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

If you don't fight for it and I don't fight for it, am I really just going to give my brother to those ship girls? Although I've realized that no matter how hard I try, I can't drive them away, at least I won't have to worry about being bullied when I go to my brother's port in the future!

"I...of course I don't want to give up! Okay, okay, don't be so angry, little Rou, I know, why are you being so fierce...but we've only talked about joining forces, what are we going to do? By the way, how are Yu Chen's ship girls doing? Did they give you any trouble last night?"

"Huh? You mean my brother's ship girls..."

Upon hearing Zhuo Yuelin ask this question, Xiao Rou in front of her became hesitant and stammered.

She recalled how gently Lexington had talked to her for a long time last night, even giving her their bottom line, and how she had made concessions.

She thought of Illustrious and Hiei, who made breakfast with her this morning; Saratoga, who was quirky and mischievous, but had been sharing snacks and other things with her since last night; and the group of friendly little ship girls who didn't treat her like a stranger at all.

To be honest, if we set aside the fact that they are ship girls who are brothers, the girl doesn't actually have much ill will towards them.

Knowing that they liked their brother, who was also their admiral, they were different from her and generously accepted her existence from the beginning.

She was her brother's sister, and they treated her like a sister in return. Even though it was the first time she had met them, she could clearly feel their kindness towards her.

After comparing them all, I feel... a bit... that I don't welcome them, and even somewhat hostile towards them.

Moreover... Lexington has already said that if he is willing to accept, they would be happy and welcome for him to live with them and stay by his brother's side.

Ultimately, she had no real choice from the start. They were the ones in control because there were more of them, and her brother couldn't possibly choose one side alone. As for her... she either had to stay with them, or... she had to be a normal little sister and give up her feelings for her brother...

However, besides these, there was something else that made her a little upset: a ship girl named Unicorn who came back with her brother also called her brother "brother" just like she did.

She had always thought that the title of "brother" belonged to her, and the fact that it suddenly became not the only one made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"My brother's ship girls...they...they're not all that bad..."

Thinking of her brother's ship girls, the girl, overwhelmed with mixed feelings, recounted to Yue Lin what had happened to her the previous night.

From being shocked like her at the beginning, to fainting, to talking with Lexington after waking up, and the story of her brother's ship girls leaving on their own, leaving her and her brother to spend the night together.

Of course, she would never tell anyone what she did to her brother last night!

But in the end, for some reason, the girl didn't want to talk anymore. Compared to the tolerance and understanding her brother's ship girls showed her, she always felt that throwing tantrums and being petty with them, and even constantly nitpicking the food they made, was like being unreasonable.

Zhuo Yuelin, who had been frowning and looking worried, suddenly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I see. Little Rou, it's so good that you weren't bullied... I heard you say that Sister Lexington and the others don't actually reject us, is that right?"

"That's true, but you're not going to surrender like this, are you?"

Well, this is nothing, and they've already started calling her "Sister Lexington." The girl sighed, giving the impression of an old man on the subway looking at his phone.

"No, how could that be... It's just that hearing you say that, Little Rou, makes me feel a little more at ease... But I'm thinking... if Sister Lexington is really that kind, then we can totally join them... and just treat ourselves as ship girls..."

The girl pondered, and realized that she was far more accepting of Yu Chen's desire to build a harem than Xiao Rou had imagined.

As mentioned earlier, her maternal grandfather was not a respectable person. In this dark age when everything was in recession and there was a crisis like the deep sea that could potentially overthrow humanity, in a wealthy family that had built a large business from scratch, the girl had seen and known far more dark things than others could imagine.

She still remembers going to her maternal grandfather's house when she was a child. At that time, she had several "grandmothers" who took turns taking care of her, but before she could remember anything, they had all passed away.

The reason why the girl is still such a pure and lovely young lady is simply because she has lived with her father and mother since she was a child, and the time she spent with her maternal grandfather was very short, so she has not been affected by anything.

"Little Rou, what do you think?"

She took a bite of the delicious cake, picked up a little cream with her fork, and savored it carefully, asking in a soft voice.

The girls in front of them remained silent. One of them was very accepting of her brother having a harem, while the other had nothing but her brother. This alliance, rather than an alliance, was more like the girls sticking together for warmth.

