Revisit Azur Lane

"There's a new mission."

Zhou He calmly replied, "A far more important task than fighting the Sirens."

"what?"

Upon hearing this, Zuikaku raised an eyebrow. What could be more important than defeating the Sirens?

"Zuikaku, you are being very rude."

Shoukaku followed from behind, gave Zuikaku a light reprimand, and then looked at Zhou He: "Commander, according to your orders, I dispatched reconnaissance aircraft to the south and found that the Sirens in this area have chosen to move southwards instead of us. Has something happened over there?"

"Ah."

Zhou He glanced at Ruihe beside him. He remembered that he had asked Xianghe to tell Ruihe and the others, so why was this guy acting as if he hadn't found out at all?

"I did not notice."

When Zuikaku heard Shoukaku say that, he knew that his reconnaissance had not been done well, and he scratched his head and frankly admitted his mistake.

Knowing that lecturing Ruihe wouldn't be very effective, Zhou He thought for a moment and said, "Then I'll give you a reconnaissance mission now, Ruihe. Go and see how the Sirens react after losing your target."

"understood."

Zuikaku decisively turned back to the sea and launched its reconnaissance plane.

"Sigh, it's been a while since I've seen the Commander so serious. Even Miss Kursk is here. Could it be that an enemy capable of scouting our port has appeared?"

Long Island, who was out and about, was very lively. After hearing Zhou He and the others' conversation, she curiously walked over and greeted Kursk very politely. After that, she eagerly moved closer to Kursk, but he only glanced at her and subtly stepped away.

"You guessed right. We'll explain the details once everyone gets back."

Zhou He reached out to stop Long Island from approaching Kursk, and smiled slightly at Yorktown, who had not spoken: "Your first sortie was so intense. Yorktown, you must be very tired now. You've worked hard. Long Island, take Yorktown to rest first."

"Yes~"

Long Island swayed, then turned and ran back to Yorktown's side. He tiptoed and whispered a few words in her ear, which cheered her up. She nodded to Zhou He and thanked him, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Commander. I want to wait for Harman and the others to return."

Zhou He naturally had no objection to this small matter. Instead, he took the time to mention the 'dormitory' issue to Yorktown. To his surprise, Yorktown chose the last empty room on the second floor of the command building. Zhou He wanted to persuade him but didn't know what to say, so he nodded in agreement.

At this point, the command building was completely full.

Having already decided to move into the new dormitory tonight, Zhou He could only think to himself that after he won over Yukikaze, the new dormitory would be filled with three Sakura Empire ship girls—Ayanami, Haguro, and Yukikaze—as well as the new maid, Enterprise. He didn't know if it would be lively, but at least he was sure he wouldn't be living alone in the new room, which made him feel much more relaxed.

I hope I won't have trouble sleeping tonight because of the new bed.

……

"In other words, a berserk ship girl with unimaginable strength is approaching our port. Our next mission is to subdue her and bring her back from the Siren horde?"

After everyone returned to port and rested briefly, Zhou He explained the new mission in the hall, which was understood by most people.

"Could anyone really manage to withstand such a large number of Sirens approaching?"

Cleveland looked around and stepped forward to voice the doubts in everyone's minds. In response, Zhou He simply smiled and turned his gaze to Miss Zuikaku, who had returned from her reconnaissance mission.

"I followed the commander's orders and scouted the Siren fleet that had lost our target. I found that they began moving south within ten minutes of losing their target. I tried to launch a reconnaissance mission to the south, but was shot down midway. I only saw a battle breaking out in the distance, which did not look like a clash between two large fleets."

Ruihe stood five steps to Zhou He's left, her hands behind her back, and spoke her findings in a loud voice that everyone could hear.

"...It's hard to imagine, but the facts are right before our eyes. Commander, please continue."

The more experienced a person is on the battlefield, the more they know what happens when the enemy outnumbers them. Hu De held his teacup, seemingly calm on the surface, but inwardly he was extremely shocked.

What Yukikaze Meta did completely defied her familiar knowledge of warfare: a destroyer roaming freely in the enemy's stronghold?

She could never have dreamed of such a bizarre and strange thing!

"Since everyone has already acknowledged this anomalous entity called Yukikaze Meta, I'll be frank. Let the Sirens deplete Yukikaze's energy first. Based on her approaching speed, she will arrive in the South First District around dusk this afternoon. At that time, Bismarck, Hood, Yorktown, and Shoukaku, you capital ships will launch an attack from a distance that the destroyers cannot reach. The rest of you will escort her and deal with any remaining Sirens nearby, depending on the situation."

