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

Atago: "Let's go, let's go."

Fearful: "Let's disperse, let's disperse."

A few minutes later, at the entrance of the port area cafeteria.

After receiving the news, I arrived at the cafeteria early in the morning and found a seat. As I watched the kitchen, which was gradually being surrounded by ship girls, I was wondering how I could sneak in as well. But when I turned my gaze, I noticed a familiar figure with pink hair sneaking over.

Seeing this, Kewei couldn't help but chuckle, and then went straight to meet him.

"Hey, wait a minute, those people in the group were saying they didn't believe it, so why haven't they shown up here?"

"!"

Saratoga, who had been cautious all the way, afraid of being discovered, and who had planned to just take a look from afar to confirm that it was fake before leaving, was startled by the appearance of the formidable creature.

"I, I just..."

"Don't tell the destroyer you're here for a meal; they wouldn't believe you if you said that."

"Honestly, you're always criticizing me, but you've come here yourself."

Having no reason to refute what the formidable man said, Saratoga had no choice but to bite the bullet and retort.

"Oh dear, I am here, but I never said anything like 'I will laugh at anyone who believes this for the rest of their life' in the group chat."

"Ugh...you, you fat dinosaur, don't get too cocky, or I'll tell all your embarrassing stories in the group."

Upon hearing Saratoga bring this up, the fearsome smile immediately darkened. "Then it won't make sense for you to say it like that."

"Hmph! I'll eat your words for the rest of my life for this!"

"Tch, you're overthinking it. I've already let it go. So what if I failed to confess? Everyone in the port has been through that. I've come to terms with it now. As long as I can stay by the Commander's side and catch a glimpse of him every day, I'm already satisfied. Besides, I don't believe you haven't confessed to the Commander before."

Regarding the failed confession, Kewei was indeed quite concerned and afraid of others finding out, but that was a long time ago.

Kewei has come to terms with it all. She's even started planning a second confession. So what if she fails? Like some seniors say, you have to try, otherwise you'll never know whether you'll succeed or fail next time.

Awesome.jpg

"Me? Of course not! Sister Sarah wouldn't make a move without being absolutely certain!"

"Yes, yes, yes, our repair shop queen's thought process is indeed a bit different."

"What do you know? As long as I don't attack, I will never fail, and in that way I will naturally be invincible."

"Can"

"Oh, everyone's here. I saw the messages in the group chat and thought you guys weren't coming. What, are you not saying the messages were fake now?"

Seeing Saratoga's confident expression, Formidable opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but when Atago came over, Formidable ultimately remained silent.

"Whether it's true or false, we should verify it with our own eyes. Anyway, we don't have anything else to do right now, so there's no harm in coming over to take a look."

Nearby, New Jersey, who had just walked over after seeing the group, probably noticed Saratoga's predicament upon hearing this, and took the initiative to step forward to help her out.

Seeing this, Saratoga immediately cast a grateful glance at him.

As New Jersey said, since this matter was related to the commander and involved exciting news like a party, most of the ship girls in the port couldn't resist and headed to the cafeteria one after another.

......

However, while everyone's attention was focused on the cafeteria, Noshiro, holding a freshly made bento box, was already standing not far from the command room, feeling uneasy.

For Noshiro, the veracity of the news was not important; what mattered was that she hadn't seen the Commander for some time now.

Actually, she had been preparing the love-filled bento box every day for the past two days, but at the last moment she still couldn't muster the courage to deliver it to the commander.

However, today's situation was clearly different from usual. When Noshiro saw the message from Seattle in the group chat, she immediately realized that this was an opportunity.

So after quickly packing the bento, Noshiro made a decision. Perhaps it was time. Ever since her failed confession, Noshiro had been reflecting on what she had done wrong and had been working hard to improve over the years.

Now, despite the lingering unease, the information available to the commander indicates that his secretary ship today is Charybdis. If what Seattle said is true, then Charybdis might also go to Belfast to help, leaving the commander likely alone.

In retrospect, she was probably right.

Although it might seem a bit "despicable," Noshiro knew that there were so many excellent ship girls around the commander, and if she didn't take the initiative to win them over, her relationship with the commander would only stagnate.

She used to not quite understand what people meant by "intuition," but now, Noshiro understands it.

This intuition might just be coming now.

With that thought in mind, Noshiro mustered her courage again, took the bento box, and went inside.

……

On the other side, at the port area cafeteria.

Looking at the packed cafeteria, it felt like most of the ship girls in the port had come here. While eating her dessert, Wei suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but look around at the familiar yet unfamiliar crowd.

"Hey, you guys think we're all gathered here, and the Commander doesn't have a single ship girl on his side? Won't they get their base attacked?"

"!"

