Elder brother's garrison

"Yes." The Empire nodded.

"..."

"..."

There was a silence between the Empire and Rome for about ten seconds.

then.

At a very specific moment.

"Good!!!" Rome's voice suddenly rang out, and then Rome, who was lying on the beach, did a somersault and straightened up from the sand. The wet sand that was covered with seawater was also kicked up far away by Rome's movement.

"Seriously—I can't do anything with you!" Rome excitedly sprang to her feet from the sand, her face covered in wet mud as she grabbed Empire's outstretched hand. She hugged Empire tightly, patting her back repeatedly and laughing heartily. "Since you've said so, Empire, I certainly can't leave you to undergo the transformation alone! Hahaha! Even after the transformation, Empire still can't do without me and Big Sister! You still can't do without me!"

Rome slapped the empire on the back, sweeping away the previous gloom and regaining its high enthusiasm, the sound of the slapping was very loud.

"..."

The Empire felt the large amount of mud and sand coming from Rome's cheek, and the sensation of this mud and sand sliding into its collar as Rome moved. Its brows twitched slightly. In the past, the Empire would have definitely pushed away the dirty Rome in disgust, but this time the Empire at least didn't say anything.

"Rome, you've cheered up!" Little White looked at Rome, smiled, and clapped at her.

"Ah! Um! Uh..." As soon as Xiaobai spoke, Rome remembered that Xiaobai was still standing to the side. Rome quickly let go of the Empire and awkwardly scratched his head, "Admiral... I'm so sorry... I made you laugh at me just now and made you worry about me. I'm really sorry..."

"It's nothing, it's nothing." Xiaobai waved her hand and shook her head with a smile. "It's only human nature... But I'm a little surprised that you recovered so quickly, Rome."

"Ha...haha, yeah..." Rome blushed and became embarrassed after Xiaobai said that. "I was actually a little shocked when I saw the Empire suddenly enter a state of preparation for transformation...but now it's all over, I've recovered!"

As Rome finished speaking, his tone suddenly became more animated, and he puffed out his chest and slapped his cheeks twice.

"The reason I haven't entered the preparatory transformation state must be because I haven't worked hard enough! Don't worry, Admiral, I will put in a hundred times the effort and perseverance to continue working hard!"

Rome shouted at Little White, his eyes blazing with a fierce fighting spirit.

"Okay, good luck, Roma! But remember to rest too..." Xiaobai said to Roma with a smile.

Seeing that Rome had regained its fighting spirit, Veneto finally strolled over from a distance.

"Big Sister!" Roma saw Veneto slowly walking up and, remembering her earlier dejected appearance, blushed. She quickly lowered her head and apologized profusely, "I'm...I'm sorry, I embarrassed you with my performance..."

“...Hmph.” In the past, Veneto would always give Rome a long lecture whenever he found an opportunity, but this time he was surprisingly quiet. Veneto walked up to the crowd, gave a soft hum, and then spoke to Rome with one eye closed, “Rome, it’s too late for you to regain your fighting spirit.”

"Uh, I'm sorry, boss, I... I'll train harder..." Roma shrugged in embarrassment.

“Hmm.” Veneto nodded, then suddenly stopped. “But let’s skip it today.”

"what?"

“Didn’t you just promise the Empire that you would be her caregiver during her rehabilitation?” Veneto crossed his arms. “I’ll give you a few days off. Just do a few hundred sets of training programs, and you can make up for the rest after the Empire’s rehabilitation.”

"..." Roma stared blankly at Veneto, his eyes beginning to sparkle like a light bulb gradually being switched on. "Wh...what, you can...rest!?"

“It’s all for the sake of the Empire. Who told her to specifically ask you to accompany her?” Veneto turned his head and looked at the distant sea.

Rome was overjoyed.

Although Rome had just realized that it needed to work twice as hard to avoid falling too far behind the empire, and logically should have rejected any slackening, the temptation of the word "vacation" that Veneto had just mentioned to Rome was simply too great.

