It's time to give out the rings, Admiral!

“Is that so…” The boy on the distant shore tapped the top of the radio with his finger and lowered his head in thought. “If I’m not mistaken, this should just be a reconnaissance fleet. The composition of a light carrier, a heavy cruiser, and two destroyers is also suitable for reconnaissance. And the behavior of the abyssal light carrier should be recording the surrounding terrain…”

Volume 1, Chapter 43: Support

"A reconnaissance unit?... But why would they do that?" Jun Quan, who was on the same wavelength and had heard the boy's words, also frowned in thought. If the Deep Sea was surveying the terrain, did that mean a follow-up Deep Sea fleet intended to attack this area? Or... was there something here that would interest the Deep Sea?

"I don't know either..." Su Yuchen shook his head without any clue. Although he could guess their movements based on the unique behavior of the Deep Sea Fleet, it would be too difficult for him to guess their purpose. After all, a year ago, he was living in a peaceful and stable world. How could he, who had no actual combat experience, possibly have the ability to guess the enemy's mind?

"Forget it, there's no point in thinking about it here any longer. Su Yuchen, you take Guanghui back to the academy first. I'll take care of things here." Looking at the calm yet slightly oppressive sea in the distance, Instructor Junquan, dressed in a business suit, changed course.

"If these deep-sea creatures are allowed to continue wandering here, even if they don't attack the coast, they will definitely cause panic if they are discovered."

........................

Having completed his reconnaissance mission, Glorious followed his admiral's instructions and returned to the rear, while Sovereign sailed alone toward the Abyssal fleet. According to Glorious's previous report on the reconnaissance, the Abyssal fleet sailing opposite him would soon be within range of his main guns.

The enemy consisted of a light aircraft carrier with a large body but thin armor and a heavy cruiser whose guns and armor were inferior to her own. As a battleship with 15-inch main guns, she was confident that she could take on both of them and sink them both.

That was the plan. However, by sheer coincidence, before the monarch could change course and reach the designated firing position, a deep-sea reconnaissance aircraft launched by the deep-sea light carrier happened to spot her while flying southwest.

The plan was to launch a surprise attack and disable the deep-sea light aircraft carrier's ability to take off and land before it could detect them, but now it seemed that the plan was somewhat unnecessary. Soon, in the sky not far away, Junquan spotted several deep-sea torpedo bombers skimming the surface of the sea, slowly flying towards him.

The strangely shaped deep-sea torpedo bombers launched torpedo attacks on the monarch in multiple waves. In order to avoid being hit, she became anxious and had to maintain a high level of anti-aircraft firepower and constantly slow down to avoid the torpedoes that were fast coming from below the water.

"Ugh... this won't do..." Jun Quan bit his lip, his voice trembling with pain, as he changed course again to evade an airborne torpedo, his speed decreasing even further. At this rate, forget about catching up with the deep-sea fleet; they'd probably slip away before they even caught a glimpse of them.

She shot down several deep-sea torpedo bombers that had already dropped their torpedoes and were preparing to escape, but when she looked up and saw another swarm of small black dots approaching from the horizon, a helpless bitter smile appeared on her face. The continuous air attacks had exhausted her; pushing forward under the attack would only result in her speed decreasing due to torpedo hits, widening the distance between them. Unable to think of any better solutions, she had to begin considering whether she should retreat first and wait for other ship girl instructors to arrive as support.

However, she soon no longer needed to consider these things. Several small planes that had been hidden above the clouds suddenly nimbly swooped down from the high sky behind her. Before Jun Quan could react, those deep-sea torpedo bombers, which were sure to cause her a lot of trouble, all crashed into the vast sea, trailing black smoke.

"Instructor, are you alright?" The sudden voice of Miss Glorious startled Jun Quan from her daze. Looking at the several Seafire carrier-based fighters circling around her, she asked in surprise, "Miss Glorious? What happened to you...?"

