Revisit Azur Lane

"These chess pieces are data life forms that exist in this testing ground. Obtaining the data is equivalent to taking them away."

The purification spirit started saying things that were hard to understand, and Zhou He's head was spinning. Frustrated, he asked, "Is it the same in other test sites?"

"It's different. This is a high-level testing ground, so it consumes a lot of resources to create data lifeforms to ensure that information is not leaked. Low-level testing grounds have no confidentiality value and only deploy low-level pieces. Even if they can awaken, they are just higher-level pieces. It doesn't matter if you take them out with you."

The Purifier explained, but Zhou He still didn't understand. If they could give them to him to take out, then why did Tirpitz and the other awakened chess piece ship girls go to other worlds?

He wanted to say something more, but the information the Purifier brought had exhausted his remaining energy. He couldn't come up with an answer, and everything went dark before his eyes.

……

"commander!?"

As Zhou He's projection faded, Xi Li plopped down in the tent. Her first instinct was to turn around and look for Zhou He, but the tent was already empty, and Zhou He's scent gradually dissipated.

Hearing the sound, Yukikaze outside the tent turned around and lifted the curtain, only to see Yuudachi looking blank. He sighed softly, "He's already gone back."

"what."

Yuudachi then realized that Zhou He had indeed said the projection wouldn't last much longer, so she got up and walked out of the tent, jogging towards the transport boat. She was still thinking about her watermelon!

"This guy…"

Yukikaze didn't know what Yuudachi was doing running off for, but looked at Bismarck and the others: "For the next period of time, His Highness Zhou He may not be able to help with reconnaissance, repairs, and ammunition resupply, so we must be cautious in subsequent operations."

Bismarck nodded, then looked at the carrier-based aircraft taking off in the sky and pointed to the black tower in the island: "The commander said to prioritize finding friendly fleets, but that should be the priority now."

The next second, the carrier-based aircraft dropped a large number of bombs that accurately hit the bottom and middle of the black tower. The huge explosion directly destroyed the entire tower, causing it to collapse like building blocks. The tower body shattered into pieces on the ground, splashing up a lot of dust, and the entire island trembled.

"I agree, but it's normal for the commander to misjudge priorities when he's too tired."

Hu De looked away and smiled faintly in agreement.

Nagato remained silent. She also believed that it was not wise to go to the remaining fleet now. After all, the main force of the Sirens must be attacking them now, and it would not be very effective for her group to go and provide support. It would be better to use them as bait to distract them and take the opportunity to destroy more of the Black Tower and weaken the core strength of the Arbitrator.

Closing the Mirror Sea area is not about rescue, but about annihilation.

"Ugh?"

Purification found their conversation very strange. She got up and rushed to the tent entrance, only to find it empty. Who was there?

'You were just returning it here a moment ago, weren't you?'

The Purifier was a little confused. She was thinking that she would actually be able to meet the mysterious commander this time, but how did he disappear in the blink of an eye?

Suddenly, a hand landed on the Purifier's shoulder, and the latter turned to see Bismarck's stern and imposing face: "It's time to strike. You lead the way."

"Aba Aba."

The Purifier made a strange sound.

Chapter 187 Flat Push is the Truth

In a dormitory room on the third floor of the port area, the young man lying on the bed opened his eyes. What came into his view was the familiar white ceiling. The room was dimly lit, and the afterglow of the setting sun shone through the window and occupied a small corner of the room, so it seemed that it was already evening.

"..."

Zhou He's head was throbbing. He frowned and rubbed his forehead with his palm. He propped himself up on the bed with his other hand and turned his head to see the nurse sitting on his usual wooden chair by the bed, dozing off with her head down.

After staring at Jarvis for a while, Zhou He finally remembered that Jarvis had fallen into a deep sleep after his mental energy was exhausted from projecting outside.

The projection function is better than I expected, but not particularly useful. It's just passable in an emergency, and definitely not suitable for conquering territory.

After figuring things out, his mind cleared up considerably. He looked out the window and opened the system interface. He glanced at the dock and saw that the ship girls who hadn't been injured had green health bars, but what he saw now was a red and black mess. His heart skipped a beat. Without thinking too much, he directly used nearly two hundred supply tokens to complete the 'full supply'. His ship girls hadn't been injured much in the previous sorties, and now he still had nearly one hundred and thirty supply tokens left.

After everyone returned to their posts, Zhou He glanced around and relaxed: 'Thank goodness, no one was lost.'

There were no casualties, and even more personnel. The new members came from the Northern Alliance and were from the Kirov light cruiser, which gave Zhou He a small surprise.

However, the expected list of temporary support ship girls was not in the dock, which puzzled him. He had clearly asked New Jersey and the others to look for the remaining ship girls at the test site, but they hadn't found them all day? Or was there a lack of communication?

Out of curiosity, he opened the map and took a look. He found that the area of ​​this test site was frighteningly large. In the entire day, it was visible to the naked eye that New Jersey and the others had left their original island by nearly two hundred nautical miles. The path to the left and right was lit up, but it still only occupied about one-eighth of the entire map. It was clear that, as the Purifier said, this was indeed a high-level test site, which was more sophisticated than other low-level test sites.

