Elder brother's garrison

"?"

Xiao Bai didn't explain further to Lu Ming; she simply pulled him away from the check-in area and led him to the other side of the airport.

Just then, a passenger plane arrived at the airport and landed smoothly on the airport floor outside the transparent glass.

As the plane landed, the number of people inside the airport surged.

Xiao Bai and Lu Ming sat in the arrivals area for a while, and soon, familiar figures appeared in the flow of people disembarking.

As the figure appeared, the atmosphere inside the airport seemed to become more pleasant and welcoming.

The people Xiaobai was waiting for were more than a dozen young, beautiful women, each with their own unique charm.

As soon as the beauties appeared, they were immediately surrounded by admiring glances.

"Over here!" As soon as Xiaobai saw that direction, he raised his hand and waved.

Upon seeing Xiaobai, the people disembarking from the plane quickened their pace and hurried towards it.

Chapter 2458 Meeting an Old Friend

Lu Ming lifted his baseball cap and gazed at the women with a curious expression.

There were more than a dozen girls getting off the plane, and they were walking briskly toward this side, led by a woman with long flaxen hair.

Were they waiting for someone...?

A sense of enlightenment dawned on Lu Ming, and then his gaze swept over the approaching women.

The group of girls approaching varied in age; some were mature and voluptuous, while others were petite and charming. The former resembled wealthy ladies or models, while the latter looked like students or children. However, regardless of the age difference between them, they all shared a peculiar commonality: their appearances were all exceptionally outstanding.

The moment these girls appeared in the waiting hall, they immediately attracted everyone's attention, becoming the focus of the entire hall.

Is she a ship girl?

Just as Lu Ming suddenly realized what was happening, the ship girls had already arrived in front of Xiao Bai.

"Xiao Bai." A mature woman with long flaxen hair, who was leading the group, stopped in front of Xiao Bai. She greeted Xiao Bai with a smile, showing her gentleness, "We're here."

"Lexington!" A smile immediately spread across Xiaobai's face. She ran forward quickly and, without any hesitation, threw herself into the woman's arms, snuggling against her and saying, "We've been waiting for you for so long! You've finally arrived!"

Lexington bent down slightly and hugged the little white thing in her arms.

Lexington stroked the back of Whitey's long hair as if he were stroking a child, a smile on his face.

"We miss you so much, Xiaobai... I hope Jiajia hasn't caused you any trouble these past few days?"

"No, no, Saratoga is very well-behaved."

"Really?"

"real!"

"Looks like I'll have to give Jiajia a good compliment when I see her later."

Xiao Bai and Lexington chatted and laughed quite freely.

Behind Lexington, Veneto, dressed in black and wearing sunglasses, coughed lightly twice.

"Cough cough."

"Veneto!" Upon hearing Veneto's voice, Xiaobai looked at Veneto with delight.

"Hmm... Admiral." Veneto tilted his sunglasses up slightly, revealing a ruby-red eye, and nodded arrogantly at Xiaobai. "Long time no see."

"It feels so good to see you here." Little White took Veneto's hand and smiled at her with relief. "What about Rome and the Empire?"

Under Xiaobai's touch, the diamond ring on Veneto's ring finger sparkled with dazzling light.

Feeling the white pet bird's touch, a faint pink blush rose to Veneto's cheeks.

Before Veneto could reply, a healthy and spirited voice rang out from behind the crowd.

"Admiral! Are you calling me?!"

Xiao Bai looked towards the back of the crowd and saw Rome, dressed in sportswear, pulling the Empire along as they ran up from the back of the crowd, followed by four strangely dressed destroyers.

Empire was wearing a quiet floral dress today. She was as sleepy as ever, her head drooping like a chick pecking at rice. If Rome hadn't been watching her closely, Empire probably would have collapsed on the airport floor after only a couple of steps.

As Rome and the Empire arrived at Xiaobai's side, a series of footsteps could be heard, and four destroyers with different styles and personalities gathered around Xiaobai.