"Yes, it was the Admiral who sent me to support you, Instructor. He was worried you might be attacked by Abyssal Light Carriers, so he ordered me to launch carrier-based aircraft near the port to support you." Illustrious's elegant voice came through the radio, unhurried and calm. For the already troubled Royal Authority, this was like a huge weight being lifted from her shoulders.

"I will now cover your approach to the Deep Sea Fleet. Please focus on the air. Leave the aerial issues to me."

"Okay, thank you, Glorious." The instructor, finally relieved, smiled and nodded. With Glorious's air support, she no longer needed to worry about the Abyssal carrier-based aircraft and increased her speed again. Her maximum speed was only 21 knots, but since the wind was westerly, and the Abyssal light carrier still needed to take off and recover its aircraft, it meant she was still heading west and hadn't changed course. She still had a chance to bring her within firing range.

En route, they encountered several more waves of Abyssal light carrier bombers and torpedo bombers, but without fighter escort, they all became experience points for the Illustrious's sea-spraying aircraft. As time passed, under the constant observation and guidance of the Illustrious's fighters, the combination of Abyssal light carriers and heavy cruisers finally entered the main gun range of the Sovereign.

The massive 14-inch main gun slowly rotated, its imposing muzzle tilted towards the distant horizon where sea and sky met. Turning its course from north-northeast to due east, the monarch, returning from its engagement with the deep sea, swiftly loaded several high-explosive shells. With several deafening roars, the shells, instantly released from the barrel, traced parabolic arcs and exploded in the distance, beyond direct visual observation.

With the firing data provided by Radiance, the first salvo from Sovereign Power, whose luck had been terrible since the start of the war, successfully crossed over the deep-sea light carrier more than ten nautical miles away...

Volume 1, Chapter 44: Envy?

"Boom!!!" On the other side of the sea, which was so calm it was oppressive, the cannonball fired by the monarch's main cannon drew an arc and fell into the water. With a deafening roar and several water columns tens of meters high splashing up, a loli with silver hair and purple eyes, exuding a sense of oppression, slowly emerged from the sky full of water droplets.

The massive, purplish-black ship rigging was positioned on her left and right sides, its twisted and terrifying tail writhing angrily in the air. A 356mm shell had exploded at extremely close range, and the shrapnel and air pressure from the explosion had torn apart one side of her ship rigging, leaving her looking extremely disheveled.

Enraged, the flagship light carrier signaled to the heavy cruiser that had been following behind and providing cover that it had been using body language to fire back.

Upon seeing the signal from the flagship, the accompanying heavy cruiser obediently changed course. Its deep purple eyes flashed eerily as it concealed the light carrier, whose deck had been destroyed and which was temporarily unable to launch or recover aircraft, behind it. The four twin-mounted turrets, made of some unknown material, trembled and twisted toward the direction from which the shells had just come, and then fired multiple armor-piercing deep-sea shells in retaliation.

The deep purple shells made a shrill sound as they crashed into the sea not far from the Royal Authority. Compared to the Royal Authority, which had the Radiance providing coordinates and successfully hit the target in the first round, the accuracy of the deep-sea heavy cruiser was significantly worse.

"Instructor, the shelling successfully covered the target, but the Deep Sea Fleet has just changed course. Please correct the error to the left for the next round of shelling." Through the vision of the Seafire carrier-based aircraft circling not far from the Deep Sea Fleet, Glorious reported the hit results of the shelling to Sovereign, who was loading ammunition and preparing for the next round of shelling.

But not long after, she noticed that the Seafire's flight was significantly lighter than before. After a careful inspection, she realized that the fighter jets she had sent out were running low on fuel, and if they didn't return soon, they risked crashing halfway. "Instructor, the fighter jets are running low on fuel. I need to send these little guys back. The rest of the battle is up to you."

