Revisit Azur Lane

After thinking for a moment, he decided to comfort Zuikaku, so he said, "Actually, I also really want Shoukaku to join the port. She can be of great help to me in both combat and life."

"Huh, Commander, do you know Shoukaku's personality?"

Zuikaku became quite interested. She guessed that Shoukaku must be the gentle older sister, but whether that was true or not was still a question.

"Haha, unlike you, Shoukaku is incredibly caring; she's the most suitable among the Sakura Empire members to be..."

As a wife.

Zhou He stopped himself; if he said those words aloud, it would cause a huge uproar.

What is the best role for you?

Zuikaku pressed for details, and Zhou He's gaze shifted: "Actually, I know her general personality, but Shoukaku is definitely very gentle, and at the same time, she really wants to meet Akagi Kaga."

"I want, too."

Zuikaku said that she was indeed her older sister: "I just don't know if those seniors have normal human emotions. Also, they must have a deep obsession with the company, and they won't be able to reconcile as maturely as Hood and Bismarck. I guess they will cause you a lot of trouble, Commander."

"..."

Zhou He fell silent after hearing what she said. The Akagi and Kaga sisters were quite attractive to him, but the attraction was less than the trouble they brought.

He said, "Hopefully they can join the port area later."

"I feel the same way. Without Shokaku-nee, I couldn't argue with them."

Ruihe nodded in agreement.

Boom!

He heard the sound of wood falling, and Zhou He knew that Kursk had returned. He picked up the rope, got up, and saw a pile of firewood around the corner, but he didn't see Kursk.

"Oh, so that guy was there."

After Zuikaku followed, she immediately looked around and, finding no one there, shrugged regretfully: "I really wish she could talk to the newcomers in the port area too."

"You spoke with Kursk?"

Zhou He glanced sideways and saw the latter shaking his head, feeling speechless. He should think of himself before thinking of others.

"Commander~"

Calls came from afar. Zhou He turned around and saw that everyone who had finished their preparations had arrived. Yudachi was running in the lead, carrying a large plate piled high with skewers. The others had also brought some things.

"Let's cook first."

Zhou He greeted Xi Li and the others with a smile, saying he would go find Kursk after the food was ready.

Chapter Fifty-Six: The First Major Construction!

The light gradually approached from the horizon, dispelling the darkness and cold of the night. Smoke still rose slowly from the dilapidated base dock, and patrol boats on the shore rose and fell gently with the waves, with figures already appearing on the aft deck.

"Hmm~ It's still more comfortable to sleep at home."

Zuikaku stretched as she walked, then leaned against the railing, enjoying the sea breeze and watching the sun gradually peek out from behind the horizon.

Instead of wasting time standing here, we should go out and scout around. The commander is still resting, and there might be sirens approaching.

Tosa emerged from the lower deck of the patrol boat, glanced at Zuikaku, and jumped off. He found an open space, lowered his body, gripped the sword at his waist, closed his eyes, and focused on feeling the impact, attempting to unleash his best strike.

"That's really strange treatment."

Zuikaku had gotten used to being bossed around, but she still felt that the way her port used the aircraft carrier was not quite right. Was it because there was no pressure of logistics and maintenance? The reconnaissance carrier was given priority, the aircraft carrier was given priority for air strikes in war, and she still had to do odd jobs at home.

Before you know it, you've become a nanny.

Thinking this, Zuikaku used her hands to support herself on the railing and jumped down. She landed in the water first, and only then did her ship equipment begin to appear. She smoothly used the momentum to run forward for a distance, then turned around and looked back. She paused for a moment, then wobbled back onto the shore.

Swish!

Tosa drew his sword, its cold light flashing, and slashed upwards in front of him. After finishing, his imposing aura dissipated, and he turned to sheath his sword. He saw Zuikaku sitting by the dock, took two steps forward, and looked up to see Zhou He looking down from the top balcony. A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes.

"Are you two wondering why I got up so early today?"

With the dock there, the top of the patrol boat wasn't actually that high, so Zhou He could talk to the two men without any problems. From their subtle reactions when they saw him, he could tell that in their eyes he was definitely the kind of lazy guy who would only get up when the sun rose every day.

