Revisit Azur Lane

Zhou He didn't have any particular opinions or conspiracy theories about the system he possessed, because the world view of Azur Lane itself was a cluster of advanced technologies. Compared with the advanced technologies of the Sirens, his system felt like it was completely outclassed.

Once Akashi and the other research and development ship girls join the port, his system will probably only have logistics and enhancement functions left.

"I feel like I've seen the idea of ​​growing vegetables by absorbing energy from the air somewhere before. I wonder if the technology in this world can make it happen."

After closing the unusable research interface, Zhou He closed his eyes. In the game, Akashi was like Doraemon, able to pull out anything. When Akashi arrived, he would definitely take good care of her and nurture her, and not let her become the kind of unscrupulous paint merchant in the game.

Soon after, Kursk appeared leisurely in the sunset. Its massive ship rigging blocked the sunlight, and the shadows covered part of Kursk's body, giving it a three-dimensional beauty.

"commander."

Kursk stepped ashore, her coat slightly torn but not seriously damaged. She approached Zhou He and said, “I briefly observed the ruins of the buildings on that island from the air. It looks like an abandoned combat base, and it hasn’t been there long. The buildings are well preserved, and with a little repair, it might be ready for immediate use.”

"what?"

Zhou He's gaze sharpened. He could roughly guess that it was a combat base, but the fact that the 'abandonment time was not long' made him very concerned. This meant that normal humans existed in this world and had already expanded and explored this area, but the plan was ruined by the Sirens?

He might be able to obtain contact information from the outside world from that base—he doesn't need the original host from the outside world, but he desperately needs information about the situation in this world, the extent of the war between the Sirens and humans, and so on, as this will directly affect his future expansion plans.

"No, it cannot be confirmed at this time that it is a base built by humans."

Composing himself, Zhou He looked up at Kursk and said, "I can't go there to investigate for the time being, so I'm counting on you."

"Ah."

Kursk wasn't opposed to it; she quite liked this kind of solo mission. However, as if thinking of something, she frowned slightly and said, "Commander, the waters near that island give me a very strange feeling. I hope that no one else will go there to carry out a mission before I find out the truth."

"Was it your hunter's instincts that sensed danger?"

Zhou He's heart skipped a beat. Did Kursk have a glimpse into the Mirror Sea? Everyone else had passed through there, but only Kursk had noticed it—or did the others have a similar feeling but didn't realize the danger and therefore didn't pay attention?

"You could say that; I didn't have a good feeling about that place."

Kursk turned to look into the distance, her eyes somewhat solemn. At that time, she was clearly in the empty sea, yet she had a strong sense of being in a hunting ground. After moving away, everything returned to normal. She was certain that something was wrong over there.

"I understand, but Kursk, you must also be careful and remember not to fall into the Sirens' trap."

Zhou He knew that the area was covered by the Mirror Sea, but since Kursk had volunteered, he didn't want to dampen her enthusiasm. He just needed to keep an eye on her actions.

"A trap..."

Kursk pondered for a moment. She sensed that it wasn't something so simple, but there was no point in just talking about it without any information. She planned to go and take another look tomorrow; perhaps it was related to that base.

As the two talked, Zhou He began to approach the command post. This time, Kursk did not leave on his own initiative, but followed him back into the command post to say hello before leaving and going upstairs.

"Kursk has been appearing more often lately, Commander, keep up the good work!"

Zuikaku came out of the kitchen with bright yellow French fries in her hand—these were snacks Zhou He had prepared for Yuudachi, and it seemed they had been shared.

"I've tried my best, but Zuikaku, you guys don't seem to have spoken much to Kursk, do you?"

Zhou He glanced at her, rolled up his sleeves, and headed towards the kitchen. When he entered, he found that there were quite a few people inside. Cleveland was helping Yuudachi eat fries, and Z23 was sitting next to Cleveland, two people apart. There were also some fries on the plate in front of her. She sat up straight and was very serious even when eating snacks. When she saw Zhou He, she stood up and bowed to him.

"There's no need to be so formal."

Serious children are very endearing. Zhou He smiled and gestured with his palm towards her. He then leaned closer and peeked into the kitchen. Sure enough, Hermione was already busy inside.

He didn't rush inside. He looked at everyone. Z23 and Hermione were both there. "Where are Bismarck and Hood?"

"They seem to have gone to the back."

Cleveland scratched his head, not quite explaining, and looked at Zuikaku at the same time as Zhou He. Zuikaku ate his fries and licked his fingers: "When you went to pick up the people, Hood, who was going downstairs, ran into Bismarck, who was coming back. Tosa was next to Bismarck and said something to her. The three of them then left."

