Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

Xue Cheng scratched his hair, he thought he had concealed it well enough.

"No, the Admiral's thoughts are all written on his face." Danyang seemed to have guessed Xue Cheng's thoughts and said with a smile: "Admiral, are you worried about me?"

"Yes." Since Danyang had already made it clear, Xue Cheng stopped beating around the bush: "I saw you sitting there alone without saying anything, so I was worried that you were in trouble."

"Is that so?" Danyang scratched his hair and said with some hesitation, "Although I am happy to be cared about by the Admiral and want to continue like this, but Sister Yixian said that lying is wrong."

Danyang sighed and said, "Admiral, thank you for your concern, but I really don't have anything to worry about."

"Did the old me disappoint you too much?" Xue Cheng was a little embarrassed. He had long realized that his image did not seem to be glorious in the hearts of the ship girls in the garrison. Perhaps it was because of this that Danyang was unwilling to open her heart to him.

"That's not the case." Danyang shook his head and said seriously, "Although the admiral always likes to harass us, leaving injured companions alone, not checking on the expedition team when they return to the port, and scolding people when they take the wrong path during an attack..."

Danyang recounted Xue Cheng's glorious deeds one by one. Although he thought these were very common for a gamer, Danyang's innocent expression made Xue Cheng feel deeply guilty.

"It was my fault for what happened before. I promise you that something like this will never happen again."

Danyang still shook his head: "I am not saying these things to blame the Admiral, I just want to say that even if it is like this, no matter how bad the Admiral is, we will still love the Admiral and believe in the Admiral, so..."

"I really have no worries."

Xue Cheng selectively ignored certain parts of Danyang's words, and then said in surprise, "Then you just..."

"In the past, I was indeed too lucky, and I was helpless when my companions suffered misfortune, which made me suffer." Danyang sighed softly. "Excessive luck is actually a kind of misfortune. The fate of the battleship Yukikaze in history, and people's subsequent evaluation of it, really scared me. I was worried about hurting my companions and bringing bad luck to the admiral, but..."

"That's a thing of the past."

Danyang straightened his chest, a confident smile appearing on his calm face. "Thanks to Sister Yixian's guidance, and the Admiral's trust and training, I have let go of everything. No matter what happened to Xuefeng in the past, it no longer matters to me. I am Danyang now, and I have the power to protect everyone. I am no longer the Xuefeng that everyone calls auspicious."

Xue Cheng smiled with relief. It was indeed a good thing that Danyang could get over the shadow in her heart. It also saved him from wasting a lot of brain cells worrying about how to comfort her. Xue Cheng joked, "If Yangyan and the others heard what I just said, they would probably be very sad."

Danyang glanced at him sideways: "How could that be? Letting go of the past doesn't mean forgetting it. The good memories will be engraved in my heart forever. Even if I have now joined the C-class nationality and changed my name to Danyang, the sisters of the Yangyan level will always be my family."

"I'm relieved that you think so." Xue Cheng breathed a sigh of relief. He ruffled the girl's hair and said jokingly, "I was thinking of taking advantage of your low spirits to gain more favor with you, but it seems that won't work."

"There's no need for that in the first place." Danyang shook her head. She looked up at Xue Cheng, raised her hand, and showed a sparkling diamond ring. "I'm the admiral's wife, so my favorability rating has already been maxed out."

"Then brush more, brush up to the favorability level, and let Danyang like me more."

"Hehe..." Danyang smiled embarrassedly. After all, it was just a destroyer. Although it seemed to have grown a little after the transformation, its character was still not mature enough. Xue Cheng looked at the girl's helpless expression, secretly scolded himself for talking nonsense, and quickly changed the subject.

"But since you have no worries, why doesn't Danyang act more cheerful?" Xue Cheng asked, "Ninghai and the others are all good kids. As long as you are willing, we can definitely get along well."

"I understand this principle," Danyang said distressedly, "but... the relationship between the J-series and the C-series, Admiral, you understand, right?"

Xue Cheng slapped his forehead and finally understood why Danyang always acted so introverted in front of the C-series ship girls.

