Revisit Azur Lane

The light lasted for more than ten seconds before gradually disappearing. Xuefeng was still the same Xuefeng, only the wounds on his body had disappeared.

"Given her condition, let her rest in the medical room for the night. I've already prepared everything."

Zhou He stepped forward and touched Xuefeng's slightly cold cheek, sighing inwardly.

After Tosa nodded, he carried Yukikaze toward the command post, while Yuudachi called out "I'll come too!" and ran after Tosa. Jarvis followed closely behind. Hood and his group, who did not want to dine at night, left first, leaving a group of young people who had never thought they would gain weight, and followed Zhou He toward the restaurant.

This operation was flawless; no one was injured, the Siren officers were repelled, and Yukikaze Meta was rescued.

Therefore, Zhou He asked the people around him as he walked, "Tell me about the specific process of carrying out the mission."

Honestly, when the Cleanser attacked Yukikaze, he was extremely nervous. Given Yukikaze's durability at the time, he was afraid that this guy would kill him in a few shots. He was already considering whether to repair Yukikaze's injuries, but then Yukikaze's health bar inexplicably locked and wouldn't drop, which made him give up the idea.

"The process of this mission was a bit boring and strange."

The four aircraft carriers contributed the most to this operation. Yorktown and Long Island did not come along, so Zuikaku got the right to speak. She walked in front of Zhou He, turning sideways like a crab, and spread her palms out to Zhou He: "After we arrived at our position, we waited for your orders, Commander. As a result, those three Siren officers drove Yukikaze directly in front of us. At the time, I thought the Sirens were plotting something, but when I heard your order, Commander, I forced them back and also retrieved Yukikaze, who had little power to resist."

"Is this so?"

Zhou He instinctively felt that something was wrong, but since the Sirens couldn't find his port, it didn't really matter if there was a problem or not. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Those experimenters probably wanted to use Yukikaze as bait to lure you out and lock onto our port. They must have had other methods hidden in the shadows, but they didn't expect you to be so brave that they had nowhere to use your strength."

"Right! That's what I think too."

Upon hearing this, Zuikaku revealed a rather proud little expression. In response, Shoukaku covered his face with his hand to hide his helpless smile. Jintsu and the others in Cleveland also smiled upon hearing this.

"Hmm! I never imagined that you guys could display such strong combat capabilities at night. It's truly an eye-opener."

Zhou He liked Zuikaku's straightforward personality, which made her easily pleased with praise, so he added another stroke of the pen, which made Zuikaku extremely happy. She patted her chest, gave a thumbs up, and said things like, "What did I say before the sortie? Now you believe me, Commander?" Shoukaku next to her blushed. She really didn't expect her little sister to be so easily praised. It was too embarrassing.

However… Shoukaku glanced at Zhou He and noticed that his expression seemed gentler than usual. Perhaps this straightforward praise wasn't just because he wanted to amuse Zuikaku.

"By the way, Lingmin, if you want to launch an attack in the future, remember to tell me. You don't have to do it so secretly."

Turning his attention away from Ruihe, Zhou He suddenly thought of something, turned his gaze and called out to Lingmin, who was about to slip away.

"Hmph~ I didn't launch a surprise attack, it's just that you didn't notice me, Commander."

The agile figure paused when called, turned around and waved her finger in front of her. Her expression was first somewhat smug, then became conflicted: "I heard that the goal of this mission is to capture a ship girl with abnormal combat capabilities, so I thought her ship equipment configuration must be very unique, but after observing her just now, it doesn't seem to have anything special about it."

What kind of ship equipment does she have?

Zhou He had never seen Yukikaze's meta ship equipment, and her meta version was not implemented in the game. Could it be that Yukikaze's ship equipment was very plain and unadorned?

"Yukikaze's ship equipment is a wolf."

Someone nearby spoke up to explain, and Zhou He's spirits lifted. It was a wolf! That was so cool.

I remember that the meta ship outfit of that Sakura Empire character was a demon mask resembling a Hannya. To be honest, I didn't really appreciate it; something simpler would have been better.

"That wolf has a strong sense of life and doesn't seem like a mechanical life form. However, the strength of its armor is worth considering."

Although it was something she could ponder, her quick wit revealed that she wasn't very interested in it.

"It is very much worth pondering."

Zhou He corrected her, but didn't say much. Instead, he changed the subject: "Lingmin, since you're here, could you and Ming Shi help design a damage control system suitable for you? I'm worried that I might not be able to provide timely support."

"This is a bit troublesome. I'll think about it later."

Lingmin did not refuse. During the attack today, she saw the Cleanser's laser cannon. Weapons of that level were simply beyond the capabilities of their ship equipment and bodies. Not only damage control, but she believed that the ship equipment needed to be equipped with more protective devices.

"please."

Zhou He smiled and nodded, trusting in Akashi's research and development capabilities.