Zhou He clapped his hands to get everyone's attention and then continued, "I will inform you of the specific details of the battle before we launch. Now, all you need to do is rest and wait for the order to launch."

As long as he's not in the vicinity of the port area, even in the South 1st District, within the area that the system map can monitor, he has the capacity to help provide intelligence, increasing the win rate by at least 20 points.

After the general direction was determined, Zhou He spent some time discussing the possible changes that might occur during the battle. After the meeting was over, everyone still did not disperse, but instead pestered Zhou He to tell him about Yukikaze Meta and the reason why she was so strong but went berserk.

In response, Zhou He could only tell them Yukikaze's backstory. As for the reason for her becoming stronger and going berserk—Zhou He didn't know what Yukikaze came into contact with during the experiment and entered a meta-corrosion state. After all, there was no clear reason in the game that caused the ship girls to fall into meta-corrosion. It was only mentioned that Bismarck and Hood did not die in the beginning of the game, but were seriously injured and were suspected of entering a meta-corrosion state, but were cured.

However, the metamorphosis of the previous settings is irreversible, and these two may not have been affected...

These plot settings were too fragmented, and he couldn't remember them very clearly. In short, he didn't know the reason for the meta-transformation of the ship girls. He only knew that it was related to Richard the Good Guy, and to the strange things that appeared in the plot in the form of a storm, which were from the 'Pandora's Box' opened by Richard the Good Guy in the original world.

"Could it be because of some so-called 'calamity'?"

Zhou He went through all the plot points related to meta, and finally focused his attention on the name of this mission, 'Dispel Calamity', and locked onto the word 'calamity'.

It's getting more and more abstract.

He took a deep breath and decided to ignore it. Anyway, he had the system to back him up. He figured that even if the so-called calamity itself descended here, the system would still give it a good beating. He just needed to collect all sorts of ship girls and make the port bustling and lively.

Unlike Zhou He, whose concerns were different, his ship girls seemed more concerned about Yukikaze's plight. Everyone else was fine, just disgusted by the Sakura Empire's underhanded tactics. Kaga, however, was different. She seemed to have triggered a blood rage, angrily denouncing the Sakura Empire's high-ranking officials as a bunch of useless trash. She claimed that from her era onwards, all the Sakura Empire ship girls in every subsequent period had been paying the price for the Sakura Empire's high-ranking officials' idiotic actions, showing a strong determination to destroy the Sakura Empire.

Deeply affected by this, Kaga was furious. Even Shoukaku couldn't help but step forward to persuade him, "Senpai, stop it, stop cursing." Zuikaku and Jintsu also couldn't bear to watch and spoke up to comfort Kaga, which finally made Kaga shut up, very dissatisfied, and snort coldly without saying another word.

'Amagi's silent departure must have been a huge blow to Kaga.'

Zhou He didn't dare to say anything, and felt even more that he had to be careful. If he did something wrong and got scolded by his own ship girl, he would probably become depressed.

Kaga stirred up a somewhat awkward atmosphere. Cleveland touched her hair, completely surprised that the Sakura Empire's own ship girls seemed to hate the Sakura Empire faction even more than they did. As for Yorktown, she had already secretly slipped away with Haman when Kaga started cursing.

As for Hood and Bismarck, they didn't just watch the show; instead, they seriously considered whether their own camp would do the same thing if faced with the same predicament.

The answer to this question is uncertain.

However, it is certain that this situation will not occur in the port area where they are currently located.

Chapter 110 Decision

"It's astonishing that the Sirens have actually abandoned our side, and that Yukikaze who suddenly appeared is being valued more than us."

After the meeting, most people began to rest under Zhou He's arrangement. However, Zuikaku, who couldn't stay quiet, went outside to gather intelligence with a reconnaissance plane. The Siren fleet was visibly heading south towards Yukikaze Meta, which made her a little sullen. She turned around and complained to Zhou He.

"The Sirens probably see us as a controllable threat, while Yukikaze is an uncontrollable one."

Zhou He had just found rooms for Yu Hei and the others in the new dormitory when he went back to rest in the more familiar command building lobby, only to be caught by Rui He. He could only laugh and comfort her as she grumbled in dissatisfaction.

In the game, meta-series ship girls belong to the high-end combat power series and can barely compete with the entire Siren system, while ordinary ship girls are just dispensable flags in the eyes of the Sirens. In addition, even meta ships in berserk mode still have their uses.

For example, it could be used as the final boss in the Mirror Sea, or used for related research. That would be much more valuable than their invisible and intangible turtle shell.

"Damn Sirens! Sooner or later they'll learn who the real uncontrollable threat is!"

