Elder brother's garrison

"Miss Lu Ming needs to have more confidence in herself," Xiao Bai said. "The appeal of a national-level movie star is much greater than you might imagine."

"..." Lu Ming didn't reply. She simply stretched her arm over to Xiao Bai's side and gently smoothed out the wrinkles on Xiao Bai's bedding.

Inside the ward, the television on the wall continued to play images.

The commendation ceremony began amidst a burst of rousing music.

The male and female hosts on the screen loudly recited their lines, beginning to tell the audience the story of the Abyssal Yamato's heroic act yesterday. It was indeed an officially supported commendation ceremony; thanks to the hosts' powerful delivery and excellent script, they transformed yesterday's ordinary story of heroism into a moving and tear-jerking tale. They particularly praised the bond between the ship girls and humans, and the sacrifices made by the admiral and humans guarding the desolate coastline. This performance brought tears to the eyes of most of the audience, and the applause was thunderous and prolonged.

"..."

"Some people ask, what exactly makes ship girls extend a helping hand to humanity?"

Do you need a reason to lend a helping hand to your family?

"Ship girls are born on the sea, but the land under the white clouds will always be their warm home."

"Within the hard steel, the will of man dwells with them. Let us welcome our partners, our family, with applause!"

On the television screen, the two hosts took turns speaking, and after a speech that lasted more than ten minutes, they cheered for the audience in a passionate tone.

Amidst thunderous applause, one by one, the elegantly dressed Deans of the Deep Sea Institute were invited onto the stage.

Amidst thunderous applause, the hosts interviewed the Abyssal Deities, led by Abyssal Yamato. Facing the interviewers, Abyssal Yamato spoke with utmost sincerity and fluency, stating things like, "Humans and ship girls are partners who share life and death," "Defeating the Abyssal Fleet is the shared aspiration of both humans and ship girls," "Helping humans as a ship girl is an action etched into our DNA," and "Life on the high seas is extremely harsh; I no longer want to see my comrades leave me." The impact was obvious; these words, spoken by Abyssal Yamato, were far more powerful, even bringing tears to the hosts' eyes.

Lu Ming was intently watching the TV screen when he suddenly felt that Xiao Bai beside him seemed to be trembling slightly.

Lu Ming turned his head and saw Xiao Bai covering her mouth, bent over, her whole body pressed against the bed, quietly trembling.

"What's wrong?" Lu Ming asked, pressing his arm against Xiao Bai's back with concern.

"No, nothing... I just... couldn't help... laughing... pfft..." Little White on the bed covered her mouth, her face turning red from laughing at Yamato's lines.

Strictly speaking, this commendation ceremony was very touching, with excellent emotional rendering from beginning to end.

Especially what Yamato Fukami said in the interview was an invisible blow to ordinary viewers who were already emotionally vulnerable, capable of instantly overwhelming their tear ducts.

But for Xiaobai, this awards ceremony felt more like a "don't laugh" challenge.

—After all, the ship girls who act bravely on TV are actually real Abyssal Deans. What in this world could be more hilarious than hearing Abyssal Deans sing praises of the bond between humans and ship girls?

Xiao Bai was already relieved that he hadn't attended the awards ceremony; if he had accidentally laughed out loud at the ceremony, it would have been quite a spectacle.

Chapter 2457 Everyone's here

During the live broadcast of the awards ceremony, the photographers would occasionally point their lenses to the first row of the audience.

The expressions of Akagi and the others sitting in the first row of the audience as they watched the Deep Sea Deans on stage sing praises to the ship girls were quite peculiar. They looked as if they were watching their longtime friends create a new embarrassing history. They suppressed their laughter, but tried their best to control their expressions so that they wouldn't laugh out loud in public.

Fortunately, the interviews with the directors of the Deep Sea Institute eventually came to an end.

After interviewing the Dean of the Deep Sea, the next person to be interviewed was the Admiral. However, because Xiaobai was absent due to other matters, the interviewer was changed to Miao Yang, the temporary agent of the ship girls.

On television, Miao Yang, dressed in a formal gown, stepped onto the stage.

