Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

This piqued her curiosity. As an arbitrator, she had destroyed countless worlds, and like today, she had met with the so-called leaders of the worlds she had destroyed.

There were indeed some who were heavy-hearted and calm, but not many. Most of them hated her so much that they wanted to tear her apart. But someone as indifferent as Jing Su, who showed almost no reaction, was someone she had never seen before.

"Why should I be afraid? Would you lay a hand on me? Being with such a beauty like you, I feel there's absolutely no need to be afraid. On the contrary, I'm quite happy." Jing Su started to flirt, testing the other party's reaction.

Just as Jing Su said, since he dared to come, he was naturally confident that the other party would not do anything to him. To be precise, given that the cruise ship had not found out about the arms factory along the way, it would be a matter of minutes if this Siren wanted to take action against him.

The fact that nothing has happened since Ke Jingsu and her group left after such a long trip is enough to show that the other party does not intend to actually attack them.

From the Sirens' perspective, if they really wanted to conquer this world, killing Jing Su would be the simplest and quickest way.

Jing Su is currently the absolute core of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. Whether he is arrested, injured, or even, in the extreme case, killed, it will cause a huge upheaval in the region in an instant. At that time, it will not be so difficult to deal with the region again.

The most direct way is to kill Jing Su, shut down all the teleportation points, hide for a few years, and then come back. The Sirens won't even need to lift a finger; the port area will destroy the entire world for you.

When we return, it will be much easier to deal with the self-destructed port or to occupy the ravaged world.

The only problem with this opportunity is that it might produce a few super-powerful bosses who are extremely hostile to the Sirens. Their level of corruption might be much more exaggerated than that of the meta ship girls we usually see. However, from the Sirens' perspective, it doesn't matter. No matter how meta-ized or how much hatred they have, after the world is destroyed, there will be a shortage of resources, and they will starve to death.

Now that Jing Su is standing here unharmed and talking to the other party, it means that the other party has no intention of harming her. Since there is no danger, why not take this opportunity to get more information out of her?

Opportunities to face an arbitrator directly, like this, are rare indeed.

"Do you really think I wouldn't dare to lay a hand on you?" The siren roared in fury, waving his lantern and causing the entire space to tremble violently. Jing Su's clothes began to move without any wind.

Soon, a strong wind swept in, and Jing Su felt as if several sharp blades were scraping her skin; to be honest, it hurt quite a bit.

Jing Su reached out and held the earring in his ear; the wind was making it a little uncomfortable for him.

'If I had known it would turn out like this, I wouldn't have worn this thing today. The journey has been bumpy, and now there's strong wind and spatial vibrations. Wearing this thing is really not comfortable.'

But not wearing it doesn't seem right. If I don't wear it, who knows what Binjiang will do to me? Those things she gave me are uncomfortable even for normal walking. It's amazing she can put up with them.

Jing Su thought to herself absentmindedly as she silently watched the siren performance across from her until the gale gradually subsided and the space returned to calm.

"Heh, a blank, expressionless face. Looks like another fame-seeking opportunist. I really don't know how Zero... Wait, you weren't scared!?"

This time, a fierce wind arose, the space trembled, and it was accompanied by a powerful mental pressure. It should be noted that the space they were in was not a space in the true sense of the word, but rather in Jing Su's mental world, although everything was similar to that in the real world.

In this world, the harm you suffer will be reflected in reality. Moreover, because it is a mental world, anything that affects your emotions will have a magnified effect on your mental body.

Using this trick, she had driven many so-called leaders of other worlds to the brink of mental collapse, forcing them to kneel on the ground crying and begging for mercy. She was busy with her own affairs, but there was no sound from Jing Su's side. As usual, she assumed that Jing Su was terrified and stunned, and didn't know what to say.

When she looked up, she found that Jing Su was simply covering her ears with a look of disgust on her face, not at all like someone who was terrified and on the verge of collapse.

"Huh? It's over? Thank goodness, if you hadn't stopped, my ears would have been killing me~" Jing Su let go of his hand, shook his head, and said gratefully.

"Why...why aren't you afraid!?" the siren asked incredulously.

As a director who spreads fear and despair, she couldn't believe that even after using all her tricks, the other party had no reaction at all, which made her feel frustrated.

"Why be afraid? Is being blown by the wind scary? It can't even move your body. The spatial tremor just now was a bit frightening, but after shaking for so long, the distance and position between us didn't change at all. What's there to be afraid of?" Jing Su gave her explanation, while her mind began to work and think.

'Does she get angry easily? Is it on purpose or is it just her personality? Judging from her stunned expression, it's probably on purpose, but what's with this breakdown? Doesn't she seem to be intimidated by you and that's making her so upset?'

