Elder brother's garrison

"Oh, York, you and Saratoga knew each other before?"

"Ah...yes, we know each other..."

"I see." Xiaobai smiled. "I thought Saratoga didn't like making friends with ship girls outside the naval base. I didn't expect she knew you, York. Where did you two meet?"

"In my dream..." York said somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh haha."

To York's surprise, Little White didn't seem to question his idea. She simply nodded and gave York a few complicated glances.

"Um... do you know about my ship equipment problem?" York looked at Xiaobai and asked her cautiously.

"Okay, I understand now."

"Oh? Really!" York looked at Little White with surprise. "Can I go back to my old state?"

"Sure," Xiaobai said with a smile, "but you'll never be able to use that skill that turns you into a little fire person again, okay?"

York paused, thought for a moment, and nodded seriously: "It's possible... but if my companions and I are in mortal danger and need that power, I will still use it."

“Yes, I understand,” Xiaobai said with a smile. “However, as long as you stop using that skill, your ship equipment will be able to return to its previous state in at least a few months, and at most half a year or a year. But as a price, that skill will disappear along with it, and you won’t be able to use it even if you want to.”

York listened silently to Little White's words, falling into a moment of silence.

After a while, York looked up at Saratoga beside him. The two stared at each other for a moment before York turned to Little White, his face full of confusion: "Why can't we use that skill..."

York looked somewhat disappointed.

That makes sense. After all, York finally had a super transformation skill that could improve his combat power and turn his life around, and it's a real shame to just throw it away like that.

"Never can be used" and "can never be used again" are, after all, two different states.

Xiaobai didn't answer York's question. She just shook her head and asked York, "York, speaking of which, where does your admiral live now?"

"Huh?" York was taken aback. "What happened to my admiral?"

"I'd like to go see Admiral Luo Yin," Xiao Bai said with a smile.

York stood there, stunned, blinking blankly.

York's mind was racing.

In an instant, she thought of her admiral's state these past few days, whenever Miss Patina was mentioned, he would disappear as if he had seen a ghost.

My own admiral... probably really doesn't want to see Miss Pachina... or more accurately, doesn't want to see her admiral, right?

"York?" Little White called out again when York didn't respond.

York snapped out of her daze, her face flushed with embarrassment. After thinking for a while, she said in a low voice, "Um, my admiral hasn't been feeling well these past few days... If there's anything you need, I can pass on a message for you..."

"Oh? Is Admiral Luo Yin ill?"

"Yes, I'm sick! So..."

"Lianlian, do we have enough medicine here?" Xiaobai turned around and asked Luo Lian. After receiving a thumbs-up from Luo Lian, Xiaobai turned back with relief and then said to York with a smile, "We have a lot of fast-acting medicine here. Getting sick at the beach is troublesome, so we should go and get checked out. By the way, what illness does Admiral Luo Yin have?"

York pondered for a long time, then his gaze hardened.

—Admiral, I'm sorry, I was only doing this for your own good.

I'm about to unleash my ultimate move.

“My admiral… has contracted a male disease,” York said sadly.

"Huh?" Xiaobai exclaimed in surprise, "A male disease..."

"I often feel like my body is completely drained, I urinate frequently, urgently, and incompletely, I have kidney deficiency, liver deficiency, and even a guilty conscience... and then... and then I like to secretly wear women's clothes at home! Wearing women's clothes is one thing, but I also fantasize about being fucked by black men all day long!" York said to Little White, "Yes! Women's clothes! If you were to come to my Admiral right now, you might very well see a shameless exhibitionist wearing a magical girl's dress, watching porn while running around the yard!"

York said loudly.

The sound echoed throughout the entire courtyard.

The whole audience was shocked.

After York finished speaking, Xiao Bai also stared in astonishment, mouth agape: "Admiral Luo Yin... he's actually this kind of person..."

As Xiaobai spoke, she covered her mouth, her expression indescribable.

"Look, even I, the admiral, have made such a fool of myself... do you still want to go?"

“Go ahead,” Xiaobai replied instantly.

"..."

York looked at Little White, whose face was flushed with embarrassment because she had learned the extra information, but who was still covering her mouth and lowering her head, insisting on going to the right place quietly. He couldn't help but sigh softly.

No, even my admiral is in this state, and you're still going...?

What kind of hatred or resentment is this?

...That's really ruthless.

York felt he had met a formidable opponent today.

"Don't you think I, the admiral, am terrifying?" York couldn't help but ask Xiaobai.

“Ah… a little.” Xiaobai blushed as she looked at York, “…but he was sick after all, so his strange behavior is understandable. He’ll be normal once he’s cured. I think Admiral Luo Yin is a normal male…besides…”

"Besides?"

"I can tolerate Mu Yu, who else can't I tolerate?"

—The tone of Xiaobai’s voice when he said this was surprisingly firm.

"...Who is Mu Yu?"

"My brother's friend."

“Oh.” York lowered his head. “Um… I’ll be the admiral…”

"Does York not believe me?" Xiaobai suddenly asked.

"what?"

"I have a feeling that you don't really want me to meet your admiral."

York's expression was complicated.

Ultimately, when Xiaobai showed such a firm determination to see Admiral Luo Yin, York was already hesitant to trust him.

After all, what girl would insist on visiting a man she's supposed to see when she learns he's being treated for an STD... especially if that girl is gay?

