Elder brother's garrison

Page 1993

"Hmm..." Empire closed his eyes in relief, nodded drowsily, and then a faint snoring sound came from his mouth.

"Eh? Empire, you wouldn't be..." Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise.

The next second, a pair of hands took the Empire from Xiaobai's arms and took it away from the water.

Rome gently leaned down towards Little White, supporting the sleeping body of the empire.

"Admiral Lu Lin, the Empress must be tired, so leave her to me."

"Ah...is it alright to sleep in the repair pool?"

"It's okay, because we are ship girls."

"Oh, I see..." Xiaobai wiped the water droplets from her face and smiled at Roma, "You've had it tough too..."

“There’s an indescribable sense of security just being by your side. For ship girls like me and Empire who have received your spiritual power, this feeling is perhaps even more pronounced.” Rome stroked Empire’s head, her pale pink lips slightly parted, watching the water droplets sliding down Empire’s cheeks, and slowly said to Little White, “Although you are not our commander, in our hearts, your position is perhaps more like that of a mother. Therefore, it is only natural for Empire to feel a sense of belonging to you, like a safe harbor, and to want to sleep in your arms after getting close to you.”

"Mother... Mother and such, that's too early... I'm still so young..." Xiaobai scratched his head in embarrassment.

"..." Rome didn't say anything more, but simply raised his head and smiled slightly at Xiaobai.

The message conveyed by the Nia family's Rome is simple—no matter what you say, you are a woman who can become the mother of our Veneto-class ship girls.

This is truly an incredibly stressful emotion.

Besides giving a forced smile, Xiaobai couldn't think of any other response for the moment.

"...That's nice." Taihou leaned against the side, resting her chin on her hand, and sighed as she watched the Veneto-class ship girls so familiar with Shiro. She turned to look at Nia outside the repair pool. "I wish I could take a bath with the Commander... Commander, aren't you coming in?"

"As for me... I'd better not." Nia waved her hand outside the repair pool, looking at Xiaobai with some regret, and said, "...The water in the repair pool is too hot. I'll get dizzy if I soak in it for too long."

"What a pity, what a pity," Da Feng sighed.

"Ha...ha...speaking of which, why has Admiral Lu Lin been soaking in the repair pool all this time?" Veneto, who was being teased by Littorio, finally blushed and pushed the person off him. Then, catching her breath, she asked Xiaobai curiously, "I've noticed you've been staying here the past two days. So you really like hot springs?"

"Uh...it's okay, it's okay..." Xiaobai scratched her cheek and smiled sheepishly.

Xiaobai only told Nia about the ship equipment; as for Nia's ship girls, she doesn't know yet.

Therefore, in the eyes of the ship girls in Nia's family, Shiro really only spent so long in the repair pool because of pure love.

"About this..."

Little White was pondering how to answer Veneto, but before she could come up with a solution, suddenly, another familiar voice rang out from nearby.

"Hmm? Are there this many people here?"

This is a clear and tender voice, yet full of maturity.

Upon hearing the sound, everyone inside and outside the pool turned to look, only to see three figures wrapped in bath towels appear before them beyond the mist.

It's a Veneto-class ship girl from Xiaobai's family!

"Wow! It's so lively!" Roma from Xiaobai's family looked at the situation in the repair pool with a look of surprise, especially when she saw Xiaobai surrounded by Nia's ship girls. She stood on tiptoe with excitement, grabbed Veneto from Xiaobai's family by the shoulder, and pointed over, "Big sister, big sister, look, look! It's the Admiral!"

Under everyone's gaze, Veneto, simply wrapped in a bath towel, stood before Rome and the Empire.

"Rome, I can see it even if you don't point it out to me." Veneto from Xiaobai's family was shaken a couple of times by Rome. She sighed and her gaze drifted gently towards Xiaobai's direction.

Veneto's gaze held no additional emotion; he was simply observing.

However, for some reason, after feeling Veneto's gaze in her wine-red eyes, the ship girls surrounding Xiaobai trembled and took two steps back, moving away from Xiaobai.

Veneto from Xiaobai's family then closed her eyes. She walked to the edge of the restoration pool, untied her towel, and slowly stepped into the water.

“Veneto, is your ship equipment also…” Xiaobai looked at Veneto curiously.

