Elder brother's garrison

"Ah... Admiral Lu Lin." Elizabeth turned around hesitantly upon hearing Xiao Bai's call, her blank expression still lingering.

"Well... how should I put it... Miss Elizabeth, please don't be angry. Admiral Haoding also has his difficulties..." Xiaobai said to Elizabeth.

"?" Elizabeth tilted her head, looked at Xiaobai's face for a while, and then came to her senses. Her eyes regained their brightness, and she suddenly realized what was going on. She quickly explained to Xiaobai, "Ah, Admiral Lu Lin, you misunderstood... I was just a little surprised by what happened. I didn't blame my admiral..."

"Hey? Aren't you angry?"

"Hmm... Actually, after calming down... I feel surprisingly calm." Elizabeth nodded, and touched her chest with a bit of a puzzlement, then lowered her head and murmured, "Logically speaking... if the Admiral had just handed over the power to command us to someone else, even I should have been very angry, even very sad... But for some reason, I don't feel angry at all right now, and I even understand the Admiral's difficulties. I feel that the Admiral's decision this time is very generous and wise."

"what?"

"..." Elizabeth gave a wry smile to Xiaobai, "Perhaps, as my admiral said, it is because of our time together that I have come to regard you, Admiral Lu Lin, as someone I can trust, which is why I didn't react so strongly... In any case, I'm fine, Admiral Lu Lin."

"You're putting a lot of pressure on me..." Sweat beaded on Xiaobai's forehead.

“Admiral Lu Lin, please calm down,” Elizabeth said with a smile. “After all, it’s only temporary command; we’re not really being entrusted to you.”

“That’s true…” Xiaobai exhaled and nodded.

Xiao Bai looked at the path in front of him with some emotion.

Xiao Bai originally thought that he came to Admiral Haoding's place today simply to apply medicine to Admiral Haoding. He did not expect that his trip would lead to Admiral Haoding "entrusting" him with a high-level account in the entire garrison under the pretext of being seriously ill, asking him to log in and level up the account for him and participate in events during this period.

To say that a novice feels no pressure would be a lie.

Even a novice knows this.

Although Admiral Haoding appeared relaxed and easygoing on the surface, he is, after all, a world-class admiral. For him, temporarily transferring command of his ship girls must have been a difficult decision...

This is all for the sake of pioneering the eighth chapter.

Admiral Haoding risked his life in every sense of the word for this mission...

Ugh.

It's not convenient for Xiaobai to tell Admiral Haoding about the deal she made with Abyssal Zuikaku right now. Otherwise, Admiral Haoding, knowing that the situation on the sea would definitely calm down soon, wouldn't have so resolutely handed over command of the ship girls to her...

Xiaobai and Elizabeth walked back to the villa, each lost in their own thoughts, remaining silent the entire way.

As Xiaobai walked, she subconsciously kept thinking about the Deep Sea Crane.

Speaking of the deep-sea crane.

After the last transaction with Shenhai Ruihe, Shenhai Ruihe didn't tell me what she needed my help with. She said she had some important things to do and left... Before leaving, she told me that she would be delayed for a few days before she could contact me.

Think about it carefully.

She was clearly the highest-ranking official in this sea area.

What else is she going to do?

Chapter 1911 The Sea, Deep Within

"Ouch————"

"Ugh——"

Above the pitch-black sea, the howl of a giant deep-sea creature was incredibly long. Thick black fog shrouded the surrounding water, so viscous as to be almost tangible, and within the deep-sea fog that was about to turn into liquid, the figure of the giant deep-sea creature could not be seen clearly, only a blurry outline.

This is the depths of the sea in Chapter Eight.

It's a place that the newbie ship girls have never set foot in before.

In the dark mist.

An orange figure silently advanced step by step towards the very center of the sea. A strange orange aura emanated from her body, and the viscous black mist around her surged toward the orange figure, enveloping and covering every inch of her body from top to bottom, greedily trying to get close to her body, to burrow into her snow-white skin, to become her flesh and blood, and to become her power.

