Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

"Ah! Admiral! And... Lexington? Saratoga? Constellation? You are all here?" Suzuya raised her head, and the moment she saw Xue Cheng, her expression was obviously relieved, but when she discovered the other three, her face immediately became strange.

"Suzunya?" Xue Cheng looked at the girl, who was dressed in a youthful and energetic manner, with a hint of sexiness and light makeup. Although she looked a little different from the character in the game, she did resemble the sexy heavy cruiser JK.

Xue Cheng remembered that in the game, Suzuya had another outfit called "Ordinary Festival Staff". The color and temperament of the outfit were even more sexy than the original illustration. The graceful figure that was faintly visible after the big damage made him fascinated.

Xue Cheng patted Saratoga's arm, and the latter understood and let go of his arm obediently.

Xue Cheng came up to the girl and looked at her face without a trace of sweat. He secretly marveled at the amazing physique of the ship girl and asked, "Suzuya, what happened?"

"Admiral..." Suzuya hesitated, not knowing what to say. According to Mikuma's inference, Iowa and the others came here deliberately to cause trouble today. So when he was looking for the admiral for reinforcements, the three Lexington sisters happened to be with the admiral, so there was no need to explain their intention.

"Damn it, was this even planned?" Suzuya looked at Lexington's puzzled expression. Suspicious, she thought he was just pretending. After a moment's reflection, she realized she was the victim. Since the Americans could do this, she might as well lay the matter out in the open and see what they had to say to the Admiral.

Thinking of this, Suzuya said, "Admiral, Iowa brought her two sisters, Montana, and an unknown shipgirl to our Japanese side to cause trouble!"

62. Misunderstanding resolved

"Ruin the place?" the Lexington sisters chimed in. Although they occasionally had minor friction with the Japanese, it was just a joke, no one took it seriously. After arguing today, they'd still greet each other with a smile the next time they met.

but……

Lexington hesitated. He knew if Iowa and the others had done anything like that, he only needed to go and see for himself. Would Suzuya resort to such a flimsy lie to deceive the admiral? Even if he wanted to snatch someone away, using such a shady method would only incur the admiral's ire.

Unlike Lexington's puzzled expression, Xue Cheng looked a little embarrassed at this moment. He suddenly remembered that he had promised to visit her at the dock in the afternoon. At that time, he vowed to Missouri that "I will definitely do it this time." If he had not met Suzuya, Xue Cheng would probably have forgotten about it completely.

"What's going on? Suzuya, please explain it clearly." Xingxing asked.

Suzuya hurriedly explained. Due to the distance, Suzuya did not hear their conversation, so he could only briefly recount what happened after Iowa and the others entered the door. However, for Xue Cheng and the others, it was enough to infer the truth.

Lexington said in frustration, "Admiral, I was negligent. I haven't informed everyone about Yamato yet."

"I'm also at fault in this matter, but now is not the time to talk about this." Xue Cheng grabbed Suzuya's wrist and asked anxiously, "Where is the izakaya in Shinano? Take me there!"

"Admiral?" Suzuya looked at him blankly. Judging from the reactions of Lexington and Xue Cheng, things didn't seem to be what he imagined?

"There's no time to explain, take me there!"

……

When Xue Cheng arrived at the izakaya, he saw Iowa, Missouri and a strange blonde girl, sweeping the floor with a broom in a dejected manner. The area near the window was a mess, with large pieces of broken floor. Hindenburg was following Missouri with a gloating look on his face, making sarcastic remarks, while Montana was sitting behind the bar, sipping bottled juice.

"Montana?" Xue Cheng walked over, tapped the table, and asked, "Where's Yamato?"

"..." Montana seemed startled and nearly dropped the juice in her hand. She quickly stood up, screwed the bottle cap back on, and hid it behind her backpack. Then she wiped her mouth and said seriously, "Admiral, I'm not being lazy. I'm just, just..."

Seeing the girl trying to explain but unable to speak due to panic, Xue Cheng felt a sense of contrast. He put his hand on Montana's shoulder, asked her to sit down, and said in a friendly manner: "Don't be nervous, I'm just asking casually."

"As for Yamato, he's over there now." Montana pointed to a small compartment not far away, and a figure could be seen swaying through the paper door.

