Revisit Azur Lane

Chapter 182 A Brand New Testing Ground

"The Sirens' fleet is undergoing a transformation, but even if they complete the transformation, they may not be able to defeat us. Since things have come to this, let's proceed according to plan, deal with the Mirror Sea first, and then come back to deal with them!"

Waiting for his fleet to gather, Zhou He gave his assessment with a serious expression.

If it were according to his usual practice, he would have ordered his fleet to turn back by now. However, he now has Yukikaze as his trump card. He is confident that he can defeat even Type III or Type IV Executors. This is not blind confidence, but a judgment based on his analysis of Yukikaze's combat performance.

Even if she's not a capital ship, as a meta-level ship girl, her combat power is still far ahead when facing the fleet models of the experimental agency. It's possible for her to single-handedly destroy a fleet of thirty or forty warships. With the assistance of her teammates and her ability to repair and resupply without delay, she can easily escape unscathed, if not annihilate the enemy.

If he chooses to retreat now, he will lose the opportunity to explore the mirror-like waters of this archipelago for at least a month. But by then, winter will have arrived, and he cannot allow his fleet to set sail in the cold wind. If the system can really make it snow on the island, the battle will be delayed again. Who knows what kind of black technology the Sirens will use to ambush him during such a long time?

'Can this be considered a rapidly changing battle situation?'

As Zhou He gazed at the girls surrounding the speedboat, his understanding of war deepened.

After getting the answer, he didn't say anything more. Instead, he immediately ordered the fleet to set sail and continue south. After about half an hour, the distance between them and the Sirens base increased to nearly a hundred miles. Then, everyone boarded the ship and began to rush towards the archipelago port area.

In the Siren base—

"Ha, it would take me some effort to return now, but you still dare to explore the Mirror Sea. You're just asking for trouble."

The tester observed Zhou He and his group's movements, chuckled, and did not send troops to intercept them.

The situation is different now than yesterday. Yesterday, she and the observer could only use the basic fleet to fight back, and the enemy was strong while they were weak. Now, she can use the Type III Executors. Based on the aerial battle just now, it can be judged that the strength of these ship girls is equivalent to that of the Type III.

Furthermore, with the agents about to arrive, their objectives are twofold: first, to clear out the singularities, and second, to reclaim the out-of-control Mirror Sea. Zhou He and his group entering the Mirror Sea now is tantamount to walking into a trap, and once the agents arrive, they can be wiped out in one fell swoop.

"Are they just a new force, treating the Type 3 Executors as our all-out force?"

After a gloomy expression for more than half a month, the tester finally straightened up and began ordering the executors on the periphery of the base to return to the base for modification.

Even if the experiments in this testing ground can't handle them, once the Agent XIV arrives, there's only one possibility for this group: they'll perish at sea.

……

Two transport boats and a speedboat sped across the sea, while the sun in the sky slowly set in the west as time passed. Zhou He and his group finally arrived at their destination.

“Commander, if we go any further, we will be ‘sucked’ into the Mirror Sea. Many of the reconnaissance planes we sent out earlier have lost contact after entering. This place may be a small world of similar size to the one that was the Ominous.”

Upon arrival at their destination, everyone disembarked and gathered around Zhou He to exchange information. Zuikaku was the one speaking, while Shokaku and several other aircraft carriers nearby gave the same response.

"In that case, proceed with caution. Yukikaze, Yuudachi, Z23, Hermione, and Kursk, you will be the vanguard. Hood Tosa, Bismarck, Shoukaku, and Zuikaku, the five of you will enter two minutes later. If you encounter the enemy, you should first draw their attention and avoid the point where we enter. The rest of you, maintain formation and enter in five minutes."

After a moment's thought, Zhou He gave his instructions. He looked at the group of people who were listening attentively and said, "After marching for so long, everyone must be a little hungry. But now is not the time to cook. Let's charge in and establish a foothold before we resupply."

