Revisiting Azur Lane

Chapter 7 Lifelong Learning

It was just a simple reconnaissance trip, and when I came back to my senses it was already evening.

Facing the sun that was still dazzling as it set with its autumn yellow silhouette, Zhou He saw Yudachi returning alone on the sea, and felt a little uneasy.

He once heard that the navy of the Royal Navy or some other camp had a proud rule of "fighting every enemy", and he didn't know whether the Sakura Empire had similar military regulations.

He was already pretending to be a ship commander suddenly, and now he was afraid that his brain would burn out if he encountered an enemy and fought directly. It would be fine if he won, but if he lost, he didn't know how to face it.

"Commander, I'm back!"

Just as full of energy as when he set out, Yuli waved and greeted Zhou He from a distance. After approaching the beach, the ship equipment on his body changed from real to virtual, and the blue light spots on his body spread out in the sky and gradually disappeared. The scene was mysterious and dreamy.

"Well, good job on the investigation."

Zhou He cheered up and joined Yuli on the beach. After a brief greeting, he pondered for a moment and couldn't help but said, "Just now at sea, I didn't ask you about your wishes, Yuli. When facing Siren's destroyers or light cruisers alone, do you have the confidence to sink them in a short time?"

"Well, it's a bit troublesome to completely sink them, but it would be possible to make them lose their ability to fight."

Yudachi went over the question in his mind and came up with the answer. He put one hand on his waist and clenched his claws in the air with the other hand very casually, very confidently: "Just like the commander said, as long as the light cruiser that looks like the flagship dares to break away from the escort fleet, it will be our victory."

"look like…"

Zhou He repeated in a low voice that this was indeed a suspicious point, but the light cruiser mixed in the destroyer group should theoretically be the command flagship of this group of destroyers.

I was so lucky that I encountered a small Siren fleet with no air power. It would be a shame not to give it a try.

He turned his head to look at Yudachi who was holding his head high with a proud expression. After confirming that she had not been offended by his order to retreat first when encountering an enemy, he breathed a sigh of relief, then smiled and raised his hand to pat her lightly: "Let's put the matter of the Siren aside for now. It's going to be dark soon. While you were out, Yudachi, I walked around here and found a lot of interesting ingredients. Let's collect them together."

"Ow?"

When Yuli heard the word "ingredients", he reacted instantly. He looked at Zhou He with shining eyes, waiting for his guidance.

"Well, look, there are these crabs and shells hiding in the sand."

Zhou He felt a little hot on his back. Not far away, there was a stupid flower crab whose back was exposed by the tide. He pointed at it and said, "These are all top-quality ingredients. They will be very delicious when cooked."

Probably. Zhou He had only eaten grilled river crabs and had never eaten sea crabs. However, these things were really expensive, and the people watching the videos also said they were delicious.

That should taste good, right?

"Goo."

The things were still in the sand. Just by listening to Zhou He's words, Yuli started swallowing his saliva. Zhou He laughed at this reaction. He quickly walked to the back of the flower crab lying on the sand and imitated the people fishing in the beach in the video and stretched out his hand to grab the flower crab by its buttocks with his fingers. The flower crab was suddenly caught and immediately spread out its claws to defend itself, but it was useless. It could only praise the sun.

"Well, that's roughly how you catch it. If you don't know how to catch it, you can call me when you find it."

This crab is quite heavy. Zhou He is not an expert at fishing, but he is the only family member around here. There is so much sea to eat that he can't stop eating. So he just takes it if he feels he can handle it.

The "collect" here refers to the storage of the system. He finished the storage in a flash. The sudden disappearance of the crab made Yudachi, who was originally "unsure of the power", suddenly become alert and circled around him: "Where did the commander hide the crab?"

"Put it away. You have your battle suits, Yudachi. As a commander, I also have my own special features."

Zhou He smiled and spread his hands to let Xili find it, and explained simply: "This is my privilege. I can communicate with you remotely via video, and I can also warn you in advance to find Sirens. In addition, I can also build new ship companions, so I can complete the daily supply without doing business."

"So...so awesome!"

Yuudachi's eyes widened, and he was so shocked that he couldn't speak clearly.

She never thought that such a powerful person could exist.

"Haha, it's just so-so. If there's nothing special about it, how can I, as the commander, guarantee your logistics?"

Zhou He installed it calmly. The system was already tied to him, so the system was his 'advanced equipment'. There was nothing to be embarrassed about. It would be more convenient to be honest.

