Azur Lane Mobile Front.

After an unknown amount of time, a blinding light suddenly appeared on the dark sea.

Zuikaku immediately stood up and shouted excitedly, "This is it! This is the entrance to the 'Sanctuary'!"

"Enterprise, Yixian, come closer, we're coming!"

After Yixian and Enterprise landed on the ship, Rob steered the ship toward the light.

Deep within the "Sanctuary".

"Looks like more bugs have gotten in. Let me see where these blind creatures came from."

The news that someone had entered the Mirror Sea was immediately known to Akagi and Kaga in the core control room. After investigating, Akagi looked at the scene coming from the window and couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Hehehe~ What an unexpected guest. It's one thing for the juniors of the Fifth Carrier Division to be here, but even the great Mikasa has come."

"Sister, why is that gray ghost acting with the senior? Could it be...?"

"Hehehe~ Regardless of the circumstances, we can now properly complete the mission entrusted to us by the 'gods'. As for the question about the senior, we'll ask her in person later and we'll find out. If she really betrayed Sakura Empire and 'that person,' I won't show any mercy even if she is the senior." As she spoke, a hint of ruthlessness appeared in Akagi's eyes.

After calming herself down, Akagi began to deploy her "chess pieces," as the most crucial factor was how effective these pieces would be in the battle against the gray ghost.

On the other side, Rob and his group, who had just entered the Mirror Sea, hadn't even caught their breath when a dark mass of figures appeared in the distance.

"Looks like the host here isn't very welcoming. Enterprise, Yatsen, it's your turn to make your appearance." For Rob, the most difficult problem was solved; all that was left was to push through.

Upon seeing the enemy approaching, Zuikaku rushed out, but what happened next was somewhat hard for her to accept.

A flurry of colorful lights flashed across the sea, accompanied by the sounds of gunfire, cannon fire, and even fists striking bodies. In just two minutes, the once densely packed chess pieces were reduced to floating wreckage.

Zuikaku gripped her sword, momentarily at a loss. She stared blankly at the two figures who had finished their battle on the sea not far ahead, then looked back at Rob's location. For some reason, she felt her world shatter.

"Wow~ Are ships this amazing now?" Mikasa, who had stayed on the ship because of the insufficient speed, said she was amazed. "But buddy, can we discuss the reward again?"

The current situation has clearly exceeded expectations. Mikasa's original calculation was that even if Robo's company was very powerful, it could only sink 60% of the mass-produced pieces at most, after all, she and Zuikaku were not to be underestimated.

But now, not only does Rob have an extra Yi Xian, but he's also killing enemies like mowing grass, and he's incredibly fast. Rui He's plane hadn't even arrived yet, and they'd already finished their battle. Considering all this, my retirement savings might be in danger.

Unlike Mikasa, New Jersey had already jumped up on the deck to observe the situation ahead.

"Wow~ Robo, are all your ships like this?" She excitedly grabbed Robo's hand, her eyes full of curiosity, staring intently at him, trying to find the answer on his face.

"No, no, do you think it's a radish from the field?"

"How about you get one for me, Rob?"

At that moment, Rob seemed to see a future where he would be blocked at the gate by three Iowa-class destroyers.

Chapter Eleven: The Lucky Ship

The instant annihilation of the chess pieces was not beyond Akagi's expectations. After all, even Zuikaku could sink one of these earliest-produced pieces in just a few hits. When facing a company, every extra second of survival is a bonus, and giving them all away is just like clearing out inventory.

However, Yi Xian, who was standing next to the company, was someone she couldn't help but pay attention to.

Although Yi Xian doesn't look like she's wearing a ship's equipment, she makes a bigger splash when she fights than Enterprise does.

This forced Akagi to consider whether this new type of "ship equipment" was an isolated case or a result that could already be mass-produced and put into use.

More importantly, this new type of ship equipment has never appeared in the infinite cycles of the "Sanctuary," which means that all the answers she found in the cycle were meaningless.

After all, you spent the whole night studying math, but the next day the exam is in Chinese. It's a complete waste of time and effort.

"Sister, that ship, isn't it the Yixian of Donghuang?" Kaga was the first to recognize the owner of what appeared to be the newly appeared ship equipment in the window.

"It must be her." Looking at the figure that had just displayed such power in the window, Akagi nodded.

Although they weren't exactly familiar with each other, they had interacted a few times before Sakura Empire left Azur Lane, so she immediately recognized her when Kaga mentioned it.

However, the Yixian I just saw in the window was completely different from my previous vague impression.

Although it was only for a short time, Yi Xian's method of striking without hesitation and delivering a punch right to the face still shocked Akagi for a whole year. It was unexpected that such a seemingly delicate ship could be so fierce in battle.

