Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

Just then, the cell phone rang. The priest, feeling redeemed, quickly broke free and answered the call.

"Commander, the detectors have detected strong energy fluctuations. It's estimated we've encountered Sirens. Are you alright on your end?"

As soon as the call connected, Warspite's anxious voice came through.

"It's alright, it's alright. I'm fine here, I'm well protected. Javelin has already gone to gather intelligence." Jing Su briefly explained the arrangements she had just made.

Warspite was at the ship's helm, so she wasn't there. Otherwise, she would definitely have been one of those spying on Jing Su's situation. However, because the cruise ship would pass through a sea area with no signal on its way to the front lines, the ship had to be manually controlled in this area and couldn't navigate automatically. So, Warspite, who lost the game, had no choice but to stay in the captain's cabin and steer the ship.

"As expected of the Commander, everything has been arranged so quickly." Plymouth's joyful voice came from behind.

"Ahem, actually, I didn't do anything." Jing Su blushed slightly, feeling a little uncomfortable being praised by Plymouth with his chest pressed against hers. So Jing Su quickly changed the subject, "That, is it the mark of the Sirens' presence?"

Jing Su pointed to the dark cloud in the distance with the finger that was still able to move, while still holding her phone.

"Yes, it's a Siren fleet equipped with weather weapons, and it looks quite large." Warspite's voice came through. There was no other way; he wasn't present, and he couldn't leave the captain's cabin, so this was the only way to increase his presence.

"Climate weapons?" Jing Su raised an eyebrow. "Are the Sirens that powerful?"

If climate weapons were truly available, the human camp wouldn't even need to fight. Such extraordinary devices, if they could significantly impact the climate and disrupt agricultural production in the human world, would cause humanity to disintegrate on its own in a very short time.

"

It's not a climate weapon in the strict sense; it's just a disguise. "Warspite seemed to be doing something on the other end; all that could be heard from the phone was the 'tap tap tap' of a keyboard," Perseus chimed in.

"camouflage?"

“Yes, a disguise.” Perseus nodded. “In fact, small-scale Siren invasions have been ongoing, but large-scale Siren fleets are difficult to hide and are generally only visible at the front lines.”

"Can't satellites monitor small-scale Siren warships?" Jing Su asked, but quickly realized that he had asked a stupid question. Perseus had already said that small-scale Siren incursions were ongoing. If they could really monitor them, they wouldn't have used this wording.

“We can’t monitor them.” Perseus shook his head, clearly not noticing anything amiss with Jing Su’s wording. Instead, he patiently explained, “Although current satellite technology can monitor warships on the sea in real time, we need to know their information beforehand. Otherwise, finding a group of warships on the vast ocean is very difficult. In other words, the Maritime Safety Administration’s computers don’t have that capability yet. We can do this, but we don’t give it to the Maritime Safety Administration.”

Moreover, even if we gave the Maritime Safety Administration our technology, it would still be very difficult to find the Sirens at sea directly. The Sirens' technology allows them to artificially create a large number of dark clouds over a vast area. The sea surface is already difficult to discern wind and rain, and with the Sirens' technology, it would indeed be very difficult to find them using satellites. Most importantly, the Sirens' warships can dive. We don't know how they built their warships. Even if they are not submarines, they can still float underwater.

Satellites can see things on the surface of the sea, but they are truly powerless to see what's beneath the seabed. After all, at a certain depth, there is no light, and you can't see any ships at all.

Currently, the methods for searching for Siren warships are mainly based on visual inspection, and then there's the energy monitoring device that Miss Warspite is currently using.

When a Siren warship releases its dark clouds, it releases a large amount of energy. This special electrical signal can be monitored, simply by getting close enough. Of course, if you get close enough, you don't even need monitoring; you can spot it with your own eyes.

"I see." Jing Su nodded, indicating that she understood, and then asked, "So, can we judge the size of the Siren fleet by the size of the dark clouds?"

"As expected of my proud master, Cong, so clever!" After the others had talked to Jing Su for so long, Sirius said that he wanted to join in too. "There is indeed such a method, but it would be more reliable to use equipment to investigate. The Sirens are also learning from it. These cunning guys have actually learned to deceive people. They are just machines, yet they still lie to people. They are too wicked."

Sirius said angrily, pouting, and hopping around, well, the bridge was hopping around.

