Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

As New Jersey spoke, he suddenly felt something was wrong. Wasn't that voice Shinano who had just asked the question? And that voice seemed awfully familiar? Shinano, looking across at him, was desperately winking at him. Was that look... telling him to look back?

New Jersey turned his head stiffly, his movements like a rusty machine.

At this moment, the eldest sister Iowa was standing behind him with her arms folded, looking at him with a sneer on her face. A little further away, Missouri, Montana, and a white-haired girl who looked somewhat familiar were standing aside, with expressions that looked like they were enjoying the show.

"Big sister?" New Jersey pulled the corner of his mouth and showed a stiff smile.

"Long time no see, my dear sister." Iowa smiled brightly, "And, welcome back."

56. Runaway New Jersey

"Eat slowly, no one is going to snatch it from you." Iowa held his chin with one hand and looked at his sister across from him wolfing down the food. Her ugly eating posture made one feel pity for her, as if she hadn't eaten for a long time.

In fact, Iowa knew that New Jersey, who had long understood her temper, was probably just acting in front of her, pretending to be pitiful to gain sympathy. But she looked at her miserable sister and hesitated for a long time before she could harden her heart. She took out a tissue and wiped the sauce from the corner of her sister's mouth: "Don't move. Lift your head a little."

New Jersey obediently tilted her face upwards and let Iowa wipe her mouth. Although the slap on the head still hurt, New Jersey knew in her heart that the crisis was over.

"Why did Big Sister come to the Japanese side?" New Jersey asked curiously, "Is there something important you want to do?"

Iowa looked at her deeply without saying anything, while Missouri said with a smile, "You want to know who betrayed your whereabouts, right? Big sister, it seems she still hasn't given up on running away from home."

"Little Secretary!" New Jersey rapped his knuckles on the table and said angrily, "What do you mean by that? Don't forget, I'm your sister!"

"You're just the second sister." Missouri shrugged like Xue Cheng. She had the impression that her admiral seemed to like this action very much. Missouri was unconsciously influenced by it. She thought that this was probably the look of a couple.

"That's your sister too!" New Jersey was a little angry and embarrassed. She really hadn't given up the idea of ​​running away from home. Compared to living with her sisters and being nagged all the time, she felt that she would be more comfortable alone.

Of course, this doesn't mean that New Jersey hates her sisters. It's just that she has her own living habits, doesn't like being constrained, and is not used to being catered to.

"I came here today for other things, not just for you." Iowa said lightly. She looked at New Jersey with a look of sadness in her eyes and said softly, "But, am I such a failure as a big sister? My little sister actually hates me so much..."

"Uh, big sister, I didn't mean that." Looking at Iowa's expression, New Jersey was a little flustered. She did feel that her big sister was a little nagging and always treated her like a child, but she definitely didn't mean to be annoying.

"..." Iowa looked at her deeply, lowered his head and said nothing. The mouth can sometimes lie, but a person's behavior will not, such as his sister who always wants to escape from him.

"Sister, I really haven't thought about it that way!" New Jersey scratched her hair in annoyance. However, Iowa's mood didn't improve after hearing this explanation. She hesitated for a moment and sighed heavily, "Okay, okay, I get it. From now on, I promise to stay at home for twenty days every month... No, half a month. Is that okay?"

A barely perceptible smile appeared on Iowa's lips, but it quickly faded. She raised her head, a hint of hope in her eyes, and asked tentatively, "Are you serious?"

"At least I don't have to lie to you about this, right?" New Jersey said helplessly. "At worst, I can have Yubari install a tracking chip in me. I'll make sure my whereabouts are transparent half the time every month. That should be fine, right?"

Iowa nodded. She understood the principle of knowing when to quit. To deal with New Jersey, she had to adopt subtle means to avoid alerting the enemy and making this guy even more cautious and suspicious.

"Come to think of it, what important matter has Big Sister come here for?" New Jersey brought up the old matter again, but this time it was no longer a test, but out of genuine curiosity.

"Carry out an important mission assigned by the Admiral." Iowa pursed her lips, motioning New Jersey to look in her direction. "Originally, you and Wisconsin were on the list, but one or two of them were missing all day, so Missouri, Montana, and I had to do it."

New Jersey looked in the direction Iowa pointed, and saw the white-haired girl he had seen at the beginning, sitting cross-legged on the tatami, face to face with Montana, staring at each other. She was wearing a casual outfit that didn't fit her well. Her eyebrows, eyes, and figure looked very familiar, but she was obviously not a ship girl from his own naval base. He just felt that he had seen her somewhere.