"Yes, there was a live-fire exercise."

"Huh? Who did this? Could it be Veneto from Nia's family...?"

“She’s far from being able to hurt me.” Veneto walked into the pool, stood in front of Xiaobai in front of everyone, then turned around as if asserting her dominance and sat in Xiaobai’s lap. “It was Rome that did it.”

After Veneto finished speaking, he pressed his body tightly against Little White.

Veneto and Xiaobai's expressions didn't change at all. As Veneto sat down, Xiaobai even subconsciously reached out and gently covered Veneto's stomach, as if this action was already a familiar and routine thing for them.

The ship girls from Nia's family, watching from the side, couldn't help but cover their mouths and noses, their eyes trembling.

"Wow... this, this is... the real marriage ship and admiral..." Nia's Taihou looked on with envy.

“…” Nia’s Veneto didn’t speak, but his wide, silver-gray eyes sparkled with a strange light.

"Wow, Roma can already hurt you in the drills?" Little White asked, holding Veneto, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, it wasn't for nothing that I trained her for so long. She's finally gotten the hang of it."

"Now she's a ship girl who can stand on her own," Xiaobai said, smiling at Rome and the Empire.

"Hehe! Admiral! Praise me, praise me again!" Roma from Xiaobai's family approached Xiaobai with a silly grin.

"Hmm..." Empire from Little White's family yawned. She swam to Little White's side, intending to stay in Little White's arms for a while. But seeing her older sister comfortably occupying all of Little White's embrace, Empire regretfully turned to look at Rome from Nia's family. Then her gaze lingered on the face of Nia's other self for a moment.

Empire yawned again, swam to the arms of Nia's Rome, and without even saying hello, fell asleep peacefully on her chest with its other self.

"Little White is really popular with the ship girls," Nia said enviously from outside the repair pool.

Nia wasn't envious of Xiaobai, but rather of the ship girls who could reasonably stick together with her.

If only I could become a ship girl...

Does this mean I can happily lean against Xiaobai like this...?

Chapter 2793 The World's Number One Ship Girl Reception Group

"Luo Lian, have you ever thought about becoming a ship girl?" Nia turned her head and asked Luo Lian beside her.

"Why are you suddenly asking this?" Luo Lian looked at Nia.

"Um... what I mean is, I suddenly feel that being a ship girl is really great... because ship girls are all very lively, and even if they hug and cuddle with people, no one will find it strange..." Nia lowered her head shyly, her two index fingers lightly touching each other, like two nimble little snakes.

“I thought there would be some other reason.” Luo Lian nodded knowingly, glancing at the ship girls in the pool. “…Yeah, it’s fine.”

"Luo Lian, do you think so too?"

"Ah."

"That's great... I really want to be a ship girl," Nia muttered softly.

“…However,” Luo Lian glanced at Nia and continued, “I think I’ll pass.”

"Huh? What do you mean, let it go?" Nia looked at Luo Lian curiously.

"I think I should continue being human," Luo Lian said softly, looking at the little white creature in the repair pool. "...Or rather, I must always remain human."

“…?” Nia was stunned for a moment, looking at Luo Lian’s expression with a strange expression.

Luo Lian's expression was extremely serious, her eyes shining brightly, like a lighthouse that had found its goal.

……

Inside the restoration pool, everything was in harmony.

Outside the repair pool, it was still bustling with activity.

"Let me in...please, let me in—" A tall, black-haired ship girl bared her teeth and brandished her claws at the entrance to the repair pool, panting heavily, her eyes swirling wildly with fierce fighting spirit. "I'm a ship girl too! I've served the naval base! I've shed blood for the naval base! Let me in to see my destroyer sisters, to see my destroyer sisters—"

"Royal Ark, calm down, there are no destroyers in the repair pool!"

"The only people in the repair pool who can be considered 'destroyer sisters' are Admiral Lu Lin and her family's Veneto. One is human, and the other is a battleship. You should just give up!"

"Besides, even if we really were expelling your sister, we wouldn't let you in."

The black-haired ship girl was pulled away by a group of sighing ship girls.

"No—no!—Ahead, ahead is my Gensokyo!"