“Yes, indeed,” Plymouth chimed in. “But Commander, don’t worry. Although even detectors can malfunction sometimes, you’ve already sent Miss Javelin to gather intelligence. We’ll know the exact scale soon.”

"Javelin, will there be any problems?" Jing Su asked with some concern as she looked at the thick, lightning-streaked clouds.

"Don't worry, my proud master. Miss Javelin is a very reliable senior. If you are really worried, you can send me to attack, my proud master."

I, Sirius, will surely dedicate victory and glory to you!

"Commander, if you're going to send someone out to attack, then let me do it. If defeating these enemies will please you, I'll give it my all. If these enemies aren't enough to please you, I'll go find other enemies!"

Plymouth wasn't going to back down; this was a good opportunity to show off in front of Jing Su.

Even the proud and taciturn Perseus tugged at Jing Su's clothes, revealing her desire to make a move.

Don't be fooled by Perseus's sharp tongue and expressionless demeanor as he utters chilling remarks. That's only in private when he's unsure of what to do; he uses those words to protect himself. Now that there are outsiders present, Perseus isn't so clueless as to not know what to say or not to say.

At this point, Jing Su needs to make the decision.

"Based on your experience, is that area difficult to handle?" Jing Su asked, without assigning anyone to the attack.

"Although this cloud looks bigger than we usually see on patrol, it seems alright," Sirius, the one among the three women who had patrol experience, said first.

“Although we haven’t patrolled, the aura of any fleet on the front lines is much stronger than this one,” Plymouth said seriously.

"Weak~" Perseus was even more direct. She was the permanent squad leader of the Dao Squadron. The combined number of sorties by the two girls present, Plymouth and Sirius, might not even be as many as Perseus's.

"I see, I understand now." Jing Su nodded, indicating that she understood, and then asked Perseus, "Perseus, can your plane reach those guys?"

"can."

Perseus nodded. She had seen similar battle scenes many times, and her control over the distance between aircraft was among the best in the port area.

"Alright." Jing Su was overjoyed and shouted, "Perseus, launch a wave of planes now. No matter what's inside that dark cloud, bomb it first."

"Yes, Commander."

Upon receiving Jing Su's instructions, Perseus left Jing Su's side and walked towards the center of the deck. Her ship equipment could be made large or small, making her one of the few ship girls in the port who could launch aircraft without using the deck. The reason was simply that she was skilled at it.

Of course, it's not to say that not having a deck is always an advantage. According to calculations, without a deck, the aircraft's power will be somewhat reduced.

Although the Perseus is a light aircraft carrier and cannot carry bomber equipment, the Sirens are currently hiding in the clouds, and the exact situation is still unknown, so it doesn't matter whether there are bombers or not.

At this point, torpedo bombers were actually better than bombers, since torpedo bombers could drop torpedoes outside the clouds, and as long as they hit, they wouldn't have to worry about killing the Sirens.

As for whether there might be a situation where the shots miss due to intelligence issues, Perseus doesn't care. Anyway, Jing Su has already said to fire a round in advance, so let her fire a round. Wasting ammunition is not a big deal. As long as it makes Jing Su happy, it's fine to use up all the ammunition and then go completely empty.

Of course, it's better to hit the target if possible. After all, it would be somewhat embarrassing for a battle-hardened aircraft carrier to miss its target.

This time, for Jing Su's safety, the ship girls carried a large amount of supplies. It is estimated that the combat supplies carried on the entire ship are enough to fight a small-scale battle on the front line.

Moreover, since the cruise ship carrying Jing Su departed from the port, there are nine satellites in the sky simultaneously, observing the entire process 24 hours a day without interruption. If any abnormal situation is detected, support troops will immediately rush to the scene. It is normal for the various factions to be close to the front line now, as it is a time when they are supporting each other.

Originally, the Royal Navy was planning to rush to produce the Flying Dragon and the prototype Sailfish T0 as a precaution. However, when they arrived at the factory warehouse, they were embarrassed to find that they didn't have enough colored blueprints. They couldn't even produce one, let alone two. There was nothing they could do because the Royal Navy had the closest cooperation with the Maritime Bureau. They were so busy looking for Jing Su that they didn't have enough research and development materials.

Throughout the entire port area, the Royal Navy faction has the fewest material reserves.

Given the current situation, it's too late to transfer supplies from other places in time. It's not that they won't give them, but they will have to be transported here. Jing Su has also arrived at the front line, which angered Queen Elizabeth so much that she ordered the entire camp to cut half of its entertainment expenses and focus all its efforts on producing materials!

