Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

"Yes, yes, I will try my best." Jing Su said helplessly, offering a wry smile.

"Hmph, I'm going to rest now. Servant, you better do your job well. If I find out you dare to slack off, I'll... I'll... Hmph, in short, no slacking off!"

After saying this, Queen Elizabeth stormed out of the room.

Elizabeth wasn't angry or sulking; she was genuinely tired because, to demonstrate her and Jing Su's status, her room was right next to Jing Su's.

"Waaaaah, Glorious, you bastard! You're so mean, so mean, so mean! How could you yell so loudly? I couldn't sleep all night!"

It literally means I didn't sleep well. The noise was terrifyingly loud in the first half of the night, and in the second half, my mind was filled with these seductive sounds, which I couldn't shake off at all.

The next day, Queen Elizabeth, who hadn't slept all night, went out early, intending to eat something and catch up on her sleep. However, she saw Jing Su in the restaurant. Looking at Jing Su, the culprit who had kept her up at night, and remembering that her careful preparations for the night before had been ruined, Queen Elizabeth was immediately furious. She dragged Jing Su to her office and dumped all the official documents she needed to handle this week on him.

'I heard from Yixian that my servant learned some management skills at the Donghuang garrison. Heh, it hasn't been that long. I'm giving him a chance to hone his abilities. As my husband, how can he be incompetent?'

Queen Elizabeth felt much better after thinking about this.

'Hmph, do servants only like big things? How vulgar! Don't they know that small things are rare treasures? Damn it, I need to go back and catch up on my sleep; otherwise, I won't grow properly.'

After Queen Elizabeth left, Jing Su stared blankly at the official documents in front of him. He said that he had indeed said that he wanted to fill the port with laughter and joy. When he was stationed at Donghuang, Yi Xian had also consciously given him some official documents to deal with.

However, most of the official documents that Yi Xian gave him were about logistics and supplies. Jing Su really hadn't thought of someone like Queen Elizabeth who would directly leave the entire camp to him to handle.

He was somewhat flustered. What if he didn't handle something properly? Wouldn't that lead to a major disaster?

"Oh, it's the attendant! You've arrived!"

At that moment, a weak and feeble voice suddenly appeared.

"Who?"

Jing Su was startled.

"Heh, you can't even recognize my voice? Servant, you're being rather rude."

"Yes, brave?"

Within the Royal Navy, when it comes to calling herself a servant, Jing Su can only think of one ship girl.

"Hehe, looks like you haven't gone too far in your comfortable nest yet. Hmph, yes, I am Yingyong, and I am the one who will lead this fleet. Remember that well, hahaha cough cough~"

As he spoke, Yingyong became increasingly agitated, but then, for some unknown reason, he began to cough violently.

"Are you alright?" Hearing the cough, Jing Su rushed over to check on him.

It turned out that Yingyong was so excited that he choked while drinking water and talking.

Seeing Yingyong's face flushed red, Jing Su sighed helplessly, leaned over, patted her back, and helped her catch her breath.

"Phew~ I'm saved, haha, as expected, it has to be the attendant. That bastard Elizabeth actually left me here and went off to eat delicious food. As a leader, she's still too willful. And the Warspite and the others spoil that little girl too much. Sure enough, I should be the one in charge here... Hey, attendant, what's with that expression? I can read 'you're the same' on your face. What does that mean? What do you mean? In your eyes, I'm the same as Elizabeth? That's the greatest insult to me!"

Jing Su said, "I was right behind you. How did you see my eyes? And I didn't say a word. How did you connect these things?"

Jing Su said it was completely outrageous, but considering the person in front of her, she was relieved.

Valiant, a purple-rarity battleship, specifically the Queen Elizabeth-class battleship. Just by looking at the class designation, you can understand why she made those remarks.

As one of the most famously arrogant members of the royal family, Yingyong's abilities are undeniable. She constantly proclaims that she wants to replace Queen Elizabeth and become the leader of the royal faction. She's not just talking; she's genuinely working towards this goal and even taking action whenever she has the chance. However, it seems that the royal family doesn't really buy into it.

However, her bravery is undeniable, as evidenced by the large number of processed documents piled up around her.

After communicating with him, Jing Su finally understood why Ying Yong was in this place.