Taking a vacation...

In the short span of his life on the ship, Rome has yet to experience a vacation!

That's a vacation!

Does taking a vacation mean that you can stay indoors while the sun is shining on your belly, while other ship girls are fighting in the training grounds, enjoying the air conditioning, crossing your legs, reading when you want, sleeping when you want, eating snacks when you want, and doing whatever you want without anyone scolding you?

That would be so wonderful...

Rome was immediately moved to tears.

"Really...really? Can I really take a vacation?" This was the first time Roman had received such treatment, and for a moment it felt like a dream, so he couldn't help but ask Veneto a few more questions.

"Don't worry, I mean what I say." Veneto sighed softly. "There's no rush with training these next few days. It'll be good for you to relax a bit. I also wanted to take a few days to think about what aspects of the upcoming training program could be optimized..."

Rome was stunned for a moment as they watched Veneto's retreating figure.

But soon.

Rome's emotions were overwhelmed by the excitement of the upcoming vacation. He clenched his fist and rubbed it on his forehead shyly.

"Hehe... Well... I'm really sorry, while you were working so hard to come up with the new training, I could only stay with the Empire, enjoy the air conditioning, eat snacks, and slack off." Roma sighed to Veneto.

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about, anyway…” Veneto shook his head, his clear eyes gazing at the distant horizon.

"Anyway?"

“Anyway, I didn’t say that the training you’ve been exempted from these past few days would just be forgotten. Once the Imperial Transformation is over, I’ll make sure you make up for all those training reductions in one go, every single one of them, completely and without missing a single one.” Veneto turned to Rome with a kind expression. “I’ll also remember your earlier statement about voluntarily doubling your training, so be prepared, Rome.”

"……"Rome.

Looking at her older sister's gentle yet menacing expression, Roma suddenly felt a profound sense of uncertainty about her future.

A few minutes later, Yubari rushed back to the training ground from his dormitory and eagerly expressed his desire to take the Empire to the factory workshop to discuss the ship equipment modification from the perspective of the plan.

The factory workshop requires special approval from the Admiral's Office to be used, but since Xiaobai and Lexington, the top two commanders of the naval base, are both here, there is no need to go back to the naval base. They directly granted Yubari access to the factory workshop on the spot.

Having obtained access to the factory workshop, Yubari led the Empire and Rome away from the training ground, leaving a long trail of smoke as they sped towards the factory deep within the naval base.

"I never expected that the Empire would suddenly enter a state of preparation for remodeling at this time..." Xiaobai murmured softly as she watched the three ship girls leave, and then took a sigh of admiration.

"Is there anything the naval base is going to do next?" Veneto asked Xiaobai curiously, understanding the implication in Xiaobai's words.

“Well, after all, I took on the mission of exploring the eighth chapter…” Xiaobai turned to Veneto and smiled, “But Veneto, you don’t need to worry. This mission is very important, and the preparation time is also very long. There is still a long time before we officially set off, enough time for the Empire to complete its transformation.”

"Ah...I see." Veneto's expression relaxed a bit. "I'm so sorry to have troubled the Admiral."

"Anything that can improve the garrison's combat effectiveness is a good thing, no trouble at all," Xiaobai laughed. "But Veneto, since the Empire is undergoing reforms, shouldn't you go and accompany Rome and the Empire?"

Chapter 1761 The Grand Celebration at Home

"To accompany Rome and the Empire...?" Veneto nodded knowingly, then her eyes flickered slightly as she slowly said, "The ship girl's remodeling is a very precious opportunity, only once in a lifetime, and some may never get this opportunity in their entire lives. So, as the Empire's older sister, I should take the initiative to accompany them during the remodeling period."

"Then why don't you go?" Xiaobai tilted her head.

“With Rome around, that should be enough. Besides, I won’t be unable to see them during the renovation; they will still go home to rest at night.” Veneto paused here, then looked slightly conflicted. “And… I actually have a selfish motive.”