"Who is she? Was she sent by the Navy Headquarters?" New Jersey frowned. For some reason, she felt that the white-haired ship girl looked a little annoying.

New Jersey is not a mean person. Even if he occasionally goes to the city and walks on the street and is stared at with amazement and curiosity by passers-by, he will not feel disgusted. However, when he saw the white-haired ship girl, New Jersey felt resistance in his heart almost instinctively.

"Her?" Missouri smiled and sat down next to New Jersey. She climbed onto her shoulders and whispered in New Jersey's ear, "Isn't she the one you've always been thinking about? How come you didn't recognize her when you finally met her?"

"What?" Missouri whispered on her shoulder. If she were a different gender, she would have been flattered. Unfortunately, as a girl, New Jersey felt her shoulders were heavy. She pushed Missouri away and said impatiently, "I don't even know who she is, how can I be obsessed with her...huh?"

New Jersey was startled, a look of sudden realization on her face. She seemed to have remembered something, and she almost jumped up, pointing at the white-haired ship girl and exclaimed, "Is it her? Yamato?!"

"Crack!" Under Shinano's heartbroken gaze, the tatami under New Jersey's feet was crushed to pieces. Layers of transparent waves visible to the naked eye enveloped New Jersey's body. The huge shadow of a turret quickly emerged. Seeing that New Jersey was about to summon the ship equipment and blow the izakaya into pieces with one shot, Iowa and Missouri rushed over and held her down together.

"Let me go! That's a deep-sea flagship!" New Jersey struggled hard. Although she didn't summon the ship suit, she had already used the power from the ship suit. The table next to her was lightly touched during the struggle and it broke into pieces and flew out. The floor under her couldn't withstand such tossing and turning, and it shattered all over the ground with crackling sounds.

"Oh my, this is really..." Yamato sat not nervously in a seat not far away, watching New Jersey's rampage with interest, and even made a sarcastic remark: "Missouri, yes, hold down her arms, she's about to break free... Ah, Miss Iowa, don't let up either, quickly lock her with your legs, that's right, that's it..."

"This gloating bastard!" Iowa and his partner gritted their teeth, but they still dared not let up, tightly controlling New Jersey. By the time the three of them finally calmed down, the izakaya was already a mess...

57. Cheating for money and feelings

"Are you calming down?" Wearing a purple kimono and light makeup, Mutsu seemed to exude a seductive aura in the dim light of the izakaya. Her lavender lips curled up in a slightly charming smile. She put a can of drink covered with cold water droplets against New Jersey's face and asked with a smile.

New Jersey took the drink and took a sip without saying anything. At this time, the izakaya was already in a mess. Several tables were broken in the riot just now, and large pieces of the floor were shattered. The messy appearance looked as if it had just experienced a zero-dollar shopping spree.

"My shop..." Shinano felt like crying, watching the miserable state of the shop she had worked so hard to build. Although she hadn't originally intended to make money from it, just to find something to do in her spare time, she had built the interior decoration bit by bit. Seeing her hard work turned into this, Shinano was so distressed that she almost fainted.

"Um, Shinano, I'm so sorry," Missouri said awkwardly. "It's all my stupid sister's fault. Please forgive me. We will definitely give you a satisfactory explanation for the damage, the renovation costs, and the loss of business."

"Shinano, I was wrong about this." New Jersey, having calmed down, came to Shinano and said with a wry smile, "I'm truly sorry. I lost my composure. Don't worry, I'll make sure you're satisfied with the compensation."

Shinano shook her head and was about to say something when Yamato suddenly came over, put his arm around her shoulders in a familiar manner, and said with a smile, "Silly girl, don't be so stubborn. Compensation is a matter of course for breaking things. Why refuse? If you are really that rich, why don't you help your sister?"

"Who are you?" Shinano asked, looking at Yamato curiously. Is this person from the tutelary fort? Why don't they seem to have seen him before?

"What an idiot!" Yamato bent his finger and flicked Shinano's forehead hard. Seeing the girl clutching her forehead and crying out in pain, he said angrily, "Didn't New Jersey and the others just call my name?"

"I'm sorry." Shinano rubbed the red mark on his forehead and whispered, "Miss, I'm sorry, I didn't notice it."

"I'm your sister." Yamato put his arm around Shinano's shoulders, pulled her into his arms, and teased, "I'm the Yamato, the first-class ship of the Yamato class. Your admiral just rescued me today and gave me a ring. Look... Hey, you have a ring like this too. So, should I call you sister?"

