Elder brother's garrison

"I'm not going to be the city lord anymore!" Muji shouted, then said to Xiaobai, "I think you, ship girl, are more suitable for the position of city lord than I am!"

Xiao Bai took a deep breath and subconsciously took several steps back, moving away from the desk.

She looked at the incredibly sincere Muji standing before her with some surprise, and swallowed hard. "Um... I'm still very young... I'm not suitable to be the city lord..."

"It's alright, I was only twelve years old when I became the city lord! I believe you, ship girl, can definitely do better than me!"

"Uh, no need, thank you for your kindness, Lord Muji." Xiaobai bowed to Muji, then took the little hand of North Carolina beside her and prepared to leave the small house.

Just kidding, Xiaobai doesn't want to be the city lord.

Right now, all Xiaobai can think about is going home. Once she sees that the ship girl technology is capable of resisting the Abyssal Fleet, Xiaobai will have to leave. She won't have the energy to be a city lord.

"Goodbye!" Little White prepared to slip away.

"No! Miss Ship Girl! I can't live without you!" Just as Xiaobai was pulling North Carolina past Muji, Muji suddenly leaped up like a salted fish and rushed towards Xiaobai's thigh, reaching out to hug her.

Xiaobai instinctively pulled his leg back, and Muji lost his target and fell face-first to the ground.

"What! Miss Ship Girl, you actually dodged our family's secret technique!" Kiji was shocked when he fell to the ground. He then propped himself up and looked at Shiro in astonishment.

"A family secret technique?!" Xiao Bai was stunned.

"A salted fish clinging to a big shot!" Muji looked at Xiaobai in shock. "It's said that no big shot can escape our family's secret techniques. As long as we cling to them, they will definitely lend us a hand. That's how my dad begged me to let him inherit his position as city lord!"

"...This strong sense of déjà vu..." Xiaobai looked at Muji lying on the ground with a confident expression, and for some reason, a strong sense of unease rose in her heart. She slowly narrowed her eyes and thought about the source of this unease.

"There's an opening!" Just then, Muji on the ground did another somersault and pounced straight at Xiaobai's other leg.

However, the family's secret technique that Muji believed had always worked perfectly met its match at this moment.

As Muji charged straight toward Xiaobai's thigh, in a dizzying moment, Muji suddenly realized that his target had mysteriously vanished once again. Furthermore, a small shoe sole kept enlarging in front of him.

With a "thud," Muji's face slammed into the sole of Xiaobai's raised shoe, and after a muffled thud, he collapsed limply to the floor.

Xiaobai subconsciously raised his foot, and only when he looked at Muji lying in front of him did he finally realize what was happening.

"Oh no... Oh no..." Xiaobai covered her mouth and looked at Muji on the ground. "I accidentally thought of someone I really hate, and then I subconsciously raised my foot and stomped on them... Lord Muji, are you alright?"

"Ah...it's nothing, it's nothing..."

"I'm really sorry to ask you to take on the role of city lord. If that's what you're asking me to do, then I really can't accept it. Could you please ask City Lord Muji to persevere on your own?"

"Oh ho..." Muji showed a sad expression.

"He probably didn't come to you to make you the city lord, did he? After all, he only just found out about your abilities in this area." At that moment, Sukhbaatar ruthlessly exposed Muji.

"Huh? Really?" Xiaobai looked at Muji in surprise.

"Haha... I've been found out." Muji looked at Xiaobai embarrassedly, "Well, actually, if you, Miss Ship Girl, could become the city lord, that would be great. There's no order to these requests."

"Lord Muji, what brings you here?" Xiaobai ignored Muji's question and asked curiously.

Muji looked at Xiaobai, thought for a while, and finally sighed softly: "The Deep Sea Abyss Ship seems to have its eye on our city."

"The Deepsea Amphibious Ships have their eyes on this city?"

“Yes.” Muji sat up from the ground, scratched his head, and looked at the open door of the house. “We have discovered brand new Abyssal Ships, a model we have never seen before. They have an appearance that is very similar to yours, Miss Ship Girl… well, the appearance of a human girl, and steel-like ship equipment.”

Muji's words stunned Xiaobai.

"Lord Muji... what color is the deep-sea amphibious ship you discovered?"

"Color?" Muji thought for a moment, then said to Xiaobai, "I didn't expect you to know that ship girls have colors. As expected of you. Hmm, the special abyssal ship we found, if we're talking about color... is purple."

Chapter 500 The Impartial and Unyielding Lord Su

"Purple?!" Xiaobai looked at Muji and repeated what he said in surprise.

"Yes, it's purple." Muji crossed his arms and pondered for a moment. "Around the time when you ship girls left and we started analyzing the construction device, the number of deep-sea ships detected by our exploration team outside the city began to slowly increase."

At this point, Muji's previously rather frivolous demeanor gradually turned serious. He lowered his head, looked at the floor, and thought for a while before slowly saying, "Before, because the city was so large, even in this inland area far from the ocean, we would occasionally encounter deep-sea ships coming ashore, so we were quite prepared in this regard. However... recently, we've encountered deep-sea ships far too often."

