The Naval Base of the Unnamed Ship Girls

Otherwise, once that fleet arrives and discovers that the Deep Sea's flag is already flying over this naval base, they won't be able to avoid dropping shells on their allies.

“Hyperspace teleportation devices do exist, but those large devices must be placed on nodes where the earth’s energy flows. Generally, only the Governor’s Mansion and super-large garrison mansions rated at Platinum or above in H have such devices installed. Moreover, the cost of using them once is more than enough even if we sold all of us.”

The admiral sensitively seized upon a particular part of Ayton's sarcastic remark and retorted.

"Fine, I shouldn't have tried to understand the scientists of this world with the mindset of a normal person." Adun, who hadn't expected that this world actually had a time-space teleportation device, was destroyed by a single shot.

However, what exactly is a "geyser energy flow node," and what does "H-grade Platinum and above" mean? The introduction of the admiral sent a strong sense of unease through Ayton.

"The nodes where the energy flows through the ley lines are the nodes where the energy flows through the ley lines." After explaining something that was essentially meaningless, the admiral continued to say to Adon, "H is a quantitative statistical method for evaluating the admiral's battle achievements and the combat power of the ship girls under his command in a naval base. It's not very scientific or detailed, but it's something you can refer to."

"Is a luxurious platinum-class naval base really that powerful?" A strong sense of incongruity lingered. In a world with ship girls and admirals, shouldn't ranks be used to distinguish levels?

For example, captain, general, marshal, and so on.

"Of course there is one. Military rank is a more formal thing. H rating is a more detailed method to determine the overall combat strength of a naval base. As for the combat strength of a Noble Platinum-class naval base, to sum it up, it is roughly the strength to be able to go head-to-head with the Abyssal Fleet to which a single Abyssal Princess belongs without being at a disadvantage."

From the admiral's tone, it's clear she's quite envious of those large, high-combat-power naval bases, especially since there's a Deep Sea Princess "watching" her own base right outside.

"Are there many of these naval bases?" Adon decided to readjust her position. It didn't seem very reliable to rush to help the admiral defect to the deep sea. Before knowing how formidable the human ship girl faction's combat power was, or how tolerant they were of traitors, she needed to observe first.

"Not many. Every naval base that reaches this level is famous throughout the world. I remember a teacher mentioning it in history class when I was in school." After thinking carefully, the admiral gave a vague answer: "There are probably dozens, but definitely not a hundred."

Platinum costs less than a hundred, but if it costs more, there's nowhere to escape in the deep sea, right?

"How could that be? The Abyss is still very powerful. A fleet of Abyss Princesses can only be countered by a Diamond-level Naval Base."

...This world has been ruined, absolutely ruined. If you told me there was a supreme king-level naval base even stronger than a diamond-level naval base, I wouldn't be surprised.

"Then it wouldn't be called a naval base. The governor's office responsible for each sea area is evaluated in that way. Or rather, only a naval base that can face several deep-sea fleets composed of multiple Hijiki at the same time without being at a disadvantage is qualified to be called a king-level naval base, that is, a governor's office."

"So what do we do now?" Ardon asked, staring at the empty vodka bottle in his hand, feeling a little tipsy.

"..."

"..."

"..."

What does this eerie silence mean?

"Our current forward garrison is still a temporary establishment. We can only be rated after we have settled the surrounding waters and stabilized the shipping lanes," the admiral said somewhat embarrassedly, his face slightly flushed.

So we're just temporary workers after all.

Chapter Fourteen: The Daily Life of the Admiral's Underling

On the other side of the sea, which is not relatively far away...

In fact, it's not that far. It belongs to the same East Pacific Governor's Office as the Admiral's naval base, only a few thousand kilometers away.

In a naval headquarters office building dozens of times larger than the admiral's temporary naval base, a god-level admiral with a perfect figure and appearance, who could cause screams when thrown into a group of ship girls and turn heads more than 400% of the time on the street, held a phone that was already busy, showing a bewildered expression.

"What's going on? Didn't the big sister just say a few days ago that she had successfully undergone blood testing and was a purebred European? How come she's surrounded by the deep sea now?"

"And there's also the Deep Sea Princess... Is Big Sister trying to fool me again?"

Having been fooled by a certain admiral for so many years, this person, whose achievements are insufficient to become an independent admiral and who can only gain seniority under his own father, immediately chooses not to believe it.

After all, the Deep Sea Princess is simply too outrageous. Given the current semi-truce with the Deep Sea Fleet, if even a single Deep Sea Princess appears within human territory, it means that war is very likely to break out again.

