The Naval Base of the Unnamed Ship Girls

Adun was very curious about what Renown was saying in the coded language he whispered into the prince's ear, because the seemingly dignified prince blushed to the roots of his neck the moment he heard Renown's words.

Deciphering these original coded communications was quite simple. Adun had little interest in prying into the private lives of other ship girls, especially since she specifically prevented her processor's decryption module from automatically deciphering the communication.

"But, Sister Renown, why has your hair turned white?" Charlotte the Second Generation asked curiously.

Although the reputation that Adun transformed into an immortal did not change much in terms of size and appearance, his original blond hair turned into white hair that resembled that of the Deep Sea.

However, upon closer inspection, it becomes clear that unlike the pale, withered white of Deep Sea, Reputation's white hair is fuller and more lustrous, enough to qualify him for a shampoo commercial.

So until just now, neither the Prince of Wales nor the Nelson-Rodney sisters mentioned Renown's hair color change. As ship girls, they had their own way of perceiving Abyssal ship girls, so they were only wondering if Renown had been drugged and had her mind altered by Adun, rather than believing that Renown had been transformed into an Abyssal by Adun, a ship girl disguised as a Fallen.

To this, Adun could only say, "Can something made up of cricket resentment and obsession really permeate a Protoss immortal? Don't be ridiculous."

"Don't worry, young master. This is just a slight change I noticed after being modified by the headmaster," Reputation said, reassuring his worried young master.

“I told you before, don’t be too surprised after the transformation.” Ardon walked to Charlotte’s side, patted her on the shoulder and continued, “Your head maid is much stronger now than before.”

"What do you mean?" Charlotte, who was worried about the safety of her reputation, hadn't paid attention to the changes in the head maid's combat strength until Adun brought it up, at which point she asked curiously.

"If Repulse had used that one-off attack to fight these ship girls before, she could have barely managed a draw." Adun pointed to the Prince of Wales and the Nelson-Rodney sisters, and continued under the glares of the three ship girls:

"Now, I can stomp on them several times with the heel of my shoe without any problem."

The rage emanating from the Prince of Wales's single eye was enough to engulf Adun in the sea.

In fact, based on Adun's analysis of the Immortals' stats after being altered by the World Power, his current reputation, without using skills, is roughly only enough to fight a near-heroic Prince of Wales one-on-one, or barely manage to beat Nelson and Rodney together.

But as Adun analyzed, this situation is one where no skill is used. If that new skill is used, it might actually be able to overwhelm the Prince and his sisters with pure, overwhelming combat power.

Adun didn't know why becoming an Immortal would awaken that skill. Shouldn't the Immortal's skill be Unyielding Shield? Why would it awaken a skill that has absolutely nothing to do with either Dragon Knights or Immortals?

However, given that the skills awakened by this HMS Renown when she was still a British battlecruiser were different from those of other Renown ships, let's assume it's because she had a history of such behavior.

"Reputation?" Hearing Adun use such exaggerated words to describe Reputation's current combat power, Charlotte looked at her secretary ship (arranged by her father) with disbelief.

"All of this is a gift from Archmage Adun, but Archmage, you are exaggerating." Reputation bowed slightly and said. Although she admitted that Adun was exaggerating, she did not hide the fact that she did have more powerful abilities than before after the modification.

She felt a little disappointed when she realized that her skill "Lonely Pilgrimage" had been changed to another skill, after all, her "Lonely Pilgrimage" skill was a special skill of ship girls that could be included in textbooks.

Unfortunately, the "Lonely Pilgrimage" skill is too difficult to acquire, so it has always been a label for this reputation's private ship.

But when she finally understood what her changed skill meant, she was completely dumbfounded for a moment. Compared to this skill, only the full version of the British skill "Avalon's Guardian Shield" could compare. She couldn't think of any other skill reputation that could rival this skill.

Especially when this skill is used by a ship girl with incredibly rich combat experience, such as her, the benefits on the battlefield may be much greater than using it purely for defense against the "Avalon Guardian Shield".

"Republic, your skills have changed?" Prince of Wales didn't feel the oppressive aura that only higher-ranking ship girls had from Republic now. After thinking for a while, he realized that what Republic meant by becoming stronger must be that she had acquired more powerful skills.