"Leave it to me. It's just a deep-sea heavy cruiser; I'm confident I can sink it." Adjusting the turret angle, Junquan, who was engaging the deep-sea heavy cruiser in a new round of firefight, kept an eye on the incoming shells and dodged as he spoke to Guanghui over the radio. The distance between the two sides had narrowed due to the deep-sea fleet's another turn, and Junquan could now visually calibrate his fire.

The aircraft carrier of the Glorious returned to base, and the mutual firing between the Monarch and the Deep Sea Heavy Cruiser gradually entered a white-hot stage, with shells from both sides hitting the sea surface near each other as if they were free.

However, in the absence of carrier-based aircraft cover, traditional surface gun battles between ships seem to always follow an unchanging rule: the ship with higher attack and thicker defenses will gain a clear advantage. Even after being hit multiple times by shells from a deep-sea heavy cruiser, the Royal Tutor, with its battleship-level protection, while not entirely ineffective, was at most only slightly damaged and could still unleash its shells at a leisurely pace.

On the other hand, the ship's equipment was already shattered, and the heavy cruiser, which had taken on water in many places, was in a precarious state. Its speed had dropped to less than half of its original speed. In the current situation, if it were hit by another shot, it might completely lose its combat capability and sink into the sea.

The battle was nearing its end. With a volley of fire from the Imperial Guard hitting its mark, the only heavy cruiser capable of providing cover for the incapacitated light carriers sank into the water. It was only a matter of time before the remaining light carriers were sunk...

........................

The dark clouds in the sky gradually dissipated, and beams of sunlight streamed through the gaps in the clouds onto the calm sea, leaving patches of dazzling light. Watching a small black dot approach in the distance, Su Yuchen and Guanghui on the dock both breathed a sigh of relief. Now that their mentor, Junquan, had returned safely, it meant that those dangerous deep-sea creatures were now resting in peace in the nearby waters…

"Mentor, welcome back." Together they walked to the shore. Seeing that Junquan's ship equipment was only slightly damaged, he easily put away his ship equipment and stepped back onto the reassuring ground. The relieved boy and Guanghui went up to greet the ship girls who had returned from battle. However, it was his inescapable duty as an admiral. Of course, for those victorious warriors, this was also the best reward for them.

"Yes, I really owe you a lot this time, Su Yuchen." Smoothing his professional attire, which had been disheveled from the battle, Jun Quan gave the boy a beautiful smile that could make anyone's heart race. "Without your and Guanghui's help, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to deal with those deep-sea creatures so smoothly... By the way, I'll apply to the academy head for a reward for your help later, so please look forward to it."

Although he knew that refusing a reward was something only a fool would do, the shy boy shook his head somewhat embarrassedly after hearing his mentor Junquan's words. "Ahaha... no need for any reward, mentor... I didn't intend for Guanghui to help you in the first place, so let's forget about the reward..." Thinking about his initial attitude of not intending to help, he felt that his skin wasn't thick enough to be that thick.

"Oh dear, I didn't care about that, Su Yuchen. Rather, if you had agreed to my request without refusing, I would have given you a good lesson. Because only an admiral who considers the safety of his ship girls is a qualified one..." She brushed aside the black hair that was blown by the sea breeze and bent down to speak softly to the slightly blushing boy in front of her.

But looking at the boy's youthful yet resolute face, for some reason, she suddenly felt a little guilty and turned her own face, which was reddened by the setting sun, away.

Am I... starting to envy Miss Radiant...?

Book 1, Chapter 45: The Gathering

As usual, Guanghui and he finished listening to the lecture at the academy, and before they knew it, it was evening. They had arranged to meet at a Chinese restaurant in Jinchuan City tonight with Yuan Ye, and since it was almost time, the boy left Guanghui alone in the dormitory and left the Naval Academy alone according to the address Yuan Ye had given him.

Although it would be a bit disrespectful to Glorious if he went alone, it would be inappropriate to bring Glorious, who is one of the most beautiful and elegant girls among the ship girls, along since it was a group of guys chatting and joking together. Otherwise, with Glorious's warm and gentle smile, it would be a miracle if people didn't swallow their food, let alone chat and brag.

