Elder brother's garrison

Page 441

Think carefully.

It seems I must have said something to anger South Dakota. Even if she's angry, she can't beat me. But now is not the time to hold a grudge. The admiral still has to visit other naval bases, and sulking between comrades must be avoided.

Well... in that case, we must find a topic that is appropriate for the current situation and that will allow South Dakota to put aside past grievances and participate.

"...Hmm...it's rather heavy, how about you carry half for me?" Washington said, raising his chin and pointing to a small pile of deep-sea metal in his arms.

However, after saying this, South Dakota delivered a powerful whip kick to Washington's shin.

In an instant, the sound waves spread out, and ripples spread out in circles along the water surface beneath our feet.

"Go to hell!" South Dakota shouted at Washington, grabbing a few pieces of deep-sea metal from Washington's arms before dashing off towards Little White.

In the blink of an eye, they disappeared from the sight of a completely bewildered Washington.

Chapter 581 Good

After walking a distance on the sea with the ship girls, Bismarck silently picked up Xiaobai and carried her in her arms.

At first, Xiaobai was a little embarrassed and said that she could walk by herself, but Bismarck shook her head and said that they were almost there and Xiaobai should hide her ship girl power. In order to avoid some trouble, it would be better for her to carry her there.

Since we've come this far, Little White had no choice but to let Bismarck carry him forward.

Bismarck carried Little White for more than ten minutes before the group finally saw the coast.

There was a small courtyard on the coast, made of brick, and the whole courtyard gleamed darkly in the sunlight.

This courtyard is definitely not comparable in size to Xiaobai's beginner naval base.

However, it is a bit larger than Yuzu's naval base.

King George V, along with Shiro and the ship girls, went ashore and slowly approached the outer perimeter of the naval base.

The moment the group stepped ashore, the gates of the garrison headquarters were suddenly pushed open.

A female admiral dressed in white looked anxiously at King George V, then quickly searched around the group of white-clad men until she saw the Prince of Wales and finally relaxed.

"Thank goodness, Sister Wales, you're alright..." The admiral breathed a sigh of relief, then quickly bowed several times to King George V, repeatedly apologizing, "Sister George V, I'm so sorry!"

"It's alright. After all, you don't have any carrier ship girls for reconnaissance, so it's normal to be slow to react." King George V didn't blame the admiral in front of him. "It's good that Wales is alright. Speaking of which, Akashi."

"I'm here!" The admiral named Akashi was taken aback, then quickly straightened up and looked at King George V.

“This is my admiral.” King George V raised his hand and pointed in the direction of Xiaobai. “Could I use your naval base for a while?”

"No problem, no problem!" Akashi nodded quickly, then secretly glanced at Shiro several times.

Akashi thought the white-haired girl was also a ship girl, but she didn't expect her to be human, and an admiral at that.

—Someone who can be George's sister's admiral.

Wow, that must be big, a real boss!

Akashi, who quickly deduced Xiaobai's powerful nature, had no reason to refuse him. She immediately raised both hands in agreement and led Xiaobai and the others into her naval base.

Akashi's naval base is indeed a size larger than Yuzu's, but it still retains the concept of a courtyard and reaches the level of a mansion.

That's fine too. There are quite a few empty houses in the courtyard prepared for future ship girls, and they are kept clean by their owner every day.

After choosing a relatively large empty house for everyone, Akashi very considerately bowed to them, said she was going to cook, and then left.

"The admiral of this naval base seems to have a pretty good relationship with you two?" Hood looked at George V with a smile after Akashi left. "What, George V, are you and your sister thinking of switching sides?"

"Don't joke like that." King George V smiled at Hood, but his eyes were quite serious.

"Hehe, sorry, sorry." Hood stuck out his tongue.

"This naval base was only established in recent years and its strength is average. It's a bit difficult for it to protect the city, so we sometimes help them out by clearing out invading Abyssal Fleet ships and training their ship girls. So we're just friends."

"Oh, I see." Hood nodded.

“…It’s my turn to ask.” King George V looked at Xiao Bai, “Admiral, how did you find Wales?”

"Ah, about that?" Xiaobai nodded. "Because we didn't know the exact location of the Prince of Wales, after arriving in this city, I asked the company to take us around randomly, and then we found him on the sea."

"A company?" King George V was taken aback.

"Yeah~" The company made a peace sign with a friendly smile.

"As expected of a corporation." King George V smiled at the corporation. "But Admiral, are you here to see us?"

“Yes.” Little White nodded. “Lexington told me that she sent you a message, but you haven’t replied to the naval base even once. It’s been too long, and Lexington is quite worried, so she asked me to come and find you.”

At this point, Xiaobai paused, then looked thoughtfully at the Prince of Wales.

The Prince of Wales remained silent and did not utter a word.

"Why haven't you replied to the naval base?" Xiaobai asked. "Do you not want me to become the admiral?"

"No!" Upon hearing Xiaobai's words, the Duke of York immediately stood up from his seat, looking nervous and about to say something, but was immediately stopped by King George V.

The scene fell into an extremely quiet silence.

"I'll go out and take a look." Just then, the Prince of Wales said this calmly, then stood up from his seat, pushed open the door of the room without saying another word, and went outside.

Xiaobai watched as the Prince of Wales walked out. She was taken aback at first, and then, somewhat surprised, wanted to say something to him.

“No need to call her back, Admiral.” King George V gave Xiaobai a wry smile. “Wales knew what we were going to talk about, so she left to avoid putting me in a difficult position.”

"Oh..." Xiaobai looked at King George V's face, then thoughtfully lowered his hand, and finally raised his head to say to her, "Then I'll go out and take a look too."