It's common knowledge that ship girls' skills become more powerful after being modified, but Prince of Wales also knows that some ship girls' skills will change in a completely different way after being modernized or even retrofitted.

"What? Why? Reputation is so powerful, why would you abandon it?" Rodney was instantly displeased upon hearing the Prince of Wales's words.

Because the "Lonely Pilgrimage" skill allows the use of all British ship girls' skills, most British ship girls regard HMS Renown, from Naval Base No. 233, as the true last glory of the Royal Navy.

They felt that such skills were more in line with the fate of the battlecruiser HMS Renown in history, but unfortunately, such special skills were truly unique and difficult to replicate.

At least a quarter of the fame of Naval Base No. 233 is due to the skill of the Head Maid's Reputation.

Even the usually composed Nelson had to ask, "Head Maid of Prestige, why are you giving up this honor? Didn't you say you would never shirk this responsibility?"

Nelson had heard that ship girl modifications could potentially change skills, but he also knew that if a ship girl was unwilling to give up a skill, the skill would not change.

As Nelson believed that fulfilling one's duty as a life creed was essential to the Royal Navy, he also believed that the prestige of the Royal Navy would not relinquish the heavy responsibility that represented both honor and duty.

"Let me explain this to you," said Ardon, who felt he needed to provide after-sales service. "It's not that your head maid wants to give up her former skills, but that she is no longer qualified to use them."

"Why?" "Why did this happen?" "Could it be..."

Seeing that the Prince of Wales' response was different from that of the Nelson and Rodney sisters, it was clear that this near-hero-class ship girl knew more. Ardon nodded to her and said, "If Your Highness also knows something, you can explain it to me."

Upon hearing Adon's confirmation of his guess, the somewhat bewildered Prince of Wales muttered to himself, "Could it really be so? But that's impossible."

"What exactly happened to Reputation?" Charlotte asked anxiously, not understanding what cryptic the ship girls were trying to say.

“Young Master, do you still remember…” After thinking for a moment, the Prince of Wales decided to give a slightly roundabout explanation:

"The Aurora?"

-----

My backlog of chapters has dwindled to fifteen. Hmm, that's a problem. Should I slow down my updates to save up some chapters? Anyway, I'll finish the recommendation for today.

Chapter 58: Everything is just an illusion

"Young master, do you still remember the Dawn Goddess?"

"Goddess of Dawn? You mean Chongqing from the cafeteria? What happened to her?" Charlotte's mouth went numb as she recalled Chongqing, one of the rulers of the Dark Cuisine Society in Naval Base No. 233.

"His Highness means that some ship girls change their nationality after being modified." Nelson, who understood why Renown's skills would change, sighed and explained to the Prince of Wales.

If the light cruiser HMS Aurora, which was once also a British ship girl, were to undergo the first modernization, it would become the Chinese ship Chongqing. The biggest change for HMS Aurora was not that she changed her clothes and gained skills, but that her nationality was completely changed.

(Actually, the biggest change is that Charlotte went from being a British ship girl who couldn't cook at all to a Chinese ship girl who can only cook spicy dishes. Spicy dishes are delicious, but they're not so pleasant if you eat too much of them. Otherwise, Charlotte's mouth would go numb when she hears the name Chongqing.)

"So, does that mean Reputation also changed nationality?" Charlotte was at least not as stupid as Admiral Adun. Nelson had made things so clear, so she naturally understood what kind of riddles these ship girls had been playing.

"Your Highness is right. Renown is no longer a British ship girl, so she is no longer qualified to use her former skills." Renown bowed slightly and said in a tone full of apology.

"Even if Renown isn't a British ship girl anymore, you'll always be my Renown, right everyone?" Charlotte quickly stepped forward, noticing that the other three ship girls seemed unable to accept Renown's change of nationality.

“Young Master is right. You don’t need to worry too much about Reputation. As for Dawn… Chongqing, it often goes back to the British ship girls’ dormitories to play.” Although he said this, Prince of Wales still had a bitter look on his face.