In Jing Su's view, Sirens are basically intelligent AI. Although ship girls are also intelligent life forms in a strict sense, thanks to the black technology of the Mind Cube, ship girls are more like living beings than Sirens.

Most of the sirens were not created by humans, but by Zero to complete the Judgement Project; they were AI creating AI.

Comparable to the ship girls created by ship girls in the port area, the sense of intelligent AI is very obvious. For example, the research ship Gascoigne is a very classic ship girl created by ship girls, and her sense of AI is very strong.

So Jing Su was quite curious about what was wrong with this guy in front of her, and why he had such a big emotional fluctuation. This was very un-Siren-like, or rather, very un-Siren-like.

The only one currently recognized as a siren entertainer is the Observer. The storyline subtly suggests that this guy seems to have awakened and is no longer completely obedient to Zero, but is secretly causing trouble.

'Wait a minute, if the Observer can awaken, it means that intelligent creations can awaken. So it's not impossible that this guy in front of us will also awaken. What kind of machine crisis is this?'

It's also possible that this is just his personality—a fun-loving person with a strong contrast in personality?

Jing Su's expression remained unchanged, but his mind began to work at lightning speed. His original purpose in coming to meet the Sirens was to gather intelligence, and sure enough, he had already obtained a crucial piece of information before even asking many questions.

Who says that gathering intelligence always requires getting specific answers?

Our own reactions to different problems are also a form of intelligence.

"Hehe, I think I'm getting a little interested in you." The siren, who was on the verge of collapse after being teased by Jing Su's words, forced herself to stay calm and try to save face.

"Since that's the case, why don't we have a proper chat? I'm quite interested in you too." Jing Su was slightly taken aback. What was this girl up to?

Regardless of what she's thinking, let's take it one step at a time. Since the other side is strong and we are weak, let's follow her train of thought and see if we can get some information out of her.

At this point, this is all Jing Su can do.

"Have a good chat? What do we have to talk about?" Siren seemed to have regained her composure, her expression changing again, reverting to the mature and sophisticated woman she was at the beginning, her face serious and focused as she stared at Jing Su, as if looking at prey.

"Otherwise what? I'm already standing right in front of you. You went to all that trouble to bring me here, didn't you just want to ask me questions? Our time is precious. Let's be more open and frank with each other. It's better for both of us."

"I must say, you are indeed the boldest person I have ever met. However, what you said makes sense, and I accept your suggestion. So, how do we begin?"

“You ask a question, I ask a question, let’s be fair and just. Ladies first.” Jing Su bowed slightly and said softly to the siren in front of her.

"Hehe, alright~" Siren glanced at Jing Su sideways. To some extent, she really wanted to beat Jing Su up right now, but she had to admit that she did want to find Jing Su to see what was going on. Whether or not she wanted to ask him anything was another matter. She mainly wanted to see why this guy in front of her made Zero care so much. He was just a human, and a male at that. Why was he so important to her?

But after a brief encounter, she said that Jing Su was indeed quite interesting. As a director of tragic dramas that destroyed many worlds, she had met many people. After each world was destroyed, she would review it, think about what could be improved, and how to improve it to make the destroyed world more tragic.

To this end, she would specifically grab world leaders and interrogate them to see what they thought of her performance. Most people gritted their teeth at her, but when they saw the culprit, they couldn't utter a single word and wished they could rush up and fight her to the death. There was no way to communicate with these kinds of people. After confirming this, she would directly eliminate them with her body.

A few of the more determined individuals could be chatted with for a while, but they immediately broke down after hearing her question, which surprised her greatly. Why would they be angry in the face of such a grand spectacle of world destruction?

Shouldn't we feel honored to be a part of this script?

To become a perfect work of art is an unparalleled honor, something many people yearn for but cannot attain. Why risk your life for it?

Later, after a period of understanding, she realized that this reaction itself was part of the script, a supplementary element. Seeing her beloved things, things she held dear, destroyed before her eyes, that expression of despair was the most perfect picture in the world.

Therefore, she particularly enjoys capturing the local leaders after destroying a world to see their reaction.

Although she hasn't destroyed the world yet, that doesn't stop her from capturing the leader to see how things are going. In particular, this leader is so special to the Sirens, and she's not happy about it. Why should someone she's never even seen before be so important to Zero?

She was curious whether this Jing Su would be like the leaders she had met before, so she set a trap. Although it cost her a lot of resources, she managed to capture Jing Su.

Then, she said that Jing Su was indeed very different from the so-called leaders she had met before.

"You're the first one to dare flirt with me, but since it's a performance, it's normal for a director to encounter some mischievous actors." After a while, the Siren slowly spoke, "I am Arbiter: Tower XVI. You can call me Arbiter Towa XVI, but of course, I prefer you to call me—an excellent director!"