After Xiaobai finished speaking, he walked out of the room and slowly closed the door.

The ship girls in the room stared at the closed door and fell into silence.

"Has the admiral always been like this?" King George V asked slowly after a long while.

"Who knows? Sometimes she's like that, sometimes she isn't," Hood said with a smile. "But don't worry, the Admiral's intuition is still very reliable. Akagi can vouch for that."

"Akagi? Has she returned to the naval base too?"

"Ah."

"...I see." King George V sighed.

"The Admiral and your sister are both gone. Can you tell us why?" Hood's expression finally turned serious. "Wales's condition is abnormal. What happened?"

“…Hmm.” King George V nodded, a wry smile appearing on his face. “It’s not that I’m not responding to the garrison’s messages, nor is it that I don’t support the new admiral. It’s just that I dare not bring Wales back.”

"You dare not?" Hood looked slightly puzzled.

“As you said, Wales is not normal.” King George V withdrew his hand from his thigh and remained silent for a moment. “She likes the Admiral.”

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.

Xiao Bai walked out of the room and looked around the entire courtyard.

Admiral Akashi's courtyard was empty, and no one knew where he was. But it was good that it was empty; at least Shiro could spot the Prince of Wales's red figure at a glance.

The Prince of Wales was walking out through an open door on the other side of the courtyard.

Little White quickly took off running after the Prince of Wales.

As Xiaobai approached the gate, after taking a step or two, the view suddenly opened up.

As Xiaobai finally saw the view behind the door, the booming sounds of artillery fire began to fill the air.

Behind the door was a small beach and a large ocean, but the sea in this direction did not seem so calm.

Seven or eight ship girls were engaged in a fierce, life-or-death battle on the ocean. Torpedoes and shells flew incessantly across the water and sky, leaving long trails of flame as they bombarded each other intensely.

"Huh? What's this...?" Xiaobai couldn't help but wonder as he looked at the scene.

"Training?" The Prince of Wales' voice reached Xiaobai's ears from beside her.

Xiao Bai turned his head and saw the Prince of Wales leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, looking like he was waiting for him.

"Prince of Wales".

"I'm here. Is there anything I can do for you?"

"...I was just making a sound." Little White smiled at the Prince of Wales.

"..." The Prince of Wales remained silent.

"Um... do you think they're doing a drill?"

“Yes.” The Prince of Wales nodded. “They are all immature ship girls. Improving their combat capabilities through exercises before going to the battlefield to deal with enemies whose strength does not overwhelm them is the most correct way for them to grow.”

"The ship girls at the naval base haven't really had many drills."

"The ship girls in the naval base are basically all at max level. They usually just play around in exercises and don't push themselves too hard."

"So they're all Admiral Akashi's ship girls?"

"Yes." The Prince of Wales nodded.

Xiaobai looked at the ship girls on the sea and remained silent for a while: "Fight to the death..."

It seemed that this word touched something in both Xiaobai and the Prince of Wales, and the two of them fell silent at the same time.

"Prince of Wales." After a long while, Xiaobai turned his head and looked at the Prince of Wales. "This time it's not just a simple greeting."

"..." The Prince of Wales turned his head and looked at Little White.

"Um, if I said something wrong, please don't be angry..." Xiaobai swallowed hard, then looked cautiously at the Prince of Wales, "Um... do you... want to die?"

The Prince of Wales' expression remained unchanged as he looked at Little White.

"...Did I say something wrong?" Xiaobai asked cautiously.

"...Why would you think that?"

"When I saw you on the sea, I had this feeling..." Xiaobai lowered her head.

Xiaobai has felt this way about many ship girls.

For example, Saratoga whom you met for the first time, the reputation you gained by throwing yourself over your shoulder upon first meeting, even Bismarck whom you met for the first time, and Akagi whom you met for the first time.

However, compared to these ship girls, the feeling that Prince of Wales gave Xiaobai was even worse. It was like a terminally ill patient who let the virus spread, let the insect plague spread, and let the decaying cells devour him. Prince of Wales seemed to have no intention of fighting against this negative emotion.

—She wanted to die.

This conclusion slowly took root in Xiaobai's mind.

The Prince of Wales didn't speak; she just stared blankly at Little White, and then slowly stretched out a hand towards Little White's face.

The Prince of Wales placed his cool palm on Little White's face and gently rubbed it.

“…Your Highness, although I’m not very persuasive, but…could you please not try to kill yourself? Life is beautiful, and I think people should move forward…”

"it is good."

"Ah... I guess it really won't work... Well, actually..." Xiaobai sighed, and was about to say something more, but suddenly froze.

Eh?

What did the Prince of Wales just say?

Little White looked up in astonishment at the Prince of Wales.

The Prince of Wales gently stroked Little White's face, his eyes filled with tenderness.

—It was the look in her eyes, like an older sister gazing at her younger sister.

Chapter 582 Big Shoulder Cart

To be honest, Xiaobai felt a little confused.

When it comes to eloquence and public speaking, Xiaobai is well aware of her own abilities. She has never studied these skills, and she doesn't even have much experience in advising people or helping them resolve their inner conflicts.

Logically speaking, his previous words should have had no effect on the Prince of Wales, who had long since given up on him.

—So the Prince of Wales was actually persuaded by himself??

Little White looked at the Prince of Wales, feeling the cool touch of the Prince of Wales on his cheek.

“Um… Prince of Wales, are you serious?” Xiaobai asked.

"What do you mean, 'seriously'?"

"Promise me you won't try to kill yourself."

"Okay, I promise you."

"..." Xiaobai narrowed her eyes subtly.

Things are moving too fast! Do I really have a talent for helping people resolve their inner conflicts?