However, this time the royal camp did not complain. On the contrary, they felt it was very reasonable. After all, it was for Jing Su's safety. There were no problems this time, but if an emergency occurred, equipment support would indeed be needed. If they could not provide anything at that time, then everything would be over.

Therefore, from the moment Jing Su left, the entire Royal Army began a massive production campaign, making the Maritime Bureau very nervous. They even thought the Royal Army was going to attack them, and the supervision of supplies was relaxed again, which actually allowed the Royal Army to achieve a leapfrog development in supply production technology.

"Buzz~"

The plane launched from Perseus transformed into a real airplane with lightning speed, emitting a loud roar and creating a powerful vortex that lifted the skirts of the other two women present high into the air.

Although Jing Su was reluctant, she still saw everything clearly. Well, it was a very bold attempt, especially by Sirius. All that this girl thought about all day was how to give herself to Jing Su, so naturally she didn't put much restriction on her attire. According to her, if it weren't for the fact that the Royal Maid Corps' uniforms did have a skirt, Sirius would have wanted to work in front of Jing Su wearing only an apron. As for panties, what are those?

Don't you know that the easiest things to sell unsold in the port area are panties and durable, tear-resistant underwear?

As for Plymouth, although it is indeed more reserved compared to Sirius, Sirius is still Sirius. Compared to Sirius, giving away everything for free is considered being reserved.

If it weren't for the faction having too many powerful figures in the Royal Camp, and the fact that there were plenty of people who could keep her in check, plus Sirius's somewhat absent-minded nature causing her to misremember the location, she would have been dragged away the moment Jing Su arrived at the Royal Camp and got out of the car.

"Whoosh, that's the sound of Perseus's plane! Perseus is here to support us! Is it the Commander? Hehe, it must be the Commander! Hehe, when we sortie, I can feel the Commander right behind me. This feeling is amazing! So reassuring, so blissful! Javelin, good luck! You must perform well and show the Commander your true strength!"

Although it was a torpedo bomber, the plane was still fast and soon overtook Javelin, which had set off earlier. Javelin's senses were quite sharp, not to mention that the sound of the plane flying overhead was quite loud, so Javelin naturally noticed the support from above.

So Javelin stopped during the voyage, waved to the cruise ship behind him, and looked quite excited.

Just as she said, Jing Su was there. It had been a long time since she had felt Jing Su's gaze when they were attacking. This sense of security from the bottom of their hearts could only be given to them by Jing Su.

Despite their formidable combat power, the ship girls are actually quite fragile and sensitive inside, just like that saying that's often mentioned in the port.

It's not that we can't do it ourselves, it's that we can't do it without you.

Chapter 169 The Frustrated Ship Girls

As it turns out, the sirens before us were not such difficult monsters to deal with.

"Hey, I thought I could put on a good show, but I didn't expect that Miss Perseus would sink all the Sirens in one go. What a wasted trip." In the bathroom, Javelin, who was enjoying a massage from a little yellow chick, looked helpless and on the verge of tears.

"It's alright, Javelin. At least you went out to fight. I was watching from the captain's cabin the whole time. By the time the data came out, Miss Perseus had already taken care of everything. Sigh, I was actually looking forward to a good, satisfying battle," Warspite comforted Javelin, who was sitting next to her.

"What did you two do while I was away, sir?!"

Before Javelin could say anything more, a sound of collapse rang out from the side.

"Ahem, Miss Vanguard, it's alright. It was just like taking a stroll at sea, not much different from the training base inside the base. Well, there are some differences, after all, it was a fully armed operation, so the resource consumption was quite high."

"Yeah, yeah, Vanguard, it's good that you didn't go into battle. You're the only one here who's clean and dressed in nice clothes. I'm so envious of the way the Commander looks at you."

Seeing Avant-garde's utterly devastated expression, Javelin and Warspite rushed to comfort him, but it seemed to have the opposite effect.

"What kind of mess is this, Warspite? You're a Royal Knight, a knight of honor and prestige. With a formidable enemy at hand, you missed the opportunity because you were changing clothes. It's a disgrace to the name of a Royal Knight. Warspite, you understand this feeling, right? You're finally ready to launch an attack, but for one reason or another, you have to stay put. Ahhh, I want to launch an attack!"