Although Lexington and the others didn't reject her, she was, after all, a human, not a ship girl. If she returned to her brother's future port and had a girl who was also human to keep her company, perhaps she would feel more at ease...

And Xiao Rou... perhaps she doesn't actually dislike Yu Chen's ship girls that much... If Xiao Rou really hated them, why would she calmly come to find me now, laugh with me, and even have an appetite for cake?

If she were the Xiaorou I imagined—the one who was extremely wary of any girl who got close to Yu Chen… she would probably already be arguing with Yu Chen's ship girls to the death, giving Yu Chen a huge headache.

Perhaps even she herself didn't realize that she wasn't actually that hostile towards them...

Volume 1, Chapter 552: A Girl's Heart

An eerie silence fell over the young girl's boudoir, while Xiao Jia stood to the side, her eyes fixed on the collection of romance novels featuring rich young ladies falling in love with poor young men.

She couldn't interfere with the romance between the young lady and Miss Yu Rou, because she had never seen a real woman value her beloved so much that she would compete with those almost perfect ship girls.

Although she and the young lady grew up together, sometimes they didn't even have as much in common as she and Miss Yu Rou.

This is especially evident in her views on love. With her views on love clearly leaning more towards those of an ordinary person, she simply cannot understand the thought process of these two girls who are so beautiful and outstanding and who should never have to worry about not having suitors.

"Sigh... to be honest, we're really quite pitiful, having such a womanizing jerk as my brother. If any other boy were liked by both of us, they'd be overjoyed, but instead, my brother brings home a whole bunch of ship girls..."

Having finished her cake, Su Yuru sat in her seat and sighed worriedly. Zhuo Yuelin was right; she also vaguely sensed that she might have begun to have similar thoughts.

My brother has so many ship girls, and these are just the ones who came to Tianshui with him. If what my brother told me before was true, then he has hundreds more ship girls waiting for him and my brother in Tsugawa...

Putting aside how my brother manages to have so many ship girls, even if I and Sister Yuelin really teamed up, what kind of trouble could I possibly cause when facing hundreds of ship girls?

When the older brother went to Tsugawa and brought back his ship girls, the outcome of this so-called "war" was already predetermined from the start.

Silently thinking about all the little things that had happened between her and her brother over the past year, the more she thought about it, the more wronged and sad she felt. The girl reached out and wiped away the tears that had gathered at the corners of her eyes.

She now deeply regrets letting her brother go to Tsugawa. If she had known that so many ship girls were waiting for him there, she would have locked him in the basement rather than let him take the admiral exam... Although it was very unfair to Lexington and the others, that's how feelings are; they were never fair from the start...

"Yeah, why do we like Yu Chen so much? He's such a dense and clueless idiot, why do we like him so much..."

But liking someone is liking someone, there's no need for so many reasons. Whenever I see Yu Chen, my eyes are involuntarily drawn to him, and all I think about is him in various ways.

He is far away in Jinchuan, and I think of him day and night, worrying about him every night. Even when he is by my side, I still think about him constantly, worrying whether he is hungry or cold.

Feelings are something that can't be explained rationally from the very beginning. You either like someone or you don't. Why ask so many questions?

"By the way, Little Rou, you haven't told me about Brother Yu Chen's situation in the port area of ​​Jinchuan yet. Was he... was he really already an admiral before he met us?"

"You want to know? Maybe this will make you even sadder, Sister Yuelin."

"Let's be sad, what could possibly hurt us more than this?"

"My brother still has hundreds of ship girls in Tsugawa."

"??? Really...really?"

The girl showed an extremely surprised expression. Even though she had never been in the world of the Admiral, in this world that was constantly being eroded by the Abyss, everyone knew that powerful and beautiful ship girls who were capable of fighting against the Abyss Fleet were not just some ordinary cabbages that could be seen on the street.

If a single ship girl admiral can protect a region of sea, then what about hundreds of ship girls? Wouldn't that be even more powerful than a nation or even a deep-sea fleet? The girl couldn't quite imagine what that level of power would be.

"Do I still need to lie to you now?"

