Elder brother's garrison

"Ke Yuan, you deserve to die!"

The admirals were shocked, then gritted their teeth and clenched their fists as they shouted.

"However, this incident also shows that the Admiral's Guild has indeed neglected discipline today," Duan Shuiliu said expressionlessly. "Therefore, once this matter is settled, our Military Police will also begin to rectify the discipline of Chapter Eight. I hope everyone is prepared."

"boom--"

Duan Shuiliu's words were like a bomb dropped into the crowd.

In a corner of the banquet, Xiaobai and Nia looked at the commotion in the crowd and smiled at each other.

"The plan succeeded?" Nia asked with a smile.

"Mm." Xiaobai nodded with a smile.

"Now the last big problem has been solved," Nia remarked.

"That's what I mean..." Xiaobai leaned back, looked at the ceiling, and let out a relaxed sigh of relief, "Finally, I can relax..."

drop by drop...

Just as Xiaobai was relaxing, a cell phone suddenly rang.

Xiao Bai looked down, took out his phone from his wallet, and glanced at it.

"Huh?" Xiaobai looked at the phone screen and raised an eyebrow.

On the screen was a text message that Luo Lian had sent to herself.

"Important matter at the top floor of the Admiral's Guild. One person must come immediately."

It's very simple.

Just one sentence.

Chapter 2850 Unexpected News

"Xiao Bai, is this news about Luo Lian?"

Nia, who was next to Xiaobai, saw Xiaobai staring at the phone screen and quietly leaned closer to him, asking softly.

“Yes, look.” Xiaobai showed Nia her phone screen.

"Huh? The top floor of the Admiral's Guild..." Nia blinked, "Did Luo Lian ask you to go there?"

"It seems so..." Xiaobai put away her phone and nodded. "I wonder what Lianlian was doing suddenly running off to the Admiral's Guild..."

"They seem to be in a hurry." Nia suddenly became a little nervous. She tugged at Xiaobai's arm and asked, "Could it be that they've run into some trouble?"

"Well..."

Just then, Xiaobai's phone beeped again.

Xiao Bai looked at her phone again and saw that Luo Lian had sent her another message.

"--The preface is withdrawn. It seems there's no need to rush. Let's finish playing first and then come back."

Xiaobai and Nia looked at the second message on the screen, exchanging knowing glances and beaming with excitement.

"Looks like we haven't run into any trouble..." Nia patted her chest in relief and breathed a sigh of relief.

“Since Lianlian has said so, let’s go after the banquet.” Xiaobai smiled and looked at Nia.

"Mmm!" Nia laughed, her body unconsciously leaning a little closer to Xiaobai.

The lively banquet continued.

Throughout the entire banquet, no other admiral dared to come up and greet Xiaobai.

This situation made Xiaobai feel that "it seems there is no difference whether my identity is exposed or not."

With no one to bother him, Xiaobai was able to enjoy some peace and quiet.

During the ensuing banquet, Xiaobai spent a lot of time enjoying herself with Nia and her beautiful ship girls.

The banquet, which had experienced some minor hiccups, lasted for several hours and finally ended smoothly with speeches from Admiral Haoding and Elizabeth.

The admirals, having had their fill of fun, bid each other farewell, receiving an exquisite souvenir from the shipgirl attendants of Admiral Haoding's household. Then, they returned home satisfied with their own shipgirls.

Xiaobai and Nia stayed in a corner of the banquet, watching the crowd in the hall disperse and leave like the ebb and flow of the tide.

"My little darling—we're finally back!"

After the crowd dispersed, the top ten admirals tacitly headed towards the direction where Xiaobai was. Among them, Admiral Ling and Admiral Lian walked at the front, their voices drawn out, looking exhausted as if they had finally finished a long day of work.

"Greetings, Admiral Ling! Greetings, Admiral Lian! Greetings to all the top ten admirals!"

Nia quickly stood up and bowed to the ten admirals who approached.

"Hahaha! Admiral Nia, don't be so reserved." Admiral Haoding laughed heartily, hands on his hips. "Since you are Admiral Lu Lin's close friend, then we are naturally your friends too. Admiral Nia, just treat us as ordinary friends!"

“Miss Nia, these are souvenirs from the banquet.” Elizabeth presented two crystal apple sculptures to Nia and Xiaobai. “And Admiral Lu Lin, regarding your necklace—we will use a portion of its value from the liquidation of Admiral Ke Yuan’s estate to repay you. Please wait a few days.”

"Thank you, thank you so much!" Nia quickly accepted Elizabeth's gift, blushing.

"There's no need to rush to compensate me for the necklace. Just pay me back when it's all fixed." Xiaobai smiled as she accepted Elizabeth's gift.

"Well, although several hours have passed, I still have to sigh," Admiral Haoding said regretfully. "You really suffered an undeserved misfortune tonight, Admiral Lu Lin. I bear some responsibility for this. Next time, I should be more careful in selecting those invited to the banquet and try not to let people like Ke Yuan in."

