Today's tutelary fort remains peaceful.

"..." Essex hesitated. To her, the bald eagle Bell McCann was undoubtedly a very important existence. He was her closest companion and was no less important than her sisters. But before that, there was someone who was even more important.

Admiral...

10. Xue Cheng’s reputation crisis

Facing Bell McCann's sharp eyes, Essex hesitated and said cautiously: "Well, for me, Bell is the most important partner."

"You hesitated, didn't you?" Bell McCann's eyes were bright. Although he didn't notice the deep meaning of Essex's words, he keenly caught Essex's hesitation at that moment.

The bald eagle flapped its wings irritably a few times, muttering to itself, "I knew it. Jiaozi only has that bastard Admiral in her heart. Bell is just a dispensable thing in your heart. No matter how long that bastard has been gone, as long as he looks at you when he comes back, you will be wholeheartedly good to him. I, the guy who has always been by your side and never left you, am just a pet, a substitute to relieve your loneliness..."

"Bell, please don't say that..." Essex was frightened by the bald eagle's reaction. Admittedly, the admiral occupies the highest position in her heart. Even her companions or sisters who are of the same level as ship girls cannot be compared with him, but this does not mean that companions and sisters are not important.

Essex quickly picked up the bald eagle, placed it on his shoulder, and softly comforted him, "Bell is also very important to me. He is a partner and a relative that I cannot leave behind."

"Is it true?" Bald Eagle glanced at Essex and saw her nodding frantically. Although he wanted to continue the previous topic, he couldn't bear to embarrass Jiaozi. After hesitating for a moment, he asked, "If... well, I mean, if that bastard admiral bullied me, Jiaozi, who would you help?"

Essex thought for a moment and said firmly: "Although the admiral is important, even if he is an admiral, he cannot bully Bell for no reason!"

"I don't believe it!" the bald eagle shouted on Essex's shoulder: "You swear! You sign a document!"

Swearing an oath is easy, just like Essex said, if Xue Cheng bullied Bell McCann for no reason, she would never stand on Xue Cheng's side. But as for signing a document, Essex's dress didn't even have a pocket, and she was still holding her cell phone in her hand, so where could she find paper and pen?

But Bell McCann didn't care about that. Facing Essex's embarrassed expression, he said loudly: "We can wait if we want to sign a document, but you have to swear first!"

"There's no need to be like this." Facing the aggressive bald eagle, Essex felt a little hurt. Didn't he have any credibility at all in its eyes?

"It must be!" The bald eagle insisted.

In the end, Essex couldn't stand Bell McCann any longer, so he raised his hand and swore an oath, and promised the bald eagle that he would write a letter of guarantee after returning home, which calmed it down. The bald eagle, whose conspiracy had succeeded, showed its true colors and told Essex what had just happened at the embankment by the sea, and asked Essex to seek justice for him.

Essex did not completely believe what Bell McCann said. He thought that the admiral molested him, which was too unbelievable.

Although the admiral is a big pervert who always likes to make the ship girls injured in the attack work as secretary ships in the office in tattered clothes, and likes to poke them with his fingers, he is not a pervert... Well, maybe a little pervert, but from her understanding, at least he is not a pervert who would touch animals, so even though the bald eagle spoke seriously, Essex only thought that it disliked the admiral and deliberately discredited him, wanting to destroy the admiral's image in its heart.

However, this time Xue Cheng betrayed Essex's trust. Although what he did to the bald eagle was not originally due to some perverted ideas, Xue Cheng was not present at the time and it was Bell McCann who was talking, so this unscrupulous eagle spared no effort to try to put the blame on Xue Cheng.

In order to strengthen the credibility of her words, Essex also found CV-16 at Bell McCann's insistence. Although she did not witness what Xue Cheng did to Bell McCann with her own eyes, CV-16 still saw clearly the scene where Bell McCann let out a huge scream and ran away after contacting the admiral.

With CV-16's testimony, Essex's disbelief in Bell McCann's words turned into half-belief. Just as she was hesitating whether to ask the admiral for clarification, Xue Cheng, Chongqing, and Lexington were walking towards her from the direction of the office building in the distance.

