Daily life with the ship girl

This plan was the origin of the Black Cross Mercenary Group that was later established.

Along the way, their team of five free ship girls passed by many garrisons and received many invitations, but Nuremberg rejected them all.

After returning to the Poseidon Islands in the Atlantic Ocean, she went to the Atlantic Military Police Headquarters to register the mercenary group, and thus the inconspicuous Black Cross Mercenary Group was established.

Relying on Tirpitz's reputation as "The Lonely Queen of the North", admirals came to visit her in an endless stream, but unfortunately they all returned empty-handed. There were a few admirals who were more tough, but unfortunately they were almost scared to death by a notice from Governor Wang An of the Pacific Theater.

The content of the notice is roughly as follows: The ship girls of the Black Cross Mercenary Group have the right to freely enter and exit the Atlantic waters, and the ship girls of the group cannot be obstructed from performing their missions for any reason.

As a result, the admirals gave up the plan to recruit the ship girls of the Black Cross Mercenary Group, and slowly, the mercenary group's escort commissions increased.

However, there are seldom times when Tirpitz is needed to attack. After all, this place is not close to the deep-sea habitat. The Poseidon Islands are the safest place in the Atlantic Ocean because this island is the location of the headquarters of the KanColle Academy and the Admiral Academy.

Hindenburg was also somewhat tired of these simple escort missions. Although they provided him with no worries about food and clothing, they were too boring.

Nuremberg also knew Hindenburg's temperament.

The northern ship girl is as fierce as fire.

This sentence can be regarded as a joke in this world to describe the northern ship girls.

Therefore, Nuremberg asked the entire regiment to accept a long-distance escort commission across two war zones. The starting point was not the Atlantic Ocean, but the Far East war zone. The escort was a merchant caravan transporting silk, porcelain, and tea. However, Nuremberg discovered through intelligence from U47 that this fleet was actually smuggling ships.

However, they still accepted the mission. In their opinion, whether it was smuggling or not was not their business, and the law did not apply to the ship girl and the admiral.

This garrison was actually involved in smuggling, but Nuremberg didn't want to get involved. She had seen a lot of such things during her years of traveling around the world. After all, what the admiral smuggled was not any dangerous goods or contraband. He just wanted to make money for his own ship girls. She could understand that. Moreover, the admiral of this garrison was a bit pitiful. The ship girls were all unknown ships. No wonder he had to entrust the free ship girls to carry out ocean escort.

However, she did not expect that an accident would occur during this ocean-going merchant caravan escort mission.

In the waters near Xiguang Island, we encountered a large deep-sea force that originally wanted to go to Island C for reinforcement.

That's why the Black Cross Mercenary Group was disbanded later.

The past should have ended here, but then Nuremberg talked about a conversation they had with Tirpitz before they went on this mission.

Chapter 154: Past Events in Warm Harbor (End)

Li Ran noticed that Nuremberg suddenly stopped talking, and he was a little confused:

"Finished?"

"No."

"Oh, you're thirsty, right? Pinghai, make me a pot of tea."

"Oh." Pinghai pouted, but still went to make tea obediently.

Nuremberg seemed a little hesitant. She thought for a moment and said:

"When I talked to Bei Zhai about this escort commission, she had already told me that she was going back to Beihai. But at that time I thought she would wait a few more days, but the day before we were to leave, she left a letter and left."

"Oh, no wonder Sister Nuremberg said that Sister Tirpitz was in the room and didn't want us to disturb her." Z24 remembered that she wanted to say goodbye to Tirpitz before leaving, but was stopped by Nuremberg.

"I'm sorry, Z24. I didn't want to worry everyone at the time, so I concealed the news of Tirpitz going to the North Sea. At that time, I was thinking that after we went to the Far East theater to accept the commission, we would escort to the Nile Port in New England, and then tell you when we completed the mission. At that time, if we transferred to the Warm Port, we should be able to catch up with Tirpitz, but we didn't expect that this mission would fail." Nuremberg touched the hair of Z24 who was sitting next to him with a little apology.

