Elder brother's garrison

To Xiaobai's right, New Jersey, dressed in a white and blue sailor uniform, lay in bed, holding tightly to Xiaobai's sleeve, also fast asleep.

Xiaobai looked at the two ship girls beside her, remained silent for a while, and then reached out and touched the foreheads of the two sleeping ship girls a few times.

Last night, because Mutsu joined Yubari's house, the Yubari family, which had a lot of bedrooms not long ago, suddenly found themselves without a room to sleep in again. Although Mutsu said that she had received special training and could sleep soundly whether on the cold sea or in a warm bed, and that sleeping on the heated floor of the living room was no problem for her and would not affect her sleep quality, Shiro is a very responsible admiral, so how could she let a newcomer who had just joined the naval base sleep in the living room?

So Shiro vacated the room in New Jersey for Mutsu to use.

Anyway, the beds in the bedroom are all big, and as long as the three of them don't have the most exaggerated sleeping postures, it's not a problem for them to squeeze together for one night. Given the special relationship between New Jersey and her, Xiaobai won't feel too nervous about sleeping with her for one night.

"Good morning, New Jersey and Changchun." Xiaobai gently greeted the two sleeping ship girls, touching their foreheads.

"..."

"..."

Because Xiaobai's voice was so soft, New Jersey and Changchun, who were asleep, didn't hear what Xiaobai said at all, and Xiaobai's bedroom remained quiet.

However, this is just Xiaobai's plan; she doesn't have any intention of waking up the two ship girls yet.

Xiaobai gently pulled her sleeve out of New Jersey's hand, then tiptoed out of bed, changed her clothes, combed her hair, glanced at the sleeping faces of the two ship girls on the bed, smiled slightly, opened the door and walked out of the bedroom.

Xiaobai said yesterday that she would stay in Kyoto for another day, and of course she wasn't just saying that casually; she has her own plans.

While it was still early, Shiro left a note for the ship girls who hadn't gotten up yet, saying that she would be going out for a while and would be back around noon. Then she quietly left the Yubari residence.

Lin Yueyue had previously told Xiaobai that she would stay in the factory area in the suburbs for about a week.

Xiaobai headed towards the factory district on the outskirts of Kyoto.

When Xiaobai arrived at the factory where the Obsidian Mercenary Group was located, the ruins of the previously collapsed office building had been mostly cleared away. Tents for the ship girls were being set up one after another in the open space. The ship girls who had gotten up early in the factory were leisurely warming up in the open space, doing one-two-one-two-one exercises.

Upon seeing Xiaobai arrive alone, the ship girls of the Obsidian Mercenary Group were initially taken aback. Then, recalling the days when the Obsidian Mercenary Group had been ruled by the people Xiaobai brought, they couldn't help but shudder. Before Xiaobai could even enter the open space to greet a ship girl, the ship girls hurriedly ran into a tent and called out to their leader, Lin Yueyue.

Unlike the ship girls' panic, Lin Yueyue, who ran out of the tent, looked delighted.

"Ah! It's Lu Lin's mom!" Surrounded by the ship girls, Lin Yueyue ran out of the tent and happily rushed towards Xiaobai.

"Good morning, Miss Lin Yueyue. I hope I haven't disturbed you by coming so early." Xiaobai smiled apologetically at Team Leader Lin Yueyue.

"Not at all! Not at all!" Lin Yueyue walked up to Xiaobai, grabbed Xiaobai's hands, and shook them vigorously up and down as if to vent her excitement. "Not at all! I welcome you here!"

"That's good... Um, has the matter of that building been resolved?" Xiaobai asked Lin Yueyue.

"Ah... yeah, it's resolved." When the collapsed office building was mentioned, a hint of hidden pain flashed across Lin Yueyue's face, but then she smiled indifferently. "I just paid some compensation to the previous intermediary, and everything is fine now."

"...You must have spent quite a bit of time with them, right?"

“Yeah…” Lin Yueyue sighed with emotion, muttering to herself in frustration, “It’s just a run-down factory that doesn’t even operate, yet the compensation for the apartment is almost as high as in the city center. Honestly… they’ll never give up anything as soon as they hear there’s profit to be made. A bunch of shameless, despicable capitalists…”

However, Lin Yueyue quickly noticed Xiaobai's apologetic expression, so she quickly closed her mouth and gave Xiaobai an awkward smile.

"No, but it's alright, it wasn't very expensive. It's just that I didn't have much money on me this time... Anyway, it's all in the past, let's not talk about it anymore." Lin Yueyue quickly shook her head, pulling Xiaobai towards her tent. "Come on! We're going to have breakfast soon. Today we're having curry. Mom, have you eaten yet? Do you want to join us?"

