The Naval Base of the Unnamed Ship Girls

"Yes, there have been rumors in the deep sea recently that ship girls who shouldn't exist in this world have appeared. Before seeing you, I always thought it was just another propaganda tactic by the Church of R'lyeh." The Deep Sea Princess indicated that she could understand.

"R'lyeh?" Adun asked, showing interest in certain terms revealed by the Deep Sea Princess before him.

"They're just a bunch of clowns; even we deep-sea creatures can't accept their ideas." It seems this Deep-Sea Princess doesn't intend to say much more about this topic, since it involves some secrets that should have been kept hidden forever.

"Oh, I see. I was being nosy." Adon realized that the Church of R'lyeh in the Deep Sea was not as insignificant as the other party had made it out to be, but as someone from a different faction, he was too embarrassed to press further.

"It's alright, this is originally our own business in the Deep Sea," the Deep Sea Princess said in a very calm tone.

"Well, now that we're neighbors, how should I address you?" Although this neighbor wasn't really suitable for visiting, Adon still asked.

"Isn't it a bit strange for a ship girl to ask a Deepsea Princess by her name?" The neighboring Deepsea Princess asked with a smile after hearing Adun's words.

"It's alright. Can't you see that as the admiral, I already have three Abyssal Fleet ships as my ship girls?" Adon looked up at the sleeping bag that had fallen onto the beam and said that so far, he only had three Abyssal Fleet ships as his ship girls.

"The fact that a ship girl can sign a contract with another ship girl to become an admiral is truly eye-opening for me, let alone that you can actually sign a contract with a Deepsea Princess." The Deepsea Princess said, quite surprised by Adun's extraordinary behavior.

"The universe is so vast, there are always things we don't know." Adun, who uttered a famous quote from the Protoss's golden age, was already used to the other ship girls' surprise.

"Yes, the universe is so vast, and our vision is so shallow." Deep Sea Princess, seemingly reminded of something, remained silent for a moment before continuing:

"My name as a deep-sea ship girl means nothing to you. If you really want a name, just use the name I used when I was a ship girl."

After a brief self-introduction, Adun learned the name of the Deep Sea Princess, the commander of the nearby Deep Sea Fleet, when she was still a ship girl—South Dakota.

As the first-generation ship girl Adun, who had only been summoned not long ago, was unaware that among the ship girls with this name, there had once been a legendary ship girl in various senses.

What she cares about most right now is that this former ship girl, the Deep Sea Princess of South Dakota, seems to have not lost her memories during her transformation.

“I don’t know why, but I haven’t forgotten too much.” After hearing what Adon said, Suki South Dakota gave a subtle bitter smile and said, “Or rather, I thought I remembered these things because I don’t know what I’ve forgotten, or even if I’ve forgotten anything at all.”

"Oh?" The research spirit of a Calais-class scientist burned brightly in Adun's eyes, but unfortunately, because of the other party's status, Adun ultimately did not actually turn South Dakota into an important test subject.

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um... um...

Chapter 108: Life is unpredictable.

"By the way, do you remember Xiao Bei?" Recalling a certain verification activity that took place at the restaurant, Adun asked the former captain of the Deep Sea Princess South Dakota, Xiao Bei.

"Remember what?" After a moment of surprise, South Dako, the Deep Sea Princess, realized who Adun was asking. She didn't know why Adun would suddenly bring up that deep-sea heavy cruiser.

"Oh, what I'm asking is, do you remember Xiao Bei's background?" Adun asked, bringing up the question that the group of British ship girls and her own admiral had been arguing about.

"I remember once when I went to the area where the Northern Fleet's last battle took place, I found her barely alive among a pile of wreckage."

Perhaps because Xiao Bei's appearance was different from the other deep-sea ship girls under his command, South Dakota recalled for a moment before speaking.

"Is she a member of the Northern Deep Sea Fleet?" Ardon asked curiously after hearing South Dakota's words.

“It shouldn’t be, because the Northern Fleet had been destroyed long ago by then.” South Dakota continued with a nostalgic expression, “When I found Little North, she had only been born for a short time and didn’t even have self-awareness.”

"Is that so?" Ardon, who hadn't expected such an answer, felt that the clues had fallen through again.

