Revisiting Azur Lane

Zhou He rubbed his hair which had become very wild due to sleeping with wet hair, went to the mirror outside the bathroom to look at himself, made a scissors hand gesture and clicked his head twice, and finally washed up with a smile.

After changing clothes and going out, as the sun had not risen yet, the brightness of the dining space on the first floor separated by glass and bookshelves was not very good. The floor was covered with beige square tiles, and the whole thing even looked a bit gloomy. Zhou He felt very similar to the command building where he had just come from, and it was so quiet that it seemed as if he was the only one in the world.

"What should I say today?"

Zhou He's room was only about ten steps away from the main door. He stroked his growing beard with one hand. He acted quite cool last night, and it was time to pay the bill today. However, just as he turned the corner at the door, he was startled by a white figure standing silently outside. He almost took a step back, and then he realized it was Xuefeng. He breathed a sigh of relief and greeted him, "Good morning, Xuefeng."

"morning."

Xuefeng tilted her head slightly, her delicate and cold face fluttering with the hair on her forehead, her eyes faintly revealing a hint of tangled emotions. She was silent for a moment before speaking: "I have been to many experimental worlds, but I have never met someone like you who can command different camps... How should I call you?"

"call?"

Zhou He felt a little uncomfortable being stared at by her, and thought it was a big deal. The last question made him want to laugh for some reason. It seemed that Xuefeng's true nature had not been completely forgotten, and there was still a little bit of tsundere element left. However, this question was indeed worth thinking about. Unlike the ship girls he built himself and those dropped by the Sirens, it was a bit difficult for him to ask the ship girls who came into contact with him from the outside world like Xuefeng and even Akagi to call him "Commander".

He remembered that there seemed to be quite a lot of honorific titles in the Sakura Empire?

For example, he liked the sound of Yamashiro calling "Your Highness" the most. Even through the screen, he felt itchy in his heart and wanted to keep a Yamashiro by his side, so he spread his hands to Xuefeng and suggested: "Xuefeng, you can call me Your Highness, with my name in front, and it's best to use the pronunciation of the Sakura Empire."

Since he can understand multiple languages ​​now, sometimes he has to use this advantage to experience exotic flavors.

“…Your interests are really peculiar.”

Xuefeng felt a little emotional because of the additional conditions Zhou He added. It was hard for her to figure out why Zhou He, a native of Donghuang, wanted to hear others call him in the language of Sakura Empire.

"I'm trying to keep up with the international standards! I need to learn from and refer to the best places in other countries."

Zhou He is now very good at making excuses for himself. He learned this skill inadvertently after coming here. Before crossing over, he was a well-known honest man in the area. He always quarreled with his family because he was too honest.

"understood."

Xuefeng could more or less sense that Zhou He was different from the human high-level officials she had met before. He couldn't be said to be simple, but she didn't seem to have any malice or evil thoughts towards them. He was a very pure guy.

She took a deep breath, lowered her head, turned around and walked out: "Well, Your Highness Zhou He, I heard Zuikaku and the others mention that you also came from another world and know a lot about us and the Sirens. Do you know the reason for the changes in me?"

"I'm not sure, but according to my inference, Xuefeng and you should have broken through your own safety shackles and stepped into the unknown territory."

Zhou He didn't know what the reason for meta was, but judging from their extraordinary strength and the energy leakage that occurred when the system treated Xuefeng the day before yesterday, it can be judged that the metamorphosis of the ship girls is caused by a huge explosion of energy or even mutation in the body. Maintaining the balance between energy and body can ensure mental stability. If the energy of one side is ahead, it will go out of control.

He explained his speculation, and Xuefeng listened quietly until the two were about to approach the command building, then he suddenly spoke: "During my drifting, I also saw many ship girls similar to me. Most of them fought alone, and a few formed a group to keep each other warm. They were so powerful, and the world they were in and their destination were also destroyed."

"Siren is so powerful. Facing such a strong enemy, Your Highness Zhou He, do you have the courage to fight against it?"

Xuefeng's tone became heavy. The experiences in the 'past' were too painful for them, and they even needed to actively forget them before they could move forward.