"it is good!"

Yuudachi raised both hands in agreement, and Javelin and Z23 also indicated that they understood. Among the crowd, the destroyers were the ones who were most supportive of Zhou Hechang. The rest of the people were more concerned about how to deal with the unknown enemy than about eating.

After the assignments were made, the operation began on time. After saying goodbye to Zhou He with a smile, Yuudachi accompanied Xuefeng, who was riding a wolf, and the other three people who were named approached the Mirror Sea. When they reached about fifty meters in front of the transport ship, they suddenly disappeared from the spot.

"We've set off too."

Five main battleships, including Hood, followed closely behind and entered the Mirror Sea area while the rest of the fleet took their positions.

At this moment, Zhou He stood on the side of the speedboat, watching the place where they disappeared. He glanced at the crew members who did not show any signs of low health, and then manually controlled the two transport boats to move forward through the system. The speedboat, which was set to follow the two boats, also moved forward slowly.

"Stay close to the commander."

New Jersey was positioned very close to Zhou He's speedboat, only about thirty meters away. Hu Teng was at the same distance as her. The two of them replaced Yuudachi and Yukikaze, leading the team to protect Zhou He's speedboat from the left and right respectively. Kaga, who was left behind, was very dissatisfied and led the team with Jintsu to protect the transport boat on the left, while Royal Ark and London protected the transport boat on the right. The group advanced towards the Mirror Sea in a roughly circular formation and quickly entered it.

Surrounded in the middle, Zhou He felt incredibly safe—that should be the case, but he was still a little flustered. Although his ship girls had already conquered several Mirror Sea test sites, this was the first time he had actually entered one. Fortunately, this body was a mental projection, which made him flustered but not panicked.

Sitting in the speedboat, he watched the ships and people disappear one by one. As he was about to enter the Mirror Sea area, he opened his eyes wide, trying to observe the transition from the Great World to the Small World. However, there was no cutscene at all, and the light in front of him did not change in the slightest. He had already rejoined the fleet in front of him.

The sun was high in the sky, the sound of the sea churning was still noisy, and the perceived temperature was the same.

"Come in now?"

Zhou He vaguely heard the cries of seagulls. He looked up and saw a small black dot in the distance. His gaze shifted to the system map, which, as expected, had turned into a large, dark map. It was commendable that the two veteran aircraft carriers (?) who had entered earlier, Shoukaku and Zuikaku, had already begun aerial reconnaissance. Parts of the map around him had been lit up, including the small black dot in the distance—it was an island, but not entirely an island.

On the system map, the island shows signs of infrastructure construction, with a black spire in the center that resembles the Dark Tower from Digimon Adventure 2.

"A Sirens stronghold?"

Zhou He found the island texture very familiar, as if he had seen it in a game before.

However, since he had a sense of déjà vu, he could be certain that it was the work of the Sirens. He just didn't know what role the tower played.

As for other directions, no significant discoveries have been made so far.

"Commander, there's a place over there that looks like a Sirens outpost. Should we go there?"

Ruihe ran over from a distance to report to Zhou He, who simply nodded and said, "Approach them. If there are enemies, fight them; if there are no enemies, don't attack for now."

His goal in entering the Mirror Sea is to explore and close it down so he can get the mission reward. So what he needs to do at this stage is to gather as much intelligence as possible, figure out the general situation in this test site, and then go on a killing spree.

Perhaps there will be ship girl teams that randomly join the fray, just like the Eagle Union fleet did before?

He was wary of the unknown environment, but also harbored a sliver of hope that if he were lucky enough to have locals help him in this small world, he could get things done much more efficiently.

Fantasy is beautiful, but reality is cruel. As the fleet approached Black Tower Island, his aircraft carriers discovered the Sirens. These Sirens were all Executors, and not basic ones. They were radiating a technological blue light. They even appeared in formation, not just wandering around, but heading straight for them.