"Hmm... okay."

"Oh ho~" Lin Yueyue smiled and shook her head, then pulled Xiaobai into her tent.

Lin Yueyue's tent was spacious and tidy, with a single bed, a desk, some half-finished documents on the desk, and a pen with its cap open resting on a stack of papers.

"Um... since it's a tent, there's no sofa for you to sit on... would a stool be okay?" Lin Yueyue carefully pulled a stool out from under the bed and asked Xiaobai.

"No problem." Xiaobai smiled and took the stool. "Ms. Lin Yueyue, you seem to have gotten up very early? Have you been working all day?"

"It's alright... After all, with more ship girls, there are more things to deal with..." Lin Yueyue smiled shyly, sitting obediently opposite Xiaobai, her hands flat on her legs, looking just like an obedient primary school student in class.

"You've really worked hard," Xiaobai exclaimed. "Although Miss Yueyue often says she's unlucky to have this job, she's actually very serious and dedicated to her work..."

"Thank you..." Lin Yueyue scratched her head, her face flushing slightly. "Um...Mom, are you here today just as a guest?"

"Ah, although I did have some thoughts about coming to see... but that's not it." Xiaobai shook her head. "I came here to discuss a few things with Miss Yueyue."

"A few things?" Lin Yueyue asked curiously. "What things?"

"The first thing... well, it's about that bad guy who tricked Miss Lin Yueyue's family before," Xiaobai said to Lin Yueyue. "Yesterday, my ship girl told me that the bad guy has received his due punishment and may have to spend his next life in prison for reformatory education."

"Great!" Lin Yueyue's eyes lit up when she heard this, and she smiled broadly. "Well done!"

"However... my ship girl didn't tell me where your money is, Miss Lin Yueyue... you might have to wait a while longer," Xiaobai said apologetically.

"Haha, it's okay, it's okay! I'm satisfied as long as I can see that bad guy suffer!" Lin Yueyue's face was full of the exhilarating feeling of revenge. "So, Mom, what's the second thing you mentioned?"

"The second thing..." Xiao Bai smiled as he looked at Lin Yueyue, his gaze fixed intently on her face, and paused slightly before speaking, "Miss Yueyue."

"I'm here."

"Have you... taken any drugs that can enhance mental power?"

"Huh?" Lin Yueyue looked surprised.

"So... she really did take it?" Xiaobai murmured, looking at Lin Yueyue's expression.

Although Xiaobai's ship girls might not know, Xiaobai herself is quite clear about it. When she and Mutsu infiltrated the Obsidian Mercenary Group, they had a smooth start, but they were discovered the moment they entered the office building, which had no security mechanisms.

Moreover, at the very moment that he and Mutsu were discovered, Shiro felt a fluctuation in the Admiral's Network.

If Xiaobai is not mistaken.

Lin Yueyue should be a mercenary group leader with access to the Admiral Network... and her level of proficiency in using the Admiral Network is quite high, although far less than mine, but at least much better than most Admirals who only know how to use the Admiral Network to connect ship girls.

"Huh? Mom... how did you know..." Lin Yueyue stared at Xiaobai in astonishment, her mouth twitching. "Mom... so you know about mental networks too?"

"The mental network is alright... Ah, you're right, you can call it whatever you want." Xiaobai smiled and pointed to herself, "But here, it's actually called the Admiral Network. I have one too."

"Huh? Mom, you have one too?!" Lin Yueyue's mouth dropped open.

"Yes, and in theory, to activate the Admiral Network, one must take a certain kind of potion. And that kind of potion should only be given to top-performing admirals who have graduated from the Naval Academy. Miss Lin Yueyue, are you from an ordinary family? Where did you obtain the potion?" Xiaobai asked Lin Yueyue curiously.

"..." However, when faced with Xiaobai's question, Lin Yueyue stared wide-eyed, looking as if she hadn't heard Xiaobai's question at all.

Lin Yueyue's feelings at this moment were rather... complicated.

Or rather, I was excited.

Only three sentences echoed in Lin Yueyue's mind.

—They have their own network of admirals.

—Lu Lin's mother also has a network of online admirals.

—Isn't that just me and Lu Lin's mom getting all lovey-dovey?!

Surprise.

It often strikes unexpectedly.

Chapter 1735 Feel Motherly Love

"Miss Yueyue? Are you listening to me?" Xiaobai looked at Lin Yueyue, who wasn't responding but instead had a lovesick expression on her face, and felt a little strange. She raised her hand and waved it lightly in front of Lin Yueyue's eyes. "Miss Yueyue?"

