Revisiting Azur Lane

Zhou He was instantly silenced upon seeing this. He raised his hand to signal his surrender and backed away with a dry laugh, skipping the topic directly: "Since this technology has a foundation, then Akashi, you should prioritize the research and development of 'damage control'. Mass production of warships is still a long way off for us, so just take your time."

"Hmm, it looks like the Commander's head doesn't need repairing yet, meow."

Only then did Akashi put the wrench back with satisfaction, but what he said made Zhou He feel an inexplicable pain on the back of his head. He could only smile and change the topic of research. He said that he would give Akashi fried dried fish as snacks in a few days, and he successfully bribed Akashi again.

After learning about the research and development progress, Zhou He left the production workshop shortly afterwards. He couldn't help muttering in his heart that it was no wonder that the Purifier delivered the Builder's body so easily - even if he knew that the new material could break through the technical limitations, but didn't know the production and synthesis methods of the new material, it was equivalent to not knowing anything.

The next time he meets Purification Qin, he will have to let his family give her a good beating.

……

As time passed, the exploring fleet gradually moved away from the port area.

"The Siren base is just ahead, everyone be on high alert."

The exploration in the east and north was unimpeded, but the two teams exploring in the south had to slow down. The flagships Shokaku and Yorktown informed their team members that the aircraft carriers were running too slowly. The vanguard destroyers such as Yukikaze, Yudachi, and Bush were almost reaching the boundary between area three and area four. The aircraft carriers and battleships in the back row had just barely entered area three. Aircraft carrier No. 01 was even slower than them and was still in the middle of area two. As a reserve rear guard member, it was very unqualified.

"Go! Damn Sirens, come over here quickly."

Shokaku was notifying his teammates to be on alert, while Zuikaku next to him was having a seizure, his eyes were sparkling, his right fist was clenched, and he looked impatient.

"The area around the Siren base is equivalent to the enemy's base camp. If you don't want to go out and be chased back home, just avoid it."

There were only a few conspicuous figures on the vast sea. Even if Tosa didn't want to look at Zuikaku, he still saw her, so he kindly reminded her through the team voice.

"..."

Zuikaku squeezed his right hand, and after careful consideration, he found that what Tosa said made sense, so he quietly reminded Shokaku that if they went in a straight line from the port area, each area would be 60 nautical miles, but starting from the third area, the overall area of ​​each area was increasing. If they headed south to the east, they could maintain a safe distance of more than nautical miles from the Siren Base in the West Fourth Area.

"Let's do this. I'll be in charge of keeping an eye on the Sirens, and Zuikaku, you'll use the carrier-based aircraft to explore the way ahead, preferably directly to the vicinity of the archipelago."

Shokaku was very gentle in person, but calm outside. She decisively chose to take a detour and passed the message to Avatar—

"detour?"

After hearing the order to avoid fighting from Shentong, Yudachi and others who also wanted to fight the Sirens head-on were not very satisfied. Instead, Yukikaze directly changed the course, and others followed suit, heading from due south to southeast.

Soon after, under the aerial reconnaissance cover of Zuikaku carrier-based aircraft, the vanguard entered the South Fourth District, opening up a brand new area for Zhou He.

"Be careful to slow down and avoid hidden reefs and Siren submarines."

Shokaku kept conveying instructions from the rear. The reconnaissance planes in the sky flew away from the fog between the South Fourth District and the Siren Base and discovered the Siren fleet that was gathering. From afar, there was a black and red hue at the end of the sea. Further away were two Siren bases that had undergone large-scale renovations. White and black buildings were intertwined on the islands, and water platforms extended around the islands like a spider web. The scale of the Siren bases was so large that one could see one or two of them even at a distance of dozens of nautical miles.

"The number of Siren's remaining fleet is still terrifying. There are at least sixty mass-produced ships alone, and among them are executor teams that cannot be accurately observed."

Shokaku informed the others of the number to prevent them from provoking the Sirens, but it was of no use. Soon after he finished speaking, the Siren's carrier-based aircraft took off and shot down her reconnaissance plane. Subsequent reconnaissance planes caught up and discovered that the Siren fleet had separated part of its fleet and was moving towards them.

“It’s really troublesome.”

Shokaku frowned slightly. They all gave way, but Siren was still trying to push his luck.

"Ms. Shokaku, the commander has given me orders."

Yorktown's sudden discovery interrupted Shokaku's thoughts. The people around him were also alerted, slowed down and listened attentively. Yorktown did as they wished: "The commander said that Yukikaze and Nagashima should independently explore the south from the sea and air, and the others should prepare to meet the attack."

