KanColle does not allow me to work from nine to five

Liu Cheng's words were interrupted again, but this time Zara didn't use words. She moved close to Liu Cheng's face, and her moist lips that exuded a sweet fragrance pressed against his without hesitation. Zara looked at Liu Cheng, her heart pounding wildly.

Wet, fragrant, soft, clumsy and passionate, their breathing intertwined, the short hair behind their heads was ruffled by the beautiful woman's slender hands, Liu Cheng's head was buzzing, but he couldn't help but reach out to explore the beauty of the honey cavity, Zara's waist was as soft as a spring, and was gradually becoming softer, and finally collapsed into a pool of spring water.

I don't know how long it has been. There is only the other person's heartbeat and breathing in my ears. It seems very long, but also seems to be only a moment. Before she completely sinks into despair, Zara takes the initiative to let go of Liu Cheng's lips, panting slightly and looking at the man in front of her with blurred eyes: "I know that you will still go to Tiexue in half a year."

"I……"

"I know you will. If you weren't like this, I wouldn't like you." Zara's eyes were burning, holding Liu Cheng in both hands.

"You will go to Iron Blood and meet Tirpitz. Just like you told me about you and Tirpitz, you will also tell her about you and me. I want her to know that even though she knew you first, your first kiss was not her but me, just like you will go to Iron Blood, but will eventually come back to me."

“I firmly believe in this.”

Looking at Zara's affectionate gaze, Liu Cheng at this moment deeply realized what it meant to be in love with a beautiful woman. There was no need for words anymore, because his feelings needed no further explanation.

"I believe it, and I believe it."

This time, Liu Cheng took the initiative to kiss Zara on the lips. He couldn't help thinking in his heart, Tirpitz, what should I do, I seem to like Zara a little more now... This thought lasted only a moment, Liu Cheng cleared away all distractions and devoted himself to the entanglement with Zara. At least now he had to be wholeheartedly focused.

The room was quiet here, with only the low, rapid breathing and the sticky sound of water rubbing faintly coming to the outside.

Bola leaned against the door, biting her lips hard, and finally she could only sigh.

She felt that her sister seemed to be really moving away from her.

But she couldn't hate anyone.

Chapter 43: Neither Pure, Unified, nor a Military Alliance

The banquet hosted by Iron Blood was just a welcoming party, and certainly not the main course of this exercise. However, the Iris fleet had not arrived yet, and there was no way to carry out the scheduled projects. During this period of time, Sardinia and Iron Blood held several exchange meetings.

As a member of Sardinia, Liu Cheng was of course qualified to attend the meeting as an auditor, and not only because of Tirpitz, but also because of the heartfelt talk with Zara last night. Liu Cheng understood that he had begun to deeply intervene in the world of the ship girls. No matter who it was for, he was more concerned about this matter.

The purpose of these exchanges between the two parties was almost only one - to determine the unified command of the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean west of the Strait of Gibraltar, the Red Sea, the Arabian Sea and part of the Indian Ocean, which were traditional waters originally under the responsibility of the Royal Family, Iris and Sardinia.

As the promoter of this issue, Iron Blood naturally urged them to take unified command. The reasons were nothing more than to further strengthen the connection between the major forces, to make up for the inaction of the Royal Fleet deployed in the Strait of Gibraltar, to strengthen the security of this part of the sea area and lay a material foundation for the future counterattack against the Siren, and so on. In short, these were all very high-sounding reasons that could not be faulted.

Sardinia was naturally strongly opposed to this, and the reasons were tit-for-tat. The major forces within the Azur Lane had always cooperated equally. When the Royal Fleet was in charge of the Strait of Gibraltar, the major forces were responsible for their own affairs. When something happened, they formed a joint fleet. No matter how efficient it was, no major accidents had ever happened. The transportation volume of the Mediterranean Golden Waterway was originally booming, and it had nothing to do with the joint command...

Unable to resist the moral blackmail from the Iron Blood, Littorio skillfully used the excuse that the Iris fleet had not arrived yet. Not allowing Bar, the flagship of the Iris Mediterranean Fleet, to participate in this matter would be a great disrespect to Iris. Anyway, he just wanted to drag his feet. The Sardinian battleship Marco Polo had just visited Iris some time ago. Littorio believed that it would not be difficult for them to reach a consensus with Iris. By that time, Sardinia and Iris would oppose together, and no matter how much the Iron Blood insisted, it would be in vain.

