Elder brother's garrison

“Miss Elizabeth, thank you…” Admiral Fang Jie breathed a sigh of relief.

Just as Xiaobai was about to speak, she suddenly felt a direct gaze upon her.

Xiao Bai turned around and looked behind him. He saw several admirals holding wine glasses watching his group from the crowded area on Nia's side, their eyes filled with a hint of regret.

"Since Admiral Lu Lin left Admiral Nia, her situation has really plummeted."

"Admiral Nia is surrounded by admirers, while Admiral Lu Lin only has a few people on her side. This disparity is quite striking."

"The two people beside Admiral Lu Lin are a fool and a poor boy. As for Miss Elizabeth... she was probably dragged here by force. She has always been very gentle and kind. She probably saw that Admiral Lu Lin was all alone and pitiful tonight, so she went to take care of him. In the end, it was just pity. She will leave sooner or later."

"..."

The faint whispers of discussion reached Xiaobai's ears amidst the noise.

What Xiaobai could hear, others also heard to varying degrees.

Admiral Fang Jie was immediately filled with embarrassment.

"Admiral Lu Lin, I'm sorry... It's all my fault... I've caused you to be criticized again."

"These people are talking way too much." Elizabeth's expression was slightly annoyed. She gently pulled Xiaobai's hand and glared at the admirals who were watching. "I'll go teach them a lesson right now."

The admirals, who were being stared at by Elizabeth, all shrank back and dared not look in their direction again.

"No need, it's nothing." Xiaobai quickly pulled Elizabeth back and smiled at her. "Besides, these people didn't say anything particularly bad, so let them talk."

"But Admiral Lu Lin, given your status..."

"I'm just an ordinary admiral, right?" Xiaobai smiled at Elizabeth.

"..." Elizabeth looked at Xiaobai, her brows furrowing and then relaxing. After a short while, she sighed helplessly, "Alright... since Admiral Lu Lin has said so..."

"And Admiral Fang Jie, it's alright, don't feel guilty." Xiao Bai turned to Fang Jie and smiled. "Since I dare to show up here, of course I'm not afraid of what others will say about me."

“Admiral Lu Lin…” Admiral Fang Jie looked at Xiao Bai, his eyes reddening with emotion.

"Oh right, since Admiral Fang Jie is also here at this banquet..." Xiao Bai thought for a moment, then smiled and said to Admiral Fang Jie, "Then I'll give you a little suggestion."

"Huh? What suggestion?" Fang Jie asked curiously.

"Don't rush home after you've eaten your fill," Xiao Bai said earnestly, looking into Admiral Fang Jie's eyes. "There might be a good show to watch later."

"...?" Fang Jie was stunned for a moment.

Just as Admiral Fang was about to ask a question, Jin Shiqi, who had been held in a cross-shaped embrace and deprived of oxygen for a long time, finally couldn't hold on any longer.

Jin Shiqi's struggling finally stopped. His head lolled to the side, his tongue lolled out, and the foam in his mouth stopped coming out. He fainted in Admiral Fang Jie's arms.

"Oh my god! Old Jin! I forgot to let go of you!" Admiral Fang Jie was startled and quickly let go of his hand. "Old Jin, are you alright?"

"..." Jin Shiqi plopped down on the ground, pointing ahead.

"Old Jin—!" Admiral Fang Jie quickly lifted Jin Shiqi off the ground, then awkwardly apologized to Xiao Bai, "Admiral Lu, Admiral Lu Lin! It's an honor that you greeted me, but... well... uh, Old Jin might need to find a place to rest..."

"It's alright, it's alright, you guys go ahead." Xiaobai waved her hands.

“I know this place well, let me find you a place to rest,” Elizabeth said, stepping forward.

"Thank you, Miss Elizabeth!"

Xiao Bai watched as Fang Jie, carrying Jin Shiqi, quickly slipped away to the open paved area behind the banquet hall, led by Elizabeth.

Xiao Bai couldn't help but smile as he watched Admiral Fang Jie straddle Jin Shiqi and desperately perform CPR on him.

Just then, a series of rumbling footsteps sounded behind Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai turned around and looked.

A large group of admirals were walking towards him. As they stopped in front of him, the previously empty ground around him instantly became a sea of ​​people.

"Hmm?" Xiaobai blinked.

Just as Xiaobai was wondering what these admirals were up to, suddenly, a path parted between the admirals, and Nia, carrying a black box, carefully walked out.