"Director?" Jing Su was slightly taken aback. This was the first time he had heard the word from the Sirens. No, strictly speaking, this was the first time he had formally communicated with the Sirens, and many things were still unclear to him.

"Hehe, yes, director, I like that title. But, regarding this issue, you asked two questions, so I should ask two in return."

Now, it's my turn.

Chapter 327 Let's Try Getting Along

"Two questions?" Jing Su frowned slightly. "Does this include the word 'director'?"

After briefly recalling the conversation, Jing Su felt helpless. This guy, how could he be so picky about such words?

'In some ways, this guy named Tova is surprisingly adorable.'

"Alright, ask away. I'll answer anything I can." After a moment's thought, Jing Su decided to follow the other party's line of thought. There were quite a few sirens like her in the port area, and Jing Su had already undergone extensive training and knew very well how to communicate with them.

"..."

Jing Su had prepared herself for a heated argument, but after waiting for a long time, she still hadn't received a question from the other person. When she looked up, she noticed that the other person's pretty face was slightly flushed and her eyes were flickering, as if she was struggling with something.

"Blushing at least shows the other person has an emotional side, but then again, what are you blushing for?"

Jing Su noticed this detail. There are similar cases in the port area, such as Arthas. She is a very classic mechanical ship girl, but she has been equipped with an emotional module. Once you come into contact with her, she immediately transforms into a steam princess. Her temperature rises so much that you can almost fry an egg on her.

However, what's amazing about Arthas is that while other ship girls at least need to see Jing Su when they're shy, and sometimes they'll just blush and be speechless if they don't get close to her, Arthas reacts immediately as soon as Jing Su gets near, whether she sees her or not. If she sees her, her reaction is naturally strong, and if she doesn't see her, her body temperature will rise accordingly.

Jing Su sometimes thinks about teasing Arthas, which is quite amusing.

Now, Tova gave Jing Su a similar feeling, not to the level of Alsace, but at the level of Kilsager.

While Jing Su was silently pondering, Towa was also having a mental brainstorming session.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! What are you asking? What should I do? Tova, activate your powerful logic matrix and think of something! This is so embarrassing!"

Hey, you jerk, stop staring at me!

I'm already thinking about it!

Yes, Jing Su never received any inquiries from Tova, for a simple reason—Tova never imagined things would develop this way.

Admittedly, she dragged Jing Su to this place to see what kind of person the port commander was, and why Zero valued him so much. She wanted to scare Jing Su a little.

In her experience, Jing Su was similar to her previous leaders. A simple scare would make her burst into tears and beg for mercy. Even if Jing Su was calm and composed and was not intimidated, she would launch a mental attack on Jing Su.

According to Tova's plan, after this whole process, even if Jing Su has a strong heart, she would be terrified beyond recognition. In this way, she could show Zero that the being she values ​​is nothing more than a clown, completely unreliable.

Unexpectedly, Jing Su was not intimidated at all; instead, she set a trap for her, which infuriated Towa.

While annoyed, she was also frustrated, because she hadn't expected Jing Su to react this way. When it was her turn to ask a question, Tova realized with dismay that she hadn't prepared to ask Jing Su any questions at all.

Tova wasn't without questions, but what she wanted to know wasn't quite appropriate to ask aloud. She couldn't very well just directly ask Jing Su, "Hey, Commander of the port, I want to know why Zero values ​​you so much. Can you give me an answer?"

Is this a reasonable question? It's obvious that Jing Su wouldn't answer it.

Regardless of whether Jing Su knew about Zero's existence, even if he did, who could tell him such a thing?

So, an awkward situation arose: Tova couldn't bring himself to ask the questions he wanted to know, and he didn't know how to say the things he didn't want to know.

At this moment, Tova regretted his impulsiveness and hasty actions, realizing he should have prepared in advance.

"Miss Tova, are you going to ask or not? If not, I'll continue." Jing Su saw that Tova's face was flushed and she looked extremely conflicted, knowing that she hadn't prepared any questions and was currently brainstorming.

As we all know, when any intelligent being is thinking about a problem, its attention is not focused. At this time, it is easy to get useful information by asking questions indirectly.

"Go ahead and ask. I haven't decided what to ask yet." Hearing Jing Su's complaint, Towa nodded. As Jing Su said, both of their time was precious.

The observer couldn't delay for long; it wouldn't be good if Zero noticed her little tricks.

"I want to ask, weren't the previous quarterly offensives always carried out by the same Sirens? Why were they changed?" Jing Su asked the question that had been bothering her for a long time.

Based on past experience, this Siren host should be Determination, also known as Agent VIII, a heavy cruiser, which in the game would be a mini-boss in a large-scale operation.

Determination is the Arbiter Strynkus VIII – a subordinate agency of Arbiter: The Strength VIII. In the game, Strynkus is the boss of the monthly Arbiter challenge.

