I'm in the azure sky, and I have an anti-fraud app.

Li Wei: "Maybe. She may have her own considerations. I won't force you on this. Whether you want to have a daughter or not is your own freedom."

Belfast pulled Levi into her arms and said, "Mmm."

……

Businesses here in Yorktown are much better off. Given the precedent of Belfast, Businesses have a slightly larger area of ​​operation here—though only by a limited margin.

"commander!"

When the businessmen and Yorktown saw Levi, they all stood up.

"No need to get up." Levi hugged Yorktown on both sides, kneading her like a marshmallow. Facing Yorktown, who wasn't pregnant with a baby ship girl, Levi could be relaxed and bold: "How have you been lately?"

The company was in a much better state than Belfast, at least it didn't organize an activity like knitting sweaters that surprised Levi, making Levi think about having Elizabeth and other ship girls spend more time with Belfast.

The company seemed to have figured out Li Wei's thoughts: "With my sister by my side and Bumblebee coming back often, this period has been quite interesting."

Then Enterprise said quietly, "...It would be even better if the Commander could come a few more times."

Li Wei could only manage an awkward laugh.

Yorktown didn't care about any of that. The company was forbidden from in-depth communication, and she didn't have such a prohibition: "Commander, I've been waiting for this for a long time too. Since you're already here, why not seize the opportunity and..."

enterprise:?

"and many more……"

Enterprise stared wide-eyed as her sister, Yorktown, eagerly kissed the main gun: "Sister, why are you starting right in front of me!"

Chapter 418 Music Practice in South Dakota

At the Home Port Academy, sunlight filters through the leaves, dappling the cobblestone paths and adding a warm and tranquil touch to the campus.

Li Wei came to inspect the academy as planned today, and while passing by the music classroom, he heard beautiful piano music.

He paused at the entrance of the music classroom and witnessed South Dakota unleashing her musical talent at the piano. The mature woman's hands danced across the black and white keys, her long hair cascading down like a waterfall.

Suddenly, a discordant note jumped out into the music.

South Dakota stopped what she was doing and turned to look at the door: "Commander?"

Li Wei pushed open the door and entered: "Sorry, did I disturb your practice?"

South Dakota was dressed in a pure white suit, even her high heels were white. Noticing Levi's gaze, South Dakota moved forward confidently, allowing the Commander to experience her charm.

South Dakota leaned forward slightly, making her marshmallow-like figure even more conspicuous; her white dress couldn't even contain it. If it weren't for the special design, Levi would probably have already noticed the signature feature of this mature woman.

"It's alright. Rather... it's because my own mind was in turmoil that I was disturbed by the Commander."

Levi was very satisfied with South Dakota's answer, and even more satisfied with her actions. His gaze swept over the entire northern hemisphere of South Dakota: "Doesn't South Dakota have classes today?"

"Just finished class." South Dakota smiled, displaying her incredible flexibility by simultaneously showing off her marshmallow and jailer personas, and proactively placed her white high heels on the main cannon, tracing the outline of the commander's main cannon barrel downwards: "Commander, how about practicing music with me here for a while?"

"Massachusetts suggested I learn piano. Although I initially felt I wasn't cut out for it, it turned out to be surprisingly challenging and worthwhile once I actually started playing..."

As she spoke, South Dakota's actions didn't falter. She accurately located the muzzle of the main gun and, with nimble movements, freed it from under the cloth in an instant.

Then Li Wei remembered that Massachusetts, which was in the same class as South Dakota, also had a music skin: "Massachusetts, huh? She seems to have some knowledge of music too?"

South Dakota lowered her head and kissed the muzzle of the main gun, then traced its path downwards along the barrel: "Hmm...yes, she even formed her own band and invited me to join, but I was too embarrassed to go. *slurp*..."

Li Wei looked up: "Why?"

“My playing level… is not good enough.” South Dakota said this with a little embarrassment: “I want to practice until I’m good enough before I perform, so as not to hold my sisters back.”

Levi gently stroked South Dakota's long hair: "I feel that your level is already good enough, at least much better than mine."

South Dakota didn't have time to speak, and only looked up after fully tasting the food: "Moreover, another exercise also took up a lot of my time."

Li Wei didn't immediately understand what South Dakota meant: "Huh? What other practice is there?"

“In a sense, it’s the same as playing the piano.” South Dakota offered his signature item to Levi: “Both require a lot of time to practice and then perform in front of people.”

Before Levi could react, South Dakota continued, "Commander, could you practice with me for a little while? I think I can improve much faster with your company."

"If you don't mind that I don't have much musical talent, of course I can," Li Wei said curiously. "Have you been practicing for very long?"

