Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

'The reason is somewhat similar to what Lexington and the others speculated, but something still feels wrong. Even if they change players, this is not the way to play. Isn't this just giving them away for nothing?'

Or is there some other conspiracy?

Jing Su believed what Tova said, but not entirely. The simplest thing was that Tova said Zero was very dissatisfied with Strencus's performance, but hadn't Strencus always performed like this over the years? Why wasn't there any dissatisfaction before, but now there must be a problem?

The reason why the port area calls this battle a quarterly battle is because the enemy on the Sirens' side is rotated on a quarterly basis. Even if they are really dissatisfied, according to normal logic, they should replace the next Sirens mainframe in line. How can they directly replace the entire command system?

Moreover, Jing Su was certain that this Towa had been hiding his strength. When he first appeared, the commotion was so great that the girls were so frightened that they rushed to send their main force to the front lines. A large number of colorful ships gathered at the front lines, and the entire port area was almost fully engaged in the attack. Such a commotion was unprecedented, not only since Jing Su's return, but even before Jing Su disappeared.

If the mere sound of their appearance can put the ship girls on such alert, how could their strength be weak?

Although Jing Su hadn't commanded ship girl battles much, he had taken some online classes in his spare time recently to brush up on his basic military knowledge.

There's a saying in military strategy: When you find that your enemy has suddenly become very weak, and you can't figure out why, be very careful, because your opponent is probably sharpening their knife to do something malicious.

“I think I know what to ask you.” After hesitating for a long time, Tova finally couldn’t help but ask, “Tell me, why does Zero care about you so much? I really can’t understand it.”

"You and Zero haven't crossed paths for so long, what makes you think you're qualified to be a fleet commander from an unknown world?"

In the end, Tova couldn't hold back and spoke her mind. All she wanted to do on this trip was to find out why Zero cared so much about this commander.

Analyzing the timeline clearly, there should be almost no overlap between him and Zero.

What merits does a stranger have to deserve Ling's attention?

"I don't know~" Jing Su gave her answer very simply.

"You're lying to me!" Tova was furious, and the entire space shook violently once again.

She couldn't accept that the questions she had gone to such lengths to ask wouldn't get the answers she wanted.

"Although I really want to give you an answer, this is the truth. If you ask why Zero cares so much about me, this is the only answer I can give." Jing Su waved her hand. "Don't even mention Zero, I've never met you, Siren, before. How would I know what the other side is thinking?"

The blame lies with the fact that the Little Yellow Chicken's plot was a complete mess. Zero barely appeared throughout the entire story, or rather, the Sirens' faction appeared very few times. Jing Su only knew that Zero was carrying out a Judgement Project and that the player's commander seemed to have some connection with the commander of the original world. That was all.

How should he answer this?

"Heh heh, man, do you know the price of angering me!"

"How about we try getting to know each other?"

"?"

Chapter 328 Creating the World

"What are you saying?!" Jing Su's incoherent words instantly broke Tova's defenses, and he cursed, "You think I wouldn't dare to mess with you?!"

"Isn't this what you wanted to know? You wanted to see why Zero cares so much about me. These things can't be explained with words alone. You can only truly understand by experiencing it yourself." Jing Su said softly, with an expression that said, 'Are you an idiot?'

"Okay, that seems to make sense!" After listening to Jing Su's explanation, Tova suddenly understood and agreed with Jing Su's statement, saying, "Then, how do we begin?"

"..." Jing Su was stunned. He didn't expect the other party to actually agree.

"Seriously? Hey lady, you're a Siren, I'm the commander, we're enemies! And now you want to date me?"

Jing Su said this hoping to get some information out of the other party, since the other party was clearly confused. Making the other party angry at this time would be a good strategy.

Of course, doing this carries the risk of getting beaten up, so it's not recommended to try it lightly.

As for whether it would work out, Jing Su didn't think the other party would agree at all. After all, it was the first time the two had met. Jing Su said that she was really going all out and was risking her life for the sake of intelligence.

To Jing Su's surprise, the other party agreed!

She agreed!

I really agreed!

"What? You're not happy?" Seeing Jing Su's stunned expression, Tova got angry, and the surrounding space began to shake violently.