According to the map, his ship girls are currently gathered on an island, seemingly resting. There are no Sirens nearby, but a few distance away, there are organized teams of executors searching back and forth. Among them is even an individual with a separate icon, just like the Purifiers. It is a white-haired girl wearing a white hooded jacket. Sirens are mostly white-haired, so he couldn't recognize who it was.

"Arbitrator? Doesn't seem like it. What's the term for an arbitrator's subordinate again?"

Zhou He muttered to himself that while he was unconscious, his ship girl seemed to have gone through a fierce battle. He had just seen that even Yukikaze's health bar had been reduced quite a bit, so she probably had already fought against such a small boss.

"Commander, you're awake. How are you feeling?"

Jarvis was startled awake by the slight sound and movement. She looked up at Zhou He, then calmly looked away.

"I feel a little dizzy, but otherwise I'm fine..."

Zhou He's expression remained normal. He wasn't wearing any clothes at the moment. Although he didn't know how Jarvis had manipulated him during the projection, Jarvis, being a nurse and practically a doctor, hadn't shown any displeasure, so he didn't need to pretend.

After a brief pause, he rubbed his stomach: "I'm a little hungry, and I don't feel very strong."

"This is a normal reaction. Please rest here while I prepare your meal."

Jarvis grunted in response, got up, walked straight out of the room, and closed the door behind him.

Zhou He also took the opportunity to get out of the warm bedding. He was only wearing a pair of boxer shorts. Although his hands and feet were weak, he still insisted on taking a shower, putting on his clothes, sitting on the chair that had returned to a cool temperature, moving to the desk, and carefully selecting Bismarck to start a video call.

The system interface flickered, and the slightly crowded living room of the transport ship came into his view. However, the angle was a bit off, as half of the view was blocked by the foredeck of the Bismarck. Many people could only see the corner features. The one who could see it more clearly was New Jersey, whose position was right across from the video angle.

Therefore, New Jersey noticed it earlier than anyone else. Her gaze met Zhou He's directly, and she tilted her head slightly, pointing with her finger: "Commander?"

"!?"

Her voice silenced the discussion, and Zhou He took the opportunity to adjust his position, moving from Bismarck's right side to her shoulder. With the increased height, he could see everyone in the meeting, except for Purification, who was leaning against the door like a lackey. The other candidates were all as he had expected.

"You've worked hard on the exploration mission, can someone tell me what's going on?"

Zhou He forced a smile, but he couldn't tell it himself. The people on the other end of the video could clearly sense that he was a little weak. After exchanging glances, they all seemed to want to report back. So New Jersey raised his hand and made a fist, pretending to play rock-paper-scissors. The others understood and started playing rock-paper-scissors together. After a round of competition, Ruihe actually won the championship.

"Hmph, you tell me, Sister Shoukaku."

Zuikaku proudly patted her fist and pushed Shoukaku forward—Shoukaku hadn't participated at all; she had been sitting quietly next to Zuikaku throughout the game. Zuikaku hadn't expected her to push her forward so suddenly. Shoukaku let out a soft gasp, cleared her throat seriously, and stared at Zhou He:

"After the commander left, we quickly set off to begin destroying the Black Spire. On the way, we were attacked by the agents under the Arbitrator Vato. After several battles, we defeated their fleet, but we were severely depleted of ammunition and had to fight and retreat. In the end, we went into hiding here."

"So that's what they call the Agents. There's one less than fifty nautical miles away from where you're hiding."

Zhou He took out his notebook and wrote down the name. He liked Shoukaku's straightforward reporting style, which allowed him to understand the situation instantly. However, he still had to ask, "Did you make any other discoveries along the way, such as the ship girl forces in the test range?"

Hearing Zhou He casually state the enemy's location, everyone present was shocked, followed by an indescribable sense of relief. Xianghe replied, "Following the Purifier's directions, go about a hundred miles to the west and you'll find the 'Royal's' living base."

“Even if they are data lifeforms, the Royal Navy, as a maritime power, should not have been completely wiped out in such a short time. Shoukaku, you guys fly over there in the plane after dark, and I’ll check the situation.”

Zhou He nodded slightly, indicating that he would proceed according to the plan. After receiving the reply, he inquired about the strength of the agents, wondering how even Xuefeng had lost health.

"The Proxy's machine strength is higher than that of the Type 3 Executor, and they have quite troublesome abilities. The Proxy that fought us looks like an octopus. She can use electromagnetic interference and sonic attacks. According to Yuudachi, she lost control of her ship equipment in an instant. After being attacked by sonic waves, she was dizzy and disoriented. The sudden contact caused us a great loss."

At this point, Shoukaku frowned: "The Purifier said she didn't know the abilities of these Agents, and Yukikaze said it was her first time fighting these guys. Fortunately, Yukikaze withstood the attack and charged into the fray to defeat the Agent, and there were no casualties."

"Is the intelligence poor?"

Zhou He clicked his tongue and wrote down the line "Octopus Agent, electromagnetic and sonic abilities, restricts ship equipment to cause confusion" in his notebook. He then read it aloud. He could imagine the red price behind the black text. If his front line hadn't become tough and resilient after its numerical growth, it would probably have been killed by Chu Jian.