"Humph! As expected, we still have to fight!"

Zuikaku immediately became interested and raised his arms towards Shokaku and Yorktown. "I'll lead the charge, Shokaku-sister. Yorktown, follow behind me and set up a defensive line. Watch me pierce through their fleet in one breath!"

"Got it. Zuikaku, let's step back and create some distance. Jinpo..."

Shokaku did not refute, but informed the Avatar to let their team deal with the small number of Siren troops approaching from the east first, and then move over to form a defensive formation to prepare for the attack.

From the sky, it can be seen that the team that was originally advancing in a line began to split. The members of the aircraft carrier retreated, Kaga and Tosa took a position near the direction where the Sirens came from, the vanguard Sakura Empire team moved eastward to deal with the Sirens, the White Eagle Vanguard turned back to reunite with the Kaga sisters, and Yukikaze continued to advance southward.

At the moment when Zuikaku and his two companions collided with the Siren's fleet in the sky, a figure quietly descended in the second port area located between the two warring parties.

"If I build it right here, would that count as a surprise attack?"

Zhou He, who had descended in a projection state, glanced at the ruins in front of him, listening to the sound of the fleet passing overhead. His scattered mind gradually gathered, and he walked among the ruins seemingly casually, checking the Siren's action path on the attack map while thinking:

"Siren gathered her fleet to guard against my attack. Based on previous combat experience, observers should know that these fleets cannot defeat the combined fleet of the Sakura Empire and the White Eagles. So she is most likely planning to abandon this part of the fleet to contain our team, thereby slowing down our advance to the south, or to use them as abandoned pawns to reduce the physical strength of Yudachi and the others, making them feel tired, and then continue to send troops to harass them while they are resting, so as to force them to return to the port."

It is obvious that the archipelago in the south has most likely become one of the Siren's strongholds, and it will not be a combat base. It is most likely a mirror sea, or a somewhat important mirror sea.

"That's interesting."

Zhou He switched the perspective and watched Xuefeng continue to run southward, constantly lighting up the black fog, and couldn't help licking his lips.

He also destroyed several mirror seas, but what happened inside was inexplicable and he could not guess the purpose of opening those mirror seas. But this time was different. Could he finally see a mirror sea that was conducting serious experiments?

Chapter 151 Messy

Zhou He was pondering there, and the three-person team of observer, purifier and tester in the Siren base were also pondering - through the "collaboration" behavior of the purifiers, they also knew that the people in this singularity did not have much information about the outside world.

But it would be fine if this group of people ran eastward, but why were they running northward and southward in front of them?

Aren’t you afraid of them?

"There are rats in the D2 (north) area that took advantage of the Omen riot and sneaked in. We can't mobilize too many fleets, but it's enough to deter those people. What should we do here? Who will go?"

In the spacious conference room, the observer's eyes moved between the tester and the purifier, but both of them ignored her with serious faces, so she fixed her eyes directly on the purifier: "Purifier, can you go play with them?"

“I only play in advantageous positions.”

Purification refused seriously. What a joke! She had just escaped the day before yesterday, and they asked her to go again today? This time she had no gifts to bribe that unknown human, and giving her so few people, wasn't it obvious that they were asking her to go out and deliver the gifts?

"I can't go. If I go, the combat power of this port will be extremely empty."

The tester didn't look so gloomy today. She held her forehead with one hand and said, "Observer, you have never fought against those singularity ship girls. Maybe you can catch them off guard."

"I'm not good at fighting."

The observer was calm and did not show any emotion because of the two people's rejection. She just stretched out her hand and swiped the real-time video projection in the air with a smile on her face: "After you came into contact with this singularity, your emotional functions have improved a lot. Well, Purifier, you go and extract the core data from here."

"so troublesome."

Purification looked at the projection of a multi-party battle around a black tower and curled his lips: "This mirror sea has been restarted countless times, but it can only do this much. The natural calculation system still has limitations after all, and the deduction of the future is full of loopholes."

"Haha, as long as the experiment continues, there will eventually be a future direction that is suitable for us to move forward."

The Observer did not refute the Purifier's complaint, but instead tried to smooth things over with a smile.

Currently, their control over this world has reached its limit. The confrontation with the board of directors and the ominous omen has caused the arbitration agency to operate in overload. Now, due to the continuous emergence of undeduced "singularities" inside various "world-class" mirror seas - they can no longer turn back, and can only "contain", "defeat" and "pacify" these singularities as much as possible to buy more time for those above.

