The Disqualified Commander of the Abandoned Shipgirl

"Report, the target has escaped and we have suffered heavy losses."

"Are you trash? No, even if you are trash, with so many of you, even a mosquito should be blown to ashes, right?!"

Men simply couldn't understand it.

This went against common sense and cognition, causing his sanity to collapse slightly.

"Chase them! Chase them! Which direction did they escape to?!"

"Report, southeast direction."

"Report, pursuit failed, we can't continue to lock on to the target."

"What did you say?!"

The man was about to start cursing when he received a communication from other commanders.

"……it's me."

He answered the call and suppressed his rage.

"We lost track of them. They moved very fast and were very experienced. We were completely unable to stop them."

"..."

After hanging up the call, several other commanders who were working together called one after another.

All of them are messages about failed interception.

Originally, they had dispatched a lot of people to capture Rafi tonight.

Therefore, even if Lafite escaped the shrinking encirclement, he would run into another larger encirclement.

In short, it is impossible to escape.

All exits were basically blocked by the support troops that arrived one after another.

But even so, the other party still left.

And it was extremely clean and neat, as if the action was not hindered at all.

The man rubbed his temples. The continuous stream of bad news made him feel dizzy.

He turned his attention to the map.

On this real-time updated, synchronized tactical map, the original five outer defense lines have all been breached.

Therefore, they were marked out one after another by the commander in charge of that line of defense.

As for those further outside, they are the students of the academy.

If even their regular operations department couldn't stop them, it would be even more impossible to stop these students.

Sure enough, after breaking through the last line of defense of the regular army, the red dot disappeared directly on the map.

Completely gone.

"It's over..."

The man put his hands on the table.

The operation that should not have failed actually failed.

Now he could only pray that the value of the ship girl was not high and that the laboratory would not hold him accountable.

Otherwise, he, the commander-in-chief, would not be able to escape.

……

After a huge circle, Glasgow returned to the doorstep of that temporary home.

"Welcome back."

Lin Shen smiled and stood at the door to greet him.

In fact, the house he rented was inside the encirclement.

I'm afraid the commander-in-chief of this operation would never have imagined that after escaping, Glasgow would go around and return to the encirclement on his own initiative.

But when he came back, no one saw him.

"……I'm back."

After hearing Lin Shen's words, Glasgow was stunned for a moment, then responded softly.

Then he carried Rafi into the room.

"Alas, my place is too simple, and I don't have any repair room or anything like that. I can only make do with it and put it in the bedroom for now."

"it is good."

Glasgow put Rafi, who once again had a lot of wounds on his body, on the bed.

After looking at Lin Shen, Glasgow asked, "Commander, I need to clean up the marks on Lafite's body. Do you want to step aside?"

"Huh? Um... I'll wait for you in the living room."

Lin Shen walked out of the room with a strange look on his face.

I don’t know why Glasgow had to ask himself this question deliberately.

it's wired……

But soon after, Lin Shen stopped worrying about this matter.

He looked excitedly at the barrels of oil that Glasgow had casually thrown out.

This trip tonight directly solved the problem of his empty wallet!

Glasgow had not taken any action before, but was just following quietly behind, touching the wreckage of those ship girls.

Then take out the usable ship equipment and the oil in the ship equipment space that can be opened at will.

Should we say that they are worthy of being the ship girls of the Operations Department? Almost everyone carries several barrels of oil, so there is no need to worry about the problem of a protracted war.

Lin Shen asked Glasgow to get back as many as possible.

Until the ship's space can no longer be filled.

He took one of the barrels of oil in his hand. After several generations of improvement, this stuff has completely become a drink for the ship girls.

It is only a few sizes thicker than an ordinary beverage bottle.

If he just sold a few barrels, Lin Shen would immediately become rich.

Unfortunately, it cannot be sold through formal channels.

The same goes for ship equipment.

In the end, I still had to go to Bingye.

"All right."

Glasgow walked out of the bedroom, interrupting Lin Shen's thoughts.

"Commander, if we do this, will we really not be exposed?"

"Don't worry, your appearance was not photographed, and the main gun has been temporarily replaced. There will be absolutely no problem."

“I wish it were that easy.”

