The Naval Base of the Unnamed Ship Girls

"Admiral! Look at the Stalin-class railway gun that Kokang built, it's really impressive!" Kokang said with a boastful look.

Of course it's powerful! The power of a single shot is roughly equivalent to a salvo from the main guns of an unmodified battleship. As expected of a ship from the Maoist faction, Kokang embodies this "big gun" mentality to the fullest.

"Oh, so it's a railway gun. Good job, Kogan." The admiral habitually praised his initial ship girl, then immediately realized that his orders to Kogan were not to build this kind of thing.

"Wait, didn't I tell you to build coastal defense artillery? What happened... (a railway gun...)"

Before he could finish complaining, the admiral saw a shadow growing larger and larger under his feet.

Just as Kokang belatedly cried out, "Admiral, watch out!", a spent shell casing ejected from the train cannon's barrel struck the admiral, who was standing beneath the cannon with pinpoint accuracy.

The fully automatic ejection-type reloading system combines the concepts of rifle reloading and Soviet-made tank automatic reloading machines. Please do not stand near the vehicle when using it to avoid being hit by falling debris.

Yadun added this sentence to the instruction manual for the Kokang-made Stalin railway gun.

Although the instruction manual hasn't been printed yet, it's better to be prepared.

Wait, now is not the time to complain about how to use it. Will the admiral die in the line of duty because of this?

She quickly jumped off the tank and ran to Admiral Adon, where he had been standing. She saw the human-shaped mark on the shell casing, which was about two times her height, and breathed a sigh of relief. It's good to have ship girl blood. If it were a normal person, they would have been minced meat by now.

"Courageous!!!! ...

Pulling his body out of the cartridge case, the admiral, whose entire body was burning with indescribable black gas, jumped onto the train cannon in a few leaps, rushed to Kogan's side, and slammed his two fists, each the size of a small sandbag, into Kogan's temples, activating the Poison Dragon Drill mode.

"Did you use all the resources I gave you to build this inexplicable railway cannon? I hereby declare your position as secretary ship revoked!! Adun will now take your place!"

Huh? I got promoted just like that? Standing to the side, Yaton pondered whether to celebrate or rescue Kokang from the admiral's clutches first.

While Adun hesitated, Gogan, already reeling from the admiral's "Temple Drill" attack, no longer cared about being demoted from her position as secretary ship. The admiral was a prospective ship girl, after all; such actions could seriously harm Gogan! So now, all Gogan could do was cry for help:

"Ah! The admiral is going to dismantle the ship! Help!!"

Chapter Twenty-Three: I'm going to kill the Admiral! Don't stop me!

"You guys really beat me. You only built a coastal defense gun, but you ended up making a railway gun."

The admiral, rubbing his forehead, scolded the ship girls who were standing in front of him in a single horizontal formation with a helpless expression.

It wasn't out of helplessness that he covered his forehead; after all, the weight of the shells used by that railway gun was measured in tons, and the admiral, who had been hit directly on the head, had no choice but to wrap a bandage around his head.

"Governor's Chamberlain...Admiral, although I respect your words as your subordinate, I still want to say, please don't take your anger out on me."

What does the railway gun have to do with me? At most, I laid some rails. The entire process of the railway gun, from the initial concept to the final production, had absolutely nothing to do with me.

Don't just drag me into this too.

The newly appointed secretary ship, Spear of Adun, is diligently fulfilling its duty as a secretary ship to deliver sarcastic remarks.

"I know..." the admiral replied without much reaction. Either the damage from that attack was too great for him to recover from, or the admiral already knew that it was all Gogan's fault.

Nonsense, how could it not be Kokang's fault? I'm not blind, Admiral; that classic hammer and sickle emblem, and the name "Stalin," which directly reveals its origins...

Even if the aircraft carrier Adun had assisted Kokang, the real culprit was definitely this Russian destroyer—or simply, the Russian kid.

Seemingly aware that he had done something wrong, Kogan immediately put his hands on his head, squatted down on the ground, and began to beg for mercy the moment the admiral turned his attention to him.

If you listen carefully, you can also tell that Kogan's words of pleading are not the normal kind, such as "I was wrong," "I'm sorry, Admiral," or "Your Majesty, I deserve to die."

Instead, they said things like, "Don't tear me apart," "I don't want to go to Siberia to dig potatoes," and "Kokang is clearly following the book very seriously."

It seems that in Xiao Guogan's mind, punishment means dismantling the ship's equipment. After being dismantled and becoming an ordinary person, he would definitely be sent to a place called Siberia to dig potatoes.

However, Kogan seems to have forgotten that since the "Second Impact" (the first meeting between the deep sea and humans, and the ship girls joining human society), Siberia has become a heavy industrial base for humans.

The potatoes grown also had excessive levels of heavy metals, only suitable for the tastes of ship girls...

