Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

There are currently ten factions in the port area (not counting META and collaboration factions).

If a separate approach is adopted, then if the factions want to see the commander, they will naturally have to take turns. With the factions scattered in various places, and ten factions to share the task, each faction will only have a maximum of one month per year after deducting travel time.

In just one month, the faction with the most ship girls simply didn't have enough to go around with. Before everyone had even had enough time to get close to the commander, Jing Su was already heading to the next faction.

This is assuming no unexpected events occur.

But how could reality possibly be without unexpected events?

Different factions receive different tasks and have different operational space in the Maritime Bureau. For example, the White Eagles' base is on the front line. If the White Eagles cause trouble on the front line and create some situation, should the commander, as the highest-ranking person in charge, go to the front line to deal with it?

Using their positions, they can easily change how long a commander stays in their own camp. In short, whether to separate or unite, it's all a mess.

Because of her clear understanding of the current situation in the port area, Yat-sen was able to make arrangements so naturally when the urgent report came.

The commander has been staying at his own camp's base for almost half a month. Half a month without any disturbance, what more could one ask for?

Not to mention that their Eastern Huang faction successfully captured the commander for the first time.

Although Yi Xian was somewhat disappointed that she couldn't give herself away, there would be plenty of time in the future, and there would always be opportunities.

'No, I'm still furious! That bastard Binjiang, I'm not done with you!'

The thought of her wedding being stolen by her most trusted best friend made Yixian feel an urge to grab a handkerchief; in other words, she was so angry she could grind her teeth.

"Yixian, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? You look a little pale."

Yi Xian's teeth-gritting movements were a bit too loud, making some noise. Jing Su looked up, noticed the abnormality, and said with some concern.

"Ahem, it's nothing, maybe it's just seasickness." Yi Xian blushed and quickly changed the subject. "Anyway, once we get there, Commander, what are your plans for handling this?"

Just as Jing Su was pondering how to prevent seasickness on a ship, Yi Xian's question energized him. He had been thinking about a solution for a long time, and now he finally had a chance to share it.

"Well, there might not be a solution, but there is a workaround."

"I'm really looking forward to it." Upon hearing Jing Su say that she had a plan, Yi Xian moved a chair over, sat up straight, and indicated that she was all ears.

"Ahem~" Jing Su cleared his throat and said, "First of all, it's highly unlikely that we can get the resources back. Since those guys dared to swallow them so blatantly, they must have made preparations. If we are determined to pursue this matter, the final outcome will most likely be that they will find a few scapegoats and throw them in front of us. No matter how we deal with it, this matter will be forgotten."

I think it's probably because of your long-term laissez-faire behavior that the higher-ups at the Maritime Safety Administration have realized that we are not very dependent on resources, but they probably haven't guessed how many resource points we actually have.

So if I'm not mistaken, this resource operation is either a sign that the Maritime Safety Administration has lost its mind, or they are testing our bottom line. Of course, it's also possible that someone is deliberately trying to sow discord between us and the Maritime Safety Administration.

"By the way, Yixian, regarding these speculations, I need to ask about the relationship between our port area and the Maritime Safety Administration."

"What's the relationship with the Maritime Bureau? It's a mix of cooperation and competition, but mostly it's about mutual benefit. They need us to fight, and we need their help to search, cough cough, to find the commander."

However, our Eastern Empire faction doesn't actually have much contact with the Maritime Bureau, so my intelligence might not be enough to cover all factions.

If I remember correctly, the Royal Navy personnel were also involved in this conflict. They work closely with the Maritime Bureau; the commander can ask them about it later.

After some recollection, Yi Xian briefly described the relationship between his faction and the Maritime Bureau.

As she said, cooperation and competition are intertwined. The Maritime Safety Administration provides resources, and they fight – that's the cooperative aspect; taking on commissions and undertaking expeditions – that's the competitive aspect.

Yes, it's not just the port area that takes on these commissions; the Maritime Safety Administration also accepts commercial commissions to have its own navy perform escort duties.

Yi Xian's Eastern Huang faction values ​​independence and autonomy and does not want resources, such an important matter, to be hampered by external forces. Therefore, Eastern Huang was the first faction to manage resource points and did not have a great need for expeditions. As a result, Yi Xian's understanding of the Maritime Bureau is rather one-sided.

