Revisit Azur Lane

Kursk, wearing mechanical gloves, held one half of the Rubik's Cube mechanical box between his long, slender fingers. The mechanical, cold-colored iron box had extremely complex patterns on it, indicating that it was a very precise object.

"Hmph, so the testers followed us."

Akagi was not surprised. She looked at Kursk, who was exuding a domineering aura, and asked, "You and those two kids from the Fifth Carrier Division are in cahoots, aren't you? Is your flagship and commander-in-chief a human?"

Kursk's gaze sharpened: "Is there a problem with that?"

"No, I was just a little curious."

Having gotten the answer she wanted, Akagi's lips curled into a rather eerie smile: "The human commander who can govern you all, interesting. I really look forward to the day I meet him."

"..."

Kursk looked away. People like Akagi were the most troublesome. He hoped that his commander hadn't miscalculated.

"The collaboration is established, but how do we get the testers to show up?"

Seeing that Kursk was also a cold-blooded person, Akagi's interest waned, and she raised her hand to examine her long and beautiful fingernails.

"there."

Kursk pointed, and the main cannon beside him exploded at the same time. The shells flew whistling past Akagi and into the distance, stunning the big fox so much that his tail stood up in response.

"...I see. So, it's not allowed for us to communicate with ship girls from other worlds either."

Kaga had the foresight to leave Akagi's side early on, so she also saw the test subject emerging from the sea, and blue light gradually emanated from her eyes.

Chapter Seventy-Three: Let Me Visit!

Now that the decision had been made, there was no point in chatting. After the test subject was "blessed" with a shot at Kursk, Akagi, who had come to her senses, glared at her fiercely and stepped around from the side to join Kaga at the rear of Kursk.

There is no such thing as skill in this world, but sister ships like Akagi and Kaga, Zuikaku and Shoukaku have an innate tacit understanding. The two of them released their own carrier-based aircraft almost at the same time. They did not reveal their prototypes, but rather resembled the small planes that Kaga and the battleship Kaga used when they 'sparred'. The planes, with their signature red and blue colors, buzzed around the tester and launched their attacks.

The tester hadn't expected the Akagi sisters to betray him so decisively, so he came alone to observe the situation. Even though it was a special model for testing ship girls, he was still sweating profusely as he faced a pinpoint attack from two aircraft carriers all by himself.

However, as sirens, they are least afraid of dying in battle. The tester, with a gloomy expression, moved using the propulsion of the explosion after being attacked from the air, and adjusted his body to control the main and secondary guns on his back and sides to fire at the three people.

Its firepower alone was even more concentrated than that of two battleships firing simultaneously. The barrage of shells left Kursk with no way to avoid it, and she took a direct hit. However, her ship's rigging was thick enough that only one main gun was damaged and her course was slightly altered. After adjusting, she continued her attack.

In this close-quarters battle, 80% of the shells landed in the water, creating splashes. Of the 20% that hit, 18% came from a coordinated air attack by Akagi and Kaga, truly putting the test subjects under intense pressure. In less than ten minutes of combat, the test subjects, who had initially exuded a gloomy and oppressive aura, were battered and bruised. Their ship-mounted main and secondary guns were damaged one after another, sparking with electricity. They had countless wounds, including one eye that was cut. They were covered in blood and their figures were swaying precariously.

"What a resilient guy, it's disgusting."

During the engagement, with Kursk blocking their way, Akagi and Kaga retreated continuously, already several miles away. Using feedback from the carrier-based aircraft, she looked disgusted and said, "But I remember these guys were equipped with over-specification weaponry. Is it because they were severely damaged and didn't have time to use them?"

"perhaps."

Kaga also remembered this. Before Akagi made contact with the Observer, the two of them had also dealt with these tester sirens. They were quite troublesome when they were mixed in with the fleet, but when taken out of the group, they seemed to be nothing special.

"Alright, let's hurry up and get our stuff out of this mirror-like sea. Hmm, let's go back to the main island after so long and see if there are any new little creatures."

Akagi knew that the testers and observers in front of her were all 'clones'. Once a tester was killed and the data was transmitted to the main unit, their cooperation with the Sirens would be declared bankrupt. They had to return to the safe waters within Sakura Empire before the Sirens could take action.

Even if the Sirens wanted to pursue, she could naturally have others come to help defend her.

After a brief exchange, the Akagi and Kaga sisters launched an even more intensive bombardment of the test subject, who was already showing signs of slowing down. The brutality was so extreme that Kursk had to stop and observe, as she could no longer even see the test subject.