But it's obvious.

The orange-clad figure didn't need the deep-sea aura for the time being. She simply raised her hand, and a gust of wind rose from beneath her feet, dispersing the surging deep-sea aura around her.

Many deep-sea ships were floating on the surrounding sea, resting with their eyes closed. When the orange figure passed by, the deep-sea ships on the water sensed her presence, opened their eyes, and made way for her, only daring to look at the orange figure from afar with respectful eyes.

The orange figure accepted the homage of the surrounding deep-sea ships with an expressionless face, and then headed towards the deepest part of the sea.

"Hehehehe—" Just as the orange figure parted the thick fog of the deep sea, a light and melodious laugh, carrying a hint of nonchalant mockery, suddenly echoed around the orange figure. "Isn't this our Lord Zuikaku of the Deep Sea?"

The melodious sound echoed from all directions on the sea, with a long, lingering resonance, making it difficult to discern the source of the sound for a moment.

After the sound rang out, the deep-sea atmosphere on the surface of the sea seemed to be disturbed, and it scattered and retreated like a group of frightened wild beasts. The deep-sea ships on the surface of the sea also showed some panic in their eyes after hearing the sound. They quickly withdrew their gazes from the orange figure. Those who could dive quickly slid into the water, while those who could not dive tried to keep their heads down and swim away into the distance.

On the sea, a wide expanse of water was cleared up for a moment, with the orange figure at the center.

The orange-clad figure stopped in her tracks. She didn't search for the source of the sound, but simply stared calmly at what was in front of her before speaking.

"I am very busy."

"Lord Zuikaku is very busy, so it's natural that he's busy... However, I came out specifically to greet you, but you didn't even get a word of greeting. Such a cold reply is really disheartening..." She said this in a gentle voice, but her tone still carried a hint of enjoying the drama, yet there was no trace of sadness or coldness in her words.

"..."

The Deep Sea Crane remained expressionless. After listening to the sounds coming from all directions, she made no further response and continued to walk deeper into the sea.

"Hehehe—you really can't take a joke."

The moment the deep-sea crane took its first step, the sound rang out again.

However, this time the female voice was not as long and resonant as the previous two times. It did not have the pretentious manner of coming from all directions. In fact, this time the sound source was very close, right behind the Deep Sea Zuikaku.

A pair of slender, fair arms reached out from behind Shen Hai Zuikaku, extending over Shen Hai Zuikaku's shoulders and waist, and gently embraced Shen Hai Zuikaku from behind.

"Such a beautiful face, always wearing such an aloof expression, it's such a waste." The owner of the arm gently stroked the cheek of the Deep Sea Zuikaku, leaned close to the Deep Sea Zuikaku's ear, opened his lips and gently caressed the Deep Sea Zuikaku's earlobe, and whispered.

The deep-sea crane turned its head and looked to its side.

Beside her stood a girl dressed entirely in white. The girl had a delicate face and a pair of deep, bright red eyes. She was staring intently at the deep-sea crane, her gaze as if she were appraising a work of art.

The expression on the surface of the deep sea remained unchanged, but the orange scythe behind her was humming slightly, and a carrier-based aircraft had already emerged from the orange scythe.

But at that moment, the snow-white girl released the body of the Deep Sea Crane, put her hands behind her back and lightly jumped behind her. Her feet, clad in openwork black high heels, lightly touched the water's surface, and as ripples spread across the water, she flew far away.

The deep-sea crane watched as the girl stopped on the water in the distance.

This is a deep-sea girl with waist-length white hair and strange attire.

The girl was wearing a strange dress—it looked like a black birdcage made of fabric, simply made of a dozen or so extremely fine black lines crisscrossing each other. It did not cover her skin at all, and her snow-white skin, exquisite figure, and strangely alluring black underwear could be easily seen at a glance.

"Still as boring as ever." The snow-white girl, with her hands behind her back, gave the Deep Sea Zuikaku a smile of interest. "We've known each other for so long, and I've never seen any other expression on your face."

