Even in the world of Kancolle, I want to drive a robot!

"I don't want to experience that feeling anymore..." Tears slowly slid down from the corners of her eyes, and the bright scarlet eyeshadow became blurred. Akagi covered her chest with her hands and revealed a very sad expression.

At this time, the Red Fox was no longer the proud First Fleet Captain, nor was she overbearing. She was just a sad and beautiful wife, making Xia Bai's heart feel as if it was being tightly grasped.

Without any hesitation, he said gently: "I promise Akagi that I will take you with me wherever I go in the future."

"You are all in Sakura City now, right? Wait for me, I will be back soon."

Xia Bai did have a lot of things to do in Takors, and as Befa said, he couldn't just leave, but Akagi's tears broke down his psychological defenses. If he couldn't accompany Akagi now, what kind of commander would he be?

Anyway, the mecha is fast, and as for those messy meetings and invitations, he can leave them for when he returns from Sakura Empire.

Without saying much, after Akagi nodded with slight joy, Xia Bai hung up the video call and hurriedly ran towards the residential area.

After the light screen disappeared, the sadness on Akagi's face disappeared. After wiping away her tears and reapplying her eye shadow, she raised her eyebrows at Shokaku who was standing beside her.

"You lose. I said it would only take three sentences to get my dear back. Now is the perfect three sentences."

Akagi's victorious speech did not disappoint Shokaku. She covered her cherry lips with her wide crane sleeves and said sarcastically, "That's not true. Akagi-senpai even used the 'tears' trick. With the commander's personality, he will definitely come back."

"Senior is worthy of being a senior. You have an accurate grasp of human nature. It seems that the commander will give you the ring when he comes back this time... hehe~"

"Shut up!"

Akagi got angry when the ring of oath was mentioned, and immediately interrupted Shokaku, crossed his arms and said coldly: "Anyway, I won. This time, my dear, you can control all the time when you come back."

"But I am your senior, so you are allowed to masturbate by hugging his pillow. Be grateful."

He clenched his fists slightly. Although he was very angry, he said calmly, "I accept the loss, but can you please satisfy the commander? Don't ask me for help later."

"These have nothing to do with you... Even if it doesn't work, I will find that maid. If that doesn't work, I can find someone else. Anyway, Shokaku, just solve it yourself."

"Now I'm going to start decorating my love nest. Could you please step out, or do you want me to clean up the pests myself?"

"..."

Suppressed by Akagi's strong speech, Shokaku wanted to say something but was always in the wrong and could not say anything. He lowered his eyes and walked out of the room dejectedly.

Although she was very unwilling, she had lost. According to the bet between her and Akagi, when Xia Bai returned this time, all his time would be at the disposal of the other party.

Seeing Shokaku's shaky appearance, Akagi's smile became even more intense and he laughed out loud, his laughter sounding very happy.

She had long wanted to find fault with Shokaku. This guy often wore the Ring of Promise and dangled in front of her eyes, and said some annoying words from time to time, which made her want to let Shokaku chop off her ring finger.

But every time Akagi wanted to find trouble with Shokaku, she would be stopped by Xia Bai. Now that she finally found an opportunity with a legitimate reason, instead of targeting Shokaku, she would write the story of Akagi in reverse order.

Of course, Shokaku wouldn't just give up like that. If she won, that would be fine, but if she lost, she had no intention of fulfilling the bet from the beginning. This was just a bet between the two of them, so it wouldn't be so easy for others to accept it.

You know, there are quite a few ship girls in the Sakura Empire, and every one of them wants to see Xia Bai. Do you have all the time at your disposal? Ha, wishful thinking, daydreaming.

With a playful smile on his lips, Shokaku left the house and immediately sent a group message to everyone in Sakura Empire about Xia Bai's return. He also explained the matter in detail to Nagato and Amagi.

I thought everything would be fine if I won... Hehe, Akagi-senpai, I am not such a naive woman. Let's just wait and see.

Chapter 18 Sneaking away

“Hoohoo…Kaohsiung, Kaohsiung!”

Xia Bai was lucky enough. As soon as he ran into the dormitory area, he saw Kaohsiung walking alone on the street.

