discussed the hot spring development project with the others, which was unanimously approved. The journey back to headquarters was filled with laughter and discussion.

Chapter Twenty-One: Assigning Work

Having decided to photograph the hot spring pool, Zhou He, after a busy dinner at 4 pm, took advantage of the still-hot sun to go out and look for a suitable location.

According to the previously planned route, there was a three-way intersection outside the command center. Going straight ahead led directly to the bay, while going left or right was a straight line with branches. Zhou He habitually moved to the left after leaving the house and stood where he usually dried clothes, looking into the island. The upper and lower levels were clearly distinct, with the nearest upper level being more than 100 meters away.

"Isn't it too far?"

Zhou He stroked his chin. The higher the elevation of the hot spring, the more scenery one could see. However, he then thought that the hot spring here was only for temporary use in the early stages, to allow everyone to relax after the battle. There was no need to make it so elaborate.

With a compromise in mind, Zhou He walked to the branch point 20 meters away and turned. He walked to the lawn about 50 meters away from the main road, located behind the command post, and looked around. The ground here was quite flat. Even though it was close to the sea, he believed that the system must have processed it so that the houses built here would not collapse or get wet.

"Let's take a look... 15 Homestead Coins can be exchanged for a large hot spring pool, that's expensive, how many people can it hold?"

Having located the hot spring, Zhou He browsed through the homestead shop. The picture of the large hot spring was rectangular and looked bigger than a regular pool. The decorations were only stones, and even the water outlet was a stone lion's head.

However, Zhou He suddenly remembered the extra hot spring pool that appeared during the game event, which could fit all the foxes of the Sakura Empire. Compared to that, this large hot spring pool could accommodate at least ten people taking a bath together.

If there are ten or more people, they can all swim in it, right?

"That's it."