Due to historical reasons, the C-series ship girls have almost no good feelings towards the J-series, with Danyang being the only exception. After all, in that war, Danyang did nothing to the Celestial Empire, and after the war she came to the Celestial Empire, changed her name to Danyang and joined this big family.

For Danyang, everyone, whether from the J or C department, is her sister. However, such a double-edged sword is always disliked. Even though no one in the C department looks at Danyang with unusual sunshine, her friends in the J department still treat her the same as before, and Danyang feels caught in the middle.

"It's not entirely what the Admiral thinks." Danyang sighed. "I think that as long as I act a little more pitiful and make people feel a little sorry for me, then when the C-series and J-series clash in the future, they will at least consider my position and become more restrained, right? Even if it's just a little bit, as long as the conflicts and contradictions between everyone don't get worse, I'll be very satisfied."

"So that's how it is." Xue Cheng gently pulled the girl into his arms and whispered, "But it must be hard to live with a mask on every day, right?"

74. A bustling courtyard

"It's okay, it's just a return to the previous state." Danyang shook his head: "Anyway, I don't like to talk much."

Xue Cheng sighed. He didn't have any good solution for what Danyang said. The opposition between the C and J series was not an acquired contradiction, but was rooted deep in the soul since birth. Changing this would not be done overnight.

As an admiral, Xue Cheng's situation was very similar to Danyang's, perhaps even worse. After all, Danyang could avoid it this way, but once a conflict arose between the C and J factions, he would be unable to stay out of it. If he handled it unfairly, it would provoke greater conflict and bring disaster upon himself.

Maybe there will be an opportunity for change in the future? Xue Cheng thought, patting Danyang on the back: "If you feel a lot of pressure, come to me. To some extent, we are in the same boat."

Danyang curled his lips, gently broke free from Xue Cheng's embrace, and made a face at him: "No, it's not like the Admiral has to be caught in the middle all day long, so how can we sympathize with each other?"

"That's true, but it's nothing compared to Danyang's hard work." Xue Cheng smiled bitterly, then suddenly remembered something: "By the way, did Danyang see the message Lexington sent in the group this morning?"

Danyang nodded. Although the military had tried its best to block it, the news of the deep-sea incident still spread among the admiral circle in just two days. Considering that the admiral brought back the deep-sea flagship Yamato yesterday, it was impossible to conceal it, so Lexington simply made public its cooperation with Yamato.

"Danyang once escorted the Yamato, didn't he?" Xue Cheng's face was filled with an indescribable malice. "Although we don't have the Yamato in our tutelage, we do have a deep-sea version. Do you want to go see it together?"

"Okay." Danyang agreed readily. Being able to be with the admiral and see the Yamato that he had always been interested in was a win-win situation. How could he refuse?

"Then let's go." Xue Cheng took Danyang's hand and walked towards Shinano's home according to her instructions.

At this time, Shinano's home became particularly lively because of Yamato's arrival.

The small Japanese-style courtyard was now crowded with people, but for some reason, they did not go into the room, but sat around on the edge of the garden. Shinano, the host, was busy entertaining them. She had never had so many guests in her home before, and she was so busy that she was dizzy for a moment.

"It's really Yamato." Nagato held his teacup, thinking back to the girl he had just seen, dressed in a kimono, with her white hair flowing freely. She looked gentle and demure, like a Yamato Nadeshiko. He had never expected that his crazy and violent opponent would actually have such a side. Was it because of the deep-sea incident? Or... because of his own admiral?

Thinking of the ring of oath on Yamato's finger, Nagato suddenly felt that the tea became bitter.

"Are you jealous?" A voice like the whisper of a devil came from his ear. Nagato glanced sideways and saw his sister Mutsu looking at him with a smirk on her face.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Nagato curled his lips, looking disdainful of answering.

"It was just a joke. My sister is so boring." Seeing that her sister ignored her, Mutsu swung her legs a little bored. She was still wearing a kimono today, with her slender calves sticking out from the hem and her smooth feet hanging in the air and swinging casually.