"Send over the newly produced pieces. The final step of the experiment should begin. Kaga, let's go to the sculpting room. Hopefully, our lovely junior will bring us plenty of surprises, hehehe~"

Now that one of the main subjects of the experiment has entered the field, it's time to prepare for the additional experiment arranged by the 'gods'.

On the other hand, Rob and his team are now facing a very serious problem.

"No, didn't you just come here a couple of days ago? Now you're telling me you don't know the way?" Rob almost shoved his hand into Ruihe's face.

He calculated for a long time, but in the end he still couldn't figure out that Zuikaku actually followed his instincts and had no idea how he ended up in the center of the Mirror Sea last time.

"Last time, I just moved the pieces wherever they appeared. And since I was the only one moving, I didn't have time to pay attention to my moves."

Ruihe turned his head away and scratched his face with his index finger. He hadn't expected that he would mess up at the last minute, and he was a little embarrassed.

Everyone surrounding Zuikaku expressed their headaches. Even Mikasa, a seasoned veteran ship with extensive experience, covered her head, lamenting how unreliable the younger generation was.

"Alright, alright, keep following your gut feeling from last time and see if you can recall any clues."

Having no other options, Rob could only try his luck and let Zuikaku follow his instincts one more time, since no one present had ever been to this place before.

"I should have brought Fushun along too. She's been here before, and she probably knows even more about it than Ruihe."

The expected guide proved unreliable, and Rob thought of that brat in his port again, but it was too late to regret it now; he could only take it one step at a time.

After Rob offered to lead the way, Zuikaku, without hesitation, patted his chest and assured everyone that he would definitely be able to lead everyone to the center of the sea this time.

Then, after an unknown amount of time, Rob called out to Zuikaku, who was leading the way.

“I said, look over there.” Rob pointed to several bodies of wreckage that hadn’t completely sunk, still floating on the nearby sea. “Do they look familiar?”

"Huh?" Zuikaku looked in the direction Rob was pointing and immediately froze. After all, the group had only exchanged fire with the enemy once since arriving in the Mirror Sea, and no new pieces had appeared afterward. So the wreckage on the sea surface was quite telling.

"Weren't you just saying something like, 'Getting lost is absolutely impossible, I'm a lucky ship blessed with good fortune!' Then explain to me what all that meant?"

Rob was getting a little frustrated. Was this Sakura Empire ship even any good? Or was it completely directionally challenged?

"Sigh~" Faced with the facts, Zuikaku could only sigh and admit that he was lost.

"Alright, alright, you should send out reconnaissance planes to look for it." Rob waved his hand, not wanting to deal with this potentially absurd "lucky ship" for the time being.

He turned to Enterprise and said, "Enterprise, could you please go and gather some intelligence? You're fast, so remember to come back immediately if you spot the enemy. Be careful."

The company nodded in response, then turned and flew into the air to gather intelligence.

"Kaga, where are our 'guests' now?" Having finished a series of preparations, Akagi now had time to check on the group that had broken into the "Sanctuary".

"They're still in the same spot. Zuikaku led them around in circles twice, wasting a lot of time." Kaga pointed at the group in the window, his face still bearing that cold expression.

"Hmm?" Akagi asked in confusion, "Didn't that child come here last time? Why is he still going around in circles?"

"They probably got lost."

An enigmatic silence fell over the room, broken only by the sounds of the equipment operating.

"Let's rearrange the pieces and bring them over. The next phase of the experiment is about to begin, and we can't afford to miss these important players, hehehe~"

Forcibly suppressing her urge to complain, Akagi decided that she had to lend a hand; otherwise, without test subjects, the experiment might not be able to continue.

"It's already being arranged."

“Very well, then let me see just how powerful the power granted by the ‘gods’ truly is.”

Let's turn our attention back to the main characters.

"Commander, I've spotted new enemies."

"Very good, we'll be right there. Don't act on your own yet, wait for us. Zuikaku's carrier-based aircraft have also detected the situation."

After hanging up the communication, Rob organized all the coordinates of the newly discovered enemies. The locations of all the enemy discoveries were arranged in a regular line, as if by simply following the order and attacking them one by one, they could reach a certain direction.

"Interesting. Are they trying to lead the way for us?"

Now that the other side has stepped forward, Robo naturally won't be intimidated, after all, those mass-produced chess pieces are walking supplies.

"Why wouldn't I eat meat that's been offered to me? Go ahead and try to choke me to death." After a moment's thought, Luo Bo immediately gave Yi Xian the order to move towards the nearest coordinate.

Chapter Twelve: The Target You Saved Seems to Have Become the Boss.

