Revisit Azur Lane

Chapter Sixteen: Poor at Speaking

After perfectly replicating the tempura and enjoying a pleasant breakfast, Zhou He saw Yuudachi and Zuikaku off from the port area.

After finishing, he originally planned to go home to read and study, but after thinking about it, he didn't go back. Instead, he walked the same route he and Hermione had taken yesterday. He also flipped through the civil engineering book he had bought yesterday to the introductory section on the framework. While reading, he also examined the situation around his command post. In the end, he concluded that the system had really put a lot of thought into creating a good place for him to sit in the port area.

I just don't know why they left him with a bare command post in the end.

"What exactly went wrong? Is it so that I can grow together with the port area and everyone else?"

This system is so gentle that Zhou He almost cried in his mind, but unfortunately he prefers to reap the benefits without sowing.

After recalling the roads he had seen and roughly sketching out a road map of the area adjacent to the command post, Zhou He strolled back to the command post. In his private office, he took out paper and pen and began to draw. He didn't want to do too much; he first added three building areas around the command post, and then expanded the map after completing them.

Tuk-tuk-tuk.

"Commander, my apologies."

After a brief knock, Hermione gently pushed open the door and looked at Zhou He, who seemed not to have heard her and was still engrossed in reading and drawing. With a slight smile, she placed the teacup she was holding on the desk and carefully poured out the freshly brewed hot tea: "Take a short rest."

Zhou He was not so engrossed that he couldn't see anyone else. He took a shallow breath, put down his pen, and looked at the poor lines on the paper when a sudden thought flashed through his mind: Could it be that the port area only has a command post because there are too many buildings that would allow the Sirens to find this place?

'Am I an idiot for only realizing this so late?'

After thanking Hermione discreetly, Zhou He picked up his hot tea, blowing on the rising steam, and silently reassessed his intelligence. Before transmigrating, he wasn't smart either; his so-called emotional intelligence was only reflected in online chatting. In reality, he could barely guarantee that he wasn't socially anxious or suffering from Yu Yu syndrome. Even his relationship with his family wasn't good, so he had to rent a place and stay at home.

"..."

Before long, Zhou He gave up thinking and shifted his attention to the system interface. He switched to the attack map, and as he expected, with the help of Ruihe's reconnaissance aircraft, the four surrounding areas were completely lit up in a short time, and he could see the Sirens moving around inside clearly.

Yesterday, we had cleared out all but the northern Siren fleet, but now all four districts are occupied by Siren icons. The turmoil from yesterday's battle has caused a lot of trouble.

As he looked around, he suddenly spotted a Siren symbol in the northern area that was even more significant than that of destroyers and light cruisers. He subconsciously began to observe his surroundings: light cruisers and destroyers were probably the smallest patrols of the Sirens, usually consisting of 4 to 6 ships per squadron. This heavy cruiser, however, was a heavyweight, accompanied by two squadrons of destroyers and light cruisers. The total number of Sirens in the entire area was as high as fourteen.

This number is astronomical compared to the rest of his team. Even a strategic player like Zhenghang couldn't compete with it because of the lack of manpower, and tactics like maneuvering were out of the question.

"What a shame, what a shame."

Muttering to himself, he lowered his head and took a sip of tea. The bitter taste was followed by a moment of refreshing fragrance. The tea that the system had given him tasted pretty good, but he didn't know what kind it was—no, he should praise Hermione's superb tea-brewing skills.

He put down his teacup and looked at the maid, who was even more beautiful than in the game and whose beauty captivated him: "The tea is just right. Even among the royal maids, Hermione, your skills must be among the best."

"Thank you for the compliment, Royal Maid Corps~ Does the Commander know what kind of personality and interests we will have after we are awakened?"

Hermione is skillful and has an even greater ability to observe and understand the thoughts of her crush. Zhou He's casual remark piqued her curiosity.