"Tosa? Z23, did you hear me?"

Zhou He was puzzled. How did these two get involved with Tosa?

Z23 hadn't even sat down yet when he was called out. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Yes, the man named Tosa wanted the two of you to prove your ideals fairly and squarely through competition, so he took them to fencing."

"what?"

Having surfed too much, Zhou He immediately misunderstood the words "fencing" when he heard them, but thankfully he quickly realized that Hood and Bismarck were fencing behind the command post.

What a precious scene that must have been! How could he miss it? He turned to leave, but as soon as he stepped out the door, he saw Hood and Bismarck walking in from behind. One had an elegant smile, while the other had a calm expression. Clearly, the two had already decided the winner.

"pity."

Zhou He couldn't help but sigh; this loss was beyond what could be described as a loss of 100 million.

However, he glanced at Hood's condition. Although he was still a bit out of sorts, he had clearly shaken off the chaos he felt when he first returned. It seemed that asking Hermione for help and this fencing session had been worthwhile.

Well, pretty good.

Chapter 41 Acting According to Plan

Thanks to the preparations that began before everyone returned from the battle and Hermione's great help, Zhou He was finally able to finish the dinner platter before the sun completely set.

There are ten people eating in the port area now. Even excluding Kursk, who doesn't like to eat together, there are still nine people. One table is not enough. They have to put two tables together to barely fit everyone. Zhou He is sweating profusely just from serving the dishes.

"This can't go on at all."

After serving the last bowl of vegetable salad, Zhou He returned to the kitchen, wiped the sweat from his neck with a towel, put on gloves, opened the rice steamer, and took out the plate of steamed rice to serve.

He had fully considered that cooking would be very stressful, but he didn't expect it to be this stressful. After serving a table of dishes, he wasn't even sure if it would be enough, or if his ship girls would be able to eat their fill.

We have to come up with a solution.

"Commander, you've worked hard."

Hermione took the plate of rice from Zhou He at the door and then whispered, "I'll handle the rest. Commander, please take your seat."

"Ah, please."

Zhou He turned around and took off his apron, put on the jacket that Yuudachi had brought back, tidied his appearance, and walked to the empty middle seat at the dining table. Everyone knew that the center seat was reserved for him, which made Zhou He quite gratified. However, before he transmigrated, what he hated most was the endless nonsense from the management. He glanced at the ship girls of all sizes sitting on both sides and said in a deep voice: "Because of everyone's valiant fighting today, we have welcomed three new partners. I will take this opportunity to say a few words. At present, our port is just starting out and does not have complete equipment and disciplinary regulations."

"Regarding the development of the port area, I will place a suggestion box outside the office door. You are welcome to submit your ideas by letter. As for the regulations, I only want to mention one point for now: I hope everyone can get along amicably. I don't want to see any disgusting infighting in the port area."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over everyone present, some calm and indifferent, others listening intently. Regardless of whether he possessed any real 'authority,' he braced himself and adopted the demeanor of a leader: "That's all I wanted to say. I hope everyone will abide by it and work together to build a better port area."

Without waiting for applause, Zhou He sat down immediately after finishing his speech, his serious expression crumbling. He spread his hands and looked at Bismarck with a smile, saying, "These dishes today are the result of my and Hermione's careful preparation. Bismarck, you can try them first. We will add more Ironblood dishes in the future."

"it is good."

At this moment, Bismarck was at the edge of the table. With her black military cap removed, she appeared less imposing and much gentler. In the game, Bismarck and Enterprise are nine-tenths alike, and they look even more alike without the hat, which has led to many related memes.

"I hope our family's business isn't a battle maniac."

Zhou He clasped his hands together in prayer.

Although everyone present had different personalities, they all respected Commander Zhou He, so they waited until he finished speaking and signaled the meeting to end and dinner to begin before relaxing and laughing and joking around.

Despite the lively scene before him, Zhou He himself could not relax. Instead, he felt intense pressure, both physically and mentally. He knew the reason: his abilities were insufficient, his accumulated experience was inadequate, and he lacked the confidence to 'correctly guide his ship girls toward the future'.

'This feeling is so intense, it's like NetEase Cloud Music has activated.'

Zhou He was adept at regulating his emotions. He knew that this feeling was just a sense of responsibility that arose temporarily in response to the situation. In order to avoid saying the wrong thing and concentrate on eating, he also found a way to relieve his emotions: he just needed to do what a 'commander' should do and not neglect his duties, such as developing the port area, designating attack plans, drawing maps, and doing the same work as before.