'Damn it, my emotional module is overloaded. Damn it, why do I have this feeling of wanting to tear the other person apart? Why do I have this impulse?'

Ahhhhh!

The emotional module is overheated!

You bastard, I'll tear you to shreds!

"Cough cough cough, come on, anyone can come." Sensing the change in Towa's demeanor, Jing Su immediately backed down. The other side was really going to tear him apart. "But, there are some things we need to ask about beforehand."

"Go ahead," Tova said in a low voice. She decided to give Jing Su another chance and see what she could come up with.

"Two questions: location and time. If you really want to know the specifics, one or two days won't be enough. It will take at least a few months. After all, we've only met for the first time today. You can't appreciate many things without the accumulation of time."

The second is the setting. If you're going to interact, you can't just stay in one place. There's nothing there, just a bunch of data streams; you'd get tired of looking at that for too long.

"Tch, what's wrong with data streams? These data were obtained after destroying several worlds. What do you know? Such precious things can't be seen outside, so why would you get tired of them?" Towa rolled his eyes at Jing Su and then casually said something that made Jing Su's heart tremble.

At this moment, Jing Su suddenly remembered, "That's right, this guy in front of me looks incredibly handsome, but he's essentially an executioner. Where did all those meta ship girls in the game come from?"

It was because the world he lived in was the Sirens' testing ground that it was destroyed by the Sirens, causing him to suffer a major mental blow and become metamorphosed.

In this situation, metamorphosis is extremely extreme and can easily cause ship girls to completely lose their minds and become monsters who only know destruction and slaughter.

It's often said that research ship girls have some psychological issues, but in reality, meta ship girls are the ones who all truly have psychological problems.

Perhaps the earliest meta ship girls have more stable minds, such as meta Enterprise, meta Helena, and meta Memphis. Whether looking at their lines or the game's storyline, their minds are very stable, and they can be good partners.

Although Jing Su was very unhappy that Helena Meta was always the riddle teller!

The uncontrollability of meta ship girls is also the reason why Jing Su is not very interested in Sakura Empire's plans. Currently, different factions in the port have each chosen a track to conduct research.

There may be overlap, but the details are not entirely the same.

For example, the Ironblood faction specializes in biotechnology, while also conducting meta-research. The Eagle Union faction focuses on mechanical technology and has developed a black technology called Starsea. The Sakura Empire is severely divided internally, and the research is all over the place. Some are researching the Sanctuary, some are researching new ship equipment, and some are even researching meta-research!

The Sakura Empire ship girls, led by Akagi, have always felt that meta-transformation is a very powerful force, and it would be a real shame to leave it unused. They wish they could make good use of it.

The current progress of Akagi's research shows that meta-processing is reversible to a certain extent.

There are three main reasons for the meta-transformation of ship girls: Ships created using meta cubes are naturally meta ship girls, and it is impossible for them to be meta-transformed. Contact with meta matter may lead to meta-transformation. This is how U-556·META came about. During a mission, U-556 of the Ironblood faction came into contact with a mysterious substance and thus meta-transformed. According to subsequent research, U-556·META's mental state was quite good, and she did not show exaggerated aggression. Under the leadership of the Ironblood leader, she continued to carry out her original mission.

This is the main direction of Akagi's research.

The third type of meta-transformation is caused by mental breakdown due to excessive pressure from all sides, such as the "Good Guy Richard Meta". After being meta-transformed, this ship girl showed extremely strong aggression, single-handedly destroying the entire Second Fleet, and then became keen on meta-transforming other ship girls. Her motives are currently unknown, but it is known that the "Good Guy Richard Meta" did indeed demonstrate the ability to meta-transform other ships.

Although Akagi repeatedly stated that as long as the ship can awaken the ship's beautiful memories of its teammates and home, it can help the ship girl regain her sanity before the meta-transformation threshold, thereby stopping the meta-transformation process, Nagato of the Sakura Empire faction has already used herself as an experiment.

Upon hearing this news, Jing Su was furious. How could they act so recklessly? He then issued an order that any future research on meta-ification must obtain his permission, and he himself must be present for any experiments to prevent any accidents.

As for stopping, it's impossible. We've gone this far in our research. If we stop now, not only will all the previous investments be wasted and the sunk costs be too high, but Akagi himself will also be very unhappy.

