I, Yuhaka, am hungry!

After Z23 pushed open the door, she said this to Akashi, who was sitting in an office chair inside, swinging her short legs. Upon hearing Z23's words, Akashi turned her chair around and they jumped off the chair. Yuhaka was also a little curious about the cat-eared loli with super long emerald green hair in front of her, since Yuhaka couldn't see the other party's tail, just like Kal'tsit.

He said to Yuhaka and the others:

"Oh, I've been waiting for you for so long, meow~ I should have done a check-up for you when you came back. I was busy at the time, after all, there were a lot of ship girls' ship equipment that needed to be repaired first on the front line, otherwise the pressure on the front line would probably be very high."

"It's alright. After all, the situation on the defense line is more important, and research can't be done in a day or two. Also, Miss Nia can provide us with pages of the transformation and modification mode book, so there's no need to rush for now."

Z23 did not blame Akashi for her predicament. After all, the situation at the Azur Lane defense line was indeed very urgent, and prioritizing support for the defense line was a normal and correct decision.

Most importantly, the modification patterns on Z23 and the others are not something that can be fully understood in a short time. If we want to reverse engineer them, it will probably take a lot of time to study them.

"Well... anyway, I have time now, meow, and I'm also very curious about your so-called modified ship girls, meow."

Then, Akashi, realizing something, looked at Yuhaka with an "OwO?" expression and asked:

"Speaking of which, meow, is this child the person from another world who brought you back to this world?"

In response to Akashi's question, Yuhaka raised her little hand to greet Akashi and said:

"That's right! Youyou is Youyou! OwO/!"

Upon hearing Yuhaka's answer, Akashi broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Z23 beside her, asking:

"Meow... Has this child always been like this?"

Z23 and the others seemed a little embarrassed when they heard Akashi's question. After seeing their reactions, Akashi understood what kind of girl Yuhaka was. Akashi, who was slightly helpless, realized that she couldn't do anything about the ship girls who had such childlike personalities.

After composing herself slightly, Akashi said to Yuhaka:

"Ahem, I am Akashi Nyan, the repair ship of the Azur Lane Combined Fleet. If you are injured, come to Akashi Nyan."

Hearing Akashi's words, Z23, who was standing to the side, looked at Akashi speechlessly and said:

"Um... Akashi, Yuu isn't a ship girl."

"Meow???"

Upon hearing Z23's words, Akashi immediately looked bewildered. She quickly realized what was going on; she had subconsciously mistaken Yuhaka for a ship girl. Well... that's quite normal, since the only other ships at Azur Lane headquarters besides ship girls are Banjuu.

"Ahhh, sorry meow, I subconsciously mistook you for a ship girl meow..."

"A real man, cute big breasts OwO~"

Yuhaka didn't seem to care much about being mistaken for a ship girl, and Akashi seemed relieved to see Yuhaka's nonchalant attitude. Then, as if remembering something, Akashi looked at Yuhaka with money in her eyes and said:

"Oh, by the way, meow, if you want any items, you can come to Akashi-nyan. If all you have is red trinkets, Akashi can get you anything~"

Upon hearing Akashi's words, Z23 and the others looked at her with speechless expressions, clearly indicating that Akashi had tried to sell them quite a few things.

Upon hearing Akashi's words, Yuhaka's eyes lit up, and he looked at Akashi with an expectant expression, saying:

"How do you get those ingredients?!"

Upon hearing Yuhaka's request, Akashi's initially cheerful expression froze, clearly indicating that she felt extremely embarrassed about the food transaction involving Yuhaka.

As for the awkwardness, the reason is that there are only two ship girls at the Azur Lane headquarters who are engaged in large-scale commercial activities. One is the cat-headed shrewd merchant in front of us, and the other is the destroyer Shiranui, who, like Akashi, comes from the Sakura Empire faction. She is also a ship girl who engages in commercial activities.