Throwing the pen and seal aside, Xue Cheng leaned back and collapsed on the sofa in a haphazard manner. The thick file in front of him had already been processed.

Xue Cheng never thought that just signing and stamping could be so tiring. At the beginning, he looked at the contents of the documents carefully, wanting to learn something from them, but he had no contact with the affairs of the garrison. After reading for a long time, he was still confused. In the end, he had to give up the delusion of self-study and signed and stamped the documents honestly.

However, repeating the same action would still make people feel boring. In addition, the height of the sofa and the coffee table required Xue Cheng to bend down when signing. After a long time, even though Xue Cheng was still in good health, he felt both mentally and physically exhausted.

"Admiral, let me give you a massage." Chongqing, who was sitting next to him, said tentatively when he saw this.

The snacks that Lexington brought had already been eaten by her alone. Chongqing, who was full and rather bored, saw that Xue Cheng looked overworked and wanted to take this opportunity to stretch his body. Xue Cheng wanted to be polite and accept it, but before he could say anything, Chongqing's hand was already on his shoulder.

Since that was the case, Xue Cheng was no longer polite. He adjusted his posture, lay on the sofa, and let Chongqing's soft and boneless little hands knead his back and shoulders.

"I can't believe you, a British ship like Chongqing, know this trick?" Xue Cheng let out a comfortable sigh from his throat and teased.

"Admiral, can you please stop looking at me with such stale eyes?" Chongqing rolled his eyes, his face full of displeasure. He applied a little more pressure, causing Xue Cheng to groan. Then he said, "Since my transformation, I've learned a lot from Sister Yixian. How could something as simple as a massage be so difficult for me?"

Xue Cheng grimaced and gasped. As for the massage techniques in Chongqing, they were actually not that great. However, as a ship girl, the strength of her fingers was much stronger than that of humans of the same size. After the pain, she felt her muscles relaxed a lot.

Behind the desk, Lexington watched the two of them silently. She always considered herself the admiral's wife and of course she would not feel jealous because of their little interaction. However, she was busy dealing with documents while the admiral could run to the side to get a massage and slack off, which still made her feel a little unhappy.

Looking at the watch on his wrist, it was already time for lunch. Lexington sorted out the documents in front of him and put them aside. Then he stood up and said, "Okay, it's time for lunch. If you want a massage, come back later and talk to me."

11. Strange Creatures

Walking out of the office building, Xue Cheng looked at the blue sky and took a deep breath. Although the air at the seaside had a salty and fishy smell that he was not used to, it was still much better than the exhaust smell in the steel jungle. Xue Cheng raised his arms and stretched his body hard, and suddenly there was a crackling sound from his joints.

"I'm getting old..." Xue Cheng twisted his neck and sighed. Ever since he became a corporate slave, working every day has been very hard. He has long forgotten the basketball and jogging that he used to be passionate about. After not exercising for a long time, he obviously felt that his body had become stiff and dull.

"Admiral, come to my room tonight and I'll give you a massage." Lexington frowned and looked a little worried.

Although she wanted to continue to be cold and indifferent, Lexington couldn't harden her heart. Even though the man next to her was a complete bastard, he was still her husband and admiral. Even if Lexington was currently making a unilateral mistake, she still cared about Xue Cheng's health.

Before Xue Cheng could say anything, Chongqing, who was standing on the other side, quickly said, "Don't bother Lexington. Let Sister Yixian do the massage. She's much better at it than a half-baked one like me."

Lexington glanced at Chongqing indifferently, and when he saw the other party glaring back at him without showing any weakness, his heart sank slightly.

The number of fishery administration ship girls is small, and for a long time they have had no combat power, but they are surprisingly united. Even Chongqing, a fishery administration ship girl who came to the team halfway, is carefully considering Yixian, the leader of the fishery administration department. Looking at their own side, each family is fighting for power and has ulterior motives. Although the overall strength is strong, they are a mess, and are not as good as the fishery administration in clenching their fists and working together.

Look at her two younger sisters. Although Saratoga always has a cold face and seems to have no interest in anything, she is actually a little devil who likes to play pranks. For example, she disguises herself as herself to deceive the destroyer, or secretly runs to smash the windows of Japanese ship girls. For this, Saratoga has been taught a lesson by herself many times.

