Revisit Azur Lane

Given this setup, he has a lot more room to maneuver. What if the Sirens are too large and surround the island? That's just free experience points and mission targets!

"Commander, it seems that the Sirens surrounding us is not necessarily a bad thing."

Bismarck was used to Zhou He's smile, but this was the first time he had smiled so happily. He silently judged that Zhou He did not have a complete understanding of this port area. His recent arrangements were to test the upper limit and functionality of their port area and this island. In this regard, he shared the same view as them.

Upon hearing this, Zhou He touched his lips, suppressing his smile, and looked at the approaching group, including Ruihe, and said, "Yes, as long as we take advantage of the unique features of this island, we can launch a unilateral attack on the approaching Sirens without any repercussions."

His ship girls can gain experience points through battles to increase their combat power, which means he can level up his ship girls.

Such a good thing happened! After the new dormitory was built, he immediately started a large-scale construction project, using this "benefit" to quickly bring the combat stats of the new members closer to those of the older members, so as to avoid the situation where they fall behind due to insufficient combat power.

"So, shall we go back now?"

Hermione asked from the side, and Zhou He thought for a moment, looking at the coastline and beach that began to bend ahead: "I want to walk along this road a little further, Hermione, do you know what's ahead?"

"Well…"

When questioned, Hermione tilted her head and frowned slightly. After seemingly thinking very seriously, she came to an answer and bowed her head in apology: "I'm very sorry. We're usually quite far from the island when we're on a sortie, so I didn't observe it carefully."

"Ok?"

Zhou He was somewhat surprised, but didn't pay much attention. Hermione hadn't come out very often, so he turned to ask the others. Bismarck saw through Hermione's thoughts at a glance, lowered her eyes, and gently patted U556's back. U556 understood immediately, suddenly grabbed Z23's hand, who was about to speak, and ran to the front. She turned around and waved to Zhou He with a smile: "Commander, let's go take a look ahead."

Zhou He has always been fond of cute and well-behaved little creatures like submarines and destroyers, and waved with a smile: "Don't run around, be careful."

"I know~"

U556 took Z23 away. Zhou He looked at them with some concern and turned to Javelin and Hamman: "Javelin, Hamman, you two should go with them too. Keep an eye on them for me, and make sure they don't go swimming with 556."

"Huh? Is the Commander underestimating us? We're aware of things like this!"

Hamman was as stubborn and coquettish as ever, but seeing Zhou He's smiling face, her nameless anger flared up. She left with a "humph" and quickly followed the two in front of her. Javelin was a little at a loss, so she could only apologize on Hamman's behalf and then turn around and follow.

"So energetic!"

Zhou He was completely unaffected; on the contrary, he was in a very good mood. With his hands behind his back, he strolled far behind the four little cuties.

"Commander, please don't always bully Miss Hamman. She's really hard to appease when she's angry. You should praise her occasionally."

Bismarck's mindset was very similar to Zhou He's. Hermione, however, felt quite reluctant to offer a reminder. Through her observations over this period, she could see that Haman cared a lot about Zhou He. Although she would leave in a huff each time, her anger would dissipate as soon as she turned around, and she would find another opportunity to get close to Zhou He again. Hermione found this animalistic reaction quite adorable.

"Will do."

Zhou He hummed in agreement. Harman was still wary of him, and praising him rashly would have the opposite effect. He should wait until he got to know him better before praising Harman, and he should see a more adorable reaction.

It’s really exciting.

"..."

Hu Teng genuinely had no idea what lay ahead, and with Zhou He being closely followed by his two bodyguards (Hermione and Bismarck), she had no chance to get close to him except for their initial conversation. So she simply slipped behind to observe the situation, finding it a bit easier.

The distance of five miles was only a few minutes before Zuikaku and his group returned to the shore. After landing, they left a dense trail of footprints on the beach and joined the group, discussing with great surprise that the Sirens had suddenly given up the pursuit. This second round of discussion was also smoothly taken over by Zhou He, except that his description of his discovery and conjecture included words that elevated his own wisdom.

Everyone accepted it unexpectedly, which Zhou He hadn't anticipated; he thought Ruihe would call him shameless.

……

Following the beach, after about half an hour, we left the coastline where the slope was located. The weedy open space next to us turned into piles of stones and a few trees.

Of course, none of that is the point. After arriving here, Zhou He could see a stream flowing from the island into the sea from a distance. The four people who went ahead were all wandering around in that area.

"Since things are going as expected, then..."

Zhou He felt a sense of excitement, like discovering a new continent, and quickened his pace to get closer. However, the closer he got to the beach, the more stones there were. It took him quite a bit of effort to reach the downstream of the current and look into the island. Sure enough, a drop of more than ten meters appeared in his sight. The water rushing down from upstream had carved out a large pool at the bottom. Around the pool, there was an area without vegetation, but instead, it was covered with stones and rocks of various sizes, which were washed so clean that they even looked shiny.