In this world, after making a decision, if you cross the teleportation anchor point, you will encounter Strynkus. If you want to expand outwards, you have to defeat Strynkus.

However, after Jing Su disappeared, the port area never expanded to other worlds. Basically, after defeating the Proxy, they stopped caring about the Sirens.

It does a great job of replicating Jing Su's open-world gameplay. Jing Su rarely plays in the Abyss Sea, finding it troublesome, let alone the Moonfall BOSS. Anyway, he can slowly accumulate the materials from the Moonfall, so as a veteran player, Jing Su is not in a hurry at all.

Based on past experience, this quarterly offensive is the turn of Resolve, and the ship girls are all preparing according to Resolve's combat characteristics. In a game, you would have to pay attention to light, medium and heavy armor units, but in this world, you don't have to consider these things at all.

It's not that the type of ship doesn't matter, but rather that the Sirens always attack in overwhelming numbers, with all sorts of units involved, so there's no real distinction between light and heavy.

However, just as the ship girls were about to make their move, they discovered that the Sirens had been replaced. This was the first time in all these years that the ship girls had fought against the Sirens. For a while, the girls were terrified, thinking that the Sirens were about to make some big move, and they all transferred their main forces to the front line. You know, Jing Su was still on the front line.

After a long and tense battle, the ship girls discovered that, apart from having more Siren warships and a more aggressive fighting style, the new Siren main battle mode was just so-so, or even worse than before.

Although the previous determination felt a bit naive, it wasn't like they were deliberately throwing their wares away. This time, under Tova's command, the Sirens were attacking the defensive positions like they were free. But as crazy as they were, the effect was so-so; it was just free military achievements.

After several days of intense combat, the ship girls gradually relaxed their vigilance and started looking for Jing Su to pet again.

Then Yorktown put on a big show for the entire port area. Jing Su set off to the front line to offer his condolences, and then he encountered a new resource point. Jing Su was then brought to this place.

The above is what happened after Jing Su arrived at the front line. At first, the entire port area was extremely nervous when they found out that the Siren host had been replaced. However, after discovering that the new host was not as good as the old one, they all started to slack off. Jing Su didn't have any good solutions to this.

It can only be said that the girls have this mentality. After fighting the Sirens for so many years, they have become used to it. Anyway, the ship girls have no intention of expanding outwards. If they just want to protect their own little territory, the current force on the front line is more than enough.

However, it's not accurate to say that all the ship girls in the port are just giving up. There are still some ambitious ones. Both the Ironblood and Royal Navy factions have sent expeditionary forces to other worlds. The Royal Navy has established a base in another world and is now trying to encourage Jing Su to go to these worlds and reclaim the base. The Ironblood faction has even sent an army to other worlds, and its current status is still unclear.

The Eastern Empire faction is secretly developing missiles, while the White Eagle faction is working on new ship equipment. It can be said that no faction's open and covert actions are the same. They seem to be slacking off, but they are not really slacking off. In short, they are in a state of both slacking off and not slacking off.

Therefore, Jing Su was very interested in Towa, the new Siren main unit, or rather, full of resentment! If you say she's weak, the aura she gives off is quite intimidating. The overwhelming number of Siren warships at their first meeting scared the ship girls into hastily sending their main force to the front line. If you say she's strong, the ship girls find her a sitting duck when they engage in battle, making her very easy to defeat.

Each faction stated that their main force had been transferred over.

Of course, Jing Su had strong objections to this. Since the main force had nothing to do, they asked him to do something!

"There are two reasons. Zero was quite dissatisfied with the results of the previous Siren host's operations, and some minor issues arose in other worlds that required manpower, so he transferred Strencus there, and then transferred me here," Tova replied, half-jokingly.

Zero was indeed dissatisfied with Strynkus's performance, but not enough to warrant transferring him away. What truly displeased Zero was that, through various data monitoring, she discovered that there had been a previous opportunity where she almost managed to bring Jing Su to her side.

In the Siren's cyberspace, Zero actually discovered Jing Su's presence, indicating that Jing Su had been by her side, but she failed to notice and let Jing Su leave unnoticed. This was the key reason that truly angered Zero.

She was then transferred over, and after learning the whole story, Tova was furious. Of course, not because of Strynkus's performance, but because she was angry that Zero was angry because of a man!

Her relationship with Zero, or rather, the relationship between each Siren host and Zero, is not simple. As the executor of the Arbitrator Project and the last being to inherit the will of the original world, Zero is a motherly figure to many Sirens.

Many sirens were created by Zero to assist her in completing the Arbitrator Project, and Tova was one of them. Now, the existence she respected was showing strange emotions because of someone she had never heard of, and who was a man, which she could not accept.

So he volunteered to come and meet the port commander who had been fighting against his own forces.