Revisit Azur Lane

"Can you see Yuudachi at night?"

To catch crabs, Zhou He and Xi Li walked a long way along the bay. At this moment, he was squinting, trying to adjust to the darkness. When he was a child, he had a strange sense of pride when he traveled by moonlight in the pitch-black night. But as he grew up, he felt that his eyes had deteriorated. For example, he could only barely see the ground within three meters. Anything beyond that was just a blurry black.

"I can see it! Even if we attack Yuudachi at night, it's perfectly fine!"

Yuudachi was right next to Zhou He. As she answered, she looked up at Zhou He, who was even more cautious than during the day. Then, she reached out and grabbed the back of Zhou He's hand, shouting, "Commander, don't be afraid! With Yuudachi here, neither the Sirens nor anything else can harm you!"

"..."

Do I look like I'm afraid of the dark?

Zhou He didn't know how to react, and since she was speaking so loudly, he was too embarrassed to refute her. He could only acquiesce to Xi Li's wild guess: "Let's go back first."

Yuudachi chuckled mischievously and pulled Zhou He along the bay back. The sunlight disappeared, and the moon peeked out from the clouds, bringing a sliver of moonlight that slightly improved visibility on the ground. Reflections distorted with the waves appeared on the sea.

Snapped.

Pressing the light switch in the command center hall brought an unnatural glow to the desolate island.

"Alright, Yuudachi, go and rest for a while. I'll prepare dinner."

Zhou He let out a breath and gently shook off Xi Li's hand. Xi Li looked back at him, responded, and ran upstairs.

"It's not time to say I'm tired yet; I need to adapt to this kind of life as soon as possible."

Watching Xili go upstairs, Zhou He touched the warm back of his hand and muttered to himself as he walked towards the kitchen.

His experience today was incredibly novel. Meeting Yuudachi, discovering Sirens, and catching crabs on the beach were all things he could never have imagined before. From today onwards, this will be his normal routine: exploring the outside world with his ship girls to find Sirens and ruins, preparing meals at home, and taking care of logistics.

It is tiring, of course, but it's about fighting for my future, and thinking about that makes it less tiring.

I cleaned nearly twenty different kinds of crabs and put them in a steamer. I added some ginger slices and other ingredients, covered it, and weighed it down. Then I took out large pieces of meat from the freezer to thaw and marinate them before putting them in the oven and setting the timer.

Over an hour later, Zhou He brought three dishes, a soup, a large pot of crab, and a large plate of roasted meat to the table, making Xi Li, who was already drooling, rub her hands together even more.

"Okay."

Zhou He sat opposite Xi Li and smiled as he watched her gradually relax.

With Yukichi present, both the crabs and the grilled meat were devoured, leaving a pile of empty plates for Zhou He to wash. It took him quite a bit of effort to clean the kitchen.

Stretching and leaving the kitchen, Zhou He didn't see Xi Li in the living room. He assumed she had gone back to her room to rest, so he turned off the lights, climbed the stairs back to his bedroom to wash up, and then lay down on the soft bed, staring blankly at the unfamiliar ceiling.

A moment later, he squinted and focused his attention on the map that Yuudachi had explored: the area Yuudachi had walked through was still lit up, with sirens moving slowly in it. He dared to say that he would wait for the light cruiser to be alone because the map gave him confidence. He could check it at any time, and once the light cruiser sirens were alone, he could immediately send Yuudachi to attack. As for what to do while waiting.

He exited the minimap and focused his gaze on the fogged areas in the other three directions from the command post; these were the next reconnaissance targets for Yuudachi.

Suddenly, he heard a rustling sound and sat up abruptly in bed, his eyes fixed on the door. The sound was coming from outside.

The room was new, and the push-button doorknob didn't make much noise when opening the door. So Zhou He watched as the doorknob was pressed down and the door was pushed open a little bit. Through that small crack, he saw Yuudachi sneaking in.

"If it were Ron, I would be scared out of my wits."

Zhou He's thoughts wandered inexplicably, and he decisively asked, "Yudachi, is there anything else?"

"Ow!"

The adorable Yuudachi even thought she hadn't been discovered. After being called out, she made a meaningless noise, pushed open the door, and poked her head in: "Commander, aren't you going to rest yet?"

"...I'm ready to rest."

Zhou He pointed to the sky outside: "It's already very late. We still have things to do tomorrow. Xi Li should go and get some rest as well."

"Ok."

Yuudachi obediently closed the door. Zhou He raised an eyebrow, said nothing, and continued to lie down. He felt uneasy with his eyes closed, so he stood up, walked to the door, and opened it to find Yuudachi in his pajamas making a blanket at his door. Her ears and tail were twitching, looking very tempting.

"...Yuudachi, actually I'm not afraid of the dark."

Zhou He's face tightened. If Xi Li were to leave behind any embarrassing history, it would surely be passed down.

"Really?"

Yuudachi knelt on the ground and asked suspiciously, "He was so honest just now, why is he being so stubborn now?"

"I'm just not used to nights in the wild; I'm fine at home."

Zhou He patiently explained that he hadn't gone out to have fun at night for many years before he transmigrated, so it was normal for him to feel a little out of sorts.

"is it?"

Seeing his serious expression, Yuudachi tentatively accepted his explanation. However, she looked down at the bedding she had already made and rolled over, saying, "It's all made up. I'll sleep here tonight."

"You... never mind, let's leave it at that."

