Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

Xue Cheng rubbed his temples with a headache. Looking at the list that was even longer than Bismarck's, he smiled bitterly and said, "Compared to comics, the threshold for custom writing is much lower. In theory, anyone who can read can create."

Lexington came up behind Xue Cheng, gently massaged his head, and asked, "What are you going to do with them, Admiral?"

Xue Cheng twitched his lips, feeling Lexington's fingers pressing down on his head, sometimes lightly, sometimes heavily, and smiled bitterly. "What else can we do? If we fine them, they seem very rich, right? Or corporal punishment? Make them run a marathon? Or do push-ups or sit-ups?"

"Don't be silly. If they secretly use the power of the ship's equipment, these won't be a problem at all. I will still have to pay for the consumed fuel."

"How about... punishing them to clean the public areas in the garrison?" Xue Cheng suddenly had an idea.

Lexington smiled helplessly. "Admiral, don't you notice how clean this garrison is? You can't even see small stones when you walk on the road?"

"We have cleaning robots specially designed by Yubari, and they're sent out every morning. If you let them do it, I'm afraid they won't be able to clean it properly. And there are many of the admiral's wedding ships among them. If they act coquettishly at that time, the admiral might not remember anything, right?"

"Then what do you say we should do?" Xue Cheng's face was full of embarrassment. What Lexington said might really come true.

"If you ask me..." Lexington thought for a moment and said, "Punishment is useless. Unless the admiral has the heart to put them in oil drums and throw them into the sea as targets, it would be better to start from the source."

"Source? Those authors?" Xue Cheng asked.

"Of course not, Admiral, look here." Lexington leaned over, picked up two reports from the table and pointed them to Xue Cheng.

"Bismarck has already made it clear here. Aside from this time when Hood approached Tirpitz in a private capacity to order this comic, all other orders were delivered to the author through this person."

"Also, Tianlong also noted that only a small portion of the orders were delivered directly to Dafeng. The vast majority were contacted with Dafeng through an intermediary, so the key to the problem lies with her."

"Who is this person?" Xue Cheng looked in the direction of Lexington's finger and found a common name at the end of both reports: "Santi?"

……

There is a shopping mall that looks very prosperous in the commercial street. Although the nine-story building looks very impressive from the outside and the various promotional banners hanging on the glass walls try to create a prosperous appearance, when Xue Cheng and Lexington walked in, they found that this so-called shopping mall was extremely deserted.

It’s not that there are few stalls in the shopping mall, but there are few pedestrians coming and going, and few stall owners waiting for customers in front of their stores and stalls. On the way upstairs, the footsteps of the two people seemed a bit harsh in the silent space.

It makes sense. With the number of people in Xue Cheng’s garrison, they can’t support such a huge shopping mall. I don’t know why Santi spent a lot of money to build such a place.

I remember Santi as a money-grubber. How could he do such a losing business?

Xue Cheng was full of doubts. As he and Lexington were walking towards the elevator, he suddenly saw a familiar girl hiding by the store door, looking at him curiously.

"Leipzig, I see you, no need to hide anymore."

Xue Cheng laughed. If Leipzig had stood there openly or hidden, Xue Cheng really wouldn't have noticed her. However, her sneaky look made her more conspicuous, so Xue Cheng recognized her at a glance.

Leipzig scratched her hair awkwardly. She looked at Xue Cheng and Lexington who were walking over, hesitated for a moment, grabbed two pairs of socks from the shelf, and handed them to them.

"Admiral, Lexington, what a coincidence, I actually met you here. Consider this my gift to you."

"..." Xue Cheng didn't answer. He looked at the two pairs of cheaply made socks in Leipzig's hand, which only cost one dollar online. He then looked at the various brand-name clothes in Leipzig's store and said unhappily, "You're just trying to fool us with this kind of stuff?"

"No way..." Leipzig said aggrievedly, "I don't own this store. The goods inside don't belong to me at all. Even if I give you two pairs of socks, I have to pay for them myself."

Xue Cheng also knew that it was unrealistic to make Grandet of Leipzig bleed, but he had no intention of taking advantage of her. After smiling, he deliberately put on a stern face.

"Why are you here? I remember the warehouse isn't closed for the holidays yet, right? You left your post without permission and came here to work. Do you still want your bonus this month?"

One Hundred and Thirty-Four, Santi

"Admiral!" Leipzig suddenly panicked. The biggest weakness of this money-grubber was money. When he heard that the bonus was lost, he immediately changed his face to a fawning one.

I believe that if Lexington was not holding Xue Cheng's arm and looking at her with a smile, Leipzig would definitely sell her body in order to keep the prize money.

"There's nothing going on at the war reserve warehouse," Leipzig said defensively. "Working here isn't very busy either. If there's any trouble at the warehouse, I can rush back quickly."