There are camps like Donghuang that pursue independence, and there are also camps that prefer to deepen cooperation.

Take the Royal Navy for example. The Royal Navy's cooperation with the Maritime Safety Administration is the most profound in the entire port area. The Royal Navy has a base on the mainland.

For the royal family, resources are merely commodities to be traded; what they care more about is finding a commander as soon as possible. Therefore, it is not surprising that they choose to deepen cooperation.

Among all factions, the Royal Navy has the greatest public exposure, even more so than the White Eagles, who have been fighting on the front lines.

"I see." After listening to Yi Xian's description, Jing Su nodded. "In that case, I am even more confident about the next steps."

"By the way, Yat-sen, is there anything in our port that's being held back? I'll see if we can use this incident to help them break through."

"?"

Chapter Forty-Four: The Thanks I Talked About Were Not This.

"It's a simple principle. No matter what the Maritime Safety Administration wants to do, the fact remains that they've swallowed our resources. Now that things have escalated, they have to give us an explanation from any perspective," Jing Su explained. "Although we don't care about these resources, we must fight for what we deserve. We don't provoke trouble, but when our interests are infringed upon, we must resist, otherwise they will take advantage of us. It's not like we're without the ability to fight back. In fact, to put it bluntly, the front lines have been able to hold on until now thanks to our efforts."

So I'm actually quite curious, even if we don't care about resources, why do we let them do this? Now it's gotten out of hand.

"Ahem, maybe my attention was focused on something else." Yi Xian coughed a few times, hurriedly changing the subject. She couldn't very well say that she was keeping this issue unresolved so she could snatch the commander later. "Commander, since we can't get the resources back, what does that have to do with being held hostage?"

"Haha, speaking of this, I have a lot to tell you." Hearing Yi Xian's question, Jing Su got excited. "Come on, take a look at this."

Jing Su took out a tablet, swiped it a few times, and handed it to Yi Xian.

"This is?"

"The list sent by Hu Teng contains all the transaction records for this batch of resources from departure to arrival at the port area."

I asked Hu Teng, and he said that the team leader for this resource transportation is an old hand. He has been transporting resources for us for a long time. Although he sometimes misappropriates resources, he is very discreet. He always manages the situation well and is quite shrewd. He is a very experienced person.

This guy is very cautious. Every time he transports goods, he personally checks the resource reserves before departure. These transfer slips with his signature are evidence of his inspection.

There are videos and pictures to prove that when our batch of resources set off, at least it looked like there were enough of them.

Throughout the entire voyage, the transport fleet only stopped at a small dock for resupply; if they wanted to transfer resources, this was the only place they could do so.

I've looked at the information about this dock. It's a military dock with limited capacity. It would take at least three days to move so many resources.

The transport team happened to be stranded at this location for an extra three days.

"Stranded? Why would it be stranded? Transporting military supplies is very time-sensitive, and any unplanned actions must be reported." Upon hearing this, Yi Xian suddenly interrupted.

Although the port area doesn't care much about misappropriated resources, the nature of the incident changes if the transport team blatantly violates the regulations.

As a transport team under the Ministry of Transport, it would not dare to stay even a day longer without clear instructions from above. In other words, at the very least, the Ministry of Transport was involved in this operation.

"The transport team explained that there was a batch of urgent resources that needed to be loaded onto the ship immediately, which is why we stayed a few days longer," Jing Su explained, noticing that Yi Xian's expression was off.

"Urgent resources?" Yi Xian frowned. The pressure of the battle on the front lines hasn't been too great lately, so why would there be an urgent order?

It should be noted that since Jing Su went missing, the process of allocating emergency resources to the front line has been extremely complicated. First, it requires the signatures of four secretaries, and then the transportation department must go through the procedures. Because it involves military supplies, this process also requires one of the secretaries to handle it personally.

As the last lubricant for Vichy Port after Jing Su's disappearance, the secretary ship is usually very busy and has its own things to handle. Now that there are no emergencies, how could it possibly give an urgent order from an unknown source?

"Wait!" Yi Xian was frowning in thought when she suddenly seemed to remember something. She raised her head sharply, her eyes wide, and stared at Jing Su.

"Yes, that's right, I signed that urgent order~" Jing Su coughed twice, somewhat embarrassed.