While that is true, waking up at 6:30 is already very early for him. He felt uncomfortable sleeping on the sofa today, and the dampness and noise outside made it impossible for him to fall back asleep, so he had to come out to enjoy the scenery.

"It's good that the commander knows."

Tosa showed Zhou He absolutely no mercy. After finishing, she went off to practice her sword-wielding skills. Tosa was very disciplined in her sword-wielding, but because the fox tail was so fluffy, Zhou He could only see the tail swaying under his skirt. He was itching to practice.

"Ah, it's the Commander!"

The others woke up and went out one after another. Yuudachi ran to the aft deck and immediately found Zhou He. She quickly climbed the stairs to the third floor and squeezed into his arms, happily shaking her head left and right and pointing to the sun in the distance: "Commander, look over there, it's sunrise."

"very beautiful."

Zhou He, who hadn't slept well to begin with, felt like he had a warm pillow in his arms after being nuzzled by Xi Li, and couldn't help but squint his eyes.

"Yuudachi really enjoys being with the Commander."

The lower deck of the patrol boat wasn't all single rooms; there were only a few double rooms. Z23 and Yuudachi shared a room, and they went out together. Watching Yuudachi blend in so naturally with Zhou He, Z23 envied her for being so honest with him.

"After all, she is the initial ship. Among thousands of ships, Yuudachi was the first to come to the commander's side, so naturally she likes the commander the most."

Hermione, dressed in a classic maid outfit, smiled and agreed.

Hermione didn't get up early today but went out with everyone. The reason was that they ate all the ingredients at yesterday's barbecue, and Zhou He didn't restock. Even if she got up, she wouldn't be able to prepare breakfast, so she took a little break.

Soon after, the sun slowly rose, and Zhou He was dragged down by Hermione to spend Homeland Coins to buy breakfast ingredients (flour, etc., 1 Homeland Coin) and prepare breakfast.

After a quick breakfast, the energetic Yuudachi and his friends went out to sunbathe and stroll around, while Hood and Bismarck sat down in the living room to drink tea, their attention focused on Zhou He as they awaited instructions for today's mission.

Zhou He was also drinking hot water. As for the arrangements, he had already thought them out in the morning. He looked at everyone and said, "Although I really want to give everyone a break, our position is very suitable for another round of exploration. After a short rest, I will start building the new team and then make arrangements for the personnel and exploration direction."

"A newcomer?"

Hood pondered for a moment: "The same as before. Does that mean that after we fight the Sirens, you, Commander, will get the resources to build?"

"Yes."

Zhou He didn't hide anything: "After you engage in large-scale battles with the Sirens, I will receive construction resources just like completing mission targets. If I can manually dismantle the Sirens' hulls, I can also obtain other resources besides construction resources."

Initially, he had to send Yuudachi and others to complete the mission in order to protect himself. Now, he is arranging the mission for the normal operation of the port. After all, with more people, it is definitely not good for everyone to stay together and do nothing if he doesn't find something to do.

Even if he were ruthless enough to make his ship girls become civil engineers to cut down trees and dig soil, they might not be willing in the long run, so he could only expand outwards.

Everyone present was aware of Zhou He's remarkable abilities as a commander, so they weren't surprised. Hu De went straight to the point: "How many people joined this time?"

Zhou He held up four fingers.

He currently has eight Rubik's Cubes, but it's inconvenient to build too many people at once. Leaving aside management issues, the most direct problem is that there are eight more mouths to feed at once. Just thinking about it makes him numb. Even the furniture selection box he received yesterday is causing him to struggle with whether to exchange it for a separate new dormitory or a large dining room filled with a few little yellow chicks.

Dormitories are out of the question, as they'll be useful with a large number of people. The main attraction of the canteen is the little yellow chick inside; it's unclear whether it will materialize along with the canteen. As the commander, he can oversee all logistical matters, but he certainly doesn't have the energy to do everything personally. If there's a dedicated cooking team, his life will be much easier.

"Four people?"

