Revisit Azur Lane

"is it?"

Zhou He looked at the last two with a slightly troubled expression. When his gaze fell on Yorktown, his expression unconsciously became more subdued. Just like Lexington from Kantai Collection R is recognized as a "wife", Yorktown in Azur Lane also has the title or nickname of "wife". The reason is that Yorktown's temperament and personality are the type that are super suitable to be a wife.

Because ship girls are beautiful creations of the world of anime, the ship girls who appear around Zhou He all have exquisite faces that can be described as perfect and flawless. For example, Yorktown has the appearance of a Westerner and the delicate skin of an Easterner. Her pitiful appearance, combined with the heroic spirit hidden between her brows, makes her no less than other characters who appeared in the early stages of the game in every aspect.

Having undergone rigorous training, Zhou He had naturally moved beyond the stage of making a fool of himself whenever he saw a beautiful woman, and quickly concealed the amazement in his eyes.

He vaguely remembered that Yorktown's character seemed a bit troublesome, which was only resolved in Yorktown II.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I didn't notice either. Did Miss Ayanami notice?"

Yorktown looked away slightly from Zhou He's gaze, speaking in a gentle voice, using a question to divert Zhou He's attention.

"There was no particular order; everyone was already there when I opened my eyes, just in different positions and directions."

Ayanami was even more of a heavyweight. While Haguro was wearing a long, knee-length sailor uniform, Ayanami was wearing a short, blue skirt that would be extremely dangerous if the wind blew through it. However, she didn't seem to care at all. She spoke without changing her expression and pointed in three directions: "It's about ten steps from these three directions."

"..."

Zhou He was stunned for a moment, not expecting that Ayanami would actually give the answer. However, he quickly recovered and smiled: "Thank you, Ayanami, for answering my question. I'll repeat it again, welcome to the port area."

As he said this, he turned to the side, revealing the crowd gathered in the living room: "We might be a little anxious. We are discussing the details of the attack and hope that you can join us."

"Yorktown sister!?"

A voice tinged with joy, anticipation, and a hint of tears drowned out Zhou He's words. Harman, who had been unable to contain herself since Zhou He called her name, ran out of the living room and plunged into the arms of Yorktown, who looked bewildered and somewhat lost. Although he didn't know why, Yorktown hugged Harman after a brief moment of confusion, his eyes fixed on her, and responded gently, "It's me."

"The commander is truly remarkable."

Cleveland followed him out, patted Zhou He on the back, smiled, and gave Yorktown a thumbs up: "You never thought we'd meet again like this, Yorktown, it's me, Cleveland."

She pointed to the person in Yorktown's arms: "She is Harman."

“Cleveland, Harman…yes, I really hadn’t thought about it.”

The ship girls are not simply reincarnations of the original ships, but they have inherited the memories of the warships. It is hard to say that they are not the inheritors of those warships. Upon hearing the familiar name, Yorktown's previously floating mind suddenly stabilized, and her voice gained an imperceptible firmness.

"They're all acquaintances."

Yuhei made some space for the Yorktown group to reunite. He glanced at the expressionless Ayanami, then looked into the living room. He didn't recognize anyone, but he could tell that a few of them were not to be trifled with.

He was quite ambitious; with just a glance, he knew who his own people were, and walked over to Hood to greet and hand over the supplies to Jarvis, Javelin, and the others.

"Let me introduce you. That's Zuikaku, Shoukaku, and Jintsu. You definitely recognize this one, Kaga."

Zhou He looked around and knew that his meeting would probably have to be postponed for a while, so he went to Yuhei and the other two and pointed at them. He already knew Yuhei when he mentioned the two cranes, but when it came to Kaga, she was even more important. Throughout the entire Sakura Empire Navy system, there was no ship that did not know the famous 'First Carrier Division'.

"Commander is amazing... But is this the kind of impression Kaga gives off?"

Yuhei went through it in her mind and admired Zhou He for keeping so many people from fighting together, especially Kaga, who didn't even flinch when she heard the name Yorktown, and was still talking to Tosa next to her, a man whose name she didn't recognize.

“The Kaga you know is more aloof, while ours is more down-to-earth.”

Zhou He smiled. In the game, Kaga BB also has a somewhat arrogant and weak-willed personality. However, she has Tosa, and Tosa doesn't really approve of her as a new, adopted older sister. This leads to Kaga BB being unable to get what she wants, so she keeps lowering her stance and even goes into the woods to catch foxes, which is quite interesting.

"How can there be a difference?"

Yuhei muttered to herself, "Kaga ≠ Kaga?" She didn't quite understand, but she wouldn't try to understand. After all, what Kaga was like had nothing to do with her. As long as he didn't cause her trouble, that was enough.

"hehe."

