Revisit Azur Lane

Zhou He observed for a while, then put his hands behind his back and began to stroll and patrol the dock buildings. He wasn't good at dealing with aloof girls, and girls like Jarvis who didn't give him a chance to talk were even more difficult. Fortunately, there were more people in the port now, so even if there were a few ship girls who weren't good at talking, he didn't need to force his way in and chat them up. On the other hand, he hadn't heard from Akashi and Lingmin for a long time, and he rarely saw them.

He was curious to know what those two were researching that made it so mysterious.

So after circling the dock, he went straight to the sensitive work workshop. The workshop was not completely sealed; there were two windows on each side and three adjustable skylights, so there was no major problem with lighting.

He arrived at the door, and although the workshop was bustling with activity, the door was tightly closed and he couldn't get in. Zhou He, itching to go in, rang the doorbell but got no response, so he could only try to go around from the side. Before he even got close to the window, he saw that there were unfamiliar yet familiar cameras around the window, the kind that locks onto faces, following him wherever he went and filming him.

"What exactly are these two up to? Don't tell me they're going to jointly develop a bunch of gadgets, then just seal them in boxes, paint them, and sell them?"

Zhou He knew from the camera that the two of them hadn't wasted their time; the system didn't even give them away for free. But they hadn't been around for a week. If he hadn't been able to find them every day when he opened the dock, he would have forgotten that he had two researchers at home.

'But it doesn't sound like a small gadget. Could it be that they've dismantled all the builder's ship equipment and are developing a new version?'

Zhou He thought to himself, no longer wanting to pry into what was happening inside, and turned to walk away.

He was certain that Akashi and Ryoumin would open the door for him if he were given an 'order,' but he had never used orders in his personal life since taking office, let alone for a research genius like Akashi. If he angered someone and they went on strike, he wouldn't be able to find a replacement.

"I wonder what will happen inside the Mirror Sea this time. The Observer sent a Purifier into the Mirror Sea. Is it because the experiments inside are very exciting, or do they hope the Purifier can interfere with his closure of the Mirror Sea?"

While lost in thought, he opened the system interface. From the attack map, he could see that with the transport ships, the overall speed of movement had been improved. For destroyers, it was only slightly faster, but for battleships like the Bismarck Hood and submarines like U556, the speed of movement was two or even three times faster.

The journey that usually takes two hours has been reduced to one hour, and this improvement is quite necessary.

After observing his own people, he expanded his view to the entire map. Yesterday, there were still a few sirens wandering around outside the Sirens base, but today there were none left. Then, there were a bunch of red dots around the Sirens base. In the game, that means he had consumed all the resources in such a large area of ​​the sea and it was time to gather his forces to fight the boss.

'37+19=56'

Zhou He calculated that if he built all the existing ship girls and cubes, his team's numbers would double instantly. However, the surrounding Siren fleets had been wiped out, and there were no leveling spots for the new ships. Backline capital ships like New Jersey and Zuikaku were okay, but the frontline destroyers had unknown combat strength and had to be up close to the enemy. Even if he built them now, he wouldn't dare send them to attack cities. Even if he lost a white-skinned ship that everyone in the game would hate in battle, he would still feel very bad.

"Let's cultivate a core group of key personnel first, and then gradually train new members."

Zhou He quickly came to the answer. Seeing that there wasn't much to see on the map, he simply switched to the research series. After yesterday's two battles, Anchorage only needed 28 of the 100 heavy cruisers it required to launch.

In other words, Anchorage will be able to be unveiled during this mirror-like sea process.

I wonder if the research vessel has anything special about it?

For example, it hurts more when attacking a Siren than when attacking a regular ship girl.

He was a little excited.

Chapter 181 The Upgraded Siren

The fleet traveled by transport ships, and the journey to the second port area of ​​the South Third District, which originally took nearly three hours, was completed in just two hours this time.

The speed seems to have increased, and it actually has, but for those waiting, it's still very slow, like Zhou He:

By this time, Zhou He had been standing on the dock in the ruined port area for about twenty minutes, feeling the wind. Looking at the boundless sea and comparing it to his two transport ships that were moving at a "snail's pace" on the map, he couldn't help but wonder if there were trains and high-speed trains on land before the transmigration, and if there were any fast ships at sea that could be compared to them. He didn't even need a speed of 200 knots, but a speed of 100 knots would be great too.

