On how PhDs become human evil

"...That makes sense."

Bai Jie knew what Ruihe was talking about, but he couldn't say anything at the moment. He could only pat her head to try to comfort her.

Wiping away the tears that had just flowed from the corners of her eyes, Zuikaku patted her face hard: "I'm sorry, Commander. You are my master now, but I'm still thinking about the Commander from before."

"Well, it's about time. Commander, let's head to the restaurant. The command headquarters has prepared a banquet to welcome you."

“Well, but Ruihe, I’ll go by myself. You stay here.” Bai Jie patted Ruihe’s shoulder, telling her to stay where she was. “Suppressing it will only make you feel worse. Rather than enduring it, you might as well say goodbye to the past here.”

After saying that, Bai Jie turned and left the office, closing the door behind him.

After standing there stunned for a while, Zuikaku finally couldn't hold back any longer and slumped heavily to the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably from her eyes.

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...Commander...It's all because Zuikaku is so useless..."

Zuikaku was originally the secretary ship of the former commander-in-chief. As everyone knows, a secretary ship is practically a marriage ship, so the relationship between Zuikaku and the commander-in-chief was just a matter of not confessing their feelings. The commander-in-chief even promised Zuikaku that he would marry her when she returned. However, when Zuikaku returned again, she was no longer his ship girl.

"Ughhhhhh... Ahhhhh..."

Clutching her clothes to her chest, Zuikaku let out a blood-curdling cry in the empty office.

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When Bai Jie arrived at the Sakura Empire First Command Post restaurant, it was already packed with people. The moment Bai Jie entered, many people noticed his presence.

"Hey, could that man be...?"

"There can't be any mistake, right? White hair and red eyes, it's too obvious."

"Is he the new commander?"

"Wow... she seems really difficult to get along with."

All they could sense was shyness, wary gazes, and unease. Although for most ship girls, the Commander-in-Chief was just someone who led them, the sudden change of leadership inevitably caused resistance and a sense of being unable to accept it.

In this atmosphere, a person stepped out from the crowd and came to Bai Jie: "Sorry to keep you waiting, Commander. You're the only one left. Please take your seat."

"And everyone, let me introduce you. This is Fafnir, our new commander. Let's get along well."

Upon hearing Zuikaku's words, a slight commotion arose among the ship girls. They probably didn't understand why Shoukaku would speak up for Hakuge. It was clear that Shoukaku held considerable prestige among these ship girls.

Scratching his hair, Bai Jie gathered his thoughts and said, "Well, I know you're all still quite unfamiliar with me, the newcomer, and don't know how to get along with me. To be honest, I'm the same way. I was suddenly told that I would be the commander-in-chief in charge of the entire Sakura Empire, and I was completely flustered."

"However, we will be spending a long time together in the future, and we will have plenty of time to get to know each other. So it's okay if we don't know each other well now. Let's get along well in the future."

........

Looking at Bai Jie speaking below from the VIP seats above, Akagi couldn't help but laugh: "Oh my, Commander's acting is really good. He perfectly portrays the image of a naive and clueless commander."

"That's right. If we hadn't already spent some time with the Commander, we probably would have been fooled by him just like the other women below."

Akagi and Kaga knew, of course, that Bai Jie's current appearance was just a mask. After all, he was new to the country, and the most important thing for him was to win over the people and consolidate his position within Sakura Empire.

With Bai Jie's abilities, he could have easily resorted to violent suppression to silence all those within Sakura Empire who opposed him. However, Bai Jie did not do that. Instead, he adopted this gentle approach of verbal communication, presumably because he considered Akagi and the others' feelings.

This place, after all, is Akagi and the others' hometown.

Enterprise glanced at Akagi and Kaga, then sighed, thinking that they were still too young and had no idea what kind of person Bai Jie really was.

Lukewarm? How could that be? Bai Jie has always been a man of action. He had already considered the possibility of opposition within Sakura Empire, and thus took countermeasures from the very beginning.

"Speaking of which, Enterprise, where's the Commander's little wolfhound? I haven't seen him since earlier," Akagi asked.

"Fenrir? He went out to play," Enterprise replied casually.