Glasgow is still a little worried, but it is much better than when he was preparing for action.

In fact, she was not very confident of rescuing Rafi.

But with Lin Shen's command and the amplification of the soul contract, the whole process was unexpectedly... simple.

It's completely different from when she was fighting alone.

The armor of the enemy ship girl was as fragile as paper in front of her main gun.

This isn't an increase at all, this is simply cheating.

"Commander, Rafi, how are you going to deal with this?"

"How to deal with what?"

"You saved her, so offering your loyalty in return wouldn't be an unacceptable condition, right?"

Lin Shen felt that Glasgow at this moment was a bit like a little devil that was bewitching him.

He waved his hand and said, "No, I will ask her later. If she still doesn't want to, I will find a chance to send her out of Hanning. But except for the stable area, there is no safe place outside."

Seeing that Lin Shen had no intention of doing so, Glasgow sighed softly.

"I am making a serious proposal. As you said, even if we leave the Stable Zone, the situation will not get better. Therefore, signing a contract with you is a win-win result for both Lafite and you."

16. Pick one of the two options

"Maybe, but I don't want an objective win-win situation. In my opinion, 'voluntary' is the most important thing. Without this as a basis, even if you join me temporarily, you will leave one day in the future."

"Commander... You're not going to delete the mandatory binding clauses every time you sign a contract with a ship girl, are you?"

"That's right. Whether it's you, Glasgow, or the shipgirls who may join me in the future, each of you has the right to leave at any time."

“…Why do you have to go to this extent…?”

"Kanmusume is no one's property." Lin Shen looked at Glasgow's slightly bewildered expression and said seriously, "In my opinion, you who have a 'heart' should be real people. You are the spirits of the sea, you should have free will, and you don't have to depend on anyone."

After saying this, Lin Shen gave a faint smile as if to summarize: "Shipgirls, you should sail freely on the sea. Although we have lost the sea a long time ago, we will take it back sooner or later."

"...Commander, you are indeed an extreme idealist." Glasgow said with a subtle expression, "And you are also a fool."

"Um...why do you say that?"

"Even the shipgirls may betray you. If everyone has the right to leave freely, what will you do if you become a lonesome person again in the future, Commander?"

"Then just continue to be alone." Lin Shen said nonchalantly.

"...Ha." Now Glasgow was in a state of confusion as to whether it was a good thing or a bad thing for Lin Shen to keep this thought.

In the final analysis, whether it is the relationship between companions or comrades, trust is a very important link for commanders and ship girls. If it cannot be guaranteed, then the stable combat system will slip or even collapse.

This is why the current soul contract, as well as research in other areas, are all directed towards completely binding the ship girl to the commander.

If even the most basic trust cannot be guaranteed, then large-scale combat is out of the question.

But to be honest, the current relationship between the commander and the ship girl is a little too cruel for the ship girl.

Glasgow doesn't know how to solve such a difficult problem.

For her, who has experienced the dark side of this world firsthand, it is difficult to make her trust someone again.

Lin Shen is just an exception.

Coincidently.

Of course, for Lin Shen, the appearance of Glasgow was actually a coincidence.

This is probably what is called fate.

"Trust can only be responded to with equal trust." Glasgow said, "Commander, if a ship girl who is harmful to you appears in the future, I will definitely not show mercy. If you want to delete that clause in the soul contract, then even if the soul contract is signed, I will only treat you as a companion with an equal contract."

As for companions who cannot be fully trusted, one will at least remain somewhat vigilant.

Of course, a certain level of trust needs to be established between ship girls.

This is actually a very troublesome matter, and that is why the situation has evolved into what it is today.

Today's situation has further intensified mutual suspicion and vigilance.

If it had not been defined as a special combat weapon from the moment the first ship was born.

Then none of this would exist.

Unfortunately, this is just a distant fantasy.

Looking at Glasgow with a serious expression on his face, Lin Shen couldn't help but reach out and touch the latter's head.

The soft hair slid through Lin Shen's fingers, feeling very good.

"commander……?"

"Glasgow, you don't know that for me, whether it's trust, doubt, or even murderous intent, it's better than being as cold as a machine."

"Commander, although it may sound strange to say this, you'd better not be completely defenseless against all the ship girls—"