Elder brother's garrison

"We're on our way to war. This is the first man-made city in the sea area," Xiaobai explained to Rome.

"Oh, I see." Rome smiled confidently. "Looks like I appeared when the Admiral needed me most, didn't I!"

—If it were an ordinary admiral, Rome's words would be fine.

Xiao Bai just smiled.

“You’re too weak to be of any help,” Veneto said.

"Huh? Sister Veneto, I'm a battleship!"

“The admiral’s naval base has plenty of battleships, each one better than yours,” Veneto retorted mercilessly.

Boom.

Rome felt as if a bolt of lightning had struck it.

Although they spent very little time together, the sister ships still shared a certain unspoken understanding, so Rome could tell that what Veneto said was absolutely true.

"Does the Admiral still have many battleships?" Rome asked.

“Yes, there are many more in the naval base: Bismarck, Tirpitz, Missouri, Lion, Vanguard, Duke of York, Washington…” Little White counted them one by one.

There are plenty of ship girls in the newbie naval base. Since you don't spend much time in the naval base, most newbie ship girls haven't even chatted with each other much. They've only met once or twice when applying for expeditions.

With each name Xiaobai mentioned, Rome's heart sank.

Any one of these ships could be considered a top-tier battleship; none of them were weaker than me.

Is there something wrong with my understanding of the admirals in this world?

As Roma watched as Xiaobai recited the names of the ship girls like a menu, he began to question his own existence.

Wait a minute, battleships should be incredibly powerful, right? Based on the common sense I've been taught, battleships, as capital ships, should be rare and precious resources in this world, and I should be extremely valuable, right?!

What does it feel like to feel your own value is being reduced to that of a mediocre product or a mere decorative object?

"Don't be confused, you'll know when you get back." Veneto patted Xiaobai's hand, interrupting her narration, as he looked at Rome's increasingly cold expression.

"Admiral, are you guys really that strong?" Rome asked cautiously.

"Yeah, yeah, the admiral is amazing!" Fubuki nodded happily in agreement.

Fubuki feels happy whenever someone praises the Admiral, whether it's someone from her own faction or a stranger.

It's like having your own preferences recognized by others.

“Don’t worry, you will become stronger in the future,” Veneto said to Roma.

"Really?" Roma looked at Veneto with surprise.

As expected, her older sister was still on her side.

“Of course, Italian ship girls are not weak to begin with. What you lack is equipment and training level.” Veneto slammed his right fist into his left palm, his eyes burning with fighting spirit. “I will train you properly.”

Looking at Veneto's spirited appearance, Roma felt as if they had fallen into an ice cellar, their whole body chilled to the bone.

Why do I always feel like my sister will throw me into a super deep ocean to fend for myself...?

"Speaking of which, I have something I'd like to ask." Upon hearing about the Italian ship girl Veneto, Xiaobai immediately thought of the Empire ship girl who had been placed on the bed to sleep after they entered the room. "Why is the Empire always sleeping?"

Normal ship girls wouldn't get sleepy so easily.

"Could it be because Sister Rome stole all the nutrients?" Fubuki asked Shiro.

“Ah, right, Sister Rome and Sister Empire are twins,” First Snow said.

"Well, they're two ship girls built with the same resources, so maybe the resources were allocated a bit too heavily?" Miyuki asked.

"Hey! I'm not that selfish!"

"Hehehe." The four Fubuki sisters scratched their heads and smiled apologetically at Rome.

“Yes, about this matter.” Veneto seemed to have known about it for a long time. He simply nodded, sat down next to Xiaobai, and looked at the Empire not far away.

"Although this is just my guess, the reason why the Empire has been dormant is probably due to its own problems, and has nothing to do with Rome."

Chapter 235: It's time for the long-awaited and much-anticipated segment!

“That Imperial girl shouldn’t have become a ship girl,” Veneto said.

Upon hearing this, the four Fubuki sisters and Shiro were all stunned.

"Why do you say that?" Xiaobai asked curiously.

“Yes, for ship girls to be built, there must first be corresponding ships in history.” Veneto pointed to herself and said, “For example, my corresponding ship is the first ship of the Veneto class, the Vittorio Veneto.”

This newbie knows.

Ship girls are wondrous beings who exist only because of the legends of their ships. Every ship girl in the world has a corresponding ship. The corresponding ship not only provides the basis for their existence but also endows them with the power of legend.

Tirpitz's aura of the North Sea, the Enterprise's extraordinary fortune, and Bismarck's exceptional defensive capabilities—relying on them to steal aluminum—all stem from the legends surrounding their respective ships.

This ability cannot be explained by current technology and can only be considered a supernatural power along with the mysterious Admiral Network.

“Rome corresponds to the third ship of the Veneto class, and the Empire to the fourth,” Veneto continued to explain.

Xiao Bai nodded and listened attentively.

“However, historically, the fourth ship of the Veneto-class, named Empire, was never completed,” Veneto said.

"Not finished?"

“Yes, she wasn’t finished before the defeat, which means that as a ship of the Empire, she was incomplete,” Veneto said. “That’s why I said she shouldn’t have become a ship girl in the first place.”

"Isn't the lion in the naval base also an unfinished ship girl?" Xiaobai asked with some confusion.

The battleship HMS Lion is also a ship girl from an unfinished battleship, dating back to the Bismarck era.

“So she shouldn’t have been a ship girl at all.” Veneto nodded. “Does the Admiral remember how Lion referred to himself?”

"Fantasy Fleet?"

"more or less."