Nia came up to Xiaobai, but she lowered her head and looked at Xiaobai's feet instead of its face.

Xiao Bai glanced at Nia, then at the admirals around him, and seemed to understand something in an instant.

"Admiral Nia, is there something you need?" Xiaobai took a deep breath, his expression returning to calm, and spoke to Nia in an indifferent tone.

“Admiral Lu Lin…” Nia held the black box, hesitated for a moment, and then lowered her head to speak to Xiaobai, “…I have something to tell you.”

"Private matter?"

"Ah."

"Say it here?"

"A place where no one is around."

"Can't we talk about it when we get back?"

"Now would be best."

"..." Xiaobai glanced at the gazes of the admirals around her, closed her eyes and waited for a few seconds, then sighed, revealing a helpless and somewhat annoyed expression, before nodding to Nia, "Okay, but I don't have much time."

“…” Nia nodded, without exchanging a single glance with Xiaobai from beginning to end.

“I remember that Admiral Haoding rented a few guest rooms in the Central Building for the admirals who are not feeling well to rest. Miss Elizabeth is over there. If we tell her, she should be able to stay in a guest room for a while.” Xiaobai pointed to Elizabeth not far away and said to Nia, “The banquet hasn’t started yet, so let’s hurry back.”

Chapter 2839 A Small Accident

After consulting with Elizabeth, Xiaobai and Nia quickly obtained permission to enter the guest room.

Xiaobai and Nia took the room key and went upstairs, quickly disappearing from the sight of the admirals.

The admirals watched Xiaobai and Nia's retreating figures in silence until they disappeared, at which point the hall suddenly became lively.

"As expected of Admiral Nia, despite how much Admiral Lu Lin has wronged her, she is still willing to come down and talk to Admiral Lu Lin in this kind of situation."

"Don't just listen to hearsay. The version I heard is that Admiral Nia betrayed Admiral Lu Lin first."

"That's what I heard too."

"But no matter what, Admiral Lu Lin's current situation is quite pitiful. Admiral Nia just saw Admiral Lu Lin all alone, so she couldn't help but come over and say a few words, right?"

"Why do we have to say these things in a secluded place?"

"What else can be said? Anyone with eyes can see their current state, right? I guess they'll officially part ways after tonight's banquet. Admiral Nia probably wants to say a formal goodbye to Admiral Lu Lin."

"It's clear that Admiral Nia still has some feelings for Admiral Lu Lin."

"It's a pity that Admiral Lu Lin doesn't seem to appreciate it."

"Once unfaithful, never trusted again..."

The admirals discussed it, and as if they had put themselves in the situation, they all shook their heads.

Veneto, holding her plate, ate her cake bite by bite. Watching everyone discussing their admiral, she suddenly put down her plate, turned around, and gagged at the air.

"yue!"

……

The lobby on the first floor was bustling with activity.

In the guest room on the second floor, Xiaobai and Nia closed the door and looked at each other.

"The guest rooms that Admiral Haoding prepared for people... there shouldn't be any listening devices or cameras or anything like that, right?" Nia asked Xiaobai cautiously in a low voice.

"No," Xiaobai smiled.

"Then, then I'm relieved!" Nia breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, then opened her arms and threw herself into Xiaobai's arms, hugging him tightly and rubbing her full body against him. "Xiaobai—I've been holding it in for so long! Pretending to hate you in front of so many people is so hard!"

"Nia, you did a great job!" Little White was pushed back two steps by Nia and plopped down on the bed. While feeling the touch of Nia's body, she smiled and patted Nia's head, encouraging her, "Your performance just now was much better than when we rehearsed at the temporary naval base."

"Hehe... Thank you, Xiaobai..." Nia looked up blankly, rubbing her face against Xiaobai's thigh, and grinning at him, "Xiaobai, your dress is so cute."

"Nia, yours is too."

"I've never worn high heels before... I had no idea walking in these heels would hurt so much..." Nia said pitifully.

"Well..." Xiaobai smiled wryly.

"Xiaobai, you walk so smoothly in high heels. Did you learn to walk before?"

"Well... I have attended a few similar banquets before..." Xiaobai raised her head, thought for a while, and her thoughts returned to the time when she first met Muxi.

I remember when Xiaobai first met Muxi, Muxi even impersonated Ella and held a fake banquet for herself.