However, the individual responses of the test subjects still appeared on Kursk's radar, showing an alarmingly strong vitality.

To deal with this kind of prey, her usual approach would be to bleed them out and wear them down until they were weak before making her move. However, the firepower coverage of Akagi and Kaga exceeded her expectations. She could only sigh that they were indeed people chosen by her commander.

After enduring several rounds of relentless bombardment from the Akagi sisters, the tester lost control of the machine before even uttering a final, threatening statement, and sank into the sea, never to be heard again.

"It's dead. Hurry up and give us the stuff."

After confirming the test subject's death, Akagi quickly approached Kursk, his gaze falling on the ship's rigging, which had been bombarded but had been completely repaired. He shrugged, his tone tinged with urgency.

"..."

Kursk didn't say much. He took the mechanical cube out of his pocket and placed it in Akagi's palm, then turned and left without a word.

"As expected of the guys from the Northern Alliance, they get things done efficiently and effectively."

Feeling the coolness and weight in his palm, Akagi gave a rare compliment, put away the Rubik's Cube, and called to Kaga, "Let's go, it's time for us to leave."

She still remembered where the control center of this mirror-like sea was. Now that the test subjects had been destroyed, the purifiers would be sunk sooner or later, leaving only the observers. That guy never risked his life, so they could easily shut down this testing ground.

"Can we analyze this using Ironblood's technology?"

As she was about to leave, Kaga suddenly recalled another version of herself who had challenged her, a version of herself so passionate that she couldn't even see her own shadow.

For some reason, I really want to fight and exchange ideas with her again.

"As long as you have this, we will naturally meet again."

Akagi wasn't actually sure if this mechanical cube was a world coordinate, but it was definitely something that allowed different worlds to overlap. No matter how many experiments she had to conduct in the future, she would definitely visit this world again.

Go and meet the mysterious commander who can get these ship girls to abandon their factions and unite to act together.

……

As Akagi had predicted, Hood and the others soon met up with Bismarck's group after passing by them. The one blocking their way was the Purifier who was covering Akagi's retreat. The Purifier, who was already in a state of release, didn't even put up much resistance and was happily taken down by both sides.

The remaining Sirens fleet that had followed Hood's squadron, having lost their two commanders, the Tester and the Purifier, began to fight independently and crumble. They were gradually devoured by Hood, Bismarck, and others after they merged, and the battle in the entire sea area came to an end.

Further away, the White Eagle fleet, pursued by the Sirens, also completed its counterattack. Unlike Zhou He's fleet, which was virtually unscathed, this fleet suffered a large number of wounded during the long battle. If it weren't for Hu De and his group attracting the testers and a large number of executors away, even if they had escaped, they would have suffered heavy losses.

Therefore, after the Sirens lost control of the Mirror Sea, Lexington and his group began to move towards Hood and her companions. The latter did the same, and with both sides heading towards each other, they completed their meeting in just over half an hour.

"Thank you all for your help."

Among the White Eagle fleet, only the Lexington, Saratoga, and Hu Feng, all aircraft carriers, were in relatively good condition. They were well protected. In contrast, Washington was barely alive and had to be supported. She was covered in blood and looked terrifying.

"When you're traveling, it's only right to help each other."

Hood responded politely, exchanging a few pleasantries with Lexington before mentioning a nearby Siren base that they had captured, and that the team also had Lingmin, a top-tier mechanic, who could repair some of the ship equipment damage to the wounded.

"Oh, that's really helpful."

With Lexington present, Saratoga, who was standing next to her, tried to speak several times, but was stopped by her eyes and smoothly joined the group to move forward together.

"By the way, I wonder which command you all belong to? We can contact each other after we return to White Eagle to recuperate. Also, the Sirens have been becoming increasingly rampant lately, so we can discuss how to deal with them if they take action."

During the conversation, Lexington's gaze casually fell on the silent Bismarck and his group, as well as the lively Kaga group, his tone as gentle as if he were conducting an important diplomatic visit.

"Well, actually our port was only recently established and doesn't yet have a complete set of designations. We were just worrying about how to find allies to deal with the Sirens' unusual activities. What a coincidence!"

Hu De smiled faintly, following Zhou He's instructions not to release a single piece of his own intelligence. As for whether Lexington's statement was true or false, it didn't matter. From the words of Battleship Kaga, who came from an independent world, it was already confirmed that the historical process was similar in each parallel world.