Li Ran wanted to ask more questions, but Pinghai had already brewed the tea and filled Nuremberg's glass.

"Thank you." Nuremberg took it politely, took a sip, and continued:

"Are you wondering what Elbitz said to me before she left? I'm sorry, she didn't tell me anything except that she was going back to the North Sea. However, she mentioned the black cat Oscar and asked me to go to the First Ship Girl Academy when I have time to bring the cat back."

"Oscar?" Li Ran turned to look at Bismarck and found that her hands were trembling slightly. He thought:

Bismarck, you must feel very uncomfortable.

Thinking of this, Li Ran only wanted to know one thing, that is, how long Tirpitz had been away, he asked:

"So how long has Tirpitz been gone?"

"About half a month. Judging from the speed we were sailing at, she should have arrived at Nuan Harbor by now."

Nuremberg put down her teacup and told the fact helplessly.

Bismarck felt depressed when he heard the news.

Li Ran also knew that he might not be able to stop Tirpitz from going to the North Sea, but after all, these were just speculations, so he asked nervously:

"If we set out now, how long will it take to reach Warm Harbor?"

"The White Crane Line is now under deep-sea attack. Originally, this route was the shortest, but Tirpitz should have passed this route during the deep-sea attack. If we want to go to Warm Harbor, we can only take the Death Route through New England's Nile Port and then go north.

However, the journey may take longer, because if you take the Death Route, there are threats from the deep sea on one hand, and supplies on the other. The journey to Warm Port is not peaceful. Although there are some garrisons along the way that can provide resource supplements, compared to the long route, the number of these garrisons is too small.

We were able to return so easily by following the southward current, but now, to reach Warm Harbor, we have to go upstream against the current. I'm afraid the admiral's ship can't withstand such a long-distance voyage."

Nuremberg's words made everyone silent. Indeed, they all knew Tirpitz's reputation more or less, "The Lonely Queen of the North". This was not just a title, but also proof that Tirpitz had been transformed.

Even the modified Tirpitz would take half a month to reach the warm harbor. When they thought about their own training level, their ship equipment, and the harsh environment in the north, they realized that Nuremberg's words were just a cruel fact.

Bismarck couldn't help but feel powerless. She looked at Li Ran's face, which had turned ugly, and said softly:

"Admiral, don't say any more. I won't let anyone take risks..."

"But that's your sister. Don't you understand what Nuremberg said?"

Lexington had met Tirpitz once at the First Ship Girl Academy, but Tirpitz was notoriously aloof at that time, or perhaps it was because she didn't like to have too many interactions with others. She originally thought that Bei Zhai was an unkind person. Now, after listening to Nuremberg's story, her impression of Bei Zhai has greatly changed, so she hurriedly said to Bismarck:

"Yes, Bismarck, your sister must be waiting for you, otherwise she wouldn't have traveled all the way to the North Sea to look for the lost ice drill."

"Wait, what exactly is this lost ice drill you're talking about? Is it really that magical?" Li Ran didn't understand what the so-called power of the contract was. It was fine if this world was unscientific, but it was really weird that there was such a thing as metaphysics. He asked quickly:

“Does this diamond really have such magical powers?”

Lexington sighed, then said to Nuremberg:

"Let me tell you."

Nuremberg nodded. She herself only knew a little about the legend of the lost ice drill. After hearing what Lexington said, she agreed, thinking that if she was wrong, she could correct it herself.

Lexington sorted out his thoughts and asked:

"Commander, do you humans have something called telepathy?"

Li Ran nodded, and then said:

"That's right, but it can only happen between relatives or between husband and wife. After all, telepathy is not very scientific. Except for a very small number of identical twins, it is difficult for ordinary people to believe in this mysterious and wonderful telepathy."

