Daily life with the ship girl

Li Ran didn't know about the discussions in Lexington and Saratoga. He and Shengwang came to the vicinity of the island lake.

Fame looked at the ruins next to her. They were not damaged at all and were specially protected. She finally couldn't help asking:

"Admiral, how long do we have to protect the scene?"

"Leave it alone. The fox will always show its tail."

Li Ran looked at the collapsed house. It was Pinghai's favorite wooden house. The assassination happened here a month ago. A hint of coldness flashed in his eyes. This was Pinghai's favorite place, she said.

Sheng Wang looked at the neatly-kept vegetable garden next to the collapsed house, which was now overgrown with weeds. Her thoughts went back to that terrifying day a month ago...

Li Ran's gaze also rested on the abandoned vegetable garden, and he couldn't help but think of what happened a month ago.

……

A month ago, Xiguang Island just ushered in the end of summer. The sunlight was not too glaring that day. After experiencing the deep-sea attack on the east coast, Li Ran, based on the advice of many ship girls, formulated a one-month training plan, and no one had a holiday.

This plan was the beginning of the first unexpected incident since the establishment of the Xiguang Garrison, the [Training Month Incident].

On the last day of the training month, Li Ran decided to hold a grand banquet to give the ship girls some relaxation.

However, that afternoon, a lost fleet requested to enter the Xiguang Island dock for supplies.

Li Ran thought carefully and felt that there was no danger.

Therefore, he asked Richelieu, who was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, to host the reception.

In the evening, Li Ran went to the island lake alone to attend a banquet, but found that someone was following him.

However, he was not panicked because there were outsiders present. At that time, the Intelligence Department, under the instructions of Minister Helena, had dispatched Leipzig and Emden, who were the best at finding the enemy, to protect Li Ran at all times. As to why Emden and Leipzig recognized him as the admiral in just one month, that is a story for later, so we will not discuss it for now.

To get back to the point, Li Ran felt that Emden and Leipzig were always protecting him, so even if outsiders came, he didn't think there would be any danger for him to go to the island lake.

However, this negligence almost caused Li Ran to lose his life.

Li Ran just felt that someone was following him at the time, but there shouldn't be any ship girls in that fleet, so he was not worried that he would be in danger.

However, this realization made Li Ran subconsciously ignore the fact that it wasn't just the ship girls who could cause harm to the admiral.

Li Ran was still walking slowly. The setting sun in the evening was beautiful. Under the light, the street lamps on the side of the street were not yet on. He held his head with his hands and felt in a good mood. He whistled.

Li Ran walked like this and unknowingly arrived near the lake in the island, but found that the ship girls had not returned yet. He sighed, and then walked to the wooden house that Pinghai usually built to take care of the vegetable garden. He found that the wooden house was still tidy, and many places were decorated with care. He smiled and murmured:

"Ping Hai, I can't tell that she likes this place very much. No wonder she rarely goes back to the tutelary fort. I have to talk to her properly next time."

He muttered to himself, then picked up a notebook on the table. The notebook was titled "Daily Care Rules for the Vegetable Garden". He flipped it open and took a look, then found Pinghai's handwriting was very cute, small round characters. He took a look and found that these were some of Pinghai's daily details of taking care of the vegetable garden. One of the notes read:

[Training month, day 29. Today's weather is very good. Everyone has been working very hard since the training month started. I have less time to come back to look after the team, but fortunately, the training month will be over in two days. The cabbage seeds I got last time have grown. Although I am a bit busy with training every day, I can harvest them after the training month is over. That's great, O(∩_∩)O. I must let the admiral taste the vinegar cabbage. By the way, Helena is on a business trip, but Emden and Leipzig are responsible for training everyone. They are also very reliable people. I must work harder in the future! ]

After reading it, Li Ran felt a little warm in his heart. He knew that there were more ship girls in the port area now, and the time he spent alone with a ship girl became less. Even Bismarck, with whom he had confirmed a romantic relationship, rejected all of Li Ran's dates on the grounds that she could not be treated specially because of him during training.

However, Li Ran was not angry. Although he felt a little disappointed, the training month was his own idea. Thinking so, he got up from the table, opened the door of the wooden house, and walked to the vegetable garden behind the house.

Li Ran found that the vegetable garden was not too big, but it was growing well, but a little dry. He smiled:

"Training is really busy. I haven't been to the fields for a long time."

Li Ran rolled up his sleeves and walked to the faucet. After all, this place was originally intended to be a resort, so some daily living facilities had been set up by the goblins. He gently picked up the sprayer and was about to walk into the field.