"You continue to rest, I'll go over and take a look." Xue Cheng greeted Iowa and the others, and walked over with the Lexington sisters and Suzuya.

"Swish!" Xue Cheng opened the paper door. In the small compartment was a small table filled with food. Six girls were sitting around the table. Three of them looked no older than high school students. They should be the three Mogami sisters.

The remaining three people, except Yamato, were all wearing dark blue kimono, with long hair tied into a ponytail at the back of his head. He was holding a large bottle to refill Yamato's wine. The strong sense of déjà vu reminded Xue Cheng of Shinano's dress-up Half-Bloom in the game.

Although the other girl was also wearing a kimono, her collar was not pulled up properly. Instead, it was slightly open, revealing deep cleavage. She sat there lazily, tilting her head to look at the door. She should be the Mutsu that Suzuya mentioned.

"Admiral?"

"Oh, it's the Admiral! And Lexington and the others!"

"Suzuya, what took you so long? Everyone's been waiting impatiently!"

"Ah, let's not talk about this for now. Let the Admiral sit down."

"Admiral, sit next to me!"

"Go away! Mikuma, stop pulling me. Don't you want to listen to your sister?"

Suzuya watched in bewilderment as Mogami and the others frantically pulled the Admiral to sit among them. Hadn't Iowa and the others been saying they were here to cause trouble? Why wasn't he nervous at all? Instead, he was sitting there chatting and eating with the newcomer?

"Sister Mogami, what are you doing..."

"Oh, it's a misunderstanding, it's a misunderstanding," Mikuma said with a grin. She invited Lexington and the others in and casually explained, "We're all sisters from the same tutelary fort. How could we possibly mess things up? Suzuya, you've worked hard. Come and sit down first. Mogami-nee, please move over a bit. It's so crowded..."

Mogami moved aside with a sour face, watching everyone sit down one by one. She felt a little depressed that the seats next to the admiral were occupied by Mutsu and Mikuma.

"Can someone explain this?" Lexington asked. She looked around and found Yamato staggering with his wine bowl, his eyes half open, obviously drunk.

"I, actually... Hey! Admiral, that..." Shinano seemed to have drunk quite a bit too. Her fair cheeks were slightly flushed, and she stumbled over her words. Seeing this, Mutsu shook his head and said, "Admiral, let me do the talking."

Xue Cheng nodded with a strange look on his face. He would never tell you that since he sat down, something had been sliding gently on his calves.

Mutsu held her chin with one hand and gently shook the wine bowl with the other. There seemed to be a layer of moisture in her eyes, which looked a bit hazy under the light. She looked intoxicated as if she was sniffing the aroma of wine, but in fact she was secretly doing small movements.

He seemed to meet Xue Cheng's gaze inadvertently, and seeing him look away uncomfortably, Mu Ao smiled lightly and told him what had happened.

"Hahahaha..." After listening to Mutsu's story, Xingxing burst into laughter. She pointed at Mikuma and laughed so hard that she could hardly breathe. "What kind of ruining the place? What kind of conspiracy? Haha, Mikuma, you have the potential to compete with CV-16 for the detective position. If you work hard, you might even be the number one detective in the naval base!"

Mikuma rubbed her nose. She thought her reasoning was correct, but it turned out to be a misunderstanding. Anyone would feel embarrassed. She said helplessly, "Okay, this is my fault. I shouldn't have said anything without understanding the situation clearly. Everyone, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay, Mikuma, don't worry about it." Shinano comforted.

Saratoga, like Mogami, had a sour look on her face because her plan to bring Xue Cheng to her home, which she had finally come up with, was ruined by this farce.

Even if Xue Cheng came home, he probably wouldn't have a share, but his sister, who had benefited from it, would surely remember his contribution and lend a helping hand when he needed it.

63. Mutsu's Strengths

After resolving the misunderstanding, Xue Cheng planned to sit for a while and then go back to rest, but someone didn't want to let him go.

"Admiral, try this?" Mutsu picked up a fried shrimp and handed it to Xue Cheng's mouth, his eyes full of eagerness: "Although it may not be as good as Yixian's, it is also very delicious."

