Elder brother's garrison

Just as the male admiral began to indulge in his fantasies, two other admirals slapped him on the shoulder from behind, pulling him out of his daydream.

"Hey, young man." The two admirals were the ones who were closest to this male admiral, but they hadn't spoken much before.

"Uh, hello brothers." The male admiral nodded to the admiral beside him. "May I ask what brings you here?"

"Were you thinking about something a little unpleasant just now?" one admiral said to the male admiral.

The male admiral was taken aback, then blushed: "No."

"No need to hide it anymore. We all know what men are like. You've got your eye on Nia, haven't you?"

"Uh..." The male admiral was taken aback by the suddenness of the words. He glanced at Nia in the distance, "I don't have any inappropriate thoughts about Miss Nia. I'm just grateful for her help and would like to invite her to dinner or perhaps find some time to talk..."

"..."

"However, I advise you to give up." Then, the admiral who had previously said "I know, I know" sighed and said to the male admiral, "You have feelings for her, but she only has ordinary feelings for you. She won't accept your invitation to dinner."

"Huh? Miss Nia wasn't very helpful to me before, and we're both admirals who just arrived in the second chapter..."

"That's just how she is." The admiral stroked his chin, glanced at Nia in the distance, and then patted the male admiral on the shoulder. "Kind and warm-hearted, she's willing to come up and talk to a newbie like you. But let me make it clear, although she hasn't been here long, she's not weak. In Chapter 2, there probably aren't many people who dare to say they're stronger than her."

"Huh??" The male admiral was taken aback. "Is Miss Nia that strong?"

"I heard that she's strong enough to clear the third chapter now and go straight to the fourth chapter. I don't know why she's stuck in the second chapter." A bearded admiral stroked his beard as he spoke. "That's why Miss Nia, who is so powerful yet still takes care of weaker admirals, is so outstanding."

"..."

"By the way, Miss Nia has someone she likes."

"Huh??!" The male admiral stared at the person next to him in shock, his worldview seemingly collapsing. "She...she has someone she likes?"

"Although we've never met, she does have someone she likes. He's also an admiral, and apparently he's at a very high level. You can't compete with him. They're a perfect match, so it's not our place to interfere. Besides, Miss Nia is usually very gentle, but if you say anything bad about the person she likes, like that he abandoned her in the second chapter and doesn't care about her, or that he doesn't contact such a lovely girlfriend and is sorry to Miss Nia, she'll get very angry. Remember that."

"..." The male admiral looked disappointed. "So that's how it is..."

"Hmm." The admirals on either side of the male admiral also put their arms around his shoulders, looking weary. "In short, as your seniors, we still advise you not to make a fool of yourself."

"...Thank you both, seniors." The male admiral looked disappointed. "But speaking of which, may I ask how I would address you?"

"Let's put aside the formalities of address. But young man, we need to discuss something with you."

"What's going on?"

"Ahem." The two admirals next to the male admiral exchanged a smile, then slightly opened their shirts.

With their shirts pulled open, it was revealed that beneath the neatly dressed admiral uniforms of these two tough guys were pink T-shirts.

The pink shirt also features the three English letters NIA written in large red letters, making it particularly eye-catching.

"Miss Nia's fan club, would you like to check it out?"

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.

As Nia was gazing at the horizon, she suddenly noticed some noise around her. Curious, she looked in the direction of the admiral who had just kindly offered a few words of advice.

The admiral he had just helped was now arm in arm with two other familiar admirals, looking like good friends.

In Nia's memory, it seemed that the admiral she had just helped was not familiar with the other two admirals.

Nia could only smile helplessly at this.

The male friendship... formed much faster than Nia had imagined.

Just like myself and Xiaobai back then.

The three admirals, arm in arm, and their ship girls quickly left the beach and headed towards the city center.

Nia, on the other hand, stood alone on the beach, gazing at the horizon in the distance.

After a short while, Nia suddenly sensed something and quickly turned around, running towards the convenience store behind her.

Just as Nia ran into the convenience store, the figures of three ship girls quickly emerged from the horizon.

Cleveland, with her blond hair, was wading through the water, heading back to shore with two black-haired ship girls in white sailor uniforms beside her.

The three ship girls walked onto the beach, quickly organized their belongings, retrieved their ship equipment, and headed towards the spot where Nia had been standing.

Just as the three ship girls reached the spot where Nia was, Nia, carrying three cups of chilled juice, ran out of the convenience store with a smile on her face.

