After preventing the world from being destroyed, the ship girls started acting strangely.

Before they knew it, they were back in their office chairs, but this time it was different; the company's face was beaming with smiles, just like Yorktown itself.

……

……

Inside the lounge in the port area.

You Ran spent almost the entire afternoon cuddling with Harman while reading comic books.

Actually, You Ran originally wanted to go to the school with Haman, since he was quite interested when Quejie mentioned it yesterday.

However, as soon as he mentioned it to Harman, she immediately shook her head, saying that she finally had a legitimate reason not to go back to class today.

When asked if there was anywhere she wanted to go, Harman said she just wanted to stay in the command room and didn't want to go anywhere else. So You Ran went along with Harman's wishes and didn't go out all afternoon.

On the sofa, You Ran lay half-reclined, eating the fruit that Karybdis had brought him, while Haman lay in his arms looking at a comic book.

Perhaps because he hadn't engaged in any recreational activities for too long, he initially just helped turn the pages and occasionally teased Haman. He thought he would get bored quickly, but before he knew it, he had actually finished reading the book with Haman. It was about how, after being captured by the Sirens, his pet pony, dog, and rabbit acquired ship equipment by accident and went to the Sirens' camp to rescue the commander.

Yes, it really was him. Although You Ran didn't want to be so involved, the comic book started with a hand-drawn scene of him being captured by the Sirens, and the explicit mention of his name at the beginning forced him to feel involved.

As the story concludes with the pony, the dog, and the rabbit unleashing an astonishing power of friendship in a desperate situation, ultimately combining to become an even more powerful ship and defeating the Purifier, You Ran learns from Harman that the comic book they are reading is only the first volume, and there are more than a dozen volumes to follow.

"So, did the little horse, the little dog, and the little rabbit rescue me later?" You Ran suddenly asked, closing the comic book.

"I don't know, but according to Yukikaze and the others, when the little pony, the little dog, and the little rabbit finally reached the Sirens' headquarters, they found that you, Commander, weren't there at all. And from Zero's words, they learned that it was all a conspiracy by the little fox to take you all for herself. In fact, you, Commander, were never captured by the Sirens. They were just tricked by the little fox. I don't know what happened after that."

As she spoke, she began packing comic books and notebooks into her schoolbag one by one. Harman felt both happy and disappointed.

What made her happy was that the commander was no longer as cold as before, but what made her sad was that the day had passed so quickly. Before she knew it, another afternoon had gone by. The thought of going home soon made her feel terrible.

"This... is quite a turn of events..." After making a brief comment, You Ran noticed that Harman was distracted. After thinking for a moment, You Ran could roughly guess what Harman was thinking, so she took the initiative to pat Harman's head again.

"Alright, it's not like we're never going to see each other again. The port area is right here, I'm not going to run away. If Hamman misses me, she can just come over anytime."

"What? Commander, you're overthinking it. I was just wondering if I'd forgotten anything, that's all... I'm not sad at all!" Harman blushed as You Ran saw through her thoughts, and instinctively retorted.

"I know, I know... I'm just afraid that if I don't say that, Harman won't come looking for me anymore, and what if I don't get to see the rest of the kittens' story?" The headband on her head had already been removed, and You Ran stroked Harman's fluffy cat, speaking affectionately.

"Well, um... well, alright then, I really can't do anything with you, Commander. I'll come more often when I have time."

With her head down, enjoying her last moments as a secretary on the ship, Hamman, unusually, didn't spout any nonsense this time.

......

Chapter 49 The Noshiro Sisters' Bet

"Sakebori, what you're doing is making me very distressed."

In a beautifully decorated three-bedroom apartment in Sakura Empire, Noshiro, who had just prepared a bento and was eager to deliver it to the Commander, was stopped by Sakabo, who was standing guard at the door, with a silly grin.

Seeing this, Noshiro also frowned, feeling somewhat angry.

After all, this wasn't the first or second time this had happened. Since yesterday morning, Agano-neechan and Sakura had been taking turns watching over her. Whenever she tried to go out, one of them would rush out and stop her with a lame excuse.

At first, she didn't know why, but Noshiro could clearly feel that Sakano and Agano were doing it for her own good, so she didn't ask any more questions and suppressed her desire to see the Commander and stayed at home.

