Elder brother's garrison

"The wedding ring is the one Fubuki wears on her ring finger," Xiaobai said. "Do you want it, Empire?"

"Hmm." Empire rolled over and pressed his face against Little White's lap. "No need."

“That’s true.” Little White slowly ran her fingers through Empire’s hair, gently combing it. “Empire doesn’t really understand that thing, does it? Wedding rings are only given to each other by people who truly love each other.”

Xiao Bai's fingers were icy cold as she gently combed through Empire's hair. Empire felt so comfortable that she closed her eyes.

"Really love each other?"

"Well, the Empire may be physically well-developed, but it's probably still a child at heart," Xiaobai said. "Maybe it will understand later."

"You'll understand later" is a phrase that Xiaobai's mother often uses to brush off Xiaobai. She says this whenever she encounters a problem that Xiaobai's mother can't explain.

Xiaobai now understands this feeling.

Because she couldn't explain it at all.

"When will you understand?" the Empire asked like a curious child.

"Hmm... then read more books. There's a wealth of knowledge in books," Xiaobai said.

The empire remained silent.

She was very sleepy, so she turned over, took a deep breath, and quickly fell asleep.

The empire is currently in the process of healing, so it often wakes up suddenly from sleep and then falls back asleep just as suddenly.

Little White reached out and removed the sand that had stuck to Empire's face from his flipping motion.

book.

The word entered her memory in the empire's hazy slumber.

Books are wonderful things.

The admiral said that you'll understand everything if you read books.

This concept was deeply buried in her heart during the empire's half-awake, half-asleep state.

Chapter 265 The Essence of Women is Shopping [Third Update]

Other admirals usually go on expeditions until night, since it's a hunting-like operation, and it's normal to leave early and return late.

Cleveland used to often work alone until night.

However, Veneto and her companions are different from the ship girls of other admirals. Veneto and her companions return at exactly noon, which is an unspoken rule that has been established unknowingly during the past few days of strategy.

Perhaps Veneto and the others returned at noon on the first day, or perhaps they had run out of ammo from their previous rampage and returned at noon, or perhaps she couldn't withstand the prolonged torment in Rome and was brought back before she broke down.

In short, as admirals who were also tasked with conquering the seas, Shiro and his group were among the first to return.

When the sun is high in the sky, you can see seven ship girls rushing back to the beach from the distance on the ocean.

"A ship girl is back!"

The admirals looked at the horizon and said one after another.

The row of ship girls slowly sailed towards the beach.

It was Veneto and her friends.

However, Veneto and her companions did not appear as composed as before when they returned.

Veneto and Sissoko are fine, but Roma and Cleveland are in a rather dire situation.

Rome had many minor damages to her ship equipment, and the hem of her clothing was charred black.

Cleveland was in a worse state than Rome, with its ship's equipment riddled with holes and appearing to be close to being moderately damaged.

The ship girls returned to the beach and walked towards Shiro.

"Admiral!" Before even arriving, Roma waved excitedly at Xiaobai, as if he had discovered some major secret.

Roma obediently sat down in front of Little White, his face full of excited smiles: "Admiral, Admiral, Roma is super strong!"

"Yes, Rome is indeed very powerful," Xiaobai nodded with a smile. "Rome, what exactly have you done?"

"I sank so many enemies!" Roma excitedly raised his hand, striking a Popeye pose. "One shot, one kill!"

"Wow, that's amazing!" Xiaobai clapped for Rome.

"Hehehehehe—" Rome scratched his head and laughed sheepishly.

Previously, when teaming up with Veneto, Roma was always the one getting beaten up. By the time it was time to counterattack, Veneto and Fubuki had already finished clearing out the enemy. This time, Veneto completely let Roma do as she pleased. Roma, with the intention of fighting the deep sea to the death, casually fired a couple of shots, but unexpectedly, she wiped out the enemy instantly.

—I have to say, battleships are really convenient.

Rome didn't realize until then that it was actually quite powerful.

Veneto placed his hand on Roma's head, pouring cold water on her enthusiasm: "What's there to be proud of? They're just a bunch of wooden stakes that won't dodge. It's no wonder you can't sink them."

"Waaah..." As soon as Veneto's hand touched Rome's head, Rome dared not be presumptuous anymore.

"No need to be so strict, Veneto. Roma performed very well, didn't they?" Xiaobai said.

“Hmm.” Veneto withdrew his hand. “Although it is still very rough in many aspects, the artillery level is still poor, the prediction ability has not been used yet, and the positioning is not paid attention to. The team awareness is not keeping up, and the existence of teammates is not considered. All they think about is showing off themselves.”

Rome's initial smugness was completely extinguished by Veneto's lecture.

Roma clutched her shorts, the smug look on her face completely gone, and she lowered her head in disappointment.

“…Well done. You’re an excellent battleship.” Veneto crossed her arms and looked away. “As expected of my sister.”

Roma looked at Veneto, and a look of emotion returned to his face.

"elder sister!"

"What are you looking at? I'm just telling the truth."

"I love you so much!" Roma, who was sitting on the ground, pounced on Veneto's waist, hugged him tightly, and laughed happily.

“What are you saying?” Veneto sighed.

Veneto looked towards Cleveland with concern.

Little White followed Veneto's gaze and looked over.

Cleveland stood in front of Nia with a somewhat forlorn expression, talking to her.