"Cleveland! Atago! Takao!" Nia flashed a bright smile as she ran towards the three ship girls, holding up a glass of juice.

Finally, Nia, who was running, was hugged by one of the ship girls in white, and Nia was immediately buried in a full and warm body.

"Admiral, be careful." Atago, who caught Nia, smiled at her and took the juice from her hand. "If you fall, I'll be heartbroken."

"Yes, thank you, Atago." Nia nodded to Atago. "Are you thirsty? Would you like some juice?"

"Thank you, Admiral."

Nia left Atago's embrace, then her gaze swept across Atago's and Takao's faces before finally settling on Cleveland.

Cleveland was quietly watching Nia, biting the straw off her juice.

“Cleveland, you’re back!” Nia smiled at Cleveland.

“Yes.” Cleveland nodded.

"Are you injured?" Nia asked cautiously.

“No.” Cleveland shook his head. “Kid.”

"Hmm? Is something the matter?" Nia looked at Cleveland and asked with some curiosity.

"We didn't catch anything today," Cleveland said to Nia, sounding somewhat disappointed.

"Ah, about that." Nia looked at Cleveland and smiled gently. "It's alright. After all, you can't always run into a supply ship. Let's go back."

“It’s not that we didn’t find it.” Cleveland shook his head.

"Hmm?" Nia watched Cleveland shake his head, then stared at Cleveland's brow for a moment.

Cleveland's brow was furrowed, as if something unpleasant had happened.

"Did something happen?"

“Hmm.” Cleveland nodded. “The deep-sea amphibious ships on the surface are a bit strange.”

"Something's strange?" Nia looked at Cleveland with a puzzled expression. "What's going on?"

“The supply ship is nowhere to be found, and the Abyssal Fleet has somehow lumped together. It looks very unsettling,” Cleveland said, pausing for a moment. “Just like during that period in the first chapter.”

Nia was somewhat stunned after hearing what Cleveland said.

Cleveland's words sounded like something out of the first chapter, and Nia knew what he meant.

In Chapter 626, three or four months ago, there was an incident where the Dean attacked the land. It seems that the cause was that an alien advanced deep-sea species ran into the chapter's sea area and was eventually chosen by the deep-sea resentment to become the deep-sea Dean.

The incident was later resolved by Xiaobai, who happened to be present. Apart from the beach being bombarded and left in ruins, it did not cause much damage.

However, before that riot occurred, there was a situation in the fourth node of the first chapter where a group of deep-sea ships gathered.

As someone who had also experienced that event, Cleveland's statement that the current second chapter was somewhat similar to the events preceding the first chapter prompted Nia to ponder deeply.

—Could it be that a similar invasive alien species appeared in the second chapter as well?

The deep-sea chapters defined by humans are all clearly divided into regions, making it almost impossible for foreign deep-sea invasions to occur. After all, deep-sea creatures are very territorial, and few deep-sea leaders or high-level deep-sea beings would abandon their familiar surface waters to fight ship girls in unfamiliar waters.

As Xiaobai later mentioned regarding the events in Chapter 627, it was, to some extent, an inevitable accident that only happened because she was there. Therefore, such a thing should not happen again.

Why is that?

Thinking this, Nia lowered her head with some difficulty.

—If only Xiaobai were here…

Chapter 628 Nia

"Admiral?" Seeing Nia lost in thought and silent for a long time, Takao, who was standing beside her, gently reminded her.

"Oh, sorry, I was spacing out again." Nia paused for a moment, then smiled at Gao Xiong. "Let's go back first."

"Hmm." Gao Xiong nodded, then asked Nia with some concern, "And what about the situation at sea?"

"Is the situation of the cluster (5) very serious?"

“It’s not that serious yet.” Cleveland shook her head. “I only realized it after experiencing it once. Other ship girls probably aren’t as sensitive.”

“Hmm…” Nia nodded. “Since the situation isn’t serious, let’s go talk to the president about this.”

When the president was mentioned, a rather troubled expression appeared on Nia's face. She subconsciously clutched her chest, a hint of helplessness in her eyes: "I'm too stupid. If you put me in this situation, I wouldn't be able to think of anything. I can only report it to the president."

“The Admiral isn’t stupid.” Upon hearing Nia’s words, Takao shook her head rapidly, her long black ponytail swaying behind her with each movement.

