Elder brother's garrison

"Looks like... Ticonderoga has finally made it big..."

"That's great. I knew President Lu Lin wouldn't just stand by and watch Ticonderoga suffer."

"Ticonderoga certainly deserves better treatment."

The ship girls chattered amongst themselves.

"Alright, alright, I'm only telling you guys this news. The formation of the Royal Guard is uncertain, so don't say anything before then!" The ship girl who broke the news immediately raised her finger.

"I understand, I understand. Heaven knows, Earth knows, you know, I know, and the Black Tower knows too!"

A group of ship girls pointed at the Black Tower with smiles on their faces.

The black tower stood silently, shrouded in smoke.

"Speaking of which, today was busy... but tomorrow should be much better," said one of the patrol ship girls.

"Huh? What do you say?"

"Look, the Black Tower is currently only allowed to be entered once per ship girl," the patrol ship girl explained with a smile. "There are only so many admirals who can reach node 8-4. Most of them have already challenged the Black Tower today, so there are very few admirals left. I estimate that starting tomorrow, no one will come to the Black Tower anymore."

"Oh...that makes sense."

"So it seems this place will soon become desolate again."

"Yes... In the end, we still didn't understand the structure and principles of this black tower..."

"Don't worry."

"Haha, that's true!"

The ship girls looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

The melodious, clear laughter of the girls echoed across the calm sea.

then.

In the sky, the dark clouds that had obscured the bright moon moved away at this moment, and the moonlight shone through the layers of smoke onto the black tower.

hum-

Suddenly, a resounding vibration, like the hum of an old bell, came from the black tower.

"Boom!!!"

The patrol ship girls who were chatting suddenly shuddered, and then their hair stood on end. In an instant, they released their ship equipment, turned their gaze to the black tower, and assumed a battle stance.

“Wh…what’s going on??”

"Just now... the Black Tower reacted strangely?!"

"I think I heard a huge sound that echoed directly in my head?!"

Did you hear that too?

"I heard it too!"

The ship girls exclaimed in surprise, their battle stances remaining firmly in place.

However, even though they stared at the black tower with extreme tension, after emitting that "humming" sound, the black tower did not react further.

The sea was still shrouded in smoke, and the Black Tower stood tall; nothing else had changed.

The patrol ship girls nervously surveyed their surroundings. After finding no strange phenomena, they slowly exchanged glances and then withdrew from combat alert.

"...I...I'll contact the Admiral's Guild first."

The patrol captain in charge of the handover took a couple of breaths, wiped the cold sweat from her forehead, and addressed her teammates.

The other team members nodded in agreement. While the captain retreated to use special equipment to make contact, the rest of the team members immediately began to discuss the matter.

"Just now...you all?"

"..." The crowd nodded with complicated expressions.

"Damn, this black tower is no ordinary thing... What was that just now...?"

"I don't know, the Black Tower shouldn't have made a sound, but we all think we heard a thud..."

"Hiss... That's strange."

The patrol members frowned as they looked at the Black Tower.

The Black Tower, visible to the ship girls, stood quietly. Its massive structure stretched to the heavens and the sea, shrouded in mist, resembling a totem performing some strange ritual.

"..."

……

That night, it wasn't just the patrol team guarding node 8-4 who heard the unusual noises.

In fact, the spiritual energy fluctuations emanating from the Black Tower were like a huge wind wall rapidly spreading in all directions, instantly sweeping across the entire sea and land of Chapter Eight.

Wherever the fluctuations of mental energy passed, an invisible sound instantly echoed.

Throughout Chapter 8, all the ship girls seemed to hear a huge, long-resonating "thump."

Countless ship girls were instantly awakened from their sleep. Some of the more intense reactions even summoned their ship equipment in an instant, while others were so frightened that they broke out in a cold sweat, jumped off the bed, and stared in astonishment at the distant sea.

"That sound just now was..."

"what?"

"What exactly was that voice...?"

The ship girls, startled awake from their sleep, looked on with strange expressions, but... the admirals in Chapter 8 were reacting in much the same way, or even more intensely.

The admirals in Chapter 3959 woke up from their beds almost simultaneously, drenched in cold sweat. They stared blankly at what lay before them, their mouths trembling, as if they had heard something unbelievable.

Yes.

The admirals did indeed hear incredulous sounds.

However... the sound the admirals heard was not as simple as the "buzzing" sound the ship girls heard...

What the admirals heard was a clearer, more precise, and more complete... "a sentence," or rather, a synthesized "mechanical voice."

"Om——"

"The number of players who have completed the initial difficulty level has reached the required standard, and the simulated combat exercise is now officially open."

"The first phase of the simulated combat exercise is now open, with a current difficulty level of 1."

"First-clearance reward announced: Missile technology unlocked across the entire area"

"Requirements for commencing the next phase of simulated exercises: Stay tuned."

……

All the admirals who heard that sound that seemed to echo directly in their heads looked at their palms with an unusually strange and peculiar expression after they woke up.

That strange sound, which seemed to ignore the ears and resound directly in the heart... was a truly unique and wonderful experience, and at the same time... it also gave me a chill down my spine for no reason.

what?

Simulated combat exercises?

what is that?

