Revisiting Azur Lane

……

Without the troublemakers, the competition got back on track in the afternoon. The contestants scattered around the port area were like industrious little bees, constantly cycling through the process of setting nets - surveying - collecting nets - setting nets in their chosen places.

In the midst of this busyness, the sun in the sky also felt sleepy and began to set. Time quietly came to four o'clock in the afternoon and the game was over.

The decision to end the competition at four o'clock was the result of Zhou He's careful consideration. Facts proved that his judgment was correct, because it was not until after five o'clock that the contestants slowly escorted their own fish baskets - the fruits of their fishing - back to the port area with their backs to the fiery red sunset.

The place of inspection was an old transport ship moored at the dock, which was brought back from the ominous singularity. Zhou He asked Akashi to move the ship outside the berth. After taking off his military uniform, he put on a mask and gloves and waited fully armed.

The first to submit the results were the 'Northern Union Combination' of Kursk and Tosa. The fish was dragged back by Kursk, and Tosa followed beside him with the same cold poker face as usual, but Zhou He inexplicably felt that Tosa seemed very depressed.

"Commander, let's begin."

Kursk hung the fish guard on the small crane in front of the transport ship. Xuefeng, who was forced to work, operated carefully in the control room, fearing that the net would be broken by moving too quickly.

Soon, the fish basket, which was more than five meters deep, was brought to the empty space at the stern of the transport ship.

"Well, that's a bit unexpected."

Zhou He said as he leaned against the fence and spoke to Kursk on the sea nearby.

Why do you say that?

It was because their catch was less than he expected, much less. There was no need to turn on the light. A quick glance at the catch in the fish basket allowed him to roughly count them: there were no more than 20 fish in total, big and small. Two of them were nearly half a meter long, but they were of the slender type, which Zhou He did not recognize.

"It takes more time to understand the activity patterns of fish than those of land creatures - it should be similar for others. The victory or failure this time was purely based on luck."

Kursk gave his explanation without changing his expression.

Zhou He agreed with this statement. Xuefeng had whispered to him when she deployed her ship's radar to scan. At least during that morning period, there were no signs of fish underwater in the five participating camps.

Having said that, Zhou He still stepped forward professionally and stretched out his hand to verify. The total catch of Kursk and his companion was 17 fish, including two big ones, eight medium ones, seven small ones, and a few crabs, which were already dead, which was a pity.

After the inspection, Zhou He tried to grab the fish guard net and mobilize the system warehouse for recovery. There was a flash of light, and it was a success.

He heaved a sigh of relief, glanced at the fish guards with the "small harvest" sign in the warehouse, smiled and spread his hands to Kursk and the others: "You've worked hard fishing, Tosa too, you should go back and have a rest first, I'll come to notify you when the dinner starts."

"understood."

Kursk nodded and left. She participated just to challenge her fishing ability and had no intention of competing for the first place... Tosa glanced at Zhou He, seemed to want to say something but stopped herself, and followed him out honestly.

"Tosa lost this time."

Zhou He narrowed his eyes and felt that Tosa like this was also very ornamental.

"Commander! We're back!"

The second to report was from the Sakura Empire camp. Yudachi ran to the front and grabbed a spot. He waved to Zhou He with a smile, and after approaching, he grabbed the railing of the transport ship with both hands and looked inside the puddle of water. Then he asked curiously, "How did Sister Tosa and the others get?"

“Maybe it’s at the bottom.”

Zhou He was not surprised. Tosa only helped out for two or three hours in the afternoon. Kursk was the only one busy in the morning. He hadn't found the school of fish yet, so it would be strange if he could get much harvest.

"Hey, we caught a lot of fish here."

Gouzi smiled slyly, then turned back to the team and informed the other people from Sakura Empire of the situation, which made Kaga laugh: I don't know why she had the nerve to laugh.

Anyway, after a flurry of activity, the catch of the Sakura Empire was also hoisted up - the harvest here was a bit exaggerated, with at least forty fish. Just looking from the outside, it was a scene of 'fish crowding each other', which reminded Zhou He of the Star-gazing School.

