Revisit Azur Lane

Xi Li raised her hand in response and jogged away from the hall. Zhou He glanced at her and began to change the water in the mussels and let them sit. Then, he squinted and took the strangely shaped fish out of the fish bucket one by one, stunned them, and skillfully scaled and gutted them—too bloody to describe.

About ten minutes later, as everyone in the hall took their seats to rest, and Zuikaku and Shoukaku were chatting quietly, Hermione was invited back from next door by Yuudachi, and Hammanman followed behind for some reason.

"commander."

Hearing the familiar sounds from the kitchen, Hermione's eyes narrowed as she quickly approached, calling out to Zhou He at the door, "Are there enough ingredients here? If you need anything, I'll go to the dining room and get some."

"It's alright. There's still plenty of food left, enough for about ten people."

Zhou He had already opened the refrigerator and checked it, answering while continuing to clean the fish.

With his skill in cleaning fish, he could probably be a second-in-command at RT-Mart.

"I see, my apologies."

Hermione bowed slightly upon hearing this before stepping into the kitchen. Harman followed behind, peeking through the kitchen door to watch the two working together skillfully. She pouted and turned to sit in the living room. The reason she followed Hermione was that she found Hermione's emotional fluctuations to be very stable, completely different from her own tendency to say the opposite of what she meant when nervous. Therefore, she wanted to observe and learn from Hermione and stayed by her side.

"The commander can even cook?"

Harman asked Cleveland, who was in a good mood, and the latter smiled brightly: "Yes, the commander's cooking skills are superb. Before the restaurant was built, the commander was the one cooking. Although most of the dishes are from the Eastern Kingdom, they are very much to my liking."

"Wow, impressive."

Harman pursed her lips. She had mistakenly thought Zhou He was lazy because of what Ruihe had said, but the more she got to know him, the more she realized that Zhou He was not a lazy person. He did many things himself and was a very handsome guy.

"Speaking of which, Haman, your outfit is somewhat similar to Hermione's maid outfit, and you've been following her around all the time. Aren't you going to the kitchen to ask Hermione and the Commander for advice?"

Cleveland leaned against the table, resting his chin on his hand, while Montpellier stood beside him.

"No, no, no."

Harman quickly waved her hand. She hadn't been able to help but scold Zhou He several times recently, and it would be strange for her to suddenly get close to him now!

While they were chatting, Zuikaku and Shoukaku were also whispering to each other. The conversation was similar to that of Harman and Cleveland. Zuikaku was quietly asking Shoukaku if he could cook and if he should go and show off his skills to Zhou He.

"I know a little bit."

Shoukaku smiled modestly and said, "The Commander already has helpers, I'll help next time."

"Sigh~ I want to eat Shoukaku-nee's cooking~"

When Zuikaku realized that the theory wouldn't work, she immediately turned to the family route and started acting cute towards Shoukaku.

"Hmm~ Maybe next time."

Xianghe pondered for a moment, but still did not agree.

She wanted to try Zhou He's cooking first. If Zhou He's dishes were excellent, she would learn from them. If they were just average, she could improvise.

Chapter 81 Revenge?

The cooking skills were still there; after all, the restaurant had only been open for less than a week. After a busy day, Zhou He looked at his ship girls gathered together under the lights, eating and chatting, and unconsciously smiled as he put one hand on his hip.

If he hadn't come here, he would probably still be eating simple, life-sustaining meals in his cramped rented room.

It was a truly dreamlike transformation of contrast.

"commander."

Yuudachi called out to Zhou He, who naturally stepped closer to the table and sat down. Kaga, who had joined in after noticing the commotion, also looked at Zhou He with new respect, praising him as a qualified leader of the port. She then revealed part of her vision: to make the Sirens return Amagi through battle, and then she would bring Amagi back like a hero.

Kaga learned from Tosa that defeating Sirens could drop companions, which instantly gave her a new target, as she had only been interested in Tosa before.

As for her ambitions, Zhou He had heard Zuikaku say similar things countless times, so he could only respond with "Yes, yes, let's cheer each other on." Zuikaku even took the opportunity to chime in and encourage Kaga, making the scene quite lively.

More than half an hour later, everyone left one after another. After tidying up the kitchen utensils, Zhou He sat down to rest for a while. He originally wanted to wait for Kursk to come back later to help heat up the food. After sitting for half an hour, he realized that there was always hot food available in the restaurant. He scratched his head, feeling stupid, and got up and went upstairs. When he passed the second floor, he saw that the door was open and the light was shining out. He could hear conversation and laughter coming from inside.

Soon after, the door was closed, and the command center returned to silence.