What is the first zone? What are the rewards? What is unlocking missile technology across all zones?

The admirals were completely bewildered. They sat on the bed in deep thought for a long time until the cold sweat on their backs dried completely and the cold wind made them feel chilly. Only then did they shiver and get out of bed.

Although I'm not entirely sure what happened...

But I have this feeling... if I wasn't half asleep when I heard that voice, I might have activated a system like the protagonist in a wish-fulfillment novel?

Damn, so I'm the main character after all?

The admirals slapped their foreheads, belatedly realizing the truth.

Within Chapter 3960, a large number of admirals were slapping their thighs and silently celebrating by the bedside, a comical scene that unfolded in various small rooms.

……

Only one admiral remained soundly asleep in bed.

Everything was normal in Xiaobai's dormitory.

Two figures, one tall and one short, nestled together in the middle of the bed, a thin sheet draped across them, outlining the girl's curves.

Xiaobai rested one hand on Shenhai Akagi's slender, snow-white waistline, her fingers unconsciously caressing Shenhai Akagi's fair skin, tracing her perfect waistline. Xiaobai's eyes were closed, her breathing even, her chin resting on Shenhai Akagi's full breasts as she slept soundly. Shenhai Akagi's black hair and Xiaobai's silver hair were intertwined, and the soft breathing sounds rose and fell in the room. The rich fragrance of flowers wafted in the air, slowly entering their nostrils and then being exhaled from their mouths.

Everything was harmonious and as usual.

Xiaobai didn't hear the so-called "electronic voice reminder" at all.

Xiao Bai was the only person in the entire eighth chapter who did not hear the so-called "electronic voice reminder".

Therefore, Xiaobai's sleep was completely protected.

Little White slept especially soundly and contentedly tonight.

Chapter 3961 Midnight Echo

The next morning, Xiaobai was awakened by the constant noise coming from outside the dormitory.

dong dong dong...

Da da da……

Hua Hua Hua...

Abba Abba…

Waibibabu...

Sometimes clear and powerful, sometimes faint and indistinct footsteps swept past the dormitory door. At the same time, the air was filled with the occasional calls of the ship girls to each other and the clanging and clattering of various objects.

The area outside the dormitory suddenly became as lively as a vegetable market.

Little White was awakened from her sleep by the strange noise outside the door.

The little white eyelashes on the bed trembled slightly. Then, she slowly raised her head from Akagi's arms, which were filled with the fragrance of flowers and the soft touch of her skin. Like a paramecium, she slowly propped herself up on the bed. Finally, she sat on the bed board, rubbing her sleepy eyes and forcing her eyelids open. She glanced at the dormitory door with a blank and confused look.

Although the dormitory windows were blocked by heavy curtains, sunlight still stubbornly shone through the gaps in Xiaobai's vision. She saw the shadows of the ship girls outside the curtains, like trees appearing and disappearing in the blink of an eye outside a train window, constantly and quickly passing from one end of the curtain to the other, and disappearing in an instant.

"..."

Xiaobai slowly lowered her hand, tilted her head, looked at the ship girl figures constantly passing by outside the window, and frowned in confusion.

—The fact that Xiaobai suffers from severe insomnia is unknown to anyone in the entire temporary naval base, including the newbie naval base thousands of miles away, and even to her married ships.

—This is a little secret for beginners.

The reason why almost no one knows about this is mainly because Xiaobai rarely mentions his sleep quality problems to others.

Even so, whether it's a newbie naval base or a temporary naval base, the ship girls are quite considerate of Admiral Shiro's rest time. The ship girls almost never make too much noise in front of Shiro's dormitory. In fact, whenever Shiro is resting, the ship girls passing by Shiro's door will deliberately slow down their pace, trying to be quiet and not disturb Shiro inside the room.

The reason the ship girls did this was probably out of respect for Shiro and admiration for her.

So when Xiaobai was woken up by the noise outside the dormitory today, and saw the ship girls constantly passing by, she was still a little confused.

--Um?

—What happened?

—It feels so lively outside today.

Thinking of this, Xiaobai looked up at the clock hanging on the wall.

It was 6:00 AM, slightly earlier than Xiaobai's usual wake-up time.

Fortunately, Xiaobai is not grumpy when getting out of bed.

More than being woken up by strange noises, Xiaobai is now concerned about what is happening outside.

So Xiaobai gently raised her wrist and used the back of her hand to wipe away the last trace of sleepiness from the corner of her eyes. Then she stretched lazily on the bed before tiptoeing off the bed.

After quickly changing her clothes, Xiaobai glanced back at Shenhai Chicheng, who was still sound asleep in bed, and couldn't help but admire her excellent sleep quality. Then, she gently pushed the dormitory door open a crack and walked out.

When Xiaobai walked out of the dormitory, the figures of the ship girls from the temporary naval base were constantly flashing past her in the corridor outside the dormitory.

Xiaobai paused for a moment, then subconsciously looked in the direction the ship girls had left.

Right next to Xiaobai's dormitory, in front of Nia's dormitory, the figures of the ship girls had already crowded the already narrow corridor to the point of being impassable.

Xiao Bai was somewhat surprised by the bustling crowd.