Revisit Azur Lane

He explained, and Kursk ate quietly until Zhou He finished speaking before she spoke up, succinctly saying, "What should I do?"

"The focus of this operation is Zuikaku. After her air raid is successful, the Sirens will definitely retaliate and approach. I plan to have Hood and Tosa intercept them, while Hermione and Yuudachi will be further ahead to draw their attention. Kursk, you can go and support the two of them, or you can open up the battlefield on your own."

Zhou He shared his thoughts. Although his side had fewer men, their fighting strength was not weak. They could fight guerrilla warfare or regular skirmishes. Considering the morale of Hu De and Tosa, he decided to set up a battle formation and fight.

"Yeah, I know."

Kursk didn't react much, a reaction that Zhou He found somewhat frustrating. Kursk was too distant, and even if he wanted to have more conversations with him, he didn't have much to say. He took a breath and said, "There's one more thing. Regarding the upcoming operational meetings, would you like to listen in via video?"

"..."

Kursk paused for a moment. She was just not good at dealing with people, not unreasonable. She naturally understood that her personality and habits had caused Zhou He a lot of trouble: "Can other people see me?"

"No way."

Zhou He had never tried using video capabilities in front of others. As he spoke, he activated the system and opened a video call with Yuuri unilaterally. In the familiar room, Yuuri was rolling around on the bed with her blanket, her lively energy was overwhelming. This reminded him of how Yuuri had slept quietly for the first two nights, and he couldn't help but smile.

"commander?"

Yuudachi quickly noticed Zhou He's spying, and lying on the bed, she tilted her head and looked at Zhou He with great pleasure: "Is there something you need?"

"It's nothing, I just wanted to see you, Yuudachi."

He was quite at ease when facing Yuudachi Shugo, and chatting with him was effortless, though he didn't know why.

After chatting for a while, Yuudachi finally agreed to end the video call. Zhou He looked at Kursk, who was already washing dishes, and asked, "How was it? Can you see Yuudachi?"

"can not see."

Kursk put the washed dishes aside, turned to look at Zhou He, and a subtle emotion appeared on his usually calm face: "This is just my personal suggestion, Commander, you'd better not chat with the people in the video in front of others, it looks strange."

Even someone as lonely as her wouldn't be so carefree as to chat and laugh with thin air. Zhou He's behavior just now, even if she knew the truth about the video call, still gave her a sense of absurdity.

"Ahem, I get it."

Zhou He guessed something and barely managed to keep a straight face: "Then, Kursk, you will participate in meetings via video from now on. You can tell me directly if you have any thoughts during the meeting. I guess you can't hear me, right?"

"it is good."

Kursk did not resist any longer. She could have listened in by the door, but she preferred Zhou He's approach. After speaking, she paused for a few seconds and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Commander."

"This is a trivial matter, not worth mentioning."

Zhou He was already very satisfied with just one sentence from him. He drank the water in his glass in one gulp, smiled and waved to Kursk: "Get some rest, see you tomorrow."

After watching Zhou He leave, Kursk turned off the lights, walked out of the command post, and stood on the concrete road looking up at the sky.

……

Having had a rare chat with Kursk, Zhou He slept soundly until the next morning. As dawn broke, he got up, went to his office, took out paper and pen, and began to observe the movement and numbers of the Siren fleet in the west. He also checked the other areas, sketching out the Sirens' planned route of movement, determining the theoretically best interception positions for Tosa and Hood, and the harassment routes for Yuudachi and Hermione.

After a series of repairs, the sky outside gradually brightened, and the sun slowly rose into the sky.

"All right."

After repeatedly confirming the system map, Zhou He took the hand-drawn strategic map downstairs.

"Commander! Good morning."

Yuudachi seemed to have been waiting for a long time. Upon seeing Zhou He, she couldn't wait to greet him. Zhou He smiled and responded, then reached out to pat her hair before turning to the kitchen dining area. The kitchen was filled with the enticing aroma of bread. At the table, Hood was enjoying a Western breakfast while drinking milk, and Tosa and Zuikaku were also given bread and fried eggs.

"The breakfast options are much more plentiful now."

After greeting the others, Zhou He went into the kitchen to check the inventory. Rice porridge, soaked rice noodles, steamed buns and bread, fried eggs and side dishes—all prepared by Hermione by herself. He was a little shocked and couldn't help but ask Hermione in a low voice what time she got up.