How many times?

“In the month since you ship girls left, we’ve encountered this three or four times already,” Muji said softly, closing his eyes. “Fortunately, the number of Abyssal Fleet ships each time is not large, and they haven’t caused much damage to the city or caused any casualties. If we let them cause trouble outside the city, they’ll get tired of it soon and leave on their own.”

"That's good..." Xiaobai breathed a sigh of relief.

"But this isn't a long-term solution, is it?" Mu Yu said, giving Xiao Bai a wry smile.

Even if these deep-sea amphibious ships didn't cause significant damage to the city all at once, these repeated small attacks still posed a considerable threat to the city's development. And surviving this time didn't guarantee they could withstand a second. While this might sound discouraging, Muji genuinely didn't know if the city could withstand the next wave of enemy attacks if the next wave consisted of just two or three more deep-sea amphibious ships.

Xiaobai also began to understand why Muji was so eager for deep-sea technology.

"Where was that deep-sea vessel that Lord Namuji mentioned, which looks a lot like me, discovered?" Xiaobai asked.

"The purple one?" Muji nodded. "That special deep-sea vessel was discovered by a reconnaissance team. It's located about tens of kilometers from this city. A large fleet of deep-sea vessels that have already landed are slowly approaching our city. That fleet of deep-sea vessels is unlike any we've ever seen before. Rather than a chaotic mob, they seem more like an orderly army. In the middle of the army is their leader, which is the purple deep-sea vessel I mentioned earlier."

At this point, Muji looked at Xiaobai: "To be honest, I don't know how a city that is struggling to resist even a few small waves of deep-sea amphibious ships can possibly withstand a large army of special deep-sea amphibious ships. If they reach the edge of the city, the city will probably fall in an instant."

Xiaobai looked at Muji's serious expression and then nodded.

There's no need to even think about anything similar to the Little White Abyss Ship; it's basically the Deep Sea Dean.

The Dean of the Deep Sea is the king of the Deep Sea Fleet, possessing combat power a hundred times greater than that of ordinary Deep Sea Fleet ships. Especially when commanding the Deep Sea minions, his combat power is many dimensions stronger than that of ordinary Deep Sea Fleet ships.

The city's ship girl construction facilities have not yet been fully replicated, meaning that the city has not yet had time to possess its own ship girl force. Relying solely on manpower and the nearly abandoned Unit-01, it is certain that it cannot withstand an attack from the Abyssal Fleet led by the Abyssal Dean.

Xiao Bai sighed.

“I understand, Lord Muji. Leave this matter to me,” Xiaobai said.

Muji suddenly raised his head, his eyes shining as he looked at Xiaobai, as if he had been waiting for her to say those words for a long time.

—For some reason, looking at Muji's irritating expression, Xiaobai felt that subtle sense of déjà vu was much stronger.

"Boss, I've been waiting for you to say that for a long time!" Muji stood up from the ground, then quickly ran to his desk, opened the drawer, pulled out several documents, and handed them to Xiaobai.

Xiao Bai looked down for a while.

The information that Muji gave her described the approximate location and direction of the deep-sea fleet that Muji had mentioned, and even thoughtfully marked the approximate number of deep-sea amphibious ships.

Given the limited technological level of that era, the fact that Muji was able to gather so much information shows that he must have put in a lot of effort.

"Thank you, this will be of great help." Xiaobai looked at the information in her hand, memorized it, and then put it away.

"Then let's talk about the matter of succeeding as the city lord."

"Goodbye." Xiaobai quickly pulled North Carolina out of Muji's house and ran back to the factory.

Missouri and Sukhbaatar quickly followed, and saw the four girls running, disappearing into the street in a few seconds.

Xiaobai returned to the factory and, amidst the welcoming cheers of the crowd, went back to where Lily of the Valley was.

"Sister Linglan, I'm back!" Xiaobai pushed open the workshop door and greeted Linglan, who was sitting on the table.

During the short time that Xiaobai was away, Linglan was probably studying the mysterious patterns on the construction device. When she saw Xiaobai return, she pushed aside the stack of draft papers on the table and smiled at Xiaobai.

"You're back! What did Muji say to you guys?"

"Military secrets, not to be leaked." Xiaobai moved closer to Linglan and said with a smile.

"Even I can't tell?" Lily asked.

"Even Sister Linglan can't tell you," Xiaobai shook her head.

"Then forget it. It's not a big deal anyway. He probably doesn't want to be the city lord anymore and wants to pass the position to you."

"..." Xiaobai smiled awkwardly.

Surprisingly, Lily of the Valley's intuition is quite accurate to some extent.

Xiaobai walked behind Linglan and gently patted her shoulder.

Linglan didn't seem to care much about what Xiaobai said; she gradually relaxed as Xiaobai moved.

"Is work tiring?" Xiaobai asked.

"It's alright, not tiring at all," Linglan said, glancing at the draft paper on her desk. "It's just that time is tight, and there's still a lot to do."