There were no additional difficulties.

There's no drinking culture here, so dinner ended quickly. Hermione was the only one who helped with cooking, but two more people joined in when it was time to pack up.

Cleveland and Z23, Cleveland said she couldn't cook, but she could still help with this small thing. Z23 simply wanted to help Zhou He with his workload, which really touched Zhou He.

"Cleveland, do you prefer to fight on the front lines more, or help from the rear more?"

The four of them cleared away the dishes, which surprised Zhou He, who was very efficient. After finishing their work, Zhou He cleaned up the kitchen while asking the two who had helped him.

Now that there are more people in the port area, he feels that he can try developing the port area and exploring the outside world in two directions. Before that, he needs to see the preferences of his ship girls.

"I can do it."

Cleveland, wiping the table, chuckled and replied, "Frontline operations are important, but logistics are also important. I will follow the commander's orders."

"Me too! I hope to learn more knowledge and experience. Commander, please give the order!"

Z23 was about the same height as Yuudachi. At this moment, he was standing on a stool helping Hermione wipe the dishes. When he spoke, he looked at Zhou He, who was slacking off while mopping the floor, with great sincerity. Zhou He returned the smile.

The two men's words gave Zhou He a general idea, and he stopped slacking off. He finished cleaning the kitchen and saw the three of them upstairs.

"How should we arrange this?"

Stretching in the empty hall, Zhou He walked to the entrance of the command post and looked at the night outside—he had paved the road, but there was no lighting. He would have to buy streetlights and install them next to it later, which would be another big expense.

Listening to the chirping of insects, Zhou He also figured it out. In short, he should take action first and deal with other things as they come. At this stage, there is nothing that cannot be overcome by hard work.

Looking back at the clock, it was already past 7:30. Zhou He closed the command post door, turned around and went upstairs. As he passed the second floor, he glanced into the corridor. Several room doors were not closed tightly, and light was pouring out from inside. There were also faint sounds of conversation, as if people were visiting each other.

"Ah."

The harmonious relationship among his ship girls was what Zhou He most wanted to see. He nodded with satisfaction and went up to the third floor, where it was much quieter, without even lights. Zhou He went straight into his office, turned on the light, sat down, took out his notebook, wrote a paragraph on it, closed it, put it away, and then took out another notebook. He glanced at the system map briefly, and after confirming that there was no Siren fleet heading straight for the port, he lowered his head and wrote down what he needed to do tomorrow in his notebook.

It's always better to do things with a plan than without one.

……

The next morning, Zhou He opened his eyes while lying in bed, threw off the covers, got up and went to the window to look at the sky. Then he went into the bathroom to wash up, changed into his second set of brand-new military uniforms and went out. There were a total of eight sets of the same military uniforms, two for each of the four seasons. The system was very generous in this regard, and the ship girls could also find some amazing clothes in the warehouse or the closet in their rooms.

Instead of rushing downstairs, Zhou He first went to his office and opened the plan he had written down yesterday:

1. Arrange for Bismarck and Hood to conduct naval reconnaissance in the north and south directions, and Zuikaku to provide aerial reconnaissance support (ideally, tow a ship back).

2. Pave the road leading to the hot spring (ideally, complete the road along with the hot spring itself).

3. Pay attention to developments in Kursk.

4. Set up a suggestion box

"Great, today is another busy day."

Closing his notebook, Zhou He took out a drawing sheet and began to draw a picture based on the map. After a moment, he rolled up the drawing and got up. Before leaving, he looked through the glass behind his desk at the forest inside the port area. The forest was very large, and there were many trees that were suitable for building materials. Once he had enough Homeland Coins, he would exchange them for vehicles and equipment for cutting down, cutting, and transporting trees to clear out the trees on the outer perimeter.

However, that's a plan for later.

After taking a few more glances, Zhou He turned and went downstairs. He glanced at the second floor as he passed by. He didn't know how long the ship girls slept at night, but they would definitely get up earlier than him in the morning. They were really amazing.

Upon arriving on the first floor, Zhou He saw Z23 and Yuudachi moving tables and raised an eyebrow: "What are you doing?"

"Ah! Good morning, Commander. Sister Hood said this hall is too spacious, so we'll bring two tables over so we can have tea here sometimes."

When Yuudachi saw Zhou He, her eyes lit up, and she obediently explained the reason.

"Really? That's good."