Nelson and Rodney beside her had almost the same expression. Unlike the Dawn Goddess who had been transformed into the cook of the Chongqing, the reputation of the head maid of the 233rd naval base represented, to some extent, the glory of the Royal Navy of Great Britain.

Although the change of nationality of HMS Renown was an unavoidable reason, it still made these British ship girls, who have always valued the glory of the Royal Navy, feel uneasy.

"So, Renown, which country's ship girl are you now? American? French? Or Soviet?" It was Charlotte the second generation who first broke the awkward silence.

Although this second-generation ship girl didn't get a perfect score in history class, she was still above the passing grade. So she started to name a few of the most likely nationalities that would become Renown's nationality after being modified by Adun, such as the American ship girls who share the same bloodline as the British ship girls, the neighboring French ship girls who have been in a love-hate relationship for hundreds of years, and the Soviet ship girls who are absolutely impossible but have a slight possibility.

Unfortunately, every time Charlotte mentioned a nationality, Shengwang shook his head. Finally, after racking her brains, Charlotte suddenly remembered that history had recorded that Britain was also a mentor to the old Japanese navy in many ways, and asked in surprise, "Could it be Japanese?"

"Crack..." The Prince of Wales crushed the Nth wine glass in his hand and said, "Young Master, I don't think Renown will join the IJN (the Japanese Navy during the militaristic era). It didn't happen in history, and it still won't happen now."

"Huh?" Do British ship girls and Japanese ship girls have such a deep grudge? Charlotte blinked and looked innocently at the Prince of Wales, whose mood seemed a bit strange.

“Young Master, the Prince was killed by those IJN planes back then.” Seeing that Charlotte didn’t react, Nelson quickly leaned close to his young master’s ear and whispered.

"Oh, I remember now, sorry." Charlotte recalled that the Prince of Wales was sunk by Japanese naval aircraft (although not carrier-based aircraft, they were still naval aircraft). She was afraid that her guess had offended this British ship girl, so she quickly apologized.

"I should be the one apologizing. I didn't control my emotions. After all, it wasn't me who sank." Prince of Wales was also helpless about the fact that the ship girls' ship equipment could sink those historical ships' memories and some of their personalities.

Although she is a second-generation ship girl, and these things have a much lower impact on her, judging from her emotional reaction when she heard Charlotte mention that Renown might join the Japanese faction, such things may happen again in the future.

The Prince of Wales was fortunate to be the second generation, not the first. It was said that the first Prince of Wales under the command of the European Emperor had psychological problems whenever he saw airplanes, so he was never able to become a main battleship.

Seeing her companions arguing about her new nationality, Renown shook her head again, denying that she had become a Japanese ship girl, and then spoke a string of strange words that had never appeared on this planet before.

"What are you talking about, reputation?" Charlotte asked, confused.

"She's referring to her current nationality, which, if translated into your usual language, would be the Templar Fleet under the High Templar Council of the Kalai Protoss," Adun said, translating what Reputation had spoken in Protoss.

The explanation from the reputation did not elicit a better reaction from her companions and the young master. Completely unaware of what the Calais Protoss were, the members of the High Templar Council could only look utterly bewildered.

"Could it be the Fantasy Fleet? That doesn't make sense. Theoretically, the Fantasy Fleet is very difficult to exist, and it shouldn't be..." Prince of Wales didn't swallow his words, which might provoke hostility from Adun.

"Sister, what is the Fantasy Fleet?" Rodney, finally caught off guard, asked his composed sister.

"A fantasy fleet is a fleet of ship girls that only exists on paper and has never actually been built. Rodney, you need to go back and brush up on your studies. How can you, as a British ship girl, not even know these basic facts?" Nelson said to his sister, half explaining and half lecturing her.

"Isn't that just a blueprint ship? Why use the name 'Fantasy Fleet'?" Rodney had an expression that said, "Of course I know what a blueprint ship is."

“A blueprint ship is a blueprint ship, and a fantasy ship girl is a fantasy ship girl. They are not the same. Did you really skip class back then?” Nelson was a little annoyed that he and his sister were not in the same class when they were in school.

Before inheriting the ship equipment of their sister ships HMS Nelson and HMS Rodney, the two were already sisters. Because of this, Rodney, who grew up under her older sister's protection, was not as stable as other British ship girls.

