Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

"Okay, then, let's go along with what you want, Garden. I'm really looking forward to our date." After explaining her feelings to Belfast in the room, Jing Su decided to go along with the ship girls and make them happy.

"Oh, really? Honey? Let me arrange it? Any way you want?" Garden's eyes lit up.

“Of course, this is my first time at the front lines, so I’m not as familiar with it as you are. If I want to have fun, I’ll naturally have to listen to you,” Jing Su said matter-of-factly.

"Hehe, I've conveyed all your thoughts. If the Commander doesn't mind, of course I'm fine with it too~? In that case, shouldn't I confess to the Commander again? Hehe, that's what it means to think more about each other, right?"

"Eh!?"

Chapter 231 It's Been a Long Time

As one of the few ship girls that Jing Su was willing to listen to in its entirety, Jing Su knew that the line Garden said just now was a line from the oath ceremony, right? It was definitely a line from the oath ceremony!

That was so loud, and with so many people watching, everyone else heard it!

She spoke especially loudly in the garden, as if afraid no one would hear her. Not only was her voice loud, but she was also very proud, hands on her hips, swaying her waist, her face beaming with happiness.

This was a carefully planned scheme by the garden. One evening, in full view of everyone, Chao Jingsu loudly uttered these words.

The other ship girls all knew what her line meant. To be precise, every ship girl had something she wanted to say at this moment. Some, like Garden, would prepare in advance, while others enjoyed the sudden, tense, and exciting feeling and wanted to think of their lines when they made their oath. In this way, what they said was sincere.

As for the garden, she didn't want to be unprepared for such an important scene. If she relied on her feelings and was dissatisfied with the lines she said later, what would she do? Could she regret it?

In fact, the garden had prepared several sets of arguments for today, for various occasions, but the one they were most satisfied with was this one: a straight shot, a really straight shot, just like that, to launch the most fierce and direct attack on Jing Su!

'Hmph, Honey's first meeting wasn't with me, her first time wasn't with me, her first kiss wasn't with me, but I won over her first vow!'

Yes, Garden had already planned this when Jing Su announced that there would be a banquet tonight. What scene could be more romantic than a grand oath under the watchful eyes of a large number of ship girls?

"Silly girl~" Seeing the blissful expressions on their faces in the garden, Jing Su smiled wryly, but there was nothing to say. The atmosphere had been built up to this point; if she didn't make a move, she might not survive the night.

To be precise, if such a beautiful woman in the garden confesses her love to you in front of so many people, rejecting her wouldn't just be hurtful, it would be inhumane!

Besides, Jing Su herself also loves gardens. Who wouldn't like a cheerful and vibrant garden?

"Hehe, Honey~" Feeling Jing Su's ardent gaze, Garden actually became a little shy, which was rare for her.

"Although it's a bit sudden." Now it was Jing Su's turn to speak. The stage in the garden had been set up, and it was time for him to take the lead. After all, he was a grown man, and he couldn't let a girl handle everything, right? "But, I still want to ask you to accept this."

Garden, ah, I'm not very good with words, I don't know how to say those romantic things, I feel like it would be awkward and uncomfortable to say them.

But, Garden, let's walk the road ahead together, through wind and rain, through hardship and joy, we'll get through it all together.

As she spoke, Jing Su took out a ring from her pocket. At that moment, the lights were turned on, and the rest of the place became dim. Only the place where Jing Su and Hua Yuan were was brightly lit. Jing Su took Hua Yuan's hand and slowly placed the sparkling ring on Hua Yuan's finger.

"Honey~" Glistening, shrinking, body trembling~

'What's going on? This feeling is so strange. It's like a mental cube, jumping around so fast, but I'm so happy, really, so happy~'

In the very end, with flowers falling everywhere, stars twinkling, and a melodious tune playing, the atmosphere was incredibly romantic.

"Clap clap~"

Someone started clapping, first sparsely, then thunderous applause.

By this point, anyone could see through Garden's actions. Although many ship girls felt that this behavior was somewhat cheating, since the die was cast, there was nothing more to say and they could only offer their blessings.

Moreover, what Garden did was not actually overstepping its bounds, because she was Jing Su's wedding ship, which she had been before Jing Su disappeared. So, turning the banquet that Jing Su had prepared into her own wedding in front of everyone was not wrong.

However, it's still unpleasant if it doesn't start. Everyone was looking forward to getting close to the Commander, but you did this, and now no one can get close to him, including the Garden.

The reason is simple: the initial winner tonight was Enterprise, who was also the wedding ship. Her actions with Jing Su were tantamount to announcing to everyone that the outcome of tonight's competition was already decided. Otherwise, a bunch of ship girls would have run to find Jing Su the moment she stepped into the banquet.