"Ah...ah?" Lin Yueyue finally came to her senses. "Ah! I'm here!"

"Is it inconvenient for you to answer the question just now, Miss Yueyue?" Xiaobai looked at Lin Yueyue apologetically. "Well... I only asked the question out of my personal curiosity. If it is really inconvenient for you to answer, Miss Yueyue, you don't have to."

"No! No!" Lin Yueyue quickly raised her voice, rubbed her face and shook her head, then said seriously to Xiaobai, "There's nothing inconvenient about it! Um... it's just that this is the first time I've heard about mental power from someone outside my home, so I was a little surprised... Ah... that's true, Lu Lin's mother is a regular admiral, so of course she has this ability... So, this thing is called the Admiral Network... what a fitting name."

Lin Yueyue murmured softly and smiled shyly at Xiaobai.

“Yes, the nerve serum used to activate the Admiral Network is something that only a small number of outstanding admirals are granted. Even within the admiral community, the nerve serum is extremely rare—so rare that admirals who don't qualify aren't even told about its existence.” Xiaobai nodded to Lin Yueyue. “So when I sensed the Admiral Network on you, Miss Yueyue, I was a little curious…where did you obtain this ability?”

"Ah... this..." After listening to Xiaobai's explanation, Lin Yueyue subconsciously scratched her head, revealing an embarrassed expression. "My Admiral Network... well, I guess it was obtained at home... right?"

"At home?" Xiaobai was taken aback.

“Hmm…” Lin Yueyue nodded, rubbing her hands awkwardly, and then explained to Xiaobai, “It’s roughly like this, when I was very, very young—at that time, my father was still the leader of the Obsidian Mercenary Group. One year, when my father was leading the mercenary group’s ship girls on a business trip, he unexpectedly met a retired admiral on a certain beach.”

As Lu Lin's mother knows, you admirals are the most orthodox profession in the world for leading ship girls. The education you receive, the trials and tribulations you undergo are all for the purpose of better training and leading ship girls. Therefore, in terms of technical skills, you can say that you completely outclass us mercenary group leaders who are self-taught.

After meeting that retired admiral, my father, as if he had found a powerful patron, eagerly visited the admiral's home, hoping to learn some basic training techniques or naval tactics from him.

"Wow... Miss Yueyue's father is such a studious person..." Xiaobai looked at Lin Yueyue in surprise, "So what happened next?"

"Later... that retired admiral was probably moved by my father's hard work and humility, so he took him on as his last apprentice and taught him for a while. During that time, he taught him a lot of skills in raising ship girls and tactical configurations—those skills, well, my father carefully recorded them, and they became the foundation of our Obsidian Mercenary Group—but that's not the most important thing." Lin Yueyue explained, pausing for a moment as if she were about to drop a bombshell, taking a deep breath, and then lowering her voice to say seriously to Xiaobai, "The most important thing is that when my father finally completed his studies and was preparing to say goodbye to his admiral teacher and return to the mercenary group to make his mark, that admiral, before leaving, mysteriously called my father to an empty room and then secretly gave him a bottle of mysterious potion."

"...Nerve drugs?"

"Yes, it was the nerve potion—but back then, my dad didn't know its name or effects..." Lin Yueyue rubbed her forehead in distress. "According to my dad, that bottle of potion was originally something his admiral mentor obtained after becoming an admiral. He heard that after taking the nerve potion, one would gain the magical power to control ship girls, but while gaining immense power, one could easily be blinded by that power and fall into evil. Because of this, that admiral mentor hesitated to take the potion for decades. Even after he retired, the nerve potion remained with him. Knowing that he wouldn't need the nerve potion after retirement, he gave it to my dad as a farewell gift, telling him to dispose of it as he saw fit."

"The farewell gift was alright..." Xiaobai couldn't help but smile wryly as she listened to Lin Yueyue's explanation. "And then what happened?"

“My dad was still burdened with debts from being swindled before, and he desperately needed the power to strengthen the mercenary group and break through to a higher level. So, without much thought, he accepted the bottle of nerve potion, planning to take it after he got home, showered, changed, and mentally prepared himself.” Lin Yueyue said, a hint of embarrassment appearing on her face. “However…”

"You drank it?" Xiaobai asked Lin Yueyue.

“Hmm…” Lin Yueyue nodded, “Just as my dad came home and was about to take a bath and change his clothes, I, who was still a little kid, sneaked into my dad’s study and found the nerve potion he brought back—the nerve potion had no packaging and looked like a glucose oral solution! I thought it was a drink that my dad had secretly brought back to keep for himself, so I… I secretly drank it.”

