Revisiting Azur Lane

"Bear?"

Zhou He was stunned, then shocked. There is a bear?

"A bear, huh?"

Tosa's eyes flickered when he heard this, and he whispered, "Catch it and raise it, maybe it can be used for cultivation."

“Is bear delicious?”

This is Xili who ate grapes until her lips turned purple, and she didn't even peel them - Zhou He suspected that if he left this child in the wild for a few days, he would turn into a real wild dog when he returned home.

"..."

Zhou He was panicked for less than half a minute before he calmed down after hearing the words of his own ship girl. He thought for a while and realized that even if there really was a bear, it probably wouldn't be able to defeat Kursk in hand-to-hand combat. Moreover, if Bismarck, Tosa and Zuikaku really dared to attack, they would become mature.

……

After the little episode brought by Kaga, Zhou He and his party collected wild grapes and continued on their journey. They took a detour for nearly an hour halfway up the mountain and finally arrived at the designated camping site on the flat white rocks.

Ruihe, who arrived earlier, was following Zhou He's instructions and cutting a number of wooden sticks of three thicknesses to sharpen spears.

The water on the outside of this side of the stream is only above the ankles, and you can cross it by holding up your shoes and rolling up your trouser legs. But if you walk deeper, you can see a pool of water more than one meter deep, which is crystal clear. Standing on the edge, you can see the fine sand and stones under the water, as well as fish of all sizes and species hiding around the stones. You can also see fish, shrimps and crabs moving around.

“This place is nice too.”

Listening to the gurgling sound of flowing water, Zhou He crossed the shallow water area and sat on the shore watching the carefree fish and shrimps in the pool. It would be great if there was such a pool in his own port area.

Pfft!

Before Zhou He finished speaking, U556 dived into the pool. A large number of bubbles emerged from the bottom of the water. Faced with such a huge creature, the fish and shrimps at the bottom of the water began to dodge. For a while, there was no movement of any living creature in the pool.

"I want to play too!"

Yudachi yelled and was about to jump into the water, but Tosa, who was standing next to her, reached out his hand expressionlessly and grabbed the collar of her clothes from behind and pulled her back: "Don't get involved in this cold water."

"Hey! Commander~"

Yuli tried to resist but it was useless. He could only ask Zhou He for help. Zhou He shook his head mercilessly: "556 is a submarine. It has the ability to adjust to the temperature. Just warm up by the fire. Yuli, you should at least take a hot bath when you go down to avoid catching a cold."

"spa?"

Xili tilted his head, and Zhou He smiled and pointed to the stream flowing down from the top of the mountain: "This is an important freshwater resource for the entire mountain. If I dig a hot spring here, it will seriously affect the ecological environment here, so it's not possible."

"Oh~Is that so?"

Yudachi then gave up swimming, and when Tosa let go of his hand, he jumped over to Zhou He and squatted down, pointing at the fish swimming and hiding in the pool: "Commander, is there food for us in here?"

"Yes."

Zhou He smiled and ruffled Xili's hair: "But it's not enough."

His gaze shifted to the Home Mall, where he bought rice, vegetable meal, beef and condiments, and also bought six sets of wildlife kits (tent, sleeping bag, small chair, oil lamp, insect repellent spray, etc.), spending a total of ten Home Coins.

Normally he saves home coins in order to build more public facilities, but since he's out playing, he'll have to spend a little.

"Commander, don't be lazy! Let's go pick up branches and cook!"

On the other side, after Harman and Hermione built a simple open-air kitchen (three pots + bowls and chopsticks), they found Zhou He and others who were watching the water pool, and gave orders with their hands on their hips. His voice was soft, as if he was acting coquettishly, which healed Zhou He's spirit very well. So he stood up and raised his hand: "Okay! Now let's start the division of labor. Those who set up tents here raise their left hands, and those who go to collect firewood raise their right hands."

The team quickly split into two sides. Hermione, Bismarck, Shentong, Shokaku Zuikaku and Cleveland Montpellier set up tents in the camp, while Zhou He took the remaining destroyers out to collect firewood. By the way, Tosa, who did not raise his hand, joined Zhou He's team.

"Here are the tents and sleeping bags, please."

Zhou He waved his hand and left the tent accessories at the camping site, then waded back into the mountains and forests with the destroyers. There were many fallen trees here due to various natural reasons, so many branches and sticks could be picked up without actively cutting them down.

