Revisit Azur Lane

Zhou He looked at the four ship girls who emerged from behind the wall, the passageway, and the ruins, and raised his hand to greet them directly: "I am Zhou He, the person in charge of the port area. It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"It's rare to get a good night's sleep. What a troublesome guy."

The first to approach was a tall woman with a high ponytail in ash gray. Her attire was rather revealing and peculiar, with one shoe being a tall boot and the other a striped sock. As she spoke, she impatiently rubbed her hair, her wine-red eyes sweeping over Ruihe before settling on Zhou He: "That's true, but it wouldn't hurt to get some exercise. I'm Jean Bart. If you want to be my captain, let me see what you're capable of."

"I will work hard."

Zhou He smiled, stepped forward and extended his hand: "From now on, you can call me Commander, or you can call me by my name."

"..."

Jeanbart glanced at Zuikaku, who had raised an eyebrow slightly, and reached out to grasp Zhou He's hand: "No need, just call me Commander."

After completing the interaction, Jean Bart walked directly through the crowd to the dock, stretched, looked out at the sea, then turned to look at the base ruins and pursed his lips: "Looks like my luck is really bad."

"This isn't our port area."

Yuu stood by and stared at Jean Bart for a long time, and inexplicably felt that this man was someone she could get along with, so she went up and waved to him.

"Isn't it?"

Jean Bart was quite surprised, and then he carefully looked around. Apart from the area where Zhou He and the others were active, the rest of the place was still in its original state, and it was easy to tell how long it had been abandoned.

"This is the Sirens' base, which we captured a few days ago."

Yuudachi and Jeanbart started chatting, while Zhou He and the other three members completed their introductions.

The first one is a green-haired cat wearing a white dress with gear-shaped lace trim, Akashi, the cunning shopkeeper in the game.

Zhou He is the only producer in the family, and it is impossible for Akashi to be a profiteer, so Zhou He is very happy. Besides being a profiteer, Akashi is also the universally recognized Doraemon in the port. After a long chat, the two finally reached an agreement: Zhou He will provide food and drink, and Akashi will be responsible for slacking off at home (because there is no need to repair the ship).

Second on the list is Javelin, one of the three starter Pokémon, along with Z23, and the Royal Destroyer.

"Greetings, Commander."

Facing a grown man like Zhou He, Javelin initially seemed a little shy and introduced herself very seriously. However, after stealing a glance at Zhou He listening attentively, she gradually gained confidence and bowed to him: "I hope you will take good care of me after joining the port!"

"Yes, welcome to the team."

Seeing the adorable younger sister, Zhou He felt equally pleased and warmly welcomed her. Then, he turned his gaze to the last person, his eyes filled with a strange emotion.

The last one is still a destroyer. Although she is a ship girl from the Eagle Union, she is dressed in a black and white maid outfit and has white animal ear hair accessories. Her expression and eyes, which show a desire to approach but also a slight resistance, are... Ah, he can't take it anymore.

I have a feeling you're thinking something rude!

After being stared at by Zhou He for a while, Hamman couldn't help but protest in a soft voice: "I am Hamman of the White Eagle. Even if you are the commander, I will not allow you to do anything strange!"

"Ah."

Zhou He couldn't help but smile, and stepped forward to extend his hand to Hamman: "I know Hamman is cute and brave, welcome to the port area."

"Gulp... Don't think I'll be happy just because you praise me, you stupid... stupid commander!"

As she spoke, Harman cautiously shook hands with Zhou He, her cheeks slightly flushed as she stared at him. Not to mention Zhou He, even Zuikaku's eyes were opened wide, finding it hard to imagine that there could be such a cute creature among the ship girls. Javelin next to her blinked and decided to become good friends with Harman.

"Let's go, I'll introduce you to the other members of the port area."

Zhou He was very satisfied with the construction and walked over to the side to approach the patrol boat with the three new members.

There are still four Rubik's Cubes left, and he is looking forward to seeing which ship girls he will build.

Chapter Fifty-Seven New Discoveries

"By the way, Commander! Where's Shoukaku?"

Back on the patrol boat with the new members, Javelin, Hamman, and Akashi were welcomed and integrated into the group when Zuikaku, who was standing at the door, suddenly seemed to realize something and asked Zhou He next to him.

"what?"

Zhou He was taken aback by her question: "I don't know."

"..."

Zuikaku silently scratched her cheek with her finger: "It's nothing, I'm just asking as usual. Commander, you're really quick to recruit new members. I thought it would take some time."

"Well, after all, our port area is growing bigger and bigger, so efficiency is naturally not going to be neglected."