Although both of them are ship girls who come from commercial activities, the types of businesses they are responsible for are different. Akashi's side is more focused on military technology, while Shiranui's side is engaged in businesses related to life skills. For example, the largest supermarket in the Azur Lane headquarters port area that Yuhaka and the others visited was run by Shiranui.

The two had a long-standing friendship, so they never interfered with each other's business dealings and maintained this peaceful relationship.

"Akashi? What's wrong?"

Yuhaka looked at the stunned cat in front of him and a few question marks popped up on his head, as if he didn't understand why Akashi suddenly seemed like a computer that had crashed. This made Yuhaka feel an urge to reach out and pat the cat's head.

However, before Yuhaka could reach out and pat the other person's head like he was slapping a TV, Z23 coughed and explained to Yuhaka:

"Um, Yu-Yu, the business that Akashi is going to be in charge of doesn't include food products. If you want to collect a lot of food, it's best to go to Shiranui instead."

Upon hearing Z23's words, Yhaka looked at Z23 with a sudden realization and nodded. Seeing that Yhaka understood, Z23 then looked at Akashi and said:

"Alright, Akashi, let's begin preparing for the testing."

Akashi snapped out of her daze after hearing Z23's words and nodded, though she felt a little disappointed that she hadn't secured the Yhaka deal.

P.S.: I should mention that I'm currently experiencing prolonged insomnia. Tomorrow night, I'll only be able to sleep for 2-4 hours at most before becoming completely awake and unable to fall back asleep. So, I'll try to catch up on sleep by taking a nap at noon. Lately, the noisy kids living nearby are either playing with firecrackers or making a lot of noise, making it difficult for me to even take a nap at noon. I've only been able to sleep for 1-2 hours at noon recently.

My subscriptions have been declining recently, and I've had to keep up with the update schedule by writing even when I'm sleepy, so that the subscription rate will be better. I used to be able to use Monster Energy and Dongpeng to fight off sleepiness, but that doesn't work anymore. Even a big bottle of Dongpeng can't keep me from getting sleepy. I suspect I've developed an immunity to caffeine.

Volume 1 [Lazy Chapters]: Chapter 1415 [Testing and Anomalies in Numerical Values]

Led by Akashi, Yuhaka and the others arrived at the experimental platform. Akashi took out a tablet and tapped it a few times. A circular platform rose from the ground, and at the same time, a similar circular platform descended from the ceiling. However, this circular platform had many robotic arms and testing instruments on it.

Akashi looked at Z23 beside her and asked:

"Mmm, the equipment is ready, meow. Now, who wants to go first for the check-up, meow?"

Upon hearing Akashi's words, Z23 was the first to step forward and speak to Akashi:

"Let me go first."

As she spoke, Z23 stood in the center of the platform, then deployed her ship equipment and nodded to Akashi to indicate that she was ready. Seeing that Z23 was ready, Akashi pressed a button on the tablet. With a click, the circular platform on Z23's head lowered down and began scanning Z23.

Akashi looked at the data displayed on her tablet and couldn't help but show a slightly surprised expression, saying:

"Oh my gosh~ This data is really interesting, meow! Not only has the anti-air capability increased by two levels, but also the durability, mobility, torpedo attack, anti-submarine, and weapon efficiency have all been slightly improved. Moreover, a new skill called [Destruction Mode] has been added to the skill panel, meow."

Following Akashi's advice, Javelin and the others gathered around her to look at the data on the tablet in her hand. Although they couldn't understand the dense technical terms, they felt it was impressive just by looking at it.

Standing on the testing platform, Z23 was also very curious about its data and asked Akashi:

"So, Akashi, how are my current stats?"

"Mmm, let Akashi take a look..."

Regarding the Z23 issue, Akashi pressed a few buttons on the tablet, and as a progress bar increased from 1% to 100%, the Z23's current data was displayed on Akashi's tablet.

Z23's performance is now D in durability, B in anti-air, B in mobility, E in aviation, C in torpedo attack, and A in artillery attack. The original Z23 only had D-level anti-air, but after the upgrade, it has been upgraded to B-level, which is a significant improvement.