"Is it about researching and constructing the device?"

“Hmm.” Linglan reached out and touched the paper on the table. After thinking for a while, she said, “Working in the factory is actually quite tiring. The whole city is waiting for us.”

"Waiting for you?"

"We'll have to wait for our technology to bear fruit," Linglan said, a rather troubled expression on her face.

Xiaobai stared at Linglan's retreating figure in silence for a while.

"Oh..." Xiaobai nodded, withdrew her hand, and then slowly said, "Well, Sister Linglan, I might have to leave again soon."

Linglan's shoulders stiffened. She turned around and looked at Xiaobai: "Are you leaving again?"

"Mm," Xiaobai said.

"..." Linglan's eyes dimmed slightly for a moment, then she closed her eyes and smiled at Xiaobai, "Come back soon."

"Definitely."

"Without Lu Lin, I might die from lack of Lu Lin's energy."

"How could that be?" Xiaobai laughed.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, Xiaobai left the workshop.

Xiaobai walked out of the workshop where Linglan was located, glanced a few times at the workers who were busily producing parts for the construction equipment, and finally left the factory without looking back.

"Lord Su?" After leaving the factory, Xiaobai turned around and called out to Sukhbaatar.

"I'm not a combat type, you know. I can't help you repel the deep-sea amphibious ships." Sukhbaatar held the back of his head and then turned his head to the other side.

"Can't we make an exception just this once?" Xiaobai asked.

"Little girl, you may have some misunderstanding about me. Although I am super powerful, exceptionally powerful, invincible, the strongest in the world, I am ultimately not a human ship girl. The life and death of humans have nothing to do with me," Sukhbaatar said. "Besides, I can't use my power all the time. I can only do it when I'm very, very angry. Since the life and death of humans are none of my business, even if a human city is destroyed in front of me, I will only say, 'Oh, what a pity,' and I won't get so angry that I transform, so I can't fight."

Sukhbaatar's words essentially sealed off all his chances of fighting, and also completely eliminated any possibility that Xiaobai might later try to beg Sukhbaatar for help.

Xiao Bai nodded somewhat disappointedly: "Alright then..."

“However, although I’m not a combat type, I can still come along and enjoy the scenery with you,” Sukhbaatar coughed lightly and added.

"Oh, really?" Little White looked at Sukhbaatar in surprise.

"I'm just looking at the scenery, I won't make a move, not even if it kills me," Sukhbaatar said, raising his little neck. "Because I'm not a combat type."

"Yes! Thank you, Lord Su." Xiaobai sincerely thanked Sukhbaatar.

"It wouldn't be difficult for you to handle a Deep Sea Dean or anything like that on your own, so I won't be lifting a finger," Sukhbaatar emphasized once again.

"Yes! Thank you, Lord Su." Xiaobai thanked him again.

"Look at how happy you are. Do you think you can't handle this problem without me?"

"Because Lord Su is the most powerful person in the world. With Lord Su around, I feel like I can solve anything."

"Hmph," Sukhbaatar's fair face flushed slightly, like two faint blushes rising. She turned her head away, let out a soft hum, and mumbled something that Xiaobai couldn't understand.

Chapter 501 Deep-Sea Hero Yamato-chan

As long as Sukhbaatar is willing to go with Xiaobai, regardless of whether she will take action or not, her mere presence is a great psychological comfort to Xiaobai.

As for whether they will actually take action... well, they've already left, so we'll see what happens when the time comes.

After shopping around the city, Xiaobai and his group quickly left.

According to the information provided by Muji, the purple deep-sea ship is quite close to the city, only a few dozen kilometers away. If Xiaobai were to travel this distance on his own, he could reach it in less than a day.

Following the information in the data, Xiaobai led Missouri and the others in the direction they were heading. Soon, as night was about to fall, Missouri told Xiaobai that she had sensed a faint aura of deep-sea resentment.

The resentment of the deep sea exists in only two things: one is the ocean, which has been occupied and polluted by the deep-sea ships, and the other is the ship equipment of the deep-sea ships. And in the dense forest far from the sea, the aura of the deep-sea resentment has appeared; therefore, what is carrying this aura is self-evident.

Little White stopped in its tracks.

"Missouri, is it just ahead?" Xiaobai asked Missouri behind him.

Missouri nodded confidently: "I felt it one hundred percent."

Missouri is a ship girl with both talent and hard work. Since it is her perception, it is most likely correct.

After confirming their location in Missouri, Xiaobai and the others found a relatively secluded place to hide. Xiaobai released her ship equipment and then tentatively probed her mental space.

—As always, the door to the spiritual space was tightly shut by the will of the deep sea.

Xiao Bai sighed. To be honest, keeping her locked up like this couldn't go on forever. There had to be some emotional interaction between the mother and daughter.

Don't forget, this is your mother's mental space. As her daughter, you've kept the door so tightly shut. It's fine for a day or two, but if you keep it closed like this, your mother will eventually have to use the spare key to open it.