"Huh? Selfish motives?"

"Hmm." Veneto lowered her head slightly, brushed a stray hair behind her ear with her finger, and said in a low voice, "I just hope... the first modified ship girl I'll be with will be Rome..."

"..." Xiaobai and Lexington blinked at each other, looking at Lexington without saying a word.

“Ah, of course, this isn’t favoritism.” Veneto snapped out of her reverie, patting her chest as she explained to the staring children, White and Lexington, “Actually, in my heart, both the Empire and Rome are equally important; there’s absolutely no question of one being more important than the other. It’s just that I’ve been an instructor training Rome for so long… so I wanted to save my first time for Rome…”

"..." Xiaobai looked at Veneto, who was explaining in a somewhat flustered manner, and couldn't help but chuckle, "Ah~ I understand."

"Admiral? Was what I just said really that funny...?" Veneto looked at Xiaobai with some embarrassment.

“No, no.” Xiaobai shook her head and pursed her lips. “I couldn’t help but laugh just now because I heard Veneto say that the Roman Empire was just as important to you… I thought you would prefer the Empire to Veneto.”

“…Empress is usually very quiet and obedient, unlike Rome, who always does things that make me angry…” Veneto paused, then her cheeks flushed slightly, her gaze lowered, and she absentmindedly combed the white hairs around her ears as she explained, “To be honest, Empress does make things much easier for me… but Rome also has her own unique strengths…”

Veneto kept talking non-stop, rambling on and on to Shiro about the appearance, figure, breasts, personality, perseverance, traits, and even the nipples of the two ship girls, Rome and Empire, for quite a while.

To the end.

Seemingly realizing he had said a bit too much, Veneto stopped talking, looked up at the little white dog who was staring at him with a smile, and the pink glow on his face gradually deepened, tinged with a blush.

"That's all for now... There's nothing more to say." Veneto lowered his hands and bowed to Xiaobai. "Admiral, I'll head back to my quarters now. After the Empire's modifications are complete, feel free to come visit us."

"Okay, I got it." Xiaobai nodded with a smile.

Veneto smiled slightly at Little White, then turned and left.

"I really saw a rare side of Veneto today." Watching Veneto's departing figure, Lexington smiled and said to Xiaobai, "Veneto used to give people the feeling that although she looked very young, she was a very mature and calm ship girl in terms of both mind and temperament. But today's Veneto gave me some new feelings."

"How does it feel?" Xiaobai asked Lexington.

“She’s more like an older sister now,” Lexington said with a smile.

"Ah..." Xiaobai nodded his chin, thought for a moment, and grinned at Lexington in agreement, "Hmm, maybe."

Lexington and Shiro stood on the shore of the training ground, watching the ship girls on the sea sweating profusely, passing the time for a while.

After a while.

Lexington called out to Little White.

"noob."

"Ok?"

“Now that the matter concerning the Empire is over, and we’ve already clarified what we need to do in the eighth chapter of the campaign, shouldn’t we…” Lexington said to Little White.

"Okay, let's go back to the office!" Xiaobai nodded quickly, took Lexington's hand, and started walking towards the exit of the training ground. "Now that the objectives for Chapter 8 have been decided, we should work even harder to allocate the resources that can be used later, as well as the ship girl fleet..."

As Xiaobai spoke, he took Lexington's hand and walked with her.

However, at that moment, Xiaobai suddenly felt that Lexington's originally light body had become much heavier, and he could no longer pull it.

Little White turned around.

Lexington looked at him with a smile.

“That’s not right.” Lexington reached out and gently poked Xiaobai’s forehead with her finger. “The next thing to do is not to go back to the admiral’s office, but to rest.”

"Uh... I'm fine. I'm not tired... I can do it right away..."

"Little White, I only agreed to this because you said you wanted to discuss the supply difficulties of Chapter 8." Lexington cupped her cheek in one hand, giving Little White a disappointed and resentful look. "After we reached a conclusion, we went back to rest, didn't you promise me that, Little White?"