After completing the tests, Z23 stepped off the platform, took the tablet from Akashi, and checked its performance data. Seeing the data, Z23 looked somewhat dissatisfied, stroking its chin and saying:

"Hmm... is the only significant improvement in air defense capabilities...?"

Seeing that Z23 looked a little dissatisfied, Akashi waved her small hand hidden in her sleeve and said to Z23:

"Well~ well~ as a destroyer, Z23, your performance stats are pretty good, meow. Except for aviation, your performance in all aspects is relatively balanced. Plus, the shield and attack capabilities provided by the Destruction Mode have already mitigated the relatively fragile durability of destroyers, meow. As for torpedoes... Akashi recommends quadruple and quintuple 533mm magnetic torpedoes and Type 93 pure oxygen torpedoes~ This will slightly improve your C-rank torpedo attack, Z23."

Z23 naturally ignored Akashi's suggestion. After all, Z23 was well aware of the performance of her equipment. As a ship girl who valued her strength, Z23 would not miss any opportunity to improve it. Her torpedoes had been modified by Yubari to suit her, so the effect was better than the equipment she usually bought from Akashi.

After Javelin and others conducted some performance tests, the performance data for Javelin and others was as follows.

Javelin has stats like D for durability, D for anti-air, S for mobility, E for aviation, A for torpedo attack, and C for artillery attack. Javelin's mobility, torpedo attack, and artillery attack performance have been upgraded by one level, and it also has a new skill called Assault Mode EX, which can effectively improve its torpedo attack performance.

Ayanami's stats are: Durability D, Anti-air D, Mobility A, Aviation E, Torpedo S, and Artillery D. Although it's just a one-level upgrade to Torpedo, as the highest S-rank, her attributes are still very strong.

Ayanami's acquired skill is called "Demon Dance," which greatly enhances her mobility, essentially turning her A-rank mobility into S-rank mobility. In a sense, it's a double S-rank, similar to Javelin.

Laffey's performance stats are: Durability C, Anti-air B, Mobility A, Aviation E, Torpedo C, and Artillery A. Compared to its original attributes, Mobility and Artillery have been upgraded by one level. Although Laffey's Artillery rating has become the same as Z23's, it uses dual 127mm single-mounted guns, while Z23 uses twin-mounted TbtsKC36 150mm main guns, which are much larger in caliber than Laffey's.

However, Laffey's strength lies in its faster reload speed compared to Z23. In addition, the skill "Annihilation Mode" that Laffey gains after being upgraded can greatly increase Laffey's reload attribute, which is why Laffey can enhance its artillery firepower to a level that is even more terrifying than Z23.

After seeing the performance and skills that Z23 and the others gained after their modifications, Akashi couldn't help but show a very interested expression and said:

"Meow... It seems the modifications have significantly boosted your strength. To be honest, Akashi is even a little tempted."

z23, seeing Akashi's bright eyes, also asked her:

"So... is it possible to reverse engineer the technology used to modify the ship girls in Azur Lane?"

Upon hearing Z23's question, Akashi, whose eyes had been sparkling just moments before, immediately lowered her ears and, with an embarrassed expression, replied to Z23:

"Uh... well, that's probably unlikely, meow..."

Upon hearing Akashi's words, Javelin and the others were stunned. Clearly, they hadn't expected such an answer. Seeing their bewildered expressions, Akashi offered her explanation:

"Hmm... how should I put it? The modifications you're in are specifically tailor-made for you. If you were to use them on other ship girls, they wouldn't be a good match, meow..."

After hearing Akashi's explanation, Javelin and the others understood why Akashi said it was unlikely that she could modify other ship girls.

"Well... there's nothing we can do about it. But for now, we'll just have to take it one step at a time. There are no shortcuts when it comes to developing technology."

Z23 looked a little troubled, crossed his arms, and lifted up the well-developed frontal armor of his destroyer, saying:

"So you're saying it's impossible to arrange and modify all the ship girls in Azur Lane in a short period of time?"