After counting them carefully, Zhou He threw out the dead fish and stuffed the rest into fish baskets and stored them in the warehouse. The summary of Chongqing's harvest: 5 big fish, 16 medium fish, 24 small fish, all the crabs were dead, and there was a dying lobster.

"Temporarily ranked first."

Zhou He's four words made the members of the Sakura Empire look happy, and even Ayanami showed a smile.

After letting them rest, Zhou He began to check the harvest of the follow-up camp:

The third report was from the White Eagle camp. Their catch was a few less than that of the members. In total, there were 3 big fish, 11 medium fish, and 29 small fish. Nearly ten fish died, which was a pity.

"It's fun to have everyone do activities together. Commander, please hold more activities in the future!"

The guys in White Eagle didn't care about winning or losing, but they felt sorry for the dead fish. Cleveland, who had experience, accepted it the fastest. He smiled and chatted with Zhou He. Zhou He said he would definitely do it next time.

The fourth camp to report was Iron Blood. Count Spee and Elbe were pulling the fish guards on both sides. Z23 and Elbe were watching very happily, while the other three remained calm - their fish guards were the heaviest so far. When the crane was working, the fish guards produced by the system were deformed. The moment they came out of the water, White Eagle and Zhou He who had not left were all stunned.

"There are at least eighty of them, right?"

Zhou He looked at the various strange fish crowded together, and hurriedly asked Xuefeng to speed up the pouring of the fish, which directly splashed all over the ground. It was already dark, and Zhou He turned on the lights prepared on both sides and took more than ten minutes to complete the counting: 26 big fish, 24 medium fish, 31 small fish, seven crabs wrapped in kelp, three lobsters, and some strange marine creatures that Zhou He could not recognize.

"I'm going to attack you from a lower dimension."

After storing the fish nets in the warehouse, Zhou He couldn't help looking at the entry of 'explosive catch'. He even suspected that U556 was driving the fish to hit the net underwater, or directly catching them.

It's too exaggerated. It crushed the first three contestants in terms of quality and variety. He felt that he didn't even need to look at the Royal Family behind it. It could only be the second place at most.

"commander."

Bismarck waited for Zhou He to finish his work, called him aside, and said calmly: "We participated in the competition this time just to prepare more seafood for the winter, not to compete for the top spot. You don't have to count us in the ranking. Whoever comes first is first."

"Are you sure? Hood and the others can't say they will definitely win, okay?"

Zhou He frowned. This was a serious competition after all, so it was not appropriate to do it this way. So he thought for a moment and said, "I will change the reward rules. The top two will have a building prize of their choice. If you have any facilities you want, come and tell me."

"understood."

Bismarck thought about it for a moment and nodded in agreement.

——The royal team ran the farthest and returned the latest. The moon had just begun to appear in the night sky when they arrived at the port.

"Sorry, Commander, we're late."

Javelin very sensibly ran to the front to apologize to Zhou He, but judging from her eager expression, the royal family seemed to have a good harvest as well?

Zhou He smiled and said it was okay, and then cooperated with Royal Ark and Hermione to use a crane to lift the fish guard. The moment it came out of the water, Zhou He opened his eyes wide.

"Hey, Commander, you didn't expect that, did you?"

Javelin didn't go far, and he spoke to Zhou He in a rare playful way.

The reason is simple: the royal family seemed to have encountered a school of saury. Under the moonlight and incandescent light, the inside of the fish cage was shining silver at a glance, which was so beautiful.

After counting, there were 128 sauries still alive.

"Everyone go and rest first. I will announce the final rankings at the dinner."

After a busy day, it was already very late. After Zhou He sent everyone away, he used the water pump at the dock to rinse the transport ship, and then hurried to the restaurant with the "selected" dinner ingredients. After helping the barbarians deal with the fishy smell on his body, he returned to the lighted command building to take a shower first.

“…I saw it, Kaga-senpai, your fight with Bismarck.”

Before entering the door, Zhou He heard Zuikaku's fearless speech that day, and turned around to see Kaga, who had changed his clothes and was feeding the red fox, and Zuikaku who was laughing beside him - sometimes, he even felt that Zuikaku's 'straightforward' character was actually a kind of 'sinister' one.