At first, Noshiro thought it was just a day and that she could endure it for the sake of her sisters. But it wasn't until late at night that Noshiro realized how strong the Commander's attraction was to her.

Every time I open and close my eyes, all I see is the commander, and my body can't help but feel hot.

That night, Noshiro didn't even know if she had actually fallen asleep.

But after finally getting through the night, when Noshiro took another shower and prepared breakfast to go find the commander in the morning, she was stopped by Agano again.

Agano's older sister is always smiling, and Noshiro can't see through her thoughts. After a debate, Noshiro still couldn't convince her older sister and could only continue to stay at home.

But through this conversation, Noshiro finally understood why the two of them were unwilling to let her go out: they both thought she was just fantasizing.

When Noshiro realized this, she subconsciously doubted herself at first, but the unique taste she had that day was unforgettable, and the feeling of being full didn't seem fake.

So Noshiro thought of explaining to Agano and Saka, but she really didn't understand why her sister and Saka wouldn't believe her. Saka even insisted that that's how ship girls in fantasy talk.

Left with no other choice, Noshiro had to stay inside. However, not long ago, Noshiro noticed that Agano-nee had gone out on some business. Seeing that only Sakura was left at home, Noshiro could no longer restrain herself, which led to the scene just now.

"Noshiro-nee, believe me, everyone in the port area, including myself, has had this kind of symptom before. It only takes a week. You should be able to wake up in a week." Looking at Noshiro in front of her, Sakabo was also a little troubled.

"A week?" Noshiro frowned even more deeply. After all, she could barely endure a day, let alone a week. Even if she were sick, she would still give it a try. It was better to end the pain sooner than to be slowly tortured, not to mention that she wasn't sick at all.

"No, I have to go now." Not knowing when Agano-neechan would return, Noshiro looked at the sake bottle with a firm attitude, wanting to simply walk around it and leave.

"Noshiro-nee~! Seriously, if you go there and find out that it was all just your imagination, you'll feel hundreds or even a thousand times worse than you do now."

Seeing that Noshiro seemed to be really serious this time, Sakano quickly grabbed Noshiro's arm and sincerely tried to persuade her.

"That's still better than feeling miserable every day." Noshiro wanted to leave, but Sakano held her tightly, so Noshiro had no choice but to stop. "Besides, I've told you many times, the previous commander was just busy with work, so he was temporarily a bit indifferent. You'd rather keep stopping me than see for yourself. Isn't that just wishful thinking?"

"Just like you just said, everyone in Sakagai and the Minato Ward, including myself, has been rejected many times. It's time for you to step out too."

"me......"

Why can't I get out of this...?

If that's the case, then the Commander promised yesterday that he'd watch the fireworks with me this Sunday...

Wait... fireworks?

She remembered that Noshiro-nee said yesterday that she wanted to invite the Commander to watch the fireworks, which was why she wanted to go out!

With that in mind, Sakabo immediately started making plans.

"How about you and I make a bet, Noshiro-nee?" Although she felt it wasn't right to deceive Noshiro-nee, Sakani had already experienced the feeling of having her illusions shattered once, and she didn't want Noshiro-nee to experience it too. Therefore, Sakani quickly made up her mind.

Looking at the sake bottle, Noshiro was somewhat surprised: "A bet? What kind of bet...?"

"Let's bet on this." After taking out her phone, Sakawa opened the chat interface with the Commander and handed the phone to Noshiro.

"This is... my chat history with the Commander?!" Noshiro was somewhat surprised as she took the phone.

"Yes! Yesterday, Noshiro-nee, didn't you say you wanted to invite the Commander to watch the fireworks? I was a little tempted when I heard that, so I sent the Commander a message. But after seeing that the Commander agreed, I laughed dismissively. Noshiro-nee, do you know why?"

"Why...?" Holding Sakebori's phone, Noshiro clicked on the Commander's profile picture after reading the chat history. Only after seeing the Commander's unique verification mark did Noshiro continue to ask.

"Based on my understanding of the Commander, given his personality and habits, he definitely wouldn't reply to me, so I guessed this must be a prank by another ship girl. But if what you're saying is true, then this message is a reply from the Commander himself, right?"

Feeling that he finally had a less lame excuse, Sakebori said smugly.

"If what you said, Sakano, is true, then it shouldn't be a prank. After all, it's rare for ship girls to mess with the commander's things, let alone do something as egregious as sending messages on the commander's phone. The commander would definitely be angry if he knew. Everyone cares about the commander's feelings, so generally they wouldn't do that."

