Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

When she first reunited with Jing Su, she was overjoyed, but the unfamiliarity she felt towards Jing Su also filled her with a deep-seated fear. What would they do if Jing Su really forgot them and refused to accept them?

What Jing Su didn't know was that the ones who couldn't live without each other were their ship girls!

After realizing that Jing Su's unfamiliarity was genuine, Hu Teng panicked. The Valkyrie who had always been calm and collected on the battlefield and whose teammates were reliable felt a chill from the bottom of her heart for the second time. The first time was when she confirmed that Jing Su was missing.

But she didn't know how to handle this situation. To be precise, she could see the problem, but given her personality, it would be difficult for her to deal with it.

'Then just get him to accept us, won't that solve the problem?'

Recalling his conversation with Yixian, Hu Teng breathed a sigh of relief. What he couldn't do, he decided to let someone who could do it do.

Hu Teng boasted that when it came to taking care of people, few in the entire port area could compare to her. She could take good care of Jing Su all by herself, but persuading people to resolve their inner conflicts was indeed not her forte.

When Hu Teng was troubled, Yi Xian appeared. As the person in charge of the Donghuang camp, Yi Xian was naturally clever and quick-witted, and she also had deep feelings for the commander. She naturally noticed the problems that Hu Teng could see.

'The commander really likes Changchun, let her give it a try.'

Are you confident?

'Changchun is very intelligent, and her feelings for the Commander are sincere. The Commander feels relaxed and at ease when she's with him.'

After communication, Hu Teng agreed to Yi Xian's proposal. In exchange, Hu Teng would help Yi Xian fend off pressure from other factions and allow Jing Su to go to the Donghuang garrison as her first stop.

Hu Teng said it was no problem, as she didn't intend for Jing Su to be the first to go to the Ironblood camp anyway.

It's not that they didn't want to, but the Ironblood faction was currently doing something very crucial. Their main forces were all busy with important matters. Originally, according to their plan, once their expected outcome was achieved, they might be able to find Jing Su first. Unexpectedly, Jing Su returned on her own.

And to some extent, it was indeed the Ironblood faction that first found Jing Su.

Although plans can't keep up with changes, it's not easy to stop a strategy that's already been implemented. So, I decided to send Jing Su to another camp first, so I could make corresponding adjustments based on the feedback.

Since the strategy is limited and they can't be the first, they will strike later and let the Eastern Empire camp take the pressure from the other camps on behalf of the Iron Blood.

Jing Su didn't notice Hu Teng's unusual behavior, but Yi Xian, who had been watching her closely, noticed it keenly. Both were intelligent and beautiful, and were also co-executors of the plan. Yi Xian naturally knew what Hu Teng was laughing about, and returned a sweet smile.

it is more than words.

After receiving the file, Jing Su exchanged a few pleasantries with Hu Teng, who then said he had something to do and temporarily ended the communication.

Shortly after the call ended, Jing Su discovered that her account had received a friend request notification.

'Passionate singer requests to become friends'

After popping up in the group chat, in order to prevent their private messages from being bombarded, Jing Su and Chang Chun both enabled the friend settings. Apart from the faction leader, only the secretary ship could add them. In other words, at this time, those who could add him as a friend were all so-called privileged users.

'Let me see who it is. Hiss! It's Hu Teng! That outfit is really alluring; she's much better looking in person than in the pictures.'

Hu Teng's image depicts her dressed as a maid, holding a microphone, and singing passionately.

Jing Su quickly clicked "agree," thinking that Hu Teng probably had something to say to her.

Unexpectedly, just as Jing Su agreed, Hu Teng sent over a bunch of folders. There were more than twenty in total.

"New instructions, this batch is quite urgent."

At the very end of the document was a sentence from Hu Teng that revealed no emotion, and after that, there was no further news.

"Ah~"

Looking at the densely packed documents, Jing Su let out a wail, but quickly regained her composure.

'This is a good thing; it seems I do have some talent.'

After comforting herself, Jing Su stretched a few times and began processing documents.

Before long, they were defeated.

“Why are there so many?”

Jing Su leaned back in her chair, feeling dizzy. This time, the documents were as Hu Teng had said, and they were quite urgent, involving resource allocation.

Although the Hong Kong region appears to have split from the outside, no one has publicly stated this, so resources are still distributed as a whole to the Hong Kong region.

Specifically, all resources are first sent to the port area, and then the various secretariat ships collect reports and distribute them uniformly.

Among these resources, combat resources are no longer of much interest to most factions, but ship equipment remains the main focus of contention among them. After all, these components do not exist in nature, and previously, the main efforts of each faction were concentrated on collecting intelligence about Jing Su, which indeed neglected the research and development of ship equipment.

Currently, the Donghuang faction has the strongest research and development of new ship equipment in the port area.

"Commander, please take good care of us regarding the materials used in ship equipment construction."

While Jing Su was wailing, Yi Xian took the opportunity to wrap her arms around Jing Su's neck and whisper in her ear.