"Ah, I suppose I can be considered a commander, so I know quite a bit of information about the appearances, personalities, and strengths of the ship girls beforehand."

Zhou He was unaware of his slip of the tongue; he wasn't at the level of being able to control his words. But even if he had, he would most likely have given the same answer.

The moment he met Yuudachi, he had already made his decision: to be honest with the ship girls who had joined his port—and if there were any questions about him, he would respond with something like, "I am also a commander, after all."

"Hmm, I can't believe such a thing exists."

Hermione's eyes wavered slightly. She pursed her lips, turned her head away, and muttered softly, "That's too cunning."

His voice was soft, but because Hermione was standing so close, Zhou He paused for a moment, then put his hands together on the table, rested his chin on his hand, and said in a slightly deep voice, "Indeed, it would be great if you could also choose your preferred commander."

Ship girls have a wide variety of personalities and interests. If a two-way selection system were available, it would prevent commanders and ship girls with incompatible personalities from meeting, reducing unnecessary troubles and the adjustment period.

"Hmm~"

Hermione knew perfectly well that such a thing was impossible, but it was enough for her that Zhou He could say it without hesitation. Her bright platinum eyes flickered slightly, and she leaned down to whisper in Zhou He's ear, "Even if there were such a choice, Hermione would definitely come to the Commander."

"I...cough cough."

Zhou He had never seen anything like this before. His instinct was to create distance, but he held back. He forcefully suppressed his urge to run away by clasping his hands together, waiting for Hermione to finish speaking and leave his ear before speaking. As a result, his voice inexplicably became hoarse, causing him to cough twice to cover it up. He picked up the tea beside him to drink it to moisten his throat, but Hermione pressed down on his wrist with one hand. The maid kindly reminded him with a warm smile that made people blush, "The tea is very hot."

"Yeah."

Zhou He calmed down a bit, realizing he had been seen through and couldn't possibly be any more humiliated. So he touched his throat, his face burning, and said, "Me too, Hermione is always welcome to join us."

He really isn't good at communicating with others. Hermione only said a few words before he became a little delirious.

Further studies are essential!

He needs to try his best to withstand all the verbal attacks from the ship girls who are currently joining and will join in the future, otherwise his heart won't be able to take it.

After the brief conversation ended, Zhou He gathered his thoughts and turned his attention back to the system interface. After confirming on the minimap that Yuudachi and Zuikaku were in a safe state, he switched forms and began studying the route planning again. He would have to go out in a while to find a suitable measuring tool to determine the distance ratio between the planned map and reality.

Hermione watched Zhou He working diligently for a moment before quietly leaving with the now-cold teapot.

Chapter Seventeen One Day

Around noon, Zhou He, who had noticed through the system map that Yuudachi and the other person were rushing back, put down the planning map he had almost finished working on and came out of his office to prepare lunch with Hermione.

Yesterday, Zhou He was in charge of cooking and Hermione was his assistant. Today, Zhou He took a break and handed over the cooking duties to Hermione halfway through, claiming that he would learn as soon as possible. Everyone knows what he really was thinking.

"Hermione, I'll go pick them up first."

With preparations nearly complete, Zhou He greeted Hermione, who was finishing up, and strolled to the bay in a rather pleasant mood. Just then, he spotted two figures of varying heights returning from afar.

"The commander always waits for us here. Is he just bored?"

After Yuudachi came ashore, she was as happy as a dog returning home, circling around Zhou He to greet him. Zuikaku shook her head and tossed her ponytail as she walked over and asked curiously. Zhou He pressed his palm lightly against Yuudachi's earlobe and defended himself: "In terms of the nature of my work, it is indeed relatively simple. I am not as busy as you guys who go out to sea, but it is not as idle as you think."

"Sorry for saying something weird."

Ruihe apologized frankly, and Zhou He smiled, turned around and waved to the two of them: "Lunch is ready, you can rest for a bit and then come and eat."