"Yamato? Sister?" Shinano looked at Yamato dazedly, not knowing if it was an illusion. Ever since she revealed her identity, Shinano did feel that she looked somewhat similar to herself. Moreover, judging from her appearance and figure, she was indeed at the level that most large battleships should have. Her long white hair was also tied into a neat ponytail like her own.

Although he subconsciously felt that something seemed to be wrong, Shinano felt that there was no need for this girl who had just been salvaged by the admiral and became his marriage ship to lie to him.

"It's really my sister..." Shinano's cheeks flushed with excitement. She had been in the naval base for several years and had always been alone. She was very envious of other ship girls who had sister ships and were close to each other. Unfortunately, she was the only Yamato-type ship girl in the world, so it was useless to be anxious.

"Yamato-neeji, you're new to the tutelary fort. Are you getting used to it?" Shinano asked cheerfully. "Have you arranged your living quarters? Are you satisfied? If not, you can move in with me. Oh, this outfit doesn't seem to fit you well. I'll get a new one later. Yamato-neeji and I are about the same size, so it should be a good fit."

Shinano finally had a sister ship of the same class, and she was so simple-minded that she wanted to share her heart with her sister. She remembered what Yamato had just said, pulled out a bank card from her wallet, and handed it to her, saying, "Sister Yamato has just been rescued by the admiral. You don't have any money on you, right? That won't do. I have some savings here. Sister Yamato, take it first. If it's not enough, just tell me, I have more."

Yamato chuckled and reached out to take the card without hesitation: "Then I'll take it."

Just as Yamato's fingers were about to touch Shinano's bank card, a white hand suddenly stretched out from the side and pulled Shinano's arm back. Montana also appeared silently behind Yamato, grabbed her collar and pulled her back two steps.

"Ms. Mutsu?" Shinano looked at the girl beside him in confusion.

"Montana! What are you pulling me for?" Yamato glared at the expressionless Montana angrily.

"She's right, you're really an idiot." Mutsu looked at Yamato on the other side and couldn't help but slap his forehead, highly agreeing with her evaluation.

"I'm not an idiot!" Shinano retorted in a low voice.

"You were easily fooled, and you still say you're not stupid?" Mutsu pointed at Yamato's back and said with a wry smile, "You can't even tell the difference between a shipgirl and a deep-sea flagship."

"Deep-sea flagship? Ah! Could it be..." After being pointed out by Mutsu, Shinano finally realized what the strange feeling was before. The white-haired ship girl in front of him with skin so pale that there was no trace of blood and purple pupils, wasn't she the same characteristic of the deep-sea ship girl who had sunk countless times during his attacks?

"Are you... short of money?" Montana looked at Yamato with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"Of course." Yamato crossed her arms and said unhappily. She was about to cheat some start-up capital from the stupid Shinano, but it was ruined by Montana. Naturally, she was not in a good mood.

"You've also had a time when you just woke up from the ocean, feeling lost and at a loss, not knowing where to go, what to do, or how to survive in this world?" Yamato snorted coldly. "After all, we deep-sea girls are no different from you shipgirls. If we could, we'd also like to be like you, eating good food, wearing beautiful clothes, going shopping and playing with friends and sisters every day, and having sweet moments with the opposite sex we like... What do you think it takes to achieve all that?"

"Of course it's money! How can you survive in this world without it? Or do you really think your idiotic admiral would be so kind as to offer me assistance beyond just building the Deep Sea Guardian Fort?"

"The Admiral is not a jerk." Montana retorted: "Besides, I was built by the Admiral and did not encounter the situation you described."

"..."Yamato.

58. Observing in secret

"Okay, even if you haven't." Yamato's tone was sour. It was so lucky for a ship girl to have an admiral. Someone arranged everything for her as soon as she was born. She didn't have to worry about survival or take care of too many trivial matters. She just had to focus on improving her level.

"But, haven't you ever wanted beautiful clothes or jewelry, but had no money in your pocket?"

Montana thought about it and still shook his head: "I'm not interested in those things. If it's a main gun with high attributes, maybe I would want it?"

Is this guy a girl? Yamato was almost going crazy. Food... well, in this naval base, some people called the Yixian shipgirl the God of Cooking, so it was easy to eat delicious food, but for a girl, there were almost no clothes and jewelry that no one could resist. How could she not be interested?