While waiting, he checked the ships built into the system, but there was nothing he wanted. It seemed that speeding up by sea was not an option. He would wait until he had taken over the surrounding Siren strongholds and then see if he could build an airport to connect them. However, flying over the sea was somewhat dangerous.

"..."

While he was idly lost in thought, he finally spotted two small dark shapes on the horizon. He took out his binoculars and saw that they were indeed his own two transport ships. Not everyone had boarded the ships; there were several destroyers that thought they were fast, such as the fiercely competitive Yukikaze and Yuudachi, who were escorting them.

After being enhanced by the Rubik's Cube, the two little ones could keep up with the 50-knot transport ship, but there were others who ran even faster than them. Cassin and Ayanami even overtook the transport ship, so much so that there were escort destroyers at each of the four corners of the two transport ships. Whether the safety was improved or not is another matter, but the formation looked pretty good.

"Luckily, Ayanami and Cassin aren't the type to join in the fun, otherwise it would have been quite a blow to those cats and dogs."

Zhou He recalled how Yuudachi and Yukikaze had been vying for first place the night before and couldn't help but chuckle.

If we hold competitions at sea in the future, we definitely can't just focus on speed; we need to add other factors, otherwise the advantages and disadvantages will be too obvious.

As the fleet drew closer, he put away his binoculars, skillfully jumped onto the speedboat, and started it up, making a sharp turn at the shore to rejoin the group.

The speedboat was fine when it wasn't running, but the moment it started, it was locked onto by Xuefeng. Xuefeng, riding on the white wolf, didn't have any external reconnaissance equipment, but she could still detect and locate enemies. She looked in the direction where Zhou He was and saw the moving speedboat. She told the other three, "There's a boat approaching. It looks familiar."

"Ah, is that the Commander? I'll go get him."

Upon hearing this, Yuudachi's eyes lit up, and she immediately broke away from the group. Her reaction speed surprised Yukikaze. However, Yukikaze quickly realized that Zhou He had been monitoring and controlling the surrounding waters, and the only ships that could appear in the vicinity without being notified were Zhou He's own vehicles. But Yuudachi's reaction speed was still a bit outrageous, making Yukikaze mutter to herself, "How can this stupid dog be so smart?"

Originally, the transport ship was heading towards the second port area under Hu De's guidance, so Yukikaze didn't deliberately steer it and quickly rendezvoused with Zhou He.

"Your projection can actually move?"

Xuefeng has seen a lot in her life, but she has never seen a technology like Zhou He's that allows him to create a life-size physical projection that can travel around without any equipment.

"This is the first time I've used it like this, and I didn't expect it to actually work."

Zhou He chuckled as he leaned against the stern of the speedboat. After adjusting, the speedboat followed the two large ships to the rear. After selecting the automatic follow function, he ran out to the stern and chatted with the two men, Yukikaze and Yuudachi, one on the left and one on the right.

He's only twenty years old, and he already has both a cat and a dog.

……

As planned, the transport ship stopped at the border of the South Third and Fourth Districts. The crew members disembarked and began to move around and keep watch. The first thing they did after disembarking was to look at Zhou He.

"Commander, is this really a projection? Or did you sneak around from the port area in a speedboat and get in front of us?"

Ruihe moved very close, even poking Zhou He with the sword at his waist, and couldn't help but ask after feeling his physical presence.

Zhou He's face darkened, and he snatched the knife from Ruihe's hand: "When have I ever lied to you? More than that, I hope you can show me some respect. Keep this knife safe."

"Haha, I have no objection. Commander, you can keep it for self-defense."

Ruihe knew her behavior had been impolite; she had let go of the knife the moment Zhou He tried to take it. She chuckled awkwardly, scratched the back of her head, and changed the subject: "So, are we now proceeding with the plan to launch an airstrike on the Sirens base?"

"Yes, Yukikaze, you stay here to hold the line. Nagato and New Jersey, you two lead the team westward. Hood and Bismarck, you lead the team northward, preparing to engage the enemy in a double column formation. Kursk will follow the first team, and Jean Bart will follow the second team. Destroyers and light cruisers will be interspersed in front, followed by heavy cruisers, battlecruisers, and battleships. 556 and 96 will leave the team and lie in wait for the opportunity. Shokaku, Yorktown, and Elbe, you will launch an air raid in this vicinity."