"Of course, for us now, Siren is a mountain that we cannot climb, but the girls in my family are getting stronger all the time - I can ensure the stability of the current port area, and they are the symbol of the future strength of the port area."

Zhou He doesn't care much about how powerful the Sirens are. After all, when playing the game, the girls in the port area have a level cap, but he doesn't. As long as there is enough time, every ship girl in his family can be comparable to or even surpass the meta series of ship girls. A group of one, two, five, or ten meta ship girls cannot confront the Sirens head-on, but his family can mass-produce dozens or hundreds of them.

When he has hundreds of ship girls of that strength, it will be the Sirens who will be sweating profusely.

Sirens, good Richard, bad omens, alien enemies and the like, to him, they are all things that can be easily defeated and are not worth mentioning.

"That's what I said."

After speaking his lofty words, Zhou He suddenly turned around and looked at Xuefeng, rubbing his hands: "Xuefeng, can we still contact those meta ship girls you mentioned? Can we ask them to come over and help hold the line?"

"..."

Xuefeng was shocked by Zhou He's confidence and arrogance in the previous second, and in the next second she witnessed his adaptability. However, it was incredible that when facing such a Zhou He, she could clearly feel that the shadow that was oppressing her heart had faded a lot. Maybe this was the sense of security that came from finding someone to rely on.

However, she couldn't help with this matter even if she wanted to, because the particularly powerful ship girls she met all had their own obsessions and pursuits. What's more, the barrier between the world she was in now and other worlds was very solid. Her ship equipment was not of the information-specialized type, so the message could not be transmitted at all.

"Things really aren't that simple."

Zhou He licked his lips. He was indeed not good at building relationships with others. He just had to wait patiently for the system's "Followers" function to continue promoting and find a meta ship girl that suits their family.

"That's enough!"

Xuefeng walked into the back door of the headquarters first, and using the stairs to slightly narrow the height difference between him and Zhou He, she tilted her head and looked at him: "I'm right here."

"Yeah... that's right."

Zhou He thought about the tragic scene that Xuefeng had experienced along the way. If he was conscious, would it be very different?

"Are you looking down on me!?"

Xuefeng saw through his suspicion, his eyes slightly widened, and he pointed his right finger at Zhou He's face and said angrily: "Give me the most dangerous and difficult task today. I want you to see my true strength!"

"what?"

Zhou He was quite surprised. Xuefeng's reaction was a bit like the Xuefeng in his memory. Could it be that the more familiar a person is, the more he can see her emotions beneath her cold mask?

Make a note of this knowledge point first, and try it out when a new meta ship girl joins you in the future.

Thinking of this, he smiled and stretched out his hand to press down Xuefeng's palm: "So, I really need your help."

Zhou He asked Xuefeng about the power of the ship and whether she could tow the corpses of warships larger than light cruisers. This made Xuefeng blush with anger. She was a legitimate military honor ship and had participated in countless battles of all sizes. She had also witnessed the destruction of the world several times. Now Zhou He actually asked her if she could tow a light cruiser?

"Are you stupid? Even if it's an aircraft carrier, I can tow it back for you!"

Xuefeng was really angry. Tugging is a capability that a destroyer must master. How could she not know it?

"Is it that amazing? I see."

Zhou He had already been trained by Harmanman in speech skills. At this moment, he felt that Xuefeng's voice was like she was acting like a spoiled child to him, but he couldn't neglect his work. He patted her shoulder with a serious expression and said, "Then, the task of bringing the combat tugboat back this time will be handed over to you, Xuefeng."

"Humph!"

Xuefeng stomped his feet and walked away angrily, leaving Zhou He clicking his tongue behind him. Although his words were a bit intentional, could his words really be so irritating?

Passing the kitchen and coming to the hall, there were already people moving around there. Hamanman was sitting on the sofa as usual. After seeing him, she stood up, stuck out her tongue and made a face at him, then went upstairs quickly.

"Commander, what did you do? Xuefeng was also angry when he came over."