If we were to ask who among the ship girls on the ship is most eager for battle, it would undoubtedly be Vanguard. As a ship girl who can talk about attacking every three sentences when she is with Jing Su, you can imagine how much she craves battle.

However, although Vanguard is eager to fight, her identity means that she cannot easily go into battle. First of all, Vanguard is a colored battleship. When she goes into battle, even with white ship equipment, the resources she consumes are higher than those of other ship girls with colored ship equipment. The Eagle Union alone can stabilize the situation at the front line. There is no need for Vanguard to go into battle and waste resources. After all, no matter how much resources you have, wasting them is not a good habit.

Putting everything else aside, Jing Su was a seasoned hoarder, and the resources he had accumulated when he disappeared were enormous. The disintegration of the port area didn't happen overnight, but rather was the result of accumulated conflicts ignited by a single spark. And despite the existing conflicts, the port area maintained peace for nearly a year after Jing Su's disappearance, thanks to the resources he left behind.

In addition, Vanguard is one of the four secretaries. There are many things that need Vanguard to do. After all, it is not a company. The personality of a company is not suitable for managing things. It is more suitable to be a symbol to represent the port ranking. Although Vanguard's personality is also quite eccentric, he can still do the work. So for a while, Vanguard was so depressed that he went to a maid shop to work as a maid and contemplate life.

Now that Jing Su has returned, there is no need for the secretary ships to maintain order. As long as Jing Su is still there, the port will not fall apart. Wherever Jing Su is, that is the actual port. In the current situation, as long as Jing Su gives an order, ship girls from all directions, no matter where they are or what they are doing, will rush to the designated location immediately.

Of course, no one would tell Jing Su about this. After all, if they really merged, some factions would suffer a great loss. So, there are still quite a few people who don't want to merge now, at least not before Jing Su visits their base.

To some extent, Qianwei was really looking forward to going to the front lines with Jing Su this time, but just now, because she was seen wearing a swimsuit, she was too embarrassed and ran back to her room to change. When choosing clothes, she had a hard time making a choice. She finally chose a dress, thinking that she would amaze Jing Su when they met, but she didn't expect to choose a dress that was very troublesome to wear. While she was trying to add clothes to herself, she encountered sirens.

These avant-garde members were embarrassed. They could go out, but their clothes weren't on properly. They couldn't go out naked. They could put their clothes back on. They knew the strength of their companions and that they would be able to take care of the enemy soon.

Finally, with his clothes still half-on, Vanguard hurriedly ran out the door. Just as he reached the deck, he saw the Perseus plane taking off. The instant he saw it, Vanguard knelt on the ground, wailing, "No!!!"

The matter didn't end there. When Jing Su heard that the Vanguard had rushed out in such a hurry just to be able to launch an attack, she thought that since they were already there, the task of cleaning up the battlefield would be left to the Vanguard and Warspite, so that everyone could have a sense of participation.

At that moment, Qianwei was petrified. To kill someone is to destroy their spirit. Qianwei could no longer say he wanted to cry but had no tears. He really cried, but he couldn't shed a tear. He was so wronged!

In the end, Vanguard obeyed the order and went to clean up the battlefield, just to get some exercise. This is why Vanguard, Warspite, and Javelin appeared in the bathroom.

After all, we've sailed a distance at sea, so getting wet from the waves is inevitable. But getting wet is secondary; the real problem is seawater. Once you dry, you'll feel sticky and uncomfortable, and you'll feel terrible if you don't take a shower right away.

"Miss Vanguard, you really enjoy fighting, don't you~" Javelin, lying on the edge of the bathtub, laughed as she looked at Vanguard's tearful expression.

"As knights, to eliminate the enemy on the battlefield for our commander, this is the meaning of our existence as royal knights!" This time it wasn't Vanguard speaking, but Warspite.

"Right, right, Warspite, this is what the Commander meant by great minds thinking alike, isn't it? Hmm, perhaps the Commander would prefer an elegant lady like Miss Hood? Hmm, that's true, Miss Hood is really too elegant."

It's not easy to imitate Ms. Hood's elegant manners, cough cough, but I'm not saying I can't.

"Yeah, going out on the front lines definitely suits me better."

Qianwei spoke incoherently, not caring about what was inconsequential; in short, she was very frustrated because she hadn't been able to make a move.