After a rational analysis, Noshiro also felt a little regretful. How could she have forgotten that she could have directly sent a message to the Commander to invite him? Now she didn't expect that her silly younger sister would beat her to it in such a muddle-headed way. And judging from Sakebori's appearance, she actually thought it was fake?

Thinking about this, Noshiro became even angrier.

Listening to Noshiro's explanation, Sakabo realized something was off. After all, given Kessai's personality, was she really the kind of ship girl who would send messages on the commander's phone without permission?

If not, then wouldn't that mean...?!

No…! Impossible! The Commander would agree to watch fireworks with me? How could such a thing possibly happen!

The self-denial of the sake bottle was very resolute.

Shaking his head quickly to dismiss such an unrealistic idea, Sakabo remained firm in his statement: "It's not that it's rare, but it's not that it's nonexistent either. Anyway, I just don't believe it."

"So, what do you want to bet, Sakebori?" Noshiro asked helplessly, looking at her silly younger sister.

"Let's bet on whether the Commander will come the day after tomorrow! If he really comes, I, I..." For some reason, she suddenly couldn't finish her sentence, but after gritting her teeth, Sakawa finally continued, "I'll give you the chance to watch the fireworks this time, Noshiro-nee. But if the Commander doesn't come, Noshiro-nee, you have to listen to me and wait a week until you've completely calmed down before going out!"

"Sakeboro... Are you serious? Although I'm tempted, as your older sister I must remind you, I promise, no ship girl would do such a wicked prank, not even Taihou. I'll give you one more chance to confirm."

Looking at the sake bottle, Noro spoke very earnestly.

"I...I..." Feeling flustered by Noshiro's direct gaze, Sakura lowered her head and, after some hesitation, finally steeled herself and nodded.

"..."

"Alright then, but before that, I still need to verify the authenticity of this message."

For some reason, Noshiro suddenly felt that her younger sister was hopeless, so she could only continue speaking helplessly.

"Confirm? How do you confirm? Noshiro-nee, don't even think about using this as an excuse to go to the Commander, that would be against the rules!" Sakabo was so frightened that she quickly protected the door again.

"No, no, I'm just checking on my phone like you do."

Since things have already come to this, there's no need to rush to see the commander anymore. Instead, Noshiro walked into the house.

"On the phone...? Noshiro-nee, are you sure? The Commander never uses a phone."

Seeing this, Sakebori breathed a sigh of relief and followed after them.

"But didn't you just show me the Commander's reply to you?"

"I...I...that's why I said it was a prank by the ship girls!"

"Alright, we'll find out whether the commander replies or not by trying."

Noshiro vaguely remembered that the Commander would play on his phone during his breaks, and it seemed like he checked it quite frequently, which is why Noshiro was so confident in saying that.

Sitting on the sofa, Noshiro picked up her phone, opened the pinned chat, thought for a moment, and quickly edited and sent a message.

Noshiro: "Commander, are you there?"

"Pfft~! Haha! Starting with 'Are you there?' is bound to be a joke! Noshiro-nee, if you showed this message to the people in my group, they would definitely laugh their heads off."

I thought that Noshiro was so confident that the Commander would reply with some amazing chatting secrets, but who knew that as soon as she started, Ishiro couldn't hold back and burst out laughing.

Seriously, if the commander could still come back after that, she would just go to the port's loudspeaker and announce that she's a clown!

Clutching his stomach, Sakebori thought, barely suppressing a laugh.

Chapter 50 Sake Bottle: I knew the Commander still loved me!

"I think chatting skills are only useful when you're not familiar with ship girls from other factions. As for commanders or familiar companions, unless they really don't use their phones or don't want to reply to you like they did before, they'll at least reply no matter how stupid what you say is."

Instead of feeling embarrassed by Sakebori's words, Noshiro spoke quite rationally.

“Well,” Shugao said, her smile faded as she listened to Noshiro’s words. She felt as if she had been unintentionally veiled. She pursed her lips and was about to retort when she suddenly heard her phone beep.

Startled, Saka was about to see who had sent her the message when she suddenly realized that her phone ringtone wasn't that tune.

Upon realizing this, Sakabo stood frozen in place, a possibility he had never considered suddenly popping into his mind.