"Hmm, a little earlier than the Commander."

Hermione, wearing a warm yellow apron, winked playfully as she answered.

"It's more than just a little. I know Hermione wants to help everyone better, but you also need to get some rest."

Zhou He didn't believe such polite words and frowned slightly: "From now on, we should prepare breakfast in the simplest way, or make it to order. It's okay to make them wait a little longer. We don't lack time."

"Follow your orders~"

Hermione smiled, her eyes narrowing: "What would you like to eat today, Commander?"

"steamed stuffed bun."

Zhou He took out a plate and began to choose breakfast. He had already said what he wanted to say, but the specifics still depended on Hermione's own arrangements. Even as a commander, he couldn't force his ship girl to do or not do anything.

After choosing his breakfast, Zhou He went out and joined the others eating. Once he was full, Zhou He used the dining table as a conference table, took out the strategic map he had drawn, and explained his ideas to Hu De and the other two.

"Of course, I am not a professional, so all I can offer are these theoretical points. You will need to handle the specific situations yourself based on the changes on site."

Since Hu De was with them this time, Zhou He put on extra armor for himself.

Meanwhile, Hood was carefully observing the hand-drawn map that Zhou He had taken out. Even someone as knowledgeable as her couldn't help but click her tongue in amazement. Zhou He's method was far from radar-based enemy detection; it was practically a god's-eye view. Apart from the unknown situation of the aircraft carrier fleet, he had a clear picture of the Sirens in other locations, including their numbers, types, formations, and movements.

She could say bluntly that, with the diagrams drawn by Zhou He, anyone with even a little tactical knowledge could command this battle without losing.

"The commander always gives me the credit, I feel so embarrassed."

When Zuikaku saw the picture, he also laughed.

She was initially a little worried that her carrier-based aircraft might be detected on their way to the air raid, but looking at this picture, her formation could fly straight through without being detected, as there were no Sirens passing by in a straight line!

"It's not too late to say such things after we win the war."

Tosa glanced at her, stood up and walked towards the door. Zuikaku got up with a smile, followed her, and patted Tosa on the back: "Good luck, even if you don't get the first credit, you can still get the second."

"Commander, will you be able to continue monitoring the Sirens' movements in real time?"

Hu De didn't rush to leave. Instead, he went to Zhou He to confirm the matter. After receiving a positive reply, he felt somewhat conflicted.

"Any questions?"

Zhou He noticed that Hu De's mood was a bit off, so he humbly asked for his advice.

"It's nothing. Commander, please be careful at home alone. Let us know if anything happens."

Hood shook his head slightly, stood up, pressed one hand on the table and earnestly instructed Zhou He, then took the map and turned to leave. Zhou He scratched his head and went into the kitchen to help Hermione prepare the tableware.

Half an hour later, Zhou He accompanied Hu De and the other four to the edge of the bay. After a brief exchange, he watched them leave.

"Speaking of which, Kursk might have already set off ahead of us, right?"

Zhou He took two steps back, opened the map, and sure enough, Kursk had already left the area covered by the command post and had left the port area at least an hour ago. This made him a little scratchy, since he had given the map to Hood and couldn't show it to Kursk.

Forget it, I'll just call out her positions when we're engaged in battle.

……

Zhou He hadn't calculated Zuikaku's combat radius in detail, but it was at least 300 nautical miles. The target of this air raid was a little over 100 nautical miles from the port area. Theoretically, they could be bombed right at their doorstep. However, considering the speed at which the aircraft arrived at the battlefield, Zuikaku followed behind Hu De and the others to minimize the distance between themselves and the target.

"Tosa, have you reached the designated location?"

At this moment, Zuikaku stands alone in the vast sea, and from the air, one might not even notice her presence unless they look closely.

“I’ve arrived. Tosa is a little slower. Time waits for no one. Zuikaku, you can begin.”

Before Tosa could reply, Hood gave her answer first—as a battlecruiser, Hood was much faster than the battleship Tosa, and even faster than the heavy cruiser Kursk.

"understood."

Zuikaku did not immediately launch its carrier-based aircraft. Instead, she first used a reconnaissance aircraft to fly forward to ensure that the intelligence provided by Zhou He was correct and that there were no enemies along the air attack route before she condensed light points and launched the fighter jets. However, as soon as she took action, she received an order from Zhou He, and her expression immediately became subtle.