Nagato looked at her, then at the four sisters, Akatsuki, Hibiki, and Thunder, who were playing in the courtyard. He felt that his younger sister, who was trying to control her toes to make various gestures, was a little too childish. He couldn't help but sigh, "Really? You're so old and still playing such childish games. Aren't you afraid of being laughed at?"

"What?" Mutsu stopped and looked at Nagato with a bit of grievance, saying defensively, "I'm working hard to improve the flexibility of my toes."

"You say you're not childish, but what's the point of doing this kind of exercise?" Nagato sneered.

"Of course there are. There are many things that toes can do." Mutsu blinked, covered his mouth and laughed for a while, then said seriously: "But there is no need for my sister to know, anyway..."

Nagato waited for a while, but Mutsu didn't say anything else. Instead, he covered his mouth and laughed even more happily. The look he gave her also had a sense of superiority, which made her inexplicably uncomfortable.

But there is one good thing about being an older sister, that is, you can discipline your younger sister for any reason. Nagato raised her hand and slashed with a knife, hitting Mutsu in the face.

"Wow!" Mutsu covered her nose, which had been hit. She frantically fumbled for a small mirror, opened it, and examined herself carefully. She said with tears in her eyes, "Sister, why did you hit me so hard? Look here, and here, there are marks left. It's so ugly!"

Nagato glanced at the barely noticeable red mark on Mutsu's face and said casually, "What's the big deal? I didn't really use any force. It will disappear in a moment."

"But," Mutsu argued, "what if the admiral sees us? It's too ugly."

"The Admiral won't come."

"What if the Admiral comes later?"

"If you keep talking too much, I'll hit you again!" Nagato frowned.

"Ugh...my sister is bullying!"

Not far away, the two sisters Shokaku and Zuikaku were drinking tea and eating snacks. Suddenly, Shokaku laughed softly.

"Sister?" Ruihe tilted his head, not knowing what his sister was laughing at.

Shokaku pointed in the direction of the Nagato sisters and said with a smile, "Zuikaku is sometimes too serious and even a little unfamiliar with her sisters. So I'm a little envious of the way Mutsu and the others get along."

"Mutsu?" Zuikaku curled her lips. She had no good feelings towards this vixen who was always flirting and teasing the admiral with words. "Hasn't it been seen that Nagato is always troubled by Mutsu? Have you forgotten what happened last time?"

"Last time?" Shokaku was stunned for a moment, then he covered his mouth and giggled.

Mutsu likes the admiral and is a sworn enemy of Kongo, who is also an active faction. The two often quarrel over the topic of competing for the admiral.

However, although Mutsu is good at verbal teasing and knows how to show the charm of women, her tricks are not effective when her opponent is also a woman. Kongo, who has a straightforward personality, often wins in verbal confrontations with Mutsu.

Unwilling to be defeated by the fool in his eyes, in order to fight back, Mutsu secretly used lipstick to draw kisses on his neck and upper chest, and then deliberately ran in front of Kongo. When Kongo asked about the kisses, the cunning Mutsu lied that they were left by the admiral.

The result is predictable. The admiral had never had any incident with the ship girls in the naval base, but Mutsu took the lead. Kongo, who couldn't accept it, made a big fuss, and the news spread.

To this day, whenever Shokaku thinks of Mutsu's aggrieved expression when he pointed to the sky and swore in front of everyone, he can't help but laugh.

75. Zuikaku's Resentment

"Actually, sometimes I really wish Zuikaku could be more lively." Shokaku smiled and then sighed softly, "Zuikaku is too focused on Kyudo and trains for long hours every day. This can't work."

"What else?" Zuikaku said nonchalantly. "We're not like Lexington and Wisconsin. That bastard doesn't need us to fight, nor does he need us to deal with matters at the tutelary fort. Besides occasionally filling the mess hall for Yixian and the others so they can get some rest, we have to find something to do with all that free time, right?"

Shokaku hesitated to speak, for she knew that Zuikaku was angry with the admiral, and even she, who was gentle and considerate, felt the same about this.