As for her constellation, she joined the naval base relatively late. Although she has been carefully trained by the admiral and is already a capable ship girl in combat, her personality is a bit too straightforward and she has no ambition. What she likes to do most is to compete for favor with Saratoga, and she can't help herself at all.

As for the other American shipgirls? If they can't even trust their own sister, how can they trust these guys with their own ulterior motives?

Lexington withdrew his gaze, lowered his eyelids and stopped arguing with Chongqing, thinking in his mind how to tie the admiral to himself without making any noise.

"Okay, let's go quickly. I'm hungry." Xue Cheng looked at Lexington and Chongqing fearfully, afraid that the fire would burn him. Fortunately, the two seemed unwilling to argue in front of him. They just looked at each other and then looked away.

Coming out of the office building and onto the path beside the embankment, Xue Cheng leaned towards the trees and walked under the cool shade. The sun was already overhead and the temperature was at its hottest in the day. Even the wind was hot, and he wasn't very heat-resistant. In addition, he was still wearing his navy uniform, so a thin layer of sweat appeared on his forehead before he had walked far.

Just when he came to the shade of the tree, there was a slight shaking in the grass by the roadside. Then two strange-looking creatures, one black and one white, emerged from the grass and jumped in front of Xue Cheng.

"Wow!" Xue Cheng was startled. He had been attacked by stray dogs that came out of the grass on the roadside before, so he had a very strong reaction to similar emergencies and almost turned around and ran away. But soon, he found that the appearance of these two little things... seemed a little familiar?

The two little creatures standing in front of Xue Cheng had short limbs and a single horn on their heads. They looked very devilish and were probably only as big as ordinary house cats. Facing Xue Cheng who was screaming in fear, they did not seem to be afraid, and even a hint of contempt flashed in their dark little eyes.

"GALO?" Xue Cheng looked at the two little things squatting in front of him, looking at him with their heads tilted up, with a strange expression on his face.

"Yeah, Admiral, haven't you seen them?" Lexington looked at him strangely. However, thinking that his own admiral had only returned to the naval base occasionally in recent years, he might not even recognize all of his own ship girls. It didn't seem strange that he didn't recognize these two little creatures, so he explained, "This is called a GALO. It's a strange marine creature. It usually lives on islands deep in the sea and rarely appears near the coast. It is said that it survives by preying on small fish and shrimp. Because it is not attacked by deep-sea ship girls, there are still quite a lot of them. However, due to environmental changes in recent years, many GALOs have begun to migrate to live near the coast."

Chongqing interjected, "Because of its gentle nature and unique appearance, many admirals and shipgirls keep GALO as a pet."

"A pet?" Xue Cheng remembered the costume changes in the game, where these kind of demonic mascots often appeared. So he casually asked, "Does our garrison also have a GALO? Uh, and this little thing won't bite, right?"

Xue Cheng looked at the two GALOs and was eager to try them out. When he was playing games, he was very interested in these cute creatures that often appeared in dress-up games. Now that he saw the real thing, he had an urge to touch it himself.

"They won't bite. Galos are very gentle and won't attack humans unless they're hurt." Lexington thought for a moment and said, "As for us at the tutelary fort, we don't have any Galos in our care yet."

After a pause, Lexington smiled wryly. "There are so many pets at the garrison, where would we have time for a GALO? Hood's two cats, Ginger and Fishcake, Bismarck's black cat, Oscar, Veneto's owl, and Essex's bald eagle, Bell McCann, Kent's big tiger, U81's three little wolves, and some others I can't recall right now."

"But..." Lexington changed the subject, "Galos are very friendly to humans and shipgirls. I remember some of them would come to the naval base to play, and people would feed them if they saw them. I think Tirpitz once went out to attend a comic convention, and when he came back, he was followed by two Galos. Although they disappeared the next day, you can still see them running over occasionally. If the Admiral likes them, you can catch a few and raise them when they come to play again."

