Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

"Ah!?" Changchun's words were indeed a bit harsh, and Jing Su was genuinely frightened. What situation was so serious?

Although Jing Su was very curious, judging from Chang Chun's appearance, she probably wouldn't be able to get any information out of him. So she sent a message to Veneto, asking her to go to her room and check on Marco Polo's condition. If he was still asleep, she should drag him away.

The only thing Jing Su could think of that Marco Polo had done that could anger the other ship girls was the sneak attack last night. Now Jing Su had more or less realized that there were some unspoken rules among the ship girls, which could be seen from the fact that she could happily run around the base after arriving at the front line.

What Marco Polo did last night was taboo from any perspective, so it's understandable that he got beaten up by the angry ship girls.

"Ugh~ Waaah!!"

The journey was uneventful. Led by Changchun, Jingsu arrived at the dock. Before even reaching the management office, she could already see a dense array of ships floating on the sea.

Even before the ship was in sight, the loud whistle of the ship could be heard incessantly.

"Wow~ It really can block ships!" Seeing the situation, Jing Su stood there dumbfounded. He didn't expect that what Zhen Hai said was actually true, but upon closer inspection, he could actually understand it.

Traffic jams are simply a section of the road that is impassable. Whether it's caused by a car suddenly slowing down, causing a bunch of cars behind it to slow down as well, or more directly by a car accident that blocks the road, the essence is that the road's capacity exceeds its carrying capacity.

The current ship blockade is also due to this situation.

Ships exceeding the port's capacity were piling up in a short period of time, and with only one robotic arm, it would take forever to unload them.

Moreover, and most importantly, even if the unloading speed is fast enough, the dock doesn't have enough space to store the goods that have been transported. In just a short while, Jing Su saw three sets of water park equipment.

'Queen Elizabeth, just how much stuff did she bring over? Is she really going to build a water park?' Jing Su pondered as she watched several wild birds carrying parts of the water park back to the area where the swimsuit party had been held.

"Little Manjiu, where are you taking these supplies?" Jing Su asked, stopping a Manjiu that was driving a forklift.

"Chirp chirp~ Chirp chirp!"

Upon seeing Jing Su, Manjiu, wearing a safety helmet, began to talk animatedly, gesturing wildly.

Although it was clear that the other person was quite agitated, Jing Su couldn't understand what they were saying because they were only repeating the same syllable over and over.

"Hmm, hmm, I see~" Fortunately, Changchun was there with Jing Su, and she could understand what Man Qiu was saying.

"Translate it?"

"Commander, the transport barbarian says it's been working here for over ten hours, but it can't finish transporting anything, it simply can't finish."

"Has it been this long?"

"Chirp, chirp!!"

"Yes, all the transport ships are working overtime here, but there's just too much stuff. And the port's transport ship squadrons can't handle it all. Commander, this is a captain who wants you to quickly bring over a batch of new recruits. He also suggests temporarily requisitioning a few transport ships for emergency transport of supplies."

It turns out that a significant portion of the transport ships crammed into the port belonged to the Maritime Bureau, and there were many staff members on board. Since this was the White Eagle faction's rest area, the ship girls ordered the Maritime Bureau's ships to stop in the open sea, and that a special ship would come to pick up the supplies on board.

In other words, goods transported from outside must first be transferred from the maritime administration's transport ships to port transport ships before docking at the port and being unloaded.

As a result, the speed naturally slowed down.

"There's such a saying~" After listening to Changchun's explanation, Jing Su didn't know what to say for a moment, but it did seem like something that ship girls would come up with.

“The transport ships in the port area are all loaded with supplies for the water park. If we want to urgently requisition some ships, we can only requisition ships from the Maritime Safety Administration. Moreover, even if there are still ships, with the port blocked like this, ships from outside can't get in.” Jing Su began to think, muttering to herself.

"Commander, so you have a solution?" Changchun, who had been watching Jing Su's expression the whole time, suddenly asked happily.

"It's not exactly a solution, but we do have an idea. Captain Manjiu, do you guys know how to operate the maritime bureau's transport ships?" Jing Su asked the little yellow chick sitting on the ground.

"Chirp~ Chirp~" Man Chirp patted his chest and said.

This time, Jing Su could understand it without Changchun's translation.

"Commander, the transport ships from the Maritime Bureau are all decommissioned from the port area. Their ships are simply not capable of operating at sea. They could be spotted and destroyed by the Sirens in the blink of an eye."

It turns out that long ago, the port area had already monopolized the world's shipbuilding industry. It can be said that nearly 90% of the ships in the human world were built in the port area. The remaining ships were built on inland rivers, not near the sea, and some people were still using the old ships.

All the buildings at sea have been converted into port areas.

Since it's a port area construction project, the Manju will naturally be able to operate it, and they'll definitely be better at it than the people from the Maritime Bureau.

“That’s good!” Jing Su nodded. With that, the biggest problem was solved.

So Jing Su first told the transport crew members present to take a good rest, and said that he would make a call later to ask Belfast to send a group of barbarian crew members to help.