York didn't speak, but he didn't deny it either.

Xiao Bai sighed. Indeed, Xiao Bai felt that he had been a bit too hasty.

Xiaobai looked at York helplessly.

"Sister York, hand." Little White reached out her hand to York.

York was taken aback, and instinctively offered his hand.

"Um, what's wrong with my hand?"

“This is how to gain trust,” Xiaobai replied.

Under York's questioning gaze, Xiaobai pondered for a long time, then made a painful decision with a hardened look. Xiaobai took a step forward towards York, and then, to York's bewildered expression, pressed her hand completely onto her chest.

At first, York didn't feel anything special when he first touched Xiaobai's chest.

She felt that although Xiaobai's chest was not very heaving, a girl's body was still soft, and pressing on it felt like stroking extremely soft and high-quality fur, which was quite comfortable.

Just as York was wondering what was going on, Little White's voice reached his ears.

“This time… I didn’t bring any bra pads,” Xiaobai muttered to York in a low voice. She looked up at York, “Do you still believe me now?”

A familiar feeling surged forth from York's memories like a floodgate had been opened.

York's eyes widened instantly.

Chapter 846 You didn't expect this, did you? I'm back!

York's eyes sharpened instantly.

As Xiaobai's voice entered York's ears, as if by reflex, a familiar figure leaped out of York's memory through the light screen.

On the dark sea.

A gentle and delicate ship girl, radiating a white light.

"...Huh?" York stared blankly at Little White, his face full of confusion and helplessness.

"It's been a long time, Sister York." Xiaobai smiled at York and slowly released her hands from York's arms.

York's hand slid slowly down Xiaobai's chest due to gravity.

The familiar touch confirmed York's suspicions once again.

"Uh...you...who are you?" York opened her mouth, stammering as if she wanted to say something. She stared blankly at Xiaobai's face, her panicked eyes lingering on it as if she had seen something unbelievable.

It was only at this moment that York finally realized why he felt a strange sense of familiarity and an irresistible, subtle affection for the admiral before him.

That face and those features... isn't that Miss Patina?

York was stunned.

Is she Miss Pachina?

She really is Miss Patina!

So that's who she is!

York suddenly realized that many of the things he hadn't quite understood before, such as Xiaobai's overly intimate behavior, now seemed to make sense.

However, before the sense of enlightenment had even begun, a wave of doubt welled up in York's mind.

Why?

Isn't she a ship girl? Can ship girls really be admirals? York was confused.

Miss Pachina and this admiral look exactly alike... These two are so similar... Why haven't I noticed it before?

very strange……

York was in a state of confusion. She was completely dumbfounded, and her sharp eyes slowly turned into vortexes. York covered her head, lowered her head, and glanced at Little White from time to time, her little mouth constantly muttering to herself.

"Huh? That's not right... Ah... But... How come this... What happened... Huh... Who am I again... Where am I? What am I supposed to do... Human, the meaning of life..."

York, speaking in a low voice, suddenly felt dizzy and lightheaded.

Faced with the sudden influx of information, York's brain, which was not particularly adept at handling emergencies, predictably crashed and went black after a few seconds.

Seeing York's troubled expression, Xiaobai deeply understood.

For most of the ship girls in the newbie naval base, they have gradually become accustomed to the fact that their admiral's combat power is slightly higher than that of normal humans. However, for the ship girls outside the newbie naval base, this was a heavy blow that shattered their worldview.

This was especially true for York, who, just seconds before, thought the world was normal.

In essence, Xiaobai's current appearance is not fundamentally different from her appearance when she was disguised as a ship girl. Apart from the much-criticized double happiness breast pad, the only difference is that, with Yixian's help, Xiaobai's originally neat white long hair has been cut into short black hair, and a few more ahoge (cowlicks) have been added to her forehead to symbolically cover her face.

The reason York didn't recognize Xiaobai for so long wasn't because Xiaobai's disguise was too perfect, but because Xiaobai appeared in front of her as an admiral, which made York never think that this human admiral might be Miss Pachina. This allowed Xiaobai to be perfectly hidden in York's blind spot, until Xiaobai revealed her true identity and York discovered the truth.

Xiao Bai looked at York, who was staring with two swirling eyes, clutching his head and questioning his existence, and felt somewhat helpless.

If possible, Xiaobai actually doesn't really want to reveal his identity.

There was really no other way. Even if York didn't tell Xiaobai where Luo Yin lived, she could still find Luo Yin using the radar of the Deep Sea Will. But if she did that, York wouldn't trust her.

To gain trust, you always have to pay a price, right?

For example, it might shatter your worldview and make you question your existence for a while.

It's okay. In fact, most children in human society experience this kind of worldview shock when they first learn that they weren't born from a crack in a rock, picked up from a trash can, or carried by a swallow, but were born from their mother's womb like she was going to the toilet. This is called spiritual growth.

"York?" Little White called out to York, who was still in a state of confusion.

"Ah...ah?" York looked at Xiaobai with a confused expression.

"You must have a lot of questions you want to ask right now, right?"

"……what."

“If there’s a chance, I’ll have plenty of time to tell you later.” Xiaobai sighed, then said to York, “Anyway, could you take me to see your admiral?”

York stared at Little White, blinking blankly.

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.