Suddenly, he felt a chill on his back. This was an instinct he had developed after being trained in the army, and this instinct had been inadvertently strengthened after practicing boxing.

So, his first reaction was to fall forward.

"boom!"

The gunshot rang out like thunder, and Li Ran did not have extra time to think, because it could be said that he was extremely lucky to dodge the shot.

So, he had no time to detect the enemy's position and continued to roll over to the side of the wooden house.

However, the other party was obviously well prepared. Today, a loud bang from a cannon directly hit the wooden house. The explosion tore the fragile wooden house apart, wood chips flew everywhere, and the air wave blew him away.

Then, before Li Ran could recover from the explosion, the tinnitus made him feel nauseous, the scenery in front of him was blurred, his face was slightly distorted because of pain, and then he raised his head.

I watched a figure walking out of the forest step by step. As it was facing the setting sun, I could only see a blurry shadow.

Since Li Ran has undergone military training, he has a certain ability to perceive danger. This strange guy, no, this guy must be a ship girl!

"Admiral? It's surprising, isn't it? Your port area is more lax than I expected."

The other party spoke very coldly, then adjusted the muzzle of the ship's main gun, and then a smell of gunpowder came out, making him open his eyes wide in horror.

However, the first person to fall was not Li Ran, but the other party.

The enemy's artillery fire finally hit, but missed the target because Li Ran saw Bismarck's [AR-196 seaplane reconnaissance plane] and the two 20-guns on its wings fired wildly.

The opponent was not careful for a moment and missed the best opportunity to assassinate Li Ran, and it took time for the ship girls to reload their artillery.

Just now, this strange ship girl used the secondary guns to blow up the wooden house. She thought she could kill Li Ran in one fell swoop by switching back to the main guns, but Bismarck always had a habit. At dusk, she knew that neither Lexington nor Saratoga could launch carrier-based aircraft to ensure air supremacy.

And after experiencing the U47 infiltration incident, she paid special attention to Li Ran's safety in the evening, so her reconnaissance plane could often be seen beside Li Ran in the evening.

This time, the tacit understanding between Li Ran and Bismarck saved Li Ran's life.

The strange ship girl covered her ship uniform, she smiled bitterly, and then said:

"Li Ran, they will come again. I am just a victim. I am free this time."

After saying that, Li Ran watched the other party tear off his ship equipment and then fell down.

The setting sun was as red as blood, and this scene made Li Ran unable to let go for a long time.

Only the smell of gunpowder in the air and the screams of the late-arriving ship girls became the most vivid scene in Li Ran's memory a month ago.

……

"Reputation, the assassination has nothing to do with Sihai Trading Company."

"I don't know. Since the master has doubts, no matter what decision the master makes, as a maid, I will support it."

"That's it."

Li Ran smiled bitterly. Why did the ship girl do such a self-harming act in the assassination a month ago? He couldn't let go of the way she tore off her ship uniform and fell in front of him.

More importantly, the other party seemed to be the same as Pachina, assassinating him just to tell him something.

So, who are they?

Just when Li Ran was immersed in the assassination case during training month, Pinghai and Emden came back from training and greeted him from afar.

Li Ran came back to his senses, looked at the burning clouds, and said to the reputation:

"Helena will be back soon."

"Well, I'll probably be back in a few days."

"I wonder if she can find any clues. The enemy seems to have become more cunning. I guess I shouldn't open it to the outside world."

"If the master wants to go back on his word, even those governors can't stop him now."

"Yes, it's because I was kidnapped with such trust that I hate these things. Forget it, everyone is here. It's useless to indulge in memories. Help me clean up this place tomorrow. Pinghai should like it here very much. I don't want to see her cry again."

"understood."

Chapter 236: Another Great Victory

Li Ran watched Ping Hai and the others coming over, and then went to greet them with Sheng Wang.

Pinghai glanced at her destroyed cabin and a hint of loss flashed in her eyes.

"Ping Hai." Li Ran obviously noticed Ping Hai's mood. She reached out and rubbed her head, then said in the private channel between the admiral and the ship girl:

"You have to be the first to be transformed. Don't cry, or the fireflies will laugh at you."

"I know, but why is the admiral here?" Pinghai nodded obediently, then felt a little surprised.

"Nothing. I swear I didn't come back to look for clues."

"Hey?" Leipzig smiled somewhat ambiguously.

"Hey, what's up? By the way, did you find anything new today?"

Emden knew what Li Ran was referring to. She pushed up her glasses and reported:

"We have a complete understanding of the details of the caravans entering and leaving the three islands, ABC, and no major problems have occurred."

Leipzig added:

"That means that fleet is indeed from Sihai Trading Company, right? And that nameless ship girl is also from Sihai Trading Company, right?"