It is difficult to accept what is said under certain conditions, but there is no way to refute it. Kaga was obviously in this state. She herself did not understand why she was defeated by Bismarck. She did not believe that it was just her bad luck. The most likely possibility was that she was not focused enough after fighting two games in a row and was caught in a flaw. But this was also her own fault. She could not say that Bismarck won unfairly.

"Zuihe? Senior Kaga has tried very hard, you know that too! Some things can't be made up for by hard work alone."

Shokaku also heard it. Miss Shokaku, who came out of the bathhouse next door, was wearing loose casual clothes. She walked while tilting her head and combing her hair with her hands. She was very charming.

Her tone of voice was very gentle, but her words were of a different kind from Zuikaku's, in the sense of 'making people nervous'.

"Sister Shokaku... yes, but don't be discouraged, Kaga-senpai. There will be another chance next time."

Zuikaku let out a cry, then paused for a moment before speaking soothingly.

"You two, were you harmed by me when I was on the aircraft carrier?"

Kaga glanced at the two sisters out of the corner of her eye. She was used to losing and didn't really care. But after hearing what the Shokaku sisters said, she looked like a loser.

"There are some, but this responsibility does not need to be taken by you, Kaga-senpai."

Zuikaku nodded, and Shokaku also murmured "ah", then approached and smiled, "Kaga-senpai, you were quite glorious as an aircraft carrier, before you followed Akagi-senpai and lost to the White Eagle Enterprise."

"Tsk, that guy Akagi hasn't improved much in all these years."

Kaga BB smacked his lips: "If she could learn Amagi Issei's skills, she wouldn't be so hostile to you juniors."

"..."

The two sisters, Shokaku, looked at each other, stopped saying strange things, and began to comfort Kaga honestly.

This angered Kaga, who angrily drove the two sisters away, then squatted and muttered, poking the red fox's head in the cage with his finger: "Akagi, when are you coming to the port area? Let you also experience the feeling of being scolded by your juniors after making mistakes in the future."

Zhou He heard it, but he didn't know whether he could build Akagi in battle form.

After all, it’s not in the game.

Chapter 162 Ask More and Learn More

The smell on his body was too strong, so Zhou He rubbed himself in the bathroom for nearly half an hour before coming out. He felt refreshed all over, and after jumping a few times he even felt like flying.

"I think the situation over there with Manju should be almost settled, right?"

He put on the military uniform he had taken off earlier. Since his hair was wet, he couldn't wear a hat, so he could only forcefully part his hair in the middle to make himself look more energetic. Unfortunately, his bangs returned when he reached the second floor, almost covering his eyes.

'This hair needs to be cleaned up.'

Zhou He still remembered that he had discussed with Cleveland and others about whether he should cut or keep his hair. Before he traveled through time, he would never cut his hair in the winter because he would be cold if he cut it. But here he was barely considered the face of the port area, so it was better for him to look more energetic.

Standing at the corner of the second floor, he could already hear the conversation on the first floor. Just as he was about to go down, he turned his head like a spider and saw a door slowly opening, and a beautiful white-haired girl poked her head out.

"Good evening, Kursk."

Zhou He smiled and waved. The latter was stunned for a moment before nodding in response. He walked out of the room wearing a very handsome white windbreaker. After coming to Zhou He, he used his slender fingers to push aside his bangs. He stared at him and said, "Commander, you should comb your hair a little. This way, people will easily think you are weak and can be bullied."

“…Not really.”

Although Zhou He hangs out with all kinds of beautiful girls day and night, such intimate actions are rare to him. He blinked somewhat uncomfortably.

He also knew that he looked unreliable, and originally thought that he would become more mature after working and training in the port area. However, these days, apart from the fact that his body was better than the sub-health state before he traveled through time, when he took off his military uniform, he still looked like a student who had just graduated from high school or university.

Being too young isn't always a good thing.

“When I’m not working.”

Kursk thought for a moment and added, "Like now."

"Well... I'll pick a time to get my hair done and try to look more reliable."