Iron Blood, who had always been quite tough, was not as sharp as before on this point. Although he kept emphasizing the importance of joint command, he also agreed that such an important decision really needed the arrival of Iris to reach a consensus.

From this, Liu Cheng also began to realize that Azur Lane was just an abstract concept in his previous understanding. This military alliance of ship girls that was above any country or organization seemed to be just like this somewhat divided human world, and was not as united as he had imagined.

However, one thing did fit Liu Cheng's imagination, that is, the meetings between the ship girls were just like the maneuvers in the human parliament, really boring and long, the difference was that in the parliament, the topic was physically changed, like a gang fight, while the ship girls were verbally sparring and making innuendos. I laughed at you for being captured by Rommel with 200 and 10,000 in the Battle of Caporetto, showing the Roman style, and I said that you were defeated by Garibaldi with fewer troops in the Battle of Vosges, and Bismarck was furious...

From this we can see that the ship girls do have a strong sense of national and cultural identity, which is probably one of the reasons that support them in fighting bravely and protecting human civilization.

So the only outsider here was Liu Cheng. Even if he served in Sardinia, he was ultimately a Donghuang person in both his past and present lives, and had no resonance with the history they told him. So Liu Cheng said something to Zara and went out to the deck to get some fresh air.

Seeing Liu Cheng go out, Bora walked to her sister Zara and cheered her up for her speech just now.

Zara held her sister's hand and asked, "Why did you come here after Liu Cheng left?"

Bola said matter-of-factly, "No, it's none of his business."

"Then shall we go out and look for him?"

"What are you looking for him for?" Bola said with disgust, "I'm talking to my sister. Don't talk about him when I'm here. I'm not interested in him."

"Okay, okay, we two sisters are together."

"Yeah, together."

Zara held her sister's hand lovingly, thinking that when she came back last night, she found that there was no one in your room. When she went to the deck, she saw you in a daze. At that time, she knew that you said you didn't want to go, but you actually went to Liu Cheng's room.

You must have heard what we said, so now you are deliberately keeping a distance from Liu Cheng, silly sister, we are on the same class of ships, of course we should be together for the rest of our lives.

On the other side, Liu Cheng leaned against the railing, watching waves hitting the silver-white hull. The seagulls spread their white wings, flew rapidly across the sea, then soared into the sky gracefully, tumbling between the blue sky and white clouds.

Not only was he breathing heavily, Liu Cheng was also struggling with his current situation. He must not let Zara down, and the same went for Tirpitz. He had given Ron high hopes, so he shouldn't give up halfway... It could only be said that being too charming was quite annoying.

Liu Cheng looked at the freely flying seagulls, let out a long breath, and a smile appeared on the corners of his mouth again. There was nothing to be entangled about. Promises must be kept and lovers must not be let down. If they were unwilling, he would try his best to make them willing. Even if things did not go as he wished in the end, he would have a clear conscience.

After realizing this, Liu Cheng felt clear-headed again.

"Why, are you here alone looking at the sea?"

Littorio's voice came from behind. She walked to Liu Cheng and leaned slightly on the railing, looking down at the sea.

"Well, come out for some fresh air."

Littorio smiled and said, "Come and get some fresh air, or are you disappointed with the ship girl after seeing that scene?"

"Not really. Human disputes are much more noisy and childish than this. How can we be disappointed in the ship girls?" Liu Cheng said, "I just suddenly realized that as an ordinary human, I seem to know too little about the ship girls and the Blue Lane."

"Without communication, there is naturally no understanding. I think you must have a lot of questions. What do you want to know?"

Liu Cheng glanced at Littorio's heroic profile, thought for a moment and asked, "Since Azur Lane is a military alliance, isn't there an organization like a rotating chairman or a permanent council to unify the command?"

Littorio's green hair fluttered in the wind. She said, "Unfortunately, we once wanted to set up a similar organization and implemented it for a while, but in the end all the plans were shelved."

"Why? Isn't Azur Lane a unified military alliance independent of any country and composed purely of ship girls?"

Before Littorio could give an answer to Liu Cheng's question, another voice came from behind them to give the answer.

"Of course it's because Azur Lane is neither pure, nor unified, nor a military alliance."