“Then, the lost ice diamond I’m talking about has a similar ability to amplify telepathy, but this ability varies from person to person, and because this diamond is extremely rare, some of the ice diamond jewelry that has been circulated in the world are exaggerated.

I happened to see several materials for the oath rings between admirals and ship girls in the library of the First Ship Girl Academy. Among them, the oath ring of the Lost Ice Diamond was particularly mentioned, which can enable both parties of the contract to have a miraculous ability similar to telepathy. In history, there was a governor who happened to be one of the few who made an oath with his ship girl with the Lost Ice Diamond. "

Lexington paused at this point, then said;

"That governor is the former Atlantic governor who died thirty years ago under unknown circumstances."

Li Ran's mouth twitched. No way, what a coincidence?

"Everyone must think it's a coincidence, right?" Lexington gently gathered the messy hair around his ears, and then whispered:

"This time when I accompanied the commander to the Thunder Garrison, I was wondering why the Prince of Wales knew about the Governor's death in the letter."

Halfway through his speech, Lexington realized that he might have said something wrong.

"What letter? How is this matter related to the Prince of Wales?" Bismarck frowned.

Li Ran looked at Lexington, who looked a little flustered. He sighed and said:

"Bismarck, I wanted to tell you about this as soon as I got back. Now that Lexington has said so, and I see that everyone present is not an outsider, so, Gaga, take down the letter."

"Yeah." Saratoga breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that Li Ran did not blame her sister, and she obediently went upstairs to get the letter.

And everyone present, except Brooklyn, Raiders, and Lexington, was confused.

When Saratoga brought the letter, Li Ran opened the document bag containing the letter and said:

"I originally thought that the fewer people who knew about this, the better. However, it might involve the search for Tirpitz, so I can't care less. If I can stop Tirpitz from entering the North Sea, then I think it's okay to hand over this letter."

"Admiral, what are you talking about?" Nuremberg looked at Li Ran with a serious face. She also noticed that Brooklyn and Raider, who were also free ship girls, also looked nervous. Then she watched Li Ran push the slightly yellowed paper to the center of the table:

"This is the letter that [Deep Blue Light] has been looking for. It is a handwritten letter from the legendary shipgirl Prince of Wales, the former Governor of the Atlantic. It is a letter to the only shipgirl who knows the truth about [Bratton's Great Defeat] thirty years ago."

Nuremberg felt as if she had come into contact with something extraordinary. She knew about the [Deep Blue Light], but did not understand the reason why the White Crane Line was attacked by the deep sea. Apart from Admirals Li Ran and Bai Nuoyan who knew the reason after contacting the Governor of the Pacific through the equipment provided by Washington, only Lexington knew that the letter he had been talking about might be in Li Ran's hands.

Bismarck was a little nervous at this time. She understood the meaning of Li Ran's words, took the letter back, and said:

"Admiral, there is no need to do this. I don't know if this letter is related to the letter mentioned by the Governor of the Pacific, but I know that this letter will definitely cause you trouble. I know everyone wants to help with my sister's matter, but I think there must be other ways."

"Bismarck!" Li Ran raised his voice, then realized that his tone was a bit harsh. He sighed and said firmly:

"To be honest, if I hadn't heard about Tirpitz from Nuremberg, I wouldn't have made this decision. Even if handing over this letter would cause trouble, I'm not afraid. If I can't even satisfy my own shipgirl's wish, then what kind of admiral am I?"

"Admiral..." Bismarck held the letter tightly, trying hard to hold back her tears.

"It's okay. I still have you. Even if there is trouble, you will stand by my side, right?" Li Ran gently held Bismarck's hand, handed the letter to Nuremberg, and then said:

"Look for yourself. I think the value of this letter should be enough to exchange for an opportunity to prevent Tirpitz from entering the North Sea!"