As expected of a subordinate body to the arbitration body, they're incredibly difficult to deal with. He frowned: "How many agents are there?"

"There are only ten at the moment, but it is unknown whether Vato will continue production."

Shoukaku rested his hands on his lap, his face serious: "Commander, these agents are very dangerous. If we can't eliminate them first, I'm afraid we'll have a hard time defeating that core."

"Yes, let the Purifier come and talk to me."

Zhou He nodded and looked at the henchman, Purification, at the door. The latter had been eavesdropping and, before Xiang He and the others could speak, she strode over, making a show of herself. Zhou He glanced at her and said, "I won't ask you about the Proxy's abilities. Can these individuals be mass-produced at any time?"

“No, the agents are made by Vato herself over a long period of time. More than the materials, they consume her database. After these agents are defeated, the data will return to her through the Black Tower and other means before she can continue making them. It takes about one day to make one agent.”

Purification tried to open her eyes wide, trying to see through the shadows obscuring Zhou He's face in the video, but to no avail. Frustrated, she gritted her teeth. From the reactions of these ship girls, she could tell that what they saw was completely different from what she saw. Why couldn't she see the commander's face clearly when looking at the same screen?

"Don't bother. As long as you harbor ill intentions towards me, you'll never see what I look like."

Zhou He looked at the Purifier, wanting to ask if her eyes were dry, but he didn't have the energy to joke around. He could only give her a serious warning. After thinking about it, he realized that the core of the test site could produce one Agent every day. That meant the octopus Agent that Xuefeng and the others defeated tomorrow would be resurrected. He wondered if these Agents had their own consciousness. If they could grow and then coordinate their attacks, that would be troublesome.

"If we're going to fight a protracted war, the testing grounds are Vato's home turf. It would be best to nip her in the bud before she has gathered all the intelligence we need."

Thinking about this, Zhou He felt his dizziness getting worse. He had no choice but to hold his forehead with his hand and rub it. He looked at Xiang He and asked, "Were you discussing strategies for dealing with the enemy earlier?"

"Yes!"

Shoukaku answered quickly, while New Jersey next to her hesitated, then shook her head regretfully. She never thought she would lose at rock-paper-scissors!

"With the commander absent, our ammunition and injuries could not be healed, and we were outnumbered in the fight against the Sirens. Now that you are awake, commander, we are thinking of taking this opportunity to launch an attack and find the main Sirens fleet."

Zhou He nodded at Xiang He's words, but it was already late. It was more suitable for reconnaissance than to launch an attack. Carrier-based aircraft could not detect much at night, but as long as he could move around the map, he could observe the movements of both sides through the system. Even if he could not gain an information advantage, he could at least be on the same level as Vato.

He glanced at the Purifiers but didn't say anything, only grunted, "You've been on the move all day. Take a good rest tonight and we'll talk about the attack when it's light."

"Yes."

Xianghe responded, and Zhou He smiled and looked at the others: "Alright, you can all say what you have to say together. Don't make such hasty decisions next time."

"what!"

New Jersey exclaimed as if she had been liberated: "Commander, you just said there's another Agent nearby. Let's go take her out now. It can affect the enemy's plans and also relieve some of the pressure on the other surviving ship girls."

"This is indeed a problem. Purifier, tell me, are there any survivors at the Royal Base?"

Zhou He nodded, but night was approaching and his family needed to rest. What if he killed two agents in a row and made Vato anxious, and the army approached to encircle and annihilate them?

"When I came here, there was still a group of people, but I don't know now. However, there are two agent teams around here, and they are likely still survivors. Otherwise, they would have been transferred away long ago. The most troublesome stronghold is the White Eagle side. Many survivors from the defeated bases have run there."

Purification shook his head, then proceeded with a seemingly serious analysis.

After two trips, she had become adept at infiltrating Zhou He's group and even had a chance of being allowed to offer advice!

"Then let's deal with that proxy. Gather the team, and after we've taken care of the proxy, we'll quickly approach the Royal Base. The food I left you is only enough for two days, and you'll need to find other logistics."

Zhou He made a decision. Although he had a headache, he had just slept for a whole day and couldn't continue sleeping. At least until midnight, he could help guard the supply lines, which would be enough time for his ship girls to reach the Royal Navy base.

The reason he was in such a hurry to find survivors was that as long as he could turn the survivors into his temporary ship girls, he could directly repair and resupply them. When his fleet and the temporary fleet cooperated, it wouldn't be as simple as 1+1. If there were enough people, they could even directly push back the Sirens.

He's tired of using his brain; he prefers and excels at taking a straightforward, step-by-step approach.

"Order!"

New Jersey suddenly stood up, his tall figure startling Purification Priest to take a few steps back. The cadres in the experimental agency were all short, and tall people like New Jersey were usually in the arbitration agency, so there was a natural sense of fear when they were face to face at close range.

"Only with the commander around can we truly unleash our full potential."

Hood watched New Jersey leave and said with a slight smile, "This is especially true for White Eagle members like New Jersey; they are more accustomed to warfare with strong logistical support."