As she boarded the somewhat dated tram, Su Yuchen watched the various houses and pedestrians rushing past the window, but suddenly realized that she had never taken Guanghui out for a trip before. All along, she had just kept her cooped up in the academy, either attending lectures or participating in exercises, which seemed rather bland and boring.

Of course, Gentle Radiance might not see it that way, but Su Yuchen, somewhat resentful of her incompetence as an admiral, decided to take Radiance out for a proper tour on her next day off. Besides, when Yuan Ye had dragged her out to familiarize herself with the terrain before, she hadn't really focused on sightseeing because she was worried about whether she'd be accepted into the academy. This time, accompanying Radiance would be a good opportunity to further solidify her own memories of the city.

After taking a tram for more than ten minutes and then walking on the street for a while, the boy finally arrived at a Chinese restaurant called "Chenyu Restaurant" according to the address Yuan Ye had given him.

Looking through the glass window, the boy realized that the restaurant was indeed as popular as Yuan Ye had said. The restaurant was not very big, and the decoration was not very luxurious, but all the dozens of tables in the hall were already full, and several waiters could be seen busy serving tea and water to the guests.

"Hey! Yu Chen! Over here!" Suddenly hearing someone call his name, the boy turned around and saw a short, somewhat comical-looking boy peeking out from the main entrance. Was he the one who acted as the temporary referee during his and Yuan Ye's rehearsal? His name was... right, I think it was Fang Wanyan.

"Why are you so late, Yu Chen? Everyone else arrived a long time ago."

Su Yuchen almost forgot the short boy's name. She waved to him nonchalantly, "Ah, I was delayed by something on the way here. Sorry."

He would never reveal that the real reason he was late was because he was so engrossed in Guanghui's massage that he forgot the time. Making up a random excuse, Su Yuchen followed him to a table near the aisle in the restaurant. At that table, the boy also saw Yuan Ye and several other unfamiliar boys.

"You've finally arrived, Yu Chen! I almost thought you were going to stand us up because you were afraid of paying!" Bathed in that familiar, loud voice, Su Yu Chen was dragged by Yuan Ye to sit in an empty chair. "Come on, let me introduce you. These are all friends I met at the academy."

As he spoke, he first pointed to a crew-cut boy sitting at the far end of the room. "His name is Xu Tu, he's in Class 9 like me, and he's known as Big-Eared TuTu. This guy knows all the gossip in the academy. Even if you want to know how many trainee admirals were taken to the military police for molesting destroyers today, he can tell you everything perfectly. In short, Yu Chen, if you have anything you want to know, you can't go wrong asking him!"

"Hello, I am Xu Tu. My initial ship is the destroyer Kuroshio, the third ship of the Kagerou class." Before Yuan Ye could finish speaking, the crew-cut boy named Xu Tu greeted Su Yuchen with a grin. "Although that title was just something that bastard Yuan Ye made up, I am indeed very well-informed about some things in the academy. If you want to know anything, just ask me."

After shaking hands with Xu Tu, Yuan Ye pointed to the boy sitting in the middle opposite him, wearing thick-rimmed glasses. "This guy's name is Lu Yiwei. Don't let his unassuming appearance fool you, he's actually a big shot! He's my most important comrade in the academy! You know the school's Exorcism Club? He's only been here a few days, and he's already become one of its officers! Haha!!"

The Exorcism Club? What kind of club is that? Is it listed in the academy's club roster? Listening to Yuan Ye's introduction, Su Yuchen, who had learned about the academy's clubs when he enrolled, was a little confused. He didn't seem to remember ever hearing about this club.

"My name is Lu Yiwei. My initial ship was the light cruiser Penelope, the third ship of the Linxian-class. Anyway, comrade, I see you have extraordinary potential. Would you like to join our Exorcism Club?" Pushing up his thick, bottle-bottom glasses, Lu Yiwei, with a stern face, handed the boy a business card-like card.

