Elder brother's garrison

Page 1944

"No, that's not it." Xiaobai shook her head. "I was kidnapped before."

"What else is happening?!"

"That's all in the past. In short, I wasn't seriously hurt, so let's not talk about those trivial matters." Xiaobai waved her hand and then said to Nia, "Getting back to the main point, Richelieu didn't actually fight Saratoga. I only recently learned the details of this matter—it's roughly that when I was kidnapped, Saratoga, in order to protect me, accidentally got punched in the face by Richelieu, who was still an enemy at the time, during their fight."

"Huh?" Nia paused, then turned to look at Saratoga on the training field. "Didn't Saratoga beat Richelieu back then?"

"After all, Saratoga is controlled by Osmanthus's network of admirals..."

"Osmanthus?"

"The name of a villain."

“Oh…” Nia sat down next to Little White, “No wonder Saratoga fought so fiercely, he’d been holding back his anger for two years…”

“Because Richelieu once kidnapped me, when we found her, Lexington had captured her and brought her to our naval base as a maid to atone for her sins,” Xiaobai explained to Nia. “Because Lexington had given orders not to bully prisoners, Saratoga, although still resentful of that punch, obediently didn’t cause Richelieu any more trouble. Now that Richelieu has reformed and joined our naval base, her status has changed from prisoner to comrade, so I think it’s time to give Saratoga a chance to vent her anger.”

"I see!" Nia finally understood the whole story. She smiled and approached Little White, "Little White, you're so good to Saratoga."

"It's alright..." Xiaobai smiled, her gaze returning to the water surface of the training ground, but she didn't say anything more.

If we were to ask who I like more between Richelieu and Saratoga, although the answer might be a little hurtful to Richelieu, I would instantly choose Saratoga no matter how many times I had to choose. However, to be fair, the reason I specifically arranged for Saratoga to fight Richelieu wasn't entirely to vent Saratoga's anger.

After all, Saratoga is the biggest obstacle for Richelieu to truly integrate into the newbie naval base.

Once the rift disappears, Richelieu will be able to get along better with the ship girls...

As Xiaobai knows, Saratoga's personality is actually more open-minded than she appears. For her, there is no grudge that cannot be forgiven. Although she was embarrassed and angry when Richelieu punched her, Saratoga is still willing to forgive and forget if she gets a chance to retaliate.

Thinking of this, Xiao Bai looked at the colorful carrier-based aircraft that filled the sky like dark clouds, and couldn't help but curl his lips upward.

However, I still hope that Saratoga can go a little easier on her.

If Richelieu were to develop a fear of B-25s, it would be difficult for Xiaobai to explain to Jean Bart.

Xiao Bai thought of letting Barr, his gaze sweeping to the edge of the training field.

At the edge of the training ground, Jean Bart, wiping his drool, was filming Richelieu, who was running away with his head in his hands, while holding a camera he had stolen from somewhere. As he filmed, he would occasionally let out a wicked chuckle.

"Hehe... Sister's clothes are torn, it's so sexy..."

"His butt, his butt is almost visible..."

"Yes, yes, we should bombard this area! One more shot and the collar will blast open..."

"I'll film every single frame of my sister's body!"

"..."

Fortunately, the surrounding ship girls couldn't detect Jean Bart's presence; otherwise, if they had seen her in such an embarrassing state, who knows what the consequences would have been.

"..." Xiaobai silently turned her head.

The bombing of Saratoga lasted for nearly an hour.

After a relentless bombardment that disregarded consequences, losses, aiming, and restraint, Saratoga's ammunition capacity was completely depleted in just one hour.

As the last bomb exploded on the water, sending up a spray several meters high, the carrier-based aircraft, swirling like dark clouds, swooped back into the hull behind Saratoga. The sky, echoing with thunderous roars, finally quieted down. If it weren't for the pungent smell of gunpowder and smoke still filling the exercise area, the bubbling water, and the scattered ammunition casings, everything would have seemed as if nothing had happened.

With her ship's rife with tatters and her clothes in disarray, Richelieu finally slowed down. She staggered a couple of steps before accidentally collapsing to her knees on the scalding water, gasping for breath.

This hour is one hour for those watching the game.

But for Richelieu, who was deeply mired in it, it felt as long as a year.

Richelieu was indeed a top-tier battleship ship girl; otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to withstand Saratoga's full-force attacks for so long without retaliating. Even so, this hour of relentless bombardment had taken a toll on Richelieu, leaving her feeling utterly exhausted.

Richelieu is now in a predicament of being partially damaged by her ship's equipment. Her body is almost covered in dirty oil stains, and her once neat and smart blue military uniform is now torn to pieces. Her blonde hair has also been blackened and is curled up. The fine sweat covering her body has become a lucky adhesive, barely sticking the tattered fabric to Richelieu's body so that she doesn't lose her last bit of dignity.

