Revisit Azur Lane

Zhou He had already thought of a solution: "If they discover the port area and attack, Long Island, you attack them to draw their attention. At that time, I will contact Ruihe and the others to provide some support here."

He still has six Rubik's Cubes, six reserve combatants, and five combat personnel besides Akashi, so he's not afraid of the mass-produced Sirens at all.

Chapter 84 focuses on doing whatever one pleases.

Zhou He had initially intended to include Ling Min as a combatant, but after assigning Long Island, Jean Bart, Yuudachi, and Kursk to various positions, he arrived at the industrial area of ​​the dock and saw Ling Min and Akashi operating the machines in the production workshop to dismantle tanks and anti-aircraft vehicles. He silently turned away and removed Ling Min from the list of regular combatants.

"Four people, and it seems like there are only two Sirens near the port area. It feels a bit excessive, but we might be able to handle it unexpectedly."

Zhou He arrived at the dock and looked at the rolling waves. He wondered if he should build a few new girls to help make a good impression, but to be honest, he was already under a lot of pressure managing the twenty-one ship girls in the port area.

It can't be called management; his current state is almost equivalent to letting them run wild, because he can't manage them all. He can only ask Bismarck, Hood, and Cleveland, who have more reputations in their respective factions, to help guide the ship girls of the opposing faction.

"Let's see how things go first."

In the end, Zhou He suppressed the idea of ​​recruiting new members. After all, the number of Sirens that had been dispatched this time was not small, and they might even lose a few new members to him. More importantly, the Sirens approaching the port area were two groups, not one. If the two groups of Sirens did not act together but diverged in direction, then Kursk and the others could defeat them one by one and end the battle in a refreshing manner.

"..."

Silently, Zhou He strolled to the beach at the front of the bay and took out his long-unused binoculars from the warehouse to examine the distant seascape.

At this moment, if you look up from Zhou He's position into the sky, you can see many jet-black fleets surrounded by scarlet, blood-like patterns, slowly approaching the location of the port islands from the west.

The two fleets that Zhou He had previously noticed had obviously merged into one, with a total of twenty-five warships, including one battleship, three heavy cruisers and one light carrier. The battleship and the light carrier were the flagships of the two fleets, surrounded by other escort ships in the center.

As time went on, the massive fleet approached the island in the port area. When it entered the 10-nautical-mile boundary and approached within 5 nautical miles, an unbelievable scene unfolded—the now merged fleet could 'observe' the distant island, yet it made no reaction whatsoever. In fact, it inadvertently split back into two fleets, which bypassed the island from the north and south respectively, continuing their advance at the same speed.

So much so that Zhou He, holding a telescope, saw more than ten Siren warships pass by directly in front of the bay entrance. He was on tenterhooks for a moment, then watched them disappear from the west to the east.

"Sure enough, this port area is affected by the system, and the Sirens can't detect it at all... No, it should be said that the low-level Sirens can't detect it. It's possible that the experimental agency and the arbitration agency with even more advanced functions can detect this place through extraordinary black technology."

Zhou He put down the binoculars. The confirmation of his suspicions gave him a sense of satisfaction, followed by the sense of security brought by the system.

He had worried for a long time about whether his home would be attacked by sirens at night, but now he could rest assured. His home port was most likely in an alternate dimension that overlapped with this world. As long as no ship girls entered or left this bay, neither mass-produced ships nor even executors could observe this place.

Suppressing his thoughts, he turned his gaze to the dock and relayed the new instructions to Long Island and Kursk, asking them to prioritize dealing with the Siren fleet in the south. The reason was that he had spotted the Siren light carrier in the center of the fleet. Unlike ship girls, mass-produced aircraft carriers have some of their planes on the deck. Even if they don't, the obvious long deck makes it easy to tell what kind of ship it is.

Less than ten minutes after the order was given, ear-piercing explosions and artillery fire came from the distant horizon. Looking up through binoculars, one could see two opposing groups of aircraft, one black and one blue and white, locked in combat.

With the battle taking place close to the port, Zhou He couldn't observe it through the sortie map. However, he trusted the two veterans, Yuudachi and Kursk, and the two capital ships, Nagashima and Jeanbart, so he shifted his attention to the larger skirmish taking place in the distance.