"Uh..." Xiaobai stared blankly at Lin Yueyue, "You just drank it?"

"Hmm...it tastes pretty good." Lin Yueyue scratched her head and smiled sheepishly. "Later, after drinking that potion, I felt hot all over and fell into a deep sleep in the study. I slept for a whole day and night. When I woke up, I suddenly had mastered mental power—ah, I should call it the Admiral's Network, right?"

"...What was your father's reaction?"

"What else can I do... I've already drunk it, I can't just throw it up for him." Lin Yueyue muttered softly, touching her stomach.

Xiao Bai couldn't help but smile when she saw Lin Yueyue touching her belly with a distressed look on her face.

Lin Yueyue's online platform for admirals is quite unique.

But that’s fine.

Perhaps it was precisely because Lin Yueyue was a pure-hearted child at that time, whose values ​​were still forming, that she was able to maintain a good upbringing after the Admiral Network was activated. Even with her special powers, she was not corrupted by the Admiral Network and degenerated into a bad person.

Judging from Lin Yueyue's words, it seems that her father was not prepared to take the nerve agent. He only decided to take the nerve agent because he was forced by circumstances and craved powerful strength to change the mercenary group's predicament.

Taking nerve drugs with this mindset can easily lead to problems. In a sense, Lin Yueyue's act of secretly drinking the nerve drugs might have saved her father's life.

"Is it really that funny..." Lin Yueyue looked at Xiaobai smiling at her and subconsciously shrank her neck.

"Hmm? It's alright..." Xiaobai waved her hand. "Speaking of which, Miss Yueyue, have you always had a good memory since you were little?"

"Huh? You know that?" Lin Yueyue looked at Xiaobai in surprise. "Yeah, when I was in school, my teachers often praised me for my good memory! For example, memorizing Tang poems, English words, and texts, I could memorize them in half an hour and I was always the fastest one in the class!"

"No wonder." Xiaobai nodded with a smile.

Xiao Bai had previously felt that Lin Yueyue's admiral network was stronger than that of ordinary admirals. Considering the reason for his own strong admiral network, it was clear that Lin Yueyue also had a good memory.

As Xiaobai was thinking, she suddenly noticed that Lin Yueyue, who had just finished talking to her, was looking at her with some concern.

"Miss Yueyue? What's wrong?"

"Um... I've told Mom everything I needed to say..." Lin Yueyue nervously pressed her thigh, swallowed hard, and looked at Xiaobai anxiously, "Um... are you going to take back my Admiral Network?"

"Eh?"

"Because Mom, didn't you just say that only qualified people can activate the Admiral Network..." Lin Yueyue said nervously, "Well... let alone whether I'm qualified or not, I'm not even an Admiral..."

"Ah..." Xiaobai nodded knowingly, and smiled at Lin Yueyue, "Don't worry, Miss Yueyue. Once the Admiral Network is activated, it can't be taken back."

"Then, will someone come and arrest me?"

"Hmm... how should I put it?" Xiaobai thought for a moment and then spoke to Lin Yueyue, "Strictly speaking, due to various safeguards, the existence of nerve agents cannot be disclosed to other admirals, especially people in human society..."

Lin Yueyue was startled and somewhat flustered.

"However..." Xiaobai smiled slightly as she looked at the flustered Lin Yueyue, "I just said that I only asked the question out of personal curiosity. As long as I don't report you, then everything will be fine, right?"

"..." Lin Yueyue looked at Xiaobai in surprise.

"After all, in terms of the results, Miss Yueyue, you've perfectly mastered the Admiral Network, haven't you?" Xiaobai smiled gently at Lin Yueyue. "Moreover, most importantly, Miss Yueyue, you trusted me before telling me these things, right? How could I possibly betray your trust? Right?"

Little White smiled brightly.

For a while.

In Lin Yueyue's daze.

She felt as if a pure white holy light had risen behind Xiaobai, as warm as the sun shining on the earth. A warm spring breeze swept up from around Xiaobai and blew towards her, soft and peaceful, soothing all the tension and worry in her heart.

"mom, Mom, Mom……"

Lin Yueyue clasped her hands together, looking at Xiaobai with emotion.

Chapter 1736 Repair Pool

"Well... let's put this matter aside for now." Xiaobai smiled at Lin Yueyue. "What I want to talk to Miss Yueyue about next is probably the main reason I came here today."

"Huh? There's a third thing?" Lin Yueyue looked at Xiaobai in surprise.

"Yes. It's about the goddess of the hearth." Xiaobai nodded. "Miss Yueyue, you in the unofficial Kantai Collection community should have heard of the legend about the goddess of the hearth, right?"