Zhou He glanced at Ruihe for a while before turning his gaze away and beginning to give on-the-spot instructions.

Since transmigrating, he had no intention of commanding battles himself. However, after witnessing the incredible cooperation between different factions within his own camp, he began to wonder if it would be better for him to take command. So, he decided to give it a try this time.

"Yes (I understand)!"

Although it was their first time receiving Zhou He's on-site command, everyone was already used to following his orders. Soon, the two joint teams lined up and spread out in a trumpet shape towards the Sirens base, while the aircraft carriers also spread out by several hundred meters and began to manually launch their carrier-based aircraft.

"Oh, so you can conduct?"

Yukikaze had been in the port for so long, and this was the first time he had seen Zhou He leave the port. He had never seen Zhou He command properly in battles before, so he was quite surprised to see him so in control today.

"I've been a commander for almost two months now, and I've watched you fight at least ten times. If you still can't even handle such basic command, you might as well retire."

Zhou He stood on the boat, his hands resting on Ruihe's sword, and chuckled twice.

After observing the battle for so long, he concluded that the key was to deploy the appropriate forces to their designated positions based on the situation. In reality, such fine-tuning would be difficult to achieve if there was insufficient intelligence. However, with his God-like perspective and the entire map at his fingertips, he could adjust his formation in advance simply by observing the enemy's deployment. As long as the enemy didn't employ mindless swarm tactics like the F2A, there was a possibility of micro-management!

Given the Sirens' behavior of playing like turtles even when being attacked yesterday, the tester will most likely play the same way today. Therefore, the battlefield where he will actually command the battle will be after entering the Mirror Sea.

The two teams, one on the east and one on the west, continued to advance and take their positions. The aircraft carriers' planes had also gathered in considerable numbers. Under the bright red sun, the carrier-based planes, which blotted out the sky, pierced through the clouds and launched an air attack on the black and red fleet that was also arrayed in the distance. Battle was imminent. The anti-aircraft bullet nets fired by the warships were visible to the naked eye even in broad daylight. The piercing alarms and the explosions of bombs fell one after another on the sea. Many bombers directly swooped down to the warships, dropped their bombs, and then ascended, only to be blown up by their wings and tumbled into the sea. Some planes even crashed into the islands due to their angle.

"These guys are really going too far!"

In the base, the tester looked at the constantly fed back battle images with a somber expression. After obtaining permission for the third-generation executors yesterday, she immediately carried out a second upgrade to the executor production line and retrieved the remaining eight carrier executors for modification. They are currently undergoing performance testing in the Mirror Sea area associated with the production line. Unexpectedly, these ship girls couldn't wait to attack again.

But there was no other way. She could only order the carrier-based aircraft from the air force bases around the island to take off and intercept, and urgently dispatch the Chess Master (Type III Executor aircraft carrier) which was undergoing testing to meet the enemy.

—Because the testers failed to launch their air force to intercept the attack immediately, Shoukaku and his group's air raid actually achieved considerable success. Black smoke rose everywhere in the Siren fleet, some of which had been bombed and others smashed, making it look extremely tragic from a distance.

However, soon, as fighter jets took off from the air force base, a group of purple Executors with ship-mounted armor resembling octopuses appeared in the center of the two islands. Each of their tentacles was a runway. Compared to normal chess players, they were a size larger. What was even more unusual was that purple arcs of light would often emerge between their ship-mounted runways, resembling electric currents or flashes of character data.

After a brief pause, the eight temporarily deployed chess players began to see carrier-based aircraft appear on multiple runways. These aircraft were different from the usual black and red fighters in size, specifications, and color. The purplish-red carrier-based aircraft were clearly not to be underestimated, even at a glance.

Each player has eight runways, allowing them to launch eight aircraft at a time. In one round, more than sixty carrier-based aircraft of unusual colors take off, mingling with the black and red fighters at the airbase and encountering the rampaging aerial formations. Large numbers of aircraft intertwine and dance in the air, and air superiority instantly becomes an unknown quantity.

"Something's wrong, there's something wrong with these Sirens' planes! Shokaku-nee, and Yorktown, stop causing trouble, quickly regroup and focus on air combat."