Although he didn't experience the era when the entire sea was stained with blood, his father did. He was raised by his father from a young age with the warning, "If you cry again, Princess Xi will come."

In addition, his father was in charge of one of the most important naval bases in the Eastern Pacific region, and had even clashed with mobile natural disasters like the Deep Sea Princess.

Therefore, he probably knows better than the admiral who has his own (temporary) naval base right after graduation how terrifying that kind of existence truly is.

If it were truly a deep-sea princess besieging the city, and even the construction equipment was broken, and the eldest sister, who hadn't even formed a first fleet except for an initial ship and an aircraft carrier, was still alive enough to call for help, it would truly be a miracle.

Could it be that the boss has already passed away, and the person calling is just someone obsessed with getting themselves into trouble no matter what?

Clearing his mind of all random thoughts, the trainee admiral put down the phone, rested his chin on his hands, and fell into deep thought.

Even if the boss is just fooling me, I still have to take a fleet there. Compared to the fictitious Deep Sea Princess, the boss's anger is the most terrifying thing!

The trainee admiral would rather go to the deep-sea controlled area to complete a mission with a slim chance of survival than face the boss who had entered the third stage because he stood her up. That would be a death sentence, no, it would be a situation where he could neither live nor die!

As for the reason for mobilizing the fleet, only an idiot would use the appearance of the Unknown Deep Sea Princess as the reason; let's just use the name of an exercise.

As the trainee admiral pondered how to express to his father his desire to have a "friendship first, competition second, victory third" exercise with a classmate from the same year, a ship girl dressed in a simple maid outfit with heterochromatic gold and blue eyes walked in carrying a plate of desserts and drinks.

"Young master, it's time for afternoon tea. Coffee or black tea, please?"

"Coffee is fine," the trainee admiral, addressed as "Young Master" by the maid ship girls, said matter-of-factly.

"Where are the desserts?" The maid, who had just poured the coffee, took out a bunch of sweet-smelling pastries from her ship's equipment space.

"Wait a minute..." I'm not a child anymore. Eating such sweet things every day would really turn my stomach off. The young master, having taken a sip of coffee, stopped the maid from turning his desk into a dining table and changed the subject, asking:

"Reputation, you've come at the right time. Do you know what procedures are involved in proposing exercises with other naval bases?"

"An exercise? Was it because you were bullied at school, young master? Now you want to get revenge?" With the imagination befitting a dashing head maid, Reputation said very seriously, "Give Reputation the other party's name and address. I will make those people pay for bullying you!"

While what you said is true, I, your young master, don't want the boss to find out I'm going to retaliate. I'd be dead if she found out!

"No, that's not it! It's just that a classmate I'm close to became an admiral, and I wanted to go visit him and maybe help him out." He quickly stopped Renown from trying to make things up for him and made up a plausible excuse.

"Is that so..." The reputation was almost about to say, "I've watched you grow up since you were a child, young master. Is there any point in you trying to fool me with such a low-level method?"

"Just take it this way..." The young master asked, somewhat exasperated, "Is anyone in the garrison headquarters relatively free right now?"

"Your father, my master," Reputation replied decisively.

"...I was asking about ship girls." The young master's head was getting bigger and bigger.

"Hmm." Seeing that the young master was not joking, Reputation thought for a moment and replied, "Lord Richelieu's Fourth Task Force and the Lion Palace's assault battle fleet are on standby. What are your orders, young master?"

"The Richelieu and Lion's fleet?" Although these two ship girls are both second-generation ship girls, they have been in service for a long time. They had fought alongside their father before the young master was even born, so they are considered veterans. I can't command them.

Perhaps sensing the young master's hesitation, he put aside the prestige associated with the desserts and said with a reassuring smile, "Young master, there is no need to worry. Lord Richelieu and Lord Lion will certainly not disobey your orders."

"But that would mean Dad would know everything I do." Whether it's Richelieu or Lion, including the one in front of me who stepped down from Dad's position as his secretary ship to take care of his daily life, they are all essentially Dad's ship girls.

The young master of the naval base really envied the eldest sister, who was a top student who had her own naval base right after graduation. Of course, if this envy was directed at the Deep Sea Princess, then forget it.

"Should I tell Master what you're planning to do in secret, young master?"

"Even if I object, you'll still tell me, right?" The young master thought it over and over and realized that he couldn't hide it from his father no matter what: "I'd better tell him myself."

"I wish you success, young master," said Shengwang, who had just finished collecting his cutlery, maintaining a smile that was neither arrogant nor cold.