“Savoy,” Zuikaku called out the girl’s name calmly.

"Hmm? What is it?" The deep-sea girl named Savoy tapped her lips in response.

"looking for me?"

"Hehe... what else could it be?" Savoy's face lit up with a cheerful smile. She lightly treaded the water, her movements like a ballerina's hops, and hopped over to the Deep Sea Zuikaku. She circled the Deep Sea Zuikaku a few times and chuckled softly, "Of course I came to see you~"

"?"

“A full eighteen, eighteen deep-sea frigates.” Savoy stopped beside the Deep-Sea Zuikaku, a faint smile on his face, and said to her, “They all know that the life signs of those eighteen deep-sea frigates that were handed over to you have disappeared. It takes quite a while to cultivate those frigates. Where did you take them to play?”

"Nothing to do with you."

“Well said, ‘It’s none of my business…’ That makes sense.” Savoy nodded with a smile. She leaned closer to Abyssal Zuikaku and whispered in his ear, “But… you have to give those people in the sea an explanation for the sinking of the Abyssal frigate, right? Let me tell you this in secret: those people in the sea are furious right now. If you’re going to explain, you’ll have to come up with a reasonable excuse.”

"..."

“That’s all I have to say.” Savoy stepped aside with a smile, her toes lightly touching the surface of the sea as she floated away like a gust of wind. “Whatever the reason, I advise you to think carefully about how to deal with their anger. After all… this isn’t just any other place.”

Savoy's voice drifted further and further away.

"..."

"This is...our kingdom."

Chapter 1912 Like Sisters

Two days have passed since Admiral Haoding handed over command of his ship girls to Xiaobai.

The news that Xiaobai had suddenly become the temporary admiral of Haoding Naval Base spread like wildfire throughout every corner of the eighth chapter valley and reached the ears of every ship girl in Haoding Naval Base.

Xiaobai was actually a little worried about this matter.

After all, Xiaobai has been with ship girls for so long, and she knows very well that ship girls are a group of people who value emotions very much, and in some ways, they even value emotions more than life itself.

For the ship girls, command is like a unique bond with the admiral.

This relationship is pure, sacred, supreme, and inviolable.

If the ship girls knew that their command had been transferred to a stranger by the admiral without their consent, it would be a devastating blow to these emotionally driven ship girls. To put it more seriously, it would be a betrayal of their feelings by the admiral. This would cause them to be greatly shaken. At best, it would lead to prolonged depression, mental anguish, and a feeling of being unable to live in fear. At worst, it would cause them to give up on themselves, become indignant and resentful, and then rise up in protest.

These are all entirely possible developments.

There have even been several ship girl rights protests in history, which were later used as negative examples of how to get along with ship girls. They were recorded in admiral textbooks for young admiral students to read and criticize, in order to teach new admirals that they should always respect one of their ship girls and repay their loyalty with sincerity.

Even though Elizabeth has stated that she doesn't object to Shiro becoming the interim admiral, she can't represent every ship girl in the Haoding Naval Base. With so many ship girls in Haoding Naval Base, it's inevitable that a few will dislike them. What if these disliked ship girls are dissatisfied with the Haoding admiral's decisions and seize this opportunity to gather in the valley and launch a protest march…

So on her first day as the temporary admiral of Haoding Naval Base, after having breakfast with Elizabeth, Xiaobai made up an excuse to hide in the villa and didn't dare to go out to see the ship girls of Haoding Naval Base all day.

Escape is shameful but useful.

While escaping may be useful... it's not a long-term solution.

After spending an entire day in the villa contemplating, Xiaobai decided to accept her fate the next morning and cautiously stepped out of the villa.

The ship girls at Haoding Naval Base are mostly in charge of logistics. These ship girls usually move around in the valley. As long as Xiaobai chooses a daytime time to walk out of the villa and look down the path, she can see many ship girls from Haoding Naval Base passing by. The reason Xiaobai came out of the villa this time was actually to see if any ship girls from Haoding Naval Base would be holding signs like "Give me back my admiral!" or "I will live and die with my admiral!" and gathering in front of her villa to protest.

but.

