Elder brother's garrison

The elevator door closes.

The elevator slowly rose.

"As expected of a big city, even the doormen are very professional." Inside the elevator, Akagi smiled at Shiro.

"He's bowed three times already," Xiaobai remarked.

“After all, people can earn money by bowing,” Akagi said with a smile. “Back in the human world, I did a similar job before, and I was surprised to find that I could earn a lot.”

"How much is it?" Yamato Fukami asked casually from the side.

"Hmm...probably." Akagi whispered in Yamato's ear.

"Wow!" Yamato's eyes widened in astonishment. "So many?!"

"Yes."

"I'm so envious!"

As the deep sea and the great hymn of Yamato resonated, the ascending elevator slowly came to a stop.

As soon as everyone stepped out of the elevator, they heard a gentle greeting.

"Excuse me, are you Ms. Lu Lin?"

Everyone turned to look and saw a well-dressed female staff member standing in front of the elevator, looking at them with a service-oriented smile.

"Ah, that's me." Xiaobai stepped forward. "May I ask who you are...?"

"I am the staff member in charge of welcoming you all. Please follow me." The female staff member bowed to everyone with a smile. "Director Chen has been waiting for you inside for a long time."

"Oh!"

The staff led Xiaobai and the others to the entrance of a reception room.

As soon as Xiaobai entered the reception room, he saw a familiar figure.

The familiar messy hair, the familiar big sunglasses, the familiar big belly.

Director Chen, whom we hadn't seen for a week, was holding a thick stack of papers and whispering something to a few staff members in front of him. Hearing Xiao Bai's footsteps as he entered, he turned around and a warm smile spread across his face.

"Hey! Boss! You've arrived!"

Director Chen quickly put down what he was holding and rushed over to Xiaobai.

"Director Chen, hello..."

"It must have been inconvenient for you to come all this way, right? Please, have a seat..." Before Xiaobai could finish speaking, Director Chen respectfully gestured for her to sit down. He looked behind Xiaobai and, upon spotting Abyss Yamato and the others, his eyes lit up again behind his sunglasses. "Good, good, good! You're all here! Please sit down, please sit down!"

The ship girls and the abyssal deans entered the reception room, and Director Chen immediately instructed his subordinates to arrange seats for everyone and serve tea.

As soon as Xiaobai sat down, before he could even speak, Director Chen handed him the thick stack of papers he had been holding.

"Boss, you've come at the perfect time!" Director Chen said with a look of admiration. "We were just discussing this project while waiting for you all to arrive. Now that you've arrived, please take a look!"

"Oh, thank you."

Xiao Bai picked up the papers that Director Chen handed him in surprise.

Director Chen's stack of papers was quite thick. The first page had the words "Kantai Collection Idol Project" written in large characters. Xiao Bai gently stroked the bottom of the page with his finger and found that the project was almost as thick as his head.

"So many?" Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise.

"Haha, yes!" Director Chen nodded happily.

"You wrote all of this within a week?"

"Yes."

"Wow...it must have been tough, thank you for your hard work." Xiaobai said, holding the proposal.

"Hahahaha!" Director Chen laughed four times upon hearing Xiao Bai's words. "Boss, we're not tired at all! On the contrary, this week has been the most enjoyable week I've ever had in my career! I've never felt like I'm writing a project without having to consider costs, execution difficulties, copyright issues, or anything like rival or friendly stations, big or small stars! This feeling of having all the world's resources at my fingertips, and that you'll definitely get it if I apply—it's absolutely awesome!"

"Well... after all, it's an activity supported by the Admiral's Headquarters..." Xiaobai touched the thick proposal and flipped through its contents.

This thick proposal document was intimidating to a novice.

The proposal appeared ordinary on the outside, but every page inside was filled with the schedule of idol activities. Just look at the page that Xiaobai had opened; it listed inviting internationally renowned celebrities, certain stars, and certain groups to help out, hiring top international bands to create custom music, appearing on the hottest variety shows in China, making cameo appearances in the most popular web dramas, and starring in movies... One item after another was piled up, making it seem both ridiculous and terrifying.