A figure walked into the kitchen through the back door.

……

Perhaps because he had been busy, Zhou He slept very well. When he woke up, there was already a sliver of sunlight outside the window. He glanced at it a few times before realizing what was happening. He jumped up and went into the bathroom. After coming out, he put on his white navy jacket and stomped down the floor to the second floor. Finding no one there, he slowed down and went down to the first floor.

He peeked around the corner and, sure enough, saw Haman sitting properly on the hall chair. Today, Haman had changed out of her maid-like dress, but was still wearing a light pleated skirt and a long-sleeved top embroidered with a simplified dog logo.

The cat-ear hair accessory and tail were still there. After thinking it over, Zhou He felt that this was probably a manifestation of Haman's desire to be cuter. Because it was cute, he didn't need to care why Haman was wearing cat ears and a tail.

"Haman, good morning."

Zhou He placed his hand on the handrail and slowly walked downstairs, greeting Harman. He glanced at the clock on the wall out of the corner of his eye; it was a bit late, but he was still just before seven o'clock, so it wasn't too late overall.

"morning."

Harman pricked up her ears, tilted her head to respond to Zhou He, and stared at him suspiciously: "The Commander came down a little late today."

"Is that so? I was just thinking a little about our next move against the Sirens, which may have taken up a bit of time."

Zhou He answered casually—this cannot be called lying or deceiving, because while speaking, he had already opened the system's attack map to see if there had been any changes in the surrounding area overnight.

He should have looked away, because once he did, he discovered that there were quite a few mass-produced fleets in the North Fourth and Fifth Districts. Not only that, but two Siren squads had also infiltrated the North Third District. He quickly switched to other directions and found that there were similar situations in the east and west, while the south side, which was directly opposite the entrance to the bay, had remained stable.

The number of mass-produced fleets surged overnight, with many aircraft carriers and battleships among them, causing Zhou He to frown. Yesterday, Ruihe and the others said that the Sirens were approaching the port area, but he didn't believe it. Today, it seems that this is indeed the case. It is highly likely that the Purifier and Tester's mainframes have digested the data of the destroyed clones, so they have started to come and probe.

"What, what's wrong?"

Seeing Zhou He suddenly frown halfway through his sentence, Harman became a little nervous. Could it be that the Sirens were planning another large-scale operation?

"It's nothing. Today, I might need to trouble you, Hamman, to go and clash with the Sirens."

Zhou He's brows relaxed, and he smiled and beckoned with his hand.

He had just taken a quick look and found that these mass-produced models did not seem to have pinpointed the exact location of their port area. They were moving towards this area, but their movement patterns were quite scattered, giving the impression of a carpet search.

This struck him as odd. There were only a few islands near his home that he could use as footholds. The Sirens were all honeycomb-like mechanical units with advanced technology, so they should have clear objectives when they acted, rather than resorting to this kind of luck-based approach.

This thought reminded him of when he first arrived at the port. Many sirens had come to areas not far from the port islands, but none of them actually approached to investigate. Could it be—

"Good morning, Commander."

At the entrance, Hermione carried a tray into the hall. After greeting everyone, she placed the tray on the table and turned around to notice that Zhou He and Harman's expressions were somewhat subtle. She tilted her head and thought for a moment: "Has there been some misunderstanding between the two of you?"

"It was there before, but it's been untied."

Zhou He waved his hand, walked over and sat down at the table where Hermione was. He lifted the lid of his plate and looked at the steaming noodles and side dishes. He smiled at Hermione and said, "Hermione, you always manage to accurately predict when I'll come downstairs."

"Well, didn't the Commander and Miss Hamman agree to have lunch together earlier? I just happened to be here."

Hermione responded with a light smile. Zhou He didn't seem to care, but Harman's eyes widened slightly. Unlike Zhou He, who had just come downstairs, Harman had been sitting there waiting for him to come down after her meal. Hermione came three times in total. The first time was when she came with her, the second time was ten minutes later, and now it was the third time. Each time, Hermione brought a steaming hot breakfast, but when she found that Zhou He hadn't come down, she took it back.

Why not tell the truth?

Harman looked at Hermione with a puzzled expression. Was this what a professional was supposed to be?

too strong!

Under the watchful eyes of the two beautiful girls, Zhou He quickly finished his breakfast, took the handkerchief Hermione handed him, wiped his mouth, and said, "Hermione, have you seen Hood and Bismarck? The Sirens have made some moves, and I want to discuss the handling of the situation with them."

"Yes, Ms. Hood is having lunch at the restaurant, and Bismarck has gone to the docks."