"Why are you suddenly asking about this?" South Dakota saw that Adun looked thoughtful, so she became curious. Anyway, Xiao Bei had already joined the other side, so this kind of thing wasn't a secret.

"Something happened just now that concerns Kobei's origins, didn't it?" Yaton briefly explained how Kobei was suspected of being the Northern Princess because she could make diamond-shaped rice cakes.

“Is that so? Those ship girls are overthinking it. I taught Xiao Bei how to make diamond-shaped rice cakes.” South Dakota continued, making a surprising statement: “I remember when I first found Xiao Bei, because she didn’t have my consciousness, I couldn’t teach her anything, except for the skill of making diamond-shaped rice cakes, which she learned very quickly.”

As he spoke, he noticed that Adun's expression had become somewhat strange, and South Dakota continued:

"Actually, making diamond-shaped cakes isn't that difficult. You just combine the three ingredients in a fixed ratio, and then pour on whatever flavor you want. It's not much different from making hamburgers or sandwiches. If you want to learn, I can teach you."

"Then no need..." Adun wasn't very interested in the resource food that the ship girls in this world liked to eat. It would be too wasteful to condense the resources into energy crystals or high-energy gas. Anyway, Adun, who had a sun in her belly, didn't need to eat much in her daily life. She could just try some new foods.

“But now that you ask, it reminds me of something that's really strange about the ship.” Noticing that Adun wasn't interested in the diamond-shaped cakes, South Dakota simply assumed he didn't like desserts and didn't think much of it, and continued:

"When I found Xiao Bei, I was also very surprised. Although that area of ​​the sea was the site of the last battle of the Northern Fleet, and there were corpses of ship girls and ship equipment wreckage everywhere, theoretically, Abyssal ships should not have been born there. Even if some ship girls that sank in battle became Abyssal ships, so many years have passed, they should have left long ago."

South Dakota paused for a moment before continuing, "And I don't think a newly transformed Abyssal vessel could escape from those Gravekeeper ship girls. I paid a heavy price to get back to that place."

“Back to that place?” Ardon was intrigued by a certain word in South Dakota’s words.

"For me, it's like going back there. I participated in that great battle when I was still a ship girl." South Dakota said simply, without going into too much detail, such as the cannonball that killed the Northern Princess was fired from her cannon barrel.

"That's understandable." After all, the other party also admitted that she was transformed from a ship girl. A ship girl who can transform from a ship girl into a princess can't be weak, so it's not surprising that she participated in that great war decades ago.

“So you don’t need to worry about that child, Little North. Although she was born in that cemetery, she has no connection with the Northern Princess or even the Northern Fleet.” South Dakota said that the suspicions of the British ship girls in Naval Base 233 were completely unnecessary.

Compared to the Prince of Wales, who never participated in a direct assault and was merely a flanking support during the war, the South Dakota was a ship girl who had truly faced the Northern Princess directly.

If Xiao Bei is the Northern Princess, or even has some connection to her, it would be impossible to hide it from South Dakota, who fought the Northern Deep Sea Fleet for decades and ultimately defeated the Northern Princess.

"Do you think it's possible that Xiao Bei is a ship girl who has transformed?" Yadun nodded, not denying South Dakota's conclusion, and put forward the new understanding of those British ship girls after using the Reppu Zero to dispel doubts about Xiao Bei.

“Impossible. Xiao Bei is a pure deep-sea being. She hasn’t undergone any transformation. I’m very clear about that.” South Dakota, who had undergone the transformation but hadn’t lost her memory, said decisively. His tone was even more certain than when he said Xiao Bei had no connection with the Deep-Sea Princess.

"That's very strange." Ardon wondered if he should dissect Xiao Bei to see what was wrong with her.

"What's so strange?" South Dakota didn't quite understand why Adun cared so much about Xiao Bei's identity.

"Nothing, just a little curious," Adun said, shaking his head as he finally suppressed the tempting thought.

"If there's nothing else, I'll head back now. I only came here to see what happened." After staring at Adun for a while, South Dakota glanced at the location of the naval base's dormitory through the sortie canal, as if trying to see through the rocks to check on Tidu.