"No need for that..." Xiaobai smiled sheepishly. "Oh...right, you guys said you saw the stolen research construction machine at Admiral Ke Yuan's temporary garrison, right? What did you do with that research construction machine afterward?"

"Hmm—about this." Admiral Haoding nodded with some difficulty. "Admiral Ke Yuan is currently in a coma and shock, so we can't get any information from him. Therefore, we don't know how the research construction machine was moved. Now, the research construction machine is standing in Admiral Ke Yuan's temporary garrison, as if it were one with the earth and could not be moved. Admiral Lu Lin, as you know, the research construction machine has a kind of field that cannot be directly touched by ship girls. We really can't move it, so we can only leave it there for the time being."

"So what will happen after that decision?"

"If all else fails, let's just use Admiral Ke Yuan's naval base as a location for research and construction machines," Admiral Hao Ding said. "Being on land will also make it easier for the Admirals' Guild to manage it. What do you think, Admiral Lu Lin?"

"Hmm...that's good." Xiaobai smiled at Admiral Haoding. "Is the crime of stealing a research construction machine very serious?"

"It's nothing special, nothing as important as the other things that happened to Admiral Ke Yuan."

"Then I can rest assured," Xiaobai said with relief.

"...?" Admiral Haoding asked in confusion.

As everyone was talking, Admiral Nanxing slowly approached Xiaobai from behind and gently put his arms around her.

Admiral Nanxing's movements were much gentler than those of Admiral Ling and Admiral Lian. The feeling of being gently embraced by Admiral Nanxing gave Xiaobai a sense of joy, like being precisely meshed with gears, causing her to subconsciously relax her body and lean closer to Admiral Nanxing's embrace.

"Sister Nanxing?" Xiaobai looked up.

"..." Admiral Nanxing did not speak, but simply hugged Xiaobai slightly tighter, pressing his full and soft body closer to hers.

A look of relief appeared on Admiral Nanxing's face.

"Waaaaah, I'm so envious! We're both holding adorable little cuties, so why did you have to grab us instead of Nanxing, Duan Duan?!" Admiral Ling and Admiral Lian, biting their handkerchiefs, couldn't help but complain to Duan Shuiliu as they watched Xiaobai and Nanxing become one. "We feel like you're targeting us! This is bias! Bias, so biased!"

"..." Faced with the complaints from Admiral Ling and Admiral Lian, Duan Shuiliu naturally closed his eyes as if he couldn't hear them.

"Huh...Speaking of which, Sister Duan, didn't you give me all your garrison? How come you can still go on an expedition in Chapter 8?" Xiao Bai looked at Duan Shuiliu and suddenly remembered a question she was curious about, so she asked Duan Shuiliu.

"The ship girls I'm currently recruiting for the expedition are all from the military police," Duan Shuiliu said to Xiaobai. "I train them regularly, so they're strong enough."

“I…I see…”

"...I can't give it to you this time."

"...I, I didn't mean that..." Xiaobai scratched her head awkwardly. "I didn't expect that with the help of the military police ship girls, we could still carry out the expedition mission to the top ten naval bases normally. Sister Duan, you are really amazing."

"Because my resignation application for the position of admiral has not been actually processed at the admiral headquarters," Duan Shuiliu said. "So before leaving the post, I still have to perform the duties of an admiral in a mandatory expedition."

"Huh? Once Duan Duan's resignation is completed, won't there be one less admiral among the top ten?" Admiral Ling asked curiously.

"It's not like the top ten admirals have been missing for just a day or two..." Admiral Lian chimed in from the side, "For example, that guy who's supposed to be ninth in the world, what's his name again? He's been missing for almost two years now."

"Ninth in the world?" Xiaobai tilted his head.

"Ah, he's an admiral who's similar to Ke Yuan in some ways. Even among our top ten admirals, not all of them are good people," Admiral Ling said to Xiaobai. "Little cutie, have you met him before?"

"I don't know, I've never seen the Ninth in the world..." Xiaobai honestly shook his head, "I still don't know if he's male or female."

"It's better not to know." Admiral Ling patted Xiaobai on the shoulder. "Let him fend for himself in some corner of the world."

Xiaobai felt the light touch of Admiral Ling patting her shoulder. She blinked and looked at the five top ten admirals in front of her.

"...Huh? That's right." Xiaobai finally realized something and asked the top ten admirals curiously, "Speaking of which, Admiral Li Hua has been recuperating at the temporary garrison, right? But why hasn't Admiral Zhao Kuo shown up? Didn't he participate in the eighth chapter's pioneering activities?"

It wasn't until this moment that Xiao Bai realized that he had never met Zhao Kuo, the world's third-ranked admiral, in Chapter 8.

Upon hearing Xiaobai's question, the top ten admirals in front of them were all taken aback, and then their gazes became somewhat complicated.

The atmosphere was a little stiff for a while.

