Elder brother's garrison

"Rome." Veneto bowed his head and called out to Rome, who was lying on the ground, in a calm voice.

Rome, who was lying on the ground, trembled.

Oops.

The calmer the leader remained, the angrier she was inside! This was a death flag!

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes!!!" Rome stammered, too frightened to even lift his head. "Big, big, big sister, please listen to my explanation... I..."

"look up."

"Big Sister?? No, no... I really didn't mean it..."

“I’m calling you, look up.” Veneto’s voice was calm and indifferent, yet it was filled with an emotion that was impossible to resist.

"..." Rome felt a chill in his heart. Oh no, he probably wouldn't make it through the day.

Filled with sorrow and lament, Rome reluctantly got up from the ground, raised his head pitifully, and prepared to face Veneto's fierce punishment.

However, this time, Rome, who was about to look up, suddenly froze when they saw Veneto for the first time.

Because just as Rome looked up and saw Veneto's face.

she found.

My sister Veneto, who always had a stern face, was never satisfied with me, and was always Spartan, had actually...

I'm smiling to myself.

And her smile was gentle, radiant, and adorable.

Her cheeks were flushed pink, and the corners of her mouth curved into a cute smile. She had completely lost her former dignity and sternness, leaving only a strange and incomprehensible emotion that she had never experienced with her own sister.

"Well done."

Veneto smiled, reached out and stroked Roma's forehead twice, brushing all the sand off Roma's face.

"……"Rome.

Rome is in turmoil.

A peculiar idea came to Rome's mind.

Is it...

Is the boss praising me?

Roma stared at Veneto, slowly regaining his senses, his mouth opened, but he couldn't utter a word for a moment.

"Big...Big Sister?" Finally, after a long while, Roma spoke to Veneto.

"what's up?"

"You...you shouldn't do this, I'm scared...you're suddenly being so gentle, I have a feeling you're going to give me a hard time when we get home tonight..." Rome's shoulders trembled. "Big sister, you really should still scold me...that way I'll feel more at ease..."

“…” Veneto.

It turns out.

Some people are just itchy-skinned and you really can't give them a nice look.

Veneto's smile vanished quickly, replaced in an instant by his original stiffness and sternness.

"Yes, yes, that's it!" Rome cheered.

"Go rest over there! Come back to me after you finish your rice ball and use the express repair shop!" Veneto snorted, pointing to the mountain of express repair shops and several bento boxes behind Rome. "I'll be extra careful about the intensity of your training today!"

"Yes, sir!" Although Veneto had reverted to his fierce demeanor, Roma was inexplicably overjoyed. She jumped up from the sand, gave Veneto a subordinate's salute, and then skipped over to the resource area in the distance. In front of everyone, she attached a rapid repair device to her head, then sat cross-legged on the ground, grabbed a few rice balls from the ground, and began to wolf them down. "Mmm—so delicious!"

Today was another day of being punished by the boss.

Rome wore a happy and contented smile.

Veneto and Yubari gazed silently at Rome in the distance. Veneto sighed, rubbed his forehead, and revealed a faint look of distress.

"I never imagined Roma would be such a masochist..." Yubari crossed his arms, watching Roma enjoying their meal in the distance with a smug look. "Sorry, Veneto, I was wondering before if your attitude towards Roma was a bit too harsh..."

“Let’s not talk about this anymore…” Veneto lowered his hand and shook his head, as if trying to shake off the frustration in his head. “Let’s talk about something else.”

"Okay, what do you want to talk about? How about helping your other sister, Empire, with her ship equipment this time?" Yubari pointed to Empire, who was dozing on the sofa with a book in her arms, and said to Veneto in a teasing tone.

“Let’s forget about the Empire… She… doesn’t really like fighting. And when she was first created, she wasn’t in good health…” Veneto shook his head, muttered a couple of times, then turned to Yubari and said, “Let’s talk about what you promised me last time.”

"Huh? What did I promise you?" Yubari was taken aback, her face showing curiosity.

"...When you came here last time, didn't you say that after returning to the ship equipment research center, you would specifically study the direction of Rome's ship equipment modification?" Veneto frowned when he saw Yubari's expression of complete forgetfulness. "A month has passed, how is your research going?"

“Uh…” A look of “Holy crap, so that’s what happened.” flashed across Yubari’s face.

"...You're not telling me you've forgotten, are you?"

"No...no way! I...I'm Yubari! How could I forget! I remember!" Yubari quickly retorted, stammering as he explained.

In fact, Yubari really forgot.

When Yubari left the naval base last time, he had a lot of data on the Iowa-class ship equipment. As soon as he returned to the research center, he couldn't wait to go into his magic room and study it to his heart's content. As soon as he got the research results, he wrote a long paper and published it. Before he knew it, he had forgotten about his promise to Veneto to help Roma find a direction for ship equipment modification.

"What? You've done research? And what were the results?" Veneto asked Yubari.