Fenrir did indeed go out to play, visiting the homes of those who opposed Bai Jie's appointment.

P.S.: I really wanted to write about the main storyline of Azur Lane, but the problem is that Azur Lane doesn't really have a main storyline. It was supposed to be about ship girls fighting the Sirens, but the main game and anime are all about fighting Sakura Empire. The Sirens only appear briefly in events. I'm speechless. I'll rewatch all the Azur Lane CGs and see if I can find anything interesting. If not, I'll just have to keep modifying the story.

Section 326, Chapter 20: I, Bai Jie, am a virtuous and upright man!

"Ugh...ugh...I can still drink...I'm not drunk..."

The world's most powerful aircraft carrier, a legend in the Pacific naval battles, the Enterprise, who is usually dashing and decisive, is now slumped on the table with a flushed face, reeking of alcohol, and even her usually impeccable clothes are in disarray.

It's obvious that this girl is drunk.

Looking helplessly at the drunken girl, Bai Jie sighed, "If you're not a good drinker, don't drink. You're drunk, aren't you?"

Although everyone was initially somewhat resistant to Bai Jie, they stopped caring once the atmosphere of the banquet became lively. They continued to demonstrate the warm hospitality of the Sakura Empire, one after another trying to get Bai Jie drunk.

As Bai Jie's secretary ship, Enterprise naturally had a responsibility to reduce Bai Jie's social engagements. So she stood in front of Bai Jie and drank all the drinks offered to him. And that wasn't all. Afterwards, Zuikaku, who had cried in the command room with red and swollen eyes, also joined the fray. As if trying to forget the past, she went straight to Enterprise and challenged her to a drinking contest.

As a result, both girls got drunk. Although Sakura Empire's alcohol has some low alcohol content, what kind of people are the ship girls? They drink that kind of alcohol like it's water, so everyone drinks the strongest kind.

Incidentally, Zuikaku, equally drunk, was sprawled on Shiro's back, pressing her ample bosom against his back while chugging down a glass of wine: "Hoo-ha! Commander, you should drink too~~~ Why aren't you drunk? Hurry up and get me drunk!"

"The company is powerless when drunk, and you're just talking nonsense when you're drunk. You two are such a worry." Bai Jie sighed and took the wine glass from Ruihe's hand. "Alright, Ruihe, stop drinking. Tell me where your room is, and I'll take you back to sleep."

"Eh?! Commander, are you going to sleep with me?" Because she was drunk, she couldn't tell if the blush on Zuikaku's face was from intoxication or shyness. "No way! I...uh...I'm not...uh...ready to...have...babies...with...Commander..."

Great, this girl is completely drunk, even more so than the company. If she had eaten something while drinking, she definitely wouldn't be this drunk. It's a pity she's been drinking the whole time and hasn't eaten a single peanut.

"Why don't we just leave this girl here?" Bai Jie had just thought this when Xiang He walked over from not far away. Judging from her expression, she must have had a little to drink.

"I'm sorry, Commander, Zuikaku has caused you trouble. Give her to me, I'll take her back to her room."

"I didn't cause any trouble! I didn't cause any trouble at all!"

"Okay, okay, Zuikaku didn't cause any trouble, so be a good girl, alright?"

After taking Ruihe from Bai Jie, Xianghe smiled and nodded at Bai Jie before helping Ruihe away. But Bai Jie didn't know if it was just his imagination, but he always felt that Xianghe was like an old woman coaxing a child.

"Then I'll send the company back too. Shouldn't the company be the one sending me back?"

While talking to himself, Bai Jie picked up the company and dragged it back to his room. Since the room assignments hadn't been finalized yet, Bai Jie would have to make do with sleeping with the company.

----------------------

Bai Jie was speechless. Two minutes ago, he left the restaurant and took Qiye back to his room. After putting Qiye on the sofa and covering her with a blanket, Bai Jie himself crawled into bed.

Then he and Akagi stared at each other blankly.

“Although I roughly know the reason, you should still tell me yourself why you are in my bed, Akagi?” Bai Jie said with a deep frown.