Zhou He felt Kursk's fingers fiddling with his hair on the side of his face and knew that what she said was 100% true. If it were an ordinary person, Kursk would at most say a few words and would not touch him.

But this also proves from another perspective that Kursk's relationship with him is improving.

Kursk helped Zhou He to re-part his hair in the middle, so that the latter could understand the difference in skill proficiency. His second part in the middle did not return to its original state when he went down to the first floor.

Even so, his strange new look still attracted a lot of attention. For example, the brave Bush and Yudachi approached him and looked up at him. Kaga also commented that he looked like a decent person, which made him feel a little embarrassed. He could only spread his hands and bring the topic back on track:

"I am very happy that everyone can actively participate in the competition today. My ultimate goal of building this port and expanding it is, first, to give everyone a place to rely on, and second, I hope to see everyone active and make our port lively..."

Because this was the first large-scale competition, Zhou He muttered a few words, and then clapped his hands in front of everyone and smiled: "After waiting for so long, everyone must be hungry. Let's go to the restaurant to discuss the rest of the matter."

Not everyone was waiting here, but there were indeed a lot of people here. The entire living room was almost full. Everyone was dressed very formally, and it looked like they were going to a dinner party (? ). So after he said this, Yudachi, who couldn't wait to eat, went around behind Zhou He and started pushing him, urging him to lead the way quickly.

It was already late at night outside the door. There were no street lights on both sides of the road. There was a very dim area between the restaurant and the headquarters. Because the light was very dim, Zhou He, who was surrounded by the ship girls, could feel what it meant to have a full sense of security. The simple conversations and laughter around him also made him feel inexplicably warm.

Having been lonely for so long before traveling through time, he once thought that he was one of those people who liked being alone. But after coming here and meeting everyone, he realized that it was not that he liked being alone, but that he had not found a place that could accommodate himself.

"What is the commander thinking?"

Yuuri, who was next to him, looked up and saw the silent smile on Zhou He's face. He waved Zhou He's right hand and asked curiously.

"I was thinking, something very simple."

Zhou He smiled. It was hard to explain these complicated things clearly, so he simply said, "I am very happy to be with you all."

"Hey, I'm happy to be with the Commander!"

Yuli was so cute that Zhou He couldn't help but touch his head with his left hand. Suddenly, he noticed someone's gaze and turned around to see that it was the Royal Ark's envious eyes. After retracting his gaze, he thought: "I made Yuli happy, and the Royal Ark should be thanking me."

Soon, the group arrived at the restaurant. After they sat down casually, groups of barbarians began to bring up the dishes from the kitchen. Zuikaku, who had not talked to Zhou He on the way, raised his hand and asked before he even had time to sit down: "Commander, which team is the first place this time?"

The circle in Hong Kong is so small, and it's not like yesterday's confidentiality operation before the game. Basically, everyone knew from the previous exchanges that the champion this time would be between Iron Blood and Royal. It's just that no one knows the value of the marine fish species, so they can't calculate it silently, so they can only wait for Zhou He to make it public.

Her question quickly attracted a lot of attention to Zhou He, and Zhou He calmly told everyone the total number of the two camps:

Iron Blood 81 big and small fish, 7 crabs and 3 lobsters.

The royal one is 128 saury.

"It's hard to tell who's number one just by looking at the numbers, but if I say that many of the caught saury have eggs, you should be able to come up with the answer, right?"

Zhou He finished speaking with a smile, and everyone at the scene nodded. Fish roe, also known as fish eggs, is a very delicious part of the fish with high nutritional value, which can increase the value of the fish itself.

Seeing that everyone understood, Zhou He was the first to applaud and looked at Hood and his group: "The champion of this fishing competition is the Royal Group."

Being able to let everyone enjoy delicious food is naturally worthy of praise and applause. The restaurant was filled with thunderous applause. Bismarck, who was sitting not far away, showed an imperceptible smile as she clapped her hands: If possible, she naturally hoped that Hood could win the championship fairly. However, she felt a little guilty about what she had said to Zhou He before, which made Zhou He give her an extra reward for nothing.