Miao Yang truly lives up to her reputation as the most capable agent in Director Chen's company. Facing the scrutiny of tens of thousands of people, Miao Yang showed no stage fright whatsoever. Especially when the host asked her about her experience interacting with the ship girls, Miao Yang spoke candidly about how she had forged a deep friendship with them in a short period of time, how ship girls are humanity's best companions, and how a life without interacting with ship girls is destined to be a failure, and so on...

Although Miao Yang's words also had many flaws, they were much easier for newbies to accept than watching the Deep Sea Dean sing praises of ship girls.

Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief, patted his chest, and continued watching the commendation ceremony.

The commendation ceremony lasted for two hours in a warm atmosphere and concluded successfully with heartfelt closing remarks from the hosts.

The last image on the television screen lingered on the cheering audience.

After watching the awards ceremony, Xiao Bai gently patted his chest and took out his phone to check the trending topics.

The commendation ceremony had just ended when all ten spots on the trending topics list were filled with keywords related to ship girls.

"Top trending topic: Why do humans need ship girls?"

Second on the trending list: Yuncheng Commendation Conference.

The third trending topic: When in danger, what can provide a greater sense of security than ship girls?

Fourth on the trending list: Cloud City Ship Girls.

Fifth on the trending topics: Ship girls' acts of bravery.

Sixth on the trending topics: Ship Girl Celebrities

......"

The social media apps that Xiaobai opened were filled with discussions about ship girls, and even the trending images were full of pictures of Abyssal Yamato and the others.

Xiaobai randomly clicked on the most popular discussion thread and looked at the comments section.

"Yamato-san is so cool! Aww, she's so beautiful!"

"How can there be such a perfect group of girls in the world!"

"With such wonderful things as ship girls existing, why would someone pursue the Dean of the Deep Sea?"

"Because Dean Deepsea will appear when those people are in danger (laughs)."

"Hahaha, finally I've vented my anger! Before, the whole internet was praising Dean Shenhai, but now the public opinion has reversed. Let's see who dares to show their faces now! Die!!!"

"I didn't see Admiral Lu Lin at this commendation ceremony... Disappointing."

"Humanity's best companion has always been one and only: the ship girls!"

"My dream is to marry a ship girl... even though I'm actually a girl."

"Upstairs +1, sister, me too!! I've also become a fan of the ship girl sisters! Yamato is so beautiful and cool, she sings and dances so hard, and she's so kind to her fans, she's really amazing————"

"..."

Xiao Bai scrolled through the comments section and sighed deeply.

Although the methods used in the end were slightly different, given the current situation on the internet, the matter that Mu Yu had asked me to do before can be considered... a perfect ending, right?

Now that Akagi and Kaga have also been taken away by me, news about the Dean of the Deep Sea should gradually fade away over time. The craze for ship girls should become more and more popular under the influence of my own "ship girls". In the end, although it may not be possible to sweep the world and remain popular forever, it will at least surpass the Dean of the Deep Sea.

Xiaobai turned off her phone and put it in her pocket.

"It was a really good awards ceremony." Lu Ming reluctantly turned her gaze away from the TV screen and said to Xiao Bai.

"Miss Luming likes to watch this?"

"Mm." Lu Ming nodded, a hint of satisfaction in his eyes. "It was very satisfying to watch."

"I never knew Miss Shikamaru liked ship girls so much..."

Xiao Bai scratched his cheek a little embarrassedly.

Xiao Bai glanced at Lu Ming's hand, which was resting on the blanket.

Lu Ming had several obvious needle marks on the back of her hand. These needle marks were slightly red and black, which were particularly noticeable on her fair skin.

"Miss Lu Ming... speaking of which, how many IV drips have you had since you were admitted to the hospital yesterday?"

"...Not many, only seven or eight bottles."

"Does it hurt?"

"It doesn't hurt." Lu Ming shook her head, rubbed the needle marks on the back of her hand, put her hand under the covers, and looked at Xiao Bai with a relaxed gaze.

Xiao Bai turned her head to look at the IV drip bottle beside the hospital bed, then at the wreaths scattered on the floor, and finally at the medical examination report on the bedside table.

“…Miss Luming,” Xiaobai suddenly called out.

"Ok?"

"Now that we've finished watching TV, should we find something to do?"

"Shall we watch something else?"

"No." Xiaobai shook her head, her eyes shining as she looked at Luming. "Miss Luming... don't you think it's stuffy in the ward? Do you want to escape with me?"

