Revisiting Azur Lane

Zuikaku sighed helplessly, rubbed his hair and walked towards the command center muttering. Cleveland beside him also looked puzzled: "Fishing?"

"Fishing."

As Zuikaku took out the dried fishing nets from the warehouse, Cleveland, with Zhou He's approval, followed Zuikaku to the middle of the bay and cast the nets, while Zhou He continued to go fishing and opened Hermione's video call.

……

"Ms. Hood? I think you are still calm."

On the sea, a group of five people were on their way back. Hermione, who was video chatting with Zhou He, followed closely behind Hood. She looked up and could only see Hood's back, but when she tilted her head, she could see Bismarck, who was as stable as it could be, and Z23, who was quite excited. After finishing her work, she reported to Zhou He in a low voice: "Commander, Bismarck doesn't seem to mind meeting Ms. Hood again."

“It’s pretty much what I expected.”

On the other side of the video was Zhou He squatting on the sand. He was shoveling sand while talking: "That encounter was not a good memory for Bismarck, but she defeated Hood. The facts speak for themselves. As a winner, how could she have emotional fluctuations because of the encounter with Hood?"

Bismarck in the game is a near-perfect iron-blooded leader. She is powerful, has strong personal charm and working ability. Countless people are willing to follow her, and she is proud of it.

In the single-finger game, Zhou He's feeling for Bismarck is slightly higher than that for Hood.

"That being said, there are many factors that affect victory or defeat on the battlefield. This does not mean that Ms. Hood is really weaker than Bismarck... Commander, can you give Ms. Hood a chance to prove herself?"

Hermione was also troubled by this matter. She had inherited the memory of the royal ship. Compared with the ships of the Iron Blood camp, she was more willing to get closer to the royal ship girls.

"I have my own arrangements for this matter. Hermione, you will have to work hard to follow Hood during this period. I believe in Hood's tolerance. She is not the kind of person who is obsessed with the outcome of a battle. Hermione, you have to trust Hood too."

Zhou He in the video pondered for a moment and analyzed the specific situation. He had to witness the atmosphere between Hood and Bismarck in person before he could make a judgment. So he smiled and comforted Hermione and cut off the video call.

"Well, since the commander has said so..."

Hermione put aside the little emotions in her heart. She believed that Zhou He could handle this small historical issue between the camps.

"..."

"Commander, when will we close the net?"

Zuikaku and Cleveland worked together to put the fishing net in place. They looked back and saw Zhou He carrying the bucket as if he was going home, so they hurried back to seek help.

"Ok?"

Zhou He looked back in surprise: "About half an hour, Ruihe, didn't you try it once?"

"We are a combat ship, not a fishing boat. How can we learn everything in one go?"

Zuikaku protested loudly that she would never say that she had listened to Hermione's advice last time and had a great harvest while eating snacks.

"Ah, that's true. I took it for granted."

Zhou He reacted and waved to the two of them with a smile: "Since the net has been set up, there is no point in waiting here. Let's go back and have a cup of tea."

Faced with the invitation, Cleveland quickly approached the shore and followed Zhou He to the headquarters: "Commander, have you thought of a countermeasure?"

"That's about right. Cleveland, how would you handle a sister conflict?"

Zhou He asked casually.

No matter what Hood would think, he would not let Bismarck fight her again. History is history and now is the present. If he arranges for Hood and Bismarck to fight in actual combat, it would be equivalent to actively provoking a conflict between the two. No matter who wins, there will definitely be a loser. How should he appease the loser then?

And even if Hood really won, what would it matter? Would it change history? Would it allow her to proudly say that she had defeated Bismarck?

So he planned to shift the competition between the two in other directions.

"me?"

Cleveland looked up and thought for a moment, then answered with certainty: "I will look for the cause of the conflict. If one party made a mistake, I will punish the party who made the mistake. If both parties have problems, I will let them reflect on their mistakes."

"Yeah, you are worthy of being the eldest sister."