Then he said to Changchun, "Changchun, let's go and have a go with those people from the Maritime Safety Administration!"

"Yes, Commander~"

Chapter 284: Bombing Yourself?

"Uncle, how long are we going to have to wait here? It's been a whole day and night."

"What's the rush? There are so many Sirens gathered at the front lines this time. If we go back now, who knows what might happen on the way?"

"Hey, those ship girls, aren't they going a bit too far? Not only are they not letting us land on the island, but they're also leaving us stranded here. They're in such a hurry for us to bring our ship over, but they won't let us dock. What's the meaning of this?"

"Stop complaining. If you're so capable, go fight the Sirens on the front lines. If you're going to be subservient, then act like a protected person. What can you do when you're living under someone else's roof?"

"Uncle, this can't go on. The further we go, the more we'll be dependent on Dawn Port. Do you know what those new recruits in the officers' ranks at the front said? They actually said, 'What's the point of training? We're not going to fight on the front lines anyway.' Then they all went to sleep, and we couldn't even get them to move."

This is the military! If the army, the very force protecting our country, is like this, I can't even imagine what it's like for ordinary people.

"What can we do? We can't beat the Sirens. Without Dawn Harbor holding the line, let alone the army, humanity would have been wiped out countless times. You have no right to complain here."

"Are all those researchers at the Maritime Safety Administration useless? We pay them so much money every year, and they can't even develop a warship that can fight the Sirens. What use are they?!"

"Heh, do you really think we give the Maritime Safety Administration a lot of money?"

"What?"

"Forget it, never mind. This is not something a greenhorn like you should know. Anyway, let me put it this way: even if the military ever develops a warship that can fight the Sirens, they won't use it."

"Why! Isn't it better to have our own armed forces?"

"Okay, of course it's good, but it's useless. We can't compete with the Sirens in terms of cost. As for casualties, the Sirens are all intelligent warships, so they don't care about casualties at all. What can we use to fight them?"

"Xiao Han, you didn't experience that great battle back then. You don't understand. When the overwhelming swarms of Siren warships charged towards you, the despair and helplessness you felt... you didn't experience it, so you can't understand. And I don't want you to experience that feeling either."

"Then, then we can...find a way to control it..."

"Hey, you can't just say that. Today, I'll pretend I didn't hear anything, but if I ever hear anything like that again, even if you're my nephew, I'll throw you off the ship."

Alright, that's enough. People from the White Eagle faction are here.

Prepare to welcome our distinguished guests.

"Huh? What? Who? Someone from the ship girls' side has arrived? My god..."

"What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and call people to prepare to welcome us."

"Yes......"

...

"Commander, should we tell Sister Zhenhai that you're here?" Changchun whispered to Jingsu, sensing dozens of gazes from nearby.

Changchun always felt that the people on these maritime transport ships had ill intentions. She wasn't worried about her own safety; if someone with no sense of propriety threw a punch at her, even a carbon-based being would be sent flying into the sky to experience the feeling of standing shoulder to shoulder with the sun.

But there are too many people and too many eyes here, and we are outnumbered and outmatched. We can't make too much of a commotion. With just these ships, if we push Changchun to the brink, we can deploy our ship equipment and launch missiles at each ship. But if that happens, it's hard to say whether Jing Su will be in trouble.

"Yes, we should tell her." Jing Su nodded. He was a man who listened to advice quite a bit. His safety was related to the harmony of the entire port area, so he naturally needed to act cautiously.

While there's still time, let's send a message to Zhenhai to get things ready. It shouldn't be a big problem.

"Okay, I'll go find Sister Zhenhai right now." Changchun skipped off to contact Zhenhai.

"What! How did you all end up at sea?!"

Then, Jing Su heard Zhen Hai's pitiful voice, which terrified Chang Chun, who trembled with fear while holding the phone, at a loss for what to do.

Upon seeing this, Jing Su quickly made her escape; if she didn't run away, she might get scolded too.

'Changchun, thank you for shielding me!'

Stepping onto the deck, Jing Su felt the breeze and sensed the bustling ships around her, a strange and intriguing feeling stirring within her.

"Hey buddy, come on over, give me a hand!"

Just as Jing Su was admiring the scenery, a shout came from inside.

Looking in the direction of the sound, a dark-skinned young man waved at him.

"Huh, me?" Jing Su was slightly taken aback, pointed to herself, and looked puzzled.

"Yes, it's you! Come here and lend a hand!" The man called out again when he saw that Jing Su had a reaction but didn't move.

"Hehe, coming right up." Jing Su was happy to have some free time, so she decided to lend a hand.

The young man tossed a rope over, gesturing for Jing Su to tie it to the boat so he could pull it over.

Jing Su tried several times but failed. This thing was not something one person could pull, let alone on a bumpy sea.

'Not very strong, no ship equipment, which means he's not a ship girl? Indeed, although he's quite handsome, it's still obvious he's a man. I've never heard of any men in Dawn Harbor, could it be...?'