It has to be said that Zuikaku is really hardworking. Even though she can't even snatch a single "head" from Enterprise and Yixian right now, she still rushes in at the first moment every time she encounters an enemy.

Then, every time Zuikaku came up empty-handed, she would run up to Rob and stare at him with a resentful look.

She didn't mind the trouble; she had to board and disembark from the ship every time a batch of chess pieces were produced.

"Hey, Ms. Zuikaku, if you really have nothing better to do, could you go out and launch some reconnaissance planes? It's not appropriate for you to keep staring at me like this."

After being stared at for a long time, Rob couldn't take it anymore and begged for mercy.

To be honest, Zuikaku's actions were highly unusual. As a result, both Enterprise and Mikasa came to check on her.

Of course, the company mainly looked at Rob's situation. It turned out that Ruihe was simply frustrated because he had no fights to fight, so they didn't take it to heart.

Following the "hints" given by the other party, the group quickly arrived at the center of the sea.

A large building built on the sea came into view.

Rob stood on the deck, looking at the building that was clearly not in a human style, with an energy bar in his mouth.

“Building houses directly on the sea, and with this dark style, I don’t think Sakura Empire is supposed to be like this. It’s most likely the work of the Sirens.”

"Who cares whose doing it is, let's just charge over and blow it up!"

Looking at the person beside him who was trying to urge Rob to rush into New Jersey without a word, Rob sighed, "You need to understand, the main mission this time is to rescue people. What if the target is in this building? If you fire a shot, will the person still be able to be rescued?"

"Oh! Right!" New Jersey clapped his hands, indicating that he had completely forgotten about it.

"Alright, alright, they've led us here, it's time for us to come out and meet them."

Then a large number of Shoukaku appeared on the sea surface.

Then, the building's doors opened, and Akagi and Kaga came out.

"Hehehe~ You really are a persistent ghost, Gray Ghost."

"You guys, give Shoukaku back to me!" If anyone was the most agitated, it was Zuikaku. If Mikasa hadn't grabbed her, she would have charged forward.

"Don't worry, my lovely junior, you'll see her soon. But, Mikasa-senpai, why did you come to the 'Sanctuary'? And why are you all working with the Grey Phantom?"

In the end, the smile on Akagi's face disappeared, replaced by intense anger.

"Of course, it's to stop you." Mikasa remained calm and composed in the face of Akagi's anger.

"Having controlled your Sakura Empire allies and cooperated with the Sirens, what exactly do you intend to do to the Sakura Empire?"

"Turn back now, it's not too late."

"Senior, you have no idea what we are doing. Now that you have stepped down, just watch and see what future I bring to Sakura Empire."

"You mean a future where everyone is arrested and used as templates for mass-produced goods?"

Rob walked onto the deck, interrupting the verbal sparring session within Sakura Empire.

He couldn't even let loose with his verbal sparring, so Rob immediately declared, "Leave it to me!"

"Humans, as insignificant as ants, have no right to speak to me." Akagi, seeing Robo, held a deep respect for the strong and looked down on all humans.

Interrupted from her conversation with Mikasa, she immediately raised her hand and unleashed a cluster of crimson flames at Robo.

Rob kept his hands in his pockets without flinching, because in the verbal sparring segment, whoever loses their composure loses.

The company fired a beam of light that dispersed the flames. Rob glanced at the sparks that disappeared into the air. "Sorry, the strongest fighters here are all from my family. You're only standing here talking to me because I let you speak."

[Host, that's about enough. I'm afraid you'll get struck by lightning.]

The system, which hadn't been heard for a long time, spoke up in an attempt to interrupt Rob's show-off behavior.

"You bug..."

Before Akagi could finish speaking, Enterprise fired another beam rifle shot, creating a huge splash right next to her.

"Speaking of which, Ms. Akagi, it seems like my company has been fighting against you ever since we went to the battlefield? It seems we have quite a connection?"

The so-called verbal sparring naturally involves saying whatever is most offensive to the other side. After just a few words from Rob, not only Akagi but also Kaga got angry.

"Oh, right. I almost forgot the most crucial sentence. Noob cv f**k me!"

"You bastard!"

Just as Rob was considering whether to simply talk the other side to death on the spot, a sudden change occurred.

A beam of pure black light pierced through the roof of the building and reached the sky.

Then, the massive shockwave blew the entire building away.

The giant waves generated by the shockwave caused the ships on the sea to lose their balance and rock incessantly.

Rob clung tightly to the railing in front of him, managing to keep from falling.

"Hehehe, it seems your adorable junior has woken up. Zuikaku, now, I'll return Shoukaku to you~ Hehehe~"