Before the sortie, Hu De specifically mentioned the issue of repairs being too timely, so Zhou He didn't repair any ships as soon as he saw them injured. Instead, he only repaired them when he saw them below half health. He still felt it was very dangerous to let his ship girls fight outside with less than half health. Modern warfare is a very unreasonable way of fighting. At the same time, a ship girl might be hit by artillery fire from different enemies. If the ship's equipment is not durable enough and is destroyed, the ship girl will die instantly, leaving him no more than a second to react.

Therefore, even if his 'doting' would cause his ship girls to lose their sense of crisis, he would never say anything like letting his ship girls grow up in danger.

Because the ship girls under his command do not need to grow in crisis. They only need to keep harvesting and crushing mass-produced and executor-type sirens to increase their attributes. Returning in great victory is the normal state that his ship girls should have.

"Ok?"

Suddenly, a new 3D character appeared in Zhou He's line of sight. After a moment of focused attention, he could see the new member's appearance clearly: she was dressed in what looked like a nurse's uniform or a maid's outfit, and her shoulder-length, deep purple hair with a gradient covered her right eye. Judging from the character's icon, she had the characteristics of a quiet, innocent loli.

"Jarvis?"

Zhou He couldn't recall the ship girl's name or personality, so he went to the dock to check her ship profile. She was the leader of a Royal Navy J-class destroyer and seemed quite reliable.

The shipyard's character illustrations were even more lifelike than the 3D figures. Zhou He could also distinguish the character's attire and touched his chin in surprise: "Besides the maid corps, the royal family also has a nurse corps?"

The more he played Azur Lane, the less he knew about or paid attention to the newly released ship girls. The only ones he remembered most were the old ships from the early days of the game and the super-powerful rainbow ships. Some new ship girls that other players found sexy and popular were just pieces in his puzzle to complete his fleet. He would build them, put them in his home base, and train them to level 120 whenever there was an empty slot in his sortie team. He had no emotional investment in them at all.

"It might be because I don't have enough energy."

Recalling his experiences before transmigrating, Zhou He could only say that he didn't have Yu Yu syndrome because he had a unique skill of coping with himself. His daily life was so repetitive and boring, but he also had a mentality that even playing games was too much of a waste of time.

what.

Zhou He bid farewell to the bitter past and simply conveyed the order to the newly joined Jarvis to 'follow Hood in combat and return to the port.' His specific personality would have to be determined after getting to know him personally, but hopefully he would be an easy-going and obedient kid like Javelin.

Jarvis's appearance did not mean the battle was over. Even the battle at their doorstep had escalated. Another Siren fleet turned back after Kursk and the others made their move. The sound of cannon fire was terrifying. However, Zhou He observed that the health of Yuudachi and the other three was quite good, so they should not be under much pressure. After conveying the order to Hood and Bismarck to "retreat back to port if they feel tired", he turned around and went to the restaurant run by Manjuu to order lunch.

……

"Commander! This is our newest member!"

After the battle near the port ended, Zhou He went out to greet their return, and also welcomed another new member: a girl who was pushed in front of Zhou He by Yuudachi as if presenting a treasure. Although she had a smile on her face, her hands unconsciously gripped her clothes. She was Bush, a Fletcher-class destroyer from the White Eagle. She had fluffy purple hair that was similar to Jarvis's but without the gradient. Her white clothes and coat were slightly oversized and looked a bit loose. Although she was nervous, her smile was soft and she looked very cute.

"I am the commander here. Welcome to the unit, Bush."

With Jarvis preceding him and Bush following, Zhou He was genuinely pleased by the addition of these two destroyers. He bent his legs, barely maintaining eye level with Bush, and smiled as he extended his hand in welcome.

"Thank you."

Bush sensed the strong goodwill emanating from Zhou He, and seeing that Zhou He seemed more like a friendly older brother than a soldier, he gradually relaxed. He touched Zhou He's palm with his fingers and shook hands, saying in a light tone, "So now I'm officially a member of the port area."

"Well, let's work hard together."

Zhou He smiled and said some polite words, but then he realized that he was acting like an old, weird uncle. So he straightened up, coughed lightly, and looked at Yuudachi and the others: "Of course, Yuudachi, you guys are also very impressive for discovering Bush. The experiment I envisioned has also yielded results. Now you can rest for a while. Later, you may need to go and greet the others who are returning."