“Uh…” Xiaobai was taken aback.

"I heard you're back today, Xiaobai. Jiajia and the others went to Bismarck's house early this morning to wait for you. Xiaobai, you should at least go back early and play with them." Lexington said slowly, stroking Xiaobai's head with a smile.

"..." Feeling the gentle force coming from above his head, Xiaobai stammered and lowered his head, "Um... okay."

"Then I'll go straight back to my office from here. You can go directly to Bismarck's place, Xiaobai." Lexington smiled and withdrew his hand.

Lexington left the training ground and quietly said goodbye to Xiaobai before heading back to the office building alone. Xiaobai stood there watching Lexington's departing figure, stunned for a long time, before finally raising his hand to touch the top of his head.

The lingering sensation of Lexington's incredibly gentle touch still floated on Xiaobai's scalp.

"It feels like...like I've been sent home by Lexington..." Xiaobai murmured, tilted his head back and thought for a while, then gave a wry smile, "...Hmm...I feel like I've been working a bit too hard lately...I should take a good rest."

The job of an admiral is so busy that it's easy to get carried away and neglect your own rest. Therefore, it's very necessary to have a secretary ship like Lexington who can remind you to take a break.

Ok……

In short, let's give Lexington a silent thumbs up first, and then go home.

Xiao Bai took a deep breath and walked back home.

Ever since Bismarck combined her house, Hood's house, and the neighboring Taihou's house into a standard suite, the lively atmosphere at Shiro's house has never stopped. Normally, any ship girl who is relatively close to Shiro would choose to visit her house from time to time to chat.

Such as this time.

When Xiaobai pushed open the door of Bismarck's house and returned home, the living room was filled with the noise of the ship girls.

In the living room, the three Iowa-class ship girls were playing Ludo at the dining table, while New Jersey was asleep on the sofa next to them.

"Wow! Rare materials! Another rare material! Now I can make another ultimate piece of equipment! Great!" In the front part of the living room, Enterprise, holding up a snow-white controller duck, sat in front of the game console, excitedly shouting at the scene on the TV screen where the boss had just been defeated and loot was scattered all over the floor.

"It's amazing how you can maintain such high enthusiasm every time you get a rare material..." Tirpitz, holding a comic book, lay half-reclined on the floor next to Enterprise, yawning lazily, and said to Enterprise, "You've been getting rare materials all morning, enough to feed a dozen more accounts. I'm getting tired of watching, how can you still be so enthusiastic..."

"Huh? Is that so?"

"Is such that."

"Hmm... but... it's really exciting to find rare materials." Enterprise tapped her cheek with her slender finger for a moment before answering.

"I'm bald again!" Just as the company finished speaking, Saratoga, who was squatting on the other side, angrily threw the handheld console onto the cushion, pouted, and stomped her feet. "Garbage game! It ruined my youth!"

“…You’ll have to pay for it if you break it.” Tirpitz yawned again.

"Sara, Saratoga, want me to give you half of the rare materials I got?" Enterprise said with a smile, gripping the controller. "They're easy to sell!"

“I…you…” Saratoga looked at the innocent-looking Enterprise, her pretty face turning red and white with anger, her little mouth pouting, feeling extremely aggrieved.

The three internet addicts were so engrossed in their argument that they didn't notice Xiaobai had already reached the front door of the living room, leaning against the door and smiling as she looked over.

Tirpitz and her friends really never get tired of playing games...

Seeing this, Xiaobai wanted to open her mouth and call out to the ship girl in the living room.

However, just a second before Xiaobai opened her mouth, a series of light footsteps came from the direction of the kitchen in the corridor.

"Has someone returned?" A clear voice rang out in the kitchen, followed by the figure of a blue-haired girl in an apron walking into the hallway and looking towards Xiaobai. "Could it be Bismarck... Ah, it's the Admiral!"