Elder brother's garrison

"Are there people in human society who recruited these wandering ship girls to form an abyssal amphibious strike organization similar to a mercenary group?"

Upon hearing this, Xiaobai suddenly had a realization and subconsciously asked a question.

"Yes, that's right, that's it." Pompeii nodded and smiled at Xiaobai, "Admiral Xiaobai, you understand really quickly."

"So, mercenaries are like admirals in human society?"

"It's completely incomparable to your regular admirals in every aspect."

"Oh, I see... So now, a mercenary group has appeared in this village, which means these wandering ship girls have discovered that something is wrong in this sea area and want to solve the problem here, right?" Xiaobai asked Pompeii.

"Ah."

"That's a good thing!" Xiaobai said happily, clasping her hands together.

Xiaobai wasn't quite clear about the composition of so-called civilian mercenary organizations.

However, after listening to Pompeii's explanation, Xiaobai roughly understood the conclusion that "mercenaries are admirals in another sense."

Now that mercenaries have appeared here, and so many ship girls have suddenly come out of the village to give their testimonies, it should be a good thing for this stubborn little village to convince most people of the changes in the sea.

If we can get the villagers' cooperation, the task of investigating and clearing this sea area should be much simpler and easier.

Stared at by Xiaobai's innocent expression, Pompeii couldn't help but look towards the crowd in the distance, but shook his head helplessly.

“Admiral Pompey, let me tell you something first: don’t think that the appearance of mercenaries in the village is a good thing,” Pompey said.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Xiaobai asked, puzzled.

“Look,” Pompeii pointed in the direction of the crowd.

While Xiaobai and Pompeii were chatting, the young man who had been surrounded by villagers and ship girls finished his speech, raised his wrist, and gave a dashing smile to the people around him.

"Please rest assured, everyone. Although there have been strange changes at sea, we will stake our reputations on protecting the safety of everyone in this village! Please trust us!" The young man raised his wrist and spoke to the people around him as if reciting a slogan.

As the young man shouted his slogan, a dozen or so ship girls with relatively stronger auras stepped forward and released their ship equipment in front of the entire village.

A series of white lights flashed, and set after set of white steel ship equipment appeared behind the ship girls, radiating a magnificent glow in the sunlight.

"Good! Good! Good!" Opposite the young man, several strong men who had been captivated by the beautiful ship girls behind him from the start finally raised their hands as if injected with adrenaline, mimicking the young man's actions, when they saw the ship girls release their ship equipment.

The onlookers were clearly influenced by the young man's speech and the encouragement of several villagers, and they began to clap their hands with skepticism, their doubts largely dissipating.

“However…” At this moment, the young man’s expression changed. His previous compassionate demeanor instantly turned calm. He glanced around and finally focused on the surrounding villagers, then spoke, “We mercenaries still need to eat. We know that life is hard for fishermen by the sea, but we still need to pay some wages to maintain the ship girls’ equipment…”

"How much do you want?"

"One million eight hundred thousand."

"You're robbing me!!!" The surrounding villagers' expressions changed drastically.

"Please calm down and let me explain. The equipment that ship girls need is, after all..."

The young man remained calm and composed as the villagers' expressions changed instantly, some even seeming to turn away and flee. He began to explain to the villagers in a deep voice why he was charging fees, listing out the items for each charge.

Xiaobai is a proper and legitimate admiral, and these fee items fall under the category of paperwork that Xiaobai handles, which she is quite good at.

As soon as the young man opened his mouth, Xiaobai sensed something was wrong.

This mercenary admiral had a long list of exorbitant fees, numbering no less than forty or fifty. While some fees, such as ship girl labor fees and ship girl accommodation fees, seemed normal, the prices suddenly spiked for things like equipment repair, ammunition replenishment, and fuel replenishment—things that ordinary civilians wouldn't normally have access to.

This is taking advantage of the villagers' complete ignorance of ship girls.

joke.

The appearance fee for the newbie naval base is seven figures this time. That's because the newbie naval base is the world's number one naval base. Every ship girl it has is fully equipped with top-level gear and has top-tier training. The reputation of the newbie naval base in the industry is far more than that.