Zhou He, far away in the command post, was also feeling a bit awkward. He had just told Ruihe not to worry about the plane recovery and to just ram the aircraft carrier if the bombing failed. Only after sending out the message did he suddenly remember that this method of combat originated in Sakura Empire and was not very humane.

After a moment's hesitation, he opened the video and saw Zuikaku with a determined expression. He explained, "Zuikaku, I didn't express myself clearly just now. What I meant was that if your fighter jet is damaged in wartime, I can immediately replenish it with a fully loaded fighter jet so that you can launch continuous attacks."

"Ah, so that's it."

Zuikaku noticed and heard it, and her expression softened. She rolled her eyes at Zhou He, annoyed, and said, "You should have said something earlier. I thought you had discovered that the enemy had more than one aircraft carrier."

"My mine."

Zhou He quickly admitted his mistake, breathed a slight sigh of relief, and said in a deep voice, "This is the biggest battle our port area has ever faced so far, and I hope we can win it in one battle."

"Hmph~ Do you even know who you're talking to?"

Ruihe raised her eyebrows, her eyes sparkling with confidence: "Just you wait and see, there's no mission in this world that I can't complete!"

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Tower Opens!

The orderly formation of fighter jets weaved through the clouds like flocks of migratory birds. Despite being noisy and outdated propeller planes, they possessed performance far exceeding their appearance, leaving white trails of air in their wake. Overlooking the endless sea, and the massive, dark red fleet in a circular formation, in a defensive posture.

"The air raid has reached the enemy ships, detecting one aircraft carrier, one battleship, four heavy cruisers, and light cruisers..."

As Zuikaku piloted the aircraft, her mind raced, processing the intelligence relayed back by the planes and relaying it to Hood, Tosa, and Hermione. Finally, she lowered her voice and said, "All ships, take your positions. The battle begins."

Raising the field of vision to a radius of a hundred miles, one can see tiny figures moving on the sea, almost invisible, divided into three sequences. Directly opposite them are massive warships, more than five times their size. The swooping fighter jets are the key to everything. The moment the anti-aircraft guns roar, the distance between the two sides is infinitely reduced.

……

"what is this?"

To facilitate the immediate deployment of the newly constructed ship girls using the Rubik's Cube into the battlefield, Zhou He did not return to his office. Instead, he sat on the steps at the entrance of the command department. At this moment, his brows were slightly furrowed as he gazed at the western battlefield, at the fogged area that had not been scouted and explored yesterday.

An island, and a black vortex beside it.

He didn't know what the sea looked like in Ruihe's eyes, but in the system's map, the Siren carrier was located at the very center of the vortex, which was even spinning, looking extremely eerie.

Are there similar things in the open world of the game?

The answer is yes. At the very center of the game's world map is a huge vortex. The closer you get to the vortex, the stronger the sirens become. But that vortex is the very foundation of the game's world module. The small vortex in front of him is clearly not such a high-level thing.

As Zhou He watched the Sirens fleet move and change on the map, he suddenly thought of the Sirens' signature technology, 'Mirror Sea'. This technology is quite common in game activities, and its concept is also quite complex. It can refer to an independent world that feels like entering a crack in the world, or it can refer to a real area that simply interferes with your perception and forms an abnormal magnetic field.

In the game, this is a versatile technology, and the Sirens use it most often to create "testing grounds" for experiments with unclear purposes. In the game's storyline, the experimenter-level Sirens can perform a large-scale "reboot" of the player's "reality." If we delve deeper, the world in the game is very likely also the Sirens' testing ground.

In addition, the game's official event storyline is a complete mess, resulting in a truly open-world view where one person's guess makes sense, and another person's guess also makes sense.

That concludes the discussion. The Mirror Sea is like a random Easter egg; once you enter, you might encounter anything. If you're lucky, you might even run into a few stranded meta ships and bring them back as family heirlooms.

"So, this is the entrance to a mirror-like sea?"

Having arrived in the real ship girl world, Zhou He naturally wouldn't rely entirely on the unverifiable information from the game. However, since the system marked this place, it must have its purpose. Even if he had stumbled into that so-called hidden sea area, it was still a type of mirror sea area.