"Thank you." Nia didn't say anything more; she simply expressed her gratitude to Gao Xiong for trusting her so much.

Nia knew full well that she wasn't an outstanding person; everything she had was thanks to the help of others. Without that help, she would probably still be the girl in the first chapter, working to pay off debts and enduring the scorn of others.

For this reason, Nia is very clear about what she can and cannot do, and she will never try to do something beyond her capabilities.

After all, there is nothing more embarrassing in this world than a fool trying to do something clever.

Under Nia's watchful gaze, the three returning ship girls slowly finished their juice.

"Admiral, what are we going to do next?" Gao Xiong asked Nia.

"No need, you'll be fine after a rest." Nia shook her head and took the empty cups from the three ship girls' hands. "Let's go back together later."

"Okay!" Kaohsiung's eyes lit up as soon as he heard about the break.

Nia walked back to the convenience store behind her with the empty cup, while the three ship girls waited for their admiral on the beach.

Atago Takao and Cleveland are currently the three strongest ship girls in Nia's naval base. Because of their strength and frequent presence by Nia's side, most of the admirals on the beach know them.

At this moment, many admirals on the beach were intentionally or unintentionally looking in Cleveland's direction.

"The Admiral is so kind." Atago smiled and muttered to herself as she watched Nia's figure disappear into the convenience store.

"What's wrong?" Cleveland asked Atago curiously.

"Not every ship girl gets to enjoy the chilled juice that the admiral buys on time," Atago laughed. "I'm such a lucky ship girl."

“It’s a habit I developed before,” Cleveland said. “Back in the first chapter with Admiral Lu Lin, she liked to buy something to drink when the ship girls came ashore.”

"Admiral Lu Lin..." Atago nodded, thought for a moment, "Was the admiral lost in thought just now thinking about Admiral Lu Lin?"

"How to say?"

"It was Admiral Lu Lin who helped resolve the riots in the first chapter. Perhaps when she heard that this place was similar to what happened in the first chapter, she remembered Admiral Lu Lin."

"Does the Admiral wish to contact Admiral Lu Lin?" Gao Xiong asked.

“Of course not.” Atago shook her head. “The admiral wouldn’t dare to disturb Admiral Lu Lin. She just misses Admiral Lu Lin.”

"Just want to?" Cleveland looked at Atago, his brows furrowing in confusion.

Cleveland was surprisingly oblivious to these girlish feelings.

Atago chuckled softly, "Although Cleveland is much stronger than me and Takao, when it comes to a girl's feelings, I'm still the older sister. That's the advantage of my figure."

“…” Cleveland turned his head away and said nothing more.

“I’m the older sister,” Takao said to Atago from the side.

Atago smiled warmly at Takao and reached out to pat Takao's head: "Okay, Takao-neechan."

Kaohsiung's mouth bulged slightly.

The question of whether Takao or Atago is the older sister ship certainly needs some debate. Historically speaking, if we calculate based on the start time of construction, Takao was the first ship and indeed preceded Atago. However, if we calculate based on the launch time, the Atago heavy cruiser, which was built quickly, was completed and launched before Takao. Therefore, it doesn't really matter who is the older sister ship.

However, Atago rarely agonizes over this. If Kaohsiung is willing to be the older sister, then so be it. After all, this isn't the first time Atago has done something like calling Kaohsiung "older sister" while treating her like a younger sister.

Takao sensed the intense admiration in Atago's eyes as she looked at her, and somewhat displeased, she pushed Atago's hand away. Just as she was about to say something to Atago, Takao caught a glimpse of a group of ship girls on the beach out of the corner of her eye.

Kaohsiung looked over and saw three male admirals leading more than a dozen ship girls toward her.

The male admiral at the head of the group wore a rather fake smile. He slightly raised his head, and his seemingly humble expression actually contained a rather arrogant and disdainful air.

Atago and Cleveland naturally noticed Takao's actions. Their relaxed expressions turned somber when they saw the group of ship girls and the admiral approaching them.

"Isn't that Takao and Atago?" The group of male admirals walked straight toward Atago and Takao, and when they reached them, they gave them polite smiles.

Kaohsiung clearly showed her displeasure. She turned her head away, not even wanting to look in the direction of Cleveland.

"How many times have we met already? I don't need to introduce myself anymore, do I?" The male admiral said politely to the three ship girls in front of him.

“No, we don’t need to.” Cleveland nodded.

"That's good. After all, having to introduce yourself every time is really..."