Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

Warspite was, after all, a decent person. She suppressed Formidable only to achieve her own goal. Now that the goal had been achieved, it was no longer appropriate for her to stay here. After all, strictly speaking, she had ruined Formidable's plans.

No wonder Ke Wei dragged his feet for so long. If it were me, I would be furious if I knew that my long-awaited date with the Commander had been interrupted. If it were a few other people with bad tempers, they might have tripped me up somewhere.

The Royal Navy prides itself on its aristocratic demeanor, but that doesn't mean they're without their share of crazy characters. In other words, every ship girl naturally becomes a crazy character after spending time with Jing Su.

After all, everyone in the port area has experienced those years of separation. It's really admirable that a ship girl can maintain a normal mindset after such a long period of longing.

Putting aside the distant past, just regarding this summer offensive, I've heard that the ship girls of the Sakura Empire are almost fighting each other to secure a spot.

However, the situation of the Sakura Empire faction is quite special in the port. After all, with a clear leader, the faction's internal conflict being as intense as that of the Sakura Empire is truly unique in the entire port.

According to the information I got from Javelin, it's fortunate that Akagi and Taihou of Sakura Empire are separated, one on the front line and the other in the rear. If these two ship girls were at the same camp at the same time, it would probably not be a simple duel.

Thinking of this, Warspite was also glad that several of her ship girls who were prone to extremism were on the front lines at the moment, otherwise who knows what kind of trouble they might have caused.

However, upon closer reflection, even if things really escalate, there doesn't seem to be much to worry about. After all, Jing Su himself is in the royal camp, and with him around, any trouble can be resolved.

"Commander~ Warspite, she's bullying me!"

After the war-weary left, the oppressive aura of the formidable dissipated, and the formidable finally gained the ability to move freely. Then, the formidable hugged Jing Su's arm and said aggrievedly.

"what?"

Jing Su was stunned. What was going on?

But thinking about it carefully, when Warspite was around, Formidable did behave quite well and didn't say a word. Jing Su originally thought Formidable had become well-behaved, but now that she thinks about it, there's more to it than meets the eye.

"Commander, I've been bullied, boohoo~" Ke Wei seemed to have suffered a great injustice, nestled in Jing Su's arms, her eyes filled with tears.

"Okay, okay, don't cry, it's okay." Jing Su comforted her, gently stroking Ke Wei's beautiful hair.

He realized that Kewei wasn't actually being wronged; he was secretly quite happy.

"Um, Commander, can I..." After a while, Ke Wei blinked her bright eyes and looked at Jing Su with expectant eyes, but before she could finish speaking, Jing Su interrupted her.

"Ask your sister about this."

After discerning Ke Wei's intentions, Jing Su decisively invoked the Radiant Great Technique.

"Ah~" Ke Wei drawled, shaking Jing Su's hand, her voice muffled: "Commander~"

"Hiss!" Jing Su was so startled by the shout that her head almost flew off. She quickly replied, "It's no use asking me this. Your sister told me herself."

"Huh?" Ke Wei was stunned. When did Guang Hui say such a thing?

Seeing Kewei looking lost, Jing Su took out her phone. The first contact in the list was Guanghui, who had sent a message ten minutes earlier, telling Kewei not to go to the front lines.

"Hey, it really is my older sister, but why!?"

Jing Su was showing the communication software developed within the port area, which was only used within the port area. Each ship girl had a fixed ID. Ship girls who were close to each other might give each other nicknames in private, but with Jing Su, they all used their original names.

Therefore, it was clear that the message sent by the two large characters "Glory" specifically named her and forbade her from going to the front line.

These people were truly wronged; their eyes were brimming with tears, and their tone of voice suggested they had suffered a tremendous injustice.

Because, Kewei did indeed take the opportunity of just learning the news to quickly reserve a spot in advance, but before he could even say anything, his sister rejected him.

"Perhaps they think you're too undignified," Jing Su added, seizing the opportunity to deliver another blow.

"No, not dignified!?" Ke Wei was furious. I am a noble lady, a model ship girl who cares about my appearance at all times, and you dare to say I'm not dignified? Believe me or not, I'll show you what dignified means right now with my teeth.

