Elder brother's garrison

Page 346

"It's nothing," Ella smiled.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

On the high seas, the battle between the ship girls lasted all day.

This was a one-sided reaping operation by the ship girls. The sounds of gunfire, exploding fish, and carrier-based aircraft churning the sky filled the air. The roar of war was like a wheel relentlessly crushing the sea.

On this vast ocean, the ship girls of the newbie naval base are the most dazzling. As the largest, fiercest, and most deeply involved group of ship girls, they are like harvesters, constantly reaping the deep-sea ships in the midst of the deep-sea amphibious fleet.

Lexington completely controlled all the troop types and deployments of the Deepsea Amphibious Ships. They countered each move, and various targeted ship girls formed different squads, each carrying their own ship equipment, with crimson flames constantly exploding in front of them.

"Boom boom boom—" Akagi led the carrier-based aircraft to circle in the sky, dropping bombs one by one into the sea.

The agile destroyers, such as Fubuki, transformed into phantoms, weaving in and out of the deep-sea amphibious fleet, swiftly passing over the wrecked enemy ships and placing pieces of dark deep-sea metal into their ship equipment.

This was a scene of intense fighting that continued from the start until the end of the battle, with the sound of artillery fire never diminishing.

At some point, Lexington, who was piloting the carrier-based aircraft, raised his wrist and glanced at the watch on his wrist.

A morning has already passed.

Lexington raised her head and surveyed the surrounding Abyssal Fleet formation. The Abyssal Fleet, which had been quite organized this morning, had now been turned into a scattered mob by the ship girls on the beach, and it was unlikely to form a threatening formation anytime soon.

"Sisters, that's a wrap," Lexington called out softly.

Lexington's voice sounded rather small on the battlefield, which was filled with explosions all the time, but the ship girls still heard Lexington's call clearly.

The ship girls, who had been wandering around the battlefield, gradually narrowed their range of movement and slowly gathered back around Lexington.

The abyssal fleets during the deep-sea activity period seem endless, but in reality, they are not truly endless. Once a deep-sea fleet is defeated, the deep-sea resentment within them slowly sinks into the sea, and within a very short time, new abyssal fleets are reborn at the site of their demise, continuing their invasion of the land the next day. However, this process consumes a significant amount of deep-sea resentment. Being far from their deep-sea home, they cannot replenish this consumption, so this cycle gradually weakens and fades over time until the deep-sea resentment can no longer generate a proper deep-sea fleet. Only then does the deep-sea activity period end.

The newbie naval base didn't plan to eliminate all the enemies on the first day, so when the time was almost up, Lexington chose to rest.

This is a long-term operation that will last for half a month. Not all ship girls have the same strong will as Bismarck. Fighting with a tired mind is not a pleasant thing, so it is very important to let the ship girls rest.

The ship girls slowly returned to Lexington's side. After confirming that no ship girls had fallen behind, Lexington led the ship girls out of the fierce battle.

The retreat of the ship girls from the newbie naval base is good news for the ship girls in the other naval bases. After the newbie naval base opened up a breakthrough for everyone at the beginning, it became a terrifying battle merit harvester. With them around, it was difficult for other ship girls to get much merit. Now that the newbie naval base has left, even though the number of remaining abyssal ships is much smaller than before, it is still enough for them to get a good share of the spoils.

Lexington also considered that overly aggressive looting might provoke public outrage, and chose to retreat early for other reasons.

Lexington led the ship girls back to the beach.

"Little White is still alone on the beach, will he be in trouble?" As they were heading back, Akagi, who was beside Lexington, asked with some concern.

"We're all admirals, everyone's looking at each other, no one can do anything to Little White," Lexington replied. "Besides, with Little White's strength, who could hurt her?"

“That makes sense.” Akagi realized she had been overthinking things, and she looked up at the sky.

It's almost afternoon now, the sky is still bright, and the sea breeze, carrying a damp scent, is blowing on my face. Apart from the battlefield behind the sea making it quite noisy, it's actually quite comfortable.

"Free time this afternoon, right?" Akagi suddenly wanted to go shopping.

“Yes.” Lexington nodded.

"Free time?" Saratoga, who was next to Lexington, immediately perked up when she heard her words.

"Jiajia, you want to play with Xiaobai again, don't you?"

“Hmm.” Saratoga looked at Lexington pitifully.

“Always sticking to someone’s side can be annoying,” Lexington admonished. “Good girls know how to keep just the right distance.”

