Elder brother's garrison

"That's because the manager and I are already acquaintances." Xiaobai smiled sheepishly. "Speaking of which, Aoba and Eugen, is it alright if you come back with me? You can stay in the cafe and enjoy yourselves."

"It's okay, we've finished the coffee and the cake anyway." Aoba shook her head.

"Because Aoba said he wanted to spend more time with the Admiral!" Quincy innocently interjected from the side.

"Kun Kun Kun Kun Kun Xi!" Aoba hurriedly covered Kun Xi's mouth, then blushed and protested to Xiaobai, "Admiral, don't listen to Kun Xi's nonsense, I...I...I didn't..."

A series of hissing sounds came from above Qingye's head as she explained, and wisps of white smoke could be vaguely seen rising from her head.

On the way back, the atmosphere was quite lively thanks to the addition of Aoba Quincy and Washington.

Back at the naval base, Shiro chatted with the others as they passed through a garden equipped with a fountain.

At the sprinkler in front of the garden, a blonde woman in a maid outfit was chatting with a petite woman in a revealing swimsuit. Under everyone's gaze, the blonde maid, with her back to Xiaobai and his group, held a broom, seemingly having been working. The petite woman in the revealing swimsuit in front of her seemed engrossed in her conversation.

"Huh? Aren't these Richelieu and Succouv?"

As Xiaobai and the others passed by, they smiled and waved to them.

"Riccioli, Sukoff, good afternoon."

"Hey?"

Hearing Xiaobai's call, Richelieu, who was chatting with Sukuv, paused for a moment. She looked at Xiaobai in surprise as he walked towards her from the direction of the gate, and quickly bowed to him. Then she watched Xiaobai and his group leave.

Compared to the respectful and polite Richelieu, Succouv was much more rude. As soon as Succouv heard Little White's voice, she let out a weak "Ah!" and then her whole body trembled slightly as if she had stepped on an electric shock. Her face turned red, and she collapsed into the arms of the bewildered Richelieu.

Chapter 2546 Farewell to Frederick the Great

"Sukuf looks like that... he probably doesn't need any help, right?" Xiaobai scratched his cheek and said to everyone somewhat awkwardly.

"Admiral... leaving her as soon as possible would be the greatest help you can give her..." Aoba said to Shiro with a shy smile.

Most of the ship girls in the naval base had heard of Surcouf's tearful accusations against Shiro.

The ship girls naturally knew about the thousands upon thousands of Shiro's mental energy imprints in Surcouf's ship equipment.

"Speaking of which, Admiral, your network of admirals must be much stronger than before, right?" Aoba asked. "Then, Admiral, could you try to remove some of the spiritual imprints from Surcouf's ship equipment?"

"Well... once a mental imprint is implanted into a ship's rigging, it's basically impossible to remove..." Xiaobai thought for a moment and said with some regret, "And even if it could be removed, I don't think it would be of much use to Succou..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Aoba asked curiously.

"The reason why Sukup always turns out like this when she sees me isn't actually because of the mental imprints in her ship equipment," Xiaobai explained apologetically. "How should I put it... it's more like... a kind of psychological trauma? When we first linked, I accidentally used too much force, and that happened, so it left her with some trauma... ever since then, she'll act like this whenever she thinks about that incident. The mental imprints probably don't cause her any additional feelings."

"Wow... then there's really no way to deal with it..." Aoba said regretfully.

“…Yeah…” Xiaobai smiled wryly.

With an expression that was seven parts apologetic, two parts embarrassed, and one part regretful, Xiaobai watched Succouff in the garden until she and Richelieu disappeared from his sight, and then he sighed.

Actually, if you really want to know how to make Surcouf see that he doesn't know how to do *that*, Xiaobai does have a way.

After all, Surcouf's problem stemmed from psychological trauma. If Xiaobai could ask the Deep Sea Will to use the Admiral Network to delete the memory of the ship-equipment connection in Surcouf's mind, then Xiaobai's psychological trauma would probably be eliminated.

but……

Xiao Bai really doesn't want to do controlling other people's memories unless it's absolutely necessary.

Controlling the memories of one's own ship girls is an absolute taboo for Xiaobai. It's not that she doesn't want to do it, but rather that it's absolutely forbidden and unacceptable.

Although Xiaobai is indeed a wicked person.

But Xiaobai still has his own bottom line.

As for Sukupf's symptoms... after much thought, the only thing that can be done is let time gradually heal them.

"Don't worry, Admiral, Surcouf doesn't actually hate you, she..." Seeing the regret on Shiro's face, Aoba quickly came up to comfort her, but she stopped mid-sentence as if she had choked on her food.

Not only Aoba, but even Shropshire, who was standing nearby, held his breath and showed the same reaction as Aoba.

"Qingye? What's wrong?" Xiaobai looked at Qingye.