With a charming and alluring smile, Akagi reached out and touched Bai Jie's face: "Of course, it's so I can share a bed with the Commander! Finally, that clueless Enterprise is no longer in the way, this time I absolutely must—"

"go back!"

Before Chicheng could finish speaking, Bai Jie ordered him to leave.

Sharing a bed? Who gave you the audacity to do this, Chicheng? Do you really think Bai Jie is such a casual person? That he'd take any woman to bed?

Akagi showed an expected expression when Bai Jie refused, and laughed: "Oh, Commander, don't be shy. You've already done it with Miss Cecilia so many times."

"You were eavesdropping?!" Bai Jie didn't know what to say. "Forget it, I'll settle this score with you later. In short, don't even think about sharing a bed with me. Go back now."

"No way!"

Seeing that Akagi still wanted to shamelessly stay in his bed, Bai Jie didn't waste any words with her. He simply activated his spatial magic with a thought and threw her out of the bed. As for where she was thrown, that was none of Bai Jie's business.

Just seconds after Bai Jie threw Chi Cheng out, he felt another person get onto his bed, but she was very tactful and only sat on the edge of the bed.

As for who she is... who else could that pungent smell of alcohol be besides a company?

"Enterprise? Are you sober now?" Bai Jie asked, poking his head out from under the covers.

Nodding, Enterprise said, "It seems that because your power is flowing into my body continuously, Commander, the effects of alcohol have been eliminated without me even realizing it. I'm so sorry that you saw me lose my composure."

"More than my matter, I think I just heard Akagi's voice, Commander. Could it be that Akagi was here?"

The company immediately adopted a serious expression when Akagi was mentioned.

With a wry smile and a shrug, Bai Jie said, "She said she wanted to sleep with me, but I've already thrown her out. I don't know where she went, but she should still be in the port."

“Sleeping together…we really can’t let our guard down. That woman is like a fox; she’ll take advantage of any opening.” After thinking for a while, Qiye threw off the covers and crawled into Bai Jie’s bed.

Looking at the company nestled against his chest, Bai Jie suppressed the urge to complain and asked, "How did you get in here too?"

"To prevent the Commander from being spied on and harassed by other ship girls, starting today I will take full responsibility for your daily life. To put it simply, I will sleep with you to prevent Akagi and the others from coming to attack you."

After a moment of silence, Bai Jie placed his hand on Qiye's shoulder, then tossed her off the covers. "Go sleep on your sofa, little girl!"

Chapter 327 (Bonus): The forces of darkness are about to arrive on the battlefield.

In a room decorated primarily in white, a girl sat up from her bed as a bell rang.

Rubbing her still sleepy eyes, the girl picked up her phone from the bedside table: "Hello? Doctor, isn't it only four in the morning? Why are you waking me up so early?"

"Ritsuka, we've observed a very unusual magical reaction here. Could you come to the observation room now?"

"Meow...a very special magical reaction?"

The girl knew very well that doctors wouldn't use such a description casually, so it meant that the magical reaction was indeed very special.

"Okay, I'll be right there, doctor, please wait for me."

"Row."

After hanging up the phone and yawning, the girl changed into her white uniform, went to the mirror to tidy up her messy hair that looked like a bird's nest from sleeping, and finally slapped her face twice.

"Great! Let's all be full of energy today, Fujimaru Ritsuka!"

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Observation room.

This place was originally used to observe planetary conditions and confirm the continuation of human history, but now it has become a place to observe the progress of multiple worlds and safeguard the world's safety.

After swiping her identification, Fujimaru Ritsuka strode in with light steps: "Doctor, I'm here!"

"You're here, Ritsuka. Perfect timing. I've just finished the basic analysis of that magical reaction. Come and take a look."

The man called the doctor—Romani Archman—hurriedly greeted Fujimaru Ritsuka as she approached.

Arriving beside Roman, Fujimaru Ritsuka focused her gaze on the light screen in front of him, which displayed a series of analyzed intelligence reports. The subject of the analysis was the extremely peculiar magical reaction that Roman and the others had observed not long ago.

Fujimaru Ritsuka quickly scanned the analysis results, and the more she read, the more serious her expression became. After reading the last analysis, her expression became extremely serious.