Zhou He thinks this is very Cleveland style: "What if both sides are right? For example, Montpelier thinks that you are great, cool and handsome in Cleveland, and the goal is to become a sea knight like you, and Denver has the same goal. The two of them are competing because of this, and they want to determine the winner by pointing out more handsome aspects of you. If there is a disagreement because of a certain advantage, how would you deal with it?"

Although it was just Zhou He's example, Cleveland seemed to see a scene of public execution in the future. He couldn't help but shudder, and his smile became a little stiff. "The example given by the commander is so realistic. If there is such a situation, I will definitely preach to you. If you have time to make a fuss here, you might as well train yourself well."

"So, facing Hood and Bismarck, as a commander, can I play the role of your elder sister, Cleveland?"

Zhou He smiled. If such a scene really happened in the future, he would definitely watch and listen from the side.

"Of course not. The commander is the commander, and our conflict cannot affect the commander's work!"

Cleveland's answer was immediate.

"This is it!"

Zhou He snapped his fingers and said, "The contest between Hood and Bismarck doesn't necessarily have to be a battle. Our port area has just started, and there is a lot of work to be done. These two are rare talents. We can't use them to waste time on internal conflicts. At least we have to spend our energy on revitalizing the port area."

"Ah, that's it."

Cleveland was very smart and immediately understood what Zhou He meant: "You are worthy of being the commander."

"Ok?"

Zuikaku, who was standing by, listened to the two people talking for a long time and thought he would get the answer, but it turned out to be a riddle. He couldn't help but say, "What do you mean, so that's it? Explain it to me more clearly!"

……

After drinking tea, Ruihe and the other went to collect the nets. Zhou He looked at the quality of the bone soup, and when it was almost done, he took it out and put it in a new pot to cook. After putting down the ingredients, he went out to the beach to direct the collection of the nets. In the end, they caught two long fish weighing more than four pounds, which they could not name, and a lot of grouper and sea bream. Not as much as last time, but enough for a meal.

"Oh!"

When untying the net, Cleveland, who was not very skilled, took a long time to pull out the biggest fish. He smiled happily and carefully put the fish into the bucket brought by Zhou He: "It turns out that getting food is such a fulfilling thing."

"Right?"

Zhou He could understand that every time he restocked the refrigerator with food, he would feel very proud of himself. He could actually support the logistics of this port area by himself. It was a bit addictive.

"I hope you can give me some more exciting tasks, Commander."

Zuikaku was squatting beside her. She now had only one thought in mind, which was to hope that someone could take her place in fishing before Shokaku joined the port area.

"Didn't we have a good fight with the Sirens today?"

Zhou He asked curiously, and Zuikaku looked at him with wide eyes: "Commander, do you also know that I just came back from fighting with the Sirens?"

"Hermione said that your aircraft carriers are more about expending energy in battle. I saw that you were so energetic, Zuikaku, and I thought this battle would be easy for you."

Zhou He said in a puzzled tone.

"..."

Zuikaku's wide eyes gradually returned to normal, and the corners of his mouth curled up as he snorted, "Isn't that natural? It's just a Siren aircraft carrier fleet. It's just a piece of cake for me to destroy them."

"Really? Then hurry up, the others are about to come back."

Zhou He urged, he already roughly understood the instruction manual of Zuikaku.

"It's a piece of cake, just watch me!"

Ruihe stood up suddenly and tried to draw the sword at his waist, but Zhou He grabbed his wrist. Finally, he squatted down dejectedly and continued to pull the fishing net.

Cleveland saw this and felt very strongly that this port area was an interesting place.

Chapter 39 Hood and Bismarck

"Commander, you are exploiting our labor force!"

It took the three of them a lot of effort to take all the fish and shrimps down. Zuikaku's originally clean clothes were stained by the splashing water from the fish. When Zhou He smiled and urged him to go back and fix them, he protested loudly. Cleveland laughed and carried the fish bucket back to the command building with Zuikaku, leaving Zhou He walking on the beach waiting for everyone to come back.