“I… didn’t… I…” Aoba swallowed nervously.

Although Quincy, who was standing next to Qingye, didn't show any change in expression, his big, bright eyes were still looking in one direction.

"Wow---"

At the same time, the crisp sound of chains dragging on the ground rang out from afar.

Xiao Bai looked toward the source of the sound and saw a tall, slender female figure wearing a slightly tattered black robe. She slowly stepped out with her bare feet and quietly passed by on a path not far away. Heavy black chains dragged at her snow-white ankles, making a distinct and slightly grating sound with each step she took.

It was Frederick the Great.

It seems the naval base has scheduled her for her daily walk.

"Frederick—" Little White raised his hand and waved to Frederick in the distance.

"..." Frederick the Great, who was in the distance, heard Xiaobai's call. She stopped and turned to look at Xiaobai.

Frederick the Great's head was still wrapped in a snow-white veil, obscuring her eyes and revealing only the lower half of her exquisite face. Yet, everyone on Xiaobai's side felt, in that instant, a profound gaze that seemed to pierce through them. There was no need to guess this person's identity; their appearance and demeanor alone exuded a strong aura of the deep sea.

Aoba swallowed hard, her breathing becoming somewhat disordered.

Shropshire looked at Frederick the Great with some confusion, seemingly wondering why this Deep Sea Dean was so different from the other Deep Sea Deans he had met in the garrison.

Little White waved to Frederick the Great.

Frederick the Great paused for a moment in the distance, then turned around and slowly walked towards Xiaobai.

Gara—

Gara—

The crisp sound of chains dragging on the ground grew closer until Frederick the Great stopped in front of Xiaobai and his group. Frederick the Great was quite tall, the kind of person who seemed to magnify the voluptuous older sister Se Se even more. Frederick the Great was nearly two meters tall, and when she stood in front of Xiaobai and his group, the sunlight shone behind her, casting a large shadow on them.

Even though Frederick the Great had no expression and said nothing, Aoba, who was in the shadows, felt a pressure as if he were being stared at by a ferocious beast.

The sense of oppression is just too strong...

Aoba was genuinely terrified of this Deep Sea Dean named Frederick the Great. Although she knew that this Deep Sea Dean had already been subdued by her own admiral and wouldn't cause any trouble for the time being, her image was just too much like that of a Deep Sea… Compared to a true Deep Sea like Frederick the Great, the other Deep Sea Deans in the naval base, such as Deep Sea Yamato, Deep Sea Musashi, Deep Sea Ryujo, Super Yamato, Barbarossa, Kamikaze, Deep Sea Hindenburg, and so on, were simply a group of adorable and gentle older sisters!

Faced with Frederick the Great's silent oppressive aura, Aoba appeared somewhat disheveled, but Shiro remained composed, as if the person standing before her was not the deepest sea in history, but an ordinary older sister.

"Frederick, it's been a while. How have you been?" he asked Frederick the Great.

"..." Frederick the Great nodded silently.

“Shrop County, let me introduce you. This is Frederick the Great.” Xiaobai turned her head and introduced Shrop County with a smile. “She is also temporarily a member of our naval base. She is a Deep Sea Director, just like Yamato and the others.”

“…For now?” Shropshire looked at Frederick the Great with some fear.

“It could also be permanent.” Little White turned to Frederick the Great and smiled. “…Why do you seem unsurprised to see me, Frederick?”

"...Someone told me you've returned," Frederick the Great said after a moment of silence.

Frederick the Great's voice, like her temperament and appearance, was cold, sharp, and full of majesty.

“I see…” Xiaobai nodded, then pointed behind him and introduced to Frederick the Great, “This is Shropshire, and also our garrison’s new partner.”

Frederick the Great looked toward Shropshire.

Suddenly, Shropshire felt a strong sense of pressure.

But with Little White right in front of him, Shropshire still lowered his head and bowed to Frederick the Great.

“It looks familiar,” Frederick the Great said.

"In Shropshire, she's known to everyone in human society as Miss Deer Cry, a super famous actress. You have a TV or something in your room, right? You must have seen her before?" Xiaobai asked.

“…Hmm.” Frederick the Great thought for a moment, nodded, and then said to Little White, “I should go back now.”

"Have you finished your walk?"

"Ah."

"Did you greet any other ship girls you encountered along the way?"

"Ah."

"Don't keep a stern face, it'll scare them."

"……Um."

"And another thing, your clothes are too tattered, it's about time you got some new ones, isn't it?"

"..."

"I remember Reputation took your measurements last time, right? I'll have Lexington order you a new set. Make sure you dress up nicely next time you go out."

"..."

"And there's more..."

Little White chattered on and on to Frederick the Great, like an old woman instructing a child to go out.

Frederick the Great simply lowered his head and listened silently to Little White's teachings, nodding in agreement from time to time.