Well, now that you mention it, the concerns of Kokang are not entirely unfounded. Perhaps in the future we will see Kokang chain restaurants specializing in steamed potatoes, fried potatoes, roasted potatoes, braised potatoes, stir-fried potatoes, stewed potatoes, and so on.

Seeing Kogan's actions, the admiral couldn't help but laugh out loud. He sighed helplessly again and said, "Given that you at least managed to build the cannon, I won't pursue the matter further. However, let's send Adun as the secretary ship."

The problem is, what this admiral wants is coastal defense artillery!! Not some damn railway gun!! Do you know how bizarre it is to have a railway gun on a small island like Kokang?!

Fortunately, this garrison is still located on the edge of the front line due to its temporary establishment. Normally, there are no waterways and no one visits it. Otherwise, if those acquaintances saw it, the prestige that this admiral has accumulated over the years would suffer a heavy loss.

Unfortunately, seeing Kogan's pitiful appearance, the admiral just couldn't bring himself to say the extremely cruel words, "Are all you Russian ship girls brains filled with antifreeze?"

Having escaped punishment thanks to the admiral's mercy, gaining 50 points in favorability and practically glowing with red star bubbles, the admiral inquired about a certain reliable aircraft carrier girl:

"As my new secretary ship, has Adun sorted out the surveillance radar for the nearby waters?"

...Theoretically, it was all sorted out, but the problem is that I encountered the Deep Sea Princess who knows you, Admiral. And if that Deep Sea Princess hadn't run away so fast, I could have tied her up and had her recognize you as her relative.

Ayton really wanted to answer that directly, but based on his understanding of his admiral over the past few days, if he were to repeat the above paragraph word for word, he would probably be seen as no different from Kokang in the admiral's eyes.

The hesitation of his own aircraft carrier ship girl (even now the admiral still thinks Adonis is an aircraft carrier) made the admiral feel that the world had become much more corrupt.

Those who actually do the work are unreliable, and those who are reliable don't do the work. Why is being an admiral so tiring? I think I should go back and try learning how to be a ship girl again.

"It's not that I didn't accomplish anything." Adon glanced at the energy crystal tower that was obediently floating beside him. He was about to tell the admiral how powerful his phase array radar was. As long as he could see clearly around him, even if he went on an expedition, as long as he didn't run into the deep sea, there shouldn't be any major problems.

"Huh? What's that next to Adun? Is it a crystal dug out of the sea?" The admiral, whose gaze had shifted to the energy crystal tower because of Adun, immediately forgot about the fact that the aircraft carrier was not doing its job.

As a result of the admiral's words, Adon felt as if the whole world was shaking.

What do you mean by crystals dug out of the sea?!

Have you ever seen a natural crystal that emits psychic light? Oh, that's a natural one!

Let me put it another way. You've seen natural crystal polished... well, the energy crystal tower I made has a simpler, more natural look.

To put it another way, didn't you see the constant force field surrounding this crystal? Did you think that was something I used to stabilize the energy crystal? ...It seems that's the purpose of the constant force field.

"...Let's just say it's a crystal dug out of the sea." Adun felt a little weak in his limbs. A product of the Protoss's advanced technology, something that might not be deciphered even after a thousand years in this world, had become a wild crystal from the sea.

"What do you mean 'just take it'?! Adun, you're so lucky! This crystal looks really beautiful, and it even glows! Could it be a luminous pearl? Haha, I'm just kidding. Luminous pearls are made of fluorite, and fluorite isn't this color." The admiral, now in Mother Dragon mode, leaned close to the energy crystal and said with shining eyes.

"..." Admiral, are the remains of the construction device still there? I want to repair it and then crawl inside to see if I can return your resources to you.

"Adun, my dear Adun." The admiral looked like a dragon, except that he was about to breathe fire, grow scales, and turn into a snake.

"I'm here..."

"Could you cut a small piece off this crystal? I'd like to make some jewelry for everyone; I'm quite skilled, you know." As the admiral spoke, seemingly worried that Adun wouldn't believe him, he pulled out an exquisite silver pendant from his chest and said, "Look, this is what I made."

"Whatever." Adon felt a little tired... Wait, what did the admiral just say? Cut off a piece? To make jewelry?

When she realized what was happening, Aydon felt that if the person standing in front of her wasn't the Admiral, she really wanted to risk permanent damage to her GN Drive to deliver a Purifier's Light to him.

Chapter 24 The Admiral's Secret Weapon That Was Useless

Ultimately, despite Admiral Adon's staunch opposition, the admiral did not cut a piece from the energy crystal to make jewelry.

However, the label of stingy and miserly can't be removed from Adon's image.

After all, Adun didn't know how to explain to the admiral that the Energy Crystal Tower is a high-concentration crystal energy aggregate that relies on Presto's rule to maintain a relatively stable form in the material world. Any change from the physical level will directly affect the stability of the energy system.

Cutting off a piece is easy, but if you do, you have to be prepared for the entire naval base and the nearby deep sea to be blown to smithereens.

