Elder brother's garrison

"It's just a few cucumbers, I can just buy some more and stuff them in later." Da Feng stood up with a smile and leaned closer to Veneto. "Veneto, why don't you have one too? Looks like it was just restocked, it's so fresh and delicious!"

"Of course not... Waaah? Waaah—"

Just as Veneto was about to refuse, Dafeng gently pushed the cucumber she was eating halfway into Veneto's mouth. Veneto took two steps back, but Dafeng persisted and pushed it in. In the end, Veneto could only bite off the cucumber, cover his mouth, and look at Dafeng with a resentful expression.

“Now we’re accomplices.” Da Feng said with a laugh, shaking the cucumber that was now just a small piece.

"Ugh...you...ugh..." Veneto chewed and swallowed the cucumber, exhaling helplessly, "...but it's quite delicious."

"Right~"

Empire, with a cucumber in his mouth, got up, walked over to Rome, pointed to the cucumber in his mouth, and offered it to her.

Rome smiled slightly at the empire, reached out and plucked off a small piece, then put it in his mouth and ate it.

Cleveland broke the cucumber in half and handed one half to Littorio.

Littorio took the cucumber and took a bite.

"Hmm—come to think of it, we haven't really eaten properly during the time we were away for the competition. No wonder you guys were eating this cucumber so heartily when you got back."

"Ah... after all, everyone was in a hurry to come back while we were out, so we weren't really in the mood for a proper meal..." The ship girls looked at each other with rather helpless expressions, and continued, "And ever since the Commander left, he's been acting just as frustratingly..."

Speak of Cao Cao and Cao Cao appears.

Just as the six ship girls were talking about Nia, a young female admiral staggered out of the black vortex behind them.

It was Admiral Nia.

Nia, whom we hadn't seen for a long time, looked somewhat haggard, her eyes vacant and lifeless, and she even reeked of the dust and grime of travel. Liu

Nia bent over, swinging her arms, staring at the floor like a zombie and muttering to herself.

"They're back, they're back... Finally, they're back..."

"Little White... Little White... Where are you... Little White..."

"Little White... Little White... Little White..."

"..."

Nia looked like she was on her deathbed, and kept repeating the same few sentences, which was quite frightening.

Fortunately, the surrounding ship girls seemed to have gotten used to Nia's appearance. They were eating cucumbers, looking at Nia, and talking about her.

"When did our commander become like this?"

"It seems like it was like this on the first day after I left... but it wasn't this bad back then."

"He seemed like a normal person when he was directing the game."

"But now, as soon as the commander is freed from the game mode, he turns into this mode of extremely missing Admiral Lu Lin."

"The commander's symptoms seem particularly severe today."

"Commander, would you like some cucumber?"

The ship girls surrounded Nia and offered her large, bright green cucumbers.

The black vortex inside the food warehouse rippled once more.

After a long absence, Luo Lian, Chao Yahe, and Des Moines emerged from the black vortex one after another.

After the last figure left the black vortex, Super Yamato gently waved his hand, retracting the constantly spinning black vortex.

As the black vortex dissipated, the only trace of deep-sea scent in the food warehouse also vanished without a trace.

"Huh? What are you doing?"

Luo Lian, who had just stepped out of the black vortex, immediately saw the ship girls crowding around the zombie-like Nia, pressing cucumber slices against Nia's cheeks and lips, and couldn't help but feel curious.

This scene...

I feel there's something somewhat ambiguous about it.

"Ah...isn't this meant to cheer up the commander?"

The ship girls quickly put away the fruits and vegetables in their hands and smiled at Luo Lian.

After listening to the ship girls' words, Luo Lian nodded thoughtfully. Her gaze fell on Nia, and the corners of her mouth curled up slightly.

"Oh... if that's the case, then there's really no need to worry," Luo Lian said to everyone. "This is just a reaction to a severe lack of Xiao Bai's energy. She'll be fine once she sees Xiao Bai again."

After Luo Lian finished speaking, she walked in front of everyone and gently patted Nia on the shoulder.

"Is this the first time I've been this far from Xiaobai?" Luo Lian asked.

“Uh…” Nia nodded blankly.