"Good~"

The praised Yuudachi squinted its eyes happily, wagged its tail and circled around twice. Suddenly, it sensed something, woke up, and trotted towards the restaurant.

"The commander is truly remarkable."

Long Island also left behind a lighthearted remark, her smile full of meaning. Zhou He pressed her for an answer, but she wouldn't say anything, and before he knew it, she had vanished like a ghost. The remaining one, Barr, scratched his ear without speaking, but his eyes were fixed on Kursk, who hadn't avoided them as they returned together. He approached her with interest, wanting to say something, but found that no matter how fast she sped up or even ran, she couldn't close the distance between herself and Kursk. Suddenly, her blood boiled, and the two of them ran wildly into the deep forest on the island.

"Everyone in the port area is an interesting person."

Bush didn't actually understand much of what was being said, but seeing everyone else interacting so naturally, he instinctively felt that the Minato Ward he had joined was quite nice, and he smiled happily.

"I often think so too."

Zhou He stood with one hand on his hip, watching the four people run off one after another. After speaking, he paused for a few seconds before asking Bush in a low voice, "We have quite a few Sakura Empire ship girls in our port, such as Yuudachi who just brought you back, as well as the Fifth Carrier Division and others who are out on sorties and haven't returned. Bush, can you accept living with them?"

"Huh—the Fifth Carrier Division!?"

Bush, who had been quite happy, instantly lost his smile upon hearing Zhou He's words. As if he had realized something, he clutched his hat tightly and crouched on the ground, trembling with fear. He looked adorable, but he was actually even more adorable.

Zhou He was stunned for a moment, then quickly squatted down and knelt beside Bush, gently patting his back and comforting him in a soft voice: "It's okay, Bush, don't be afraid. The Sakura Empire ship girls who join the port won't hurt you. Besides them, your Eagle Union's Cleveland and Montpellier are also there, as well as that seemingly unreliable Long Island. If anyone scares you, you can go to them or come to me, and I'll punish them."

Of all the ship girls that have joined the port, this is the first time that Bush has shown such fear of ship girls from other factions. The key point that triggered this was the Fifth Carrier Division. Could it be that Bush's prototype ship was sunk by them?

"Really?"

Bush turned to look at Zhou He, her beautiful purple eyes glistening with tears, clearly terrified. Zhou He didn't dare to be negligent and quickly made a promise, saying that if any Sakura Empire aircraft carriers came to cause her trouble, he would lock them in a dark room and starve her for several meals.

—Shokaku certainly wouldn't have such a childish mentality, but Zuikaku is different. If she knew that Bush was afraid of Sakura Empire's aircraft carriers, she might just impulsively come over and scare him.

"Well, Bush has caused trouble for the commander."

With Zhou He's reassurance, Bush gradually calmed down, his face turning red as his emotions subsided. It was their first meeting, yet he had been seen looking so embarrassed. How ashamed he was!

"My purpose in being here is to solve your problems—but why are you so afraid of the Sakura Empire's aircraft carriers, Bush?"

Zhou He first expressed his position, then observed that Bush's emotions were stable before cautiously and tentatively asking, "Could it really be a historical remnant left by Shuanghe?"

"Because... their planes are terrifying. It's not enough for them to bomb from the sky; after they're done, they'll ram us with their planes. It's so scary!"

Bush hesitated for a moment, then quietly explained the reason.

"A plane crash, a suicide attack? It's truly terrifying."

Upon hearing this, Zhou He pondered for a moment and thought, "Good heavens, this kid actually ran into the Kamikaze Special Forces. That makes sense—it's just that through his efforts, his own aircraft carriers have already mastered the technique of using planes to ram ships."

It's really a sin. I'll have to remind them not to let Bush find out, otherwise the children will definitely be scared and cry again.

"Exactly! He's completely unreasonable, how can there be such a guy!"

Perhaps with Zhou He's support, Bush boldly began to complain about the kamikaze suicide attack methods he remembered.

"That's right."

Zhou He nodded in agreement. His side had unmanned aircraft, so it didn't matter if they were damaged. But in history, they were piloted by real people. It was hard to understand what kind of morbid thinking the people who gave the orders and carried them out in Sakura Empire had.

Chapter Eighty-Five: Victory or Defeat!