Upon merely encountering the carrier-based aircraft of the three types of chess players, Zuikaku's expression changed. He immediately informed Shoukaku and his group: "These purplish-red aircraft are of exceptionally high performance and quality, and there are many of them. Be careful not to let them tear apart the battle lines."

"Roger that!"

Shoukaku and the others also noticed that Shoukaku and Nagashima felt relatively okay, simply feeling that the Sirens' planes had become tougher and they could still handle them. However, Yorktown, Royal Ark, and Elbe were under immense pressure the moment they engaged in battle, especially Elbe. She had joined the port the latest and could easily handle ordinary planes in 1v1, barely managing a 1:2 kill ratio when she was in good form. Now, facing the Sirens' Type III Chess Players, she couldn't even say she could win in a one-on-one fight against the fighters.

By simply reducing control over bombers and torpedo bombers, Zhou He's carrier group was reduced to only fighter jets flying in the sky in less than ten minutes. Even the air battle line was pushed back. This unusually tense situation made Zhou He realize that something was wrong. He opened the map to observe the Sirens base, but there were too many Sirens piled up together. He could not distinguish the mass-produced models except for the testers.

If it weren't for the projection, he would probably be drenched in sweat by now. If the Sirens gain air superiority, it will be very difficult for them to fight.

Fortunately, as time went on, the number of Sirens' planes began to fall behind, and after forcing Shoukaku and his group to retreat, they stopped pursuing them.

"Experiencing the battlefield firsthand is far more terrifying than you can imagine."

Zhou He instructed Xuefeng to inform Xianghe and the others to cease fire. He then wiped away non-existent sweat from his brow, his heart pounding. He was somewhat panicked. He imagined that Xianghe and the others had failed to stop the Sirens' planes and that the enemy had discovered him. He knew that his mortal body couldn't withstand bullets and shells; a single plane swooping down would send him flying.

It can be said that life and death lie in this seemingly ordinary game, and our own ship girls experience such a game in every battle, and even need to launch attacks while facing enemy shells. Their mental fortitude is too strong, at least ten thousand times stronger.

“Your Highness Zhou He, those Sirens just now were probably upgraded versions of the Executors. Judging from their combat strength, they were at least Type 3.”

Xuefeng, however, remained as calm and collected as ever. She secretly chuckled at Zhou He's flustered state, gave her report based on her experience, and then added:

"According to the intelligence I have, there are four basic models of these executors. After Level III comes Level IV, and above that are special models developed for unique combat situations. One of the models I have encountered is called Nightmare Crystal. It once attacked Shinano, which did not conform to the demise of history, in some test sites that replicated the historical process. It is very powerful and ordinary fleets cannot fight against it."

"This is only type three?"

Zhou He frowned, quickly realizing that this was not the time for idle talk. Since the Sirens' executors had produced three types of aircraft carriers, other three types of ships would soon follow. These guys from the experimental agency, seeing that they couldn't beat him in the basic form, had actually started upgrading their own mass-produced models.

It seems they really want to defend this base and continue to fight him at close range?

"Have Zuikaku and Shoukaku come over here."

After thinking it over, Zhou He spoke to Xuefeng, then relayed the message to New Jersey and Bismarck to assemble, and stood quietly at the stern to wait.

"commander."

The Xianghe sisters arrived together, and Zhou He looked at them and said, "Tell me your feelings about these new Siren aircraft."

"It's a bit troublesome, but I can still handle it."

Zuikaku glanced at Shoukaku and spoke first: "Going all out should be enough to take on two new Siren carriers."

"I can achieve a slight advantage in the same quantity."

Shoukaku then echoed this.

"Is it that strong?"

Zhou He roughly estimated that Ruihe was at the level of a Type 4 Executor, Xianghe was at the level of a Super Type 3, then Yorktown and Royal Ark were close to Type 3, and Yi Bei estimated that they were only at the level of Type 2.

If the carriers are like this, then the others should be similar. Taking Shoukaku as a dividing point, Kaga, who was in the same period, should be able to fight against the Type 3 Sirens. Then Bismarck, Cleveland, Kursk, Yuudachi, and others before that could crush the Type 3, while those after that, such as Huteng, Ashigara, London, etc., would probably be slightly inferior. If we integrate the combat power, the average strength of his fleet is about the same as that of the Type 3 Executor.

How could the tester's assessment of their family's strength be so accurate?