Upon receiving it, the boy discovered that besides Lu Yiwei's name, the card was covered with various cute little animals, and at the corner of the card, there seemed to be a chibi-style fantasy pattern printed on it.

He thought it might be some kind of club that liked cute things, but Fang Wanyan, who was sitting next to him and peeking around, explained everything to him: "The 'Cute Club' actually refers to the Destroyer Cute Club, Brother Yu Chen. This club is actually made up of a bunch of perverted lolicon. Because their activities were too morally offensive, they were banned by the academy a long time ago and have now become an underground club."

"And, Yu Chen, don't be fooled by Lu Yiwei's appearance. This guy is actually a complete lolicon, just like Yuan Ye! Because he couldn't build the destroyer he'd been dreaming of with his initial ship, he was taken to the military police station and given a good talking-to a couple of days ago for trying to lure someone else's destroyer with candy..."

Once again, without batting an eye, the corner of her mouth twitched slightly. Seeing the other person's regretful expression, Su Yuchen waved her hand, politely declining his invitation. She was joking; she wasn't a lolicon. If Guanghui knew she'd joined such a club, her reputation would be completely ruined…

Finally, Yuan Ye introduced the blond heartthrob sitting at the very back, who always had a dazzling smile and was so handsome that it was hard to look directly at him. "This one, well... this bastard is called Qin Hanwen, and he's a bastard that's hateful in every way!"

As if facing an unforgivable class enemy, Yuan Ye pointed at his cheek and slammed his hand heavily on the table. "If it weren't for you, Yu Chen, I would have thought he was the protagonist of our academy! Oh, right, I almost forgot to tell you, he's the legendary second-generation super-promoter in our academy. Everyone else has just gotten their initial ship, but this guy already had his own ship girl a few years ago, and now he even has two ship girls by his side. It's so enviable!"

After being subjected to a heated reprimand by Yuan Ye for a long time, Qin Hanwen greeted the boy with a rather awkward wry smile. "Hello, my name is Qin Hanwen. Although I'm called a second-generation admiral by others, it's just because I'm lucky enough to be born into the family of an admiral who is a lieutenant general. My father saved up enough resources for my first major construction project a few years ago, plus the one provided by the academy when I was admitted, so I now have two ship girls, namely the destroyer Gearing and the heavy cruiser Houston."

After hearing their self-introductions, Su Yuchen, somewhat surprised by Qin Hanwen's identity, quickly introduced herself as well, "Hello, my name is Su Yuchen, from Class 7, and my initial ship is called Glorious..."

Book 1, Chapter 46: The Strange Boy

Before the boy could finish speaking, Xu Tu opposite him suddenly seemed to remember something, his eyes widening in shock. He pointed at Su Yuchen, who seemed to sense something was amiss, his eyes filled with disbelief. "Radiant, Radiant… As far as I know, the only warship named Radiant is the lead ship of the Radiant-class armored aircraft carrier… Could it be… Su Yuchen, your ship girl is actually an aircraft carrier?… This… no… that can't be?!"

"What?!" This revelation caused a huge stir. Apart from Yuan Ye and Fang Wanyan, who already knew the truth, the other two who were completely unaware of what Xu Tu said immediately became restless.

Stared at with an intense gaze as if he were an alien, Su Yuchen, who had inadvertently let slip her secret, could only laugh awkwardly and scratch the back of her head.

"Cough cough!!...An aircraft carrier as the initial ship, cough...this, this is too..." Even as a seasoned lolicon, Lu Yiwei, who had never been interested in anything other than lolis, couldn't help but tremble upon hearing such shocking news. He poured a cup of hot tea directly into his nose, causing him to painfully pound his chest for a long time.

It took him a while to feel a little better. He pushed up his black-rimmed glasses, which were about to fall off, and turned to Xu Tu beside him with a serious expression. "So, Xu Tu, why don't we sit down calmly and give this damn European a good stab?"