While collecting firewood, Yuli discovered many mushrooms growing on tree trunks and at the bottom of trees. Javelin and Z23 identified them again and again, but were not sure whether they were edible. In the end, following Zhou He's negative response, they did not touch any of them.

As a bodyguard, Tosa did not pick up firewood, but wandered around to help cut the long and difficult branches. Harman kept a close eye on Zhou He, but Zhou He had no intention of being lazy. He worked very hard to tie the sticks into bundles with vines, and everyone took them back together when they were done. At this step, Zhou He was careful and arranged some lighter wood for himself. When it was finally distributed, the quantity looked the same as that of others, so that he did not feel so embarrassed.

"We're back!"

When they returned to the camp, the sky had begun to darken. Zhou He saw the bonfire burning in the center of the camp from a distance. Six large tents were distributed around the bonfire. Zuikaku, Cleveland Montpelier and the other two were standing by the pond, catching fish with sharpened "wooden spears". U556 was sitting by the bonfire, pouting as if he was dissatisfied with being kicked out. Bismarck was also sitting next to him to keep him company.

"Welcome back."

Xianghe, who was watching the three people "fishing", smiled slightly, welcomed Zhou He and others back, and guided them to put the picked up firewood in the designated place.

"call."

Zhou He walked at the back and breathed a sigh of relief after stacking the two bundles of firewood in his hands. He rubbed his arm and found Hermione who came out of the tent with a lamp. He took out the ingredients, placed them on the stove made of stones, and processed them with water from the stream nearby.

"Has the commander already divided up the occupants of each tent?"

With the help of the firelight and the light from the tent, Hermione stayed beside Zhou He and asked him questions in a low voice while washing the ingredients.

"Well, almost."

Zhou He's calculation method is very simple. If Kaga is included, there are a total of 17 people, but if Kaga is removed, there are only 16 people. With a 5x3 personnel arrangement, he can live in a single room.

But Kursk probably didn't want to live with other people, so he had to communicate with Kursk at night.

"I'll leave Harman and Javelin in your care, Hermione."

Zhou He arranged for Hermione to live with someone. The maid puffed up her cheeks imperceptibly, but soon lost her temper and responded in a gentle voice, "Commander, please rest assured."

As they were whispering here, there were sudden cries of surprise from the other side of the pond where the crowd had gathered. Words like "how amazing", "you can actually catch fish", "can you still eat them like this", etc. were faintly heard, making everyone who heard it smile unconsciously.

With everyone's enthusiastic participation, soon there were ten wooden spears with fish pierced in front of Zhou He. Although it was a bit troublesome, the fish were in front of him and he could only deal with them cleanly. Fortunately, Miss Xianghe no longer hid her strength today, and cooperated with Hermione to divide the bonfire into two piles. While Zhou He was selecting edible fish meat, she cooked rice, and started to make soup and stir-fry. The aroma drifted far away, and suddenly a "cooing" sound came out in the conversation. Zhou He was attracted and looked over. It turned out that Yuudachi was pretending to be a pigeon, and stuck out his tongue after being noticed.

After nightfall, the temperature in the mountains turned cooler, and it was pitch dark in the dark wilderness. However, the campsites on the mountainside were fully lit, becoming the only light in the mountains. The people sitting around them talked and ate. Zuikaku boasted that Shokaku's cooking was the best in the world. Yuudachi and Harman had something to say, and the three of them argued, which made Shokaku's face turn red. He severely hit Zuikaku, his good-for-nothing sister, which made everyone smile knowingly.

After the lively meal, Zhou He divided the tents into groups: the two Cleveland sisters took Bush, Bismarck took the two Iron-Blooded men, the Shokaku sisters took Yudachi, and Tosa and Jintou shared a room.

Zhou He lives in a single room by himself.

This arrangement aroused Yuuri's dissatisfaction, and she went straight into Zhou He's tent. As a result, after a lot of noise and today's exercise, Yuuri fell asleep amid Zhou He's muttering.

"Sorry to trouble you."

After carrying Yudachi out of the tent and handing him to Shokaku, Zhou He also felt tired. He sat by the campfire and added firewood to the fire. As time passed, everyone went into the tent to rest one after another. In the end, only Tosa and Bismarck were left sitting outside with Zhou He.