Hermione answered very easily, and Zhou He nodded and stood up: "Go and inform Hood that I'm calling Bismarck back."

"I…"

Hearing Zhou He's simple instructions, Harman opened her mouth as if she wanted to do something, but before she could speak, Zhou He looked over, smiled and winked at her: "Harman, go and help me find Jintsuu or Shoukaku, and Cleveland too. Please."

"Those guys from the Sakura Empire."

Hamman was still quite vengeful. She pouted but didn't refuse Zhou He's request. She strode out of the command post—she hated the Sakura Empire fleets in her memories, but she also understood that the ship girls gathered in Zhou He's port area had only acquired the names and combat experience of those warships and had no obligation to pay for the events that happened in history.

However, she would never forgive anyone else, except for I168. She would at least make her apologize to her sister in Yorktown!

“…Miss Harman is not a bad person at heart, please do not tease her, Commander.”

Hermione could tell that Haman was somewhat reluctant. Although she didn't know why, she still offered her advice to Zhou He, who smiled and said, "I know."

Hermione couldn't discern the truth in Zhou He's words, but since Zhou He's arrangements so far had been quite reasonable, she chose to believe him. She picked up her tray, turned around, and accompanied Zhou He out of the command post before they parted ways.

It was past seven o'clock, and the sun had slowly risen, but the temperature outside was still very low. Zhou He did not walk on the lawn, but instead walked properly along the 150-meter avenue he had paved. After reaching the dock, he saw Bismarck talking to Z23.U556. He looked around and waited for a few minutes until the other person finished speaking before approaching.

"commander."

Bismarck, like Zhou He, was dressed in her usual military uniform. Perhaps it was because it was morning, but the oppressive aura she exuded was quite strong, making Zhou He feel a little flustered and want to look away. However, after so long, he had developed some immunity to it. After taking a slight breath, he said, "The Sirens' actions are somewhat unusual. They seem to be searching for our port area."

"..."

Bismarck frowned upon hearing this, turned his head to look at the entrance to the bay, and nodded after looking away: "It's indeed time to come."

"The sirens in this operation are all mass-produced and numerous, so we still need to develop some plans."

Zhou He nodded and, after a brief explanation, invited Bismarck to a short meeting at the command post.

After saying that, Bismarck stepped forward and stopped Z23 and U556, who were waiting for orders to go into the water: "Today's training will be replaced with actual combat."

"Yes!"

Z23 gave a very proper military salute. U556 was a lively girl with short blue pigtails who looked a bit silly. She was usually inseparable from Bismarck, but strangely, she never ran into Zhou He. At this moment, she swayed left and right next to the two of them: "It seems that the commander has not given me any orders yet. Does he think that submarines are useless?"

"No, no, no, that's not what I meant."

Aside from a few encounters at the Siren base, Zhou He had hardly spoken to U556. He never expected that U556 would make such a weighty statement right off the bat, and he quickly waved his hand to refute: "In my opinion, submarines are also very important fleet members. They are an important combat force to ensure underwater safety. They can be deployed covertly and can also conduct reconnaissance."

Seeing U556 listening intently, Zhou He paused and continued, "I didn't give you orders because Bismarck is more mature than me in terms of combat command. You can play a greater role by following Bismarck's command than by me giving instructions."

"Sigh~ Commander is so modest. It seems like people from the Eastern Empire all have this habit."

U556 blinked after hearing this. She had previously asked Bismarck what he thought of Zhou He. Bismarck's answer was that Zhou He was broad-minded, good at using people, had a strong sense of the big picture, and had a promising future. To receive such high praise from someone as strict as Bismarck, U556 instinctively thought that Zhou He was an excellent commander.

"Hahaha."

Zhou He chuckled dryly. He wasn't being modest; when it came to tactical command, he was 20 years ahead of Bismarck.

"By the way! Commander, what do you think I should do in this battle against the Sirens?"

As they walked, U556 suddenly clapped her hands, looked up and asked Zhou He. Zhou He answered without much thought: "Among the Sirens attacking this time, there are quite a few teams that include submarines. I will arrange you in the direction with more submarines. You will follow Bismarck and sink the submarines on the other side."

Before his transmigration, Zhou He was a freelancer barely making a living. His biggest takeaway from that struggle was understanding his own limitations. He would never try to compete with professionals when faced with something he was completely unfamiliar with. Therefore, when it came to operations outside the port, he would only offer simple reminders on the big picture and leave the command to the right people – that was the only way to be prudent.

"The commander is indeed very clever!"

Upon hearing Zhou He link her to Bismarck, U556 gave a thumbs-up with great pleasure, truly acknowledging Zhou He's existence as her superior's superior.