"You'll get used to it." Luo Lian patted Nia's shoulder again and said to the others, "Let's go out, Xiao Bai should be waiting for us outside."

“Ohhhhhh——”

The ship girls responded immediately, and everyone quickly pushed the swaying Luo Lian out of the food warehouse.

Push open the door to the food warehouse.

As soon as everyone stepped out of the food warehouse, they saw Xiaobai leading a large group of ship girls towards them.

Far away.

As soon as Xiaobai saw Nia and Luo Lian come out, a smile immediately appeared on his face, and he waved to them.

"Nia, Lianlian, you're back!"

Chapter 3081 It Still Has to Be You, Ms. Luo

When the ship girls from Nia's family saw Xiaobai, smiles appeared on their faces, and they prepared to raise their hands to greet him.

However, before the ship girls could utter a word, a scream full of surprise and energy, like the dead coming back to life, suddenly rang out from behind them.

"Little, Little White!!!"

The ship girls were startled by the sudden sound and turned around to look behind them.

brush--

A figure flew out from beside the ship girls as if it had stepped on a spring, and rushed to Xiaobai with lightning speed, crashing into Xiaobai's arms with a thud.

"Little White! Little White! Little White, Little White, Little White, Little White!" Nia hugged Little White's arm tightly, rubbing her face against Little White's shoulder repeatedly, her mouth full of lively, affectionate calls. The way she hugged Little White so tightly, pressing and rubbing every inch of her skin against him, was as if she wanted to melt into Little White's body. "Finally, I see you! Little White, I'm back! I'm finally back—"

The ship girls of Nia's family stared blankly at Nia.

Is this still the same gaunt, dying young female admiral from just a moment ago?

Nia now looked radiant with happiness, her face glowing as if she had been nourished; there was no trace of her earlier state.

"Nia—seriously, you're like this as soon as you get back." Xiaobai hugged Nia with a smile in front of all the ship girls. She raised her hand and touched Nia's forehead, then said, "You've been away for so long, but you seem to have gotten a few years younger. You've become so childish."

"Hehe—" Nia buried her face in Xiaobai's chest, hugged Xiaobai's waist and slowly slid down, finally sitting on the ground, her arms wrapped around Xiaobai's thighs, "I just want to be with Xiaobai..."

Xiaobai bent down and helped Nia up.

The ship girls looked at Nia and Xiaobai, and suddenly remembered what Luo Lian had just diagnosed. They subconsciously turned to look at Luo Lian.

At this moment, Luo Lian was straightening her collar and calmly walked out.

"Lianlian, welcome back." Xiaobai greeted Luo Lian.

"Hmm." Luo Lian nodded, looking at Nia who was leaning on Xiao Bai's shoulder, looking as if she were living in a trance, and then said to Xiao Bai, "This is her first time doing this, so she is not used to it. She should not be so exaggerated after a few more times."

"Huh? What first time?"

"Ahem." Luo Lian coughed, glancing at the ship girls who had come with Xiao Bai, her gaze lingering on Jinan for a moment. "...Hmm, it seems you haven't been idle while we were away, Xiao Bai."

"Right!" Xiaobai smiled happily, hands on her hips.

"Have all three special ship girls been captured?"

"Yes! They're all on my side!"

“That’s interesting… When we left, Xiaobai, you hadn’t collected a single special ship girl yet, but now you’ve collected them all. Tell me your story.” Luo Lian said to Xiaobai.

"Okay, then I want to hear your story with Nia too!"

"Let's find somewhere to talk," Luo Lian said. "The reception hall? Or the dormitory?"

"dormitory!"

……

Nia and Luo Lian disbanded the ship girls who followed them, allowing the ship girls to act freely.

Xiao Bai followed Nia and Luo Lian, and the three of them walked side by side once again, all the way back to Nia's dormitory.

Nia's dormitory had been uninhabited for a long time. When Nia opened the door, the room looked exactly the same as before, but the atmosphere felt empty.

Xiao Bai and his two companions entered the dormitory.

To get the ball rolling, after her two friends, the admirals, were seated on the bed, Xiaobai moved a chair over, sat at the head of the bed, and briefly told them about her experiences over the past few days.

Xiaobai's story is both long and short.