"Yes, I'm also sorry about that. I didn't control myself at the time." Under the pressure of that innate hostility and Tidu's forced command, it was already quite good that Adon was able to keep his mind clear.

"It's nothing, the children were just frightened, I'll calm them down." Knowing that the bombardment of those solar rays and railguns was done by Adun, a ship girl under Tidus, South Dakota said with relief.

South Dakota, who was also startled while reviewing documents, thought that her relationship with Tidu had been exposed, which led the governor's office to decide to eliminate her completely with satellite weapons. If it weren't for his concern for Tidu and the little bit of rationality he still had, South Dakota, which had now become the Deep Sea Princess, would have almost shot down the space station in the sky first.

In that case, the consequences could be much more troublesome, especially since her efforts to blur the area with the faint aura of the deep sea would be in vain.

"It's good that there's no misunderstanding." Ever since she learned that the other party had a deep relationship with her admiral, Aydon stopped thinking about going to the nearby deep sea to gain merit. Anyway, she wasn't interested in that in the first place. It's good that everyone is doing well. Why fight and kill all day long?

"Oh, by the way, please keep these supplies for Tidu, just in case," South Dakota said, clapping his hands as he was about to leave.

As she moved, a deep-sea ship girl with the same ship equipment as the one Adun encountered on her first expedition, which hadn't made a move until it was destroyed, slowly rose from the seabed and entered the sortie channel.

Later, Adun learned that these deep-sea ship girls were deep-sea supply ships, and their job was the same as one of Adun's duties defined by the power of the world: to transport supply materials. They were also the enemies that ship girls liked to encounter the most.

At the same time, it was through Xiao Bei's experience that Ya Dun remembered that the supply ship he had sunk was actually there to deliver supplies to Wo-chan. It was because it was sunk that Wo-chan was hungry and came out to find food. In the end, she fainted from hunger on the beach of the naval base and was picked up by Ya Dun.

Hmm... life is unpredictable...

☆, Chapter 109 Nautilus's Special Skills

Watching South Dakota lead that deep-sea supply ship—which, though possessing its own consciousness, was as silent as a suicide squad—slowly sink into the sea and depart, Adun could only say:

"Princess Abyss is really rich."

Nominally prepared for Tidu, the materials that actually ended up in Aden's pocket were enough for Aden to undergo a major overhaul.

Although I don't know how much material I'll need for a major overhaul, I think it should be enough if each of the oil, bullets, steel, and aluminum components costs over seven figures.

If Adun hadn't promised South Dakota that these resources would only be used when necessary, he really wanted to go all out and build a simplified version of the Nexus—the base—on the naval base.

After calculating how many resources would be needed to build a simplified version of the Time-Space Nexus based on the proportions, Adun immediately abandoned the idea.

Hopefully, this Deep Sea Princess South Dako, who has a close relationship with my admiral, will send me more resources.

"Stop playing dead! They already know you've been eavesdropping," Arden shouted at the Nautilus, which was hanging from the beam and pretending to be asleep.

"She's a berserker who could send me to my grave with a single shot, I'm terrified!" Nautilus said nervously as she sneaked out of her sleeping bag.

"It's not like I can't send you to your death with one shot. I haven't seen you trembling with fear of me." Adun said, speechless at the thief Princess in front of him, who was cowardly but always found a way to escape.

"Hey, I'm your ship girl now, you wouldn't actually fire a shot at me, would you?" Nautilus, swaying back and forth on the beam, declared her current status.

"I don't feel like you really consider yourself my ship girl." Adun, who was experiencing a rollercoaster ride by manipulating the psionic ropes suspending her sleeping bag, saw the Nautilus rocking energetically.

"Stop, stop, stop! It's going to fall! It's going to fall!" Nautilus, dizzy and disoriented from being shaken, cried out, clutching its sleeping bag tightly.

"Don't worry, it won't fall." However, just as Adun finished speaking, the beam, which wasn't made of very sturdy material, snapped with a crack, and with the force of the shaking, the sleeping bag containing the Nautilus fell into the waterway of the sortie channel with a "plop".

"Cough, cough, it's sinking, it's really sinking this time." The Nautilus, struggling to crawl out of its sleeping bag, staggered ashore and collapsed onto the metal floor with a thud, its eyes swirling with mosquito coil-like bubbles.