Zhou He wanted to say something, but seeing Xi Li leisurely hugging the blanket, he shook his head, went into the room, found a stool, opened the door and secured it, forcefully pulled the bedding off the bed to the ground, and lay down head to head with Xi Li.

He couldn't get rid of Yuudachi, nor could he let her come in to sleep, so he decided to leave it at that.

Having already experienced such a bizarre thing as time travel, why take life so seriously?

"Just sleep like this."

Zhou He got up, turned off the light, lay down, found a comfortable position, and closed his eyes.

"Hmm~"

Yuudachi gave a lazy response, and everything fell silent.

"commander."

"Ok?"

"The commander is from the Eastern Empire, isn't he? Doesn't he hold a grudge against us?"

"..."

"You are all excellent ships, but your creators have failed you."

"The commander speaks so kindly."

"...all that I have learned in my life."

"?"

As they chatted, the night deepened.

Chapter Eight: Raising and Being Raised

Night passes, the sun rises, and a new day begins as scheduled.

Zhou He, who had been exchanging fragmented conversations with Xi Li until late at night, woke up unusually early.

"...It's not a dream."

Opening his eyes to the unfamiliar ceiling and the wardrobe in the corner of his vision, Zhou He's lifeless eyes gradually came to life, and he rubbed his throbbing head as he sat up.

Before he transmigrated, the earliest he went to bed in the past few years was 10 pm, and that was only when he was sick or tired. But last night, even though he was affected by Yuudachi, he didn't fall asleep until no later than 9 pm, which made him sleepy.

"I've already transmigrated with a system, why didn't it enhance my physical abilities?"

Muttering to himself, Zhou He lazily glanced back at the door. The wrinkled bedding lay there quietly, but the person who had been sleeping on it was nowhere to be seen.

Wow, that's amazing, it's only a few o'clock!

While admiring Yuudachi's diligence, Zhou He went into the bathroom to wash up, then turned around and folded the two of them's bedding into irregular squares and placed them aside. He opened the wardrobe, changed into the white navy uniform, put on his symbol of identity (hat), and left the bedroom.

The command post remained deserted and lifeless. Zhou He first went to Yuudachi's room and looked around. He didn't see anyone in the room, but through the window he saw a figure running back and forth in the bay under the rising sun.

"Morning exercise?"

Zhou He leaned against the window and looked around for a while. He squinted to bring up the system interface and first checked the tasks. The Homestead Coin task he had received yesterday had been refreshed. The other two tasks remained unchanged. After glancing at them, he switched to the new map he had explored yesterday. What was displayed there made his eyes narrow.

Yuudachi explored about 60% of the entire sea area. Yesterday, four Sirens were clearly visible, three of which were traveling together and the other was wandering to the edge. Now, only that one wandering destroyer can be observed on the map; the other three have disappeared.

If we send Yuudachi out now, we should be able to take down this destroyer.

"Um…"

Zhou He, who was up early, was not very quick-witted. After thinking for a while, he decided to remain still to avoid alerting the enemy. The light cruiser that was suspected to be the flagship of the patrol team was his target.

Ultimately, this is the real world. Sirens certainly won't just stay inside and wait for him to deal with them according to the map's divisions. If a Siren from the next area approaches without him noticing, then he'll be in big trouble.

"I think the game starts with three or two ships, right? But I only have one starting ship now. Isn't this too difficult?"

Feeling his own combat strength was severely lacking, Zhou He took a breath, turned around and left Yuudachi's room. He went straight out to the bay and watched Yuudachi running. There is a difference between observing at eye level and from a high distance. Standing on the beach, you can feel how fast Yuudachi is running. Her feet splashed the waves and she ran from one side to the other in a flash. It is estimated that she can run more than one kilometer per minute.

If Zhou He were to be hit by Yuudachi, which travels at speeds exceeding 60 kilometers per hour, he suspected he would be sent flying and turned into Yamcha on the spot. So he obediently retreated about ten meters, bent down, found a handy stone on the ground, and began to draw on the beach.

"Hmm~ What is the Commander doing?"

After wandering around the bay for about ten laps, Yuudachi returned to the shore and happily approached Zhou He, watching him draw circles on the ground.

"Drawing a map."

Zhou He drew a rough map based on the map in the system, then threw the stone in the middle and pointed at it, saying, "This is our command post. Yesterday, Yukari, you scouted a small area. The rest of the area is unknown. To prevent any accidents from happening to our operation, Yukari, you need to go out and explore these areas as well."

"Well."

Yuudachi looked at the map and thought for a moment: "I understand, I'll visit all these places today!"

"Okay, be careful when you go out. If you encounter trouble, run away first. We don't fight battles we can't win, understand?"

Zhou He took a breath and continued to instill his steady thinking into Yuudachi.

Since the port area has just been established, it's not wrong to be cautious.

"Yes~"

Yuudachi had no objections. After listening to Zhou He's speech, she looked up and smiled excitedly: "Commander, what are we having for breakfast today?"

"Let's eat noodles."

Zhou He answered subconsciously, but after being stared at by Xi Li for a while, he changed his mind: "Cooking some porridge is fine, uh, and steaming some egg custard? Okay, okay, I'll add some meat to the noodles."

Upon hearing about the meat, Yuudachi nodded in satisfaction, while Zhou He was secretly worried. Yuudachi had eaten nearly ten pounds of meat yesterday. At this rate, Yuudachi would have to go out to sea hungry the day after tomorrow at the latest.