Elder brother's garrison

Xiaobai already has six people, so adding Cleveland wouldn't make a difference.

Cleveland stood hesitantly in front of the dining area, watching as Xiaobai and the five ship girls easily found a larger table and sat down together.

Although they were teammates from the same team, Cleveland couldn't very well just freeload.

At this moment, the young lady, who had finished checking the merit points, calmly removed Xiaobai's admiral's certificate and walked up to Xiaobai.

If you don't have enough merit points and still enter the Admiral's Guild's paid area, the consequences will be severe. They don't care if you're an Admiral or not; they'll kick you out and terminate all Admiral's Guild services until you've collected enough fines.

The Admiral's Guild has a repair pool and various ship girl maintenance facilities. Without the Admiral's Guild's services, how are you going to clear the first chapter? Are you expecting your ship girls to clear the map without taking any damage at all times?

Even if your ship girls manage to clear the map without taking damage, they still need to be resupplyed with ammunition and fuel. In the entire city, the Admiral's Guild is the only organization with that authority.

The expected scene of the young woman smiling as she dialed the security guard's phone did not occur.

The young lady held Xiaobai's admiral's certificate in both hands, bent down, and politely returned it to Xiaobai.

Even those in nearby Cleveland could see the hostesses' hands trembling as they held their admiral's certificates.

—Holy crap, what did I just see?

"See, are you alright?" Xiao Bai accepted the admiral's certificate, handed it to Veneto who was standing next to him, and then waved to Cleveland, "Come in."

Cleveland hesitated for a moment, seemingly considering various factors.

"Cleveland, you're Nia's ship girl, right? Nia works here too, so waiving your admission fee isn't a bad thing." The girl who had been holding the admiral's certificate noticed Cleveland's predicament and said to him.

“…Thank you.” Cleveland then walked in.

Cleveland isn't stupid; the Admiral's Guild isn't that humane. The hostess's words clearly showed she had figured out her relationship with Xiaobai.

Giving it to Xiaobai is also giving yourself a way out.

—It seems that the admiral I'm teaming up with might have an unusual background…

Cleveland unconsciously began to ponder the significance of this team formation.

Cleveland sat down at the table, shrinking somewhat awkwardly into a corner.

The hostess handed me the menu.

Xiao Bai opened the menu and, sure enough, found that the prices of all the dishes were marked with merit points.

Expensive dishes cost several hundred merit points, while cheap dishes only cost a few dozen merit points. Bread, rice, water, coffee, and drinks are all free.

"Veneto, how many merits does our family have?" Little White secretly asked Veneto.

“Hmm, I remember it’s been a long time since I changed it.” Veneto thought for a moment before answering in a low voice, “There’s probably not much left, maybe three or four million.”

"Oh? So many?"

"What's so special about it? A single MK6 costs over 100,000 merit points," Veneto said in a low voice.

Ultimately, the problem lies in the fact that the cultivation level in Chapter One is too low. Even if you spend a thousand merit points here, you won't be able to spend much of it. If this were in the seventh chapter's sea area, a thousand merit points wouldn't even be enough to buy a ticket to an auction house.

Xiao Bai turned around with the mindset of suddenly becoming rich.

Cleveland sat on the chair with his legs drawn up, slowly drinking orange juice through a straw.

The orange juice was given to Cleveland by the hostess; she probably really likes this ship girl.

"Cleveland, would you like something to eat?" Xiaobai asked.

“Bread will do,” Cleveland said.

Bread, orange juice, and other things are all free; it's fine to eat these things for free.

"Hmm..." Xiaobai thought for a moment, but decided not to order the free bread. Instead, she chose a dish with bread as the main ingredient.

The menu was passed around among the ship girls, and they ordered one dish after another.

The hostess respectfully withdrew.

"Isn't this your first time here?" Cleveland asked, somewhat puzzled, after the ordering process was over.

The fact that Xiaobai had merit points was quite surprising to Cleveland.

"Hmm... how should I explain this?" Xiaobai knew that her true identity wasn't suitable to tell Cleveland, so she was trying to come up with a more convincing one.

