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

………………

He hastily made up a somewhat clumsy lie, telling Radiance and Unicorn to wait in front of the mall entrance. Finally able to act on his own, the boy rushed back into the mall. Following his memory, he wandered among the towering shelves, and soon arrived at the spot where he had just been talking to his sister Unicorn.

He casually called over a sales assistant, borrowed a folding ladder from her, and climbed onto the shelf, finally managing to lift the giant "Yu-chan" down. Even though the unicorn hadn't agreed to his suggestion, that didn't mean he couldn't secretly buy it and surprise her! He'd heard this mall offered delivery, so he didn't have to worry about being discovered.

Holding the enormous "Yu-chan," the boy, somewhat surprised by its weight, frowned slightly. He glanced down at the floor tiles that had just been mopped, then thoughtfully shifted his body forward.

If anyone were to notice the boy's actions at this moment, and if they were to pay close attention, they might realize that the boy was standing in the very spot where Glorious had been staring blankly at the shelves not long ago.

Following Guanghui's movements, he looked at the shelves, intently examining the items he usually wouldn't pay attention to. Recalling Guanghui's usual habits, the boy quickly understood what Guanghui had been looking at. With difficulty, he freed one hand and painstakingly took a delicate, gold-plated tin box from the shelf.

"Hmm, that should be fine now." Su Yuchen, who was carrying a lot of things, nodded slightly with a silent grin. He turned around and thought about the direction of the delivery service area that he had asked the sales assistant earlier. Then he slowly walked towards the cashier. However... before he had gone far, he suddenly realized that he seemed to have bumped into something.

Because he was holding a unicorn plush toy that was almost taller than himself, the boy, whose view was blocked, could only see things by tilting his head. Puzzled, Su Yuchen turned to the side and saw that the path in front of her was almost completely blocked by a crowd of people who had inexplicably gathered there, and the middle-aged man who looked like he had been accidentally bumped into was looking at her with some displeasure.

"Ah, sorry." Realizing he had bumped into someone, the boy quickly apologized.

"It's alright, just be careful in such a narrow place." The man frowned unhappily, but after hearing the boy's apology, he didn't take it too seriously. He waved to the boy and continued talking to his companion.

"It's unbelievable! I happened to see them when they took off their sunglasses. Their exquisite faces were like priceless works of art. No man could resist them. Tsk tsk, that guy was probably about to confess his feelings. He's so lucky. By the way, have any of you seen such beautiful women around here?"

"No, I'm pretty sure, no. I've worked at the docks for years and I've never seen such beautiful women. Judging by their hair, could they be actresses or celebrities from abroad?"

"No, I don't think so. How could an ordinary woman be so beautiful? Could she be a ship girl? Besides, I just saw women in the mall who were just as beautiful as them. There was one big and one small. The big one had long silver hair, and the small one had beautiful purple twin tails. But they already had male companions. They looked like a very harmonious family."

He overheard their conversation and, upon hearing their words, the boy, quite curious, stopped his attempt to detour. A woman who could be compared to Illustrious and Unicorn must most likely be a ship girl, since he had never seen any human woman who could rival them since birth.

Following their gaze, the boy looked ahead at the crowd. Beyond the layers of onlookers, he was quite surprised to see two women wearing large sunglasses with stunning figures. In front of them stood an adult man holding roses, gazing at them with "deep affection."

As the man suddenly knelt down on one knee and seemed to say something to them, the boy, without having a chance to observe carefully, pricked up his ears with great curiosity, just like everyone else.

"...Major General? So what if you're a Marshal? Do you think that will sway me? I've already told you not to appear in front of me again, and I already have my own Admiral! You actually want me to join your naval base? Don't you even look at your weasel-faced appearance? You should be glad I didn't have time to eat last night, otherwise I'm afraid I would have thrown up my dinner from the night before..."

Major General? He could vaguely make out that the woman on the left, with her shapely legs and long brown hair, was saying something with a look of disgust on her face. The boy, who had initially thought it was a confession and was wondering why a confession would be made in a place like this, suddenly understood something.

So those two women really were ship girls, just as I had guessed. And if I wasn't mistaken, that guy was probably an admiral like me. But... judging from his ashen face, his "ship-salvaging" plan seemed to have failed miserably.

Looking at her colleague trembling as he held the roses in the crowd, and hearing the snickers from the people around her, Su Yuchen pitifully turned her head away. She thought to herself, if someone had said that to her face, she probably would have wanted to die. Her condolences to that man.

Feeling the increasingly awkward atmosphere, and thankful that his ship girls were all so gentle and cute, the boy quietly wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, looked down at his watch, and realized that he had been gone for a long time. Not daring to continue watching, the boy hugged "Yu-chan" and the metal box in his arms and silently walked around the crowd.

However, at that moment, he didn't notice that while he was in a hurry, a photo that would later play a crucial role quietly slipped out of his pocket.

　………………

"Missouri, it's all your fault! Weren't we supposed to go to the Naval Academy to meet up with Lexington and the others? Why did you bring me to this godforsaken place and make me run into that disgusting guy again? How are you going to explain this to me?"