Xue Cheng hesitated for a moment, and felt the air around him suddenly become scorching hot. Sharp gazes crisscrossed over him, but looking at the shy and hopeful look of the girl next to him, he couldn't bear to refuse.

Even though he knew that Mutsu's feet under the table had been making small movements since he sat down, combined with Mutsu's straightforward dialogue design and charming and seductive portrait in the game, this girl was obviously not someone who would be easily shy, and her behavior at this time was probably acting, but Xue Cheng still felt as if he had committed a serious crime if he refused.

"I only remember that Missouri's character seemed to be a big star, but I didn't know Mutsu had such acting skills, or was it... a girl's talent?" Xue Cheng secretly complained. Seeing that Mutsu showed no intention of backing down, he finally felt a little reluctant and opened his mouth to bite the fried shrimp.

"Hey!" Seeing this, Mutsu stuffed the fried shrimp directly into his mouth. Fortunately, the shrimp was not big. She looked at Xue Cheng covering his mouth and chewing, and giggled: "Admiral, how is it? Is it delicious?"

Xue Cheng was busy fighting with the fried shrimp, so he just nodded vigorously. However, when he saw Mutsu pick up a piece of tamagoyaki with the chopsticks he had just used and put it into his mouth, and then he sipped the chopsticks hard and gave him a meaningful look, he almost spit out the food in his mouth.

Naturally, Mutsu's little tricks couldn't be hidden from the people at the table. Saratoga slammed the table, pointed at Mutsu and said angrily: "Mutsu! You...you! Shameless!"

Saratoga was a girl after all, and she was in front of the admiral, so even if she was angry she couldn't say anything too harsh.

Mutsu blinked and acted innocently: "What's wrong with me?"

"Stop pretending!" Saratoga glared at Mutsu fiercely. "We saw everything you did just now!"

"What did I just do?" Mutsu tapped his chin with his index finger, putting on a thoughtful expression. Then he suddenly realized: "Oh, you mean that? Is there any problem?"

"Uh..." Mutsu's confident expression left Saratoga speechless. Only then did she remember that this was Mutsu in front of her. Isn't thick-skinnedness the most basic thing? Forget about inducing the admiral to kiss indirectly, even if she kissed him directly, she would probably do it.

"Besides, didn't we agree on this yesterday?" Mutsu picked up the wine bowl and drank it all in one gulp. As if the alcohol gave her courage, she simply leaned softly on Xue Cheng's shoulder and said lazily, "Everyone should compete based on their own abilities. My cooking skills are not as good as Yixian's, my ability to handle port affairs is not as good as Lexington's, and I am not good at fighting. I can only make use of my limited strengths..."

Yesterday? Competition? Xue Cheng's eyes gradually became subtle. Without him knowing, these wedding ships seemed to have reached some consensus.

"Is this what you mean by your strength?" An exceptionally loud voice rang out. Everyone looked over in surprise. Suzuya's face flushed as she stood up shakily and pointed at Mutsu.

"Sister?" Kumano looked at her in surprise, then suddenly remembered something. He picked up the cup in front of her, put it under his nose and sniffed it, and exclaimed: "Sister! You, you drank?"

The cup in front of Suzuya was of ordinary size. Even if it was filled, it couldn't hold much alcohol. Moreover, the sake provided in the izakaya was of low alcohol content. However, she looked as if she had drunk a lot and it was obvious that she had a very low alcohol tolerance.

But what's even worse than Suzuya's drinking capacity is his drinking habits.

Seeing Mutsu's somewhat stunned expression, Suzuya ripped off the tie used as a decoration at his collar and threw it on the ground, then clumsily unbuttoned his chest: "If you have this kind of skill, I can do it too!"

"Ah! Sister!"

"Suzuya! Stop it now!"

"Wow! This guy is so strong!"

"It's going to fall off! Idiot! Put your clothes on!"

After a flurry of activity, the three Mogami men awkwardly carried the drunk Suzuya away and returned to their own residence, leaving the people in the room looking at each other in silence.

"Well..." Xue Cheng looked at Mutsu, who had sat back up straight, putting on a nonchalant expression and even retracted his foot, and said with a dry laugh, "I'll go call Iahua and the others in. There's still time to clean up outside tomorrow."