"This...this..."

"...You can't even produce results, can you?" Veneto crossed his arms and asked Yubari, "I'm not asking you to produce results in a month, but at least you should tell me what preparations you've made in this past month, right?"

Seeing Veneto's suspicious expression, Yubari quickly stammered to cover it up.

"No, no, Veneto, let me explain! Ship equipment modification isn't such a simple matter!" Yubari swallowed hard and said to Veneto, "Ship equipment modification for ship girls requires a trigger!"

"Opportunity?"

“Yes, I… I admit, I haven’t considered Rome’s refit direction for the past month, but that doesn’t mean I’ve forgotten! I… I’ve just been waiting for Rome’s ship equipment to enter the pre-refit state!” Yubari gestured to Veneto, “Veneto, you’ve also been refitted, you know, refitting isn’t something you can just do by grabbing any ship girl! The most basic requirement is that the ship girl’s own training level needs to be raised to a certain level, plus some talent, and a special opportunity, before she can enter a pre-refit state! Only ship girls in that state can I conduct targeted research on ship equipment refit plans with the greatest functionality!”

“Hmm…that’s true.” After hearing Yubari’s words, the doubt in Veneto’s eyes disappeared, and she nodded. “While ship equipment modification can comprehensively improve a ship girl’s abilities…the opportunity for modification is something that cannot be forced. You’re absolutely right.”

"Phew..." Yubari patted his chest.

"Yubari, when do you think Rome can begin preparing for transformation?" Veneto asked Yubari.

"Huh? Rome?" Yubari looked at Rome in the distance. "Hmm... This pre-modification state... to be honest, it's quite mysterious... I've seen many ship girls whose training levels have reached the top level use all sorts of methods to break through bottlenecks, but they still haven't entered the pre-modification state. I've also seen many ship girls with average training levels and average strength enter the pre-modification state just because they were given a hint during a training session. So I can't say for sure when Rome will enter this state."

"...Are there any more specific symbols that indicate the entry into a preparatory transformation state?" Veneto asked.

"Didn't you get modified? Don't you know?"

“I’m just an isolated case, after all. You receive modified ship girls every day, so you should know more than I do,” Veneto said.

“Ha…that’s true.” Yubari crossed her arms and thought for a while, then shook her head from side to side. “Well…actually, there are many tendencies for ship girls to enter the modification state, all sorts of things…but after observing for so long, I’ve found that modified ship girls all have one thing in common.”

"what?"

“First, the ship girl will feel an overwhelming sense of fullness,” Yubari gestured to Veneto. “It’s that feeling of being prepared, like something is about to happen. And then… Veneto, you know that after a ship girl is modified, the probability of awakening her own skills increases significantly, and she’s in a strange physical state. So if you carefully observe the eyes of a ship girl preparing for modification, you’ll find…”

"What did you find?"

“Occasionally, a strange, colorful light would flash in their eyes.”

……

Veneto and Yubari were having a heated discussion.

not far away.

The empire, which had been dozing beside Rome, seemed to be disturbed by the sound of Rome wolfing down its rice balls. The empire, which was sleeping with a thick book in its arms, let out a short hum, moved its drooping head slightly, and then opened its eyes slightly. It reached out and rubbed its eyelids, looking at Rome with a faint sense of lazy weariness.

then.

A faint brown, hidden stream of light.

In the peaceful pupils of the empire's eyes.

Like a shooting star.

It flashed by.

Chapter 1753 The Deal with Veneto

The brown streak that flashed in the Empire's eyes existed for only a moment, so brief that neither Veneto and Yubari, who were passionately discussing the renovation in the distance, nor Rome, who was sitting next to the Empire eating rice balls, nor even the Empire itself, who had just woken up from a dream, noticed it at all.

Empire, holding a book, yawned slightly.

"Ah, Empire, you're awake?" Rome, who was eating a rice ball to replenish her energy, quickly put down the rice ball she had just taken a couple of bites from and said to Empire apologetically, "I'm sorry, did I wake you up?"

"Wake up naturally." Empire silently looked at Rome, whose clothes were tattered and whose face was covered in soot. After meeting Rome's sincere gaze for a moment, Empire first shook its head slightly, then asked, "Sister Rome... are you resting?"

"Yeah! Big Sister is busy chatting with Yubari-nee and said I can rest here for a bit to recover my energy before rehearsing!" Roma nodded, picked up her rice ball, took a few big bites, and then chewed it with relish, her cheeks puffed out. "So I can stay here and slack off until Big Sister and Yubari-nee finish their chat!"

“Yu…Zhang?” Empire turned his head and looked toward Veneto, who was not far away.

When Yubari returned to the naval base last time, the Empire was still in her snack shop, so they didn't have a chance to meet this legendary ship girl. However, Rome had occasionally mentioned Yubari's deeds when chatting with the Empire, so the Empire was not unfamiliar with this ship girl.