Zhou He smiled without saying a word, beckoned Yuudachi over, and asked his dear secretary ship, Miss Yuudachi, to look after Haguro and Ayanami. He then turned and went to the empty warehouse. With a slight movement of his eyes, he locked onto the system's mission interface and accepted the daily mission that had increased to 28 Home Coins. He then switched to the Home Shop, found the 'Winter Bedding Set' that he had already marked, bought 24 sets in bulk, and neatly arranged them on the table. He then spent 1 Home Coin to exchange for a 'Toothbrush, Toothpaste, Towel, and Bucket' set. He didn't keep the last four Home Coins either. After checking the 'size markings' of the four people in Yorktown in the dock, he bought a set of everyday casual clothes for the four of them.

"Next, we'll start from scratch again."

After replenishing the warehouse, Zhou He breathed a sigh of relief. What made him most grateful was that his system did not sell 'skins'. Clothes were sold in sets, and one home coin could buy eight sets of clothes for all four seasons, two sets per season, with a variety of other clothing options available.

Although no one reported it, Zhou He noticed that Yuudachi's clothes became tattered every time she returned from a sortie. Based on the number of clothes in his own wardrobe, he calculated that after a few more sorties, Yuudachi would have to come to him for clothes. The other front-line ships were in a similar situation. Battleships like Bismarck were only so-so, but for carriers like Zuikaku, clothes were the most valuable thing. Unless they were attacked by enemy planes, their clothes could be reused.

"Thank goodness the system is so affordable, otherwise I would have made a complete mess of the port area."

Zhou He is now truly experiencing what it means to "not know the cost of firewood and rice when you're not in charge of the household." Before he transmigrated, he only cared about feeding himself, but now he has dozens of people waiting for him to arrange things, and their clothing, food, housing, and transportation are all major expenses.

With the warehouse fully occupied, Zhou He returned to the living room feeling both relaxed and refreshed. Of the four new additions, Jin Qu quietly integrated into the group, Yu Hei and Ayanami were still being nagged by Yuudachi, Yorktown had already entered the house and seemed to be fine, while Hammanman was clinging to Yorktown and acting cute, while Cleveland watched from the side with a grin. They had become the most lively group among the various factions in the port area.

"Commander, let's continue."

Seeing that the newcomer was in a stable mood, Hu De looked at Zhou He and spoke.

"Well, I'll take up a little of your time to talk about the difficulties the port area is currently facing."

Zhou He picked up the conversation, clapping his hands as he stood in the center of the living room, where all eyes were focused—but in reality, he didn't have much to say, so he simply recounted the story of the Siren siege of the island in a different phrasing.

However, considering the feelings of his ship girls, Zhou He came up with a solution: he did not set a goal for his ship girls yesterday, so they prepared to fight the Sirens to the end according to their usual ideas, which led to them being forced to retreat by the Sirens.

So today, he set a quantitative standard for the three teams to defeat the Sirens: their own squad members x 5.

Sinking these Sirens would complete the mission. You could either return to base to rest or continue fighting; that would be a matter of internal team decision-making.

With the addition of Ayanami and Haguro, Javelin and Jarvis, who had been transferred from the Sakura Empire, were reassigned to Hood's side. Shoukaku was still responsible for the high-altitude operations of the Hood + Bismarck squadron, but the formation was transferred back to Zuikaku's squadron. Hutten and Jean Bart continued to assist the Eagle Union crew in their sorties.

"If the enemy wants to wage a protracted war and a war of attrition against us, then so be it. Let the fleet they send become the stepping stones for the rise of our port!"

After adjusting the team members, Zhou He scanned everyone present with a serious expression: "The operation will begin in ten minutes."

"Yes (I understand)!"

They usually joke around, but during serious meetings, everyone present showed Zhou He a high degree of respect.

"Okay, Cleveland, could you please bring Long Island out and tell her, 'After this operation ends, I will acquire and upgrade the electronic equipment in the port area.'"

After the meeting, Zhou He rubbed his temples and made a small promise.

This wasn't intentional; rather, the port would eventually gravitate towards the era he lived in. With the new dormitories now in place and the port having more members, he would need to put some effort into entertainment. He couldn't let his ship girls fight every day; they needed to relax and have some fun occasionally.

"Really?"

Someone confirmed it.

"of course it's true."

Zhou He believed he hadn't broken his word so far and wanted to see who was questioning his character. So he turned around and saw Long Island crouching at the corner of the stairs, peeking out. He smirked and said, "You've come at the right time. No need to trouble Cleveland and the others to make the trip."

"Hey hey hey."

With a smile on his face, Changdao jumped down three steps at a time, stood neatly in front of Zhou He, and raised his hand to give a Donghuang-style military salute: "Your subordinate guarantees to complete the mission!"

"You."

This mischievous girl was beyond Zhou He's control. In the end, he smiled and encouraged her: "Go for it, finish the battle soon and teach the sirens a lesson."