"Huh? What's wrong? Did something happen to Admiral Zhao Kuo?" Xiao Bai was also stunned. She noticed that the top ten admirals' reactions were a bit strange, so she couldn't help but ask.

“Admiral Zhao Kuo… he… um… how should I put it.” Admiral Haoding sighed, which was rare for him. He thought for a while and then slowly said to Xiaobai, “Admiral Zhao Kuo did come to participate in the pioneering activities of Chapter 8, but… he really can’t show his face right now.”

"what happened?"

He's in the hospital.

"Huh??" Xiaobai's eyes widened. "What's going on?"

"It's probably due to overwork..."

"..."

Xiao Bai's gaze trembled slightly.

"Huh?? Huh... Zhao, Zhao Kuo, is in the hospital??" Nia, who was standing nearby, covered her mouth in alarm upon hearing the news, her eyes wide with shock. "I... I didn't even know this..."

"This news is only known to us, the top ten admirals, and the higher-ups at the admiral headquarters." Admiral Haoding looked at Nia, smiled gently at her, and then slowly said, his expression hardening. "The reason we know is because Admiral Zhao Kuo collapsed during the expedition to the 8-2 sea area, and the six of us happened to be nearby at the time. As for the higher-ups at the admiral headquarters... after Admiral Zhao Kuo was hospitalized, they suppressed the news, which is why no one in the entire eighth chapter sea area knows about it except for us."

"Yuan...so that's how it is..." Nia covered her mouth, muttering fearfully, "I...I know this kind of thing isn't very good..."

“It’s alright. Admiral Nia, you’re a friend of Admiral Lu Lin, so we naturally won’t avoid you,” Admiral Haoding said. “Besides, Admiral Nia, you’ve also obtained a special ship girl. Perhaps you’ll be one of the top ten admirals in the future. However, we still hope that Admiral Nia can keep this a secret for us, because this matter… is indeed not easy to talk about.”

Chapter 2851 Searching for Luo Lian in the Middle of the Night

Nia covered her mouth and quickly nodded to the top ten admirals, raising her hand to swear that she would absolutely keep her mouth shut.

"Sigh." Xiao Bai sighed, looking at the top ten admirals with a complicated expression. "Is the situation serious with Admiral Zhao Kuo?"

"Well... we don't know the specifics either, because since he was hospitalized, Admiral Zhao Kuo has refused our visits." Admiral Haoding said to Xiaobai, "Even though I usually have a lot of contact with him, he completely refuses my approach, and only left me a message through social media."

"Hmm? What instructions?"

"Admiral Zhao Kuo said, 'Don't tell Admiral Lu Lin about his hospitalization,'" said Admiral Hao Ding. "Unless you ask him directly, Admiral Lu Lin."

After listening, Xiaobai frowned, then relaxed helplessly.

"I knew it was only now that I found out..." Xiaobai sighed.

"I'm very sorry, Admiral Lu Lin. We actually wanted to tell you this a long time ago, but it was a friend's request."

"Hmm... I understand." Xiaobai nodded, then looked up at Haoding and continued to ask, "So, since Admiral Zhao Kuo was hospitalized, you haven't seen him even once? And you don't know anything about his condition or anything?"

"Yes."

"I see, I understand now," Xiaobai nodded and answered softly.

"How about we talk about something more cheerful..." Admiral Ling, noticing Xiaobai's expression, suggested, "Like... tonight's banquet?"

"Hahaha! That's true! It's a rare opportunity, let's get back to the banquet!" Admiral Haoding took a deep breath, quickly regained his composure, and laughed heartily at everyone.

The atmosphere among the top ten admirals has improved slightly.

The ship girls from Admiral Haoding's household were responsible for cleaning up the banquet hall.

After chatting with the top ten admirals for a while, Xiaobai and Nia finally said their goodbyes.

Admiral Lian and Admiral Ling originally wanted to invite Xiaobai to their home, but this idea was dispelled by Duan Shuiliu's death stare. It seemed that Duan Shuiliu and Nanxing shared a temporary garrison. The two of them said goodbye to Admiral Ling, Admiral Lian and Xiaobai and left, gradually disappearing into the night.

Admiral Haoding stayed in the banquet hall, cleaning up the hall with the ship girls after the crowd had left.

After saying goodbye to Admiral Haoding, Xiaobai, Nia, and others left the hall one after the other.

"Little White, the ship girls and I will head back to the naval base now." Nia and the ship girls instructed Little White, "Remember to come back early after everything is finished!"

Xiaobai smiled and raised her hand, waving at Nia and the ship girls.

Nia and the ship girls then turned their backs and disappeared into the long night.

Xiaobai stood there watching the direction Nia disappeared in. Only after she could no longer hear any footsteps did she breathe a sigh of relief and take out her phone to check the situation.

I should go to the Admiral's Guild to find Lianlian.

Xiao Bai walked towards the Admiral's Guild.