Chapter 44 With great power comes great responsibility

Prince Eugen walked to the other side of Liu Cheng with grace and grace. She turned her head and her sight just passed Liu Cheng who turned his head to look at her. Seeing some of Littorio's little expressions, this iron-blooded flower smiled slightly and said, "Why, you don't welcome me? Or are you still angry about what happened yesterday?"

There are two questions, the former is asked to Littorio and the latter is asked to Liu Cheng.

Littorio knew it very well. She had finally found an opportunity to explore the shining treasure in her heart alone, so how could she welcome an uninvited guest? However, Littorio just smiled. It was not because she had a broad mind, but because she had absolute confidence that her brilliance would not be surpassed by anyone.

"No." Liu Cheng thought that both questions were directed at him. After what happened yesterday, he felt that the Iron-Blooded Shipgirl would not make trouble again, so he casually said, "But the two of you who presided over the meeting have come out. Is the meeting over?"

Prince Eugen asked in return: "Do you think this kind of meeting needs us to preside over it?"

Liu Cheng thought about it, looked at Prince Eugen and Littorio's open-minded expressions, figured out the connection, and couldn't help but say: "It seems that the ship girl can't avoid the stereotypes of humans either."

"Of course, even if our power exceeds that of humans, we, the ship girls, are only a part of humans. We are derived from humans and cannot surpass humans." Prince Eugen looked out at the sea, her brows like distant mountains, and her beautiful face looked sweet and peaceful at this moment. She said with emotion, "So of course we would waste time on this kind of meaningless argument for the sake of our persistence and recognition."

Littorio disagreed. She said: "I don't think it is completely meaningless. Expressing my own opinions is the greatest significance in itself."

Although he expressed his opinion, Littorio's tone itself showed his agreement with Prince Eugen's words.

Liu Cheng could understand it. The ship girls he met in the past few days were basically people with strong personalities, possessing great power and their own pride. What's more, humans themselves are a mess. Even when facing the great enemy Sirens, they have not been able to achieve complete world peace. How can they ask the ship girls to love each other and be like a family? What's more, Liu Cheng is now more interested in what Prince Eugen said before.

"It is normal to have different opinions. We can only seek common ground while reserving differences." Liu Cheng said vaguely, and then asked, "Excuse me, Eugen... cough, Eugen, what do you mean by the Azur Lane being neither pure, nor unified, nor a military alliance? Isn't the Azur Lane an existence that transcends any country or organization?"

Hearing this address, Prince Eugen withdrew her gaze from Liu Cheng with satisfaction. She said, "Everything you said exists in theory, but this world does not operate completely according to theory. We, the ship girls, certainly will not intervene in disputes between countries, but we cannot escape the rut of countries."

"What do you mean, do you still need to obey the orders of your respective governments?"

"Of course not, but we have emotions too." It was Littorio who spoke, looking at the sea. "Take Sardinia as an example.

We are the Sardinian people. We are bathed in the glory of Sardinia. Even our names are deeply tied to the history of Sardinia. Even if we can ignore our motherland, we cannot ignore its people. "

Prince Eugen stretched his slender figure lazily, and said helplessly: "That's it. Of course, we don't have to obey the orders of our respective governments, but we can't stay out of it. Just like now, the Iron Blood has become a protectorate of the Kingdom of Spain, and we have to cooperate in entering the Strait of Gibraltar. We don't have enough manpower to begin with, and now we have to take charge of this kind of dirty work. Otherwise, we wouldn't want any joint command."

Littorio glanced at Prince Eugen and said bluntly: "With great power comes great responsibility. If you cannot bear this responsibility, you can invite the royal family back."

Prince Eugen retorted: "The smaller the ability, the smaller the responsibility. No wonder your responsibility in Sardinia is getting smaller and smaller."

"No matter how big or small the responsibility is, it is always our own responsibility. There is no need to shirk it."

"Indeed, the Mediterranean Sea is a big bathtub, enough for you Sardinians to be king."

Littorio and Prince Eugen are indeed outstanding leaders. They insult each other without using any dirty words and the smiles on their faces never fade. Even if they are not ship girls, they can still become outstanding politicians.

"I think responsibilities are equal, big or small. Each of you is a hero protecting civilization, and you are all equally worthy of admiration."

Although he could probably guess the answer from their argument, Liu Cheng still tried to smooth things over, and then couldn't help asking, "Since we need to fight together, hasn't there been a joint command mechanism before? This should be the purpose of the Azur Lane alliance."