"Understood~"

Long Island blinked, tilted her head, bowed, and sped past Zhou He to Yorktown, greeting him energetically—you'd never guess this was a true homebody who never wanted to leave the house unless she procrastinated.

When faced with Long Island, Zhou He, who originally called himself a shut-in, felt like he was a social butterfly.

"Commander, aren't I allowed to launch an attack even today?"

Once Zhou He was alone, Hermione approached and asked him a question. She stared at Zhou He, initially quite serious, but after a few seconds, she seemed to think of something and shifted her gaze to the side.

"...If you want to go on an attack, you can go with Hood and the others."

Zhou He's eyes twitched. After speaking with one hand on his forehead, he remained silent for a few seconds, apologizing for his 'questioning' of Hermione's maid's professionalism last night, believing that she had tried to touch him inappropriately.

However, he did end up being touched inappropriately, and if it happened again, he would still refuse Hermione's bath service.

It wasn't that he disliked Hermione or didn't want to do anything; rather, he knew himself too well. He seemed quite diligent now, but that was just an act, a facade. He was confident that once that facade crumbled, he would become a close, shut-in companion on Long Island within three days.

He didn't want to repeat the same mistakes in his new life.

Chapter 108 Surprise and Fright

With Hermione added to the combat team, the number of people on this mission increased to twenty-five.

Looking around, Zhou He already felt that there was a dense crowd, and after they unfolded their ship equipment, the scene became even more endless.

"Yorktown, this is your first time deploying as ship girls, please be careful!"

Before setting off, Zhou He ran along the beach from left to right, instructing Yorktown to stand in the same position as Zuikaku and the others, and also instructing Ayanami, Haguro, and Jinqu to follow orders and not to rush forward blindly—while the new members were still listening to Zhou He's nagging, the experienced veterans had already begun to slip away.

Soon after, the entire port area fell silent, leaving only the footprints on the beach to be washed away by the sea.

Zhou He, unable to see the battle situation near his own port, had zero Home Coins and no ship girls to accompany him, instantly becoming a lonely old man, gazing at the sky and the sea.

"Ah, I almost forgot."

Scratching his head, Zhou He turned around and quickly returned to the command building. He took a set of bedding from the warehouse and moved it from the command building to the new dormitory. He found a room near the door where he could even talk to people passing by through the window. He made the bed, cleaned, and even searched the matching wardrobe, which was empty of clothes.

"This is my second room."

He stood at the window and looked around the room, which was more than 30 square meters. It contained a bed, a wardrobe, a desk, and nearly half of the space was empty. The room was 1.5 to 2 times larger than the room on the third floor, but it gave him a cold feeling and did not feel as safe as the small room on the third floor.

"Ha, Hermione should have stayed after all."

After the busy period, Zhou He felt bored again. As if to experience something new, he climbed out of the window of his new dormitory room, stepped on the puddled grass, and went straight back to the command building. During this time, he casually opened the attack map interface and observed the movements of the Sirens in the East, South, West, North and South Zones 2 and 3.

He watched it every day, but before, there was only the same old Siren fleet moving around inside, nothing new at all.

However, this time things have changed, and it's a big change.

The sirens in the two zones (the second ring of blocks that expand outwards) in the four directions of east, west, south, and north, especially in the west and east, are converging in one direction: south. The mass-produced sirens in the second southern zone are also moving south into the third southern zone.

"What's going on?"

Zhou He stopped and leaned against the back door of the command post, fixing his gaze on the South Third District—a human port area recognized by the system, but due to the fact that the Executor Sirens' patrol had not fully explored it, only half of the area, including most of the island, could be seen.

At this very moment, all the executors and mass-produced sirens within the South Third District are moving further south towards the location of the Dark Curtain, as if something has attracted them.

"Strange, could it be that another human fleet has attacked from over there?"

Zhou He frowned slightly. He had seen this scene many times before. After entering the Mirror Sea of ​​the Sirens, the Sirens would approach their own people in an arc like zombies having a meal. However, when he started fighting, the Sirens would not be attracted if they were dozens or hundreds of nautical miles away.

The Sirens in the south not only mobilized all the nearby fleets, but also attracted the Sirens in the north, which was more than 100 miles away. It was clear that the Sirens' high command had taken notice. What kind of fleet must this be?

I'm afraid I'm just taking the blame for him.

"Tsk, if we had known our island wouldn't be targeted by the Sirens, we would have used suicide plane reconnaissance to explore these dark areas."

Unable to see the whole picture, Zhou He felt like a cat whose curiosity had been piqued, his heart itching but there was nothing he could do. He stomped his foot outside the door, went inside, switched the interface to the dock, and locked the image of Shoukaku.

However, before the video call started, Zhou He saw Kursk, who was peering into the pet room from the doorway.