Royal Ark cried out in anguish, but it was no match for the ship girls' pulling and tugging. Despite her best efforts, she was carried by the ship girls and taken all the way to the small dark room downstairs in the dormitory building.

"We need to keep a close eye on the Royal Ark. Admiral Lu Lin has been repairing the bathhouse these past few days, so we can't let her sneak in."

"Although we are not Admiral Lu Lin's ship girls, we still have a responsibility to protect her safety."

"It's bad enough that Fang Zhou is harming our own sister, but what if she gets involved with Admiral Lu Lin...?"

"Besides, if she goes after Veneto of Admiral Lu Lin's family, she'll probably be the one who suffers. We're doing this for her own good..."

After closing the Royal Ark, the ship girls clapped their hands and left the small dark room, giving each other words of encouragement.

Just as the ship girls were about to return to guard the entrance to the repair bath, suddenly, they saw another ship girl running towards them from the direction of the temporary naval base gate.

"Sisters! Sisters!" The ship girl waved to everyone as soon as she saw them.

"Huh? What's wrong? Why are you in such a hurry?" The ship girls looked at the person in front of them curiously and stopped in their tracks.

"Oh dear, oh dear..." The ship girl stopped in front of everyone, bent over and took a couple of breaths, then said, "No, something bad has happened! Outside the temporary naval base, someone's here!"

"Someone come here... Don't people often come to our garrison?"

"No, it's different. This time, the person who came specifically asked to see Admiral Lu Lin! And...and..." The ship girl looked up, her face flushed with nervousness, "The person who came is very important!"

"Who is it?" The ship girls present were all taken aback.

"Yes, they are the top ten admirals!! And more than one of them came!!!" The ship girl waved her arms and said nervously.

"ah?!!"

The ship girls present stared wide-eyed.

"How many...how many people have come?"

"Okay, it seems there are five!"

"My God! That means almost everyone's here!"

The ship girls from Nia's family looked at each other in a panic.

"Admiral Lu, is it inconvenient for her to go in right now?"

"Admiral Nia said that we must not disturb Admiral Lu Lin under any circumstances... This is a direct order!"

"Should we...should we ask them to go back?"

"I...I don't know! I...I've never even met one of the top ten admirals...and now five of them have arrived. I don't know what to do..."

"What should we do? What should we do? Such a big fuss! What if we upset them?"

"I... I only know how to fight deep-sea monsters, I don't know how to handle this kind of thing..."

"What if... what if I'm not hospitable enough and upset someone? I... I can't take that responsibility..."

The ship girls of Nia's family were suddenly leaderless and fled in panic.

Finally, amidst the chaos, one of the ship girls suddenly had a flash of inspiration and came up with a solution.

"Hey! That's it! We can ask Admiral Lu Lin's ship girl sisters! They've seen it all, they're sure to be reliable when it comes to this kind of thing!"

"That's right! Admiral Lu Lin's ship girls must have a way!"

The ship girls from Nia's family quickly determined their next move in a few words, and then everyone nodded and rushed towards the dormitory building.

……

Half an hour later.

When Xiaobai in the repair pool received the message and left the repair bath with the ship girls, arriving at the entrance of the reception hall, the ship girls of Nia's family had been waiting there for a long time.

The doors to the living room were tightly shut, and the ship girls of Nia's family hung their heads, pitifully waiting for the arrival of Xiaobai and his two companions.

"Are the top ten admirals all inside the reception hall?" Nia rushed to the entrance of the reception hall, pointed to the door, and asked the ship girls nervously.

“Yes, yes…” the ship girls replied.

"How long have they been in there?"

"It's been... half an hour..." the ship girls from Nia's family answered softly.

"Half, half an hour..." Nia almost fainted when she heard this. "To make five top ten admirals wait for us in the reception room for so long... This is so rude..."

"Waaah, Admiral, I'm so sorry..." The ship girls of Nia's family bowed pitifully.

Nia covered her head, looking both amused and exasperated.

There's a reason for this.

Nia basically doesn't socialize with the admirals except for Shiro, which means that almost no one visits her residence on weekdays. As a result, her ship girls are extremely inexperienced in receiving guests. If they have given orders before, it's fine, but if things get a little complicated, they tend to make some hilarious blunders...

For example, making the top ten admirals and other newbies take a bath or something...