Elder brother's garrison

"What's going on?" Xiaobai asked.

“…That’s a long story.” Washington picked up the shovel that North Carolina had thrown on the ground, thought for a moment, and then said, “Well, North Carolina is actually my sister in a strict sense.”

"……what?"

“Well, there are also sister ships in the world that don’t live like sisters. Anyway, that’s how we are, we treat each other as friends.” Washington said as she pulled the men out of the pit one by one. “She’s very strong.”

Just then, Yamato Shinkai came out with a boiled egg and was rolling it around on the bruise on his wrist.

"Oh, you're back." Yamato said to Shiro.

"Yamato-neechan, are you alright?"

"Yeah, North Carolina... oh, you probably already know about her, right?" Akami Yamato shrugged, a look of utter astonishment on her face. "So there are ship girls in the world whose bodies can change..."

It seems that Deepsea Yamato already knows a lot more information than Shiro.

“North Carolina’s physique is quite special, like a battery. When she’s not generating power, her body stays in a childlike state. But when she gets serious, or to put it simply, when she’s mobilizing the power of the ship girls, her body grows rapidly, to about my age,” Washington said. “Not only her strength and physique, but also her intelligence and emotional intelligence will change.”

"Huh?" Xiaobai exclaimed in shock, "Growth?"

Washington didn't use the word "change," but rather "growth," which aptly describes North Carolina's constitution.

It's not just physical health; knowledge, emotional intelligence, experience, and rationality are all affected by North Carolina's unique physical constitution.

When she doesn't use her powers, she's just a little kid at the Fubuki level, who doesn't understand anything. But once she uses her powers, she rapidly grows into a Washington-level lady. Then, as things are resolved, North Carolina's body, which doesn't need her powers, slowly shrinks back to its original size.

It looks like a movie, which is quite interesting, but after encountering it so many times, Washington says it's quite exhausting.

“That state you were in just now was what North Carolina went through when he turned back into a child,” Washington explained. “It was probably around your age, Admiral.”

"Oh, oh..." Xiaobai nodded.

“Girls this age…it’s not easy to handle.” Washington said, rubbing his head. “They’re going through their rebellious phase…”

"...I'm sorry." For some reason, Xiaobai inexplicably wanted to apologize.

"One second she was nestled in your arms, smiling adorably and calling you 'sister,' but the next second she's suddenly transformed into an older sister, sitting on your lap, just because she wanted to reach for the remote control. The atmosphere suddenly becomes incredibly ambiguous. And just when you're wondering how to respond, she suddenly reverts to a young girl, angrily pounding your chest and yelling, 'Who wants to sit on your lap? Give me the remote, you stupid sister!'" Washington covered his face, propped himself up with a shovel, and knelt down. "Honestly, it's really exhausting..."

When Washington said this, even his tone inexplicably became haggard.

It seems that all sorts of troubles have indeed occurred because of this kind of thing.

"I finally managed to stabilize North Carolina recently and prevent him from transforming at the drop of a hat, so I dared to take him out of the house. I didn't expect that today he would bring back some bad memories..." Washington said to himself, looking at the big hole in the middle of the yard.

Chapter 375 Checking the Water Meter!

Washington pulled the men who had broken into his house out of the pit and hung them on a tree outside the yard.

North Carolina acted with great restraint, sparing the men's lives, instead inflicting physical amnesia on them and breaking their legs.

After all, Xiaobai will come back. Minors need a healthy environment to grow up in, and it's not appropriate to do things that are too bloody.

Washington wiped non-existent sweat from his brow and walked back into the yard.

Like magic, North Carolina, now shrunk back to her childhood form, emerged from the house, her wide eyes fixed on the large pit in the center of the yard.

That's a masterpiece of a teenage version of North Carolina.

North Carolina's constitution is such that her memories before and after transformation are shared, but depending on whether she is a child, a teenage girl, or a mature woman, her strength, rationality, wisdom, and social experience will be different. Therefore, the way North Carolina handles a matter will also be different in different forms.

Meanwhile, Reina, the young girl from North Carolina, was pondering her reasons for digging the hole there earlier.

However, as long as she remains in her child form, she will never understand the actions of her teenage form.

Deep Sea Yamato and Shiro sat on the edge of the pit, gesturing wildly as they recounted what had happened.

"Thump! Pfft! Then boom! And finally swish!" Yamato Akagi exclaimed dramatically.

Xiao Bai listened with great interest.