Frederick the Great's imposing appearance, coupled with his humble demeanor in front of the petite and charming Xiaobai, created a striking contrast that stimulated the senses of everyone else present.

"The Admiral is amazing..." Aoba murmured to himself, "She's not afraid of such a terrifying Deep Sea Dean at all, even though we..."

As Aoba was thinking, she turned around and glanced at the ship girl beside her.

Then, Aoba was stunned.

“ovo…” Quincy touched her lips and stared curiously at Frederick the Great. She seemed not to feel any threat from him, so she quietly walked to Frederick the Great’s side, squatted down and poked Frederick the Great’s snow-white soles.

"Hey, isn't this the Great!" Washington, slurring his words, ran up to Frederick the Great, stood on tiptoe, and hugged her, blowing his breath reeking of alcohol into her cheek. "Hahaha! It's been a while! Do you remember when we last met? Four months ago? Wow... you can really hold your liquor! The Soviet Union and Nelson both rave about you! How about we get a couple more bottles in a couple of days? I'll call Lexington over so we can have some fun!"

"..." Frederick the Great remained silent, letting Washington embrace and shake him.

"Lexington probably won't do. She'll probably be helping me choose a new secretary these next couple of days," Xiaobai interjected with a smile.

“Oh…that’s a pity…so it’s to choose a new secretary…” Washington muttered regretfully, then suddenly paused, “Then we’ll just have to…uh? Wait, what did you say, Admiral? A new secretary what?”

Chapter 2547 Little White Changes Secretary Ship!

Washington stiffened, her eyes widening instantly. A surge of intense shipboard energy shot up into her head, instantly dispelling the intoxication within her.

Washington, wake up!

The lucid Washington remained in the position of embracing Frederick the Great, mouth agape, staring blankly at Little White.

"Admiral, you...you just said...a new secretary?" Aoba, Quincy, and Shropshire were also drawn in by Shiro's words. They covered their mouths, their faces filled with shock. "Admiral, you...you just said a new secretary, could it be...a secretary ship? No...we couldn't have misheard, could we? Surely not?"

"Hmm? Yeah." Xiaobai nodded curiously, looking at the ship girls who were reacting somewhat over the top. "What's wrong?"

"Admiral, do you mean... we're recruiting a new secretary ship?" Washington stammered from the side.

“Yes.” Xiaobai nodded.

"...Didn't Lexington object?"

"This was Lexington's suggestion."

"Huh? Huh?? Huh heh heh heh heh heh!!???"

Xiaobai's answer elicited a gasp of disbelief from the ship girls.

The ship girls covered their mouths, staring at Xiaobai as if the sky had fallen. Their expressions went from surprise to horror to shock and finally to disbelief.

"Admiral... it's not too late for you to say you're joking..." The ship girls looked at each other, then turned to Shiro, cautiously reminding her.

"How could I joke around in a place like this... Choosing a new secretary ship is a very serious matter." Xiaobai sighed with a wry smile, looking at the ship girls in front of her with some strangeness. "But you guys, you look a little off, don't you?"

Seeing Xiaobai's serious expression, the ship girls realized the truth behind those words.

“So Lexington…” Washington frowned, rubbing his chin with a troubled expression, “Sigh… So even Lexington has reached her limit…”

“Yes, Lexington has been working for the naval base for so long, it’s time to give her a break,” Little White said to Washington.

“…Sigh, I thought this day was far away from us, but I never expected it…” Washington looked at Xiaobai with complicated eyes. She seemed to want to say a lot, but many words were stuck in her throat. Washington sighed and shook her head. “Never mind…It seems that the times are moving forward after all, even our naval base is no exception.”

"Admiral! Um... when will the recruitment of new secretary ships begin?" Aoba asked with concern.

"Hmm... probably soon." Xiaobai thought for a while, then stroked his chin and replied, "Actually, I haven't discussed the specific procedures with Lexington yet. Once we've finalized the system for the new secretary ship, we should be able to start recruiting personnel."

"Then, is there anyone suitable?" Aoba asked hurriedly.

"Not yet," Shiro smiled at Aoba. "But we might be recruiting throughout the entire naval base sometime. Aoba, would you like to give it a try?"

"Huh?? I-I-I-I... I have no experience in this area, how can I do that? That was Lexington's job—" Aoba stammered, waving her hands at Shiro, desperately trying to refuse. "I-I don't have Lexington's amazing abilities. If I were to be the secretary ship, it would definitely cause a huge mess!"

"You can give it a try. Maybe you'll find it surprisingly suitable for you after you get the hang of it," Xiaobai said with a smile.

"Admiral... please, please, don't joke with me anymore..." Hearing Xiaobai's words, Qingye felt her heart pounding as if it was about to jump out of her chest. She lowered her head in shame and fear and whispered back.