The biggest reason why the expedited order process is so complicated is that although the port area is divided, on the surface everyone is still a whole, and the external announcement is that the port area's number is maintained. Therefore, the allocation of resources is done through the port area's accounts. Under normal circumstances, the allocation of all resources requires Jing Su's signature.

Even with the commander absent, the signatures of four secretary ships have the same effect.

In fact, the receipt of resources transported by the Maritime Bureau also requires the signatures of four secretarial ships for allocation. However, the allocation had already been done in advance by each faction before the resources were transported, so it was just a formality.

With Jing Su absent, it's quite troublesome to apply for expedited resources. But conversely, once the commander returns, expedited resource orders are simply a matter of going through the motions.

"But how could this be? When did this happen? Could it be!?" Yi Xian was truly bewildered. She had been by Jing Su's side ever since she met him, but Jing Su suddenly placed an urgent order, and she hadn't heard a thing.

Oh no, if I had to say, I wasn't always there for her. Right after we arrived at the camp's base, my best friend betrayed me.

Even though they were already at the doorstep, they couldn't keep an eye on Jing Su, so it can't really be considered that they stayed with her the whole time.

"Yes, it was when Changchun showed me my account. I was studying the account's functions at the time. Yixian, you said you were short of some resources for developing ship equipment, so I tried to apply for expedited transportation for you. I fiddled with it for a long time, and the application was sent out, but I didn't get a response. I thought it hadn't worked, but now I think it should have worked."

Is this account function so overbearing? This isn't even an application; it's practically an instruction.

Jing Su felt somewhat embarrassed, realizing that the incident was somehow connected to her.

'In that case, there is enough time, but we need to deal with it immediately upon receiving the order. At this time, only the Royal Navy has the time and space to deal with the resource issue. It's just unknown which secretary ship will ultimately handle this matter.'

Miss Glorious? It should be her. She always cares a lot about the Commander. At the last meeting, I heard from that young girl, Queen Elizabeth, that Vanguard seems to have recently become obsessed with cosplay. I wonder what's going on.

So, this commotion was orchestrated by the royal forces?

"Although the extra delays in the transport team were caused by my expedited order, it doesn't change the fact that they stole from us. Besides, expedited transport of supplies is our right." Jing Su saw Yi Xian frowning and realized she was troubled by her expedited order, so she quickly explained.

"It's alright, Commander. I'm not concerned about resources; I'm thinking about other things."

"other things?"

"Yes, putting everything else aside, the fact that this expedited order was approved and even transported to the port was thanks to the hard work of my good friends. Commander, please don't forget to thank them properly."

"Of course." Jing Su felt somewhat embarrassed when she thought about how a casual order she had placed had kept a group of girls busy.

In all honesty, Jing Su swears that she simply wanted to give it a try. Heaven knows, after submitting the application, there was neither feedback nor follow-up information. Only after everything had settled down did she deduce what had happened from the details.

"Commander, that's not the kind of thanks I meant."

"Um!?"

Chapter Forty-Five: Bait

Yi Xian was an intelligent person, and after a little thought, he realized who was behind the scheme.

The misappropriation of resources by the Department of Transportation has always been tacitly approved by the leaders of various factions. After all, why expose such a convenient excuse?

But upon closer examination, when it comes to such an event, the details of how to handle it and how to expand its influence are very vague. At the very least, Yi Xian dares not say that he can come up with a perfect solution in just a few days.

Of course, from the initial expectations of this matter, the ship girls didn't really care about how the Maritime Bureau would react. This was just an excuse the girls used to get Jing Su out of her boudoir.

Judging from the intelligence that Jing Su has provided, the impact of this incident has been amplified in terms of both public opinion and overall influence. Even some of the ship equipment manufacturing processes that were previously bottlenecked can be used by the Maritime Safety Administration to quell the anger in the port area.

Clearly, the faction that orchestrated this scheme wanted to use this incident to improve Jing Su's opinion of their faction.

If Yi Xian is not mistaken, the resource production plans needed by each faction are likely already under negotiation.

Yi Xian knew that this was a concession; the faction that organized the gathering could simply expose the matter and make a fuss, which would still get the commander to come over.

However, if you use such an excuse, it will easily provoke public anger. If you use such a good excuse, other factions will no longer have one, and it will be very troublesome to call the commander over.

Jing Su's personality is very familiar to all ship girls. To put it simply, she is a bit of a homebody. If she is comfortable in a certain place, she will not easily move away.