North Carolina's young girl curiously approached and quietly snuggled into Little White's arms, lying on Little White's lap as she watched Deep Sea Yamato recount his glorious deeds from a dozen minutes earlier.

North Carolina's youngest child is a quiet type, so it's not surprising to see him anywhere. Little White was quite cooperative and let North Carolina lie there.

"North Carolina knows Yamato-neechan?" Xiaobai asked with some surprise after hearing the conversation between North Carolina and Deep Sea Yamato from Deep Sea Yamato's retelling.

It's safe to say that the ship girls who know Yamato are all quite old.

So North Carolina might actually be an old relic.

Xiao Bai lowered his head and looked towards North Carolina.

When North Carolina heard Xiaobai mention herself, she looked up and quietly looked at Xiaobai.

The young North Carolina was like a quiet kitten.

“Yes, she’s much older than me.” Washington finished filling the hole at that moment and came over carrying a shovel.

Does Washington prefer North Carolina with its childlike appearance?

“It’s not that I like keeping her in a childlike state; it’s just that the younger she is, the more energy she saves,” Washington said. “It’s like in cartoons, where she accumulates the energy she wastes and releases it at the right time.”

"That's amazing!" Xiaobai exclaimed.

The ability to control one's own physical growth is truly remarkable.

"Can I learn this technique?" Xiaobai asked.

"Hmm? Admiral, are you interested?" Washington was taken aback.

"Ah... um, about height..." Xiaobai blushed.

“That can’t be taught.” Washington could only shake her head helplessly. It seemed that living in North Carolina for so long had given her a thorough understanding of the North Carolina physique and the right to speak on it. “She can switch between being an adult and a child because she was originally an adult similar to me. Admiral, let’s not even talk about how this can’t be taught. Even if it were taught, Admiral, you probably could only switch between being an infant and your current state.”

"Ah... I knew it..." Xiaobai lowered her head awkwardly.

"It's alright, Admiral. You'll definitely grow up to be a beautiful and elegant woman." Washington smiled at Shiro.

"This admiral's daughter is already so beautiful; she'll definitely be an extraordinary beauty when she grows up," Washington said with considerable certainty.

If only I could grow up.

"Thank you." Xiaobai nodded gratefully.

That concludes the casual conversation.

Washington threw the shovel he was holding back into the corner of the yard and straightened his expression.

Bismarck and Akagi also came over. They exchanged glances and then looked at Shiro.

"Well then, Admiral, it's about time we got down to business." Washington pulled over a stool and pulled his axe out of his ship's rigging.

Washington's axe has a large axe head, a long blade, and a large, hollowed-out star in the center.

"Admiral, we ship girls really value the concept of 'home'." Washington looked at the axe in her hand and said something that seemed rather vague to Shiro.

"Uh, um." Xiaobai nodded.

With a snap, the axe in Washington's hand transformed into a white lightning bolt, cleaving the stool on the ground in two.

Wood chips flew everywhere.

Washington gave a cold smile.

Xiaobai instinctively hugged North Carolina tighter in his arms.

“Admiral, in that case, if rats get into the house, shouldn’t we clean out the rat nests around the house for the sake of hygiene?” Washington squatted down, leaning on his gleaming axe, and said to Little White.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The people are simple and honest, and no one picks up lost items on the road. Under the rule of the Forgot Love family, the village has always been full of youthful vitality.

However, the power of the Forgot Love family has been greatly impacted.

A couple of years ago, a group of young men, having nothing better to do, formed a small gang called the Axe Gang. It was full of street thugs. At first, the Ai Family didn't care about this obviously shady gang.

After all, there were plenty of random little organizations that people formed in private back then, including quite a few Axe Gangs.

No matter how reckless you are, you can't shake the status of the Forgot Love Family. After all, compared to those shady and pretentious organizations, the Forgot Love Family is a high-level organization with decades of experience and two or three generations of leadership.

However, since the Axe Gang has been mentioned, it's easy to guess that things have indeed taken an unexpected turn for the better by the patriarch of the Forgotten Love family. This small organization, which was looked down upon by the Forgotten Love family not long ago, has rapidly grown into a behemoth in just two years.

No one knows when, but this organization has grown into a high-level entity that can rival the Forgot Love Family.

For an organization, the most important thing is the influx of fresh blood, because your old members cannot stay forever. They will leave you for various reasons. You never know, the excellent member who was chatting and laughing with you one second may be hacked into a vegetable the next day when collecting protection money.