There were still many animals and birds drinking and roosting there. This composition greatly satisfied Zhou He's expectations, so much so that he expressed his overflowing emotions and turned around to call everyone following behind to come and see.

"Hey~ Commander, you're pretty good at finding people!"

Ruihe patted Zhou He on the back as soon as she came up, then took two steps forward, put one hand on her hip and shielded her eyes with her hand to look at the waterfall: "I've seen this place from the sky, but I didn't expect it to look so different from the ground."

"Relying solely on an aerial perspective will cause you to miss a lot of things."

Zhou He, who frequently used his phone before his transmigration, naturally knew that while a 'high-altitude view' could offer spectacular scenery, the momentary shock was far less profound than the experience of being there in person. He smiled and spread his hands: "Of course, you deserve half the credit for finding this place. I have no objection to you being proud."

"...That sounds familiar, never mind."

After having a falling out with Zhou He, Ruihe realized firsthand that Zhou He treated each of them differently. It was pointless to dwell on the fact that Zhou He wasn't as polite to her as he was to others. After reluctantly accepting Zhou He's 'praise,' she called Xianghe over to take a look and sighed with regret, "It's a pity. This place is too far downstream. It's very likely to flood if it rains heavily. It's not suitable for building houses."

"Then why don't you just go upstream and find a place?"

Zhou He added that he also really wanted to build a villa or wooden house amidst the mountains and rivers. If you ask why, he said he had the confidence to be extravagant!

His statement was endorsed by Zuikaku, who said that he would definitely take some time to roam around his own port area during the next sortie—before getting a tap on the head from Shoukaku.

During their casual conversation, Yuudachi, who had just returned from her flight, decided to cultivate a good relationship with Hutten. The reason was that Jean Bart had seemed fierce last time, but in reality, he wasn't fierce at all and was a very kind person. So much so that she had a strong sense of déjà vu when she saw Hutten now. After following him all the way, she went up to him and struck up a conversation with great enthusiasm.

Hu Teng was quite surprised. Faced with Yuudachi, who was so cute that even Zhou He couldn't resist her, she also found her adorably silly. So she patiently chatted with Yuudachi and learned that Yuudachi was Zhou He's initial ship and secretary ship. After showing some interest, she learned about Zhou He's 'starting from scratch' process and the subtle reality that Yuudachi, as his secretary ship, did nothing but eat, drink, play, and make friends.

No—in her opinion, a secretary ship who personally tells newly joined ship girls about the port's past is an amazing person, at least she couldn't do that.

Our commander has a good eye.

"Does the commander have any ideas about increasing the number of secretary ships?"

Hu Teng casually inquired that Yuudachi was indeed worthy of the title of secretary ship, but the work in the port area also needed to be done by someone. It couldn't all be done by Zhou He. People's energy is limited, and overwork is not advisable.

"Ugh?"

Yuudachi's ears perked up, and after a moment of surprise, she shook her head: "I didn't ask the Commander, but Hermione has always been by the Commander's side."

"That maid?"

Hutten glanced at Hermione. She didn't know why she knew about the maid and understood her meaning, but with a maid by her side, at least her physical health would be guaranteed, and there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Yes! Hermione's cooking is delicious!"

Yuudachi gave it high praise, and Hu Teng didn't know how to respond for a moment, so he remained silent.

The intense exchange between the two caught Z23's attention. She didn't know Hu Teng, but Zhou He said that Hu Teng was a member of their Ironblood team, so they would definitely be comrades-in-arms fighting side by side in the future. After observing that Hu Teng and Xi Li did not show any impatience or negative emotions in their conversation, she mustered up her courage and joined in.

Bismarck saw it but didn't stop it. She also needed Hutten's personal information to facilitate future communication.

The group rested and chatted for a long time by the stream that flowed into the sea. When they felt that it was about time, Zhou He suggested taking the sea route home, which sparked a discussion. Ruihe even asked Zhou He curiously if he was going to make another boat by hand.

"Need not."

Zhou He dismissed her guess and turned his attention to Tosa: "There is a more convenient method."

"..."

Under everyone's gaze, Tosa's eye twitched imperceptibly, but he never considered rejecting Zhou He's idea in front of everyone. After taking a breath, he calmed himself down and said, "As long as you're not afraid of seasickness, Commander, it's fine."

"I will try my best to overcome it."

Zhou He recalled his own amazing statement and gave a thumbs up with a smile.

And so, under everyone's watchful eyes, Zhou He climbed onto the unfolded ship's rigging on the Tosa and leisurely sailed away into the distance.