"These are at least Type II executors. Don't take them lightly. Go all out to eliminate them."

Zhou He began to assign his troops. There were a total of 36 executors coming over, in three single columns. There were six from the aircraft carrier, six from the battleship, and the rest were mixed front-line troops. Before the enemy could launch their carrier-based aircraft, he ordered the Shuanghe to take the lead and then divided his own troops into four single columns to encircle them.

The battle was imminent. These executors reacted with surprising agility. When attacked by air, they immediately changed formation into a circle to defend, protecting the aircraft carrier in the center. Then, the battleships and the front ranks mixed together to launch a counterattack around the perimeter.

"There must be a commander behind this group of Sirens. Is it the Purifier?"

Zhou He could clearly see the change in formation on the map. Fortunately, the enemy only had six Type II aircraft carriers, while his own fleet also had six. This was a rare 1v1 duel in several months, and the number of people in this fleet was similar to the number of people he had brought.

As the battle began, Yukikaze charged ahead, single-handedly leading a charge into the Sirens' lines and tearing them apart. A few shots shattered a battleship, and even the wolves beneath her killed two Sirens' destroyers during the charge. Yukikaze's stats were now close to what they were when she went berserk, but her mental state was stable and her stats were explosive. In skirmishes, she was all about raw power.

With air strikes and numerical monster attacks, this Type II Executor fleet collapsed at the first contact and was wiped out in less than half an hour. This is also the difference between Executors and mass-produced types. Mass-produced warships are large enough and very durable, while Executors are humanoid and agile, but they will die after taking two shots head-on, and the margin for error is lower.

"They swept through."

Zhou He felt reassured. With Xue Feng there, the enemy's lines would be disrupted, and the others could follow up to catch up with the entire Siren fleet.

Unfortunately, no ship girls dropped this time, but he wasn't disappointed because Anchorage in the research system only requires 21 heavy cruisers to unlock.

After the battle, Zhou He led his men to quickly evacuate the scene. The aircraft carrier continued reconnaissance, while the fleet approached Black Tower Island. From a distance, it looked like a large black dot, but as it got closer, the island grew larger and larger, with an area estimated to be in square kilometers. There were traces of infrastructure in the flat areas around the island, with various spires extending into the depths of the island. There were many houses and even ships, but no troops were stationed there; it was an airport.

"So extravagant, what's the point of this thing?"

Looking at the clean and beautiful infrastructure in front of him, Zhou He couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement. If he had such a harbor, even if it was not defensible, he would still have to send people to guard it. It was just left empty here. What a shameful waste!

"It should have a function similar to a signal station."

Yukikaze looked around and then asked the others beside him, "Were your communication capabilities not interfered with?"

"No."

Having just fought a battle, Yuudachi was somewhat excited. Pointing to the airport in front of her, she asked, "Can this be used as our temporary base?"

"...It's possible, but we need to see if the tower has monitoring capabilities."

Yukikaze found it strange. In other worlds, the communication capabilities of ship girls are often intercepted or blocked by the Sirens, who use this as a means of tampering. However, this group of ship girls from Zhou He's family has never experienced such a situation. They don't even need a base station and can directly conduct long-distance communication over hundreds of nautical miles, which is somewhat cheating.

"Let's go up and take a look."

New Jersey volunteered to point to the spire, then looked at Hood and the others: "Do you know how to control the Sirens' electronic systems? I don't."

"Hermione, go there."

Hood remained expressionless. She had also learned a couple of moves, but didn't want to show off, so she handed the task over to Hermione, who readily accepted: "I understand."

Afterwards, Hermione applied to Zhou He for permission, and Zhou He agreed, entrusting the task of exploring the Spire to the White Eagle members in New Jersey, since the Sirens all used Eagle script, and the developers of the Sirens in the game seemed to be from the White Eagle, so they were from the same lineage.

