Revisit Azur Lane

Things are different now; she's gotten used to asking Zhou He for meals.

"Hmph, I'm feeling pretty good today. I'll try to get a few more, maybe even more than all the other competitors."

Zhou He squatted down and began to re-bait the fish. After casting his line, he continued to stare at the float and glanced at the situation of the other people on the map. After Tosa was defeated by Kaga, he actually went back to Kursk obediently. On the contrary, Kaga began to march towards the Ironblood team. After being discovered, Hu Teng was sent out to fight.

It's clear that his ship girls are quite virtuous, engaging in 1v1 battles.

If Hu Teng wins this time, will he then challenge Hu De to a match?

Chapter 160 Cat's Tongue

Around noon, the temperature was at least five degrees warmer than in the morning. Zhou He, wearing gloves, carried a large pot of fish out of the kitchen. The first thing he saw was Kaga, who was dawdling as he walked in with Tosa. Without paying much attention, he hurriedly put the pot on the table.

"Why didn't you go change your clothes first since you're back?"

Turning back, Zhou He looked at the two sisters' outfits, which resembled a 'defeated CG'. Ever since the day Yuudachi returned after being seriously injured, he could no longer see such a scene as a bonus. He felt sorry for his ship girl who was injured during a sortie and worried about the port's clothing reserves.

"I'll go change it in a bit."

Kaga rubbed his hair, looking somewhat uneasy, while Tosa, standing beside him, remained expressionless as always, appearing more like a supervisor than Kaga.

After responding, Kaga paused for a few seconds and then honestly lowered his head: "I'm very sorry for causing trouble at the Commander's event and suffering a crushing defeat in the end."

After defeating Tosa, Kaga headed north to challenge the Ironblood Fleet. He easily defeated Hutten in a battle, but was then killed by Bismarck upon their arrival: the first round of bombardment crippled Kaga. Whether it was due to overwhelming strength or bad luck, Kaga's plan to become the strongest port was completely ruined, and he obediently returned home...

"So you've come here to apologize?"

Zhou He rubbed his gloves together, looking at the two sisters in front of him with a somewhat complicated feeling: when doing something, even if you know it's not quite right, you should still do it first and apologize later.

It's not easy to evaluate, but admitting mistakes is already a great thing. As for whether Kaga's way of thinking is that "he apologized because he lost the battle, and there would be no need to apologize if he had won," it's not that important.

To be fair, he hadn't interacted with Kaga much since Kaga joined the port, so it was quite rare for him to suddenly come over and apologize to him. After smiling and admiring him for about ten seconds, he clapped his gloved hands, making a loud thumping sound: "Alright, you guys go change and rest first. I've made some food. Remember to behave yourselves this afternoon."

"Yes."

Kaga breathed a slight sigh of relief, answered, and turned to leave the dining area with Tosa. Zhou He also turned and went back into the kitchen to bring out the other side dishes and rice. He looked at Yukikaze, who was staring at him with her hands supporting her chin, seemingly unmoved by what had just happened: "Do you see this kind of thing often?"

"Hmm? You probably see them occasionally, right?"

Yukikaze snapped back to reality, his gaze shifting to the side, his words somewhat muffled: "Many officers who consider themselves capable will act on their own initiative during wartime. If they win, they become heroes; if they lose, they either die in battle or flee back, admit their mistakes, and then commit suicide..."

As she spoke, she exclaimed "Ah!" loudly, then straightened herself up and said, "The matter between Tosa and Kaga hasn't reached that level yet, so don't misunderstand!"

"Who do you think I am?"

Zhou He complained irritably, then turned around and went to the kitchen to pick up a stack of bowls and put them on the table: "There should be other people coming over, I'll go out and check."

He turned and walked out of the dining area. Xuefeng looked at his back and turned his head away, knowing who he was waiting for.

Leaving the kitchen, Zhou He went straight to the main entrance of the command post and looked out over the bay. People were visibly approaching on the sea. Among the many familiar figures, there was someone Zhou He knew very well. He smiled and walked out the door to greet them.

"Commander! I'm back for lunch."

The once quiet Yuudachi became restless upon seeing Zhou He approach. Waving its paws and barking, it quickly ran ashore, hopping and skipping to Zhou He's side, wagging its tail and circling around him. Its keen nose sniffed, and its eyes lit up as it sniffed Zhou He's scent even closer, exclaiming in surprise, "Commander cooked for yourself?"

"Yes, I went fishing for a while earlier and then I prepared the fish myself."