Half an hour later, Xiaobai told her friends about her experiences over the past few days. After hearing what Xiaobai had said, Nia and Luolian both showed different degrees of surprise.

Luo Lian remained silent, only pinching her chin and looking down thoughtfully.

Nia, on the other hand, seemed much more excited.

"Huh? So... that research construction machine is actually the research ship girl's true form?" Nia covered her mouth, her round eyes wide with surprise. "My goodness... I did think the research construction machine was special, but I never imagined she would be a ship girl... And, and, the salvaged ship girl is the legendary Montana? The ship girl hailed as the ultimate battleship? And she even utterly thrashed all the admirals on the beach in Chapter 8... My god, that's amazing!"

Nia didn't hold back her words of amazement.

For Nia, what Xiaobai had experienced on the beach during this time was like a dreamlike adventure that was hard for others to believe.

"Huh, I'm a little surprised. Nia, you also have access to the Chapter 8 forum, right? Haven't you been on the Admiral's Forum lately?" Xiaobai asked with a smile.

"Ah... well, it's because I've been trying to finish things quickly, so I wanted to come back as soon as possible..." Upon hearing Xiaobai's words, Nia scratched her head sheepishly and gave Xiaobai a silly smile. "So I haven't prepared anything except for the competition..."

"You should take a rest," Xiaobai said with concern.

“Yes, yes! I will!” Nia nodded quickly.

"In short, that's all for my story. Now it's time to talk about you and Lianlian, Nia," Xiaobai said with a smile, adopting a posture of attentive listening.

"Ah... my story isn't as exciting as what you went through, Xiaobai..." Nia lowered her head shyly, her hands clasped on her fair thighs. "Well... actually, after Luo Lian and I returned to the second chapter, we separated... Before we parted, Luo Lian gave me a list she had compiled, and told me to challenge and travel according to the order on the list. I just honestly followed Luo Lian's list and challenged my way into the top 1,000 of the world rankings, and finally came back here. There wasn't anything particularly noteworthy in between... just normal matches, training, and more matches... I didn't encounter any major setbacks, it was all very boring."

"Huh? You and Lianlian broke up?"

"Yes, yes... I only met up with Luo Lian today."

"Oh..." Xiaobai nodded at Luo Lian, then smiled at Nia, "Nia, anyway, congratulations on making it into the world rankings! If you're in the top 1,000 in the world rankings... most of your competitors are in Chapter 8, so you can slowly improve your ranking here."

"Mmm...mmm!" Nia nodded quickly, saying gratefully, "I'll do my best so as not to disappoint you, Little White!"

Xiao Bai smiled, then blinked, her smile fading as she looked intently at Luo Lian.

Luo Lian was deep in thought, but she seemed to sense Xiao Bai's gaze, so she stopped looking and met Xiao Bai's eyes.

"Little White?" Luo Lian asked, "What's wrong?"

"Lianlian... how is your garrison doing now?" Xiaobai asked with some concern. "I heard from Nia that you and she separated after returning to the second chapter?"

“Oh… I see.” Luo Lian glanced at Nia and nodded. “My situation is different from Nia’s. Our upgrade paths are different, so we will naturally separate.”

"Then... Lianlian, what have you been doing all this time?"

“Of course, there are a lot of procedures to handle,” Luo Lian said.

"...Procedures?" Xiaobai asked blankly. "Isn't this a competition?"

“My naval base isn’t as strong as Nia’s. She can easily break into the world’s top 100 with her raw strength, but as for me… at least at my current level, I can’t.” Luo Lian shook her head. “So, to see results faster, I chose to take a shortcut.”

"...A shortcut?" Xiaobai asked curiously.

Speaking of which, when I asked Luo Lian if she needed my help before, she did say that she had a special way to improve her garrison's ranking.

However, Luo Lian unusually kept the details of this method a secret from Xiao Bai, without explaining it in detail.

Xiao Bai still doesn't know what method Luo Lian used.

"So, anyway, Lianlian, what's your garrison's ranking now?" Xiaobai asked directly, somewhat curiously.

"Good question." Luo Lian nodded, then held up her index and middle fingers to Xiao Bai, making a peace sign.

Xiao Bai and Nia exchanged a glance as they looked at Luo Lian's scissor-hand gesture.

"……two thousand?")