"...?"

Xiao Bai and Lu Ming looked at each other, and a silence fell between them.

……

An hour later, the door to the ward was pushed open.

"Miss Luming, have you rested enough? It's time for your IV drip." The nurse, head bowed, pushed a cart into Luming's room. She skillfully avoided the flower wreaths scattered on the floor, parked the cart in front of the bed, and then took the IV bag out of the cart and hung it on the stand. "The doctor told me today that Miss Luming, you need to pay extra attention to rest and not let your body... eh?"

The nurse was stunned until she took out the IV drip and looked at the hospital bed.

The hospital bed was completely empty.

The nurse, clutching the IV drip, looked around the ward blankly before realizing the situation.

"Huh? Hey hey hey Miss Luming??"

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no!!"

"Help! Help! The patient...the patient has escaped! The patient has escaped!!!"

The nurse's panicked and anxious shouts instantly shattered the tranquility of the hospital.

Soon, hurried footsteps and the sounds of people moving about filled the hospital.

"What?! Lu Ming ran away?!"

"Where did Lu Ming go??"

"Oh my little darling! Quick, quick, go find him!!"

The hospital was in complete chaos.

……

at the same time.

Inside Yuncheng Airport, Xiaobai and Luming, wearing baseball caps and with their heads down, jogged along until they finally stopped at the airport entrance.

At the airport entrance, Miao Yang, now dressed in ordinary clothes, was carrying a suitcase and looking around warily for Xiao Bai.

"Miss Miao!" Xiaobai grabbed Luming's hand and ran up to her, waving vigorously at Miao Yang.

Upon hearing Xiaobai's voice, Miao Yang, who was looking around, shuddered and then looked in Xiaobai's direction.

"Huh? Admiral Lu Lin, you really came... Eh? Miss Lu Ming?? What are you doing here too?" Miao Yang was stunned. She looked at Xiao Bai and Lu Ming who ran up to her, and was momentarily confused. "Miss Lu Ming... Uh... I'm not human, I heard you're in the hospital right now?"

Lu Ming stopped in front of Miao Yang. She looked around and then bowed to Miao Yang without saying a word.

Miao Yang was so frightened that she quickly waved her hand.

"Haha, I brought Miss Luming out for some fresh air." Xiaobai laughed at Miao Yang.

"Ah? This, this isn't a good idea..." Miao Yang's gaze was momentarily unable to leave Lu Ming, and her expression became conflicted.

"Don't worry, don't worry, nothing will happen." Xiaobai said to Miao Yang with a smile, "Miss Miao, are you about to board the plane? We're here to keep our promise and personally see you off on the plane."

"Oh, right! We're about to take off!" Miao Yang nodded excitedly as soon as she heard this, immediately forgetting all about the deer's cry.

Xiao Bai took Lu Ming's hand, they smiled at each other, and then the two of them pushed Miao Yang's luggage and saw her into the airport.

"Ms. Miao, thank you so much for your help during this time. I will ask the resort to take good care of you."

As they walked, Xiaobai spoke to Miao Yang.

"Thank you, thank you Admiral Lu Lin..." Miao Yang hugged her luggage, deeply moved. "I can finally take a vacation..."

"Enjoy your vacation to the fullest!"

"I will, I will!"

Despite wind and rain, they persevered.

Xiao Bai and Lu Ming escorted Miao Yang to the boarding gate and watched her disappear into the crowd.

As Miao Yang walked, she waved her arms at Xiao Bai with emotion, and finally disappeared from Xiao Bai and Lu Ming's sight as she walked further and further away with the crowd.

"Phew." Watching Miao Yang leave, Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief. "That's one thing that's been settled."

Xiao Bai turned her head to look and saw Lu Ming curiously observing the crowd around her.

"Did we come to the airport just to see Miss Miao off?" Lu Ming asked curiously.

"Miss Luming, don't you like it here?" Xiaobai didn't answer Luming, but asked with a mysterious smile.

“No, I like it very much.” Upon hearing Xiaobai’s words, Lu Ming immediately replied gently, “It’s better here than in the hospital room.”

"Haha." Xiaobai laughed, and she took Luming's hand and walked towards the waiting room. "Miss Luming, don't worry, you'll like it even more here later."