It turns out that Queen Elizabeth had postponed her daytime work until the evening, leaving the daytime for Jing Su to have a welcome reception and tea party. However, Jing Su didn't arrive during the day, and then suddenly a hot pot dinner was planned for the evening. Queen Elizabeth didn't want to miss this banquet.

However, the work was urgent, involving the handover of resources with the Maritime Authority, a matter that required Queen Elizabeth's personal involvement.

So Queen Elizabeth summoned Heroine. As a ship girl who had always wanted to replace her position and had taken action, Heroine was capable, although Queen Elizabeth herself did not have a very good feeling about this sister ship.

The main problem is how she addresses Jing Su. She actually calls Jing Su "attendant." Doesn't she know that the commander is her own personal servant? It's one thing to steal my position, that's fine, but stealing Jing Su's is unacceptable.

But when it really comes down to it, it's more reliable to have the sister ship come out on the scene.

So Queen Elizabeth told Yingyong that she could give her a chance, but she needed to see her abilities first. Yingyong happily accepted the task and ran to her office to start processing the documents.

"So, Yingyong, you didn't know about last night's dinner party?"

"A banquet? What banquet? Was there a banquet last night? That stuff is irrelevant; in the royal camp, they have it every few days. It's so boring. I really don't know why Elizabeth likes to throw these kinds of things so much." Yingyong, with huge dark circles under his eyes, complained helplessly, "Did something special happen last night?"

Since receiving the order around 7 or 8 o'clock yesterday, Yingyong hasn't rested for a moment, single-mindedly determined to prove her strength to the other ship girls.

"Oh, actually, nothing really happened." Jing Su felt it was better not to mention yesterday's hot pot dinner.

Chapter Seventy-Three: Secret Contact?

"Servant, you've come at the right time. Let's review today's report together!" After a short while, Yingyong patted his cheeks, trying to perk himself up, and said.

"Why don't you rest for a while? You don't look like someone who can handle documents," Jing Su said with some concern.

"Hehe, this is nothing. As a leader, if you can't even endure this kind of hardship, you might as well go back to the countryside and grow potatoes. Do you really think being a leader is so easy?" Yingyong said proudly, crossing his arms.

"It's not easy, but no matter how much trouble we go through, it shouldn't be done this way. Leaders are human too; they get tired, thirsty, and need rest. Moreover, when people are tired, their minds aren't as sharp as when they're full of energy, making them prone to making wrong decisions. So, when it's time to rest, they should rest." Judging from Yingyong's dark circles, she not only said it, but also did it. Jing Su once wondered if Queen Elizabeth's ability to be so carefree outside was because Yingyong did most of the work.

"Oh haha, attendant, as expected of a trustworthy attendant I recognize, your words are so comforting. Alright, I understand, I'll get some rest. These documents are yours to handle. Don't worry, they won't be too difficult, mostly just some trivial matters."

After saying that, Yingyong yawned, lay down on the document, and fell asleep immediately. It was clear that he was really tired.

"Ah..." Jing Su wanted to say something, but seeing Ying Yong's steady breathing, she silently closed her mouth, gently took off her coat, and draped it over Ying Yong's shoulders.

Seemingly smelling something peculiar, Yingyong's nose twitched slightly, his brows relaxed, and he slept even more soundly.

Yingyong fell asleep, which made her feel better, but Jing Su had a headache.

Although, as Yingyong said, most of the remaining documents were trivial matters, they were different from the logistical documents that Yixian had specially selected. Even if the matters that Yixian had selected were not handled properly, they would not have had much impact.

Because logistics and supplies are handled in coordination with the Maritime Safety Administration, if something goes wrong, they can simply be discarded. This doesn't have much impact on the daily lives of the factions. Currently, most factions are basically self-sufficient in their daily necessities, and even if they were to leave the Maritime Safety Administration altogether, they could still maintain a comfortable life for a long time.

But things are different now. Jing Su is now dealing with serious political affairs, and if she doesn't handle them well, it could really affect the development of the faction.

For example, the document Jing Su is holding now: Search and rescue coordinates of the stranded merchant ship in the sea area.

This is an urgent mission, just printed out, the ink is still warm. The mission description is simple: organize a fleet to search for and rescue the stranded merchant ship in the sea area where the signal was last seen.