Jing Su felt her ears turn bright red.

He was suddenly thrown off the chair as if electrocuted, nearly falling to the ground.

"Commander, are you alright?" Seeing Jing Su stagger, Yi Xian rushed forward to support her. The speed was so fast that Jing Su didn't even have time to react before she felt her back bump into a pair of soft things.

"Cough, I'm fine." Jing Su hurriedly steadied herself and broke free from Yi Xian's embrace.

"?"

Yi Xian was taken aback at first, but judging from Jing Su's expression, she roughly knew what had happened. She stood at attention, puffed out her chest, and said with a playful tone, "The Commander is really cute."

"So cute!" Yi Xian's serious expression made Jing Su freeze. The word "cute" was being used on a grown man like him?!

However, having just taken advantage of someone else, and seemingly being the one who benefited, and still faintly sensing Yi Xian's lingering aura on her, Jing Su didn't know what to say for the time being.

"Haha, I'm not wrong."

"Oh dear, it's already this late. I need to go cook. Commander, you go ahead with your work. If it's really tiring, you can put it off for now. I'll take care of it with you later."

"Ah."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Resource Issues

The sea outside the port area.

Several large transport ships were quietly moored on the shore, drifting with the waves.

"Sakebori, Noshiro, are you two escorting us this time?"

Hu Teng's cold voice rang out as he watched the two people leap off the deck.

"Yes, Secretary Huteng, the resources are coming from the eastern Pacific Ocean. We are closer to our Sakura Empire base there, so we accepted this request."

Noshiro nodded. Unlike other factions that each had their own affairs, Sakura Empire had not made any major moves recently. Although there was a clear faction leader, its subordinates were in a situation where they were fighting their own battles.

For example, she and Sakabo are relatively laid-back and don't like fighting, so they have more free time.

Of course, normally, even if they have a lot of time, they usually won't accept these kinds of transport commissions. They are time-consuming, laborious, and boring, and the resources they receive are not much. Sometimes, they can't even earn back the maintenance resources for the ship's equipment after a single commission. Wouldn't that be a losing proposition?

However, this commission is different. Since the port area split, the commission for transporting resources is one of the few opportunities for other ship girls to return to the port area in a reasonable and legal way.

As for why I came back, that goes without saying.

"What, is there something else?"

Seeing the flicker in Noshiro's eyes, Hu Teng naturally knew what she was thinking, but pretended not to know and deliberately said...

"Um, Commander, she..."

Noshiro has a rather cold personality and isn't very good at handling this kind of situation. After hesitating for a while, Sakano broke the silence. They weren't very familiar with Koto and didn't have much contact with him on a daily basis, so they didn't know how to start the conversation and decided to go straight to the point.

“Commander, he has indeed returned,” Hutten replied with a smile.

"Where is he?" Noshiro asked urgently, her eyes lighting up.

"You weren't very lucky, you were a few days late. Now, judging by the time, you should be arriving at the Donghuang camp by now."

"Ah~"

The wine man showed disappointment.

"It's alright, it's not a big problem. Everyone's back, and we'll meet again eventually," Noshiro comforted him. "In that case, we won't disturb you any longer. Let's go back and report."

Not getting the desired result, Noshiro decided to go back. She and Sakao had only come temporarily, and strictly speaking, they were supposed to be patrolling the area.

"Ah."

Hu Teng nodded, turned around and headed to the designated location to prepare for the handover.

"Secretary Hu Teng, this is the materials list. Please take a look. If there are no problems, please sign for it."

At the designated location, staff dressed in blue naval combat uniforms had been waiting for a long time.

"Something came up on the way, which delayed me a bit, but it's nothing serious."

After receiving the list, Hu Teng exchanged a few pleasantries, but his expression remained unchanged, and he paid no attention to the staff's reactions as he began to examine the list.

"Cough cough, it's nothing, it's nothing, it's what we should do." The team leader hurriedly said, while holding down several people.

Behind him were several newcomers who were ignorant and clearly showed displeasure, which terrified him. He was joking, these guys behind him were all rich kids who had come to the army to get a prestigious education, and they were ignorant. But he was a real veteran who had retired from the front lines and knew exactly how terrifying the power contained within this incredibly beautiful girl standing in front of him was.

"Why is so much missing?" Hu Teng asked, closing the list after only a few glances.

She didn't care about the disgruntled looks behind her back, but she really needed to get an explanation for the resources.

"How could that be? Let me see." Hearing Hu Teng's cold voice, the team leader almost jumped out of his skin and hurriedly opened the tablet to check. "Oh, it's like this, Donghuang suddenly transferred a batch of resources away."

“I’ve already calculated the resources, and there’s still a shortfall, Captain Wang. I need an explanation,” Hu Teng interrupted him.

"It's possible that the dock wasn't properly prepared when we left the port, leaving some parts unattended. Secretary Hu Teng, give me some time, I'll go back and check, and I'll definitely give you an answer within three days."