Cleveland was wearing tight sportswear and doing stretching exercises before exercise. He glanced at Zhou He and asked curiously.

"I'm already reflecting."

Zhou He twisted the hat on his head, found a place to sit down and sighed: "I realized a long time ago that my emotional intelligence and observation skills were not enough, and now they are even less."

"Oh, isn't it good?"

Cleveland was a little surprised. At least she didn't encounter any communication barriers with Zhou He. Ah, she thought of how Zhou He addressed her when they first met.

Standing up and scratching his hair, Cleveland spoke up to help analyze the situation: "If there really is a problem in this regard, it can only be attributed to your habit of saying whatever comes to your mind, Commander. Um... probably."

As she spoke, she felt that Zhou He's habit seemed to be an advantage. He would talk to them about everything, which indirectly avoided any misunderstandings between them and Zhou He, and they didn't have to guess too much about Zhou He's thoughts.

"Yeah, I still haven't gotten rid of many bad habits."

Zhou He nodded and decided to use less provocation on his own ship girls in the future. If he met an introverted ship girl, she might misunderstand him.

"Ahahaha, why is the Commander reflecting on himself so early in the morning?"

The conversation here was overheard by the sharp-eared people. Laughter came from the stairwell from far away. Zhou He turned sideways and saw Zuikaku jumping down from the staircase in three steps with great interest. After landing, she swung her ponytail very coolly, leaned on the back of the sofa chair, and looked at Zhou He with a smile in a half-lying position: "The commander must have done something wrong, otherwise he wouldn't be so reflective. Is it Yudachi?"

"Yudachi? I think you need to reflect on yourself, too, Yukikaze."

Zhou He pointed at Ruihe's head. What on earth was this guy thinking? If he had done something wrong to Yudachi, he would definitely have to sleep until noon today.

"Ok?"

Zuikaku didn't react for a moment: "Ah, it seems that Yukikaze lives with you, the commander, in the new dormitory building. She just joined the port area not long ago. Commander, please don't bully her. Be careful that Tosa will chase you with a knife and chop your ass."

"Tosa heard this, and the person she chased and chopped is most likely you."

Zhou He inexplicably felt that Zuikaku had the temperament of a gossipy leader, and he leaned back on the sofa strategically: "Your power was severely reduced, so I discussed with Xuefeng and assigned combat tasks, asking her to tow back as many defeated Siren warships as possible."

"That's it? What's our mission?"

Zuikaku had no objection to letting Yukikaze go to tow the boat. After all, when the target it was escorting was damaged, the destroyer had the obligation to provide rescue and tow the battleship back to the port for repairs. Even though Zhou He had always emphasized that Yukikaze's combat effectiveness was very high, in her mind there was nothing special about it.

"Simple, long-range bombing of the mass-produced Siren. When attacking, try to choose a capital ship that is as close as possible."

Zhou He touched the back of his hand and continued, "After Xuefeng rushes out of the safe area, you will be responsible for providing fire cover for him."

"It's really simple."

Zuikaku agreed to everything. Jarvis, who came out of the pet room after feeding the red fox, glanced over here and went back into the infirmary. After a moment, he walked out of the hall towards the restaurant and passed by Hermione who was carrying a plate.

"If it's just Xuefeng, I'm afraid it won't be able to complete the hook-line towing of the large warship. Let's go and help."

Cleveland joined the conversation: "Even if Xuefeng is really powerful, she is alone and needs help."

"That makes sense. This plan still needs to be revised and updated."

Zhou He fantasized about it in his mind and realized that it was too difficult to let Xuefeng to tow the boat alone. At least there should be someone who can run fast to pull the strings, block the view, and provide fire cover.

In this case, if you want to tow back the Siren battleship, you must first have a very good opportunity, at least the surrounding Sirens cannot gather quickly.

"From the north? No, let's start from the east."

Zhou He opened the system map and began to check. After seeing the attraction of the snow wind at that time, the number of sirens he could observe in the east and north was obviously less than that in the southeast. Starting from here, he should be able to collect a lot of the necessary resources unexpectedly.

"Commander, please eat."