"Yes." Prince Eugen and Littorio smiled at each other and gave the same answer as hers, "It's just that the joint command did play a role in the beginning, but it soon fell apart."

"Because of what?"

"It's a very simple reason, I think you can guess it." Prince Eugen supported herself on the railing with her arms, her sleeves sliding down her skin to reveal a small section of her white arms. She did not answer directly, but began to narrate, "Three years ago, the Sirens entrenched in the Pacific launched a major counterattack and besieged the fleet led by the Sakura Empire's military advisor Amagi in the waters of the Marshall Islands. At this time, the main force of the Sakura Empire's fleet was led by Akagi and Mikasa on the way back from the expedition. The few ship girls in the Sakura Empire were too late to rush to support them, and the White Eagle Fleet that had agreed to fight together was nowhere to be seen. , Akagi sent 152 messages to the White Eagle flagship Enterprise in half a day, with words ranging from orders to pleas, almost giving up her dignity. But Enterprise has not given a clear answer, because she is also facing a problem. The scale of the Siren's counterattack this time is far beyond imagination. Not only has it besieged Amagi, but it has also detected a larger fleet approaching the White Eagle's homeland. If you save Amagi, the west coast of the White Eagle will turn into a living hell. If you go to rescue people, Amagi's fleet may not be able to hold on and be wiped out. Liu Cheng, if you were Enterprise, what would you choose?"

Liu Cheng was silent for a long time, and finally sighed and said: "I can't make a choice."

Just hearing those familiar yet unfamiliar names, a heavy feeling like a dark cloud covering a city weighed on Liu Cheng's heart. This was an unsolvable choice, he could not and was not worthy of making a choice, because the lives of people and ship girls were not on his shoulders, but on Enterprise's shoulders. In fact, Liu Cheng had guessed the final choice of this legendary ship girl, because she was Enterprise, the admirable legendary aircraft carrier Enterprise.

"I know you guessed it. That's right. Enterprise's final choice was to rescue people first and then save Amagi. Continuous combat and thousands of miles of support were difficult, but she almost did it. Amagi also used strategies and desperate battles to delay enough time, but war will eventually come at a price." Prince Eugen looked at the waves in the distance and said leisurely, "Amagi was seriously injured, Yorktown was seriously injured, and countless people were slightly injured. In the following three years, Sakura Empire and White Eagle did not have any military cooperation again."

“That’s the reason.”

Chapter 45: In theory, the Ship Girls also need a Lich King

"We, the shipgirls, are not saints. We know that protecting human civilization is also protecting our existence itself, but since we cannot be saints, some things can only be settled openly. In the case of joint operations, is the distribution of supplies fair? Is the combat information transparent? Who will carry out dangerous combat missions? Who will cover the retreat? More importantly, if it involves sacrificing the interests of a coastal country, how can we, who are supported by the people, agree to it?"

Littorio used a compassionate tone as if reciting a heroic epic, but then she changed the subject and said regretfully: "It's a pity that there are so many places in the world that need me, but there is only one Littorio."

Liu Cheng was originally in a very heavy mood, but after hearing what Littorio said, he suddenly felt relieved. In a sense, he was not humorous at all, and Littorio was the truly humorous one.

Prince Eugen turned his head and said to Littorio through Liu Cheng: "Since you also understand, why are you still opposing the joint command?"

"Because I don't trust the Iron Blood, Bismarck and Frederick the Great." Littorio said bluntly, "Even if we have to jointly command, the commander in charge can only be me or Veneto."

"Ah."

Prince Eugen smiled but did not argue. After all, if arguing was useful, they would not have failed to reach a consensus until now.

Prince Eugen stretched out his white index finger and waved it in front of the silent Liu Cheng, saying, "Why are you silent? Do you think we are unreasonable? So what?"

"You don't say anything?"

"Ms. Eugen, please stop joking now." Liu Cheng said in a serious tone, contrary to his usual attitude, "I feel a little heavy right now. After all, war and life are heavy for everyone. Unbridgeable differences are the misfortune of civilization."

Prince Eugen blinked his eyes and said, "In this case, you should agree to the joint command proposed by us Iron Blood. Only in this way can we avoid the tragedy that happened before."

Liu Cheng thought about it seriously and said, "I don't think I'm qualified to express my opinion."