As a complete novice, Xiaobai actually knew nothing about celebrity management. However, looking at the names of movie stars, singers, and variety show hosts that even Xiaobai could name in the proposal, the thought that these people would become resources for his fans still weighed heavily on him.

"Wow, that's amazing!" Xiaobai exclaimed to Director Chen.

"Isn't it amazing? Even I'm intimidated by this project itself." Director Chen said with a satisfied look. "With this kind of resource support, how could it not take off!"

"Ha..." Xiaobai chuckled, "So what do we need to do? Do we need to sign an agreement or a contract or something?"

"No need for that, Governor Mu Yu has already signed with us."

"I see."

"We're already preparing to start the idol training process, which could begin as early as tomorrow. However, given your special status, many procedures are different from what we're used to, and the authority to nod and sign off doesn't lie with us. We need to check with your supervisor..."

"Oh sure!"

In the reception room, Xiao Bai listened as Director Chen passionately and animatedly recounted the contents of the project proposal.

I could listen to it all day long.

The idol project will begin tomorrow. Since there's nothing to do today, Xiaobai said goodbye to the ship girls and the abyssal deans.

It's getting late.

After saying goodbye to Director Chen, who was still full of enthusiasm, Xiaobai, along with the ship girls and the deep-sea creatures, left the Central Building.

"What a complex and impressive project..." Standing at the entrance of the Central Building, Xiao Bai rubbed his forehead, recalling what Director Chen had told him all day, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Ah, Admiral, look! Fireworks!"

A surprised sound of snowflakes reached my ears.

Following the direction Chuixue pointed, Xiaobai looked and saw fireworks lighting up the night sky.

Unlike garrison towns, you can hardly see the stars in cities.

However, in lieu of fireworks, the nights here are often illuminated by dazzling displays of light.

At night, Cloud City is surrounded by colorful lights, and it seems even more lively than during the day.

"This is another kind of scenery..." Xiaobai sighed, smiling slightly at the ship girls and the deep-sea deans. "Since we've come out for a while, why don't we go shopping first, and then rest?"

"Great!" All the ship girls and the abyssal deans raised their hands in approval.

"Oh, by the way, Admiral, have you decided on where we'll be staying?"

"The hotel has been booked... but just as I was leaving, Director Chen gave me an address, saying that he had arranged other accommodations for us."

"It should be a hotel room, right?"

He said it was a villa.

"A villa???" The ship girls and the abyssal deans all turned around.

"I didn't ask for the specifics, after all, he talked all day and his voice was hoarse." Xiaobai smiled.

"So, where is the villa located?"

"Hmm... this place looks unfamiliar. It seems to be a residential area, something like 'First Place'." Xiaobai muttered to herself, head down, stroking her chin. "Hmm... it's quite inconvenient for us to keep staying in hotels. It would be better to have a real house to live in. This villa... it should be big enough for twenty people..."

Chapter 2270 Visiting the Door

Director Chen arranged for Xiaobai and the others to stay in a large villa in a luxury residential area in Yuncheng.

Compared to the modern appearance of most areas filled with steel and concrete high-rise buildings, the affluent area that Director Chen introduced to Xiaobai was full of plants and lush greenery. Each villa guarded its own vast artificial lawn, like lighthouses at night, and they were far apart from each other. If a human were to walk around the entire neighborhood on foot, it would probably take a whole day.

Fortunately, there are always automated vehicles at the entrance of the community.

Xiaobai, along with the ship girls and deep-sea maids, registered their information briefly at the entrance of the residential area before taking a vehicle from the complex to their own villa.

After getting out of the car, everyone looked around at the villa in front of them.

On a vast, verdant grassland, a villa resembling a miniature castle sits beneath the starry sky.

"Wow—what a vast grassland!" Fubuki stood on tiptoe, placing her palm in front of her eyebrows as she gazed into the distance.

"In a city like Yuncheng where land is incredibly expensive, I never imagined that such a luxurious residential complex would exist." Chi Cheng looked at the large villa in front of him and muttered to himself with a wry smile, "There are so many rich people in this world."

"I heard that everyone who lives here is very wealthy."

"So, we can see big stars?!"

"How extravagant it is, Erling Shanling weeps!"

The ship girls approached the villa, marveling at its beauty.