"Well... this is my first time here." Xiaobai finally came up with a more plausible reason, "but I have a very reliable friend who gave me some supplies before I came."

Well, that should explain it pretty much.

Anyway, it seems that everyone I know, except for Sister Yuzu, is quite capable. If I really had to bring one of them out, they should be able to handle the whole situation.

Cleveland then nodded.

—Oh, it seems that friend is someone special, he actually scared the hostess so much.

Chapter 207 Say it again, who is the destroyer?

Seeing that Xiaobai and her companions not only took their seats normally, but were even personally greeted by the receptionist, most of the admirals in the dining area reluctantly withdrew their gazes.

Cleveland, oblivious to everything else, sucked on a straw and blew bubbles into the orange juice glass in front of him.

Cleveland looks very young, only thirteen or fourteen years old, but he gives off a mature and composed vibe.

This is rare among ship girls. Usually, a ship girl's physique and personality are linked. Cleveland's appearance suggests a flamboyant and free-spirited personality.

Speaking of which, it's worth mentioning that even ship girls with the same ship name can have different appearances. The only thing they are completely the same about is their ship rigging; the person carrying the rigging is different.

Otherwise, it would be too strange if all the Bismarcks and Tirpitz in the world had the same face.

"Cleveland, I saw you sitting at the door forming a team, why didn't you move forward a bit?" Before the food arrived, Xiaobai wanted to chat with Cleveland.

“We can’t beat them,” Cleveland said.

That's a pretty good reason.

“Your training level is much higher than theirs, right?” Veneto spoke up at this moment. She looked at Cleveland and said with some surprise, “Those people outside are at most level 10 or 12, while you are almost level 30 or so.”

Ship girls can generally sense each other's strengths and weaknesses; a top-tier ship girl like Veneto can easily tell Cleveland's training level at a glance.

Cleveland's training level is around level 30, which is definitely high among the ship girls in the first chapter of the sea area, and it wouldn't be low even if she got to the second chapter of the sea area.

Cleveland looked at Verullin-Shanbaba Siqunnetto with some surprise.

Veneto accurately predicted my training level, which proves that Veneto's training level is definitely no lower than mine.

Cleveland released his grip, lowered the leg he had been holding, and looked at Veneto cautiously.

I originally thought that since Admiral Xiaobai had five ship girls with him, she wouldn't level up as fast as I, who only had one ship girl. Her level would be about the same as others outside. But I didn't expect that Veneto could reveal in a casual sentence that her level was no lower than mine.

Cleveland looked at Veneto, then realized with some despair that she couldn't even sense Veneto's training level.

This situation is caused either by Veneto's training level being too low or too high.

—Is this white-haired, red-eyed destroyer much more skilled than me? Maybe even level 40 or 50 or higher?

Cleveland began to question the meaning of life when he thought about this.

This admiral doesn't seem to be just a simple European.

"Yeah, Cleveland, since you're so skilled, why do you feel like you can't beat them?" Xiaobai asked.

Cleveland looked at Xiaobai and sighed, "As expected, this is the first time someone has come here."

Cleveland picked up the orange juice and, somewhat forlornly, ran his fingers along the smooth glass.

“The deep-sea ships in the first chapter have almost no intelligence and are of low level. The training level of the ship girls will not improve our firepower, speed, armor or anything like that. It only affects our combat experience in terms of hit rate and evasion rate. In other words, the advantage of high training level in the first chapter is almost non-existent,” Cleveland said. “No matter how high my training level is, I am still just one person, and just a light cruiser. I can’t fire two shots at once.”

Cleveland looked up after saying this, then looked at Xiaobai with a helpless expression: "So even just two Tier 1 destroyers are more valuable for forming a team than one of me."

After saying this, Cleveland looked at Veneto and the four Fubuki sisters with some nervousness.

Cleveland was afraid that after hearing this, Xiaobai would turn around and leave, refusing to team up with him.

But as a teammate, Cleveland had to tell Xiaobai the truth.