"Ah, so in other words, the fact that the ship is incomplete doesn't actually deprive her of all possibilities of becoming a ship girl, it just conventionally eliminates the possibility of her becoming a ship girl," Xiaobai replied.

“Well, there are always exceptions,” Veneto said. “The Empire became a ship girl along with Rome because of her.”

Xiao Bai looked towards Rome.

Rome sat opposite her, staring at her with his eyes open.

They really are twins.

Xiao Bai smiled.

The Empire should not have been qualified to become a ship girl. The construction of the Empire was fraught with difficulties in Italy. At that time, Italy was preparing for war. Although the construction speed of the Empire was accelerated by the experience of the previous three Veneto-class ships, its final stage was shelved for various reasons.

This postponement continued until defeat.

Although the Empire had the ship's design, crew, and captain, it was never truly completed in the end.

Unfinished ships cannot become ship girls.

Because there is no corresponding legend about her.

Xiaobai isn't like her brother, a European with such good luck that he can just arbitrarily build a ship like the Lion from blueprints.

But as Veneto said, there are always exceptions.

The Empire is Rome's sister, an entity that exists as one with her.

Roman legends naturally include the concept of "empire".

Furthermore, although the empire was not yet completed, the hull was basically formed and it possessed the basic capabilities of a ship. It was not in an empty shell like a lion. Therefore, in the absence of even one in ten thousand twins, the empire was born by attaching itself to the legend of Rome.

This forced appearance in the world has placed a considerable burden on the empire.

In short, she needs to rest.

Like a premature baby, an empire that continues to lack nutrients needs a long period of rest.

This is why the empire was in a state of "hibernation" from the very beginning.

"Ah, I see." After listening to Veneto's explanation, Xiaobai finally understood the state of the empire.

"My sister has caused trouble for the Admiral, I'm so sorry," Veneto apologized to Xiaobai.

The fact that the Empire is like a sickly younger sister means that she can't be an effective fighting force in the short term and can only stay at home eating rice is something that Veneto is quite embarrassed about.

"It's alright." Xiaobai didn't mind at all; the naval base wasn't short of money to support a ship girl who just wanted to freeload.

Look, they can even afford to support the Deep Sea Dean who just eats rice for free.

Moreover, the Empire is Veneto's sister, and Veneto is one of the strongest battleships in the naval base, so we have to give her that much face.

“I’m very sorry, please leave all the work of the Empire to Rome,” Veneto said.

"Huh? You're leaving it to me?!" Rome exclaimed in surprise. "Sister Veneto, I'm a battleship! The Empire is an aircraft carrier! How can you entrust her job to me?!"

"Hmm?" Veneto gave Rome a cold look.

"Please hand it all over to Rome!" Rome said confidently to Xiaobai.

"Hahaha." Xiaobai laughed out loud.

"Don't worry, there's nothing for you to do in the first chapter. I'll arrange for you to improve your skills and then give you tasks when we get back to the naval base," Xiaobai explained to Roma, who looked like she was ready to die for her cause.

"Thank you for sparing my life, Admiral. I will strive to become stronger and catch up with my sister!" Rome bowed in gratitude.

Veneto sighed.

"Speaking of Veneto, how does it feel to suddenly become the older sister?" Xiaobai asked.

“Yes, I have experience disciplining a bunch of unruly kids before, so I didn’t have any trouble adapting,” Veneto replied.

It suddenly feels like I've become the older sister.

Veneto did have some feelings about it.

There is still some joy and relief.

But she would never say it.

—The younger sister is a ship girl with a great figure and cute appearance, who can be described as a rare beauty. Tsk.

Veneto will not give up.

"Veneto is such a mature ship girl," Xiaobai said sincerely, looking at Veneto's calm and composed demeanor.

Roma, too, clenched his fists and looked at Veneto with stars in his eyes.

A cute and delicate body, a powerful and cold aura, and the strength to hold off ten thousand men.

Although Rome didn't know why this older sister always seemed to harbor some inexplicable hostility towards her, she still really liked her.

“Well, as someone Lexington entrusted with taking care of the Admiral, I always have to be more composed.” Veneto’s lips curled into a confident smile. “By the way, Admiral, how were you doing on the beach while I was away today?”

"Ah, now that you mention it, Veneto, my ship equipment has been discovered."

“???” Veneto stood up abruptly.

Veneto also knew that Xiaobai possessed deep-sea ship equipment, after all, she was the third concubine.

This deep-sea ship equipment is the biggest secret of the naval base.

It is even more secretive than the existence of the deep-sea Yamato.

If outsiders find out, that would be a very, very troublesome thing.

"I understand. Please tell me what that person looks like, and I'll be right back." Veneto seemed to have misunderstood Xiaobai's meaning. She took out her black gloves from her ship equipment, put them on, and her eyes radiated a cold look.

"Oh, no, that's not it. The one who found me was a ship girl who doesn't have an admiral."

"Shipgirls?" Veneto asked, somewhat puzzled.

How do ship girls discover the admiral's ship equipment?

“Yes, she said there’s a deep-sea aura on my body,” Xiaobai said.

“The Admiral is human; he doesn’t have such a thing,” Veneto replied, frowning.

Xiaobai's body has no aura of the deep sea, and even when it releases its ship equipment, if you don't look at its appearance, it is almost identical to the ship equipment of a ship girl.

“Yes, she found out by intuition. She said her name was Sukhbaatar,” Xiaobai said.

“Sukhbaatar?” Veneto finally sat down. “I’ve never heard of this ship girl before.”