12. The Chatterbox Eagle

"Forget it. They often come here to play anyway. What's the difference between this and raising them? Locking them up just for my own amusement is too cruel to them." Xue Cheng shook his head. GALO would come to the naval base to play, which was a sign of trust in them to some extent. Xue Cheng couldn't control other humans and ship girls, but in his own naval base, Xue Cheng himself couldn't bear to let such cute creatures lose their trust in humans.

Lexington couldn't help but glance at Xue Cheng. This collector didn't seem to be taking GALO seriously. Was GALO not cute enough? Or was it that their admiral's almost perverted collecting habit was limited to beautiful shipgirls?

Lexington wanted to say something but stopped himself. Xue Cheng got the reply that GALO would not bite, and finally he could not suppress the impulse in his heart. He tentatively reached out his hand and gently stroked the head of one of the GALOs. He felt a warm and soft touch. The GALO did not dodge, but squinted its eyes and rubbed his palm gently with its head.

Xue Cheng was having fun teasing GALO when he heard a slight sound of footsteps. Lexington glanced casually and found that it was Essex and her sister, the blue ghost CV-16 with the same name as himself.

The eighth Essex-class aircraft carrier, the USS Lexington, was originally named Cabot and had the hull number CV-16. Because the first Lexington-class aircraft carrier sank in the Battle of the Coral Sea, the U.S. Navy renamed the Cabot under construction to Lexington in memory of the sunken Lexington.

Later, CV-16, which inherited the name of Lexington, sank the Zuikaku, which caused the sinking of CV-2 Lexington, in the Battle of Cape Engano, thus completing its revenge.

After awakening as a ship girl, CV-16 has an appearance similar to Lexington, but with obvious differences. Although her personality inherits the coldness of the Essex class, she is not difficult to get along with, and is even a little cute.

"What are you doing?" Lexington looked at them in confusion. It was already lunch time, but they were not going to the cafeteria. Instead, they were walking towards the office building which was completely opposite to the cafeteria. Could something have happened?

Subconsciously looking at Xue Cheng beside her, Lexington felt that the fact that made them unable to wait even for a short time to eat was most likely related to the man beside her.

Before Essex and CV-16 could say anything, the bald eagle perched on Essex's shoulder started yelling, "Lexington! You have nothing to do here! We're only looking for that bastard admiral!"

"What did you say? Say it again?" Lexington's face darkened. Although she had all kinds of grievances against the admiral, and although she knew that the admiral was not her own private property, when Bald Eagle called Xue Cheng a bastard in front of her, Lexington couldn't help but get angry.

No matter how much they quarreled, he was still her husband. If it was any other wedding ship, it would be fine. They were all the admiral's wedding ships, and Lexington couldn't say much. What qualifications did a mere bird have to insult the admiral in front of her?

"I... I want to talk to the guy next to you..." Lexington's fierce gaze frightened the bald eagle, and its momentum weakened. However, when it remembered that it stood on the side of reason this time, it became arrogant again: "Stop talking nonsense, don't you dare admit what you did? Bastard Admiral! If you have the guts, don't hide behind Lexington and use him as your shield!"

"Admiral? What's going on?" Lexington looked at Xue Cheng. Although the bald eagle Bell McCann was a chatterbox and arrogant, and always liked to rely on Essex to bully others, he had restrained himself a little after being almost made into a roast chicken by Hancock last time. Now he dared to cause trouble for the admiral and did not take him seriously. There must be a reason behind this.

"Ah, well..." Xue Cheng watched the two GALOs dive back into the bushes, turned his head to look at Chongqing, but found that the girl was holding a mobile phone in her hand and looking at it intently. Her cheongsam didn't even have a pocket, and he didn't know where she got it from. But putting this issue aside, Chongqing obviously had no interest in speaking for him.

With a wry smile, Xue Cheng reluctantly took a step forward. He glanced at the white-haired girl standing next to CV-16 and quickly guessed her identity: "Essex, you're here too."

Xue Cheng felt a little guilty because he had bullied Essex's pet behind her back and now the owner had come to find him.

Essex tilted her head. Normally, didn't the admiral like to call her "dumpling"? Although Essex didn't like that name, she still preferred the man in front of her to call her "dumpling" in the same harsh tone as before, rather than the slightly distant and polite address she was using now.