"Oh! The commander is so awesome, so Yudachi has to work harder and become even more awesome!"

Yuli was shocked for a moment, then he encouraged himself smoothly, blinked his eyes and quickly scanned the beach in front of him, then strode out and stood on the beach where the tide had just receded, waving to Zhou He: "Commander, there are crabs here too!"

"Coming."

Zhou He chuckled twice. He already understood why so many people liked to show off. The feeling of being admired was really very comforting.

……

In the wilderness without neon lights, the sky often gets dark very quickly. Within minutes of the sun setting, the world becomes pitch black. Standing on the beach, the only sound you can hear is the crashing tide.

"Yuudachi, can you see at night?"

In order to catch crabs, Zhou He and Yuli walked a long way along the bay. At this time, he was squinting his eyes trying to adapt to the darkness: when he was a child, he had a different kind of excitement when he was traveling under the moonlight in the dark night. When he grew up, he just felt that his eyes had degenerated. For example, he can now only barely see the ground within three meters, and everything farther away is a blurry black.

"You can see it. It's no problem to attack Yudachi even at night!"

Yuli was right beside Zhou He. When she answered, she looked up at Zhou He, who was more cautious than during the day. She stretched out her hand and grabbed the back of Zhou He's hand and said loudly, "Commander, don't be afraid! With Yuli here, no matter if it's a siren or anything else, it can't hurt the commander!"

"..."

Do I look afraid of the dark?

Zhou He didn't know how to react. It was so loud that he was embarrassed to refute it. He could only acquiesce to Xili's guess: "Let's go back first."

Xili smiled slyly and pulled Zhou He back along the bay. The sunlight disappeared, and the moon peeked out from the clouds, bringing a trace of moonlight, which enhanced the visibility of the ground a little. Reflections also appeared on the sea, deforming with the ups and downs of the waves.

Snapped.

Pressing the light switch in the headquarters hall, the lonely island was filled with an unnatural light.

"Okay, Yuudachi, go and rest for a while, I'll prepare dinner."

Zhou He let out a breath and gently shook off Xili's hand. Xili looked back at him, responded and ran upstairs.

"It's not time to say I'm tired yet. I have to adapt to this kind of life as soon as possible."

Watching Xi Li go upstairs, Zhou He touched the warm back of his hand and walked towards the kitchen muttering in a low voice.

His experience today was full of freshness. Whether it was meeting Yudachi, discovering the Sirens or going to the sea to catch crabs, these were all things that were unimaginable before. From today on, this will be his normal life: exploring outside with his own ship girls to find sirens and ruins, preparing meals at home and doing logistics.

Of course it is tiring, but this is because I am fighting for my own future, so when I think about this, it doesn’t seem so tiring anymore.

I cleaned nearly 20 crabs of different species and put them into the steamer. I added some ginger slices and other ingredients, covered the lid and pressed it down. Then I took out a large piece of meat from the refrigerator, thawed it and marinated it, and then put it in the oven and adjusted the timer.

After more than an hour, Zhou He brought three dishes, a soup, a large pot of crabs and a large plate of barbecued meat to the table, making Yuli, who was already drooling, couldn't help rubbing his hands.

"Okay."

Zhou He sat opposite Xi Li and smiled as he watched her gradually relax.

With Xili there, all the crabs and barbecue were eaten up, leaving a pile of empty plates for Zhou He to wash. It took him a while to clean the kitchen.

Zhou He stretched lazily and left the kitchen. He did not see Yuli in the hall. He thought she had gone back to her room to rest, so he turned off the lights and climbed the stairs to his bedroom to wash up. After that, he lay on the soft big bed and stared at the unfamiliar ceiling in a daze.

After a while, he narrowed his eyes and focused on the map that Yudachi had opened: the area that Yudachi had walked through was still bright, with sirens moving slowly in it. He dared to say that he would wait for the light cruiser to be left alone, and it was the map that gave him the confidence. He could check it at any time. Once the light cruiser siren was left alone, he could immediately let Yudachi attack. As for what to do while waiting?

He exited the small map and focused his attention on the foggy areas in the other three directions of the headquarters. These places would be Yudachi's next reconnaissance targets.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound and sat up from the bed, his eyes falling on the door. The sound came from outside.