"An aircraft carrier... It's an aircraft carrier... I thought I was strong enough with a heavy cruiser and a destroyer as my starting point... But I never expected that someone's starting ship would be a regular aircraft carrier that even my father wouldn't dare to dream of..." Perhaps because of the shock of this news, Qin Hanwen, sitting in the innermost seat, stared blankly at Su Yuchen's embarrassed expression, his fair cheeks trembling uncontrollably.

Stared at by three incredulous gazes, Su Yuchen, feeling uneasy, forced a smile. "Well, that's about it, haha... But don't tell anyone in the academy." If it weren't for the complexities of human nature and the many things to consider, who wouldn't want to show off their strength and good fortune to others?

"Okay!" "I know without you saying it." "Don't worry, Su Yuchen, we won't tell anyone." Everyone here is a trainee admiral who has successfully entered the Naval Academy. After hearing the boy's request, they immediately understood the reason why he said that. Although they are a bit eccentric, the three of them are still very good people and immediately patted their chests to guarantee it.

"Hmph! Yuan Ye and I knew about Yu Chen building an aircraft carrier a few days ago!"

"Yeah, yeah! Now Yu Chen is our leader. If any of you dare to mess with us again, yes! I'm talking about you, Qin Hanwen! Believe me or not, I'll have Brother Yu Chen teach you a lesson with his carrier-based aircraft!"

"What?! There's a powerful figure with an aircraft carrier ship girl protecting you? You two, you didn't even include us in this good fortune?!"

"It doesn't matter, I only like destroyers anyway... But having such a powerful older brother makes me feel much more at ease when I'm kidnapping destroyers in the future."

"Hey! You guys should put your hands on your conscience and speak honestly. If you guys didn't always come to my dorm to eat the snacks my mom sends, how would I have gotten to see you guys? But you can include me too, a big brother with an aircraft carrier ship girl who is bound to be successful in the future. He sounds much more useful than that guy at home who always walks around with his head held high and his nostrils flaring up!"

"Impossible! Give up on that idea! Brother Yu Chen's positions as a subordinate are already full!"

"Yeah, yeah! You guys can forget about it!"

Before he could even speak, the boy, who hadn't felt this way in a long time, grinned slightly as he watched the group of guys having fun together. It was as if he had returned to before he transmigrated, when he would chat and brag with his best friends every day when they went out for lunch. It was a feeling that made him relax without even realizing it.

Without saying a word, the boy turned to look at Fang Wanyan, who was arguing heatedly with three other people, and said to him teasingly, "I remember now, Fang Wanyan, you betrayed me when I was practicing with Yuan Ye, didn't you? Tell me, what use is a traitor like you to me?"

"No! This isn't my fault, Yu Chen! It's all his fault! It was Yuan Ye who instigated me to betray you! He said he wouldn't bring me to today's gathering if I didn't help him!"

"You motherfucker! Fang Wanyan! Didn't I tell you not to tell anyone?! How dare you betray me!"

After a long and fun-filled day, the group, exhausted from their antics, finally sat down quietly, sipping their free tea. They then calmly began chatting about some interesting anecdotes from the academy.

"By the way, you guys know Zhang Hao, right? He's one of the guys in our class who built a capital ship, just like Brother Yu Chen."

"So, what happened to that guy?" Yuan Ye, who was enjoying listening to someone's story, urged him to continue, dissatisfied that he had only said half of it.

"I heard he did a drill with a female admiral from Class 1 this morning, just because she wanted to join the trainee admiral committee like him. A battleship bullied a destroyer, and afterwards they thoroughly humiliated it. Tsk, I didn't expect there to be such a guy among our trainee admirals this year. He's really annoying."

Zhang Hao? After listening to Xu Tu, who was leisurely gossiping while drinking water, a not-so-likable face gradually surfaced in the boy's mind. Didn't he just talk to him in the admiral's professional class a few days ago? Although he knew then that his personality didn't get along with Xu Tu's, he didn't expect Xu Tu to go this far.