"Hmm..." Saratoga didn't want to care about that.

Lexington shook his head: "Don't stay up too late. Even if you don't rest, Xiaobai needs to rest too."

"Mmm!" Saratoga laughed happily.

As they were talking, the ship girls saw the beach. Just like before, a large number of admirals, just like those they had encountered in the chapter's sea area, were sitting on the beach, each waiting for their own ship girls.

Lexington and Saratoga returned to the shore first and began searching for Little White.

Little White was not found where it had been before.

"Where's the Admiral?" The ship girls in the group also noticed that Shiro wasn't there. "Could she be lost?"

"Stop joking, the admiral isn't a puppy, how can he be lost?"

"Maybe they went to the back to drink juice because it was too hot."

The ship girls each expressed their own opinions.

Saratoga felt that his companions made a lot of sense, so he turned his head and subconsciously looked towards the open-air restaurant where he and Xiaobai had once stayed.

It has to be said that the ship girls have sharp eyes; they spotted Shiro immediately.

Xiao Bai was sitting near the door of the small restaurant, drinking juice.

"Sister, Little White is over there." Saratoga raised her hand and pointed towards the small restaurant, then couldn't help but take long strides and run towards it.

Saratoga had been itching to play with Xiaobai for the past few days, as her older sister had only recently allowed her to do so.

"Little White!" Saratoga waved to Little White as she ran toward the small restaurant.

However, the next second, something shocking happened to Saratoga.

On the other side of the table where Saratoga couldn't see the little white figure sitting, a delicate white hand stretched out, holding a small spoon with a dollop of white ice cream on it.

Xiao Bai looked a little embarrassed, but the little hand lingered in front of Xiao Bai for a moment, as if it wouldn't let go until Xiao Bai ate.

Little White had no choice but to stick out its mouth and lick the ice cream off the spoon.

The owner of the little hand then withdrew it, satisfied.

Saratoga took a deep breath, and a subtle feeling instantly filled her chest.

Who does this spicy fruit traveler resemble?!

Chapter 440 Mr. Sa's Sharp Eyes

Saratoga was really angry.

Of course, it must be stated first that Saratoga has no intention of possessing Xiaobai exclusively. Xiaobai is the admiral of the naval base, not Saratoga's personal admiral, and Saratoga understands this quite well.

However, Saratoga is a person who pursues fairness quite a bit. I, Saratoga, have gone through many hardships and suffered so much with Xiaobai. From a pitiful and troubled girl at the beginning to being moved and finally achieving a happy ending with a love stronger than gold, I was able to reach a consensus with Xiaobai. In the end, under the intervention of the Empress Dowager, we had to be separated from Xiaobai for a few days and then for a long time, like a meeting on the Magpie Bridge. When we finally got a chance, we found that some seductive and shameless woman had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and was living happily ever after with Xiaobai.

You tell me, isn't Sa angry?

Just how popular is Xiao Bai with women? Does every girl in the world like Xiao Bai?

Saratoga rushed to the open-air restaurant without stopping, his path streaked with sparks and lightning, and slammed his fist hard against the restaurant door.

The open-air restaurant was now empty except for Xiaobai and that unknown woman; there was hardly anyone else there.

Saratoga's slap was so loud that it startled the waiter who was preparing the orders.

Saratoga's sharp eyes immediately fixed on the woman opposite Xiaobai.

With short blonde hair, red lips, white teeth, and a sweet face, she's a friend I've never seen before.

"Huh? Saratoga?" Little White was also drawn to the sound of the snap. She turned her head and looked at Saratoga. "You're back."

"Yes, I'm back." Saratoga nodded as she scooted over to sit next to Little White, pressing herself close to him. She clasped her hands tightly on her thighs, her eyes fixed on the person opposite Little White with the look of someone who seemed like a class enemy. "Who is she?"

“Ah, speaking of which, I really should tell you about this.” Saratoga mentioned Ella’s identity, and Little White quickly introduced her to Saratoga as well, “Do you remember her?”

"Have you met before?" Saratoga became suspicious when she heard Xiaobai say that. She looked at Ella's face strangely several more times.

“Yes, we’ve met,” Xiaobai said with a smile. “Do you remember what happened on Colorado Island?”

"...The part where you want me to become your ship girl?"

"Cough cough cough cough." Xiao Bai's thin skin couldn't hold back anymore. "No...no, it's about what happened later."

Saratoga narrowed her elfin-like eyes, pondering what was to come.