When Xiaobai stepped out of the villa and looked down the path while holding onto the door frame, the reality surprised her.

Because, in front of the newbie naval base villa, there wasn't a single ship girl protesting.

Rather.

At this moment, the entrance to the villa was as peaceful and quiet as usual.

The ship girls of Haoding Naval Base, busy with logistics, came and went with peaceful expressions and light steps. They would occasionally greet the new ship girls of the naval base politely, their relaxed and cheerful expressions as if they had no idea what had happened yesterday.

The ship girls from Haoding Garrison who were passing by the gate quickly noticed Xiaobai coming out of the villa.

They looked at Xiaobai, their eyes lit up, and then they happily raised their hands and waved vigorously at Xiaobai.

"Huh? Isn't this the temporary admiral?"

"Good morning, interim admiral!"

"I am a novice and hope you will guide me in the days to come!"

"I'll do my best! Temporary Admiral! Please remember my face!"

"Provisional Admiral!"

"Admiral! Admiral!"

"..."

The ship girls from Haoding Garrison greeted Xiaobai in front of the gate with kindness and enthusiasm. They jumped around and waved vigorously. As they shouted, they gradually stopped saying "temporary" before "temporary admiral" and started calling Xiaobai "admiral" affectionately.

This scene was truly beyond Xiaobai's expectations. She stared wide-eyed at the cheering ship girls in front of the path, not knowing how to react for a moment. She could only subconsciously wave her hand as a way of expressing her gratitude.

"Eh...so I'm...that popular..." Xiaobai murmured to herself as she looked at the ship girls waving and cheering at her.

"Who wouldn't like someone like Admiral Lu Lin?" A familiar voice rang out from not far away.

Xiao Bai turned his head to look.

Elizabeth was squatting not far away, holding a basin of clean water and smiling at me. Beside her were several large, wet stones, on which were placed several gutted and cleaned sea fish.

"Miss Elizabeth? What's going on here...?"

“Ah…didn’t the Admiral transfer command of the naval base to you, Admiral Lu Lin, yesterday…? I’m the secretary ship of our naval base, and also the captain of this expedition. Without the Admiral’s network support, it would be much more convenient to issue commands to others through me, right?” Elizabeth dipped her hands in the water and stirred them a couple of times, then stood up and walked to Xiaobai with a smile. “So, to make it easier for Admiral Lu Lin to issue orders, after thinking about it for a day, I’ve decided to stay here with you, Admiral Lu Lin…As for what I was doing just now, I was preparing ingredients for breakfast later, please don’t mind.”

"Huh? Is that so?"

“Yes, yes, the admiral also approves of me doing this,” Elizabeth nodded.

"..." Xiaobai looked at Elizabeth with a strange expression. Her gaze secretly glanced at the ship girls from Haoding Naval Base passing by on the roadside. Looking at the ship girls who passed by with cheerful expressions and greeted her, she couldn't help but sigh, "You ship girls from the naval base... so you really don't object to this matter."

“Admiral Lu Lin, you may have underestimated your status and influence in our hearts…” Elizabeth smiled upon hearing this, and said to Xiaobai, “Admiral, if you were to casually hand over our command to an outsider, it would be impossible for us not to feel some turmoil… But Admiral Lu Lin, you are different. You are not like ordinary outsiders. Putting aside the times you have helped us, the rookie naval base you lead is a force far beyond our imagination. Now you are willing to lower yourself and lead us ordinary ship girls, allowing us to fight alongside the world’s top combat forces and broaden our horizons. That is already an act that has benefited us immensely, even making us feel flattered. Who wouldn’t want that?”

"..."

"Moreover, many of the ship girls in our naval base were worried about the admiral's health. Admiral Lu Lin, your willingness to take over means that the admiral can finally rest and recuperate with peace of mind. After hearing the news yesterday, many of the people in our naval base breathed a sigh of relief."

"..."

"And speaking of which..."