"Admiral, Admiral, good morning!" Camicia happily raised her hand and greeted Shiro in a very familiar manner. "Hehe! Didn't expect that, did you! We came with Big Sister too!"

"Admiral...excuse me!"

"Thanks for showing us around, Admiral! Mua~"

"Admiral—uh!" Antonio moved closer to Xiaobai, grabbed Xiaobai's sleeve, his little face flushed with excitement, and kept jumping up and down on the spot.

"Hello everyone," Xiaobai smiled at the destroyers.

“Because you said on the phone that this was a rare opportunity and the more people who come, the better, I thought about it and decided to bring them all.” Veneto gently pressed the heads of the four destroyers and explained to Xiaobai, “I hope I haven’t caused you any trouble, Admiral.”

"How could that be? The more people, the more lively it is." Xiao Bai smiled and shook his head at Veneto.

“Then I’m relieved…” Veneto smiled sincerely.

Xiao Bai smiled at Veneto, then continued to look around.

Changchun stood prettily to one side, carrying a small backpack.

When Xiaobai turned her gaze towards her, Changchun shyly brushed a strand of white hair behind her ear and gave Xiaobai a sweet smile.

"Admiral, I'm here too."

"Changchun, you've come at the right time... Didn't the Soviets come with you?"

"Um...the Soviet sisters...um...because Washington's party has been held at the naval base for the past few days, so..."

"Ok."

Xiao Bai stepped forward and hugged Chang Chun. The two smiled at each other.

"Ugh—Admiral, I want a hug too!" Just then, Enterprise, who was in the crowd, saw how close Xiaobai and Changchun were and immediately pouted, asking Xiaobai for a hug.

Before she could finish speaking, a fist the size of a small sandbag landed on the company's head.

"when!!"

"oops!"

The company was immediately dumbfounded.

"The admiral is all lovey-dovey with his new ship, and you, a freeloader, are here arguing and getting jealous!" Yorktown, hands on her hips and clenching her hard fists, lectured Enterprise. "Do you think you can just have the admiral's hug whenever you want? First, you have to be a destroyer! Or you have to be his wife! You want the admiral to hug you today, but I don't even want to think about what you'll want him to do tomorrow!"

"Woooo..."

"Yorktown... is so strict..." Bumblebee chuckled, covering her mouth beside Yorktown.

"Bumblebee!"

"Huh, I didn't say anything, I didn't say anything..." Bumblebee suddenly realized and quickly started whistling.

"Admiral, Admiral, don't worry, I'll keep an eye on these two disobedient sisters!" Yorktown grabbed Enterprise with one hand and Bumblebee with the other, holding her two sisters tightly to her sides. Then, she said to White with a sincere look, "Admiral, you can rest assured! With me here, these two girls won't cause you any trouble! In the name of Yorktown!"

"Waaah, Admiral's hug..." Enterprise pleaded pitifully.

“Forget about the company, why me too…” Bumblebee clung to Yorktown’s arm, his face flushed.

"No, there's no need to..." Xiaobai waved his hand at Yorktown with a wry smile.

Just as Xiaobai was about to greet the Yorktown sisters, her gaze was suddenly drawn to the side.

Ah! Missouri!

Xiao Bai's gaze landed precisely on Missouri in the crowd.

Little White quickly ran to the front of Missouri.

"Admiral, it's been a long time." Missouri put down his luggage and looked at Xiaobai with a smile.

"Missouri, why didn't you say hello to me just now?" Xiaobai said to Missouri with a hint of reproach, then quickly took Missouri's hands and shook them happily.

"Missouri is content as long as she can see the Admiral."

"Hmm! Smooth talker!"

"..."

As Lu Ming watched Xiao Bai interact with the ship girls, and saw how happy Xiao Bai was in front of them, Lu Ming became slightly distracted.

The people who appeared in front of me... were indeed Admiral Lu Lin's ship girls.

Realizing this, Lu Ming's curiosity gradually turned into doubt. She silently looked at the ship girls who were behaving very obediently in front of Xiao Bai, and couldn't help but lower her head, feeling somewhat uneasy.