"...If possible, I'd still prefer to have less contact with my father." His father's temper was truly something else; if one were to sum up the young admiral's opinion of his father in a single sentence, it would be:

"I'm not a child anymore!"

However, complaining is useless. Up until now, the entire naval base, from top to bottom, inside and out, from the admiral to the ship girls, from the main force to the expeditionary force to the logistics team, every person and every ship.

They all treated the young master like a child and spoiled him.

It's a story that's both happy and sad.

Chapter Fifteen: Other People's Naval Bases and Other People's Admirals

"Son!!! You finally came to see me!! Your old man heard you were busy, so I canceled dozens of meetings to wait for you!"

The admiral of Naval Base No. 233, known as the "Battleship Maniac" and the general of the Eastern Pacific Theater, spread out his arms, each one thicker than the young master's body, ready to give his son a big bear hug.

Nimblely dodging the potentially suffocating embrace, the young admiral straightened his slightly wrinkled naval uniform from the avoidance, coughed, and said:

"Admiral, it is currently working hours, and I have not seen any meetings in your recent schedule."

After speaking, perhaps feeling that he had nothing in common with the person in front of him, the young master turned his attention to Helena, the secretary ship who was leaning against the oversized admiral's desk, and said:

"Mom, shouldn't you do something about Dad's behavior?"

If this continues, Dad will definitely be arrested and imprisoned by the military police for dereliction of duty!

Helena, the young master's mother and the legal wife of the admiral of Naval Base No. 233, is a ship girl who was assigned to be the young master's secretary ship due to her reputation but later returned to the position of secretary ship. She hesitates between her son and husband with an extremely gentle gaze.

"Isn't this a good thing? You finally graduated from the Central Academy and came back, it's normal for your dad to be a little overly concerned."

"This is more than just excessive concern. In all this time, apart from letting me touch the builder once, I haven't even been out to sea once."

The young admiral said indignantly that he had just gotten a ship girl that had never been recorded before, a purebred lucky player, and great merit was beckoning to him, but he was still assigned to the office to organize the admiral's mansion's files.

"As the future admiral of this naval base, you only need to do your job well, and leave the fighting to us ship girls."

“Son, what are you afraid of with your parents here? Crickets and the deep sea, we’ve got you covered!” The father, who looked like an ancient gorilla, patted his pectoral muscles and said.

"That's why I don't want to go home!" The young master suddenly missed the days when he was tricked by the big sister in school. Even though the big sister was always tricking him, at least that feeling of being needed was better than this (masochistic soul).

Unfortunately, in front of his parents, the young master was like a Shiba Inu puppy that had just learned to walk, wanting to make his own way in the world.

"But it is precisely because of you that I feel I am incapable of taking over this naval base." The young admiral tried his best to fight for freedom.

"Pfft!" The sound of a palm as big as a fan gently patting his head. Because he was too excited beforehand, the son was unable to dodge his father's attack.

“A naval base isn’t built in a day, and a qualified admiral isn’t someone you can just decide to become. My son, on the day you were born, your name echoed throughout Naval Base 233…”

"Stop! Dad... no, Admiral, I'm serious!" Seeing that his father was about to ramble on again, he quickly stopped him.

"Oh, so you're really trying to steal a fleet from your old man?" the father said, pressing his hand on his son's head.

"Eek..." The young admiral, whose head was being held down and unable to move, glanced at his father's office out of the corner of his eye and, sure enough, saw the maid ship girl, Renown, sweeping the floor.

Sister, do you create worlds or gaps? I clearly remember you were just in my office a moment ago.

This lightning-fast speed of tattling—can I say it truly be called the last glory of the Royal Navy of Great Britain?

"It's just that you're too slow, young master." Reputation responded to the young master's gaze, which looked at him like he was a traitor.

"...I just wanted to conduct a practical exercise with my classmates who have already become official admirals." The young master, who had been snitched on, finally voiced his still-unresolved reason.

"The exercise is good." From the gorilla version of Daddy's words, it was clear that he already knew about this news, and might even know that it was just a reason he made up. The young master suddenly felt that the world had turned gray.

"But son, I don't remember having any classmates with such good grades." As a veteran admiral, the father knew that becoming a full admiral right after graduation was a qualification only academic achievers could attain.

How could his good-for-nothing son associate with people from a completely different social class? Birds of a feather flock together.

And even if there were such a thing, why wouldn't he have told his family about it for so many years (about being treated like a lackey)?

Does interacting with classmates need to be kept secret from parents? Wait… Suddenly realizing something, Captain Gorilla released his hand from his son's head and asked in a strange tone:

"Son, is your classmate who became an admiral a boy or a girl?"