"Haha, anyway, that's what your sister said, there's nothing I can do about it." After gently stroking Kewei's head, Jing Su pinched Kewei's puffed-up cheeks, and had to admit, they felt amazing.

In fact, Jing Su could roughly guess why Guanghui didn't let Kewei go to the front line. First of all, as Guanghui said, Kewei is not very mature yet. Don't be fooled by her elegant and dignified appearance in front of many people. In private, she is a complete homebody who loves to eat snacks and read strange and unusual novels.

In the past, sending Kewei out wouldn't have been a big problem. It would have been a short time, and with others watching over her, it wouldn't have caused much of a stir. But now it's different. The entire port's faction is here, and we can see that, in order to keep Jing Su on the front lines for as long as possible, the ship girls on the front lines will definitely do something.

Therefore, Kewei is not suitable to go to the front line.

Another reason is naturally because of what happened this afternoon. It's terrible. She actually set a very bad precedent. She didn't have a ring before she did this. She only got the ring after it was all over.

Warspite is rather dull; he might be able to figure out what Formidable did, but he might not understand the underlying meaning. If other ship girls find out that it's possible to force oneself on someone without a ring, the entire port will be thrown into chaos.

Chapter 147 Be Careful

Finally, unable to contain his anger, Kewei rushed to his room to confront Guanghui, while Jingsu found a spot, took out his tablet, and began to think about who to take to the front lines for the summer offensive.

According to Queen Elizabeth, the Royal Army should only send one full-strength squad to the front lines this time. Sending more than that would upset other factions. Although Jing Su didn't quite understand why sending more than one Royal Army would upset others, since even the Glorious faction agreed with this statement, Jing Su naturally wouldn't refuse.

As for a full squad, it's similar to a sortie squad in the game, with a total of six people. However, unlike in the game, this is reality, and there are no strict requirements on how many people are in the front row or how many are in the back row.

If I'm in a good mood, releasing six aircraft carrier ship girls is no problem.

According to this theory, the exact number of people in a full-strength formation doesn't really matter, as long as logistics can handle it. You can cram as many people into a formation as you want. However, as Guanghui put it, it's just a matter of getting used to it.

Since the establishment of the port area, no matter how difficult the battle, Jing Su has never sent a squadron of more than twelve people. At most, when he went to other worlds to fight against the Sirens, he dispatched four full-strength squadrons plus submarine forces.

Over time, the port area got used to this division of squads, either sending out two squads or at most four squads. If there were more, other factions would take charge.

The reason I said earlier that even if the Royal Navy didn't send anyone to the previous world, it was because the Royal Navy ship girls on the front lines were already enough for four full-strength squadrons. Sending them or not wouldn't make much difference, since they would just be in the back row, replacing other ship girls.

This is also why Queen Elizabeth and Glorious ultimately agreed to let Jing Su also go to the front line. After all, he was in the reserve team, and his position was very safe. It's not that there wouldn't be any accidents, but if the Sirens appeared wherever Jing Su was on the front line, it would mean that the Sirens had launched a full-scale attack.

In that situation, there isn't much difference between being on the front lines and in the rear. In fact, it might even be safer to be on the front lines, since most of the high-end combat forces are there.

Even knowing that Jing Su would not be in any danger, each faction would send its strongest ship girls to the front lines. It was unrealistic to send them all, but at least one would go.

That's why Glorious and Queen Elizabeth wanted to limit the number of people sent to their respective factions. They had already kept Jing Su at their own camp for so long, and if more people went to the front lines, the other factions would really go crazy.

The vast majority of conflicts in the port area now stem from the increasing need of ship girls to stick close to Jing Su, and the contradiction of only having one Jing Su. The Royal Navy, which has already benefited from this, still wants to compete with us for opportunities. Then don't blame the other factions for uniting and clearing out the Royal Navy first.

Similarly, Donghuang will not send too many people to the front line. They are the first to try this out, and they share the same culture as Jingsu. With this double advantage, their numbers will only be fewer. The Royal Camp can send at least one full-strength unit to the front line, while the Donghuang Camp can send at most four.