Based on her memory of the plot, Jing Su knew that meta was indeed a force that could be utilized. In a certain event, the ship girls encountered researchers and ship girls from another world. That ship girl was a standard meta-transformed ship girl, but she still maintained her rationality.

Thinking of the guy in front of her, who had actually destroyed several worlds, and who knows, in some unknown world, a certain meta ship girl might have become meta-transformed because of Towa, Jing Su's heart suddenly raced and her breathing became much heavier.

"If you want to know the reason, then listen to me. Remember, you are the one seeking answers from me now. Get your bearings right and don't play that condescending act with me." Perhaps thinking of what Towa might do, Jing Su's tone became much sterner.

At this moment, Jing Su remembered that the guy in front of her was definitely a master of world destruction. He was a dark-hearted person and a die-hard lover of tragedy. He was one of the rare ones who would review the destruction of the world afterward, thinking about what could be improved and how to make the destruction more thorough and the remaining life even more desperate.

"Okay, fine, I'll do as you say!" To Jing Su's surprise, as soon as she spoke sternly, Tova immediately stood at attention and agreed. Then, his eyes became glazed, and he breathed hot air, "Um, could you repeat the tone you used just now?"

"?"

Dude, the reason I typed this question mark isn't because I have a problem, but because I think you have a problem!

"Ahem, here, take this!" Seemingly realizing that her words were a bit inappropriate, Tova coughed lightly and waved her gloved hand, sending a ball of light that shone white floating in front of Jing Su.

"What is this?" Jing Su asked with great interest, looking at the ball of light in front of her.

For some reason, this ball of light felt very familiar to him, as if a large stove had suddenly appeared in front of him in the dead of winter, amidst howling north winds, warm and comforting.

“You can use the sphere to create the scenes you envision,” Tova began to explain to Jing Su. “Didn’t you say you wanted to understand that feeling, and that this data stream space isn’t suitable? Use it to build the appropriate scenes.”

"Oh, a command block, right? How do you use it?" From Tova's explanation, this thing is somewhat similar to a map editor in a simulation game. If I'm not mistaken, then what exactly is the Sirens' experimental field? That remains to be seen.

"Place your hand on it, then access the core data and connect... Right, that's a human, there's no brain-computer interface, this thing... Hmm? What! How can you use it?"

Just as Towa was about to explain how to use it to Jing Su, he suddenly remembered that this thing was Siren Technology. The so-called brain-computer interface can actually be understood as an internal connection. In simpler terms, you need a special excuse to use this thing.

To Towa's surprise, Jing Su was clearly human. The moment he stepped into the arms factory, Towa scanned Jing Su from head to toe. He was a very genuine human. Although he did wear some technology and heavy equipment, he was still human in essence.

Why can the human body use Siren technology?

Jing Su didn't hear Tova's exclamation; in fact, he couldn't hear it at all. Tova told him to put his hand on the ball of light, and Jing Su did as he was told. After that, he had no idea what happened.

When she came to her senses, Jing Su found herself in a pure white space.

'This must be the creative space Towa mentioned, but how do we create it? Could it be...?'

Jing Su had a sudden thought, and a sofa appeared out of thin air in the direction she had expected.

'Oh, I knew it! It's all about willpower—no, it's more like relying on memories in your mind!'

After studying it for a while, Jing Su said that he understood, completely understood, and he now knew how to use the light sphere.

Simply put, you can imagine something in your mind, such as a chair, and the light sphere will create that chair.

Moreover, it was exactly the same chair as the one Jing Su remembered, and the feeling of sitting on it was exactly the same.

'No, there's still a difference. It's a mechanical creation after all; there are some subtle differences in the details. Could this be what they mean by lacking a soul?'

After carefully examining the newly created object, Jing Su finally figured out the limits of this sphere of light.

This ball of light can indeed create things from Jing Su's memories, but it is only an imitation. It is still different from the things that Jing Su has actually come into contact with. Or rather, this ball of light simply creates a similar existence based on the items in Jing Su's memories.

For example, the plush toy that Jing Su is playing with right now has stiff, prickly fur and is quite heavy. If you tap it a few times, your hand will hurt from the vibration. It's very hard. Upon a quick inspection, it turns out to be a doll made of alloy.