Hermione heard Zhou He's voice outside the door. When she approached, she found that he was thinking and muttering to himself. She put the plate aside and reminded him quietly.

"Hermione is really partial. She only prepares the commander's portion every time."

Zuikaku complained.

"I am the commander's personal maid, so naturally I only need to take care of the commander."

Hermione didn't care at all, and reported to Zhou He who had come to his senses: "Ms. Xuefeng looks much better today than yesterday, and more energetic. Did the commander do something?"

"I think I pissed her off."

Zhou He hummed in response, while Hermione smiled faintly: "The commander always has a way to mobilize our positive emotions."

"I am your commander after all."

Zhou He's mouth twitched slightly, revealing a smile.

I have to admit, being praised is really addictive.

Chapter 119 Game

Getting up early has its benefits. Usually the girls in the port area have their own things to do, but in the morning most of them will be in and out of the command building lobby, so Zhou He has more opportunities to communicate with them.

For example, for today's action plan, before the meeting was officially held, everyone had already learned the basic content and arrangements. However, they had all eaten breakfast and gathered in the lobby of the command building after morning exercises, waiting for the meeting to be held.

"Everyone should be familiar with the situation of this battle, so I won't repeat it."

Zhou He stood up and walked to the center of the hall, his eyes sweeping around the living room. Kursk leaned against the wall, and even Akashi stayed because everyone was present and he felt embarrassed to leave alone. It could be said that this was the first meeting with everyone present.

After a short pause, Zhou He retracted his gaze and continued speaking: "The core plan of this operation is to destroy the armed forces of the Siren battleship as much as possible and drag it back. In order to ensure the division of labor, I will organize a temporary team. Listen carefully."

According to the priority of the operation, Zhou He first clearly put the four aircraft carriers together, referred to as the aircraft carrier formation, which was responsible for the first air strike and the subsequent air supremacy and tactical cover.

Next is the heavy firepower group, including six battlecruisers, Kaga, Tosa, Hood, Bismarck, Hutten and Jean Bart, who are responsible for destroying the Siren's vanguard fleet as soon as possible during the air strike and providing cover for subsequent operations.

Then came the escort group, with the Avatar as the flagship, including Yudachi, Ayanami, Haguro, Z23, Kursk, Count Spee, Lingmin, Cleveland and Montpellier, a total of ten people. They were responsible for going out to deal with the Sirens with remaining combat effectiveness, and for delaying time when the Sirens came to help.

The last is the logistics team, which is also the tugboat team, consisting of Xuefeng, Hermione, Javelin, Jarvis, Enterprise, Harman, and Bush, a total of seven people.

U556 was assigned directly by Bismarck, and Akashi stayed with him to look after the house.

"The scope of this operation is on the east side of the island. After arriving at the scene, first observe the situation in the north and south, and find the weakest point to launch an attack."

After calling the roll, Zhou He continued, "During the battle, Shokaku, you will pass on intelligence to Bismarck, Shentong, and Xuefeng at any time. I will keep in touch with Shokaku to ensure that the information we exchange is timely."

After that, he smiled and said, "If you don't remember your team, I can repeat it again."

"commander."

Bismarck raised his hand: "What should we do if those Siren cadres show up?"

"Given their current location, it will take at least two hours to provide support. You have plenty of time to retreat. Remember, our goal this time is not to annihilate the enemy, but to recover resources."

Zhou He gave an affirmative answer and instructions.

Bismarck started it all, and the others also gave their own questions, which were basically about checking for omissions in unexpected situations. The team responsible for the tugboats had the most problems. It was not that they were dissatisfied with their positions, but most of them were destroyers, and except for Yukikaze, the others might not be able to tow back the bodies of the battleships and aircraft carriers together.

In response, Zhou He asked them to find a heavy or light cruiser nearby to tow back the ship, and the escort team would help provide cover while they were towing the ship.

They are taking a slow and steady approach, with systematic cognitive barriers in place. They can launch attacks at any time and have the absolute initiative, so there is no need to rush, unless the Siren withdraws from the area where the port is located.