Seeing Xiaorou shake her head with a bitter expression, the girl also frowned and smiled bitterly.

Indeed, this is truly sad news. Yu Chen is so amazing, which makes her happy for him, but hundreds of ship girls... that's probably comparable to the harems of ancient emperors.

No, even those monarchs might not be able to compare. After all, where would an emperor find hundreds of women who could rival ship girls?

"Let's not talk about that anymore, Sister Yuelin. Let's discuss your problem. Now that your aunt knows your brother has already married a ship girl, she probably won't allow you to get close to him anymore, right?"

Not wanting to continue discussing topics that would only make a young girl more sensitive, the girl decisively changed the subject and asked the girl in front of her a question she cared about deeply.

If I want Yuelin to go to Jinchuan with me, then getting my aunt and uncle's consent is a very important issue.

"Mom and Dad... it doesn't matter whether they agree or not. Even if they don't agree, I'll still go. My mom eloped with my dad like this when she was young. Once I get to Jinchuan, they won't be able to control me anymore. Once the deed is done, they'll have to agree whether they like it or not."

But the girl didn't expect that the young woman was much more decisive and brave than she had imagined.

Before Xiaorou arrived, she had already made up her mind that even if her parents objected, she would definitely go to Jinchuan with Yuchen. Even if Yuchen didn't want to, the little savings she had accumulated over the past year for this situation was enough for her to secretly run away to Jinchuan by herself.

"Hmm... Don't we need to worry about your uncle and aunt... Well, that's fine too. I have a way to get your brother to agree to let you go to Tsugawa with him. When my brother and I are about to leave, you can come with me on the ship. Tell him you also want to be an admiral. With my brother's personality, he definitely won't doubt you. As for after that, once the ship sets sail, it will be too late."

The girl made a suggestion, which the young woman agreed with. After that, the two girls, one big and one small, discussed many things together, from how to get to Tsugawa together to what to do after they arrived in Tsugawa.

They had many fantasies and struggles, but in the end, their obsession with someone overwhelmed everything.

But after everything was discussed, Yuelin hesitated. A young girl's heart is like the weather in July and August, constantly changing. Even though her love for Yuchen could overcome everything, she still couldn't help but start to worry—

"Even if I go with Yu Chen, will he accept me? I'm not like Xiao Rou, who is Yu Chen's sister. Even if he doesn't accept me, I can still stay by his side. But me... if I fail, what will I have left in Jin Chuan?"

"Little Rou, do you think we can really handle living with so many ship girls like Brother Yu Chen?"

The girl fell silent, as did Zhuo Yuelin, because even she herself didn't know the answer to the question.

After she left Yuelin's boudoir and returned home with her brother, preparing to set off for the city with his group of ship girls, she remained silent, still unable to reach any conclusion...

Volume 1, Chapter 553: Ying Rui and Zhao He (b)

It was around nine or ten in the morning. In a quiet little courtyard somewhere in this bustling coastal city, two very beautiful young women were cleaning the courtyard, which looked to be quite old, under the perfect sunlight.

Like the old courtyard houses with an old ginkgo tree in the middle of the courtyard, its fan-shaped lush leaves exuding a faint but pleasant fragrance in the occasional breeze.

The first person sweeping the yard was a cute girl with half of her hair in gorgeous silver and the other half in dark purple. She was wielding a broom made of kochia scoparia, quickly and nimbly sweeping up the fallen leaves and other small debris in the yard.

The girl's movements were both light and skillful. She hummed an unknown lullaby and quickly swept the trash in the yard together, then put it into a dustpan next to her.

The gentle and charming woman wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead, emptied the trash from her dustpan into the trash can outside the yard, and looked at another girl in the main hall, wearing half a pair of white stockings, standing on a stool, diligently cleaning the cobwebs on the ceiling, and then asked softly.

"Zhaohe, how's the cleaning going? Do you need any help?"

In the girl's eyes, there was a girl with a face very similar to hers, except that the other half of her hair was reddish-brown and she was standing on tiptoe with great difficulty, somewhat reluctantly using a feather duster to sweep away the spider webs that were obviously out of place with the beautiful girl.

"Ying... Ying Rui, no, no need. This is a small matter, I can finish it right away."