"That would be best." With those words, Hu Teng left the delivery location.

"Hey, Uncle Wang, why are you afraid of her?"

After Hu Teng left, the suppressed newcomer could no longer contain his anger and shouted.

"Oh my little darling, please don't cause me any more trouble, okay? Do you even know who she is? How dare you talk like that? If she hears you, she could tear you apart and no one would say a word."

"Tch, without the resources we provide, they're nothing. Uncle Wang, listen to me, you're just too cowardly. Let me tell you, this kind of organization just needs to be disciplined..."

"Shut up!" Seeing the young man's reckless words, the team leader hurriedly interrupted, "If you want to die, don't drag me down with you. I can pretend I didn't hear what you just said, but if I find out again, even if your father and I are brothers, you can forget about following me."

"No, Uncle Wang, is it really necessary?" The young man panicked when he heard the team leader say he was going to remove him from the group.

For ship girls, the lack of resources in transport missions is a problem. For a second-generation heir like him, who's been using military service to gain prestige, transport contracts are the best way to accumulate military merit. He got in through his father's connection—his father had saved a team leader on the front lines years ago. If his father finds out he was kicked out, who knows what kind of punishment he'll give him when he gets back.

"Put all that aside for now and tell me honestly, is the resource shortage your doing?"

"Yes, it's me." The young man originally wanted to argue, but seeing the leader's fierce expression, his momentum weakened, and he spoke in a trembling voice.

"You!" The team leader felt a sudden chill; what a terrible teammate.

"It was just moved a little bit, no, Uncle Wang, it's been done like this before, why not this time..." Isn't it common practice to divert a portion of transport supplies to skim profits? Otherwise, why would so many people be scrambling to get into these non-combat positions?

"One point! You dare say one point? Look for yourself." Upon hearing this, the team leader completely lost his temper and threw the list in his face.

"Thirty percent! That much? No, it's impossible! Uncle Wang, I'm innocent! I only took three percent, no, five percent at most. The rest, I really didn't touch." Seeing the gap in the list, the young man panicked completely.

It's true that misappropriating resources is common practice, and everyone from the Maritime Bureau's top brass to the ship girls is well aware of it. Therefore, as long as it's not too excessive, they usually turn a blind eye. But 30% at once is something no one can ignore, especially considering that this is just the amount for one ship.

"I know you don't have that ability." The team leader gently touched the young man's face and said softly, "To move 30 percent of the resources without anyone noticing, let alone you, even if your father, a mere minister, threw himself into it, he wouldn't be able to make a ripple."

"Uncle Wang, save me! You must save me!" Upon hearing the team leader's words, the young man pleaded for help as if he had grasped at a straw.

"Shut up!" the leader roared. "The Eastern Huang camp has issued a resource transfer order at the last minute. The transport fleet has been docked at a port for an extra night. I personally inspected the transport ships before they set off, and there won't be any problems. If we really have to take action, it can only be at that port."

"So, that's why~" the young man pressed.

"Put all the blame on that transfer order. When you get back, just say that the person behind the order took these resources, and let those guys fight amongst themselves."

"Is this possible?"

"I don't know!" the leader yelled again, then, as if he had thought of something, he pressed his hands against the young man's face. "Damn it, do you know how big a mess you've made? I know you didn't take the resources, and the people who took them know even better, but you started this whole thing, so you're a natural target, the perfect scapegoat."

Listen, kid, if you want to live, do as I say, shift the blame as far as you can, and pray that the person who issued the order is an easy target. Otherwise, you, your father, me, and the entire fleet will all be buried with your stupidity.

You're really something, kid. You dared to move resources on your first expedition? Do you really have no brains at all? The resource market is so strictly regulated now, how could you move them so easily? Don't you even think about how you managed to move the resources?

If I'm not mistaken, your contact treated you incredibly well, like a VIP. He was such a complete idiot.

"Go call your dad right now! This is something you can't handle alone. Have your dad contact me using secret communications. Remember, you're not allowed to mention a single word about resources over the phone, or I'll tear you apart!"

"Oh, oh~" Hearing the team leader's words, the young man hurriedly turned around, tripping and falling flat on his face in his haste. Ignoring the pain, he ran back to his room to make contact. What?

"Bad luck." The team leader spat as he watched the departing young man.

Unfortunately, this happened to the transport team he was leading, and the young man was someone he had personally recruited into the team. Now that the resources were in trouble, he couldn't shirk responsibility. Saving the young man was, in fact, also a way of protecting himself.

"Dude, sorry about that, I had no choice. If you want to blame someone, blame the order you issued. Such a huge gap can't be filled by ordinary forces. You're probably a scapegoat too. I'll offer you some incense during holidays."

In fact, he had just lied. The port where they stopped was specifically for the transport fleet to transit and rest. As an experienced captain, he knew best how much transport capacity it had. The time spent at the port was simply not enough to move so many resources.