Ruihe grumbled a few more times, but her anger had almost subsided. Just then, Xianghe happened to pass by and immediately followed him in a cheerful mood. Zhou He was astonished when he saw this; he had witnessed firsthand what it meant to change one's attitude faster than turning the pages of a book.

……

In an unknown space, against a dark background that occasionally flickers with red and blue light, several figures gather and converse.

"There are indeed abnormal influences in the D3 area. Whether it's those ship girls of unknown origin, the mirror space that suddenly went out of control, the observer with an unknown number trying to connect to the mainframe, or the meta ship girls that appeared this time that were not recorded, this is the first time such a case has occurred. Could it be that the lost beacon has been infected by the ominous signs and spread?"

The speaker was an observer with mechanical ears, a girl-like figure enveloped by a massive tentacle ship armor. As she spoke, her fingers slid through the air, displaying system reports from the large area of ​​sea where Zhou He was located. In just one month, the situation had rapidly escalated. If it weren't for the observer with the unknown number attempting to send a request to access the mainframe from the Mirror Sea, she wouldn't have noticed the anomalies occurring in this area.

"Currently, intelligence is severely lacking. The fleets sent over have engaged in battles several times, yet we still cannot pinpoint the location of those ship girls. Such technology only exists within the Council, but such stealth is not their style. The weapons and combat skills used by those ship girls are also not their work."

The test subject spoke this time, her tone calm, using the same speculative tone as the observer.

Such a scene has not been seen for a long time. During the years of confrontation with Ominous and the Council, there has been a wealth of reference data from these two old rivals, but none of them can reflect the situation that is happening in the D3 area.

If one had to put it in perspective, what happened in Zone D3 was as if the ominous signs had colluded with the Council, and the situation was completely beyond their calculations and control.

"Aha~ Since there's not enough data, why don't we just collect more data, like we've always done, right?"

The third one was the Purifier. Her large eyes were full of wisdom, and she had a relaxed expression and a flippant tone, not taking it seriously at all.

"I agree. Let me go and capture this meta ship to guard our home."

This time, the speaker was a woman wearing a black vest and with long, silver-gray hair that had curved, pointed ends. She had her hands in her pockets, and her face practically screamed that she had no interest in anything that required thinking.

"That's all for now, I'm going back."

The creator, who was holding a mysterious doll in his arms like a porcelain doll, listened to the group's remarks, gave a word of agreement, and then disappeared from this space.

"Sigh~ It's like this again. Are the builders that busy?"

Purification raised a questioning voice. Whenever they gathered to discuss things, the Builder was always the first to run away, and they rarely managed to get her to go on missions together.

"I asked her to check on the changes at the other test sites. I also have some things to take care of. You three can handle this meta ship girl. If you fail, seal off this area. At least we can't let them come out and cause trouble."

The observer smoothed things over for the builder and skillfully shifted the blame to the tester, the purifier, and the cleaner before disappearing.

"It's the three of us again."

The remaining three looked at each other, unsure how to respond. After a moment, the tester asked, "Should we contact the arbitration body?"

"They can't get away either. It's just a rampaging meta ship. The three of us can handle it more than enough."

The Cleaner raised her chin. This wasn't the first time she'd dealt with berserk ship girls; mindless creatures were easy to catch.

"Then...you'll go first?"

The tester and the purifier exchanged a glance. Based on their personal experience, they knew that in battles with insufficient data, they would almost always suffer a setback on their first attempt. However, depending on their order of appearance, the setbacks could be categorized as major setbacks, minor frustrations, or tactical victories.

"can!"

The cleaner was very confident.

……

As the sun set, Zhou He, having finished dinner, sat on the corridor outside the restaurant, watching Xue Feng still lingering between South Second and South First Districts, and couldn't help but click his tongue in amazement.

He overestimated Yukikaze's speed and underestimated the terrifying power of the Siren fleet.

Over the course of several hours, Yukikaze's durability bar had been worn down by more than 6,000. From this rate of wear, he could imagine just how tough Yukikaze's ship equipment was. It hadn't suffered any major damage despite being bombarded from three sides by submarines, warships, and aircraft. In the game, it would definitely take down a ship with several million HP.

"Commander, do we still have a chance to launch an attack today?"

After finishing his meal, Jean Bart picked his teeth with a toothpick and squatted down next to Zhou He, casually asking a question while looking at the withered flowers and plants in the courtyard.

"It will be late at night."

Zhou He did a quick calculation and figured that based on the five-hour timeframe from South 3 to South 1, Yukikaze would be within a suitable range for his ship girls to launch attacks in about two or three hours. However, by then, his aircraft carriers would probably be of little use, and the hit rate of nighttime bombardment would be a mystery.

It seems unlikely that Xuefeng will be able to return tonight.