Compared to the western battlefield, which lasted less than an hour, the number of Sirens invading from the north and east was much greater. The battle there was deadlocked for a long time, until the sun began to set and was obscured by clouds, at which point the port welcomed back the warriors who had gone out to fight the enemy.

"This is getting complicated."

Upon landing, Zuikaku ran her fingers through her wet hair, which had been almost dried by the wind on the way back to port. The usually cheerful and outspoken Zuikaku was now deep in thought, her furrowed brows and cold expression making her seem like a completely different person compared to her usual carefree demeanor in the port area.

As for the reason, Zhou He had already learned it from Bismarck and Hood: In previous sorties, the Sirens they faced were mostly of a fixed number, and even if the scale was large, there would always be a time when they were completely wiped out. But this time, the Sirens were truly coming from afar in an endless stream. Even the weakest mass-produced type could not easily win when their numbers were overwhelming, and they even fell into a disadvantage due to their declining physical strength.

Their return journey can be described as a narrow victory, or it could be described as a defeat.

“I understand the situation. However, it has been confirmed that the Sirens cannot detect our port islands, so there is no need to worry about security for the time being. Now that you are home, you should get some rest. I will arrange for the Sirens to handle the rest.”

Zhou He didn't think the current situation was particularly troublesome. The Sirens approaching on a large scale was indeed troublesome, but it wasn't that big of a deal, because his port already had enough fighting power. Compared to now, the real difficulty was when he had only Yuudachi and had to work hard to deal with the Sirens right after he transmigrated.

Having sorted out his thoughts, Zhou He clapped his hands and calmly swept his gaze over everyone returning to port, a composed smile playing on his lips: "Compared to this matter, I actually had a hidden plan today, which was to select the members who 'grew' the fastest from today's operation and have them compete in a final showdown, with the winner receiving a detached villa or manor as a reward."

"what?"

Even the newly joined Jarvis was stunned for a moment when he heard his speech, but the meaning of his words was very simple, and everyone quickly realized what he meant. Zuikaku put aside the troubles brought by the Sirens outside and pointed to the command post and the canteen, which looked like buildings that had been separated from the dock: "With such infrastructure in the port area... Ah, Commander, what do you mean by growth?"

She had originally intended to complain about how terrible the infrastructure was while she was thinking about building a big villa, but then she realized that the infrastructure at the dock was quite complete, it was just that she hadn't lived there and hadn't used it, so she quickly changed her mind.

"This refers to the combat adaptability and the growth of basic combat stats."

Zhou He had previously mentioned to Tosa that battles could increase the compatibility between ship equipment and ship equipment, making them stronger, but he hadn't mentioned it much to others. So, he raised his hand and gave everyone a simple explanation: all the ship girls who join the port will gain 'ship equipment compatibility (experience)' after sorties and battles against Sirens and other things, which will also improve ship equipment stats such as resistance (durability), artillery fire, and reload speed.

His growth refers to the ship girl whose attributes increased the most in this battle. He previously suspected that the more Sirens he sank, the more experience points he gained. However, if we talk about the number of enemies killed, Zuikaku, as an aircraft carrier, has been racking up kills since the beginning of the battle. She has a grand slam, and her experience points and stats should be far ahead. But in fact, her stat growth is not much different from others. So he feels that the rules for gaining experience points here are more complex and comprehensive.

Before the battle, he spent some time recording all the main attributes of his ship girls. During the return journey, he compared them and found that the ship girls who had grown the most in this battle were first Shoukaku, second Bismarck, third Hood, and fourth, fifth, and sixth were Tosa, Graf Spee, and Cleveland, respectively.

Others also saw an increase in their numbers, but not as much as these people.

"Of course, the reason for this sudden reward is that I happen to have the corresponding resources on hand. It will not affect the normal construction of the port area. It is a special product outside of the regular port area construction and development."

Facing the group who were processing unfamiliar information, Zhou He took a step back and made a statement of responsibility, directly naming the top six who had grown: "You are the members who have entered the finals this time. Now you will be divided into three groups to play rock-paper-scissors."

"mora?"

"Isn't this too hasty?"

Someone raised a question. Zhou He glanced to the side and saw Zuikaku and Kaga. The two were not standing together, but the auras they exuded were unusually similar. They were attracted by each other's voices and even made eye contact, the kind of eye contact where their auras kept rising.

"Hehe, so-called rock-paper-scissors is not a simple game."