The reason why everyone did nothing but cheer for Jing Su's return is this: tonight, the Commander has already found a girlfriend, and the girl is from a veteran company. This has extinguished everyone's desire to continue competing, and they can just watch Jing Su from afar.

After all, even if there's no chance tonight, leaving a good impression on Jing Su is still possible. If it doesn't work out tonight, there's always next time, right? Jing Su is only staying on the front lines for one day, isn't she?

Once they felt the outcome was decided, the companies lowered their guard. This included Belfast and Cheshire, who had no objection to Garden dragging Jing Su to dance. After all, they were all good friends and would get along well with Jing Su in the future. Taking things for herself would only provoke everyone's anger. Who knew Garden would pull such a stunt?

While Garden's actions may seem harmless in name, they effectively sidelined the company. After creating such a romantic scene, it would be inappropriate for her to go and get intimate with Jing Su tonight. Conversely, Garden couldn't get intimate with Jing Su either, because her actions would be seen as betraying the company's trust.

The company trusts you, which is why they let you drag Jing Su to dance. Otherwise, given the company's seniority, if they didn't want to let her go, Garden wouldn't have been able to drag Jing Su away. That's why, if Garden wants to get along well with other ship girls in the port in the future, she can't do anything tonight.

In fact, a considerable number of ship girls are already planning to go and toast Jing Su under the pretext of reminiscing after the ceremony, with the aim of getting Jing Su drunk to prevent him from losing his temper and having sex with Garden.

If this were to actually happen, the entire front line would be in complete chaos. If everyone stopped following the established rules, Jing Su probably wouldn't be able to leave the house. If she dared to go out, the ship girls would just knock her unconscious and drag her back to her room. It's hard to say about the other ship girls, but Akagi Roon, who was just dragged away, is definitely capable of doing something like that.

It's important to know that since Jing Su's disappearance, almost all the ship girls in the entire port area have developed some yandere traits. Even excluding those acquired after Jing Su's disappearance, there are quite a few ship girls on the front lines who were already yandere. Akagi and Roon are just two with more severe and extreme symptoms. If they really went crazy, there are ship girls who wouldn't be willing to lock Jing Su in a dark room and squeeze her juice every day.

"Commander, are you tired? Would you like something nice to drink? This is really good~" The song ended quickly, and no matter how reluctant Garden was, she had no choice but to let go of Jing Su and run off to calm herself down.

She knew that what she was doing was truly immoral. She had done something outrageous at an inappropriate time. Although she could do it in name, being able to do something and being obligated to do something are two different things. She had essentially kidnapped Jing Su to achieve her own wish, but she had left the company out in the cold. She had to find the company and explain herself as soon as possible.

Not long after leaving the garden, before Jing Su had recovered from the lack of oxygen, a muffled voice sounded in her ear.

Looking in the direction of the sound, what came into view was a pair of white and pink... rabbit ears?

To be precise, it was earrings, rabbit ear earrings. Beneath those adorable ornaments was long, fluffy white hair, tied into two braids, hanging down on both sides of her temples.

"Is it, Laffey?" Clearing her mind returned. Although her eyes were still a little blurry from the light and she couldn't see clearly, just by hearing the voice and hearing the distinctive features, Jing Su quickly thought of a silent but adorable destroyer.

"Um, Laffey, I am Laffey, a Benson-class destroyer. Commander, would you like to join our Bunny Ears Cult?" Laffey said, enunciating each word clearly.

"The Bunny Ears Cult? What's that?" Before Jing Su could even savor the joy of repetition, she was stunned by Lafite's words.

"A cult from Rabbit Planet, with bunny ears, so cute~" Raffi said matter-of-factly.

"Oh, it's Rabbit Star~" Jing Su looked enlightened, and was about to ask what Rabbit Star was, but stopped himself. Then he suddenly remembered that this thing seemed to be something Benson tricked his sister Bailey into thinking that they were from Rabbit Star, that they were all rabbits, cute and good at supporting others, and then Bailey believed it and was determined to spread the Rabbit Star cult, so the Rabbit Ears Cult was created?

Although it's unclear how Benson managed to convince them, the Rabbit Ears Cult has indeed spread throughout the port area, with significant expulsions and even Garden seemingly joining the cult.

"Laffey, you've come all this way! Oh, Commander, you're here too! Hehe, want some drinks?" Before Laffey could say anything, a light and lively voice rang out.

Jing Su was very familiar with that sound; she had heard it countless times on the way here, hearing all sorts of different kinds of calls.

"Javelin, you're here~" Upon seeing the person, Jing Su habitually touched the other's hair, and the latter habitually showed a cat-like expression of enjoyment, which made Raffi, who was standing next to him, give him a sidelong glance and a speechless expression.