Although she and Bismarck died young, there were still people in her family who had survived the war peacefully. By obtaining just a little bit of historical information from Lexington, she could roughly judge the current state of the world.

Therefore, after failing to elicit any information from each other, Hood went straight to the point, mentioning that they were originally exploring the terrain of the waters surrounding the port when they suddenly discovered Lexington and his group confronting the Sirens, and that among the Sirens were Akagi and Kaga from Sakura Empire. She emphasized that they did not know 'why Akagi and Kaga were with the Sirens.'

"We don't know about that either."

Getting to the point, Lexington stopped talking about the obvious and frowned: "Our mission was to intercept the Sirens' transport fleet that was passing by Coral Island, but shortly after the encounter, we entered this Mirror Sea and then began to fight the Sirens commanded by Akagi and the others."

"Coral Island?"

The place name caught Zuikaku's eye, as she was explaining the port area to Shoukaku. Wasn't this the place where she and Shoukaku sank Lexington together?

Is it really such a coincidence?

"Hmm, is there a problem here?"

Lexington glanced at Zuikaku and listened intently to his words.

"Don't you...?"

The outspoken Zuikaku was about to ask a question, but was interrupted by Shoukaku, who had a gentle, comforting smile on his face: "It just sounds a little familiar. We received orders to go here to carry out a mission not long ago, but we didn't carry it out for some reason."

"I see."

Lexington had no doubts, because headquarters had indeed received intelligence that the Sakura Empire fleet was active near Coral Island. Therefore, when they first met the Akagi sisters, they did not hesitate to ask them for permission to pass.

However, the situation was very different from what they had imagined.

“Ah…”

Zuikaku wore a complicated expression and followed Shoukaku to the side to whisper, "Shoukaku-nee, the operation is coming up soon, and it would be bad if we just let it go like this."

"It's alright. Look at their condition. After this battle, they'll need to return for maintenance for at least three months, or even half a year. Even if the Sirens wanted to repeat history, it wouldn't be now."

Shoukaku really wanted to reach out and pat Zuikaku on the head, praising her as a straightforward and kind girl.

"Ah! That's right."

Zuikaku suddenly realized, instantly feeling refreshed, but quickly clutched his head again: "But, if that's really the case, then these White Eagles are also from other worlds, and our home isn't even near Coral Island!"

"That's really a bit of a shame."

Shokaku didn't know why his fleet had to join forces with the White Eagle Fleet, but now he does.

She glanced sideways at the two people still chatting and laughing ahead, feeling a little amazed. With their talent, these two must have already noticed what was going on, yet they were still able to maintain such a natural conversation. That was quite impressive.

The column moved slowly forward. Suddenly, Lexington sensed a slight change in the ambient light. Just as she was about to speak, she abruptly discovered that the fleet that had been beside her had vanished. Looking back, she saw that the others in the column were equally astonished.

"Sister, that fleet really is..."

Saratoga unleashed all the words she had been holding back. After hearing 'Hood's' self-introduction, she sensed something was amiss. Why would the Royal Navy be near Coral Island? Then, seeing Bismarck and the Sakura Empire crew, she realized they had encountered something terrible.

"Yes, I didn't expect that so many ship girls from different factions could come together to act."

Lexington naturally noticed the anomaly, but what concerned her more were the scenes of 'Royal and Ironblood ship girls fighting side by side' and 'Eagle Eagle and Sakura Empire members mingling together'—scenes she could never even dream of.

"If only we could..."

She sighed softly. Although they hadn't completely broken off relations, they were practically at odds. If things continued like this, when would they be able to drive the Sirens out?

"Sister, the communication network at headquarters is connected."

At this time, Saratoga did not yet possess the resilience to shoulder the heavy responsibility that she would later have, nor did she understand Lexington's regret. She simply relayed the message from headquarters: "The mission failed, and headquarters wants us to go back and recuperate."

"Okay, let's go home too."

A faint smile returned to Lexington's face as he led his fleet and disappeared into the sea.

……

In another part of the ocean, the sun hangs high in the sky. A silver-haired girl wearing black mechanical animal ears lies sprawled on a ship rigging covered in tentacles, her golden eyes flashing with data.

"I thought I could take this opportunity to communicate with observers from other worlds, but it seems that the rules of isolation between worlds are more robust than I imagined."

The observer muttered to herself that after leaving things to the testers and the purifiers, she began trying to access the world where Zhou He was. However, no matter how many times she applied for access, she was unable to obtain permission from the world's 'host'.