The room was very new, and the push-type doorknob did not make much noise when opening the door, so Zhou He watched the doorknob being pressed down and the door being pushed open a little bit, and through the tiny gap in the door he saw Yuudachi peeking inside furtively.

"If it was Ron, I'd be scared to death."

Zhou He's thoughts wandered inexplicably, and he spoke decisively: "Xi Li, is there anything else?"

"Ow!"

The cute Yudachi even thought that he had not been discovered. After being called, he made a meaningless sound, opened the door and poked his head in: "Commander, aren't you going to rest yet?"

“…I’m ready to rest.”

Zhou He pointed to the sky outside and said, "It's already very late. We still have things to do tomorrow. Yuli should go to bed early."

"Ok."

Yuli closed the door obediently. Zhou He raised his eyebrows and continued to lie down without saying anything. He always felt something was wrong with his eyes closed, so he stood up and walked to the door and opened it to take a look - Yuli in pajamas was spreading the quilt at his door, with his ears and tail twitching, looking very tempting.

"…Yudachi, I'm actually not afraid of the dark."

Zhou He's face tightened. With the way Xili was doing things, if he left any dark history, it would definitely be passed down.

"Really?"

Yuudachi knelt on the ground and asked suspiciously, he was so honest just now, why is he being so stubborn now?

"I just can't adapt to the nights out in the wild. It's no problem at home."

Zhou He patiently explained that he hadn't gone out to have fun at night for many years before he traveled through time. It was normal to feel a little uncomfortable, right?

"is it?"

Seeing his serious look, Yulichi tentatively accepted his explanation, but she looked down at the bedding she had already spread out, and rolled over: "It's all spread out, let's sleep here tonight."

"You...never mind, let's just leave it at that."

Zhou He wanted to say something, but when he saw Yuli holding the quilt leisurely, he shook his head, walked into the room, found a stool, opened the door and fixed it, then used both hands to pull the quilt on the bed to the ground, and lay down head to head with Yuli.

He couldn't drive Yuuri away, nor could he let Yuuri come in and sleep, so that was it.

After experiencing such a bizarre thing as time travel, why do you still take it so seriously?

"Just sleep like this."

Zhou He got up, turned off the lights, lay down, found a comfortable position and closed his eyes.

"Hmm~"

Yuudachi gave a lazy response, and everything fell silent.

"commander."

"Ok?"

"The commander is from Donghuang, right? Don't you hate us?"

"..."

"You are all excellent ships, and your creators have failed you."

"The commander speaks very nicely."

“… a lifetime of learning.”

"?"

The night went on as they talked.

Chapter 8: Raising and Being Raised

The night passes, the sun rises, and a new day arrives as expected.

Zhou He, who had been chatting with Xili until late at night, woke up unusually early.

“…It’s not a dream.”

Opening his eyes and looking at the unfamiliar ceiling and the closet in the corner of his sight, Zhou He's lifeless eyes gradually became lively, and he rubbed his swollen head and sat up.

In the past few years before the time travel, the earliest he went to bed was 10 o'clock, and that was only when he was sick or tired. Even though he was affected by Yuudachi last night, he didn't fall asleep beyond o'clock, which made him sleepy.

"I have brought the system across time, why don't you enhance my physical abilities?"

Muttering to himself, Zhou He lazily looked back at the door. The wrinkled bedding lay there quietly, but the person sleeping on it had disappeared.

"That's amazing. It's only what time is it now."

While admiring Yuudachi's diligence, Zhou He went into the bathroom to finish washing up, turned back to fold their bed into an irregular square and put it aside, opened the closet to change into the white navy uniform, put on the symbol of identity (hat), and left the bedroom.

The command center was still deserted. Zhou He first went to Yuli's room and took a look around. He didn't see anyone in the room. Instead, he saw through the window a figure running back and forth in the bay under the rising sun.

"Morning exercise?"

Zhou He leaned against the window and looked around, squinting to make the system interface appear. He first checked the tasks. The home coin task he had received yesterday was refreshed again, and the other two had not changed. After taking a look, he directly switched to the new map that he had explored yesterday. The things displayed on it made his eyes focus.

The area explored by Yudachi is about 60% of the entire sea area. There were four Sirens that could be clearly seen yesterday, three of which were traveling together, and the other one wandered to the edge. Now the only one that can be observed on the map is the wandering destroyer, and the other three are gone.

If we let Yuudachi attack now, he should be able to destroy this destroyer.

"Um…"