What's more, this time, Xiaobai was accompanied by the three Iowa-class sisters, the oldest and strongest deep-sea dean, and the top German-class blueprint ship leader.

To be honest, if Xiaobai hadn't suddenly decided to come and take a look, the appearance fees for just these few ship girls would definitely have been at least eight figures.

even so.

The newbie naval base only costs seven figures. What makes these mediocre people think they can charge the same amount as the newbie naval base?

Xiao Bai frowned as he looked at the young man talking to the villagers in the distance.

"Got it?" Pompeii looked at Xiaobai's furrowed brows, a hint of appreciation flashing in his eyes.

"Too...expensive," Xiaobai said.

“They’re mercenaries, not like us. They’re not officially employed, and everything they do is just to make money,” Pompeii said to Xiaobai. “So, in front of mercenaries like these, Admiral Xiaobai, what do you think they think of us?”

"...Competitor Ling (5) Lin IX (3) Liu IX partner?"

“That’s right,” Pompeii sighed. “When Zara and I were traveling in other cities, we suffered quite a few losses at the hands of these mercenaries.”

What does "suffering a loss" mean?

"Zara and I are pretty good ship girls, right? These mercenaries are like dogs eyeing meat buns as soon as they see us. They won't let go and insist that we join them. If we don't join, they will mobilize the masses to boycott us, saying that we are liars and harm the ocean. They want the locals to give them the task of protecting the village and prevent us from going to sea."

"Wow, this is vicious competition..."

“The adult world is very complicated, Admiral Bai.” Pompeii sighed. “That’s why Zara and I don’t like to show ourselves as ship girls now.”

"But... no matter how you look at it, they're clearly scammers. Why would people believe them instead of you?"

“What else could it be? Because there are many of them,” Pompeii said. “And although they are indeed very expensive, they are at least doing what an admiral should do.”

"..." Xiaobai, "So what should we do now?"

"Anyway... let's go back first?" Pompeii asked Little White. "Those people are filthy, don't look at them, you'll get pregnant."

"Huh? But they're clearly lying right now..."

"Don't worry, although mercenaries' honey traps are quite effective, who in this world would hand over so much money for no reason? Besides, there are no deep-sea ships in this ocean right now, so even if we don't show up, no one will make a deal with them." Pompeii patted Xiaobai on the shoulder.

"Oh, that makes sense..."

Chapter 1307 The Great Pompeii: She Had Her Own Ideas

No matter how vivid or enticing the mercenary leader's speech was, no matter how beautiful the ship girls behind him were, or how cool they looked when they released their ship equipment.

But in the end, the sea is still calm and peaceful in the eyes of the villagers; it is the sea they are familiar with.

In this situation, if a group of ship girls say that the sea is dangerous and they need to clear it out, it's not a big deal for the villagers to give them a few days to clear the sea, considering that the ship girls are rarely seen.

However, if these ship girls say they will charge a huge fee for clearing the sea area, then that would be a major issue involving the vital interests of the villagers.

At least as things stand now, no villager would be foolish enough to agree to the mercenary leader's demands.

—At least, we will only agree after deep-sea amphibious ships appear on the sea.

The young man explaining the fee-charging project to the villagers seemed to be well aware of the situation. Even though the villagers shook their heads and waved their hands, and the trust that had just been formed instantly collapsed, the young man didn't care at all. Instead, he calmly and confidently continued to introduce the project to the villagers.

He didn't actually come here to make a deal.

The main thing was to leave an impression on the villagers. After a while, even if they didn't show up again, the villagers would naturally be crying and begging for their help.

The young man spoke confidently, his gaze gradually drifting to an old man and a young man in the corner of the crowd.

Strangely enough, the man boasted that his oratory skills were quite moving, but while he was speaking, and everyone in the audience was more or less engaged, the grandfather and grandson stood quietly in the corner watching him without making a move.

Especially the old man who looked like he had white hair and a child's hair hanging down.

When he first started looking at me, his gaze was one of calm scrutiny. But when I just announced the price, the old man's gaze even turned icy for a moment. Although he didn't say anything, there was a clear chill in his eyes.

This feeling.

It feels like all your secrets and hidden agendas have been exposed, which is very uncomfortable.