Regarding the Z23 issue, Akashi nodded in agreement, stating that given the current situation, it was unlikely that they could complete the modification process and launch a counterattack against the Fog Fleet in a short period of time.

Upon learning of this situation, Z23 couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. However, the tests still had to be completed. Afterwards, Z23 and the others conducted a series of ability and weapon tests at the training ground in the Azur Lane port area. Akashi then uploaded their data to the database for safekeeping.

However, there was something that Akashi couldn't understand: Z23 and Laffey's artillery attribute values ​​were exactly the same. Although their artillery grades were both A-level, Z23's main gun caliber was much larger than Laffey's, yet their artillery values ​​were identical. This made Akashi suspect that there might be a problem with the testing equipment.

However, after changing the testing equipment, the two bombardment values ​​remained unchanged, leaving Akashi completely bewildered. Faced with this incomprehensible situation, Akashi said it was the first time he had ever seen anything like it, leaving him somewhat baffled.

Volume 1 [The Lazy Chapters]: Chapter 1416 [The Javelin for Returning the Book]

Looking at the two's almost identical artillery attribute values, Akashi was also completely baffled, clearly because such data had never appeared before.

The two ships used guns with different calibers and firepower. Laffey's guns were 127mm in caliber, while Z23's guns were 150mm in caliber. Although the difference in caliber was only 23mm, Laffey's guns were destroyer-grade shipborne guns, while Z23's guns were light cruiser-grade shipborne guns.

With such a large difference in caliber and weapon type, how could their artillery attributes be so close? Even the power gained from the modifications shouldn't be this outrageous, right?

The two are currently in the same situation as level 100 in the game, so there is no difference in their levels, and their weapon and equipment enhancement levels are the same. However, Laffey's artillery attribute value is similar to that of Z23, which makes everyone look puzzled.

Only Yuhaka was carefree, munching on dried fish and occasionally stuffing some into Akashi's mouth. At first, Akashi refused, after all, even though she looked like a catgirl, she didn't want to actually treat her like a cat.

However, Akashi couldn't resist the irresistible aroma of the Yuhaka dried fish.

"Well... Akashi really doesn't understand the current situation either. Laffey's shelling data is a bit hard to comprehend because there's no other ship girl's modification data to refer to. But all things considered, it's a good thing, right?"

Hearing Akashi's helpless explanation, Z23 was also confused. She could only wait and see what Akashi would find out. Based on her intuition, Z23 felt that this reason might be very important and might have a good effect on all the ship girls.

This is Z23's idea.

.................................................. ...................

After completing a series of tests, Z23 and the others walked out of Akashi's factory with Yuhaka. Akashi told Z23 and the others that she needed some time to study the modification data and asked them to help her collect some combat data if possible, since she had never seen Z23 and the others in actual combat.

Although Z23 and the others did conduct actual combat tests during the previous attribute data tests, that was only the state they demonstrated in the tests. Their actual strength in real battles was a completely different matter.

After all, you can't encounter the same situations you might encounter in actual combat during testing, so Akashi wanted to see how Z23 and the others would perform in actual combat. Therefore, Akashi gave Z23 and the others a special high-tech device, like a bracelet.

This device was also invented by Akashi to address the issue of losing satellites and being unable to use satellite-related technologies. So, they used this device as a temporary substitute. Although this thing is not as good as the previous satellite technology equipment, it is at least much better than the decades-old technologies that were used as temporary substitutes.

Similarly, this bracelet device can also record Z23 and the others' combat data and provide physical monitoring. If Z23 and the others experience any special fluctuations or reactions in their bodies, these monitoring devices will also record them.

Although this computer bracelet is a bit bulky and cumbersome, it doesn't affect the ship girls. Given the power they have to deflect cannonballs with a wave of their hand, this weight won't bother them.

The only downside is that this thing is a bit fragile. After all, it's not ship equipment for ship girls, so it's very likely to be damaged if attacked by the enemy. This is the only troublesome part, and Akashi is stepping up the modification of this computer bracelet to prevent such situations from happening.