When Kaohsiung heard his commander's call, he thought he had misheard at first, but when he saw Xia Bai, his face immediately brightened up, but for some reason he quickly turned depressed.

She trotted all the way to Xia Bai and said with a forced smile, "Commander, is it okay for you to run around like this right after waking up instead of resting in bed?"

"Befa asked me to come out and stretch my body... Let's not talk about this for now, let's go back to Sakura Empire." Grasping Kaohsiung's shoulders with both hands, Xia Bai looked very anxious, and he did not wipe the sweat off his face.

Seeing this, Kaohsiung took out a handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the sweat off his forehead carefully, and asked gently, "Are you going back now... I heard from Miss Belfast that the commander has many important meetings to attend in Takors."

"Well, I miss everyone in Sakura Empire. If Kaohsiung and I can work together to deploy the mecha, we can go back today and come back tomorrow."

Holding Kaohsiung's hand, Xia Bai did not continue to explain to her. He forcibly dragged her to the beach and deployed the RX-02. Before the two of them entered the cockpit, Yan Zhan, who was far away, ran over with his short legs, waving his hands.

"Wait...haha...Xia Bai, wait for me!"

Although she has a petite body and short legs, War-Yan's speed is not to be underestimated. In the blink of an eye, she ran in front of the two of them, with a hearty smile on her red little face.

"Where are you going? Xia Bai, your body still needs rest."

Scratching his head, Xia Bai explained, "I want to go back to Sakura City... I won't be away for too long. I'll be back early tomorrow morning."

"Have you told Befa and the others? It's not nice to leave without saying goodbye."

"Not yet. I'm going to tell you on the way. I guess I can't leave now..." Xia Bai quickly asked when he found out that Yan Zhan's face suddenly became sinister, "You're not going to tell on me, are you?"

"Hehehe, why would I tell on you? What's the relationship between us?"

Waving his hands, War-weary put his hands on his hips and looked at RX-02, and said tentatively: "I just want to ask if you can take me with you. I haven't driven a mecha for a long time."

As an avid mecha fan, Xia Bai's any move could not escape Yan Zhan's eyes. She could see the patterns on RX-02's body clearly from a long distance, so there was no way he could hide it from her if he wanted to sneak away.

As soon as they met, he asked all kinds of questions, just looking for a topic to get Xia Bai to include him.

Sighing, Xia Bai said helplessly: "You can go if you want... but you can only drive after you reach Sakura Empire."

He really didn't know what to say about his good friend. The old royal lady had a very good reputation in Azur Lane. She was strong, brave, resourceful, experienced, and approachable... If they fought together, most people would choose War-weary instead of the monarch.

But in Xia Bai's opinion, Yanzhan is a drama queen who is often addicted to acting. She loves mechas so much that she will fall into inexplicable self-admiration when sitting in the cockpit. She is so thick-skinned that she has completely lost the reserve that an old lady should have.

Although he felt helpless about this, what else could he do? After all, Yan Zhan was Xia Bai's best friend. As long as Yan Zhan asked, he would agree to many things.

"Great! Then let's get going quickly. I haven't been to Sakura for a long time. It's a good opportunity to soak in the special hot springs there."

After getting consent, Yan Zhan was even more excited than Xia Bai, and quickly pulled the two of them by the hand and entered the cockpit.

After a while, as the sound of machinery rang out, the fiery red Lost Blade soared into the sky, leaving a trail of afterimages in the air, and flew towards the Mingyang area at a rapid speed.

"It seemed like Dafeng was calling us just now, Xia Bai, didn't you hear it?"

"I was just establishing a link with Kaohsiung and didn't notice those... But based on Dafeng's elusiveness, that could be her." Thinking of Dafeng's pitiful appearance as she secretly wiped away tears because she didn't catch up, Xia Bai's heart was filled with guilt.

"Hmm... let's not talk about that. Kaohsiung, your mecha is actually a Red Dragon Heretic, which fits your sword-wielding personality very well~"

Noticing the guilt on Xia Bai's face, Yan Zhan quickly changed the topic to Gundam.