The young man looked at the old man and the young man, then moved slightly and walked towards them.

"Sir, it's like this, actually regarding our company's fees..." The young man gave the old man a warm smile, "Although you might think it's a bit much, please believe me, this is already what we..."

"Humph."

The old man didn't give the young man any space to talk to him. As the young man challenged him to a duel, the old man snorted, grabbed the little girl beside him, and limped away towards the other end of the village.

The young man stood there, stunned.

Having been a mercenary group for so long, relying on his oratory skills and the large group of ship girls behind him, even if his price was very high, the villagers would at least listen to him because of the beautifully dressed ship girls.

This was the first time he had ever encountered someone who showed him such disrespect.

and.

The young man frowned.

The look in the old man's eyes before he left was quite thought-provoking.

The old man's departing gaze carried a subtle mockery, as if he were watching a group of clowns perform.

—That kind of gaze makes young men uncomfortable.

The young man frowned, his gaze fixed on the old man's departing figure. After several seconds, he let out a soft sigh and closed his eyes.

"Forget it, no matter what, they'll do it sooner or later..."

The young man muttered something under his breath. He turned around, his gaze sweeping over the crowd around him, but then suddenly stopped as he looked towards the other end of the street.

"Hmm...?" The young man's gaze lingered on the other end of the street.

Under the young man's gaze, in a street corner far from the crowd, a little girl with white hair and another girl with orange hair turned around side by side and walked away into the distance.

The two girls exuded a noble air that was completely out of place with their surroundings.

In that instant when he turned around, although it was incomplete and from a distance, the young man was still able to clearly see the faces of the two girls.

—Those were all exceptionally beautiful women.

The young man's gaze, momentarily filled with amazement, suddenly twitched, and he opened his mouth.

It wasn't because I saw a beautiful woman in the countryside.

It was a different kind of surprise.

That's right.

Those are definitely two ship girls!

The young man raised an eyebrow.

It's not a common occurrence for ship girls to appear in rural areas without any apparent reason. At least at this juncture, the fact that two ship girls have appeared in a village makes their intentions quite clear.

They also have their eyes on this sea area!

This is bad, it's a competitor!

Thinking of this, the young man straightened his chest, raised his hand, and laughed loudly at the surrounding villagers.

"In short, now that the initial introduction is over, whatever your opinions, we will remain in this village. If you need anything, please feel free to contact us! We have other important matters to attend to, so we won't disturb you any longer. Goodbye!" The young man smiled, raised his wrist, and after saying this, he quickly turned around and ran off towards the other end of the street under the villagers' gazes.

On Xiaobai's side.

After briefly learning about the mercenaries' origins and purpose from Pompeii, Xiaobai and Pompeii, adhering to the principle that these merchants were all corrupt and it was better to avoid trouble, were preparing to leave quietly. However, just as they turned around, before they had even taken two steps, a series of hurried footsteps sounded behind them.

"Fellow Daoists, please wait!"

It was a clear and melodious voice.

But it was also the sound that made both Xiaobai and Pompeii frown at the same time.

It’s over.

Still discovered.

Still didn't run away.

Hearing the footsteps rushing towards them like athletes, Xiaobai and Pompeii turned around helplessly and looked behind them.

Sure enough, it was that man with impressive oratory skills from earlier.

The young man's physical abilities were quite good for an average person. He ran all the way to Xiaobai and Pompeii and quickly stopped.

"You two! You two!" The young man looked at Xiaobai and Pompeii's faces with surprise and admiration, raising his arms and spreading them out with exaggerated gestures. "Sure enough, I wasn't wrong just now. Such looks, such temperament, you two are indeed ship girls, aren't you!"

"..." Xiaobai remained silent.

"It's like this. This is my business card. May I ask if you two ship girls also scouted the situation in the sea area before setting up camp here?" The young man took out a business card from his bag and handed it to Pompeii, who was taller.

Pompeii simply turned his face away, ignoring the business card.

The young man held up the business card, his brow twitched slightly, and then he handed the card to Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai accepted the young man's business card.

The young man's stiff expression finally eased a little when he saw Xiaobai accept the business card.