Ever since joining the port, Zuikaku had been thinking about Shoukaku. Without certainty, Zhou He couldn't make any promises to Zuikaku, so he could only follow her lead and veer off-topic, turning around and standing on the aft deck watching Yuudachi hanging out with Jean Bart.

Jean Bart remembered that it was a Vichy Papacy ship, and that she had a sister from a different faction named Richelieu. He didn't know much about her personality because he hadn't looked into the details.

However, if someone can hang out with Yuudachi, then they must be an easy person to talk to, right?

We cannot draw such a conclusion so simply.

"commander!"

Yuudachi, who had noticed Zhou He secretly observing him, waved to him. Jean Bart, who was sitting by the sea at the dock, also turned his gaze towards him. Zhou He nodded in response and walked to the edge of the deck, saying to the two of them, "I'm going to arrange the sortie mission next. You two come and listen too."

"Oh!"

Yuudachi, who was in a half-squatting position, stood up abruptly. Jean Bart hesitated slightly before standing up as well, and he and Yuudachi went up to the aft deck one after the other. The group returned to the middle-level living room. Including Zhou He, there were sixteen people present, and the room, which was originally quite spacious, now felt a bit crowded.

"Let's calm down a bit."

Faced with a room full of beautiful girls and such a beautiful scene, Zhou He found himself not feeling much. This feeling made him a little scared, but he quickly put aside this subtle emotion, spread his hands and spoke to everyone: "We are currently in the original Sirens' experimental base. The sea area from our port area to here has been explored, but this range of enemy detection is far from enough. I need you to go to more distant sea areas to expand your vision."

"From now on, I will temporarily divide you into two teams to explore in the northeast and southwest directions respectively..."

A total of seven new members joined the port area this time, and Zhou He quickly devised specific team assignments:

The flagship of the team consisted of Bismarck, accompanied by Tosa, Nagashima, Z23, U556, Cleveland, and Hamann, totaling seven people.

The second team's flagship: Hood, accompanied by Zuikaku, Jean Bart, Hermione, Javelin, Yuudachi, and Jintsu, also seven people.

"The team will remain as it is for now. Akashi will stay with me for the time being."

As Zhou He called out the names, the two teams were divided into groups on either side of the living room. Only Akashi remained motionless in place. Zhou He simply nodded slightly at this: "Bismarck, you go to the southwest, Hood, you go to the northeast. Your mission this time is still mainly exploration. If you encounter a small number of Siren fleets, I will allow you to engage them on your own. If you find a large fleet, avoid it. Keep track of the time and distance. When you return, go back to our own port. I will welcome you back."

After explaining the arrangements, Zhou He told the new members that his port was an isolated port at sea. Considering the time and the complexities involved, he did not elaborate on his own unique circumstances.

Ensuring the safety of the waters near the port area is enough reason for the ship girls to launch an attack.

As for whether you'll discover anything strange or unusual, that's an extra bonus.

……

Shortly after the Zhou He meeting, many ship girls were launched one after another. When there was only Yuudachi at the beginning, Zhou He felt that the ship equipment was amazing. Now that there were more than ten ship girls, he stood on the deck and looked around. He felt that his fleet had taken shape and that the invincible fleet of the future (in his opinion) had already taken shape.

This pleased him greatly, and after everyone was ready, he stood on the deck and waved, pretending to be serious: "Let's go!"

"Commander, what are you saying? Speak louder, I can't hear you!"

Instead of the expected immediate response, troublemakers appeared. Ruihe shouted from below, while the others smiled faintly. Zhou He waved his hand at Ruihe: "Go away, don't cause trouble, or I'll make things difficult for you."

Zhou He had considered whether he should move closer to the Ironblood leadership, to enforce orders and establish a high-pressure authority like Bismarck. However, upon closer reflection, he realized that he was just a logistics minister who had to deal with potential conflicts between his ship girls. Placing himself on such a high pedestal would only have negative side effects, so he gave up on that idea.

"Alright, everyone, let's set off early and get home early."

After interacting with Ruihe, Zhou He restrained his desire to show off and spoke casually as usual.

With no one causing trouble, led by Hood and Bismarck, the two teams set off towards the distance. Zhou He watched them leave and switched the system interface to the attack map to observe. There wasn't a single Siren in the area where the base was located, but Siren roaming teams reappeared in the seas on both the left and right sides.

"Where did these Sirens come from?"

Zhou He raised an eyebrow. Every time he cleared the Sirens from the visible area, a lot of Sirens would reappear every two days. At this density, there was probably a Siren in every sea mile on average in this world.