Xiaobai initially thought that all the admirals who appeared were real admirals, but later, when she returned to the newbie naval base and began to truly engage with the world of admirals, she discovered that she had never seen the admirals who attended that banquet again, not even in the first, second, or even sixth, seventh, or eighth chapters...

Think about it carefully.

I bet the admirals and ship girls who appeared at that banquet were all actors that Muxi found from somewhere...

Osmanthus... Osmanthus... What a grand gesture!

Thinking of this, Xiaobai sighed helplessly.

"Xiaobai? Have you thought of something upsetting?" Nia, who was lying on Xiaobai's lap, unconsciously stroked the skin on Xiaobai's side and asked curiously.

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about some things from the past." Xiaobai shook her head at Nia and continued with a smile, "Alright, alright, we can't stay here for long, let's get down to business."

"Oh oh oh!"

Nia quickly stood up, shuffling over to the table in her high heels, picked up the black box, and then staggered back to Xiaobai.

“Little White! This is what Admiral Ke Yuan asked me to give you!” Nia said. “He said that as long as I give you this, I will have a way to destroy your place of refuge.”

"Oh...is this it?" Xiaobai took the black box and placed it on her lap. "It's even a ribbon gift box. That's quite thoughtful."

"Little White, do you know what's inside?"

"I do not know."

"Huh? Didn't you say... you planted a spy next to Admiral Ke Yuan?"

"Admiral Ke Yuan is a very cautious and suspicious person. He doesn't even trust his own ship girls. Even Jean Bart doesn't know what he's thinking. This black box was probably prepared by him alone. For example, regarding his plan to frame me, Jean Bart has been by his side for so long and still doesn't know."

Who is Jean Bart?

“Jean Barth is…” Xiao Bai stopped there, then gave Nia a wry smile, “I’ll tell you after the banquet.”

"Oh oh oh!"

Xiaobai untied the ribbon and opened the box.

Hidden inside the box was a diamond necklace with an exceptionally elegant and luxurious appearance.

"Wow..." Nia stared in disbelief, "A necklace?"

"It looks quite valuable, doesn't it?" Xiaobai picked up the necklace and looked thoughtfully at the pendant on it.

"Why did Admiral Ke Yuan ask me to give you the necklace?" Nia didn't understand.

“Hmm… since it’s a very expensive necklace…” Xiaobai thought for a while, “I remember there were some luxury jewelry shops in Chapter 8. In addition to selling regular Oath Rings, they also sell some extremely expensive jewelry… if these pieces of jewelry were stolen, it would probably alarm the Admiral’s Guild.”

"Huh? Could this necklace be stolen goods??"

“A few days ago, when I was browsing the Admiral’s Forum, I did see a jewelry store post a message about a stolen piece of jewelry, but the message was quickly buried.” Xiaobai said to Nia, “If the necklace I’m wearing is stolen, then Admiral Ke Yuan’s reason for wanting me to wear it is understandable.”

"He's trying to frame you as a thief?!" Nia exclaimed in shock.

"That's about right. This banquet has gathered most of the admirals from the entire eighth chapter, as well as all the top admirals. If I were to be accused of dishonest dealings in this setting, my reputation would truly be ruined," Xiaobai said to Nia, clutching the necklace in her hand.

"...Okay, what a childish tactic..."

"Whether it's childish or not, let's not worry about that for now. If it succeeds, the results will be outstanding, right?" Xiaobai said to Nia with a smile.

"What should we do with this necklace... should we throw it away?"

Why throw it away?

"This is stolen goods..."

“Even if it’s stolen goods, it’s still a diamond necklace.” Xiaobai shook her head, then picked up the necklace and said to Nia, “Nia, do you know why Admiral Ke Yuan used a diamond necklace as stolen goods?”

“…Why?”

"Because of diamond necklaces," Xiaobai picked up the diamond necklace and carefully placed it around her neck, "Even if some girls aren't interested in it, no girl would dislike it... Hmm... Isn't it pretty?"

Xiao Bai gently tapped the heaviest pendant on the necklace with her finger and asked Nia with a smile.

Xiao Bai's slender fingers, the transparent and dazzling gemstones, the pure white dress, and the soft skin complemented each other, instantly making Nia stare blankly, and she could only nod dumbly.

Although I hate to admit it, Xiao Bai's chest was already lacking in decorations, and now with the addition of a gorgeous necklace, it really complemented her strengths and made her even more eye-catching.