“Finally…it’s over…” Richelieu gasped for breath, watching the sweat drip down his body.

Just then, a series of light splashing sounds rang out in front of Richelieu.

Richelieu could sense that Saratoga was approaching him.

...Is she going to finish herself off?

...It seems that's indeed the case.

Richelieu, supporting herself on the surface of the water, thought wearily. She did not resist anymore, but closed her eyes and waited for the final blow to come.

To Richelieu's surprise, Saratoga's presence merely stopped in front of him and did not approach any further.

After a while, a series of scattered sounds of rummaging through things came from in front of me.

Richelieu looked up, puzzled and confused.

Saratoga was seen rummaging through her ship's equipment space with her head down. Then, in front of Richelieu, she took out a quick repair device and handed it to him.

"Yes." Saratoga turned his head to look elsewhere, but waved the rapid repair device in his hand at Richelieu.

“…” Richelieu stretched out his hands blankly.

"Use it." Saratoga tossed the rapid repair device into Richelieu's hand.

Richelieu looked down at the rapid repair device, swallowed hard, and carefully opened it, placing it on her head.

The rapid repair device worked quickly. Richelieu's tattered clothes and filthy body seemed to be restored to their original state as if time had reversed. Even his knotted and burnt blond hair was automatically straightened and bleached, falling neatly back behind him.

In just a few minutes, Richelieu was back to his perfect condition before the exercise with Saratoga.

“It’s not that I couldn’t hit you! I deliberately missed to vent my anger!” Saratoga, seeing Richelieu’s bewildered expression, immediately crossed his arms and said to her, “It wouldn’t be fun if a single bomb sank you! That’s why I did it! Don’t get too cocky!”

“…Uh…um.” Richelieu lowered his head.

“...Hmph.” Saratoga turned her head away with a relieved hum, then added, “...Even so, it’s not bad that you lasted an hour in my hands. You’re still pretty good.”

“…?” Richelieu looked up again.

“For Xiaobai’s sake, and for the sake of you letting me fight for so long,” Saratoga reached out to Richelieu, “as long as you promise never to contact that bad woman again, our matter is over.”

“…” Richelieu stared blankly at Saratoga’s profile.

Does this mean... I've forgiven myself?

Wasn't she giving herself the final blow?

Richelieu looked at Saratoga's outstretched hand, hesitated for a long time, and slowly raised her hand to shake it.

Saratoga's hand sent a force through him, pulling Richelieu up from the water.

Richelieu stood up and staggered a couple of steps before Saratoga pulled him back.

Saratoga turned around and grinned at Richelieu with a satisfied smile.

“Hey.” Saratoga patted Larricelli’s hand. “Go back and find Little White!”

Richelieu stared blankly at Saratoga.

She let Saratoga pull her away from where she was, and quickly walked towards the spectator stands where Little White was.

Richelieu's mind was now filled with Saratoga's smile from just now.

Saratoga always had that icy expression on her face, and even when she encountered something happy, she rarely smiled. Richelieu recalled her two years as a rookie naval commander, and it seemed that just now was the first time she had ever seen Saratoga smile.

what……

This ship girl...

Your smile is so beautiful...

Chapter 2713 Rumors about Special Ship Girls

"noob----"

After getting ashore, Saratoga went straight to the stands. She plunged into Little White's arms and, like a cute little yellow cat, wrapped her arms around his waist and rubbed against him affectionately.

"I'm back!"

"Saratoga, welcome back." Little White patted Saratoga's head and asked with a smile, "Have you vented your anger enough?"

"Mmm! That was awesome!" Saratoga nodded with a smile.

Saratoga truly doesn't hold grudges overnight, provided she gets her revenge to her heart's content. If the revenge is carried out effectively, she won't even need to wait overnight; she'll forget about it the next second.

In a sense, Saratoga's mentality was quite excellent.

While stroking Saratoga's head, Little White cast a gentle gaze toward Richelieu.

Richelieu, you've worked hard too.

“…Ah, um…” Richelieu’s shoulders trembled slightly when she heard Xiaobai’s words, and then she lowered her head somewhat helplessly. “Thank you…Admiral Lu Lin.”

"You just finished an exercise. Although your physical injuries have healed, you'll still feel mentally exhausted, so go and get some rest." Xiaobai pointed in the direction of Jean Bart and said with a smile, "Oh, by the way, if nothing unexpected happens, we'll be setting off this afternoon. You're one of my first ship girls, so remember to get ready."

"Understood! I will try my best!" Richelieu nodded quickly.

Xiao Bai waved his hand in satisfaction.

Richelieu then turned and left, relieved.

Richelieu had just taken two steps back when, in a flash, two snow-white figures appeared beside her.