"!"

"!"

Saratoga, New Jersey, and later the bar were all taken aback by the terrifying words.

"Oh dear, how could I not have thought of that!"

Atago immediately regretted it.

For a moment, a mixture of trepidation and restless anticipation stirred within them...

Chapter Ten I Miss You Too

dong dong dong-

"Um... Commander, are you inside?"

Inside, You Ran was lying on the sofa browsing the forum. When she heard the sound outside the door, she thought it was Charybdis and wanted to respond subconsciously, but she quickly noticed the difference in tone and address. After thinking for a moment, she sat up straight again before speaking.

"Enter."

Outside the lounge, although it was only a few seconds of waiting, it felt like an eternity to Noshiro. She was afraid that the commander wouldn't be inside or would reply with something like "busy," which would cause her to lose all the courage she had finally mustered.

Fortunately, when You Ran's voice came out, even though it was just a single word, Noshiro was instantly relieved.

After receiving confirmation, she didn't rush in. Instead, she took a few deep breaths at the door to calm herself down before opening the door and going inside.

"Good afternoon, no, I should say good evening, Commander."

"Noshiro? Why are you looking for me at this hour? Is there something you need?"

Upon seeing the ship girl walk in, You Ran was also taken aback, and then asked with some confusion.

"Can't I come to see the Commander if there's nothing wrong?"

She slung the bento box behind her back, glanced at You Ran from afar after entering, then suddenly remembered something and didn't dare to look any longer. But she quickly came to You Ran and said in a casual tone.

Sure enough, no matter what, I still can't quite look the commander in the eye...

"No, it's just a bit of an accident. In my memory, it's rare for ship girls to come directly to the command room to find me in recent years."

They rarely come directly to the command center to find you... That's because you completely ignore people when you're working, honestly, how dare you say that...

Recalling all the rejections she'd received over the years, Nodo couldn't help but feel a little resentful. Sometimes she even felt that this man's heart was harder than stone; otherwise, how could he remain unmoved by the onslaught of so many ship girls in the port?

However... she really didn't expect the commander to talk to her so much this time, and his attitude was much gentler than usual.

Hmm, why is it like this?

She had already prepared herself for rejection again, but now that the commander had broken the rules, she couldn't help but feel a little hopeful again...

"I... I only came in because I saw that there was no one in the command room. Otherwise, I wouldn't usually disturb your work, Commander."

"Um... I heard from Manchester that Commander you'd like something to eat, is that right?"

Despite having mentally prepared herself, Noshiro clearly hadn't expected the commander's attitude to change so drastically from his usual coldness. He became much more talkative, realizing there might be a chance this time. Noshiro stared at the floor, growing increasingly nervous as she spoke.

"Manchester? How could this get so widely known? I just wanted Charybdis to prepare a little something to eat. How did it get from Charybdis to Manchester, and then from Manchester to you?"

From the very beginning, I was thinking about how to get Charybdis to prepare something so simple, but it took so long. Now that I think about it, it's probably because Charybdis didn't take it seriously. I should have been clearer about it back then.

However... it feels pretty good to be cared for by the ship girls; he hasn't felt this way in a long time.

Indeed, a sage is a sage, and a person is a person. Compared to the former, he still prefers the current feeling.

"Well, I just happened to see it. Actually, even if I hadn't gotten the news from Manchester, I would most likely have come to see you, Commander anyway. After all, it's been quite a while since we last met. I, I..."

She had rehearsed the words countless times in her mind, but she still couldn't say them. Especially after the Commander's attitude changed drastically, Noshiro's heart was in turmoil, fearing that if she opened her mouth, it would end her time alone with the Commander.

"You...miss me?"

!

"Commander, what did you just say?"

"Hey, Nene, were you just trying to say you missed me?"

! !

"This, I... um, um... I, I do miss the Commander a little..."

"Oh, I see. Phew, I thought I guessed wrong, actually..."

Ugh... Another rejection... Seriously, are commanders these days so heartless they can predict your confession and reject you outright? That's just too much—

"Actually, I really want to be Nodoshiro too."

You Ran had always known about the feelings the ship girls had for him, but he hadn't paid attention to it while he was in a sage-like state, focusing only on developing the port. Now that he had moved on, You Ran naturally wouldn't ignore those feelings.

However, having just emerged from his sage state, You Ran hadn't yet figured out how to face these adorable ship girls who had persisted despite being rejected countless times.

Actually, he's quite glad now that he wasn't too definitive when he rejected the ship girls' confessions, using phrases like "not now," "it's not the right time," or "I'm not in the mood to talk about this right now."

Otherwise, I always felt that if I had refused too firmly at the time, some ship girls might have awakened a terrifying attribute.