It was precisely because Yi Xian understood this that she had Bin Jiang lead the four great warriors of Donghuang to the front line ahead of time. The reasons were readily available: Donghuang was still on duty and had the responsibility to support the front line. It was just that in the past, because Bai Ying was too powerful, it did not need the support of other factions.

“But sister, what does this have to do with not being able to go to the front lines?” In the room, Guanghui analyzed the current situation in the port area and some details of the summer offensive to Kewei through a video call.

Guanghui's explanation was easy to understand, but it was clear that Kewei, whose mind was elsewhere, did not grasp it. She was just thinking that even the little swans had the opportunity to go to the front line, so why couldn't she?

"So you see, you're still too green. You need to improve yourself in class first, then we'll talk." Looking at the stubborn Kewei, Guanghui sighed and sent Kewei a schedule, which was filled with a series of rules for Kewei's clothing, food, housing and transportation during the summer offensive.

"Wow, sister, why don't you just take me apart? I haven't been able to eat cake and desserts for so long, boohoo, what's the point of life?"

"Stop talking nonsense. During this time, Xiao Guanghui will be studying with you. Don't let me find out that you can't even compare to a little girl."

After saying that, Guanghui hung up the communication.

'Oh, my silly little sister, usually so clever, how come she's so dull now?'

Guanghui sighed softly, then, as if remembering something, laughed self-deprecatingly: "Heh, I was just talking about her. If she hadn't been certain from the beginning that she couldn't go to the front lines, she might not be as good as Kewei."

Commander, oh Commander, you are truly the biggest villain in the world! You always bully us poor girls. What did we do to deserve such a terrible person like you?

After saying that, Guanghui smiled broadly, his face beaming with happiness.

'Hehe, but Commander, I just love you, you big bad guy. Ah, I can't take it anymore. Tonight, no, tonight I'll give you to Formidable. In a few days, I won't let anyone else have you, hehe.'

. . . . . .

Back in her room, Jing Su sat in a chair, deep in thought.

Or rather, extremely conflicted.

Since there are no restrictions on front and back rows, any kind of ship can be put in the formation. If Jing Su is happy, she can even squeeze in six royal maids.

But precisely because of this, it's really difficult to put together a team.

Everyone was really great, and there's something to say about whoever put it up.

There are many ships of the same class in the Royal Navy, such as the four Illustrious sisters, the three Queen Elizabeth-class sisters, the King George-class, etc. Let's put one of these ships in. Do you sisters want to consider it?

Take Kewei for example. If her elder sister Guanghui hadn't personally given the order for Kewei not to go, then this afternoon, with the firsthand information and the in-depth and easy-to-understand exchange we just had, it wouldn't be difficult for Kewei to get a spot.

Basically, as long as Kewei brings it up, Jingsu will definitely give it to her. Judging from Kewei's behavior this afternoon, she was willing to say it directly.

Since Formidable is on the list, shouldn't Radiant be included? Logically and emotionally, she should be. So, should the remaining two Radiant ones be included?

If they get in, all four spots will be gone; if they don't, what reason can they give? How should Jing Su face Guanghui? Just thinking about all the twists and turns in this situation makes Jing Su's scalp tingle.

"Commander, what's wrong? You look so worried. Do you need my help?"

Just as Jing Su was scratching his head in frustration, Ke Wei hopped over to his side, rested his bridge against Jing Su's head, and said with a chuckle.

Formidable is a magnanimous ship girl. Since it's a fait accompli that she can't go to the front line, there's probably no point in doing so. She might as well take advantage of the time she still has and enjoy the time she spends with Jing Su.

“I’m worried about how to arrange this list.” Jing Su sighed. “I never thought that arranging names would be so difficult.”

"Hehe, if you think it's difficult, then don't bother queuing. Commander, you're with me, and you're thinking about these things? I'm angry~" Ke Wei closed the tablet, held Jing Su's head with his hand, and said, word by word.

"Cough cough, my fault, my fault~" Jing Su struggled a few times, broke free from Ke Wei's grasp, and then answered with a smile.