"Sister Richelieu, welcome to the naval base as a ship girl. From now on, we'll be comrades." Changchun smiled as she approached Richelieu, leaned forward with her hands behind her back, and said with a smile.

"Oh, so this is Richelieu that Changchun mentioned before. Not bad, not bad, you're quite robust!" Anshan patted Richelieu's lower back, giving her a happy look. "Looks like our garrison is thriving!"

"Huh? Two...two Changchuns?" Richelieu looked at Changchun and Anshan in confusion.

"No, Sister Richelieu, this is Anshan, she is my sister."

"Hmm, looks like I need to give a self-introduction..."

Changchun and Anshan each took one of Richelieu's arms, supporting the still somewhat flustered Richelieu as they left. At the end of their route, the ship girls of Missouri, Enterprise, Taihou, Fubuki, Shirayuki, Miyuki, Hatsuyuki, and other newbie naval bases were waving to them. It was foreseeable that Richelieu's rest time would be quite lively until her departure this afternoon.

……

"There's not much to worry about Richelieu anymore..." Little White sighed as she watched Richelieu's retreating figure, then looked down at Saratoga, who was still clinging to her. "Saratoga, why don't you go play with them too?"

“This is better!” Saratoga shook his head, a satisfied smile on his face.

Saratoga had finally found an opportunity to pounce on Little White and replenish its power, so she wasn't about to leave so easily.

"Alright then." Faced with Saratoga's coquettish pleading, Little White could only smile gently.

Xiao Bai shifted her gaze to her side. Nia was directing the ship girls of her naval base to clean up the battle debris on the water. On the other side, Luo Lian was silently holding a draft paper filled with solution steps, deep in thought for a long time. Luo Lian had been like this for quite some time, it seemed she had reached the key step in solving the problem.

Seemingly sensing Xiao Bai's gaze, Luo Lian, who was pondering the question, put down the question in her hand and looked at Xiao Bai.

"noob?"

"Lianlian, how's the problem-solving going?"

"Hmm... about a third of the questions for the second set have been solved in detail," Luo Lian said to Xiao Bai. "If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to finish solving the questions this week."

"so fast."

“Yes, as I said before, the first set of questions is essentially the answer to the second set of questions, so it’s very quick to solve by applying the formulas.” Luo Lian thought for a while, “Hmm… if I were to solve the questions entirely on my own, because I’m not very good at math, it would probably take me a year or two to solve the second set of questions.”

"...Lianlian, you're saying you're bad at math?"

"At best, I only have a superficial understanding," Luo Lian smiled. "I'm tired from solving problems anyway, want to chat?"

"Okay." Xiao Bai stroked Saratoga's golden hair and nodded to Luo Lian.

Saratoga was exceptionally docile in Xiaobai's arms. Rather than a beautiful ship girl, she was more like an obedient pet, letting Xiaobai's hands rub her all over, and Saratoga would occasionally show a satisfied smile.

"Hey? Do you want to chat? Count me in, count me in!" Nia, who had finished directing the ship girls to clean up the training ground, quickly sat down next to Xiaobai and said to Xiaobai and Luo Lian.

"What should the three of us talk about?" Xiaobai asked Luo Lian, holding Nia's hand.

"Let's just chat about everyday things..." Luo Lian said, "For example, Xiao Bai, didn't you just tell Richelieu to prepare to set off with the main force this afternoon for Chapter 8?"

"Huh? Lianlian, you heard that?"

"When I'm doing the questions, I also pay attention to my surroundings."

"I see..." Xiaobai smiled. "That's how it is."

"Xiaobai, didn't you just recruit Richelieu as your ship girl today?" Nia asked curiously, pulling Xiaobai's hand. "She hasn't fought in two years, has she? Isn't it a bit much to put her in the main force to conquer Chapter 8 right away..."

“It’s alright, Richelieu is very strong. Didn’t you prove her strength in the exercise with Saratoga just now?” Xiaobai said with a smile. “If you’re stiff and not used to fighting, you probably wouldn’t even last a minute… no, half a minute against Saratoga.”

"Ah! So that's why we had the exercise with Saratoga!" Nia exclaimed, looking at Xiaobai with obvious admiration.

"And the issue of Richelieu starting is mainly because of Jeanbart," Xiaobai said to Nia and Luo Lian. "Sigh... Although Jeanbart is strong, she really loves to slack off. It's fine when I'm watching her, but when I can't see her, she might use some strange methods to be lazy. So, in order to make sure she can devote herself to the battle wholeheartedly, Richelieu is also a necessary choice—after all, she's the older sister, and it's my special duty to urge her younger sister to work hard."

"Jean Barthes?" Luo Lian and Nia asked, puzzled. "Xiao Bai, who is that?"