"Stop pretending to be dead. Do you think I don't know what's going on with you?" Ardon walked up to the Nautilus, who was putting on an act, and kicked it with his flat-soled boots covered by the Ark Propulsion system. His tone was as if he had already seen through the pretense.

"Sigh, I knew this would be the result of signing the contract. I don't even have any privacy." The Nautilus, which was suddenly fine, stood up and sat cross-legged on the ground, saying unhappily.

"This has nothing to do with privacy, you're just being too obvious." If signing a contract with the admiral means having no privacy, then apart from the summoned ship girls, probably not many ship girls would be willing to sign a contract with the admiral.

"Uh, ah, is that so? Looks like my acting skills still aren't up to par," Nautilus said, seemingly wallowing in self-pity.

"Don't worry, with your acting skills, you'd need to train for thousands of years to fool me." Ardon indicated that his way of observing things didn't rely on his eyes.

"Several thousand years? I don't think I'll survive more than ten years under your command!!" Because of his arrogant words, the Nautilus, which had just stood up to complain, was once again bound by a psionic rope.

"Hey, what other tricks do you have besides tying up the ship? Be careful, or I'll report you to the governor's military police for abusing ship girls!" Nautilus said with a resentful look, hopping around on the floor like a salted fish.

"First of all, I haven't registered as an official admiral yet." Looking at the Nautilus, whose obedience was even less than Xiao Bei's, Adun sighed inwardly at how poorly this fake admiral network fared in this regard, and then continued:

"Secondly, given your status as a deep-sea ship girl, are you sure those military police won't kill you before they even hear your complaint?" Adun said something that saddened the Nautilus.

"That's true, I was just joking. Admiral, please be magnanimous and let me go." Nautilus realized that it seemed to be true, and immediately became timid again.

"Are all submarines like you?" Adun, somewhat exasperated by Nautilus's personality, untied the rope. Because they spend most of their time underwater and are quite fragile, it seems plausible that submarine ship girls are all like Nautilus.

"It's clearly your fault, Admiral! To think that I, a magnificent Abyssal Princess, have fallen to such a state, a hero's twilight." The Nautilus looked very sad.

Upon hearing Nautilus's words, Adun, suddenly remembering something, asked, "Since you've joined Kara... well, since you've signed a contract with me, have you awakened any special skills?"

Previously, when Wo-chan awakened the High Templar skill from the Light of Kara, Adun was very happy, thinking that the day of forming a Great Celestial Templar army was just around the corner. However, after signing a contract with Xiao Bei, Xiao Bei, as a Deep Sea Heavy Cruiser, did not awaken any skills.

This puzzled Adon. Could it be that only those with high combat power or rank could awaken the skills attached to the Light of Kara?

If that's the case, it's understandable that Xiao Bei hasn't awakened. After all, although she has self-awareness, she's ultimately just an elite-level deep-sea ship girl, and the gap between her and a hero-level deep-sea captain like Wo-chan is enormous.

According to this theory, if Wo-chan can awaken skills, then the Nautilus, which, regardless of its combat power, is a higher-ranking Deep Sea Princess than Wo-chan, should also acquire new skills from the Light of Kara.

Unfortunately, the Nautilus's reaction greatly disappointed Adun. After asking Adun what the new skill was all about, the Nautilus sensed its own body but found nothing new.

"Strange, why isn't it there? Theoretically, your fighting style is very similar to that of the Dark Templar." Although he said that, Adun still wanted to complain that the Nautilus's stealth and the Akarin Module were more like escape techniques than fighting methods.

"What are Dark Templars?" Nautilus asked curiously.

"It's a high-level warrior's profession, not some kind of thing, cough cough, anyway, it's very powerful." For example, permanent stealth, permanent... wait, Adun, who had been led astray by Nautilus's words, discovered a very peculiar mark on the Nautilus symbol of the Light of Kara.

"What's wrong?" Nautilus asked quickly, her heart skipping a beat when she saw Adun's expression change.

“Um…” After thinking for a moment, Adun said, “I was thinking of finding an opportunity to test whether you and Wo-chan could merge into the Doomsday Archon.”