Whose good-natured rag doll is made of metal?!

After studying it for a while, Jing Su discovered that the fact that the light sphere had produced an alloy doll was actually his fault, because he hadn't input the specific materials and manufacturing process into it, so the light sphere naturally produced it on its own.

'This is troublesome. I've only seen many of these things before; I don't know the specifics of how they're done.'

Seeing this, Jing Su felt dizzy; this whole thing was incredibly awkward.

'Although the manufacturing process isn't entirely clear, it does have a feature that replicates the feel of touch. Is it what I imagined? It really is! Although the feel is still slightly different, it's sufficient.'

While Jing Su was frantically creating light orbs, Tova stood there dumbfounded, white smoke constantly billowing from his head.

'Warning, warning, excessive memory usage, core overload, core overload!'

Several warnings flashed through Tova's mind, abruptly pulling her back to reality from her dazed state.

'Excessive memory usage? What the hell are you doing? What scene are you creating that requires so much memory? Damn it, stop it, the cores are overloaded!'

Sensing the danger, Tova immediately walked towards Jing Su, wanting to stop her. She had no choice but to stop her. Originally, she had imagined that Jing Su would occupy a small villa-like scene, but she never thought it would take up so much memory.

At this moment, her true form is not in this experimental field, but elsewhere. She is only using the intelligent core of the armory. Don't be fooled by the fact that this armory has just been activated; it was created by the Sirens a long time ago.

The design is outdated; it's already pushing the limits to get the core running, not to mention that Tova also needs to allocate some computing power to withstand the bombardment from the ship girls outside.

On one hand, warships need to be deployed to intercept the ship girls, and on the other hand, the computing power is stretched thin to provide her with the Siren mainframe for manifestation. As a result, Jing Su is now playing tricks and running the core to its limit in one go.

If this continues, the core will explode once it reaches its limit. If the arsenal explodes, it won't matter to Tova at all, since her mainframe isn't here. It won't affect anything; at most, she'll just lose some data.

But Jing Su's mortal body definitely can't withstand this explosion. If Ling finds out that she killed Jing Su, heaven knows how angry Ling will be.

"What...what is this!?"

Just as Tova rushed into the manufacturing space, about to burst into a tirade, the scene before her left her stunned.

Chapter 329 Tova, Downtime

There are many tall buildings and busy traffic.

Looking around, the sun is shining brightly, and there are shops with fresh and stylish decorations everywhere. You can also faintly hear melodious music.

"Hey, you've arrived just in time. How's the scene? Pretty good, huh?" Just as Tova was wondering what was going on, Jing Su walked out of a shop carrying a ball of light and greeted her.

"What's going on?" This shout brought Tova back to reality, and he asked Jing Su.

“A shopping street, haven’t you seen one before?” Jing Su smiled and explained, “Since we’re going to get to know each other well, I thought we should start with a simple date. And if we’re going to go on a date, what place is more suitable than a shopping street?”

"Huh? A date? Who wants to go on a date with you? What are you thinking? Believe me or not, I'll tear you apart..." Towa was furious, and he was enraged by Jing Su's blatant disrespect.

"You want to tear me to pieces, huh? I get it. But if you want to tear me to pieces, let's talk about it after the date. I've even experienced what it's like to date a siren before~" Jing Su waved her hand, indicating that she knew what he wanted to say and would talk about it after the date.

After so much time, Jing Su finally understood that Towa was probably very intelligent, but not so much emotionally intelligent, or rather, he was very stubborn and easy to manipulate.

Based on their time together, Jing Su judged that this guy probably wouldn't dare to do anything to her. It's a simple logic; if he wanted to, he would have done it already. After all, this is a living, mobile Siren host.

Judging from the other party's tone and name, Jing Su vaguely remembered that this person was definitely a demon king-level existence whose hobby was destroying the world and creating tragedies. If the tragedy was not profound enough, she would even review it and figure out how to make the world she destroyed even more miserable, and then put it into practice in the next world destruction.

Despite being a behind-the-scenes boss, Jing Su repeatedly tried to provoke her, but she remained unmoved. Even when Jing Su scolded her, she seemed somewhat pleased.