Could it be that there is a Sirens arsenal hidden nearby?

Suppressing his doubts, Zhou He gave Kursk the order to follow the patrol boat back to port and then went into the middle-level living room. At this time, only Akashi was sitting alone in the living room. When she saw Zhou He return, she waved her paw: "Commander, is there anything I can do to help, meow?"

Although Zhou He had said she could slack off in the port area, she couldn't really do nothing at all—and if Zhou He simply supported her like that, she would be scared.

"Um, Akashi, can you sail a boat? Let's sail home first."

Zhou He casually replied that, in his opinion, Akashi, as a little genius of invention, would definitely have no problem sailing a boat.

"I know, nya."

Akashi climbed up from the sofa. The kitten was a little shorter than Yuudachi, just over 1.5 meters tall, probably around the fifth grade of elementary school. Its green hair was so long that it even reached the ground, giving it a kind of beauty like a sweeping princess.

Zhou He followed Akashi into the cockpit and watched as she quickly started the patrol boat after only a cursory glance. After retracting the anchor point, the patrol boat began to retreat, visibly moving away from the Sirens' base. Zhou He even saw Kursk emerging from the ruins and waved to her.

However, Akashi quickly steered the patrol boat to a 90° turn, and even without Zhou He's prompting, he activated the autopilot function, choosing the fastest route to his own port. His skillful demeanor made it seem like he was driving the boat for the first time. Watching from the side, Zhou He couldn't help but ask, "Akashi, besides repairing ship equipment, do you have any other skills? For example, can you independently develop all sorts of strange gadgets or pills?"

"What is the Commander saying, meow?"

Akashi looked up and met Zhou He's gaze with a puzzled expression: "Akashi, I'm only quite knowledgeable about the various structures of ships, meow. However, if the gadgets or pills the Commander mentioned are for other ship girls, I can make them according to the effects you want, meow."

"Ok?"

Zhou He paused for a moment before realizing that Akashi meant she possessed the ability to 'understand ship structures,' and this ability also applied to ship girls. He thought for a moment and asked, "So, Akashi, can you help other ship girls with ship equipment modifications?"

"It's a bit troublesome, but I can try it, meow."

The topic returned to normal, and Akashi stood on tiptoe to try to see the sea view in front of the patrol boat, but unfortunately he was not tall enough and could only make his line of sight parallel to the window.

"That's awesome."

Zhou He looked at it, then reached under Akashi's armpits and picked him up. It felt even lighter than Yuudachi.

Although Akashi's own technology doesn't have the invincible black technology one might imagine, it's enough.

"So-so, meow."

Akashi has a bit of a lazy cat vibe, and she didn't resist when Zhou He picked her up like that. She even swayed in mid-air, causing Zhou He to exhaust his strength too quickly. He had to put Akashi down and turn around to find her a stool to stand on in the living room and kitchen.

After chatting for a while, Zhou He, feeling time slipping through his fingers, turned his attention to the system warehouse. The warehouse, which had been quite empty before, had been filled with all sorts of random things in the past few days. Among them was a golden box, which was the furniture selection box that the system had previously rewarded him with.

Zhou He didn't know if the system had any unique insights into furniture. It included not only detached villas and upscale restaurants where you could see the Manjiu's figure from the windows, but also gardens with plazas and fountains, artificial waterfalls, and other options that exceeded his understanding of furniture.

Although Zhou He lived a frugal life before his transmigration, he still harbored the ideal of buying himself a small house. This detached villa, which looked luxurious, had a natural attraction for him. However, the presence of the Manjuu in the restaurant next door was too strong. If these Manjuu could be materialized together with the restaurant, then the restaurant would be far more cost-effective than the detached villa.

"It's so difficult."

Zhou He was really conflicted. His ship girl was about to break the 20 mark, and he was already willing but unable to cook anymore.

After a long time, Zhou He decided to take a gamble on Manjiu. If there was no Manjiu, he would move everything out of the restaurant and turn it into a regular big house. Although it wouldn't be as luxurious as a villa, it could still be used as a dormitory with a canteen.

He had already decided on the location of the restaurant: it would be right next to the command post, about ten meters away. It would be convenient to eat there without having to walk far, and it would be easy to visit other dorm rooms—wait, he also had to consider the size of the building.

There are also materializable warehouses and docks. For example, the Sirens base's dock could have one half of the bay paved with concrete to serve as a shipyard, while the other half retains its sandy beach, which could be used as a play area…

Although Zhou He was still on the patrol boat, his mind was already on the port area a hundred miles away.