After several exchanges, the group arrived outside the restaurant. The restaurant was lit with warm yellow lights, making it look extremely cozy. Zhou He invited everyone in and had the Manjuu serve him a late-night snack, but he didn't eat himself. Instead, he made an excuse to slip out and walked along the cold night road to check the parameters of the black-framed character portrait with the infinite time-lapse text 'Yukikaze.META' that appeared in the dock.

As expected, Yukikaze's strength was nerfed. Its original durability of 50,000 was reduced to just over 20,000, and other parameters were also cut in half, but it still has more than 300 shelling damage and 1,000 lightning damage.

This ship is still a numerical monster. At least it hasn't been nerfed to the point where it's even worse than a regular ship, like it was in the game. The system still follows the basic rules. If a meta ship girl has the same stats as a regular ship girl, then all her suffering was for nothing, and all her meta-ization was for nothing.

I really hope these game operators can do something humane, at least not turn the awesome characters in the story into disabled characters in the hands of the players.

"Phew, I wonder if Yukikaze will want to go back when she wakes up."

After shutting down the system panel, Zhou He returned to the command building, exhaling a breath. It was quite lively there as well. Tosa was leaning against the wall outside the infirmary, while Yuudachi and Jarvis were inside observing Yukikaze.

In the game and the background story, Yuudachi has a very good relationship with Yukikaze and Shigure. However, Yuudachi is not concerned about Yukikaze Meta now, but rather with the mindset that "the new member can't get into trouble."

"Is the treatment complete?"

Seeing Zhou He appear, Tosa casually asked, and Zhou He nodded in response: "The light that just appeared was to remove and disperse the energy that exceeded her body's capacity. The remaining power will no longer affect her consciousness, but her mental state is very poor and she may need to rest for a long time."

"..."

Tosa pursed her lips. She considered herself used to Zhou He's abilities, but Zhou He always managed to come up with something new for her. After a moment of silence, she asked, "Did anyone else say anything to you?"

"We talked about your mission process, and I need Lingmin to help with damage control."

Zhou He counted them off on his fingers, then instinctively covered his mouth with his hand and yawned. He hadn't stayed up late in so long that he was already feeling sleepy before midnight.

This is not the kind of work and reaction a port area commander should have.

"That's true, you should get some rest."

Tosa hummed in agreement, said nothing more, and got up to leave.

"I hate the Riddler."

Zhou He pursed his lips, but he actually understood what Tosa meant—this time he had snatched Yukikaze Meta from the Siren cadres, and coupled with the old grudge from a few days ago, the Sirens would definitely retaliate even more fiercely, and their external situation might be even more severe than it is now.

Tosa, Hood, and Bismarck all knew this, but none of them discussed it with him, most likely because it was already very late and they didn't want him to go to sleep with doubts and pressure.

What a lovely group of girls.

Zhou He thought to himself as he went into the infirmary to check on Xue Feng's condition. Jarvis, fulfilling his duty, examined Xue Feng's physical condition and replied with a serious expression, "Xue Feng's body has been completely repaired, but her consciousness is not yet awake, indicating that she has suffered a strong and profound blow to her spirit. The best approach is to let her body respond to her spirit and awaken on its own. Another approach is to forcibly awaken her, but her spirit may not be stable."

"Let her rest. You heard it too, Yuudachi. Don't worry, go and eat something first."

Zhou He wasn't in a hurry to wake up Yukikaze Meta, so he stepped forward and patted Yuudachi on the shoulder.

"Well, I got it."

Yuudachi had to choose between food and care. After hesitating for half a second, she chose food and disappeared in a flash.

"The greedy little guy."

Zhou He couldn't help but chuckle, then nodded to Jarvis: "Jarvis, you should go and rest too. It's very safe in the port area."

"Please wait a moment, Commander, go and rest."

Jarvis remained calm and, sitting beside Xuefeng, offered Zhou He advice instead.

"Then I'll leave first."

With everyone rescued, Zhou He naturally had no reason to stay up all night. After giving Jarvis a few simple instructions, he turned around and tried to go upstairs. Halfway up, he remembered that he had to sleep in the new dormitory today, so he had no choice but to turn back. He left through the back door, letting the cold wind blow through him, and quickly went into the new dormitory and turned on the lights.

"Huh, why did the commander go over there?"

Before Yuudachi even entered the restaurant, she noticed that the lights in the new dormitory were on, and Zhou He's figure was reflected in the light. Feeling something strange, an idea flashed through her mind, and she revealed an honest smile.

Chapter 113 Taking in Yukikaze

When he regained consciousness, Zhou He's first feeling was that it was very hot, and his second feeling was that it was very noisy. Although there was no sound in his ears, it was as if he was on a battlefield. The sounds of explosions, wind, and the rolling waves of the sea, as well as people's shouts, all blended together, making him feel irritated from the bottom of his heart. He frowned and opened his eyes.

Instead of an unfamiliar ceiling, Zhou He was greeted by a scene straight out of a war disaster movie: multiple warships of different shapes were being bombed by a swarm of aircraft, the burning flames reflected on the sea surface, as if the sea itself was ablaze, and black smoke, along with the flames of explosions, shot into the sky, mingling with the overwhelming swarm of aircraft, almost obscuring the entire sky.