Because Yuudachi was lively and active, Zhou He couldn't make a move for a while. He could only wait for Yuudachi to approach and stop before grabbing her, patting her head to relieve the itch, and smiling as he turned her around: "Kaga and Tosa were acting so recklessly, but it didn't interfere with your plans, did it?"

"do not know."

Yuudachi thought for a moment and then shook her head decisively: "I've never gone to such a far place as Bei to catch fish, so I don't know how many I can catch when it's quiet."

'No control group?'

Zhou He felt that Yuudachi was quite tolerant of the Tosa sisters. Generally speaking, he would definitely have some thoughts about them unless he gained a lot from them.

So he asked how the harvest was. Yuudachi counted on his fingers, and then grinned and spread all ten fingers wide: "So much, we can't finish it even after several meals."

"That's great! We'll try different ways to eat fish every day from now on."

Zhou He suppressed a laugh; Yuudachi's counting method was truly unique.

"Great!"

Making Yuudachi happy is also very simple.

The two entered the command post together. When the subsequent landing personnel saw them, some wanted to come over for a meal, but were stopped by others: Zhou He had not invited them, explaining that there wasn't much food prepared this time, and they probably wouldn't have enough to eat if they went.

The group went to the restaurant.

……

Five people successfully mooched a meal from Zhou He, including Yukikaze and the Tosa Kaga sisters, Hu Teng who also failed and changed clothes, and Hermione who came to check on the situation.

"The cherry blossom harvest looks pretty good. How's it going on your end?"

After the meal, Zhou He blew on the tea that Hermione had brewed and asked Hu Teng and Hermione questions.

"There were some gains."

Hu Teng moved her chair back a little, leaning back in a very relaxed posture. Under her open black coat was a black T-shirt with clearly defined lines and symbols. Her face was flushed and she was slightly out of breath. Zhou He had put a lot of chili peppers in the fish dish, which was clearly just for seasoning, but she was showing off as if it were an ingredient. She had originally planned to leave after eating, but was forced to stay. Her right hand was on her lower abdomen. Gone was her usual coldness. The aura of a down-to-earth girl was completely overflowing. It was a rather rare sight.

"As for us, our luck seems to be not so good. One of our fishing nets has been stolen by something strange."

The maid usually sits down to eat, quickly finishes her meal, and then gets up to act as a server. At this moment, she is adding hot water for Yuudachi. Next to her is Yukikaze, who is blowing hot water like Zhou He. The latter looks very serious, as if facing a formidable enemy.

"Oh? So you have big catches over there, but are they sharks or some kind of fish?"

This was something Zhou He hadn't expected. He had given each faction five nets, and the Royals had lost one net by the end of the morning, so they were likely at a disadvantage in terms of overall gains: "I'll give you a new net in a bit."

"grateful."

Hermione responded with a slight smile.

After chatting for a while, Zhou He saw the four of them off. When he turned around to clear the tableware, he noticed that Xuefeng was still blowing on the tea, which reminded him of the rumored cat tongue... Does it have barbs?

On a sudden whim, Zhou He slowed down and moved around her, finally waiting for Xuefeng to test the temperature with her tongue like a cat. His eyes widened suddenly—she seemed no different from a normal person, which was a bit disappointing.

"...What are you looking at!?"

Xuefeng had actually been watching Zhou He for a long time, and she caught him openly 'stealing glances'. When she realized what was happening, her cheeks turned bright red. She put down her cup, covered her mouth, and stared intently at Zhou He with her orange eyes.

"Uh, sorry, I was just a little curious."

Zhou He knew he had gone too far, but his curiosity was hard to suppress, so he could only apologize honestly, stop what he was doing, and wait for Xuefeng's forgiveness.

"Just curious? No, nothing, hurry up and get ready, idiot~"

Xuefeng's feelings were very complicated. After giving Zhou He a stern lecture in his native language, he got up, covered his face, and ran out of the room quickly, leaving Zhou He with his hands on the table. Although Xuefeng's cat tongue did not have barbs, its smugness was very pure, making him feel like he had gained something.

"Make money? What are you talking about?"

Zhou He realized something was wrong, realizing that he hadn't managed the distance between himself and Yukikaze well—as the only ship girl who officially joined the port from outside, he didn't treat Yukikaze as a true ally, but rather as a half-friend.

He is very respectful to strangers he has just met, but once they become familiar friends, he unconsciously becomes casual and reveals flaws that he himself is unaware of.

Now I have a headache.

While fretting, Zhou He began to clear the table, wash the pots and pans, wipe the table and mop the floor. After everything was in order, he breathed a sigh of relief and went to the hall. He then wandered around outside for a while but did not see Xue Feng.

It's somewhat frustrating, but it's all my own doing, so I can only take it one step at a time.