The number of people was small, but it still made the eyes of the few people present flicker. Ruihe, who was listening outside the door, peeked in. Even though she didn't say anything, Zhou He knew what she was thinking. He didn't know if she would come out with Shouhe, so he could only pretend not to see her.

After discussing the specifics, Zhou He and Hu De and the others talked about the Siren base and testing ground. The base was right here, tangible and visible, so it couldn't be from another world. However, Hu De had other ideas about the testing ground.

“Commander, you once said that the Sirens invaded multiple worlds to conduct experiments. If that’s the case, then they must have chosen different worlds with variables.”

Hood, holding a teacup that had cooled from hot water to lukewarm, said: "Based on this simple judgment, our inherited memories are like watching a movie, but King V and the others are different. They seem to have been born ship girls and have no memory of the history of warship warfare."

"So although their testing ground is in this world, their prototypes come from other worlds. The Sirens must have considered the possibility of the testing ground being discovered. In order to prevent the testing ground from being discovered and exposing more information, they used some kind of equipment or program to make it impossible for the pieces in the testing ground to leave the testing ground on their own even if they awakened... The pieces themselves were even tampered with, so they could not truly come to our world."

"In short, the Sirens' experiments were most likely conducted in multiple worlds through some kind of technology. This way, even if all the bases in one world were breached, the intelligence obtained would only be what they wanted to show the invaders, and would still be within their calculated and controllable range."

Zhou He was almost completely baffled by Hu De's reasoning.

After understanding, his first reaction was that the Sirens in the game weren't that smart, but then he realized he didn't know anything about the Sirens. In the game's storyline, the ship girls' side never won against the Sirens' schemes. In fact, the things the Sirens released caused ambitious people from various factions to speculate and engage in all sorts of meaningless internal strife.

The only time this happened was when Frederick the Great led his troops to defect and destroy the Builder's mainframe. This was thanks to the outsider Black Sea Mother; otherwise, the main fleets of each faction would have been reset on the spot.

"Makes sense."

Zhou He trusted his ship girls' judgment more than his own feelings, especially a wise woman like Ms. Hood who had traveled the world and served longer than him.

"...Commander, did you even understand?"

Seeing Zhou He nod after being stunned, Ruihe outside the door smirked, came in, and beckoned to him: "Hood means that even we might be part of the Siren experiment."

"That's impossible. Our existence must be outside the scope of the Sirens' experimental plan."

Zhou He's gaze sharpened abruptly, and he answered decisively.

"Uh."

Zuikaku's imposing aura vanished instantly. It was the first time she had ever heard Zhou He speak with such certainty, and she shrank back, asking, "Commander, how can you be so sure?"

Because I'm an outsider.

Zhou He naturally wouldn't say that he came from outside the Azure Universe and couldn't possibly be part of the Sirens' scheme. Instead, he revealed a confident smile: "You'll find out in time."

"Ah~"

This riddle elicited subtle expressions from everyone present who were eagerly anticipating the event. Even the usually serious Bismarck adjusted her hat. She could understand Zhou He's confidence, but she didn't know if it was blind or if he truly knew what he was doing.

"In short, let's save this topic for now and make a decision after we find another Siren testing ground for comparison."

Zhou He knew his words sounded a bit mystical, but he fully exercised his privileges as commander, stood up, forcibly freezing the topic as he walked out: "I'll go welcome the new members; you all should get ready for the attack."

"Can't we just stay here?"

Ruihe brushed past Zhou He, then turned around and curiously followed him out of the living room.

"Come on, and you'll see."

Zhou He waved, jumped from the deck onto the dock, greeted Xi Li and the others who ran over with a smile, and then directly called out the construction page while standing on the dock. He adjusted the number of constructions and carried out four consecutive constructions in one go.

boom!

The metal gate appeared as expected and collided once, revealing familiar words on it.

In reality, a sudden gust of strong wind caused Zhou He and the others to squint or look away, and after a few seconds everything calmed down.

"Where did the wind come from, Commander... Huh?"

Zuikaku dismissively remarked, wanting to ask Zhou He how he welcomed the new members, but when he looked ahead, he saw four figures appear in the previously deserted port ruins, even though they were separate.

"Hello!"