"I think... it's okay. I'll go over there. Remember to contact the builder and transfer the highest authority to me."

Purification's eyes flashed as she thought of her experiences over the past two days: the singularity ship girls nearby knew of their existence, but were not afraid of them or hated them. They simply viewed them as enemies, and behind them there were humans who were suspected to be at the same level as their creators.

She believes that this singularity is completely different from the previous singularities and is not inferior to them in terms of potential. If it can remain active, it will bring countless possibilities to this solidified world in the future.

However, pinning one's hopes for the future on singularities did not accord with her thinking and values, so she stood up and disappeared from the conference room without finishing her words.

"After returning a few days ago, the Purifiers' behavior began to become strange."

After the purifier left, the tester raised his head and told the problem he found, but the observer on the other side just replied calmly: "Our host has a strong learning ability. After collecting unknown intelligence, it will analyze and make adjustments. The current actions of the purifier are the result of optimization for this singularity."

"hope so."

The tester agreed with this statement, but the smile on the face of the observer opposite was very mysterious.

……

"The Purifiers have come out of the base, and it looks like they are heading to the southern islands."

Zhou He sat casually on the collapsed stone, observing the enemy situation and noticed the Purifier leaving the Siren base to the west. Unfortunately, all the reconnaissance planes heading towards the Siren base were shot down, and the Purifier quickly entered the foggy area and disappeared.

However, just observing her actions is enough to draw many conclusions: for example, it is confirmed that there is a mirror sea in the southern archipelago. Another point is that the observers are so anxious to go to this mirror sea, which shows that the things in it are very serious and it is a testing ground worth recovering data.

"I really want to just rush in and see what's inside."

Zhou He marveled at it, but it was not possible. The Southern Islands were too far away from his port. The fundamental reason why his own ship girls could fight back and forth with the Sirens was that the port was a safe area that was enough for their people to get enough rest. Being too aggressive would be equivalent to giving up their own advantages, no matter how curious they were.

While he was thinking, the fleets of Zuikaku, Shokaku, and Yorktown had already collided with the carrier-based fleet of Siren. Neither side had the firepower of the naval fleet, and it was a pure technical battle.

That being said, there are also people who have both technical skills and firepower. Just as Zuikaku said, her fighter group with three people standing in the center position, like a sharp knife stabbing directly into the Siren black and red group, tearing a hole on the spot, and rushing through it with the subsequent two-person group.

The reason why Zuikaku is so ferocious is that her aircraft data is extremely high. When the planes of both sides opened fire on each other, Zuikaku's carrier-based aircraft was fully loaded with bullets and acted like nothing happened, while the Siren carrier-based aircraft facing her had its wings or other parts damaged, and fell in large numbers like birds with broken wings. It was extremely spectacular!

"Tsk, what a bunch of cowards."

Zuikaku, who had completed the charge, looked depressed at this moment, because she suddenly discovered that there were no aircraft carriers in the Siren fleet approaching them. All the Siren aircraft carriers that were competing with them for air supremacy were near the Siren base. The three of them could only control so many planes, so they could not get close even if they seized air supremacy!

At this moment, she probably understood how the Sirens felt when they besieged them: they knew the enemy was nearby, but had no way to lock on to it, and they would even be attacked by an enemy whose real body they didn't know was.

It's simply cheating!

"That's enough."

Shokaku consoled them, saying that the Siren had more aircraft carriers than them, and that it was already impressive that they could fight on equal terms or even have a slight advantage over them: "What we should do now is to deal with this part of the Siren fleet that is approaching and further reduce the Siren's manpower."

"understand!"

Although he was unhappy, Zuikaku still knew what he should do. He continued to launch new planes supplied by Zhou He, and took Shokaku and Yorktown to adjust the area of ​​the air battle with the Sirens, so that everyone on the sea could see the beautiful sky during the battle.

——On the sea surface, the mixed fleet of the Sirens gathered together, numbering about 40 ships, including five battleships, ten heavy cruisers, several destroyers and light cruisers, and five submarines hidden under the sea.

On the other hand, the Zhou He family, including the Tosa sisters, had only thirteen people. Among them, the destroyers such as Yudachi of the Sakura Empire had just dealt with the scattered Sirens approaching nearby and began to converge towards the battlefield.

"Huh, submarine? I see."

On the sea, Yuli, with eyes as sharp as a hound, was approaching the battlefield. On the way, she suddenly received an order from Zhou He. Her face instantly became silly. It was obviously just a unilateral order from Zhou He, but he made her ask and answer questions to herself.