Even though it was difficult for her to reach the beam, which was a bit high for her, the girl, standing on the stool with her pretty face flushed, refused the girl's help despite her kindness. Instead, she cleaned even more diligently after hearing her words.

As if she had anticipated the girl's reaction to her words, the lovely young woman smiled and curled her lips into a giggle.

Although the other party clearly refused, she knew that the other party was just being stubborn, so she still smiled and walked over to help the girl hold onto the stool she was standing on.

"Hehe, if you don't need help, then forget it. But you're standing so high up, be careful not to fall, or we'll have to wash your clothes again~"

"W-what? I wouldn't be that careless! I'm standing perfectly steady!"

Faced with the teasing, the girl seemed a little shy, and her expression became even more embarrassed and annoyed. However, looking at the girl like this, the smile on the girl's face became even brighter, as if she was very satisfied with the girl's reaction.

"I know you can't, but as the older sister, of course I should take good care of my younger sister!"

"What! I'm clearly the older sister!"

In the spacious main hall, a young woman with a beautiful face and the gentle elegance characteristic of Eastern women spoke softly. But before she could finish her sentence, it was like setting off a powder keg, immediately making the girl standing on the stool furious.

"Huh? Is that so? But I clearly remember that I'm the older sister?"

Slightly puzzled, the girl placed her delicate white fingers on her chin, looking as if she was thinking.

"I am the one! I am the lead ship of the Zhaohe-class cruisers! The Zhaohe-class protected cruiser!"

"Oh? Is that so? Well, since you're the older sister, Zhao and I will do the mopping too. After all, you're the older sister, so you should take care of your younger sister."

"What! Ying Rui, you tricked me again!"

As she spoke, ignoring the slightly surprised and aggrieved cries of the girl behind her, she successfully pushed the cleaning task out. Just like her sister ship, the girl with long, shapely legs covered only by half a pair of sheer white stockings walked out of the somewhat dim room.

Her name is Ying Rui, and she is a new ship girl who was rescued from the sea just over ten days ago along with her "older sister" Zhao He.

Although she was rescued, she still hasn't seen what her admiral looks like.

After learning from her sisters that their admiral was missing, she followed Akagi and her group to the southern coastal city of Tensui in search of their admiral's whereabouts.

"Wow, the weather is so nice today!"

The azure sky was crystal clear, and in the bright sunshine, a beautiful young woman, dressed in a traditional Chinese-style dress, stretched comfortably.

After sailing at sea for many days, they were busy looking for accommodation after arriving in Tianshui. They also applied to the local police station for help in finding the admiral. Finally, yesterday, they bought this small courtyard from a family. After their long journey, they finally had a place to stay and had a chance to rest properly.

The dappled sunlight shone through the gaps in the ginkgo leaves, creating golden spots in the courtyard. Since we were planning to stay here for a while, the courtyard still contained the furniture that Sister Chicheng had asked Sister Zhenhai and Sister Haitian to buy yesterday.

The girl walked over, pulled up a Chinese-style chair and sat down in the courtyard. She counted the leaves on the ginkgo tree, but found it boring. So she took out a small, exquisitely crafted wooden carving from her pocket.

This wood carving was recently made by her colleague, Sister Yamashiro. The prototype of the wood carving is, of course, the admiral she has never met.

Because she often heard her J-series sisters talking about their admirals' exploits, she was curious about what her admiral actually looked like, so she asked Yamashiro to make this small wooden sculpture of her admiral.

"Admiral, what kind of person are you really?"

These days, whenever she had nothing to do, she would take out this wooden carving and fiddle with it for a while. The girl sitting in the courtyard poked the cheek of her own admiral carved on the wooden carving and couldn't help but mutter softly.

She was very curious about what kind of person her admiral was. Listening to what Shinano and Yoshiyuki said, her admiral was of course a very great person.

Under his leadership, the ship girls of their own port area gradually drove the Abyssal Fleet out of the coastal waters, and even made outstanding contributions in the Abyssal Fleet's attacks that threatened the safety of the coastal areas on several occasions. He was a true hero.

But sometimes, she would hear Fusang and Xiang teasing her, saying that their admiral was actually a womanizer and a lecherous scoundrel.