After Xiaobai almost pushed him over after drinking fake alcohol, it wasn't a pleasant memory. Xiaobai was kidnapped, and then Muxi appeared and took advantage of the fact that Xiaobai wasn't there to protect him, bullying him quite a bit...

Thinking of this, Saratoga's eyebrows twitched, and then he looked carefully at the girl in front of him.

Speaking of which, it seems that Muxi kidnapped an admiral back then.

"...Are you Ella?" Saratoga asked tentatively.

"It's me." Ella nodded shyly. "I'm so sorry to have troubled you."

Saratoga looked at Ella's face carefully for a few moments.

At the time, Ella was almost dead, lying in bed looking terribly haggard. Saratoga hadn't given this matter much thought, but now that she looks at her, Ella seems quite pretty.

Saratoga instantly felt the pressure.

"Ella, do you still remember Saratoga?" Little White asked Ella.

"I remember, you guys saved me back then, right? There was also a white-haired ship girl," Ella said with a smile.

“Yes, that’s Bismarck.” Little White seemed to have been chatting with Ella for a long time, and she smiled at Ella naturally.

The atmosphere between Ella and Xiaobai gradually became more harmonious.

"Oh right, Saratoga, Ella's ancestor was the one who invented the ship girl construction device, isn't that amazing?" Shiro said to Saratoga.

Upon hearing this news, Saratoga was finally taken aback.

The ship girl construction device is a great invention that changed the course of human destiny, so it means that Ella's identity is quite extraordinary.

Saratoga's suspicious gaze gradually turned into surprise.

"Oh dear, what did I just hear?" Just then, Lexington's amused voice came from outside the restaurant.

Compared to Saratoga, who strode into the restaurant, the other ship girls were much more leisurely. It wasn't until Saratoga had already chatted with Shiro for several minutes that Lexington and the others slowly arrived at the open-air restaurant.

The ship girls, enough to fill a large courtyard, swarmed into the open-air restaurant, instantly transforming the previously empty and deserted place into a bustling hub.

"The Admiral has been staying at the restaurant the whole time?"

"The admiral is talking to another admiral."

"Oh, I see. Boss, a plate of fried noodles, please!"

"Oh dear, why did you light it?"

"Anyway, we're free to do whatever we want now."

The ship girls didn't stop once they entered the restaurant. They all found seats and sat down. Those who couldn't find seats squeezed together with the ship girls they usually played with. A few who weren't afraid of getting dirty simply dragged out their cushions and sat on the floor.

"Boss, fried noodles, please!"

"Boss, could I have a plate of fried rice?"

"Juice! Juice!"

"ice cream!"

It's unclear who started it, but the ship girls began ordering food.

Lexington, Bismarck, Hood, and Akagi, these senior ship girls, came to Shiro's side and looked at Ella: "Little Ella, were your ancestors the ones who created ship girls?"

“No, my ancestors only invented the construction device for ship girls,” Ella explained to Lexington.

“I see.” Lexington casually moved to sit on the other side of Little White, squeezing Little White between herself and Saratoga. “Thank you to our ancestors for giving us the opportunity to be born.”

"Humans would perish even without you. In fact, we humans should thank you." Ella seemed quite adept at such pleasantries.

Hood and Bismarck also sat down on either side of Ella.

"Are you the little girl our admiral rescued on Colorado Island? You're so pretty," Hood said to Ella with a smile.

“Yes.” Bismarck nodded.

Although Ella is a descendant of the creators of ship girls and holds a very high status, the newbie naval base is still the current world's number one naval base. Although its spiritual status is not as supreme as Ella's, it doesn't need to be subservient to her.

"Thank you." Ella seemed quite pleased with Hood's compliment on her cuteness.

There were two benches at the table, one in front of the other. At this moment, Xiaobai's side had three people, and Ella's side had three people, all of which were occupied. Akagi was standing alone on the ground, with no place for her.

“Gaga, make room for Akagi,” Lexington said to Saratoga.

“…Oh.” Saratoga shifted her buttocks a little disappointedly, but it was as if her buttocks were glued on; she just wouldn’t move away no matter how she shifted.

"Don't be shy, I can find a place to sit myself." Akagi saw through Saratoga's thoughts, smiled gently, and reached out to pat Saratoga's head.

Akagi walked up behind Shiro, gently picked him up, and sat down in Shiro's seat, settling in like a koala.

"As expected of you." Lexington said with a smile, looking at Akagi's serene face.

"As expected of me." Akagi smiled calmly.