Seeing that the group from New Jersey had landed first, Zhou He thought for a moment and turned his head: "Go to London and help Hermione keep an eye on things."

"it is good."

London followed behind Hude, while Zhou He looked around and then gave Kursk instructions directly through the dock: investigate the energy source of this airport.

At the same time, he ordered Zuikaku, Shokaku, Royal Ark, and Elbe to conduct reconnaissance in four directions around the island to ensure the safety of the surrounding area.

Before long, Zhou He's speedboat docked at the shore. This place didn't seem like a wartime supply depot or a development zone. There were no cranes or cargo containers around the dock, only two makeshift warehouses. The overall feeling was more like a place for a leisurely vacation.

Why would the Sirens build a resort-style port? Are there a lot of intelligent Sirens here?

Zhou He led his team to observe the area twice and instinctively felt something was amiss. In ordinary mirror-like seas, Sirens' bases were either military fortresses for production or for resource collection, but here there was an idle Siren airport, which was enough to prove that the contents of this test site were very unusual.

'Is the Purifier trapped here? Can we let her be the mole again?'

Without telling anyone his thoughts, Zhou He found an open space after patrolling the area twice and began setting up a temporary kitchen.

Put everything else aside for now; making a living is the priority.

Oh, it seems his body doesn't need food, but his main body in the port does. He can't cancel the projection right now; he needs to figure out the situation at this test site first. Luckily, besides Jarvis, Akashi is also in the port. They should be able to get him some nutrients to barely keep his main body afloat these next couple of days.

We need to resolve this matter as soon as possible.

Zhou He felt the pressure.

Chapter 183 Surrounded

The test site also has a day-night cycle, something Zhou He had already experienced in the Ominous Realm instance. He never imagined that in just a few days, he would once again enter the highly challenging Mirror Sea.

"Time here seems to be synchronized with the outside, but the space itself is independent."

Zhou He looked up at the sky. The moon was incredibly round, and its scattered light was brighter than the outside world, turning the whole world into a silvery white. Only around the campfire where flames were rising in the open space did the color appear slightly normal.

Despite Zhou He's apparent interest in gazing at the sky, he had just finished cooking. When he decided to use the projector to follow the team, he was full of confidence, acting as the logistics manager. However, he never imagined that his ship girls had already reached an astonishing thirty-plus. Even with the help of people like Enterprising Javelin Z23, he had been busy from the afternoon until after seven o'clock when night fell, barely managing to feed the twenty-plus girls who were exploring nearby.

The group from New Jersey who had been sent out to explore the purpose of the Black Tower hadn't eaten yet, and he figured they should be back soon, so he quickly started cooking. This meal cost him fifteen Home Coins. He'd never seen them eat this much at home before.

Fortunately, the projection doesn't cause him any physical fatigue. After being busy for so long, he only feels mentally exhausted. The projection is quite energy-consuming, and he doesn't know if he can recover by sleeping.

"Commander, they're back."

After a long day of travel, most of the ship girls sat around the campfire to rest and chat after a meal. Only a few destroyers that Zhou He had specifically mentioned were on guard duty nearby. The one who ran back to report to him was Ayanami. Zhou He nodded to her and then looked into the distance. Because the moonlight was bright, he could see a group of figures moving down from a higher altitude. Although he couldn't make out their faces, there was no one else there.

"I wonder if we'll make any discoveries."

After seeing Ayanami off, Zhou He glanced at the crowd gathered around the campfire. Only at times like this could he truly feel that his ship girls were just some special girls, not humanoid weapons born to fight.

Everyone was waiting for the news from New Jersey and the others. After all, the aircraft carriers like Shokaku had only obtained one piece of information from their exploration: there were Black Tower Islands just a few dozen nautical miles away, in all four directions, and there were also Black Tower Islands in the northeast and northwest, but they were much farther away.

Although they didn't know what purpose this arrangement served, they could sense that something was amiss.