"Yes~"

Yuudachi followed quickly, while Zuikaku turned and glanced at the distant sea, his eyes becoming deep and reserved. After a moment, he casually put his hands behind his head and followed Zhou He and the other two.

——The dividing line between dry rice and cooked rice——

After finishing their meal, Zhou He left the kitchen with Hermione and cleared away the dishes. He saw Yuudachi and Zuikaku still resting at the table, savoring the meal. He waved his hand, sat down, and asked the two about Zuikaku's investigation that day.

His system map showed a decent number of Sirens, but today he discovered a strange problem: while the maps around the command center were all open, the maps of the outer sea areas remained unchanged. He personally judged that to light up the smaller maps, he would first have to send ship girls to light up the larger maps of the unknown sea areas.

"The situation outside is almost exactly as the commander predicted. A large number of Siren fleets have gathered here because of yesterday's battle."

Zuikaku took a sip of tea and recounted what he had seen and heard that day: "Fortunately, none of these Sirens are aircraft carriers, and the battleships with seaplanes are still far away from us, so we don't need to worry about the port being discovered for the time being."

"Battleships."

Zhou He narrowed his eyes and quickly scanned the four illuminated sea areas. Sure enough, there were a large number of destroyers, light cruisers and some heavy cruisers, but no battleships. Zuikaku's reconnaissance plane did fly to the area outside the illuminated map, but it was not illuminated in his area.

This is a bit troublesome. He wanted to rely on Zuikaku's reconnaissance capabilities to light up the surrounding area and defeat the Sirens fleet one by one, but now he can only operate within a limited range.

"The commander should understand."

Zuikaku stared at Zhou He. Their port was surrounded by the Siren fleet, and it was only a matter of time before they were discovered. Faced with this situation, the tradition of the Sakura Empire was to strike first.

Zhou He hummed in agreement, not in a hurry to make a decision. This stronghold was very important to him, but his core development still lay in the system. Even if the Sirens really discovered and attacked, he could rely on the system's map to avoid danger and make a comeback.

After a moment's thought, he said, "The Siren fleet around the port is too dense right now, making it unsuitable for a single attack. Let's wait for the right opportunity, and I will notify you to launch an attack as soon as we find it."

"it is good!"

Zuikaku's eyes shone brightly. She herself was a product of Yuudachi's sinking of the Sirens. As long as she continued to sink the Sirens, the port's combat strength would continue to increase, and Shoukaku would eventually return to her side.

Zhou He wasn't surprised by Zuikaku's belligerence. Yuudachi had reacted similarly when she discovered the Sirens, with a similar "Is it time to fight?" attitude. Perhaps the Sakura Empire's ship girls were just more belligerent than those of other factions.

After asking Ruihe about some things outside the map, Zhou He got up, left the dining table, returned to his office, took out a diary from his drawer, wrote three lines on it, stopped writing, put it back, and started tidying up the port area planning charts.

Before his transmigration, he had no interest in writing a diary, and he still doesn't have any particular interest now. The few words he leaves each day are only for future historical research materials. Well, he's worried that he'll forget when the ship girls joined the port and what happened. If he can't answer questions about the port's current state when he has the chance to discuss it with the old members, that would be too embarrassing, and would be the worst example of a commander's slip-up.

……

After resting for a while after lunch, Zhou He carried the organized charts downstairs. When he arrived at the entrance of the command center, he placed the charts on the ground, spread his arms, pointed his left hand at the command center door, and held a pen in his right hand at the bay. After finishing, he squatted down and let the pen drop vertically. Then he moved to a different position, spread his arms, squatted down, picked up the pen with his left hand, handed it to his right hand, and repeated the above actions. After the third time, he turned around, picked up the charts, and marked 1:2500 in the corner, which means that 1 millimeter on the map is equal to 2.5 meters in reality.

According to the physical measurement system of Donghuang in his previous life, the arm span of an adult male is around 170cm. Spending 1 Home Coin to buy a measuring tape is a bit too extravagant at this stage, so he directly uses himself as a ruler. There will definitely be some error, but he can act according to the situation, so it is equivalent to no problem.