Not long after, footsteps and the sound of water were heard in the darkness. Zhou He looked up and saw silver hair that was extremely eye-catching in the dark. Kursk, dressed in a gray tight hunter's outfit, walked out of the darkness and sat by the campfire. He took out a cloth bag filled with wild delicacies from his waist and handed it to Zhou He.

"You are indeed here."

Tosa looked at Kursk. When she saw that Zhou He was taking no time to rest, she guessed that Zhou He would definitely ask Kursk to come over to deal with what was happening in the mountains and forests.

"Ah."

Kursk responded calmly. Bismarck, who was also sitting by the campfire, observed her. Even though they were next to the campfire, he could still feel Kursk's coldness, which made him reject others and not want to talk to others.

"Thank you for your help in the dark all the time."

Bismarck started talking. Kursk looked sideways at the fire, the fire reflected in his eyes. Kursk looked at the iron-blooded chancellor, whose temperament was so calm and reliable that it could make people relax their vigilance. He then shifted his gaze to the bonfire and said, "I am only following the commander's orders."

"Really? Now you have three choices, rest with me and the Avatar, keep watch outside, or spend the night with the commander."

Tosa curled her lips. Kursk ignored them but obeyed Zhou He's orders strictly, which made her feel a little unhappy.

Kursk didn't answer, but turned his head to look at Zhou He, who was washing the wild delicacies with the firelight after fetching stream water. Zhou He noticed something and smiled, "The fire is just right, and there are still some ingredients left. I'll make a pot of soup now, and you can drink some to warm yourself up."

"Ah."

Kursk lowered her head, her bangs covering her face, and the three of them couldn't see her expression. Tosa snorted lightly, stood up, and went into his tent with a knife slung over his shoulder. Bismarck also stood up when he saw this: "I look forward to seeing you on the battlefield."

After Bismarck left, Zhou He spoke up: "Don't pay attention to what they say. I heard from Kaga that there might be bears here. Have you seen any?"

"So far, no signs of bears have been found near the port area."

Kursk seemed very serious when it came to his job. Zhou He breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "It looks like I can sleep well tonight."

"..."

Kursk looked at him and hummed, "It seems so."

Chapter 97: Experiments and Surprises

It was Zhou He’s first time sleeping in a sleeping bag while camping in the wild, and he didn’t sleep very well. He woke up twice.

The first time he woke up, Kursk was resting against the door of the tent. The second time he woke up, Kursk was lying on his side on the other side of the tent. Zhou He thought he was dreaming and turned his head to sleep. When he woke up again, it was already bustling outside.

"I still slept restlessly."

Zhou He rubbed his left temple, sat up and crawled out of the sleeping bag. When he walked out of the tent, he glanced at the sleeping bags stacked in the corner for Kursk, which made him twitch his lips - the quality of the sleeping bags given by the system is needless to say, but the problem is that the ship girls of factions like the Northern Alliance, Iron Blood, and Sakura Empire always have some features such as horns and tails.

Last night he saw Kursk looking at the sleeping bag for a long time but couldn't find a way to stuff his tail in, so he could only turn sideways and leave his tail outside, which didn't keep him warm.

Shaking off the image of the growing grass, Zhou He bent down and got out of the tent. It was still light outside, and people from other tents came out one after another to move around. The bonfire was still burning. Hermione was boiling water. Noticing the movement, she came to Zhou He with a smile: "Good morning, Commander. Did you rest well yesterday?"

"is acceptable."

The cool breeze stung his cheeks. Zhou He rubbed his hands and looked at the few ingredients left over from yesterday: "Let's have some hot soup this morning. We'll cook after we find the next campsite."

"Ah."

Hermione had the same idea, but when she got up today, she noticed that there were a lot more wild vegetables in the food preservation area, and the bonfire had been refilled with firewood. After thinking about it, she asked, "Did Miss Kursk rest in the commander's tent last night?"

"..."

The maid looked very easygoing, but her eyes were staring at Zhou He seriously, making him feel less sleepy. She nodded, "I guess so. I went to bed early and didn't notice her movements."

Feeling that this topic was not suitable for a long conversation, Zhou Hemeng got through it and turned his attention to Miss Tosa with multiple big tails. She was sitting cross-legged in meditation beside the pond and looked more deserted than usual. Fortunately, Zuikaku was different today and did not bother Tosa. Instead, he and Yudachi and Bush gathered by the pond with wooden spears, apparently wanting to hunt a few more fish for breakfast.