After hearing the reports from Emden and Leipzig, Li Ran felt that Sihai Trading Company was really framed this time. After thinking for a while, he continued:

"What you said was no problem is the biggest problem. I told you, when I was assassinated, there was gunfire in front of me, which means that there was more than one person who assassinated me."

"If the Admiral says so, does that mean he has found a clue?"

"No, but Helena brought back a lot of intelligence. Among them, the only one that showed no abnormalities was the Sihai Merchants' fleet. There was no problem with the list, and there was no problem with the items seized that day. It is certain that the two assassins entered the island on one of the merchant ships, but the other party sent an unknown ship girl and humans, so we can only wait for Helena to return from Qiyun City."

Li Ran finished speaking, and then looked at everyone in silence. There was still no clue about the assassination case during the training month. The assassin committed suicide at that time, and the suspicious points were ruled out. Moreover, Li Ran had no choice but to put all the blame on Sihai Trading Company. After all, if he just forgave Sihai Trading Company like this, the other party would definitely be alert.

Therefore, Li Ran had no choice but to break up.

"Admiral, why did you agree to the request of the seven governors?"

On the way back, Emden couldn't help but ask.

"Special zone operations are helpful for us to investigate the situation in the unknown waters. Besides, doesn't Helena often report unusual movements in the garrison when she goes out to gather intelligence? I think the seven governors are planning to march into the unknown waters now."

"However, the seven deep-sea flagships in the known waters are still a potential danger. Are the seven governors too impulsive to advance so rashly?"

"I don't know either. I always feel that these seven old foxes must have their own plans. The unknown sea has always been mysterious. Without sufficient interests, they would not give me such great power."

When Leipzig heard what Li Ran said, she seemed to understand, and then asked:

"Then why is it the Admiral?"

Li Ran thought for a moment and glanced towards the east coast. The clouds were already as red as blood. He said slowly:

"Maybe it's because of the Death Route. This route is the only golden route closest to the unknown waters. If this place can really develop in the future, then the economic level of the Pacific Theater and the marginal areas of the Atlantic Theater will be developed. It will be very convenient to enter the unknown waters from here in the future."

Shengyu heard the hidden anger in Li Ran's words, and a hint of murderous intent flashed in her eyes. This was the second time she felt angry.

Li Ran realized that he might lose his composure if he continued talking, so he took a deep breath and said:

"never mind."

Li Ran said, and then sneered in his heart:

But by then, I don’t know who will take advantage of whom.

When we returned to the garrison, not all crew members were present for dinner. After all, there were still three islands to manage. There were only six ship girls on Xiguang Island: Lexington, Renown, Saratoga, Pinghai, Emden, and Leipzig. The others were stationed on the three islands. Now the port was very busy.

For dinner, Shengwang wanted to go into the kitchen, but was unanimously opposed by everyone.

Li Ran looked at the lost-hearted Shengyu and felt a little sympathetic for a moment, but this was normal life. Although there were many troublesome things, everyone could relax once they entered the garrison. He thought it was a good feeling.

Lexington was in charge of dinner.

During the meal, Li Ran briefly explained his analysis and then asked Saratoga:

"How are the resources in the warehouse area doing now?"

"Because the construction of the coastal defense long-range support artillery facilities and the coastal defense carrier-based aircraft long-range support facilities is about to be completed, the consumption of the four resources has slowed down. Now there are about 30,000 units of each of the four resources. However, the shortage of the transformation core has been exposed. It is expected that within this year, the gap in the transformation core will be quite large. There is also the issue of working capital."

Lexington was somewhat helpless. Her sister had matured a lot after these two months. It could be said that she had tried too hard. She coughed and said:

"Let's talk about work later. The food is getting cold."

Li Ran scratched his head and said:

"That's right, Jia Jia, let's eat first."

……

After dinner, Li Ran sat on the sofa in a daze. The living room became a little deserted. Shengwang was quietly doing the housework. Emden and Leipzig went out to patrol at night, and Lexington and Gaga were responsible for handling the paperwork.

Pinghai was responsible for making tea for Li Ran.

This kind of life was the first time that Li Ran enjoyed the benefits of being an admiral.

It’s not that Li Ran has nothing to do, it’s just because the ship girls all know that Li Ran is the only one responsible for formulating the general direction of the port’s development and negotiating with the seven governors.

Therefore, the ship girls would try their best to reduce Li Ran's workload at night.

Li Ran drank the tea that Ping Hai brewed, then thought for a while before saying to Shengyu and Ping Hai:

"Pinghai, reputation, I want to go to Dajian."