The villa, which resembled a fortress, had no locks, but the doors and windows were tightly shut. The ship girls stood at the door for a while, trying to figure out how to open it. When Xiaobai approached, the villa door made a click, and then a beam of white light shone from the camera at the door, illuminating Xiaobai's face.

"Recognition successful, welcome home."

A gentle, friendly mechanical female voice came from the camera, the lights in the entire villa turned on, and then the door slowly opened, revealing a magnificent hall.

"Wow, this is high-tech!"

The ship girls gasped in amazement as they watched the gate rise.

The villa opens directly into a spacious living room, which is extremely large, with four or five sets of sofas.

Ship girls and deep-sea maids poured in, and nearly twenty people were instantly scattered throughout the living room. At a glance, the hall still appeared spacious and well-equipped.

The group strolled around the villa with great excitement, occasionally letting out sounds of surprise.

"Wow, this villa even has a cold storage room! It's filled with vegetables, fruits, meat, and snacks!"

"What a huge TV!"

"Hmph...this sofa is quite soft."

"Are all the CDs in this cabinet music?"

"Look, there are more than a dozen bedrooms upstairs!"

"What? It's time for my favorite part—choosing a room—again? I want the biggest one!"

The deep-sea deans in the living room stormed up to the second floor.

Xiaobai looked at everyone in the villa with a smile. She walked to a sofa and gently touched the leather.

It feels pretty good.

Then Xiaobai discovered that on the sofa she was touching, a yawning Pachina was lying on its side, its white hair wrapped around its body like a little cotton-padded jacket.

Compared to the excitement of the others, Pachina's face showed little interest; at this moment, she seemed to want to get a good night's sleep rather than explore the villa.

"Pachina, aren't you going to choose a room?"

“Me? Never mind…” Pachina on the sofa stirred slightly, revealing her slender, smooth legs and the little leather shoes she hadn’t taken off yet. She opened one eye and lazily glanced at Xiaobai. “Compared to the bed, the sofa is more comfortable.”

A soft sound of footsteps came from behind Xiaobai.

Little White turned around, and Loki was walking up with a plate of cut fruit.

"Master, would you like some fruit?" Loki brought out the fruit.

"Huh? This is..."

"The materials are all readily available."

"Then I'll try it..." Xiaobai reached out and picked up a slice of apple, put it in her mouth and chewed it. It was plump, juicy and incredibly sweet. "Oh... this is really delicious."

"It seems to be a very expensive brand," Loki said, holding up the plate of food.

"No wonder it's a high-end, wealthy neighborhood," Xiaobai said, noticing a map on the sofa out of the corner of her eye. She bent down, picked it up, and glanced at it, discovering that it was a map showing the inside and outside of the villa. "This is the first time I've ever seen a house so big that it needs a map... Oh? There's also a private swimming pool and a private garden outside the house, and a public golf course not far away."

"A swimming pool?" York and Baltimore, who were not far away, heard the voice and came closer. "You can swim here?"

The ship girls still love water after all, and their expressions immediately brightened up when they heard about the water play facilities.

“Yes, the map also says that staff will regularly change the water and maintain it, so it can be used at any time. But it’s winter now, so even if it can be used, the pool area will probably be very cold.” Xiaobai put down the map and smiled slightly at the ship girl in front of her. “But the area is quite large. Although it can’t compare to the scale of our naval base’s training ground, it’s still enough for you to wade in the water and run around to relax.”

"What comprehensive facilities!" the two exclaimed.

Xiaobai searched for Akagi in the living room and found her in the kitchen, enthusiastically fiddling with a sharp cleaver. In front of her were cooking ingredients such as potatoes, green onions, tomatoes, meat, eggs, and dairy products, looking like she was about to unleash her full potential.

"I didn't expect even the kitchen to be a professional-sized back kitchen, and there are plenty of cooking ingredients in the cold storage. Hmm, I'm getting motivated." Akagi rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair forearms, and picked up a gleaming cleaver. "Since everyone hasn't eaten today, why don't we make a Manchu Han Imperial Feast for once?"

Turn on the stove.

Little White, who was lying by the kitchen door, looked at Akagi, who was full of interest, and touched his belly with some fear.