In the game's terms, this is a Red Tip quest, but the reward isn't Red Tips, since Red Tips aren't very useful in this world. The reward for this quest is a few gold materials.

Because the task involves providing materials for shipbuilding, the challenge lies in how to organize the rescue force in a way that accommodates damage during sorties without causing the task to fail.

Yes, that's what Jing Su found absurd: when they asked the ship girls for help, the ship girls had to pay for the resources.

Jing Su had heard Yi Xian complain more than once that the rewards from the expeditions were not enough to cover the costs, and the more they went, the more they lost.

When asked why they don't accept requests that include resources, the answer was that resources for ship girls are military-controlled items, and private companies can't obtain such things. Even if they did, they wouldn't openly display them on the request interface.

The maritime authorities that can provide resources are mostly engaged in transportation with fixed routes. These types of commissions have relatively fixed resource consumption and don't generate much profit.

Jing Su's dilemma was that he had no idea what the value of the gold materials given as commission was to the ship girls.

Because different factions conduct research on ship equipment in different ways, the same resource is not necessarily of equal value to different factions.

Without knowing the value, Jing Su has difficulty forming a team. After all, it's a rescue mission. If we only consider rescue efficiency, sending out pure destroyer shipgirls would be the fastest. However, judging from the information provided in the mission, there are high-level carrier Sirens in this siege, so sending only destroyers is not very safe.

Since we have an aircraft carrier, we need to consider air superiority. At the very least, we need to bring a light cruiser or a ship girl with the same beyond-visual-range attack capability. A carrier is the best option, and battleships are not considered due to their slow speed.

The biggest challenge was that Jing Su discovered that she not only didn't understand the value of materials to ship girls, but she also didn't understand the combat capabilities of the ship girls.

Jing Su has been in this world for so long, and has only experienced one battle. But he didn't even see the battle unfold before it ended. Anshan launched an attack, breaking in from beyond visual range. Jing Su didn't even feel the turmoil of the battle before it was over.

'Sigh, if I don't know something, I can just ask someone. But who should I ask?'

After a moment's thought, Jing Su decided to seek outside assistance.

"Hey, Commander, what's up?"

"War-weariness, right? Here's the thing, I've received an urgent request to form a team for an expedition, but I'm not quite sure how to configure the team in this situation."

Through TB, Jing Su contacted the Royal Army's second-in-command, Warspite, whose voice sounded as if he had just learned of the situation.

"Hoo~ Ah~ What kind of mission? If it requires an emergency response, is it a rescue mission? Ha~ Hmm, it doesn't matter, just assemble a team, it's not difficult. Commander, just do it the way you always have."

A drowsy voice came through the phone, and even though it was over the phone, Jing Su could already tell that she was still sleepy.

"Is this really okay? If the attack consumes too many resources, won't we lose money? What if the mission fails?" Jing Su was a little worried. From the perspective of the faction, this was the first document Jing Su had ever handled, so naturally he hoped to handle it well. It was natural for him to be anxious. In the end, it was because Jing Su did not have a sufficient understanding of the port area.

"Haha, Commander, you have some faith in us, don't you? We're very strong."

Besides, the rescue requests that reach our Royal Navy are mostly near-shore rescues. These areas are all safe zones; as long as we stay within safe routes, we're unlikely to encounter Sirens.

"So those who issued these commissions were operating outside of safe channels?"

"Nine times out of ten, that's the case. Otherwise, these kinds of requests would go through the Maritime Bureau's channels instead of being sent privately like this. Actually, these kinds of requests could also be from guys who are trying to contact us secretly for other purposes."

"Oh~ It's interesting."

Chapter 74 I'm coming right away, wait for me

After communication, Jing Su gained a general understanding of the so-called commission system.

This commission system is actually a product of compromise by the Maritime Safety Administration. Originally, the Maritime Safety Administration wanted to have full control over the distribution of resources in the port area, but it was resisted by the port area's ship girls. The Maritime Safety Administration had no choice but to agree.

Since the Maritime Bureau operates on an electoral system, public opinion is of great importance to its leadership. Over-reliance on the power of ship girls has always been the strongest excuse for the opposition party, so the Maritime Bureau is indeed reluctant to compromise on many issues.

Ultimately, this led to the strange creation of the delegation system.