Indeed, it was frightening that she couldn't go to the front lines. Judging from her expression when she heard the news, she was quite disappointed. She was still busy with summer support work, which was like rubbing salt into her wounds.

"Commander, come for a walk with me outside."

Seeing that Jing Su no longer mentioned the list, Ke Wei suddenly made such a request.

“Okay.” Jing Su naturally wouldn’t deny this request.

"That's great, come with me."

After saying that, Kewei grabbed Jingsu's hand and ran into the room.

After some manipulation, the entire room emitted a 'humming' sound. It turned out that there was a hidden passage inside the formidable secret base, its destination unknown.

"I remember, it's this code."

Crouching in the corner, Kewei was mysteriously fiddling with some buttons, while Jing Su stood silently beside him, not peeking at what Kewei was doing, but openly watching Kewei.

Squatting on the ground, the awe-inspiring cognitive operation is not just cute and touching.

"Alright, Commander, let's go."

Before long, the Formidable seemed to have completed its adjustments and jumped up happily. Its full bridge transformed into a playful white rabbit, hopping and skipping, making it impossible to look away.

However, Kewei was clearly not thinking about this. Before Jing Su could come to her senses, he grabbed Jing Su's hand and rushed into the passage.

The thing hidden in the passageway, just like the one hidden under the sculpture deep in the maze, is an elevator-like structure, but this one is larger than the one inside the sculpture.

"Whoosh, let's go!"

With a cry of fear, the elevator slowly started, accelerated, and then transformed into a bolt of lightning, speeding through the passage. After about ten minutes, it began to decelerate.

Jing Su didn't say a word throughout the whole process. He was stunned by the scene. If he remembered correctly, the formidable secret base was underground, right? And the so-called secret base was something that only he and the people he cared about knew about, and that other ship girls, even his closest sisters, didn't know about.

So the question is, how exactly did Kewei manage to create such a long passage without anyone else knowing?

Based on my previous experience taking the subway, this underground passage is at least the distance between three or four subway stations, which is no small number, but rather an exaggerated one.

"Commander, we've arrived."

Coming to her senses, Jing Su found herself on a cliff, with a golden beach in the distance and a few coconut trees overhead, swaying in the wind.

Flocks of seagulls frolicked and played, or walked in groups, or sang their songs.

The waves lapped rhythmically against the beach, making a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" sound. A few fiery clouds drifted across the sky, creating a beautiful picture together with the seagulls, the sand, and the waves.

"Commander, how is it? Not bad here, right?" Ke Wei bent down, stood on a rock, and said with a smile, his head close to Jing Su's cheek.

"Well, how should I put it? I can't think of any adjectives. Anyway, it's really beautiful, amazing, incredible! How did you find this place?"

Feeling the refreshing sea breeze on her face, Jing Su felt her heart calm down a bit.

"I'm glad you like it, Commander." Formidable stood on the rock, gazing into the distance. The sea breeze tousled her gray hair, creating a beautiful pattern in the sunset. "This place was discovered by my sister and me. After you disappeared, Commander, whenever my sister felt sad, she would come to this place, gaze into the distance, and hope that one day you would return and appear."

But then, one day, she stopped coming. She locked herself in the house for a whole day, and when she came out, she never came back.

The fearsome voice was very soft, devoid of emotion, and mixed in with the sea breeze; it was difficult to hear without trying.

Just by listening to the voice, coupled with the terrifying expression, Jing Su could feel a deep sadness and despair emanating from the heart.

Day after day of waiting, expectation after expectation, in the cycle of hope and disappointment, gradually turned into despair. Even just looking at that formidable back, Jing Su could feel that sense of pity.

"And you, formidable." After a moment of silence, Jing Su suddenly uttered these words.

"I?"

Kewei turned her head away, and before she knew it, crystal tears streamed down her face, wetting her clothes.

Seeing this scene, Jing Su understood that what she had guessed and thought was indeed true.

Fearless said that she and Glorious discovered this place. Glorious said that every ship girl has her own secret base, which is something that even the closest sisters will not tell about, unless they develop it together.

Jing Su arrived here by taking the elevator from the formidable secret base.

In other words, Glory was unaware that Formidable knew of this place.