Fortunately, Jing Su quickly noticed this and gently stroked Raffi's hair a few times, smiling as she said, "Raffi's hair is beautiful, and the bunny ears are so cute. Raffi herself is too, so adorable! I love her!"

"Even if you say that, Commander, well, it's barely acceptable. Phew, Commander, want to sleep together? I'm... kind of sleepy Zzzz"

After saying that, Raffi fell straight in Jing Su's direction, which startled Jing Su. She had just recovered from what had happened in the garden and hadn't quite calmed down when another one happened!

Fortunately, since learning Raffi's identity, Jing Su's attention had been focused on Raffi, so her reaction was quite quick. If she hadn't been worried about waking Raffi by using too much force, Jing Su could have caught her the moment she fell.

"Phew~ She's really asleep!?" Without thinking, Jing Su picked up Raffi in a princess carry. At first, she thought Raffi was joking, but when she felt Raffi's even breathing, Jing Su was a little surprised. After spending time with so many girls, Jing Su knew that Raffi was not only asleep, but sleeping very soundly.

Although we don't know what happened, it's best to find a place to settle Raffi quickly. Even though Raffi is small and soft and it's comfortable to hold, we can't keep holding her like this, right? She's asleep, and if we keep holding her, what if she gets uncomfortable and wakes up?

After saying that, Jing Su gestured to Javelin with his eyes. After getting to know each other better on the ship, Jing Su and Javelin could now understand each other perfectly. With just a glance, they could know what the other was thinking.

Javelin nodded and then led Jing Su in a certain direction.

At this moment, the other ship girls who originally wanted to come up and do something also gave up the idea of ​​continuing to go forward after seeing Jing Su's actions. For them, seeing Jing Su was already enough, and they did not ask for anything more.

"Z23, that's my real ear, don't touch it! It feels really weird!"

"Hey, I know. Hey, Ayanami, why haven't you come yet? It's been so long."

“From the beginning of this month until now, in just ten minutes, Z23, you’ve asked at least ten times. What’s the rush? If you’re impatient while waiting, why not play some games to kill time?”

"Cough cough, who cares about you? You can still play games at a time like this. Hey, wait a minute, your phone screen is black the whole time. Oh, you're the one who's anxious, and you're still criticizing me."

"..."

"coming!"

Following the javelin, Jing Su walked out of the banquet hall and came to a small room. Before she even went in, she heard the conversation inside.

'Is this... Minato Ward 4 Elementary School?'

Just by listening to their voices, even before meeting them, Jing Su knew who was inside: the famous Hong Kong F4. In Hong Kong, there are all sorts of rankings for who is the most popular, but if you ask which group is the most beloved, then it has to be the Hong Kong F4.

Strictly speaking, Azur Lane, like many other games, starts with three starter Pokémon, but isn't it common knowledge that there are four starter Pokémon? Therefore, the port region has four smaller Pokémon!

To some extent, the four destroyers from different factions can get along harmoniously despite their different personalities: the lively Javelin, the meticulous Z23, the otaku Ayanami, and the cute and determined Laffey. It can be said that no matter what your hobby is or what kind of loli you like, you can find something you like in this team of four.

That's so comprehensive!

"Commander, it's been a long time." Before Jing Su could do anything, the door opened automatically, and there stood Z23, wearing glasses and smiling.

As the four girls were very popular in the port area, Jing Su was naturally familiar with them and quickly recognized the two girls in the room.

"Yes, it's been a long time."

Chapter 232 I Will Teach You Well

"Commander~"

"commander!"

“Zzzzz~”

Surrounded by the four little ones, Jing Su felt inexplicably embarrassed. Although she had been in this world for a long time, this was the first time she had been surrounded by so many ship girls at the same time.

The first time I mentioned here was when I was surrounded by ship girls with good figures. As for smaller ships, Jing Su had already gotten along well with many of them back when she was stationed in the Eastern Empire.

The four primary school students in the port area, despite all being deported, don't look like deportees at all when you look at their physiques.

If we're talking about which ship type has the most fantastical classification among ship girls, it has to be the destroyer. Generally speaking, the ship girl's figure is directly related to her ship type. If we were to convert it to age, submarines are like kindergarteners, destroyers are like elementary school students, light cruisers are like middle school students, heavy cruisers are like high school students, and the back row ship girls are all college students or above, and a considerable number of them are even working professionals.

Of course, this is just an intuitive analysis and not absolute. There are heavy cruisers with figures so good they could be considered tough women, while there are also back-row ship girls who look like little girls.