Darkness and coldness constantly assaulted his senses. Suddenly, a black and red plane swooped down on Zhou He. He instinctively raised his hand to defend himself, but a figure blocked his way. Dense gunfire erupted, and the plane was forced to climb.

Zhou He recognized the familiar figure; it was Shen Tong.

"what happened…"

He tried to ask a question, but found that he could not make a sound. At this moment, Shen Tong turned around. His military uniform was tattered and even fluttered in the wind, but there was no exposure of his private parts. There were only many deep, bloody wounds that were visible to the naked eye and could cause phantom pain.

"The front line has fallen. Follow me and we will withdraw from the battlefield."

Shen Tong's once beautiful and neat long hair was now soaked and disheveled, covering half of her face, making her look disheveled. However, her expression was cold and stern, and her eyes burned with fire, making her look nothing like a defeated general.

It seemed as if he was talking to himself. Zhou He wanted to answer, but his gaze suddenly changed. His body suddenly became so light that he was blown backward by the sea breeze. He also saw clearly who the supernatural power was talking to: Xuefeng.

'Is this a dream?'

At this moment, Zhou He finally cleared his mind and focused his gaze on Xue Feng, who was gathering teams with Shen Tong in various parts of the battlefield. He watched them slowly leave with their backs to the burning battlefield, and the last thing he saw was Xue Feng looking back.

Zhou He couldn't see Yukikaze's expression at that moment because a strong pulling force carried him through a variety of scenes as if he were in a car. These scenes included Yukikaze's return to base, her rest and adjustment after leaving Jintsu's team, and joining other teams to participate in combat and escort missions. These included Sakura Empire ship girls that Zhou He knew, such as Mogami, Hiei, Shoukaku, Takao, Agano, Fuso, Suzuya, and Chikuma.

Yukikaze also transformed from someone who was initially protected into a valiant fighter, constantly participating in battles, getting injured, fighting, and getting injured again.

The process was arduous, but the ending was cruel. Every battle she participated in ended in failure. Facing the ever-approaching Siren fleet, Yukikaze's combat squads suffered losses every time. Whether it was the vanguard or the main force, they were all sacrificed indiscriminately. Even the decisive ships of the Sakura Empire, such as Musashi and Shinano, became Yukikaze's backdrop.

During this time, Yukikaze gradually changed from lively and intelligent to silent and even crazy. He always charged ahead in battle, but he always came back alive. His figure standing alone on the sea looked so lonely.

Even so, the Sirens' army continued to advance, and the entire Sakura Empire had been rendered incapable of self-sufficiency. Almost all of its capital ships capable of fighting were wiped out. At this very moment, Yukikaze, who was returning from defeat, was injected with an energy agent of unknown origin by the Sakura Empire's researchers, who had been driven mad, under the guise of "maintenance and repair."

Later, the experimental base was leveled by the infighting between Yukikaze and the others, and the others had already evacuated, leaving Yukikaze completely abandoned.

In silence and despair, she walked into the deep sea. During the battle, the Rubik's Cube energy within her body began to go berserk, and her body, clothing, and even ship equipment underwent drastic changes. The final scene was a meeting between Yukikaze and the observers who led the team.

But Zhou He's body continued forward, passing through the endless darkness, and he saw a faint point of light—it was a very simple-looking island port area, a very simple-looking living room, inside which stood many girls with different expressions but all with expectation and smiles, and in the middle of them stood a person.

The moment Zhou He saw himself, he woke up with a start.

……

"Is this what the system calls propaganda?"

Startled awake in his unfamiliar new dormitory, Zhou He sat up abruptly, raising his right hand to touch his forehead, which was covered in fine sweat. He calmed his rapid breathing, let out a long sigh, but quickly frowned again: "Was that Xuefeng's experience before he turned evil?"

He usually forgets most of his dreams when he wakes up, but this dream, which felt so real, was still vivid in his memory, making him suspect that the system was behind it all.

And this system is way too honest, isn't it? The so-called 'attractiveness' is just showing its own situation to the ship girls before their meta-corruption? It's all about realism, right? How can this possibly attract anyone?

Uh, it seems there really is.

As Zhou He gradually calmed down, he still felt very hot, perhaps because the bed was covered with a down comforter used in winter, but even covering himself with a blanket felt... not right.

Zhou He glanced down at the large, bulging blanket on his left, reached out and pulled it aside. Yuudachi, dressed in pajamas and curled up in a ball, opened her eyes somewhat groggily. Her hazy, innocent eyes were paired with messy strands of hair stuck to her face and her fluffy ears twitching.

If he hadn't been startled awake and his emotions hadn't been so turbulent, Zhou He reasonably suspected that he would have gotten a big bump from Yuudachi's adorable sleeping posture.

But there are no ifs. Zhou He decisively turned around, got out of bed, and started getting dressed.