Hearing this, Kaohsiung lowered his head, and the joints of his hands holding the thrust rod turned pale. "I don't know these things like Miss War-weary. I don't know anything about 'Mecha' or 'Gundam'."

"I don't know how to make progress, I don't try to understand, I don't seek change... It's the same as being a guard. I clearly said that my sword would only be swung for the commander, but in the end I didn't accompany the commander, nor did I protect him well..."

"Kaohsiung!"

The angry voice made Kaohsiung tremble all over.

Looking forward, Xia Bai said seriously: "You are not my bodyguard, but my wife. You don't need to blame yourself for these things. It is enough that I am still alive. You have not made any mistakes. Do you understand?"

“But…”

"No buts. I now order you to lean on my arms and concentrate on driving the Heretic Blade!"

"Yes."

After being severely reprimanded by Xia Bai, Kaohsiung didn't think any more. He leaned against Xia Bai's chest and concentrated on driving his own mecha.

Xia Bai also knew that Kaohsiung's self-blame would not disappear because of a few words from him. She just stopped thinking about it because of his orders. When she was alone, she would still fall into guilt.

In order to solve Kaohsiung's psychological problems, he decided to talk to Atago after arriving in Sakura City. After all, that guy had the most evil ideas and was the kind of person who only wanted to create chaos in the world. It would be best for her to come up with a solution.

Ever since Kaohsiung was scolded by Xia Bai, the cockpit fell into an eerie silence. After a while, War-weary, who couldn't stand this atmosphere anymore, took the initiative to speak to liven up the atmosphere.

"Xia Bai, was it the Steel Basta that you deployed in the Grand Battle? How did you defeat Qian Gong after entering the rift? And how did you come back in the end?"

I can only say that all the questions asked by Yan Zhan, except the first one, were very insightful, and were also what Kaohsiung was concerned about. According to what other people said after she fell into a coma, Xia Bai was really dead at that time, so she felt so guilty for not protecting Xia Bai well.

Now that someone had asked the question, she silently pricked up her hidden dog ears.

There was nothing to hide about these things. In the end, all of them would be submitted to Ajax and RX-03 through combat reports anyway, so Xia Bai told them all the answers.

Chapter 19 A Special Welcome Ceremony

"Eh!?"

"In the end, Xia Bai, you still lost to Qian Gong? That's Gang Basta."

Her eyes widened and her war-weary little face was filled with disbelief. According to her understanding, the Steel Basta, which was hailed as the ultimate weapon, should not lose to something like Qian Gong.

"I repeat, that's the Terminal King, not the Gunbastard. Don't force a robot to look like a similar one, Warspite."

"Also, I lost, not the Terminal King. If I could hold on for a few more seconds, Humility would have been destroyed."

In response to Xia Bai's correction, Yan Zhan curled his lips and muttered softly: "That was originally a Steel Bastard... I don't know if our royal family can have such a powerful super robot."

"What are you whispering about?"

Seeing Xia Bai turning his head to look at him with a puzzled look, Yan Zhan quickly shook his head and said, "No, I just want to ask you, after arriving in Sakura Empire, can you let me drive the Gamba...Terminal King for a while?"

"No."

The rebuff made Yan Zhan feel a little disappointed. She lowered her head and said silently, "Is it impossible with the relationship between us..."

“With great power comes risks and certain limits.”

Looking at the blue sky outside the cockpit, Xia Bai said calmly: "This is not stingy, but in order for the Terminal King to descend, certain conditions must be met and one of the four seals must be lifted."

"Remove the seal..." After hearing Xia Bai's words, Yan Zhan seemed to have thought of something and asked quickly, "Is it the one that saves the world?"

"That's right. The Terminal King has his own consciousness. He will only come when you want to save the world, save humanity, or fight against foreign enemies. Of course, you can force him to come if you sacrifice your own life."

"However, the King of the Terminal also introduced me to a powerful Mecha God, but now there are no other spiritual aggregates that can communicate with him."

The powerful mecha gods and other spiritual gatherings...it feels like a good opportunity.