"Oh, I see." Fortunately, Xiaobai didn't seem to have any intention of leaving the team. Xiaobai nodded, "It's okay. When we reach the higher chapters of the sea, Cleveland's high training level will become apparent. At that time, many people will be eager to team up with you."

"Thank you," Cleveland said in a low voice.

It's easy to talk about high-level sea areas, but we'll have to actually go there first.

I'm currently stuck in the first chapter's sea area, and because I'm all alone, I can't even get past the first node.

In addition, due to his special status as an admiral, no one was willing to team up with him.

The reason I didn't rush to join teams at the guild entrance before was because I was actually somewhat desperate about it.

If it weren't for Xiaobai asking him to team up today, Cleveland might never have seen the end of this chaotic period.

Seeing Cleveland's relaxed expression, Xiaobai felt much better too.

Instead of continuing to talk about ship girls and admirals with Cleveland, she found a lighter topic to chat about. After nearly ten minutes, Cleveland gradually lowered her guard against Xiaobai.

The dishes were ready by then and were brought out one by one.

Cleveland was speechless with astonishment as he looked at the lavish spread of food.

There aren't many admirals in the entire city who get to eat this kind of meal at the guild.

This table must have at least three or four hundred merit points combined.

Cleveland bread was also served.

Cleveland stared blankly at the fragrant slices of garlic bread in front of him, garnished with various cuts of beef and shrimp.

As expected of union food, even the free bread is so fancy.

Everyone picked up their utensils and prepared to start eating.

However, for some reason, as if all the troublemakers in the world didn't know when to make their appearance, a man's cough interrupted everyone's conversation.

"Ahem." A blond man dressed in an admiral's uniform walked over with a standard gentleman's smile and approached Xiaobai. "I'm sorry to bother you, beautiful lady."

The admiral placed one hand on his chest and bowed to Xiaobai.

When Cleveland saw this man, his face immediately turned ugly, as if he had seen a fly that had ruined his appetite.

—Since Cleveland has acted this way, please forgive my preconceived notions.

Even though the man was polite and humble enough, Xiaobai had a very bad first impression of him.

"Who are you?" Xiaobai asked.

“Yes, beautiful lady.” The man looked at Xiaobai with a rapturous expression. “My name is Ian Isaac, and I am an ordinary admiral.”

After absorbing the deep-sea ship equipment, Xiaobai's appearance changed dramatically, causing her to rise in attractiveness from human level to ship girl level, naturally attracting the attention of many men.

However, this was the first person Xiaobai had approached to greet since Yuxiu.

"Oh." Little White nodded. "Then, Uncle Ian, what do you want to see me about?"

Ian's face stiffened when he heard Xiaobai address him as such.

Xiao Bai is sixteen years old this year, and the man in front of her is probably twenty-four or twenty-five years old. If Xiao Bai really wants to call Ian "uncle", it doesn't seem like it would be a bad idea.

"Ha...haha, you're quite the joker, beautiful lady." Ian quickly covered up the awkwardness and laughed heartily. "May I ask your name, miss?"

"Lu Lin."

"Lu Lin, what a beautiful name."

Xiao Bai frowned.

She is not used to situations where the other person flatters her no matter what she says.

Besides, Xiaobai doesn't think the name Lu Lin sounds nice.

“We’re still eating, can you finish quickly?” Veneto reminded Ian.

Ian gave Veneto a bright smile: "I'm here to request to form a strong team with the ladies in front of me."

it is as expected.

Cleveland clutched at his clothes again, his heart leaping into his throat once more.

"Well, I am an admiral who is considered to have some strength in the city in the first chapter. Like the beautiful lady, I also have five ship girls, three of whom are destroyers, one is a light cruiser and one is a light carrier. I think that if you were to team up with me, it would be a very good experience for both of us, the beautiful Miss Lu Lin. What do you think, Miss?" Ian said respectfully.

Xiao Bai then realized that this person was clearly there to steal someone away.

"No need, thank you, I've already teamed up with Cleveland," Xiaobai declined.

Ian glanced at Cleveland.

In that instant, the humility and respect in his eyes subtly transformed into a hint of contempt.