It takes about two hours to get from the port to the front line (90 nautical miles away). At this time, except for Yuli and Kursk who were assigned new tasks, the other five people have approached the port island. Zhou He also confirmed this with the help of the system map.

Because it was already afternoon, Zhou He had already prepared the celebratory dinner and did not need to rush to cook. Instead, he took advantage of this free time to think about how to adjust the historical issues left over from Hood and Bismarck - not just these two people, but using these two as reference templates to find and solve other historical issues that may arise in the future.

Before coming to this world, Zhou He had never tried to mediate or reconcile any two people. Although he was very confident when talking to Cleveland and Hermione, when it came down to it, he just hoped that Hood and Bismarck would save his face.

"..."

Just as Zhou He was thinking, multiple figures appeared at the entrance of the bay, with Tosa in the middle as the dividing line. On the left were Hood and Hermione, and on the right were Bismarck and Z23. If Hermione and Z23 were replaced by Wales and Prince Eugen, it would truly be history repeating itself.

"So why did Wales and Eugen become a couple?"

Zhou He looked at the approaching ship girls, but he unconsciously changed his mind to another question. He only knew that Eugen and Wales made a good couple, but he had no idea the specific reason. Was it simply because of the setting of Azur Lane, or was there some historical consideration?

Of course, he couldn't get an answer to this question, because he had never paid attention to the Prince of Wales in the game. Because of her strange skills, until Zhou He traveled through time, he had not arranged the Prince of Wales into the leveling team, let alone the story behind this person.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Zhou He brushed off the dust on his body, took out a white handkerchief and gloves from his clothes, wiped his hands clean, put on the gloves, and greeted the returning people.

The first to arrive at the shore were Hood and Hermione. Hood, who usually behaved calmly and elegantly, was a little embarrassed at this moment. Zhou He saw it and gave her a reassuring smile before spreading his hands and facing the three people who landed later: "In this battle with the Sirens, we have won a great victory. I am proud of the strength you have shown. Hood, Tosa, you two should go back and rest first. I will prepare a celebration banquet later, so please be sure to come."

"Ah."

Seeing Zhou He took the initiative to speak, Hood also followed suit, nodded slightly, and left with Hermione. Tosa also glanced at Zhou He and walked away, leaving only Zhou He and the two new members of the Iron Blood.

"Hello, I am the commander of this port area. I was the one who sent you the brief instructions earlier. Thank you for your cooperation."

Facing someone he met for the first time, Zhou He instinctively showed his polite side. He glanced at the two of them. Z23 looked more serious than he had imagined. His posture facing him was very standard, as if he was some extraordinary figure coming here for a military parade.

Bismarck was even more of a heavyweight, with a black and red military uniform, long golden hair falling from his ears, a face that was so cold and aloof that he looked as if he was in an ascetic state, and a model of perfect figure. Zhou He couldn't hold back after just their first meeting - the sense of oppression given by this man was too great. With a hat on, he was half a head taller than him. Whether in terms of temperament or height, he needed to look up to her.

"Following orders is the most basic quality of a soldier. Nice to meet you. I am Bismarck from the Iron Blood, and this is Z23. We will be stationed in this port area from now on. I hope the commander can give us positions and tasks that are suitable for us."

To Zhou He's surprise, Bismarck did not care about or correct his clumsy repetitions, and whether it was her self-introduction or her subsequent speeches, her tone was not at all cold, but sounded very gentle, like an older sister from nowhere, even giving Zhou He the illusion that Bismarck would always smile warmly.

Of course, Bismarck's face remained calm, but Zhou He's mind became active instantly. He looked back at Hood who had already walked away, and after hesitating for a moment, he spread his hands towards Bismarck: "Although it may be a bit presumptuous, I actually have a small question. Bismarck, what do you feel about our...Hood in the port area?"

This question surprised Bismarck a little. She thought Zhou He would ask indirectly before asking formally, but she didn't expect him to be so direct and honest. After thinking for a while, she said, "Commander should know that we are just inheriting the memory of the old battleship. Memory is a straight line, and we were born after the straight line. Therefore, after we were born, the end of the memory will give us a stronger feeling of the first and middle parts of the memory."