"You mean Zhang Hao?" Yuan Ye, who was standing next to him, also looked somewhat surprised. Judging from his expression, he seemed to know Zhang Hao very well. "I know that guy. I was in the same exam room as him during the Admiral selection exam, but I remember he wasn't like this back then."

"So, people's hearts can change... I heard that he was actually quite nice before he created Hinata, but after Hinata came along, he was like a completely different person, looking down on everyone. Hmph, what do you say? Yu Chen, are you interested in teaching that arrogant guy a lesson?"

"Forget it, I don't want to mess with someone like that." After hearing what Xu Tu said to him, the boy shook his head and rejected his suggestion. It was already tiring enough to talk to someone like that. If he were to teach him a lesson, he would probably hold a deep grudge. Guanghui and I didn't want to get into that kind of trouble.

As he spoke, the boy turned around to refill his empty cup, but as soon as he turned his head, he suddenly noticed a little boy with braids standing by the aisle, looking at him with a grin.

Upon noticing that he was looking at him, the boy dressed in somewhat girlish clothes immediately made a face at him and then ran off laughing towards the back door of the restaurant.

"Hmm, so he's just the restaurant owner's kid," the boy thought to himself, watching the boy's retreating figure. "But why does that kid look so familiar? I feel like I've seen him somewhere before." After pondering for a while, Su Yuchen decided it was probably just her imagination, poured herself a glass of water, and sat back down.

The group continued chatting, and soon a waiter in uniform brought over the dishes they had ordered, platter after platter, filling the entire table. Looking at the colorful and delicious Chinese food, Su Yuchen, who hadn't felt hungry at all because she'd eaten so much of Guanghui's lunch, felt her stomach rumble with anticipation.

"I told you this place was good, but you wouldn't believe me." Looking at the fragrant food in front of him, Yuan Ye, who, like the others, was practically drooling, clapped his hands excitedly and said, "To tell you the truth, the owner of this place is actually a ship girl, and I don't think I've ever seen her with an admiral. If it weren't for sharing good fortune with my brothers, I wouldn't have brought you guys here!"

"Who cares about all that? Let's eat! I'm starving!" But looking at the food on the table, the others, whose attention had already been completely drawn to it, couldn't be bothered with anything else.

Watching them devour the food on the table like a whirlwind, the boy was both alarmed and felt a pang of regret. Thinking of the prices on the menu, after lamenting that he would rather starve than eat at this restaurant again, he quickly grabbed a meat bun and stuffed it into his mouth, not wanting to be left behind.

Hmm? This smells...so good!

Volume 1, Chapter 47: Yi Xian

As the moon rose, its bright light streamed through the clear window into a room decorated in a simple yet elegant style. A beautiful woman sat in an exquisite mahogany chair, holding a book in her hands, carefully reading page after page.

Her thick, silky black hair and gentle, intelligent face radiated a refined and dignified air under the soft lamplight. With her fair skin, slender waist, and elegant brown long cheongsam, her delicate legs, slightly exposed beneath the slits, appeared as exquisitely beautiful as white jade.

Unfortunately, this beautiful scene, reminiscent of a traditional Chinese ink painting, is not enjoyed by anyone in this room.

"A thousand words cannot express my feelings, a hundred times I lean on the railing in utter boredom..." Gently reading the obscure words in the book, it was as if her own heart was being reflected. The beautiful woman softly raised her slightly melancholy face and gazed wistfully at the spotless bronze mirror on the table before her. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she gave a bitter smile.

If it weren't for the identical clothing and appearance, she might never have believed that the tragic woman in the mirror was herself—her deep, serene pupils, like a vast expanse of mist, her delicate brows furrowed, filled with a heart-wrenching melancholy and resentment; her gaze gentle, yet one could deeply feel the emotion of longing contained within. A year and several months have passed, and I don't know when, but I've become so vulnerable…