"No, of course you do." Littorio was also very interested in this. She said, "You are from Donghuang, serving in our Sardinia, and have a connection with the Iron Blood. You are also the only human in this world who can communicate with us ship girls on an equal footing. You are neither biased nor biased. At present, it seems that no one is more qualified than you."

Prince Eugen's eyes sparkled: "I also want to hear the opinions of the bystanders."

Being watched by the two fleet leaders, Liu Cheng smiled bitterly and said, "What insights can I have? In theory, joint command can certainly be said to have all advantages and no disadvantages, but in fact, even when facing a great enemy that destroys civilization, humans have not been able to be completely united. If they want to unite as one, they either have common interests, or have lofty goals, or they are forced together by force. However, interests will change over time, and goals will fade due to difficulties. Power will not last forever, but will instead exacerbate internal rifts. Unless there is a ship girl or a force that can get the unconditional support of all the ship girls, it is quite unsolvable no matter how you think about it."

Liu Cheng paused for a moment, still feeling that it was inappropriate for him to make such a lofty statement as an outsider, so he added: "Of course this is just my personal opinion. In fact, I am still optimistic. As long as there is enough communication, no matter what kind of misunderstandings and differences, they can be resolved in the end, just like human civilization develops in a spiral, and it will always get better and better."

This is not just Liu Cheng's cliché, it is the truth. After so many years of fighting, the Siren have been driven to the deep sea. Above this are the battles fought by the ship girls and the hard work of countless working people. Not to say that the dawn of victory is just around the corner, but at least it is not the situation where previous civilizations were struggling to survive.

Littorio agreed with Liu Cheng's statement. She said confidently: "With me here, the world will certainly become a better place."

"That's hard to say." Prince Eugen stretched out his hand, as if he had grasped something in the air, and closed his five fingers. "Maybe it will get worse... Why are you looking at me like that? I'm just saying it casually, don't believe it."

Liu Cheng looked at the beautiful face of Prince Eugen. This unpredictable iron-blooded flower is also a leader and a warrior. Are some of her words really just spoken casually?

Even though he knew the next question was somewhat inappropriate, Liu Cheng couldn't help but ask, "You said it might get worse and worse. The example you gave before was from the Pacific battlefield. Did something similar happen in our Atlantic battlefield?"

"Of course." Littorio glanced at Prince Eugen and said, "I think the rumors between you and the royal family are not groundless."

"Who knows, rumors are made up by haters, spread by fools, accepted by fools..."

Prince Eugen denied it ambiguously, then pulled Liu Cheng's sleeve mysteriously and said, "I don't want to tell anyone about this. Put your ear close to me, and I will only tell you quietly."

"Don't try to sow discord in front of me. I'm telling you, as a soldier in the Sardinian Navy, I have no secrets in front of my superiors."

Having said that, and knowing that he would probably be fooled by Prince Eugen, Liu Cheng still put his ear closer because he really wanted to know more.

Prince Eugen leaned close to Liu Cheng's ear, and his moist lips exhaled a trace of hot air, blowing the hair on his ear: "Your mouth is so hard, but your body is very honest. I tell you, don't get involved in some things easily~ Otherwise... you will die-"

"Hehehe..."

Prince Eugen narrowed his beautiful eyes, looked at Liu Cheng rubbing his ears, and laughed happily.

Littorio shrugged helplessly and said, "You are still so naive that you believe such words."

"No." Liu Cheng said to Prince Eugen seriously, "Although it is different from what I want to know, I can feel that what you just said was sincere, Eugen. It seems that I may be involved in something bigger. Thank you for your advice."

Prince Eugen stopped laughing, but he still had a smile on his face that was hard to tell whether it was real or fake, but her heart was suddenly in chaos. In front of this man, she would always encounter accidents no matter how at ease she was. These accidents would always make her upset and excited. What a hateful person.

Liu Cheng said regretfully: "Your fake smile has turned into this again. Obviously, your genuine smile just now was more beautiful."

"You are really asking for too much." Prince Eugen narrowed his eyes and said unceremoniously, "Ron said you understand her, so you think you can understand me too?"

Liu Cheng looked shy, waved his hand modestly and said, "Not much, just a little bit."

"Oh, then come and see."

"Let me think..." Liu Cheng touched his chin pretentiously, then clapped his hands and said affirmatively, "You must hate the sun."

Prince Eugen didn't react for a moment, and then he heard Liu Cheng add.