Zhou He was carefully measuring the distance from the command post to the bay. However, his behavior was rather subtle, and before he knew it, he caught the attention of Zuikaku, who was sunbathing with Yuudachi outside. Finding it amusing, Zuikaku strode over, glanced at the chart on the ground, and then at Zhou He, who was moving around, with a smile on his lips: "Commander, are you measuring the distance?"

"correct."

Zhou He himself actually found this kind of measurement very interesting, a bit like a game that children play.

"Isn't this measurement not standard? And there are branch lines too. How about I help you?"

Ruihe said he wanted to play too, picked up the chart and pen on the ground and started playing with Zhou He's translation. Every now and then he would point out that the pen was not in the right place, and every now and then he would use the scabbard at his waist to stick the soil into the ground and draw a horizontal line of soil as a reference point for Zhou He's position.

After measuring for a while, Zhou He suddenly realized something as Ruihe repeatedly pointed out his errors. He rubbed his aching arms and turned to look at her, saying, "I suddenly remembered, Ruihe, you guys should be born with the ability to accurately estimate lengths and distances by sight, right?"

"...That's not true."

Ruihe almost couldn't help but laugh, turning her head away and covering her mouth, trying to pretend nothing had happened. But Zhou He couldn't hold back any longer, and sat down on the grass facing the sea. He felt very ashamed, but also a little relieved. Luckily, he hadn't spent money to buy a measuring tape, otherwise he would have lost a lot of money. Even if it was only 1 point of homeland coin, it was very precious to him now.

"Ahem, Commander, there are two roads leading to the sea here. What are they for?"

Ruihe stopped teasing Zhou He and, after laughing, looked at the chart and asked him a serious question.

"I want to build a shipyard and warehouse area on the left, and I plan to develop an entertainment area on the right."

Zhou He glanced at her and shared his rough idea.

As a port area, it should at least have a proper dock. If it expands outward like this, it will eventually encounter the local inhabitants. At that time, it can be used for trade, and multiple lighthouses should be prepared to guide the way at night.

Beach recreation areas, well, those who know, know—the common spots in anime where people sunbathe, play in the water, and get some fan service.

"The commander's goals are quite ambitious."

Ruihe glanced at the lonely command post, then looked at Zhou He's not-so-robust physique; it would be quite difficult for him to manage construction alone.

"Yes, I definitely can't do it alone. Why don't you help me pave the road, Ruihe?"

Zhou He saw through her thoughts at a glance, raised an eyebrow and asked in return, but he didn't expect Ruihe to nod and smile without hesitation: "Okay."

After finishing, she lifted the sleeves of her crane-wing-like kimono to reveal her fair arms and struck a pose for Zhou He: "Don't let my appearance fool you, I'm actually quite strong."

"..."

Zhou He was taken aback by Ruihe's candid attitude. Looking at the girl with a bright smile in the sunlight, he raised his hand to adjust his navy hat, turned his head to the side, stood up by supporting himself on the grass, patted the weeds off his pants, and when he turned back to face Ruihe, he had returned to normal. He spread his hands and invited her to help measure the other routes.

The seaside is divided into two straight branches leading directly from the command center, as well as routes extending to the left and right sides from the command center. We haven't decided how to develop them yet; the priority is to pave the roads first.

"give it to me!"

With blueprints and a pen in hand, Ruihe followed Zhou He and helped him measure the distance. Every 25 meters, she would use the scabbard to draw a clear horizontal line of equal length on the grass for reference. Zhou He felt a little sorry for her, but Ruihe herself didn't seem to care much. She just smiled and said that she could wipe it off later.

What required careful measurement for Zhou He was just a simple stroll for Rui He. They quickly completed the measurement of the three roads, which made Zhou He think that "in the future, I must ask other people for advice before taking any action."