"I'm going too." Mutsu's words instantly drew the attention of the girls in the room. Feeling the immense pressure implied in those gazes, Mutsu quickly pointed at Shinano and Yamato, who were leaning against each other and mumbling drunken words, and explained, "Shinano is already drunk. I'm going to prepare some hangover soup and food. Don't misunderstand me! Or do you think you can use the kitchen utensils and ingredients in the izakaya?"

After calling the Iowa sisters and Hindenburg into the room, Xue Cheng took the tableware for the top four people downstairs. When he came to the kitchen and was about to get a few new sets, Mutsu, who was making tempura, hooked his finger at him.

"What?" Xue Cheng looked at Mu Ao warily.

"Just put the cutlery over there." Mu Ao pointed to a random place. Seeing that Xue Cheng still did not move after putting down the cutlery, he simply reached out and pulled him over, hugging his arm.

Xue Cheng was startled and quickly looked towards the door. Seeing no one there, he breathed a sigh of relief. He looked at Mu Ao and said helplessly, "You're still coming? Aren't you afraid of another person imitating you?"

"What are you afraid of, Admiral?" Mutsu blinked. "Even if there's another one imitating me, they're all your wedding ships anyway, so you won't suffer any loss, Admiral."

Xue Cheng shrugged. "I'm just worried you'll get hurt. Don't forget what happened last night. I heard Hancock doesn't dare go home now. I don't know where he's hiding. Aren't you afraid of being caught and used as a target?"

Mutsu climbed onto Xue Cheng's shoulders and whispered playfully into his ear, "If I'm captured and used as a target ship for an exercise, the admiral will come to rescue me, right?"

"No." Xue Cheng said with a deliberately stern face, "For a demon like you, I will personally arrange the members for the exercise. Um, do you prefer the Firepower Cult led by Richelieu, Veneto, St. George, Montana, Maryland, and the Lion Queen, or the Missile Cult composed of Changchun, Anshan, Jinan, Jean Bart, Missouri, and Rogozny? Or is the Submarine Brigade more to your liking?"

"Hateful!" Mutsu patted Xue Cheng on the shoulder, rolled his eyes, picked up a piece of fried tempura with chopsticks and handed it to Xue Cheng's mouth: "Admiral, come and try the taste?"

64. Achievement

Xue Cheng felt that being the one being teased was a bit too cowardly of a man. He looked towards the door again, confirmed that no one was outside, and with a quick glance, he gently pushed Mutsu's arm away and said, "I've already used this trick before. Anyway, there's no one around right now. If you really want to come, I won't refuse you."

Mutsu was stunned for a moment before realizing that Xue Cheng was talking about the indirect kiss just now. However, she really had no intention of teasing the admiral this time. She just wanted him to try the taste. She didn't expect to be teased. However, Mutsu was not a pushover. She immediately put her chopsticks aside, put her arms around Xue Cheng's neck, and slowly moved her face closer: "Okay, then Mutsu will not be polite."

Seeing the soft lips painted with lavender lipstick getting closer and closer to him, Xue Cheng took two steps back in embarrassment to avoid Mutsu. After all, he was a pure young man who had been single since birth. Although he refused to give in, he would not be a match for an old driver like Mutsu if he got serious.

"Stop it, the tempura in the pot is about to get burnt."

Noticing that the aroma diffused in the air did have a hint of burnt smell, Mutsu let go of Xue Cheng with some regret, secretly regretting in his heart: Although it was funny to see the admiral shy, if I had been more decisive just now, I would have won the admiral's first kiss, right?

Xue Cheng coughed lightly, and watching Mutsu frantically taking out the fried tempura and putting it on the plate, he said, "Is Mutsu good at cooking?"

"Good at it? I don't think so." Mutsu, who had become busy, looked much more serious. Without turning her head, she said, "I used to think I was good at cooking, but after seeing those true culinary masters, I think this level can only be considered as knowing how to cook, far from being good at it."

"Indeed." Xue Cheng nodded in agreement. He had a similar experience before. When he found out that his so-called strengths were not worth mentioning compared to others, it was indeed a big blow.

"..." Mu Ao turned around and looked at Xue Cheng with resentment: "Admiral, you... must have never had a girlfriend, right?"

"What do you mean?"