Therefore, for an organization, the speed of new member onboarding and training must keep pace with, and exceed, the speed of old member turnover.

However, recently, the patriarch, as the leader of the Forgot Love family, discovered a very serious problem: the rate at which new members are joining is starting to fall behind the rate at which older members are leaving.

Firstly, the increasing friction with the Axe Gang has led to more and more casualties among his men. Secondly, it seems that young people these days look down on the incredibly cool name "Forget Love" and instead join the low-class Axe Gang.

Thinking of this, the clan leader slammed his hand on the table, looked up, and stared at the young people sitting across from him.

Following the clan leader's actions, his underlings also reached into their clothes and pulled out all sorts of hardcore lethal weapons, such as watermelon knives, spiked clubs, and holy swords.

The patriarch of the Forgotten Love family is currently negotiating with Juedan, the leader of the Axe Gang.

"Chief, please don't be so agitated. We are cultured people. We are here to exchange ideas, not to fight." The four young men sitting across the table showed no sign of panic despite the chief's imminent attack. Instead, they smiled nonchalantly at them.

The henchmen behind them casually pulled out axes tucked behind their belts and gave the group a menacing look.

The clan leader gestured to his underlings to put their weapons away.

"I am negotiating with you in good faith, and I hope you will come with good faith as well," the clan chief said to the four young men across the table.

"We have left our own base and come to your family's territory to negotiate. Isn't that enough to show our sincerity?"

"Bang!" The clan chief slammed his fist on the table, veins bulging, and yelled at the young people in front of him, "Bullshit! You're all just kids who haven't even grown their hair yet! Who are you trying to fool!"

Despite the clan leader's highly discriminatory language, the four young men from the Axe Gang showed no anger whatsoever.

“Our Axe Gang is a young and dynamic gang. Don’t you like this kind of energetic organization?” the young man said to the clan leader with a smile. “We’re wondering why the famous Forgot Love Clan is having a meeting and it’s full of middle-aged men.”

"Damn it," the clan chief muttered under his breath.

The kids in front of them were significantly younger than the people in their forties and fifties, which caused both sides to look down on each other due to the age gap, making it difficult for the meeting to continue normally.

"Who's in charge of your Axe Gang?"

“It’s us. Didn’t we say we came with the utmost sincerity?” the young man said with a smile to the clan chief.

The clan chief took a deep breath, stared at the person in front of him, and said nothing.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Just as the Axe Gang and the Forgot Love Family were having a friendly and heated discussion, they welcomed a brand new guest outside the Forgot Love Family's gate.

With a loud "bang!", the tightly closed door was kicked open by the intruder.

Washington, carrying an axe, stood on the smooth door sill and looked at the few gatekeepers lying on the ground.

"Check the water meter!"

Chapter 376 The eldest brother shines brightly!

The Forgot Love family's base was a large compound they had seized from somewhere, with a few men guarding the gate. Washington certainly didn't have any pleasantries with these people who allowed their men to break into his home and do whatever they wanted, so he simply kicked the gate open.

Washington looked at the small fry lying on the ground inside the door, who had been pressed behind the door and knocked unconscious before they even understood what had happened, and looked around curiously.

"Why does it feel like there are fewer people than I expected?" Washington muttered, turning his head to look behind him.

Because we didn't want a second incident like our hometown being raided, we didn't leave anyone at home this time; everyone came along.

Little White stepped into the courtyard and looked around with great interest, following Washington.

"Wow, it's huge!" Xiaobai exclaimed.

This courtyard is like a mansion.

"Is this your first time in Washington?" Xiaobai asked.

“I’m a law-abiding citizen, this must be my first time here.” Washington squatted down next to the unconscious thugs and poked them in the face with the handle of his axe.

"Don't cut her if she's unconscious," Bismarck advised, thinking Washington was about to finish her off.

"Don't worry, this axe isn't for chopping people." Washington stood up and raised the axe in his hand. "This thing is a medal symbolizing the freedom of the hardworking and simple people."

"Is an axe a medal?"

“There are weapons in the world whose symbolic significance outweighs their practical value,” Akagi nodded and said, “like the admirals’ swords.”

“Yes, that’s it.” Washington nodded, dragged a nobody out from under the door, and slapped him twice across the face.

The underlings were awakened by Washington's slap.

"Where is your second-in-command?" Washington asked.