Xue Cheng actually didn't care about Leipzig working two jobs at all. He just liked to see the funny look of this money-grubber worrying about his salary and bonus.

But just as he was about to tease Leipzig again, Lexington took the initiative to speak up for her: "Admiral, what Leipzig said makes sense. There's no war going on now, so everyone has a lot of free time. The war reserve warehouse isn't like the one with the Vesta, where people come and go every day, so there's no need for strict management."

Leipzig's eyes lit up.

"However," Lexington winked slyly at Leipzig and changed the subject. "The last time Leipzig asked for a raise, I think he mentioned that inflation was rampant and that after deducting daily expenses from the salaries paid by the garrison, there wouldn't be much left."

Leipzig thought there was a chance of a salary increase, and nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, yes, things are so expensive these days, and the salary at the garrison is totally insufficient. Otherwise, I wouldn't have come to work here in Santi."

Xue Cheng secretly curled his lips. He didn't believe that Leipzig would be willing to spend money lavishly. Besides, the naval base bore most of the daily expenses of the ship girls, and the remaining part was calculated based on normal salaries. It was impossible for them to fall into a financial crisis.

"What Leipzig said makes sense," Lexington said with a smile. "Well, I was originally planning to give Leipzig a raise, but now that Leipzig has an additional source of income, I'll just forget it."

"Ah?" Leipzig was dumbfounded.

"That's all, we still have some business with Santi, so I'll take my leave now."

Xue Cheng suppressed his smile, waved to Leipzig, thought for a moment, and stuffed the two pairs of socks that Leipzig had taken out earlier into his pocket.

"Also, I'll accept Leipzig's gift. I'll discuss a salary increase with Lexington someday. Yeah, don't worry, I'll definitely do it next time."

"Admiral, Lexington, take care." Leipzig watched Xue Cheng and the other man leave with a sad face. He was found working outside and had to pay for two pairs of socks. Fortunately, the bonus was saved, otherwise Leipzig would definitely cry.

As for the talk about salary increase, Leipzig pretended not to hear it. After all, it was not only Xue Cheng who made similar promises, but also Lexington. It was not the first time that he made such a promise to her.

After getting on the elevator, Xue Cheng and Lexington continued to head towards higher floors, and soon arrived at the top floor. Lexington took out his phone, checked it, and identified the direction. He pulled Xue Cheng to the left and said, "Admiral, Santi's office should be over here."

At this time, Santi, a girl with long green hair and wearing a monocle, was resting in her office.

Compared with Xue Cheng, Santi's office looked much more shabby, with only a desk and a chair, and both looked a bit old. The leather surface of the chair was even peeling.

There was no sofa or coffee table for guests, and the walls of the office even revealed the color of concrete. An old refrigerator in the corner was making a buzzing sound.

"Last month's turnover... Tsk, it's the same again. It turns out that you can't make much money doing business in the garrison." Santi adjusted his monocle, threw aside a report, leaned his head back in the chair, and stared at the wall clock opposite in a daze.

Just when Santi was almost falling asleep, there was a knock on the door.

Santi stood up quickly. She didn't say anything like "please come in". Instead, she walked quickly to the door and opened it to welcome the guest herself.

Looking at Xue Cheng and Lexington standing outside the door, Santi showed his warmest smile: "Ah, it's the Admiral and Lexington, please come in."

"Don't be so polite, Santi." Xue Cheng was a little wary.

In history, Santi was an escort aircraft carrier converted from an oil tanker. The characters in the game are modeled after "oil tycoons", which are very similar to the image of early capitalists. Xue Cheng does not dare to be careless with this "class enemy".

Fortunately, Lexington is by his side. If Santi wants to play any tricks with sugar-coated bullets, Lexington will definitely not sit idly by. At that time, the couple can work together to eat the sugar-coated bullets and hit back at the bullets.

Walking into the office, Xue Cheng was slightly startled by the shabby appearance of the room. At this time, Santi, who had closed the door, had already trotted to the old refrigerator in the corner, took out a half-drunk bucket of mineral water and three paper cups, filled them on the desk, and then attentively brought them to the two of them.

"Sorry, there's nothing prepared in the office. It's very hot today. Please drink some water."

Xue Cheng took the mineral water, looked around again, and asked in surprise: "Santi's office...why hasn't it been renovated and equipped with office supplies?"

"This one……"

Santi scratched his head and said embarrassedly, "Admiral, don't underestimate me because I opened such a large shopping and entertainment center. I actually don't make any money at all. All my funds are invested here, and they have turned into those goods and facilities. Before I sell those things..."

Santi spread his hands helplessly: "He's just a poor guy who can't even afford to decorate his office."

"Hmm?" Xue Cheng blinked and said in surprise, "I remember Santi was good at business, right? How did it end up like this? Also, the customer base in the garrison can't support such a large shopping and entertainment center, right? How did you come up with the idea of ​​opening this shopping center?"