This morning, he and Yukikaze didn't catch many fish, only seven in total. Among them were three salmon, which he cooked in one pot. The other four fish of different species were placed in the kitchen to be used to try other cooking methods.

While pondering, Zhou He walked to the steps of the boarding platform, found a clean spot to sit down, and opened the attack map to take a look:

The observers appear to be appealing for help, with scattered Siren fleets visible on the outermost perimeter in all directions. Each fleet is small, but if they were to come together, they would form a terrifying force.

In this situation, it would be most suitable to launch an attack to "defeat them one by one," but now the "outer perimeter" that Zhou He mentioned has been pushed to more than 400 nautical miles away, which is too large an area. It is hard to say what kind of trouble the troops will encounter on the way there. Therefore, he has basically no way to deal with the Sirens approaching from the outer perimeter. Only when he reaches a distance of about the fourth or third district is he in his comfort zone.

"Including the sirens transferred from the periphery, the observers already have a considerable armed force."

As he looked around, Zhou He locked onto the Siren Twin Base in the Western Fourth District. Using the reconnaissance aircraft, he pieced together a complete map of the base—the two islands were like the middle part of a sunflower, with platforms resembling drilling machines extending outwards. Even if Zhou He was a complete novice, he could tell that the platforms built on the outside were to help the main body obtain necessary resources.

'Since sirens can perform matter transformation, what resources are they absorbing?'

Zhou He had always been envious of the Sirens' technology. Although his family now had a research team, starting from scratch was nothing compared to the Sirens, who had been researching it for countless generations. He dismantled any equipment that could be salvaged and reused.

There's no joy in doing scientific research compared to picking up trash.

However, he has been troubled by a problem these past two days: the Purifiers who were sent to the Mirror Sea of ​​the Archipelago the day before yesterday seem to have lost contact and disappeared from his map.

'This Mirror Sea is extraordinary; it can both conceal its internal workings and directly interfere with the material world. It must be a highly advanced way the Sirens utilize the Mirror Sea, right?'

Zhou He was very interested in the mirror-like waters of the archipelago, as they might contain a lot of technologies that he could use.

Even without the technology, scavenging some high-grade steel from inside would be pure profit.

but…

"If we attack the island, the Sirens might turn around and cut off our retreat. But attacking the base directly might not be feasible. It's not enough for me to think about this alone. Let's discuss this properly with everyone tomorrow."

Zhou He rubbed his hair. The sirens had chosen the right positions. Their only weakness was that the pieces inside the barrier couldn't come out to help fight. If he took control of these two areas, along with the port and the island in the northern second district, the four islands would be linked together, making them almost impenetrable in terms of defense.

"..."

By the wall of the command post, Xuefeng peeked out and stole glances at Zhou He, who was sitting on the dock in a daze. He hadn't changed his position for more than ten minutes, and Xuefeng roughly understood what Zhou He meant by "time is hard to pass" that morning.

"Phew, there must be other worthwhile work to do in the port area. Why not do it even if it's a waste of time?"

Xuefeng felt a little strange. She wanted to go up and talk to Zhou He, but when she thought about what had happened not long ago, her cheeks started to burn involuntarily. She pulled her head back and squatted down to cool down with her palms. Suddenly, she thought that Zhou He and Xili had slept together, so could it be that they had already done 'this and that'?

Her wild guesses made her heart pound. After a while, she stood up with a "Ah!" and patted her face: "What nonsense are you thinking? We are ships, we are 'weapons'. No matter what, we can't do those strange things."

Convincing himself in this way, Xuefeng gradually returned to normal. After taking a deep breath, he stepped towards Zhou He, intending to remind him not to daydream and to make use of his time.

Zhou He, after noticing Xue Feng's suspicious actions out of the corner of his eye, quickly composed himself, made a mental note, stood up, hopped down the steps, walked to Xue Feng's side, and apologized, hoping that Xue Feng could forgive his rude behavior.

"Lord Yukikaze wouldn't even care about such a trivial matter!"

Although Xuefeng said that, she actually listened to Zhou He's entire apology. With a smirk, she pointed at him and said, "But while everyone else is out there, you should be active too! There are still many things missing in this port area, so you should make good use of your time!"

"Uh, you're right."

Zhou He thought about the amount of his Home Coins and decided to listen to what Xuefeng had to say first. So he began to humbly ask for advice, which Xuefeng found very helpful. She then described the port area designs she had seen.

Being alone is a bit boring, but with two people, time starts to fly by.

Chapter 161 The Art of Language

The port planning described by Yukikaze was mostly based on her experience with military ports from the Sakura Empire.