On the surface, the main resources for port operations are distributed by the Maritime Bureau, while other daily necessities such as food, clothing, and shelter can be obtained by the ship girls through accepting commissions.

The Maritime Safety Administration maintained its image and provided an explanation to the public. For the ship girls, this commission system opened up communication channels with the outside world, and a large portion of the supplies were no longer restricted, making it a win-win situation.

However, since it's ultimately a private transaction, it often involves going through a roundabout process.

Take, for example, the rescue commission that Jing Su is currently handling.

If you think about it carefully, this is a fairly prosperous coastal city on the human continent. The surrounding waters are definitely very safe. Not to mention sirens, there aren't many pirates or other criminal gangs. Basically, nothing bad will happen unless you're unlucky and something on the ship breaks down or runs aground. But if that happens, you should contact the maritime authorities, not the port area.

Therefore, such commissions are basically for the purpose of meeting in person. The true content of the commission cannot be said openly and must be communicated privately.

"So, this is a cover-up?" Jing Su seemed thoughtful after hearing War Exhaustion's explanation.

"That's basically it, Commander. We're in the rear here. If we were on the front lines, it might be a rescue request, but in the rear, even if there's a real need for rescue, it shouldn't be us. We're a combat unit; rescue is none of our business."

After chatting for a while, Warspite was clearly awake and no longer looked sleepy. His words and actions revealed his competence.

"How do we evaluate the compensation he gave? Was it too high or too low? Or, does it even have any reference value? We can't just say one thing and give another."

Jing Su's point is that since this commission is just a facade, how should the promised remuneration be calculated? How should the commission be signed for? These are all matters that need to be addressed.

"Not bad, Commander, you noticed the key information so quickly. I was just thinking of telling you." Warspite laughed and said, "Actually, these resources are just for grade assessment. When the mission is completed, the grade won't be lower than what's on the panel."

"So, we don't know exactly what we'll be given?" Jing Su pressed.

"We can talk about it, but we usually don't know what we'll get in return. So generally speaking, unless the amount offered is large enough, we don't really like to deal with these kinds of requests. They're all pretty boring things."

"I see." Jing Su nodded, then asked a question she had been wanting to ask, "By the way, Warspite, how do we assess the quality of shipboard materials in our port area?"

Previously, in the Eastern Empire camp, Jing Su's work was related to logistics, which brought him into contact with a lot of ship equipment resources. At that time, he discovered that the rating of ship equipment materials in this world was very different from that in the game.

Jing Su once saw that some materials that were rated as colorful in some games were only blue-grade in this world.

"Oh, that's determined by the Maritime Safety Administration. It seems to be related to the manufacturing assembly line, but I'm not entirely sure." Warspite's tone was full of uncertainty.

So Jing Su used TB to retrieve some previous docking files and figured out the process of ship equipment rating.

Simply put, the rating of ship equipment is linked to the demand. The more demand, the lower the rating, and the less demand, the higher the rating. It has little to do with the difficulty of manufacturing.

Since ship equipment materials are basically only used by ship girls in this world, cost is not a major concern. They are extremely expensive; the cost of developing them in the laboratory is the same as the cost when they are delivered to the ship girls.

Therefore, the Maritime Safety Administration no longer expects to make money by manufacturing ship equipment materials. At this point, when determining the grade of materials, the demand will be used for evaluation, but the principle followed is that scarcity increases value, and the less demand there is, the higher the grade.

This led to the strange situation that Jing Su found very surprising: the colored materials in the game were just ordinary blue materials in this world.

"Does that mean there's a lot of colored equipment in our port area now?" Jing Su asked excitedly after seeing that colored materials were easier to obtain.

"There are quite a lot, but not to the point where everyone has a fully equipped one."

"How to say?"

Having the materials doesn't mean you have the ship's equipment; you also need blueprints, you still need blueprints.

'Ah, so you can use formulas to solve problems too.'

No, that was indeed my oversight.

"Doesn't the Maritime Safety Administration participate in the research and development of shipboard equipment?"

"It's not that we won't participate, but the ship equipment they produce is too shoddy, basically just blue and white equipment. That kind of equipment has been outdated for a long time. Moreover, the research and development of ship equipment is the most core thing in the port area. High-level ship equipment, let alone the Maritime Bureau, other factions are all keeping it to themselves. But Commander, now that you're back, you don't need to worry about these things."