After thinking for a while, the old lady understood the so-called communication. After all, the whole process was just to ask for other ship girls. This was exactly what Elizabeth wanted.

Thinking of this, War-weary scratched his face thoughtfully, and said happily: "So now, Xia Bai, you need the spirit aggregate of the ship girl to communicate with the mecha god?"

"In fact, Her Majesty happens to have..."

"Bang, bang, bang—"

The sudden sound of artillery fire interrupted Yan Zhan. As the fuselage swayed, Kaohsiung and Xia Bai instantly took a posture to respond to the enemy.

"We have entered the territorial waters of the Sakura Empire and there are Sirens... Did Nagato and the others fail in their cleanup plan?" Staring at the radar closely, a cruel smile appeared on Xia Bai's face.

They had clearly spotted the Stray Blade, why not just pretend they didn't see it and run away? Why did they have to open fire and attack? It was not Xia Bai's fault for not showing mercy to Observer Zero, they were asking for death.

After quickly lifting the armament restrictions, Xia Bai and Kaohsiung looked at each other, and controlled the Lost Blade to rush down from the clouds, sticking to the sea surface to search for the Siren who dared to fire at them.

However, the results of the radar scan left the two of them dumbfounded. There were no so-called sirens or enemies on the panel, only a huge fleet with friendly identification marks.

From a distance, you can see the chief flagship standing on the deck with a stern face, and Amagi holding a red umbrella beside him.

Seeing the flaming red Lost Blade arrive above the fleet in the blink of an eye and three figures jump out from it, Nagato finally couldn't contain his excitement and hurriedly trotted towards the three people.

"I have never greeted anyone before, so I fired a shot instead. Commander, are you satisfied... Ugh!"

Before Nagato could finish speaking, Xia Bai hugged her, rubbed her slightly chubby face hard, and then held her and spun around.

Xia Bai didn't stop until the flagship was about to faint. He touched her little head and said, "Nagato, you are so cute. I missed you so much."

Looking at the smiling faces of the ship girls around him, Nagato shrank back with a blushing face and said in an inaudible voice: "I, I miss the commander too..."

Seeing Nagato so shy, Xia Bai couldn't help it anymore, and regardless of other people's gazes, he kissed Nagato's little face hard.

It is soft yet elastic, and tastes like jelly in the mouth. Combined with Nagato's slightly baby fat, it is simply perfect. If there weren't so many people present, Xia Bai would definitely have given it a few more kisses.

"Hahaha..."

Laughing loudly, Xia Bai put Nagato down and ran to Tiancheng again like crazy.

The jade feet in wooden clogs moved slightly forward, Tiancheng shook his head with a smile on his face: "Master, others are still watching..."

Her voice was soft and ethereal, like the most beautiful lark singing in the world. There was longing in her words, and if you looked carefully you could also hear a hint of embarrassment in her words.

Reaching out and holding Tiancheng's slender waist, Xia Bai said without letting anyone refuse: "Tiancheng, do you think you can escape? The flagship of the Sakura Empire has gladly accepted it."

This toughness made Tiancheng not know how to refuse. After hesitating for a moment, Tiancheng's beautiful eyes flickered, and she stood on tiptoes and kissed Xia Bai on the face.

The soft touch of a dragonfly touching the water was fleeting. Covering half of her face with her wide sleeves, the frail beauty looked very shy: "My Lord Commander, is this okay..."

Obviously, it was too embarrassing for Tiancheng to be picked up and spun around in front of everyone, so she took the initiative to give Xia Bai a kiss, hoping that Xia Bai would let her go.

But how could Xia Bai let go of such a charming Tiancheng so easily? He immediately took her into his arms, picked her up gently, slowly spun her around, and then pecked Tiancheng on the forehead.

"That's right. Tiancheng's way of expressing his longing is too perfunctory."

Carefully putting down Amagi, Xia Bai ran to Shokaku who had been waiting for a long time.

Although actions like hugging and kissing were a bit extreme, Xia Bai knew in his heart which line should not be crossed.

But it was different with Xianghe. She was his wife who had shared the same bed with him for so long. Xia Bai didn't need to care about the difference between men and women and kissed her lips directly.