When I first joined the naval base, my sister and I, as the few who could transform aircraft carriers, thought that we would be the focus of the admiral's training. However, the opposite happened. The admiral seemed to be very uninterested in them. He just gave them a few purple-quality carrier-based aircraft and put them aside without paying any attention.

At the beginning, Shokaku was still comforting his sister. The admiral was just busy and didn't pay attention to them. He would arrange for them to train after this period of time. However, as time passed, new people continued to join the naval base, and even the weak destroyers got the opportunity to train and transform, but they were still left aside and ignored.

Zuikaku, completely disappointed with the admiral, no longer had any illusions and focused his free time on archery, while Shokaku also shifted his interest to cooking and housekeeping, and occasionally took over the responsibility of the naval base's cafeteria from the C-series together with Fuso and Akagi.

With such an experience, even the gentle Shokaku couldn't defend the admiral.

"Even so, you still have to make sure you get some rest." Shokaku gently put his arm around his sister's shoulders and said, "Even if the Admiral doesn't care, even if you don't take care of yourself, I will still be worried."

Zuikaku leaned on her sister's shoulder, closed her eyes and responded softly.

"Admiral, this is it, Sister Shinano's home."

"Oh, is this it? It's not bad judging by the exterior alone. Shinano really knows how to enjoy herself living in a house like this."

"Nonsense! Doesn't the Admiral also live alone in a big villa?"

"Ah ha ha……"

A familiar voice came from afar, and a word in the voice pierced Zuikaku's heart. She opened her eyes and looked towards the door. A man in casual clothes was walking in with a cute girl with light purple hair.

"Sister, let's go back." Zuikaku suddenly stood up.

"Eh? But you..." Shokaku was a little surprised.

"Let's go!" Zuikaku's voice suddenly became louder. The loud voice made the girls in the yard look sideways, but Zuikaku didn't care. He pulled Xianghe up forcefully, without even looking at Xue Cheng, and walked out.

"Wow!" Xue Cheng's heart was beating fast as he watched the girl walking towards him. He was still guessing her identity, but she ignored him completely. He didn't know whether it was intentional or unintentional. The moment they passed by, the girl's shoulder bumped into him. Xue Cheng felt a huge force coming over him and he almost lost his balance. Fortunately, Danyang, who was standing next to him, was quick to support his body and prevented a tragedy.

"Admiral, are you okay?" Danyang asked nervously while supporting Xue Cheng.

Xue Cheng, who had finally regained his balance, shook his head. He looked at the backs of the two girls and his intuition told him that they definitely did it on purpose. However, he couldn't remember who they were.

Although they were in casual clothes, since they had come out of Shinano's residence, they were probably Japanese shipgirls, right? Judging from their size and age, they weren't destroyers, so they were heavy cruisers or above, right?

Xue Cheng thought about it. There are not many Japanese ship girls in the game who can be in the first tier, especially the ace cards like Yamato and Musashi, who have never been released, so their presence is not very obvious. He couldn't think of the other party's identity at all for a while.

"Sister Zuikaku is still angry with the admiral." Danyang sighed like a little adult.

Zuikaku? So the one next to her is Shokaku? Xue Cheng blinked. He couldn't remember doing anything excessive towards Zuikaku. After all, the two sisters' portraits were unremarkable in his eyes, and their equipment was of little value. He had always kept them at the bottom of the warehouse, so logically, he shouldn't have such a strong grudge against them.

"How did I offend her?" Xue Cheng rubbed his shoulders with a wry smile. Ruihe was really strong.

"Admiral, you still dare to say that?" Danyang glanced at him and was about to explain when several girls around her age ran over: "Danyang, Admiral, you're here?"

"Ah, it's Xiaoxiang Leidian, hello." Danyang greeted them and immediately forgot what he was going to say.

Akatsuki, Hibiki, and Thunderbolt? The Sixth Destroyer Fleet? Xue Cheng studied the girls in sailor uniforms. One of them had short silver-gray hair and a book in her arms. She looked a bit like Nagato Daimoe. She must be Hibiki, the reborn trustworthy Hibiki. However, her sisters and former companions still seemed to prefer calling her Hibiki.