“Cleveland is also pretty much at the limit of what a light cruiser can do,” Veneto said.

Cleveland played poorly today.

Compared to the dominant Roma, Cleveland's performance could only be described as lackluster.

Cleveland's fragile artillery fire couldn't penetrate enemy armor, a stark contrast to Rome's ability to wipe out an enemy with a single shot.

As a light cruiser, Cleveland has done a good enough job, but the difference in ship types is undeniable, and even Veneto can't say anything about it.

That's how ship girls are. In this world, the difference between ship types and ship equipment is often the decisive chasm that determines whether a ship girl is strong or weak.

Xiao Bai noticed Cleveland's somewhat forlorn expression.

As Nia's only ship girl, Cleveland actually feels a lot of pressure. If she can't help Nia make a name for herself, then Cleveland will feel that it's all her fault.

The Empire had already awakened. Little White stood up and walked to Nia's side.

"Nia," Little White called out to Nia.

Nia was comforting Cleveland at that moment.

"Little White." Nia smiled at Little White. "It's alright, Cleveland is already very strong."

Nia knew that Xiaobai had come to comfort her and Cleveland. She didn't really care. Nia was quite open-minded about the matter. It was unwise to let a light cruiser girl compete with a battleship in terms of battle record.

“Hmm.” Xiaobai looked at Cleveland and thought for a moment. “In short, Cleveland’s current firepower is not enough to penetrate the enemy’s armor, right?”

Nia scratched her head sheepishly and nodded.

“Nia, that won’t do. The deep-sea armor will get higher and higher after Chapter Two. Once we encounter a battleship deep-sea vessel with high armor, Cleveland’s shelling will basically do no damage,” Xiaobai said.

“That’s true,” Nia nodded.

Cleveland clutched his sleeve.

If Little White had helped Cleveland for so long, and Cleveland heard words of disappointment from him, their pride would likely be shattered.

"So..." Xiaobai clasped her hands together and looked at Nia, saying, "Let's go buy some equipment!"

The scene fell into a period of calm.

"Huh?" Nia and Cleveland finally realized, "Buy equipment?"

“Yes,” Xiaobai said with a smile.

“Equipment?” Nia explained, “Well, Cleveland already has the equipment.”

"Well, when I say buying equipment, I definitely mean buying the highest-level equipment," Xiaobai said with a smile.

Xiao Bai's smile was relaxed and natural, as if he were simply and casually saying he was going to buy a cucumber.

The equipment of ship girls is also rated.

The rating process is quite complex, so I'll just state the conclusion here: the quality of a ship girl's equipment can usually be assessed using the final rating result.

To make the rating results easier to understand, all equipment is distinguished by color.

The colors from beginning to end are: colored, gold, purple, blue, green, and white.

Although there are quite a few ships with relatively low ratings that have been sought after and loved by discerning admirals due to their unique abilities and equipment, this classification is generally correct.

Cleveland's equipment consists of a bunch of white items, which is actually quite good considering that many ship girls aren't even fully equipped in the first chapter.

But Cleveland will eventually have to set its sights on higher-level waters.

This white equipment alone is definitely not enough.

She couldn't even perform well in the battles of the second chapter.

The group left the beach and returned to the city.

After replenishing their supplies on the second floor of the Admiral's Guild, Little White Horse led Nia up to the third floor of the guild without stopping.

After hearing that Xiaobai wanted to buy equipment, Xie Yun led Xiaobai into the only large room on the third floor.

The Admiral's Guild is more important with each floor. The bottom floor is where miscellaneous tasks are handled and missions are issued. The second floor is where ship girls are supplied, and construction and development take place.

The third floor is where deep-sea metals are handed over, and where one can directly purchase anything permitted.

It's less of a room and more of a huge warehouse.

Or perhaps it's a large supermarket that's similar to a warehouse.

The room was lit, and a slovenly staff member was sitting at the front desk. When he saw Xie Yun leading people in, he quickly stood up and said, "Hello, Sister Xie Yun!"

Xie Yun smiled and waved to the staff, then took a few steps back to show Xiaobai and the others to them: "These are honored guests, we must treat them well."

The staff then cautiously turned their attention to Xiaobai, Nia, and the group of ship girls behind them.

These past few days, the Admiral Guild has been spreading rumors that an incredibly powerful Admiral has arrived in the first chapter's sea area and is keeping Nia as his mistress.

The staff's eyes lingered on Xiaobai.

—I never expected that this awesome admiral is such a beautiful girl.

Xiao Bai smiled as she looked at the staff.

The staff member was so captivated by Xiaobai's smile that he quickly pinched himself before bowing to Xiaobai and Nia: "Welcome to the guild's trading base. Is there anything I can do for you?"

The Admiral's Guild's third floor sells some very important items, such as rapid repair devices, rapid construction devices, and various equipment for ship girls.

Not just anyone can come in here; admirals who haven't reached the fourth node can't even touch the door.

"We've come to buy equipment for the ship girls."

"Okay, what type of ship equipment do you need to buy?"

"A light cruiser."

"Please follow me." The staff member bowed and led everyone into the room.

Extra chapter progress (4/39)

Chapter 266 The essence of shopping is not buying, buying, buying, but choosing, choosing, choosing!

The group followed the staff into the room.

This large warehouse is huge, with many goods lined up on both sides of the aisle.