But at that moment, a call suddenly reached Lu Ming's ears.

Shropshire?

It was a mature and charming female voice, a voice that was quite familiar to Lu Ming.

"?!"

Upon hearing this call, Lu Ming, who was still looking down, was startled and looked up in surprise.

From among the group of ship girls, a black-haired woman wearing sunglasses and a sun hat emerged from the area that had been previously obscured.

The woman who stepped out of the crowd took off her sunglasses, revealing a face that was extremely familiar to Lu Ming.

The moment Lu Ming saw the woman's face, his expression changed from surprise to utter astonishment.

"...Mutsu...Sister?"

Lu Ming read the name of the woman in front of him word by word, muttering it in disbelief.

"Good sister, so you still remember your sister's name?" Mutsu put her hands behind her back and smiled sweetly. "I thought you stopped talking to people after you became a big star."

“!!” Lu Ming was stunned, and she quickly shook her head.

Lu Ming stepped forward, his hands somewhat awkwardly reaching out to Mutsu.

Mutsu also reached out and gently grasped Shikamei's hands, the two quietly interlacing their fingers.

"Sister Mutsu, you...you weren't with the mercenary group...you...you and Admiral Lu Lin..."

"Hmm... I know what you want to ask. Well, about this, it actually goes back quite a while..." Mutsu smiled at Shikamei. "But since we've met again, wouldn't it be a bit of a mood killer to talk about old clichés? Anyway, I've graduated from that heartless mercenary group and am now working at the Admiral's naval base."

"Join, join the company..."

"From this perspective, it's a promotion, right?" Mutsu winked at Shikamei.

“Admiral Lu Lin…” Lu Ming gripped Lu Ao’s hand tightly, slowly looking at Xiao Bai with a straight gaze, “This is… a surprise?”

"Of course, the surprises aren't just for my sister," Mutsu said to Shikamei.

“…?” Lu Ming looked at Mu Tsukushi in a daze.

Mutsu gave Shikame a mysterious smile, released Shikame's hand, and turned to the side.

After Mutsu turned to the side, Lu Ming realized that there was another ship girl standing behind Mutsu.

The ship girl bit her lip, raised her head, and looked at Lu Ming with a complicated expression.

The moment Lu Ming's eyes met, Lu Ming's whole body trembled violently.

"Yo, Shropshire, we meet again." The goddess of the hearth waved to the stag, her gaze complex.

"The goddess of the hearth... Master?!" Lu Ming covered his mouth and took several steps back.

Chapter 2459 It's great to have an admiral.

Now that things have progressed to this point, Lu Ming's identity as a ship girl is becoming increasingly clear.

Shikame, or rather Shropshire, is the hidden identity of the "poor junior who dismantled his ship equipment" that Mutsu and Shiro talked about before.

……

Inside the villa in Yuncheng.

In Shiro's bedroom, Mutsu and Shiro were sitting on a bed.

"As mentioned before, Shropshire was like that girl. About a year ago, during a mercenary mission, she was accidentally attacked by an Abyssal Fleet, resulting in severe damage to her ship equipment. At the time, our mercenary leader wanted to allocate combat resources to ships with more valuable combat capabilities, so he postponed Shropshire's ship equipment repair schedule for a while—this kind of situation is not uncommon in our civilian mercenary groups, and we were used to it at first. But during that critical period, Shropshire's squad was ambushed by an Abyssal Fleet while on a mission. When our main force arrived at the scene after receiving the news, all the ship girls in the squad were already severely damaged, and Shropshire... as the only ship girl in the team who was already severely damaged before the battle, she suffered very serious damage to both her ship equipment and her body."

As Mutsu spoke, her expression grew heavy, and she closed her eyes, her fists clenching slightly.

"...It really was a very serious injury. I...I will never forget what Shropshire was like back then."

As Xiaobai listened to Mutsu's story, she swallowed hard and carefully handed him a bottle of mineral water.