"Admiral, I heard Bell say..." Essex looked at Xue Cheng, his fair cheeks slightly flushed. "It said you, you molested it. What's going on?"

"Swish!" As Essex finished speaking, three pairs of eyes fell on Xue Cheng at the same time. Lexington, CV-16, and Chongqing all looked at Xue Cheng silently, waiting for his explanation.

"I... listen to me, things are not what you think!" Facing the gazes of the four people and the eagle, Xue Cheng was sweating profusely. The weather was already a bit hot today, and coupled with his anxiety, a layer of fine beads of sweat instantly appeared on Xue Cheng's forehead. "I just want to check Bell McCann's gender, there is no other intention, please don't misunderstand!"

"Oh?" Lexington crossed his arms, looked at Xue Cheng with a half-smile, and said, "Checking the gender of an eagle for no reason? Do you think your explanation is good? Or are humans and shipgirls no longer enough to satisfy you, so you want to seek alternative excitement?"

Lexington's words were a bit harsh. If Bell McCann was an eagle girl, Xue Cheng would not mind taking the blame. After all, he had dozens of wedding ships, including some destroyers and submarines, and they had no reputation at all. However, although Bell McCann could speak and think, and was a master of false voice, he was a bald eagle. Xue Cheng did not want to bear that bad reputation.

What should I do? How can I explain myself to get out of this impasse? Xue Cheng raised his hand to wipe the sweat from his forehead, his mind working furiously. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of Essex staring blankly at him. Suddenly, an idea flashed in Xue Cheng's mind. He quickly coughed lightly, cast his gaze towards Essex, and then said seriously, "Of course, I do this for my dearest Essex."

Lexington raised an eyebrow, noncommittal about Xue Cheng's response. Chongqing, on the other hand, sneered. She had watched the entire incident unfold from the sidelines and even questioned Xue Cheng afterward. She knew full well that Xue Cheng's actions weren't for Essex's sake at all, but were probably more to satisfy his curiosity and mischievous nature.

Apart from the dazed Essex and the furious Bell McCann, CV-16 was probably the only one who was willing to believe that Xue Cheng was doing this for her sister's sake. However, it was obvious that Xue Cheng was just looking for an excuse to clear his name. CV-16's trust was doomed to be betrayed...

13. Get away with it by cheating

"Keep talking, don't stop." Lexington said, and the others also looked at Xue Cheng, waiting for his explanation.

In fact, they didn't think Xue Cheng was the kind of pervert who would attack animals. Based on his past actions, beautiful and lovely girls were obviously more to his liking.

Of course, although his own admiral is a pervert and a bastard who falls in love with every girl he meets, he is a very principled person. Although he has dozens of nominal marriage ships, he has never really had anything happen with anyone, not even Lexington. Although he is sometimes dishonest, he never takes any further action.

It is precisely because of this that, although everyone has complaints about his behavior, deep down they still love and respect him.

Xue Cheng took a deep breath, his brain working rapidly as he organized his words. Then he slowly said, "Well, you see, Essex is my wedding ship, right?"

Everyone looked at Xue Cheng silently. Is this question still necessary? In fact, all the ship girls present at this time were wedding ships with oath rings.

"But Bell's voice is a deep male voice!" Xue Cheng's face showed an annoyed look at this. "If it was just an ordinary eagle, I wouldn't bother paying so much attention. But look, this chatty eagle is intelligent and can talk. Apart from its eagle appearance, what's the difference between it and a human?"

"The most important thing is, this guy eats and sleeps with Essex!" Xue Cheng pointed at the bewildered bald eagle and shouted, "Are you letting a highly intelligent male creature live with my wife, and I'm not allowed to have any objections? I've been putting up with this for a long time!"

Xue Cheng's expression was distorted, but although he looked furious at this moment, he was not really angry. He was not bored enough to be jealous of an eagle, but if he wanted to get rid of the stigma now, this excuse was the most appropriate.

“…” Everyone fell into a strange silence, not knowing what to say for a moment.

Especially in Chongqing, she knew very well that Xue Cheng's purpose of "teasing" Bell McCann was definitely not because of Essex, but after saying this... she was speechless.