Could it be that Montana was a battle fanatic? Yamato suddenly felt guilty. Having lost most of her ship equipment, her current attributes were still superior to those of most shipgirls, but compared to the past, at least on paper, she no longer had an overwhelming advantage.

Moreover, a real battle is not a simple comparison of numbers. Even Yamato in the past might be defeated by a ship girl who was inferior to him in a 1V1 battle, let alone now.

"Well, come to think of it, even without counting Montana, that bastard admiral still has a lot of powerful shipgirls under his command." Yamato pondered for a moment, thinking of the blonde knight princess with her precise artillery, who always managed to hit the enemy's weak spot with a single shot, causing heavy damage.

A white-haired little girl who is short in stature and looks no older than a destroyer, but is equipped with battleship-level ship equipment and can use energy shields to be immune to one attack.

Missouri is capable of launching missiles from long range and has first-class firepower in artillery battles.

A lion as dazzling as a queen.

St. George, holding a lance and a holy sword, is the namesake of the legendary saint.

And Maryland, the mad dog who fights wildly and ferociously, ignoring pain.

There were many other people that Yamato couldn't remember at the moment, but the previous ones alone were enough to make Yamato feel pressured.

"Have I foolishly put myself in such a terrible situation?" Yamato broke out in a cold sweat. She had originally thought that even though her plan had been seen through by Lexington, as long as they could cooperate, even wearing the ring would not be an unacceptable price.

Looking back now, this was undoubtedly a very stupid decision. Not only would the development of the Deep Sea Naval Base be restricted by others, but even her own safety could not be guaranteed. What if that bastard admiral got beastly and wanted her to sleep with him? Would she be able to resist?

The answer seems to be very clear, otherwise I might as well find an opportunity to sneak away. It is better to eat wind and drink dew than to be meat on someone else's chopping board.

Montana tilted her head. Yamato fell silent after receiving her response. She stood there blankly, sweating profusely and gritting her teeth. She didn't know what she was thinking. She waited patiently for a while before asking, "If you really need money, I can give it to you."

"Hmm?" Yamato, who had been thinking about escaping the previous second, immediately threw the thought out of her mind after hearing Montana's words. She forced herself to suppress her excitement, reached out a trembling hand to hold Montana's palm, and asked hopefully, "Are you telling the truth?"

Montana nodded. "Of course it's true. I haven't been at the garrison very long, but I've earned a lot of bonuses due to my military achievements. If you agree to train with me, I'll give you all the money. How about that?"

After hearing Montana's answer, Yamato suddenly lost his temper: "I knew it, you're a fighting lunatic..."

Yamato curled his lips and walked aside, not bothering to pay attention to Montana who was showing a fanatical look.

At this moment, just outside the door of the izakaya, there were four girls acting suspiciously.

They all looked to be high school students, wearing light short skirts and fashionable shirts, long socks on their legs, and carrying bags with cute little accessories hanging on them. They looked no different from ordinary girls you could see on the street. They carefully leaned against the sides of the door, secretly sticking out half of their faces and looking into the izakaya.

"Sister Mogami, move back a little and don't squeeze me!" One of the girls with long yellow-green hair complained in a low voice.

"Mikuma, I didn't squeeze you, it's you who got fat." The girl with long pink hair put her hand on the waist of the girl next to her and pinched it, saying sarcastically.

"Huh?!" Mikuma's eyes widened. She opened the girl's hand, filled with anger at being wronged: "It's obviously Big Sister's fault. I didn't get fat!"

"Who on earth is the one who drinks milk tea all day, eats fried chicken and burgers to his heart's content, and has no habit of exercising?" Mogami sneered, "If you don't get fat, who will?"

"If that's the case, then big sis isn't much better, is she?" Mikuma said angrily, her sore spot being touched. She also knew that her eating habits were not very healthy and she lacked exercise, but as a ship girl, it was very difficult to change her body shape. Although there were indeed ship girls whose bodies changed without undergoing transformation, they were only a few exceptions, and no one had been able to figure out the reason so far.

"I don't want you to say that!"

"I'm going to give you that kind of talk!"

"Mogami-san, Mikuma-san, please stop arguing." Seeing the two girls arguing more fiercely, the black-haired girl whispered, "If you shout too loudly, you'll be discovered."

"Yes, Kumano is right, big sisters, you guys should just be quiet." Another pink-haired girl also advised. Compared to the other three sisters, she was not wearing a short skirt, but a pair of tight white shorts. The hem of her long top hung down, covering the shorts, but because it was not long enough, it was barely visible when she bent over or walked, subtly giving people a feeling of sexy temptation.