The wildest episode yet.

Seeing that Zhou He didn't want to talk more, Hermione didn't ask any further questions. She turned around, took out a towel from the suitcase, took the hot water off the stove, adjusted the temperature with cold water to a suitable temperature, and brought it to Zhou He to help him wash.

Soon, Zhou He sat by the campfire and greeted and chatted with other people who got up to exercise. After discussing ideas with Hermione and Xianghe, he cooked a pot of nutritious wild white fish soup. Out of consideration, he also cooked half a pot of rice.

The sun rose high in the sky while he was dawdling. After packing up the kitchen utensils and putting out the campfire, Zhou He waved his hand and put the tents, sleeping bags and other "system products" into the warehouse. Although his ship girl did not have ship equipment space, he had a portable warehouse when he went out, which was generally convenient.

Of course, he also received a lot of admiration along the way.

……

Leaving the rocky area of ​​the creek with a wide view, we entered a mountain road covered with weeds and dense trees, without even any animal trails left.

Zhou He originally thought that he would be able to see different kinds of forests if he went deeper into the mountains, such as a maple forest here and a peach forest there, which were colorful and beautiful. However, as he walked along and looked around, he only saw a large area of ​​wild bamboo at the foot of the mountain, which made him realize that the system was not yet humane enough.

The deeper they went, the more complicated the road conditions became. There were also many novel natural products and animal communities that could not be seen in the port area. Zhou He observed the environment and played with the little ones in amazement, while thinking about where they could be transformed into residences. Bismarck also disappeared from the periphery of the team from time to time to look for the secret base she imagined, but the island was all "pure natural" creations, and there was no such thing as a hidden base.

The morning passed quickly as they stopped and walked here. At noon when the sun was at its brightest, the group came out of the mountain area and came to the large patch of sloping grass in the "map" that Changdao had drawn for Zhou He.

"Why does this place look a bit like our port area?"

Walking out of the woods, Zhou He stood at the highest point with a telescope and looked down. He saw many rabbits running around in the grass, as well as several red foxes that were suspected to be accomplices of "Akagi". In addition, the terrain all the way down here can be processed into the shape of terraces, and the distance between each step can be increased, which means a large area of ​​usable construction land.

"very good."

Zhou He put down the telescope, feeling that the hard work of climbing the mountain was worth it. This slope was extremely large, and at least a village that could accommodate more than a hundred people could be built here. After the construction was completed, a road could be opened from the mountain area directly to the headquarters, and then the jagged mountains could be developed bit by bit around this road, with bridges built and holes dug where necessary.

This major project will take at least 1 to 2 years.

Zhou He couldn't even imagine how lively this island would be in the future.

"Do you want to keep walking?"

Zuikaku waited for Zhou He to finish his survey before approaching to ask, "It was relatively easy to get here. As you know, Commander, there was no way to get through on the other side of the island. We had to go through the mountainous area closer to the island, which was much more troublesome than this side."

"No, let's stop here this time."

Zhou He thought about it. He brought his family out for fun under the guise of "camping". Three days and two nights would be enough. If he went deeper and spent two or three days, it wouldn't be called fun. On the other hand, he could just take a few people out for investigation after some time.

"Humph."

Hearing his words, Ruihe raised his eyebrows and laughed twice. That brilliant smile made Zhou He feel a little strange: "What are you laughing at?"

"I laughed at the commander for planning his itinerary before he left, but then he made some last-minute changes halfway through the trip."

Zuikaku explained with a smile. Zhou He stroked his hair after hearing it, but he didn't feel embarrassed. "As the saying goes, plans can't keep up with changes. As long as Zuikaku doesn't mind, I can take Kursk with you to go back from there."

"No, no, no, can't I just stop laughing?"

Ruihe was shocked when she heard that and quickly waved her hands to correct her attitude. She was really afraid of Zhou He's sudden impulse and really going back that way. Even if she could accept it, others would definitely not be able to accept Zhou He being away from home for a few days.

She didn't want to be tortured by everyone in the port area.

"I still like your rebellious look."

Zhou He didn't know why she was so panicked, but the timing was just right and he said the lines he had always wanted to say.