“This way, I can express all sorts of emotions, which is actually quite suitable for someone like me who isn’t good at expressing emotions…” South Dakota nodded: “The actual practice time… is probably only about three months.”

"It's already amazing that you've reached this level in about three months." Levi nodded. "I didn't expect that you, South Dakota, actually have such good musical talent."

South Dakota nodded, then shook her head: "Actually... I wasn't talking about music, you know?"

Li Wei: ?

“That’s what I meant.” South Dakota finally revealed a sly smile, having already pulled his white-stockinged prison guard from his high heels and placed it on the main gun: “Did the commander think I was talking about music?”

"There is no music that can be mastered in three months."

"Even if you want to surprise the commander, you need to practice these techniques for a long time. For example... how to maintain the main gun so that it won't have scratches from the stockings; and how to make the commander's ammunition fire as quickly as possible."

Li Wei: ...

What kind of things do you ship girls research and discuss every day?!

I felt South Dakota's agile playing skills as I fed my ammunition into her high heels, and then I watched South Dakota step her small feet into her high heels: "Well, I do know a practice method that can quickly improve your ability to express emotions."

South Dakota tried the method her sisters strongly recommended and looked curious: "Is there really such a method? What's it? If it really works, I'd like to recommend it to Massachusetts and other places as well. They... sometimes have similar problems."

Li Wei: "Of course, no problem."

He didn't reset the main gun, but just walked over with it to close the door to the room, then walked to the piano and gently patted it: "Come here, kneel down."

South Dakota immediately understood what Levi meant: "The method the commander mentioned, could it be..."

“Is there a better way to practice emotional expression than this?” Levi gestured to South Dakota to adjust his angle: “If you can’t even convey what you want to express to me with your own voice, then you can forget about using music.”

South Dakota nodded: "The commander is right."

The mature woman followed the commander's instructions to get the angle just right, and then practiced how to express her emotions using her own voice.

At first, South Dako was a little shy, but her poor defense forced her to "practice". With the commander's constant and careful guidance, South Dako gradually mastered the skills of expression.

"Commander... seems to really enjoy hearing me say the word 'main gun'?"

“Yes, that’s right, I like hearing you say that.” Levi patted South Dakota’s brown jelly-like body encouragingly. “There’s a lot more to it than that. You need to learn to apply what you’ve learned to other situations. You can’t wait for me to teach you this directly every time.”

"It's a completely different feeling when you figure it out yourself and then explain it, compared to when I teach you and then you explain it. I'll reward you for your strong comprehension in the former, but in the latter, I'll just feel like you're just following along blindly."

Levi gestured for South Dakota to move forward a little, pressing his retreating weight onto the piano so that he would have more bench space to exert force.

South Dakota followed Levi's instructions and moved forward, completely unconcerned about the various notes he was pressing down, while thoughtfully remarking, "So... there's still so much to learn."

“Of course, there’s a lot more,” Li Wei said proudly. “Although you’re a music teacher at the academy, you’ll always be my student, and there’s so much for you to learn.”

South Dakota then said, "Then... teacher, could you teach me a little more?"

“Of course.” Li Wei glanced at the time. “Today… forget about today, let’s do it tomorrow. Tomorrow, you, Massachusetts, and the members of her band—there shouldn’t be many people, right?”

South Dakota: "I don't remember much... The teacher can say a number of people, and I'll go ask. If there are many people, then I'll come with Massachusetts. If I don't have many people, then I'll call them all."

“Not bad, very smart, you get it right away.” Li Wei expressed his appreciation for South Dakota’s comprehension: “It’s a pity that you’re still a bit passive in this area—being proactive like you were before is much better, being passive will never allow you to get enough.”

South Dakota: "Yes, teacher."

Speaking of this, not having ship girls is idiotic.

"Alright, that's all for today. Now it's practice time." Li Wei patted South Dakota's jelly again, gesturing for her to change her position. Before, South Dakota was kneeling; now she was half-lying on the piano.

This position was clearly less comfortable than before, but it was no big deal for the ship girl. Levi even had a mischievous thought halfway through, demanding that South Dakota not press any musical notes, or he would punish her.

At first, South Dakota thought the punishment would be severe. Later, after an accidental mistake, he learned that the punishment was simply to move the attack on the core module to the cargo hold, and the piano music in the room never stopped.

“…You can press six or seven notes in one attack, I think you’re just making a mistake on purpose, right?” Levi said speechlessly, grabbing the South Dakota marshmallow. “If you want to experience the cargo hold so much, then you’d better use your cargo hold properly for me!”

So South Dakota learned what the next punishment would be.