"Well, I do have some businesses outside."

Santi explained, "But those are just my investment projects. It's not time for year-end dividends yet, so I don't have much money at all. As for this shopping mall..."

Santi paused, a serious look on his face. "Admiral, I wonder what you think of our tutelary fort."

"How do you view it..." Xue Cheng thought for a moment and tentatively answered, "Our home?"

Santi smiled slightly, "Yeah, so I want to build my own home and make it better. Is that weird?"

"..." Xue Cheng touched his chin and nodded subconsciously. Santi's words were flawless without any loopholes.

After all, such a large shopping mall is not fake. If Santi really has ulterior motives and spends such a huge amount of money, can he make a profit?

You have to know that with the purchasing power of only more than 500 people in the garrison, even if Santi's goods are left to mold, they probably won't be sold out.

135. The True Face of the Unscrupulous Merchant

Coming out of Santi's office, Xue Cheng felt a little guilty. He actually doubted his own ship girl because of his preconceived notion.

He got on the elevator with Lexington in silence. When they passed a certain floor, they suddenly saw an arcade where many girls were playing games.

"There's an arcade in Santi's shopping mall?" Xue Cheng asked in surprise.

Lexington glanced at it, then looked away, saying softly, "Yes, and the facilities inside are regularly maintained and updated. I have to say that although Santi is a profiteer, he at least contributes to the tutelary fort. He's nothing like Leipzig, who's so stingy."

"Hmm..." Xue Cheng frowned and said gently, "Lexington, isn't it a bad idea to say that? Santi has made such a great contribution to the garrison after all. Calling him a profiteer is really..."

"Eh?" Lexington blinked. She carefully observed Xue Cheng's expression and realized that he didn't seem to be joking. She said with a smile: "Admiral...you didn't take Santi's words seriously, did you?"

Novel Book Group 25 51 89192 (Gong Zhonghao: 51 Reading) "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is, Admiral, you are too naive. How can you believe the words of a capitalist like Santi?"

Lexington rolled his eyes and said unhappily, "The infrastructure of this shopping mall is indeed very expensive, but those clothes, electronics, and other merchandise are actually not valuable goods at all. I heard that Santi is buying up products from companies on the verge of bankruptcy at low prices and then repackaging them as high-end goods to sell in the mall."

"..." Xue Cheng was speechless.

"Also," Lexington continued, "Admiral, if Santi says she doesn't have much money, just ignore her. She has a lot of businesses outside of the company, and her annual income is astronomical. She's an exceptional entrepreneur."

"How did Lexington know that?"

"Because that guy exposed the existence of the tutelary fort without authorization and collaborated with the admirals of other tutelary forts to do business."

Lexington said helplessly, "The Admiral forbids business, so they came secretly. No one noticed at first, but then that fellow Santi got so bold that he even tried to falsify the accounts, flushing the equipment from the war reserve warehouse from the books, and then reselling it."

"If the other admiral hadn't been such a fool and accidentally leaked the information while drunk, alerting Ella, she might have succeeded. Later, during the investigation, she followed the clues and exposed Santi's industry."

"Oh, I forgot to mention that this shopping and entertainment center was actually built by Santi after that incident in order to gain everyone's forgiveness. Otherwise, Stalingrad and the Soviet Union would have been ready to hang her from a streetlight."

"..." Xue Cheng was completely speechless. Santi was indeed a complete capitalist. He even had his eyes on his equipment and almost succeeded?

His original admiration for Santi disappeared in an instant, and it was at this moment that Xue Cheng remembered the purpose of coming here today.

"Oops, Santi interrupted me and I forgot the purpose of coming here today!" Xue Cheng slapped his forehead and was about to pull Lexington back.

"That's not necessary." Lexington stopped Xue Cheng and explained, "Santi is a smart person. She must be aware of our crackdown on fan fiction and custom works these past two days. Our presence today is the biggest warning to her. I believe that with her caution, she won't restart those two lines in the short term. As for the long term..."

Lexington looked at Xue Cheng with a half-smile: "If the Admiral can fulfill his responsibilities as a husband, there is no need for everyone to buy that kind of thing to see, right?"

Xue Cheng: “…”

Walking out of the shopping mall and standing in the sun again, Xue Cheng looked at the time. It was almost time for lunch. He was about to invite the girl next to him when the phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated.

"Admiral?" Lexington tilted his head and looked at him inquiringly.

Xue Cheng turned on his phone, and a message from Yixian appeared on the screen: "I'm off today. Yixian prepared some home-cooked meals at home. Admiral, are you coming?"

Xue Cheng hesitated, then looked at Lexington, who was leaning over and reading the message with him, and asked, "Lexington, do you want to come with us?"