In general, they are about the same. By "about the same," I mean their level of mental maturity. I don't know if body size affects mental maturity or what, but in any case, the mental maturity of ship girls is positively correlated with their body size.

The smaller the boat, the greater the relevance. Most of the destroyers are childlike, and Jing Su is very happy playing games with them, treating them like daughters.

But these four little ones in front of me cannot be treated as little girls at all, whether in terms of their size or their mindset.

Judging from their figures, Jing Su's four little ones have all been modified. As we all know, after being modified, ship girls will grow in size to some extent, which means they will become more mature.

Aside from Javelin, who has a more lively personality, the other four are quite mature and reserved. Laffey's personality hasn't changed much, but Laffey herself is the kind of person who is detached from worldly affairs, so whether she changes or not doesn't diminish her cuteness.

If we only look at their figures, Javelin and the others are about the same size as junior high school students. Z23, to be honest, could easily pass for a college student, she's just a bit short. As for maturity, among the four, Z23 is undoubtedly the most mature.

This can be seen in the anime. Ayanami Laffey and Javelin are still studying, while Z23 is already a teacher. Sometimes Jing Su is also surprised. How can people with such a big difference in status still get along?

Later, during a conversation with Javelin, Jing Su brought up this question and received a very unexpected but quite reasonable answer—for them, does doing something conflict with having fun? In the port area, in terms of training level, which ship girl isn't a force to be reckoned with at sea? Whether they learn or not doesn't make much of a difference.

At this point, Jing Su finally understood what the schools in the port taught. They were just ordinary schools, teaching subjects like Chinese and math. As for the combat skills that Jing Su had anticipated, the ship girls had already mastered them and didn't need to learn them.

This also explains why, according to Yi Xian, the port has existed long enough for an average person to complete a full year of compulsory education, yet a large number of ship girls are still attending classes—they've all been held back a grade, right?

As for the ship girls, they really couldn't understand why they were going to school to study, since it didn't improve their combat power, so they were naturally not very interested. However, the leaders of each faction unanimously believed that if the ship girls didn't go to school, or rather, if they didn't find something to expend their energy and let them run around, trouble would inevitably arise sooner or later.

After all, with their mental maturity, adorable looks, and incredible combat power, if these little boats aren't kept in check, they might not only cause trouble in human society, but if left unchecked, they could even blow up the island.

For example, the loud noise Jing Su heard the day she returned was from the kids playing with fish by blasting them with explosives because they were bored.

Of course, Yat-Sen Medical Center claimed to be conducting experiments, but everyone knows the real story.

"Commander, come, sit here, I'll get you some water." Z23 was more mature after all. Noticing Jing Su's embarrassment, she broke the silence first and gestured for Jing Su to come in quickly.

"Hmm." Jing Su nodded and followed Z23's guidance into the room. After just a quick look around, Jing Su was completely bewildered by the house.

Well, Jing Su remembered this ancient Chinese text: "At first it was extremely narrow, barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but after walking several dozen steps, it suddenly opened up into a bright and spacious place."

This room is really big!

'Goodness, now I know what the dorm in the game looks like in real life. Is it really this big?!'

There's a bar, a giant rocking bed, and even an indoor swimming pool—or rather, a fountain.

"This is our secret base, Commander. You're the first person to come here," Javelin said proudly.

"But isn't this the White Eagle faction's base? How come you have a base here?" Although it felt inappropriate, Jing Su still asked the question.

Jing Su said, "I know that Javelin, as a Royal Navy ship girl, likes to set up secret bases, but no matter how much you like it, how did you manage to set up a base on another faction's territory?"

"Ahem, this is actually Raffi's house, but she loves to sleep so much that she does nothing but sleep in her room. We figured it was a big room that was just sitting idle, so we converted it into this." Z23 picked up the thread and briefly explained the origin of the room to Jing Su.

It turns out that not only the Royal Family likes building houses, but the Eagle Union does too. After all, historically, these two factions have a mother-daughter relationship.

However, compared to the Royal Army's buying spree across the continent, the Eagle Union built a very large island as their base and constructed various things on it. Since the entire island belonged to them, they could do whatever they wanted without any restrictions.

Jing Su glanced at the island's map and found it to be remarkably similar to the port depicted in the anime—a wonderful blend of modern and classical elements.

Compared to the Royal faction's preference for European classical architecture, such as castles, the White Eagle faction favors small Western-style buildings, with modern architecture everywhere they look.

The only thing they have in common is that they are really big!

After all, no matter how many Eagle Union ship girls can be produced, the number of them is limited, so it doesn't consume much land.

Laffey is a classic example. She is one of the least troublesome ship girls in the Eagle Union faction. The dream of all ship girls is to sleep until they naturally wake up, and then sleep some more when they feel sleepy!