Similarly, perhaps realizing that it was a bit inappropriate to compete with his own ship girls for things, the admiral could only keep this desire to himself.

"If you really want it, I can make some more." Adon felt a little guilty seeing the admiral's somewhat gloomy expression.

A piece of the complete energy crystal tower can be cut into a high-yield monkey bomb, but it can be shaped during the aggregation process. As long as you don't break it with a clumsy object, it should be fine. Even if you have to test your teeth with this kind of crystal, it will only be equivalent to the power of a small bomb at most.

For admirals with ship girl bloodlines, it shouldn't be a big problem. Anyway, the repair channel is there, so why not use it?

Upon hearing Adun's words, the admiral, who instantly came to his senses, asked with drool in his mouth, "Could it be that you found a crystal vein like this on the seabed, Adun?"

I take back what I said earlier; this kind of cheap concern is indeed not suitable for my great Protoss race.

By the light of Kara, Adun really wants to twist open the Admiral's head to see what's inside!

Under the previous admiral's assignment, Kokang's task was to build a coastal defense artillery system. Now that the coastal defense artillery hasn't been built, they've managed to build a train gun that can also serve as a part of the island's tourist railway, which is barely acceptable.

Adon's mission is to be in charge of the radar monitoring system in the waters surrounding the naval base. Due to interference from a certain deep-sea princess, this mission is still ongoing.

The admiral herself, meanwhile, was in a small basin in the center of the island where the naval base was located, preparing the great weapon she spoke of.

Unlike the site in Kokang where the Stalin railway gun was manufactured, filled with the smell of burning steel, the weapon of mass destruction created by the admiral was more advanced and futuristic.

All sorts of cables, scattered haphazardly, could drive anyone with OCD crazy. Numerous pipes connect these cables to a cone-shaped metal tower in the center of the site.

"Well, were you intimidated by your admiral?" The admiral said proudly, leading everyone to what appeared to be a control panel.

"Kokang feels like the thing in front of him looks so familiar..." Kokang tried hard to recall why he had such a strong sense of déjà vu after seeing this cone-shaped metal tower.

Compared to the bewildered Kogan, Adun, whose technology had dominated the world for thousands of years, immediately saw what the big guy that the admiral had been messing with was for.

To this, Admiral Yaton could only say very seriously: "Admiral, didn't you say you were going to build cannons? Why did you build a ballistic missile silo, and a super long-range one at that? What are you planning to do with it?"

"Hehe...hehe." The admiral, who had been directly exposed by Yaton, was a little embarrassed: "I originally only planned to build a missile silo, but I couldn't stop myself and built such a big one."

Well, what the admiral created is a missile silo that is decades more technologically advanced than the railway guns built by Kokang. And judging from its size, this missile silo definitely doesn't launch those long and thin anti-ship missiles.

"Could it be that, Admiral, you plan to use this thing to send a distress signal that everyone can see when you surface from the deep sea?"

If you eliminate all the impossible results, the one that remains, no matter how bizarre or unbelievable, must be the truth.

Based on Ayton's understanding of the Admiral, the biggest use of this ballistic missile silo might just be what he said—to launch a giant firework to signal for help.

"Ballistic missile launch systems are backward compatible..." The admiral's voice grew softer and softer, finally turning into a sullen tone: "Don't you know what a multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle (MIRV) missile is? To put it more broadly, it can also be used to launch satellites in the future."

I really don't understand this technology that's thousands of years behind, but at least I know that this launch silo probably isn't big enough to send a satellite into geostationary orbit.

Yaton stared at the admiral with an expression that said, "Don't try to fool me. I'm not as brave as you think. I'm not so easily fooled."

"Ah, Kokang remembers!" Kokang, who had been stuck in a state of déjà vu for a while, suddenly had a flash of inspiration and said, "I remember seeing this thing somewhere before!"

Kogan, who had captured the attention of both Lord Adon and the Admiral, continued, "Isn't that a Soviet-made nuclear missile silo?"

"A nuclear bomb?" Adun thought of a fusion warhead codenamed Apocalypse. The power of that weapon, the ability to directly replicate the destructive force of a star, would be quite threatening in the hands of an enemy whose technology was thousands of years behind his own.

So that's what you were planning, Admiral? Such foresight! You even prepared for a mutually destructive outcome.

Yadon did not believe that large missiles could threaten the ship girls, whether they were from the same faction or from the Abyss.

With the same durability as the ship itself, the flexibility of the humanoid interface, and the control over its own weapons, small high-speed missiles may be a threat, but large ballistic missiles can be easily intercepted midway.

However, this might not be the case with nuclear weapons.

When attacks are ineffective against the enemy, using map-wide attacks is always the best option.

If faced with a deep-sea siege and unable to defend itself, and were to launch a nuclear bomb at its head, aside from its own warp drive and the material substitute of that deep-sea princess, Adun really hadn't seen anyone who could escape the range before the destructive force hit.