"what."

When she said this, Zhou He understood instantly. The encounter between Bismarck and Hood left a deep mark in history, but for Bismarck personally, his last memory was being besieged by many royal ships, and Hood was just the instigator of this incident.

This is a bit like in the novels where the younger is beaten and the older is attacked, except that on Bismarck's side, the older is beaten and the younger is attacked. If we put Hood in this context, he would probably be a "very troublesome" person to Bismarck.

"I see."

Zhou He felt that he roughly understood. Bismarck didn't need his guidance at all. The main problem was with Hood. As for how to guide Hood, he decided to seek help from the iron-blooded chancellor in front of him: "Then according to your opinion, Bismarck, how can I guide Hood to get rid of the influence of memory?"

"She is not someone who is obsessed with past failures. It is most likely that she is just confused by her memory. Commander, you just need to give her some time to sort out her thoughts."

Bismarck looked in the direction of the command building. Her eyes were the same sky blue as Hood's. Her aura was so cold that people dared not look directly at her, but there was a gentleness and tolerance in her eyes that was far beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Seeing Zhou He was stunned for a moment, Bismarck felt that he seemed to be too sure, so he added: "This is just the tolerance that I think 'Hood' should have, but I can't be sure how Hood, who inherited the memory of the old ship, will think. If the commander is worried, perhaps you can arrange for her to handle the work she is good at, which can help her get rid of the confusion caused by the memory."

"Everyone has his own strengths and weaknesses. Combat capability is not everything. Commanders must not underestimate Hood because of this."

"..."

Zhou He suddenly smiled with relief. He looked at Bismarck, who had a serious expression, and said, "I will not underestimate any of the ship girls. The valuable life and combat experience you have are all things I need to learn from."

After a short pause, he continued: "I will encounter many difficult questions in the future, and I hope you can continue to help me solve them, Bismarck."

"of course."

Bismarck replied without hesitation: "Although I have not been in office as long as Hood, I have also accumulated a lot of combat experience. Commander, please feel free to come to me if you have any questions."

"You really care about Hood, don't you?"

Zhou He almost couldn't hold it in. Why was he comparing him to Hood?

"Yes. I remember that after Hood was defeated by me, her descendants did their best to chase me and left me in that sea. Her existence lived up to the name of royal glory and cut off this flag. It is something worth remembering."

Bismarck answered as a matter of course.

"..."

This is what is called mutual appreciation.

Looking at the high-spirited Bismarck, Zhou He admitted that he felt envy in his heart. He had never met a friend or opponent who was willing to spend a lot of time to get to know him.

Zhou He narrowed his eyes to hide his emotions, tilted his head and extended his hand to Z23 who was listening attentively, smiling: "Z23, welcome to join our port area."

"Yes! I will also try my best to help you, Commander, solve your problems in the future!"

Z23 shook hands with Zhou He and was so polite and respectful that Zhou He felt a little embarrassed.

After a conversation, Zhou He also roughly understood the personalities of Bismarck and Z23. These two were the first Iron Blood members to join the port, which was a great help. If it were two disobedient Iron Blood ships, he would probably have nightmares at night.

……

After the exchange, Zhou He led Bismarck and Z23 into the command center and selected two adjacent rooms on the second floor. After the arrangements were completed, he washed his face. During this time, he observed the work progress of Kursk and Yuli. Yuli ran very fast and not only lit up the northern section, but also ran away a lot of fog. Kursk was a little slower, but also lit up the remaining southern section.

So far, he has lit up eight blocks around the headquarters and has nine ship girls around him.

"The next battle plan should be to first eliminate the Siren fleets in the fog in the east, south and north, and then try to explore the mirror sea after ensuring it is safe?"

After sending the two back to the ship, Zhou He went downstairs thinking about the subsequent external development. He met Ruihe who had just taken a shower and changed into casual clothes and was making a fist towards him. He was so happy that he couldn't help laughing.

"what happened?"