Nelson suddenly wondered if she had spoiled her younger sister too much during her pre-ship girl days, and whether she should give her a little special training.

"Is there a difference?" As expected, Rodney, who had skipped the course that taught these topics, couldn't understand the difference between the two terms.

“Let me explain,” the Prince of Wales said. “The term ‘blueprint ship’ refers to warships that existed only as design drawings in real history, or were never actually built, or even only had design concepts or directions, but were never launched for various reasons. For example, the flagship Lion under the command of the European Emperor is such a ship girl.”

"Although these ship girls' original forms didn't actually appear in history, they were meticulously designed warships after all. Therefore, those summoned to this world are not much different from most ship girls who had original forms in history. In fact, because their original design concepts were more advanced, they have a higher starting point in terms of combat power."

"Of course, there are also some whose starting combat power is not as good as that of ordinary ship girls. The reason they were not built in the first place may be due to design flaws," Nelson added from the side.

"As for the ship girls of the Fantasy Fleet," the Prince of Wales glared at Nelson, signaling her not to interrupt his explanation, and continued, "the reason they are called Fantasy is because these ship girls come from people's fantasies."

"Whether it's a novel, a movie, or a game, these ship girls have one thing in common: they weren't actually designed in the real sense."

The Prince of Wales meant that although the ship girls of the blueprint ships were never actually built, they were at least professionally trained and designed and budgeted, but were never actually built for various reasons.

Fantasy ship girls are basically products of imagination. To put it nicely, their creation is due to rich imagination; to put it bluntly, they were never scientifically designed. This results in various problems arising at birth, so the combat power of most fantasy ship girls is very low.

Similar to a ship girl with hundreds of cannons, several times longer than an aircraft carrier, with a speed of less than 5 knots, and needing to be docked for major repairs after firing a single shot.

"Because these ship girls are basically unable to form an effective combat force, they are not considered regular ship girls (so Prince of Wales also uses the presence or absence of combat power as a distinguishing feature for ship girls), so everyone calls the Fantasy Fleet..."

"Imaginary Fleet"

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Hmm, I checked my drafts, and the next special ship girl will be released in chapter 76. I feel like I'm bloated with my writing, and I'm about to go from being a lazy bum to... well, a steamed lazy bum.

Chapter 59 Reputation Skills

Fantasy fleets and fantasy ship girls are merely creations born of imagination. To these ship girls, the world may be hostile.

They, who should have only existed in fantasy, were summoned into reality. Living in this world still ravaged by war was not a happy experience for them.

Fantasy ship girls infused with too many unrealistic ideas will have more problems after their creation than ship girls with flawed blueprints. Although the human ship girl faction has legislation prohibiting discrimination against these fantasy ship girls who are essentially born with disabilities, the discrimination against them will never disappear.

“In fact, there are a few Fantasy-class ship girls that are quite powerful. Your Highness, it’s a bit much to generalize like this.” Nelson finally couldn’t help but speak up again.

"Heh? How many?" The Prince of Wales, knowing what Nelson was referring to, responded sharply.

The well-informed Prince of Wales knew that Nelson was right. There were indeed a few Fantasy-class ship girls who were very powerful for various reasons, but so what? For Fantasy-class ship girls, who were born out of a mistake, a few special cases could not prove anything.

“Your Highness, you can’t refute the fact that at least one of the fantasy ship girls has contributed to the project.” Nelson retorted, hearing the Prince of Wales’s words implying disdain for fantasy ship girls.

"And what about her now?" Indeed, there was one ship girl, the only one who reached the Hero class as a fantasy ship girl. Although the Prince of Wales did not refute Nelson's words, she still held the argument that too few individuals were not enough to prove that the whole was wrong.

“If she doesn’t want anyone to find her, then no one will ever find her,” Nelson said with a somewhat unhappy expression. In some ways, the Prince of Wales’ words offended Nelson’s idol, so Nelson retorted to his superior in a very angry tone.

"Perhaps she has sunk to some unknown trench, which is why no one will ever be able to find her." The Prince of Wales swirled the whiskey in his hand, looking triumphant... Wait, when did he get another glass of whiskey?