After Jing Su made it clear that he couldn't tie her up, the man waved his hand, signaling Jing Su to come over. Jing Su naturally refused, but this time, the young man changed his previous polite demeanor, jumped onto a small boat next to him, and rushed towards Jing Su.

"This must be the person the ship girls of Dawn Port have been searching for." The young man on the ship drew his weapon, a bold idea forming in his mind: 'After searching for so long, this person must be extremely important to Dawn Port. If only I could control him…'

"Boom~"

Before the young man could do anything, a loud bang was heard, and an explosion that seemed to come from nowhere capsized the speedboat.

"Commander, are you alright?" Hearing the commotion, Changchun ignored Zhenhai's nagging, hung up the phone, and rushed out of the room, just in time to be hit by a giant wave, getting completely soaked.

"I'm fine, but yes, it's that guy~" Jing Su pointed to the burning speedboat not far away, somewhat bewildered.

If he wasn't mistaken, just now, a middle-aged man pulled out an RPG and blasted the speedboat that had just come off his boat away.

'What's going on? Is there an internal rebellion?'

"Hey, silly child, I've told you before, if you dare to do anything reckless, even if you're my nephew, I'll throw you overboard. Do you think I'm just throwing you overboard from the docked shore?"

I've explained it so clearly, but you still don't understand. I have no other choice but to resort to this tactic.

That way, you might still have a glimmer of hope.

Throwing the launcher aside, the man shouted, "The speedboat's fuel tank has exploded! What are you waiting for? Go down and save people! Save people!"

Chapter 285 Battle Report

"You want to requisition our transport ships? No problem, no problem. Since it was Marshal Jing who asked, then of course it's possible." The middle-aged man who had just bombarded his own speedboat was now standing in front of Jing Su, bowing and scraping, his attitude almost obsequious, as if afraid that Jing Su would notice something.

"You're quite cooperative~" Jing Su chuckled. He didn't encounter the difficult scene he had anticipated. He was thinking that if he was being questioned by someone, Changchun would suddenly jump out and reveal her identity as a ship girl, giving these guys a scare.

But on second thought, this kind of thing is a bit too boring, and it's during a war, so doing this would only make others think that you, the leader, have something wrong with your head, and it would be pointless.

"I'm very cooperative? What does that mean? Is the marshal saying he's already approached several places, but no one has paid him any attention? Damn it, that blind guy, is he really that clueless? This is going to be a disaster!"

"Marshal, please rest assured. I am in charge of this fleet. Not to mention thirty transport ships, we have forty of them."

"Thirty ships for now should be enough." Seeing the other party's tense demeanor, Jing Su was a little surprised. Had she said something to scare them? But she quickly realized that what she had just said was indeed easy for people to misunderstand. However, Jing Su had no intention of correcting her. Let them misunderstand if they want. In any case, judging from the movements of the ship that was bombed earlier, there must be people who have opinions or grievances against her, and quite a few of them.

So, strictly speaking, what Jing Sugang said wasn't meant to bluff.

"Yes, Marshal, I will go back and arrange the handover. However, my current superior is still the Maritime Bureau, and we can't contact them at this time. What do you think..." Seeing Jing Su turn to leave, the middle-aged man quickly called out to her and bowed.

"You just need to handle the handover. The corresponding authorization letter will be sent over immediately." Jing Su took out her tablet and, in front of the man, drafted a transfer order and sent it to the Maritime Bureau.

"Yes, thank you, Marshal. I'll take care of it right away. Um, where's the first mate? Quickly arrange for someone to prepare for the handover." After giving brief instructions on the handover, the man asked, "Then, may I ask if there's anything else you need me to do, Marshal?"

"No for now, go ahead and get busy." Jing Su waved his hand, thinking of leaving as soon as possible. He could already hear the roar of planes overhead. In this place, at this time, the only ones who could fly planes near the coast of the White Eagle faction were ship girls.

'Judging from this, they must be extremely anxious...' Jing Su felt a sense of foreboding as more and more planes circled towards her location.

"Alright, Marshal, I'll head over to preside over the handover ceremony now. Take care, take care!"

"Hmm, you give me a good impression. Keep up the good work."

After receiving Jing Su's signal, the captain immediately steered the boat away.

Yes, even now, Jing Su's conversation with the captain takes place on two separate ships. Jing Su is standing on a ship in the port area, while the captain of the transport ship is sitting in a speedboat that has been lowered from the ship, talking to Jing Su from a distance.

Changchun, on the other hand, remained hidden in the lower levels, on constant alert, ready to launch missiles at the first sign of trouble.

For the ship girls, they actually hate contact with human forces. Most of the time, they don't even want to see them face to face. Except for a very few important occasions, they communicate through communication devices.

Jing Su naturally had no objection to this. It wasn't a matter of principle. She let the ship girls do whatever they wanted. As long as the ship girls were happy, she was willing to do anything.

......

"Commander! How could you go to that place alone? It's too dangerous!"

As Jing Su expected, when she returned to the command room, she was immediately met with a barrage of questions from the ship girls.