Chapter 100 The Rain Is Coming

The first time Zhou He boarded the Tosa was when he first dismantled a Siren warship. At that time, it was only a few steps, so he couldn't experience the real situation of the ship girls traveling outside.

This time, he experienced it.

Under Tosa's gentle care, the ship only reached a speed of about 10 yards, but the sea wind on the horizon was unusually strong, far more so than the small electric car that could travel at 50 kilometers per hour inland. As a result, Zhou He could only open his eyes very small and had to shield them with his hands. He wondered why the wind was so strong at sea.

"Can the commander see the mountains surrounding the port?"

Hermione, who was standing next to Tosa, couldn't help but speak up when she saw Zhou He's appearance: "It's because of the existence of these mountains that the sea breeze blowing from afar will be deflected by the mountains, which makes the wind stronger when sailing in this area than in other places."

"Is there such a thing?"

Zhou He understood, but not completely. He could only mentally simulate the wind blowing in his face and being blocked by the high mountain, with the wind splitting into four directions: up, down, left, and right. But it couldn't be that exaggerated, could it? Shouldn't the wind bend along the ground?

"The wind is stronger than usual today."

Tosa didn't even blink when he said this, which Zhou He thought was like superhuman. However, Tosa then pointed to the sky with dense clouds surrounding it to the left and said, "It's raining over there, and it looks like it's going to spread over."

Zhou He glanced at it, but unfortunately his eyesight wasn't as sharp as his ship girl's. However, with some mental suggestion, he could still see a faint gray area and hummed in agreement: "Perfect timing, we're going home."

Traveling over mountains and valleys on the island, I felt that the island was huge. It took me a whole day to travel from the south to the northeast. However, sailing on the sea was much faster. The journey that took a day to walk was shortened to just over half an hour. The sky didn't even change much. The sun was still high in the sky and was not blocked by dark clouds.

"Our house is really big."

Instead of boarding a large ship, they entered the bay from the Tosa. Zhou He's first reaction was that the beach was far away. His second reaction was to turn his head and look at the huge dock where his family was located. He listened to the occasional metallic clanging sounds coming from the workshop. It was as stable as a rock. It was just a pity that there were not many people outside, making it seem unusually empty.

“There are too few people.”

Tosa made a turn and approached the dock where patrol boats were moored, making it easier for Zhou He to land from her ship's equipment.

"Indeed, but it will get lively soon."

After Zhou He finished speaking, he stood up with the cannon barrel by his arm and took a step onto the dock. He turned around and revealed a rather confident smile, so much so that Tosa took a second look at him before stepping to the landing area to go ashore.

"We're home! I'm going to soak in the hot springs! Commander, do you want to come with me?"

The crowd following behind gradually came ashore. Yuudachi skipped and hopped to catch up with Zhou He's back, and invited him with a grin. Her voice was so loud that everyone could hear it.

"..."

Zhou He really wanted to go to the hot spring with Yuudachi to help her wash her tail and ears, but he had to save face in front of everyone, so he reached out and patted her hair with a smile: "I still have some things to take care of here, Yuudachi, you and the others go first."

"Oh~"

Yuudachi made a low purring sound, and Zhou He couldn't help but pet her a few more times. Yuudachi didn't run away and just let Zhou He pet her. The people following behind didn't know what to say.

As young girls, everyone is clean and tidy. Soon, the crowd crossed the dock in twos and threes and returned to the command building they had been away from for a day and a night. Before even entering, Zhou He saw Count Spee sitting on the sofa in the hall reading a book. Faced with the suddenly noisy environment, she only glanced at him and then paid no more attention.

As Hermione bid farewell, Zhou He was left with only the newly joined Hu Teng by his side.

"This is our headquarters. It looks very simple now, but it will become very luxurious in a while."

Zhou He introduced Hu Teng to the warehouse, which was originally full but is now empty. He then looked at the 'Winter Bedding Set' in the Home Mall. Each set costs 1 Home Coin. With more than 20 ship girls in his home, each set would cost 24 Home Coins, which is exactly their daily output.

Today I received the Homestead Coins after Hu Teng joined, bringing his total Homestead Coins to 95. The dormitory building he previously collected cost 105 Homestead Coins. After buying it with the Homestead Coins from tomorrow's daily tasks, he will have 14 Homestead Coins left, which is barely enough to replenish his food reserves. He will probably have to wait until the day after tomorrow to buy a quilt.

"I'm so poor."

Zhou He sighed inwardly, walked to the last set of autumn bedding, picked it up, and looked at Hu Teng by the door: "After leaving this building, the most luxurious manor is the residence for your Ironbloods. Do you want to live there, or live here with everyone else?"