This is also why the cohabitation faction is now in the lead in group discussions. If everyone lived in the same port area as before, there wouldn't be this problem now.

However, since everyone has been separated for quite some time, and the original port locations have already been revealed, unifying them now would cause a lot of trouble.

In short, the faction that organized the event must offer enough benefits to silence the gossip. For example, Yi Xian has already benefited greatly. Regardless of whether any faction helps her negotiate resources, she must stand on the side of the organizer.

The reason is simple: Jing Su stayed in the Donghuang camp for at least half a month, and even held a wedding. With such a big commotion, no one in the group was saying anything. Obviously, a camp helped her block the storm.

Yat-sen acknowledged this affection.

Considering the current situation of the various factions in the port area, only the Royal faction has the time and energy to accomplish this.

On the one hand, the Royal Navy is a long-established faction with top-tier overall strength in the port area. On the other hand, the Royal Navy has the deepest cooperation with the Maritime Safety Administration, making negotiations more convenient when they are on the front lines.

'As expected of the royal faction, their scheming and planning are truly impressive!'

Having figured out the whole process, Yi Xian sighed inwardly, 'Queen Elizabeth, that girl, looks so young, but I didn't expect her to be so shrewd? But thinking about it, it makes sense. The royal family is a bunch of incredibly arrogant people; you can't control them without some ability.'

"Come on, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and write down what's missing so I can add it." Jing Su's urging voice rang out, pulling Yi Xian back to reality.

"What's this?" Yi Xian was a little confused as she looked at the tablet Jing Su handed her, which was covered with a series of materials.

"Resource list, didn't we agree to take this opportunity to get the Maritime Bureau to open up resource exchange? Hurry up, the third round of negotiations is coming up soon, it won't be easy to pass if we submit it later, hehe, write some more misleading materials, this time we'll give him a surprise attack." Jing Su laughed heartily.

"The negotiations are already in their third round?" Yi Xian was truly stunned. She had thought that the royal family had already started negotiating, but she hadn't expected that it had already reached the third round.

In her estimation, the resource negotiations would last at most two rounds. If they failed, Queen Elizabeth would likely turn hostile and throw a tantrum. Just as she had said before, the people in the royal camp were a group of proud and arrogant individuals. They might be as warm and welcoming as a spring breeze to their own people, but when it came to outsiders, especially those who had tripped them up, they would consider it a good mood if they lingered their gaze on them for more than a second.

The fact that such a person could negotiate for more than three rounds meant that he had asked for so much—something beyond his imagination and incomprehensible to him.

'No, there's another possibility. There might be someone in this world who could suppress the arrogance of the royal family, but surely no one could. Why didn't I notice it at all?'

As if she had just thought of something, Yi Xian's eyes widened as she looked at Jing Su in disbelief.

"Ahem, that's right. I was the one who presided over this negotiation. Hehe, sorry, I wanted to give you a surprise, so I didn't tell you." Seeing Yi Xian's reaction, Jing Su knew that she had been exposed and felt a little embarrassed.

"It's nothing, but Commander, when?" Yi Xian didn't think there was anything wrong with what Jing Su did, but she was very curious about when he did it. She had been by Jing Su's side for the past few days and hadn't seen him participate.

“When we’re alone at night, we have the initiative in the negotiations. We can start whenever we want,” Jing Su explained with a smile. “By the way, take a look at the resource gaps and see if there’s anything missing. I asked Changchun before, and she gave me a list of materials, but I think Changchun is mainly testing the new ship equipment. Yixian, you’re in charge, so you should have a more comprehensive understanding of the shortages.”

"Let me see." Yi Xian nodded, took the tablet, and began to examine it carefully.

"Commander, we don't lack most of the materials on this list, do we?" Yi Xian asked with a frown after a short while.

"Oh, it's my fault for not explaining clearly. This form is for listing the resources we don't need; the missing ones are on another form." Jing Su slapped her forehead and quickly handed over a new tablet.

"What is this?" I glanced at the content on the new tablet. Most of it was made of gold materials, and a lot of it was also made of colored materials that the port area couldn't manufacture for the time being.

Yi Xian's expression seemed to be asking silently what the two forms meant.

"Hehe, that material we've already broken through to is bait I used to catch big fish," Jing Su said mysteriously.