"Relax, relax, Miss Vanguard. Once we get to the front lines, there will be plenty of opportunities to attack. We've brought a lot of resources this time, so you'll definitely have a great time fighting, Miss Vanguard," Javelin said, acting like a little adult to comfort Vanguard.

"I hope so." Avant-garde buried himself in the water and started blowing bubbles.

"Speaking of which, what are the commanders doing right now?" Warspite suddenly asked.

"They're probably inspecting the spoils. Thanks to Miss Perseus, there wasn't much fighting this time, and it ended pretty quickly. The Siren cores and such are all in excellent condition. We can exchange these cores with the Maritime Bureau for... By the way, do we still need to exchange resources with the Maritime Bureau in the future?" Javelin lowered her head and pondered for a moment before suddenly steering the conversation in another direction.

"I guess we don't need to?" Warspite scratched her head. She was always too lazy to deal with such things. Wouldn't it be better to spend that time studying the battlefield? If all else failed, studying the history of the Royal Navy would be better than arguing with the Maritime Bureau. In some ways, Warspite was similar to the Vanguard.

If Warspite, the second-in-command of the Royal Navy, is behaving like this, then Vanguard naturally has nothing to say. He simply closed his eyes and enjoyed his bath. From then on, Javelin also fell silent, and the scene fell into a strange silence.

......

On the other side, in the cruise ship's storage room.

"Commander, these are the spoils of this battle. They are all laid out here. Would you like me to explain them to you?"

Led by Plymouth and Sirius, Jing Su went to the storage room to check the spoils of war.

"Okay, please." Jing Su nodded. The batch of lights in front of her was emitting an eerie glow, and occasionally a few streaks of lightning could be seen. Upon closer inspection, these lightning bolts were exactly the same as the lightning she had seen in the dark clouds earlier.

“It is my honor, Commander.” Plymouth’s face lit up with excitement. He bowed slightly and began to explain, “First of all, according to the reconnaissance, the enemy has a total of twelve warships in this battle. The main force is a purple-rarity heavy cruiser, along with three blue-rarity light cruisers, five white-rarity destroyers, and two suicide ships.”

Subsequent testing revealed that Miss Perseus's torpedoes likely struck the two suicide ships, causing an explosion that triggered a chain reaction that wiped out the entire fleet.

Of course, it's also possible that all the torpedoes hit their targets, causing most of the warships to explode. However, this probability is relatively low, and it's very difficult to achieve even in good visibility conditions. At that time, the Sirens were hidden in the thick black fog, making the possibility very low, but it's still a possibility. Therefore, I still reported it to the Commander.

“That was a perfect report, Plymouth. It’s so nice to have you by my side.” Jing Su nodded with a smile, wanting to touch Plymouth’s soft hair, but then decided against it, thinking of Sirius’s presence.

“It is my honor to share the burden for the Commander.” In an instant, Plymouth’s face turned red, his breathing became heavy, and his eyes became glazed. Plymouth clasped his hands together and clenched his fists, which made Jing Su feel that Plymouth’s background had changed.

"Me too, me too..." Sirius wanted to say something, but after thinking for a long time, she couldn't think of anything to add. She didn't think she was very good at things that required thinking.

"Haha, Sirius is also very good. You sorted this batch of supplies, right? You can sort them so meticulously. You truly deserve to be called Sirius." As the saying goes, one cannot show favoritism, so Jing Su also praised Sirius. Jing Su was indeed not lying. Although Little Yellow Chicken assisted in cleaning up the battlefield, when it came to sorting the spoils on the ship, the ship girls' strength was indispensable.

After all, given the size of the little yellow chicks, there's no way they could carry the spoils. In fact, even if the little yellow chicks could carry them, the huge difference in size would make it quite troublesome to handle.

On the front lines, there are machines specifically designed for Little Yellow Chicken to process loot, but those machines are too large to fit on a ship, so in the end, Sirius had to handle them.

Sirius wasn't averse to doing this so-called dirty work. As a member of the royal maid corps, although she was somewhat impulsive and prone to causing trouble while working, it was still quite difficult for her to mess up something like moving things.

Well, Sirius did almost cause an accident, but thanks to Perseus's assistance, otherwise, the spoils might have ended up somewhere else.

"Hehe, it's my honor to be able to help my proud master." Sirius's eyes lit up when she heard Jing Su's praise, and she became excited. If she didn't think she couldn't beat Plymouth, she would have pounced on her directly.