Nuremberg took the letter, looked at Li Ran, then looked at Bismarck's pale face. She felt that the letter in her hand seemed to weigh more than a thousand pounds. She solemnly unfolded the letter, and then saw the beautiful Gothic font and the name at the beginning of the letter. She read the letter quickly in disbelief, and then asked:

“Is this the letter the legendary Prince of Wales wrote to the Ark Royal thirty years ago?”

Li Ran saw that everyone seemed a little confused, so he simply explained the matter of the Leiming Garrison, and then said:

"So, this letter is most likely the cause of the Deep Sea Fortress Princess' attack on the White Crane Line."

"It's not a possibility, it's a certainty." Nuremberg sighed. If this is really the case, then she can't let Li Ran hand over the letter no matter what. After thinking for a while, she said:

"Admiral, are you really not afraid of trouble?"

"Of course I am afraid. I am most afraid of two things: death and trouble." Li Ran shrugged. After saying these words, he felt relieved. So he continued:

"But with them by my side, no matter how much trouble I have, it doesn't matter. Besides, as long as Bismarck and her sister can be reunited, this letter has already played its role. As for the rest, it is nothing compared to Tirpitz's safety."

The table suddenly became quiet, and all the ship girls looked at Li Ran, their reactions varied.

The destroyer girl didn't know such a complicated thing and was a little curious.

The other ship girls were moved and shocked by Li Ran's words.

Li Ran gently held Bismarck's hand, then smiled gently and said:

"Don't worry, I will definitely bring your sister back to you safely."

Chapter 155: The Eve of Departure

Nuremberg was very satisfied with Li Ran's attitude. She closed the letter, pushed it back to Li Ran, and said:

"If you want to prevent Tirpitz from entering the North Sea, I have a solution."

"What? You have a solution?" Li Ran was stunned for a moment, then said:

"Why didn't you tell me earlier?"

Nuremberg seemed to have made up her mind. She hesitated for a moment and then said:

"I just thought of this after reading your letter. It's inconvenient to say more. If you trust me, I will take you to find someone tomorrow."

"Tomorrow?" Li Ran and Bismarck looked at each other, then asked everyone's opinions in the exclusive channel. None of the ship girls had any opinions, so he sighed and said:

"Okay, tomorrow morning, Bismarck and I will go with you."

"No, if you want to go far, you must bring more people." Although Lexington agreed to let Li Ran go out, she didn't know where Nuremberg was going, so she said firmly:

"When you go on a long journey, you must let the long-distance escort fleet escort the commander."

Li Ran waved his hand. Since Nuremberg and the others had collectively expressed their willingness to join their garrison, the two sides were now building a relationship of trust. Although he did not quite understand the premise on which the ship girls recognized the admiral, with Bismarck around, he believed that his safety was guaranteed, so he said:

"Don't bother with that. I trust Nuremberg." Nuremberg breathed a sigh of relief.

Li Ran also knew that the meeting could be concluded tonight. He put the letter away and said to Bismarck:

"You are responsible for entertaining them tonight. I will go to find Bai Nuoyan. If we go out to sea, I don't have a private yacht now, so it may be troublesome."

"Admiral, there's no need to make it so much trouble. If I see Admiral Bai Nuoyan tomorrow morning, I believe she will also want to meet that person." Nuremberg said meaningfully.

Li Ran looked at this ship girl whom he had never seen when he quit the game. Then he realized that if Nuremberg, who was able to travel around the world, did not have any background, this trip around the world would probably be a joke. However, he also knew that he should trust the people he employed. Although the relationship between the admiral and the ship girl has not been officially confirmed, he chose to trust her temporarily.

After the meeting, it was almost eleven o'clock in the evening, and the destroyers went upstairs to take a shower under the leadership of Helena.

Li Ran took Bismarck out to relax.

Saratoga helped her sister Lexington clean up the conference table, and then watched Li Ran pulling Bismarck away like a lover. She was a little angry:

"Sister, everyone is gone, what are you still looking at?"