According to the information the Empire heard from Rome, Yubari seems to be a ship girl who is passionate about researching ship girl equipment, can assist in the training of ship girls from a highly professional perspective, explain various ship girl equipment issues, and has a very good relationship with the ship girls in the naval base.

—At least Veneto and Rome trusted her completely.

The Empire silently watched Yubari in the distance.

The empire's peaceful gaze swept over Yubari's figure, finally slowly moving upwards to rest on Yubari's face.

The Empire raised an eyebrow slightly, staring intently at Yubari.

At this moment, Yubari's facial expressions were quite lively. She gestured wildly at Veneto while explaining something in a serious manner. Her animated appearance made her look more like a shaman than a serious scientific researcher as described by the Romans.

Of course.

The Empire had read the simple principle of not judging a book by its cover countless times, especially since the target of this observation was a ship girl whose appearance alone could not be used to make inferences.

However, in Empire's mind, she had always thought of Yubari as a traditional scientific researcher, wearing a conservative white lab coat, with a calm personality and an ordinary appearance. So when she met the real Yubari and found that she was actually a slender, youthful and beautiful young lady, Empire was somewhat surprised.

"Empire, do you want to talk to Yubari-nee?" Rome, seeing Empire's absent-minded profile, quickly understood Empire's inner thoughts. She smiled and leaned closer, saying to Empire, "How about it? Do you want me to take you to see Yubari-nee? Yubari-nee knows a lot about ship equipment. If you have any questions about ship equipment, Empire, you can ask her for guidance!"

“…Hmm.” Empire blinked, then nodded. She closed the book in her arms and slowly stood up from the beach.

"Huh? So decisive this time?" Rome was intrigued by the Empire's reaction. She stuffed the rice ball in her hand into her mouth in a few bites, moved closer to the Empire, and looked at him with a strange look that seemed to suggest the sun was rising in the west. She kept muttering, "I thought you would say something like 'Never mind, I'm so sleepy,' and then stay on the beach to sleep... Well, now I don't even need to say the words of advice I prepared for you."

"On a whim?" The Empire tilted its head.

"A sudden whim is fine..." Roma gave a wry smile. She glanced at Yubari and Veneto in the distance, then quietly leaned close to Empire's ear and whispered, "Then you mustn't let Yubari hear you say that, it would be very rude. If Yubari asks you why you went to see her, just say that you've admired her for a long time!"

"Hmm." Empire blinked and nodded.

"Let's go." Rome was still a reliable older sister to the Empire. She took the Empire's hand and led it towards Yubari and Veneto.

"Sister Rome." The Empire walked along, looking down thoughtfully at the chest she was touching.

"Ok?"

"I have a question."

"What's the problem?"

"Lately, I've been feeling a tightness in my chest," Empire said to Rome, pressing her hand to her chest. "It feels like there's something squeezing out, like something's trying to burst out. Does Sister Rome know why?"

Rome followed the empire's gesture and looked at the empire's heavy chest.

"..." Rome fell silent for a few seconds, then spoke earnestly to the Empire, "The Empire..."

"?"

"You absolutely mustn't let the boss hear this. Although she probably won't do anything to you, I have a feeling she'll take her anger out on you..." Rome sighed, gently patting Empire's shoulder. "You're just too well-developed. When the boss isn't around, I'll go to the city with you and pick out a few bras a size bigger for you."

“…Hmm.” The Empire nodded.

When Rome and the Empire approached Veneto and Yubari, Yubari was waving and explaining the modifications to the ship girl's equipment to Veneto.

"So, ship girl equipment modification isn't something I can accomplish just by working hard. The ship girl's own condition is also crucial. As for the direction of the equipment modification, that can only be studied at that time!" Yubari explained earnestly to Veneto. "So it's not that I'm not working, it's that I'm waiting for a fleeting opportunity. You know what an opportunity is, right? It's..."

"Big Sister! Sister Yubari!" Rome called out as she walked towards the Empire, pulling the Empire by the hand.

Yubari and Veneto's conversation ended as they looked toward the approaching Empire and Rome.

"Rome, why aren't you resting where you are? What are you doing here? Or are you already rested and ready for the next exercise?" Veneto crossed his arms and gave Rome a hostile look. "Shall we start the next exercise right away?"

"Ah...no, no, please..." Roma felt a chill run down her spine when she saw Veneto's expression. She quickly smiled apologetically at Veneto, "Big Sister, look, I brought the Empire with me...The Empire just woke up, and when she saw Sister Yubari, she was talking to you, so she told me she wanted to meet Sister Yubari and say hello, but she's too shy to come alone, so I brought her over..."

Rome embellished her story, creating a vivid image of herself as a sister who was willing to sacrifice herself to fulfill her autistic sister's wishes—though, in reality, there wasn't much wrong with that.

“Really?” Veneto looked at the Empire.

"..."