Even when she was learning to speak fluently and roll her eyes, she still couldn't rest.

When her sisters initiated a voice call to ask her when she would return, she was still studying.

In a daze, she felt the sky outside had changed from midday sunlight to sunset and then to moonlight, and she was still studying.

"Commander, I surrender..."

"Surrendering won't help!"

“Don’t you like being punished? If you can just stop whenever you want, what kind of punishment is that?” Levi looked at South Dakota, which had almost no more room to hold the ammunition, and finally decided that there was only one last time: “If you can keep it from swallowing before it gets destroyed again, I’ll consider you qualified for today.”

"Well!"

Name: South Dakota

Identity: Guardian when out and about, school music teacher, Commander's student

Personality: Steady, harmonious, and easy-going, but also has some independent thoughts.

Number of times destroyed: 133

Weaknesses: Core compartment, cargo hold, bow, stern

Status: Screaming at the top of one's lungs in the music room

Last time we were defeated: I was pinned to a piano and lectured by the commander.

Chapter 419 Jianwu's Clothing Design and Measurement

The ship girls of Donghuang arrived as scheduled in mid-September.

Jianwu stood in front of Li Wei, looking every bit the fashionista.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Kenmu, and you're the port commander? Your taste in clothing isn't too bad, but there's a lot of room for improvement. I've allocated half an hour for this meeting, which is just enough time to design a new uniform for you."

“You designed it but I can’t wear it now, so there’s no need to rush.”

Upon hearing this, Jianwu showed a displeased expression: "That's not an excuse for the Commander to slack off now. What if I said I wanted to give you a piece of the Commander's personal uniform as a greeting gift?"

Li Wei stood up: "Alright, since you've said that, let's get started."

"That's right."

Jianwu took out tools such as a measuring tape from his small bag and started working around Li Wei.

"First, we measure the shoulder width." Jianwu showed how he used his fingers to indicate the approximate proportions, then used a measuring tape to measure accurately in different directions: "Who designs the commanders' uniforms?"

"As for who designed it..."

Li Wei was suddenly stunned. He had never thought about this question before. He only knew that his clothes were managed by the maids, so it was highly likely that the Royal Navy's ship girls had taken over the design.

"Royal? While the sizes of their designs are fine, the aesthetics... I'm not being arrogant, but they're far inferior to my level."

Jianwu continued taking measurements: "And some small details were indeed not done very well. It's probably because they have little experience in designing clothing and didn't pay attention to these details."

Li Wei tried to maintain his posture, but Jianwu's cotton candy-like object pressed against him, causing his main gun to inevitably tilt upwards. He had to take a slight half-step back to avoid making his posture too awkward.

“Commander?” Jianwu looked up and immediately realized where the problem lay: “Phew… I thought the Commander was too busy with important matters in the port to care about this.”

"I didn't expect that, huh?"

Jianwu's fingers gently gripped the main cannon through the curtain, the strength and warmth of his fingers allowing the main cannon to clearly feel them even through the curtain.

Li Wei said seriously, "I'm naturally used to it, but since this is our first meeting, I still want to be a little more careful."

"Hehe, you don't need to be careful in front of me."

Jianwu gripped the muzzle of the main cannon with his own palm, a skillful technique that made Li Wei wonder just how much preparation Jianwu had done.

"If the commander needs to deal with this first before continuing the work, I don't mind—ah, there are probably still twenty minutes left, that should be enough, right?"

Seeing Jianwu's words, Li Wei stopped hiding his intentions and immediately entered combat mode. The main cannon, which had already amazed Jianwu, became even more terrifying after entering full combat mode, causing Jianwu to kneel on the ground and look up in awe.

"commander……"

"Twenty minutes isn't enough for me, but you'll definitely be fine." Li Wei stroked Jianwu's long hair, physically silencing her. Having never experienced anything like this before, Jianwu faced a boss-level battle for the first time, and inexplicably gave up her first victory.

"Well……"

"Alright, stop talking and just feel it with your heart." Li Wei gestured for Jianwu to kneel down properly: "Don't you like measuring dimensions? This way of measuring should be more accurate, right? After all, you've experienced it firsthand... Don't use your teeth, use your tongue."

Jianwu's skill and boldness were all an act. Li Wei had already confirmed this when he sent her detailed information earlier; Jianwu was still a ship girl with absolutely no practical experience. A ship girl like her should have received her first lesson in a much better place.

However... there's nothing we can do now that things have come to this point, so there's no need to dwell on it too much.

Jianwu used his bow to thoroughly measure all the detailed dimensions, including not only the width of the cannon muzzle and the length of the cannon barrel, but he even got a taste of what it was like inside the cannon barrel.