Yuudachi and his group were originally about 1 nautical miles away from the Siren Base. It would take 2 to hours to travel one way, but with the two-way travel, the time was greatly shortened. Just as Zhou He gave precise orders to his own ship girls, he heard the sound of artillery fire that shook the world in the distance.

Judging from the location where the sound came from, it can be confirmed that it was the masterpiece of Tosa and Kaga.

"?"

Zhou He had a question mark over his head: Shokaku and his men had all been shot down by the Siren's reconnaissance planes. Logically, they had no idea of ​​the locations of the two battleships. Shouldn't they hide themselves now and wait until the Siren's fleet got close enough before suddenly attacking the enemies in the middle and back rows?

"Wait, maybe my idea is too idealistic. Since there will be no one to interfere in the air, we can just attack directly as a battle column. It is also a good choice to reduce the enemy's manpower through the range advantage."

Zhou He was thinking, when his fleet went out to fight, he usually only gave a rough target, at most he would name a few people to deal with the Siren submarines. It was also impossible to tell from the system map how the fight was fought, so this battle could be regarded as the first time he had observed the battle up close since his fleet was formed.

He needs to watch and study carefully.

Soon after Tosa and his men opened fire, the Siren also began shelling. From the map, it can be seen that the Siren adopted a complex formation, with destroyers, light cruisers and other mass-produced models mixed with battleships and heavy cruisers. Therefore, Tosa and his men had no so-called range advantage at all, but were instead covered by firepower.

Fortunately, Cleveland and Ashigara and others who arrived in advance took advantage of the Tosa sisters attracting the Sirens' firepower and hurriedly cut into the battlefield from the side, avoiding the direction of the Siren turrets, and brought the Siren fleet into the range of their main guns before they could react and adjust.

The two sides fired at each other across the ocean. The people named by Zhou He, Yuli, accurately found Siren's submarine and destroyed it with torpedoes, and then joined the battlefield. With the blessing of numbers, the scales of victory fell to Zhou He's side.

It took an hour and a half for the Sakura Empire and White Eagle fleets to go through several stages including "reconnaissance advantage", "reconnaissance balance", "personnel disadvantage", "equally matched", and "data crushing", and completely wiped out the Siren fleet.

"..."

Zhou He, who was watching the whole process, touched his forehead with his hand, wondering if he was still sleepy. How did these ship girls in his team achieve almost unbeatable results with such cooperation? No wonder Yorktown had fought several battles but was still in a state of doubting life.

Because he is now somewhat doubtful about his life.

When Tosa joined Minato, their tactics and coordination were pretty good, how did they become like this? With Kaga and Tosa being so reckless, it would be strange if they could defeat Amagi, who is planning every step of the way, in the game's plot!

"The coordination of the combined fleet does need some adjustment."

After some hesitation, Zhou He agreed with Bismarck's remarks. He just didn't know whether his blood pressure would soar during the joint operation with Hood. After returning home, he had to pay close attention to the coordination practice - as well as the learning of tactical common sense. He could understand that having knowledge in the head and being able to use it in reality were two different things, but the gap couldn't be that big, right?

'Land on aircraft carrier 01 for repairs.'

After complaining, Zhou He gave new instructions to the members here, and then silently turned his gaze to Xuefeng who was heading south. At the same time, he opened a video call with Nagashima. The screen flashed, and Miss Nagashima, who was wearing a coat two sizes larger than herself, was shrinking her neck and muttering something.

"Long Island?"

Zhou He watched for more than ten seconds but Chang Dao didn't notice his presence.

"Ah! Commander?"

Changdao shuddered, turned his head and saw the high-tech void video projection technology, then opened his eyes wide and tried to explore it, but failed. No one except Zhou He could touch or change the projection.

"I asked you to go south with Xuefeng. Tell me what's going on in that archipelago now?"

Zhou He took a deep breath to make himself look calmer, but Changdao was not the type of girl who would read other people's faces. After a short conversation, she started to speak: "Looking down from the sky, it's just a small archipelago connected by reefs. It's very beautiful, but for some reason, carrier-based aircraft can't get close to observe. If they get close, they will lose contact instantly, as if they have gone to another world."

“It looks exactly like the real thing from the outside, but you can’t get close to it.”

Zhou He narrowed his eyes. These two points alone were enough to prove that the Southern Islands had been transformed into a special area by the Sirens, and that the external defenses were very strong. Anyone who got close would be pulled into the mirror sea.