After the farce ended and the crowd dispersed, the young woman with shoulder-length brown hair glared disgustedly at the lingering, repulsive men who were still staring at her and the woman beside her. She then angrily questioned the woman beside her, who also had long brown hair and wore a black stocking uniform. The woman removed her sunglasses, revealing beautiful yet somewhat annoyed blue eyes and a flawless face.

Scolded by her younger sister, the woman standing next to her, called Missouri, also chuckled and took off the large sunglasses that were pressing against her nose. "Oh dear, it's just that I haven't been here for a while and I've forgotten the way. Besides, didn't I already promise to buy you a set of lipsticks? Even if you want to see the Admiral sooner, you don't have to be in such a hurry. I've already sent a telegram to Lexington, and she said she'll be coming to find us soon."

"Tsk... It's not like you don't want to. I wonder who was it that kept talking about the admiral all night when they rushed back yesterday." Wisconsin squinted and clicked her tongue unhappily, stung by Missouri's words.

"Let her grumble all she wants. I'm not like you, hiding my feelings. So what if I like the Admiral?" Ignoring Missouri's rebuttal, Wisconsin turned her head away. She bent down and picked up a card she had stepped on from the floor. She initially thought it was just a picture of a girl, but when she glanced at the corner of the photo, her expression suddenly turned serious.

"What's wrong, Wisconsin?"

“This… Missouri, look at the convex mirror in this photo. Doesn’t the reflection look like someone?”

"Who?"

"Admiral..."

………………

Volume 1, Chapter 64: Torrential Rain

After delivering the items to the delivery point and agreeing on the delivery time and location with the staff, Su Yuchen, feeling a bit anxious, rushed back to the main entrance where a large group of guys had gathered, eager to chat up her ship girl.

Without hesitation, he rushed into the countless envious and jealous gazes that stung like needles, and the boy, accompanied by his radiant sister who wiped his sweat like a little wife, arrived at the tram station in the harbor.

It was getting late, and because someone had been watching the commotion in the mall for a while, the already heavy and gloomy clouds became even more menacing.

Su Yuchen, having found an excuse to explain to Guanghui that she had come out of the mall empty-handed and didn't have much spare money to buy something to look presentable, sat down with her ship girls, who trusted him so much that they didn't doubt his lame excuse, and waited on the chairs in front of the tram station.

However, whether it was truly bad luck or something else entirely, the boy and Radiant were still waiting for the tram that would take them back to the academy, even as large raindrops fell from the sky and pounded on the ground.

"What's going on? Why hasn't the tram come yet?" Enveloped in the thick rain, the boy wiped the water droplets running down his face and complained as he helped Hikari gather the shopping bags at his feet.

It's already six o'clock, the last tram should have arrived long ago, but why hasn't a single tram come yet? And now it's pouring rain, what are we going to do?

"I don't know, Admiral. It's raining so hard right now, why don't we find somewhere to take shelter from the rain for a while?" Also flustered by the downpour, Glorious quickly slung a considerable number of packaging bags over his arm in response to his Admiral's words.

There are lots of new clothes for the Admiral and snacks for Little Rou and the others inside. It wouldn't be good if they got wet in the rain.

The three hurriedly packed their things, and just as the boy pointed to the coffee shop not far away, preparing to take them there to avoid trouble, the unicorn following behind, carrying Yu-chan in one arm and helping Radiant Sister carry two bags in the other, finally realized why no train had come for so long.

It turned out that the tram timetable at the harbor was different from other places. The last tram to the harbor had already left at five o'clock, and because the timetable at the station was hidden behind a large tree with very dense branches, they had not noticed it.

Arriving at the coffee shop entrance in a panic, Su Yuchen, no longer having time to ponder why he had made such a basic mistake, wrung out his soaked clothes. He looked through the glass window at the coffee shop, but the already limited seating was now packed with people. Judging from the looks of it, most of them were probably like the boy, who had wanted to leave but were trapped here by the heavy rain.

Seeing that the coffee shop was packed with people, it was clear that he couldn't get in. Slowly withdrawing his gaze, the boy looked at Glorious, who was wiping the unicorn's face beside him with some distress. He wanted to ask them if they had any good suggestions, but looking at the scene in front of him that resembled a fairy emerging from a bath, the words that were already on the tip of his tongue were immediately swallowed back.

The rain-soaked clothes clung to his ship girl's flawless, snow-white skin, outlining her alluring and curvaceous figure. Gazing at the patterns and snow-capped peaks faintly visible beneath the silk, the boy blushed as if he had spilled ketchup and quickly turned his head away.

Feeling a little guilty, he carefully observed the pedestrians around him, but thankfully, they were all too busy seeking shelter from the rain to notice him. Like a dragon guarding its treasure that was almost stolen, the alert boy quickly took out his newly bought jacket from the bag and handed it to Radiance and the unicorn.

"Light, Radiance, Unicorn, you can wear these clothes for now."

"Yes, Admiral."

"Okay, brother."

Hearing their admiral's words, Hikari and Unicorn, whose clothes were soaked and made them look a little awkward, nodded obediently to the boy. Although they were still a little heartbroken about the new clothes they had bought for their admiral, it wouldn't be good if anyone other than their admiral saw them like this.

Watching Radiance and Unicorn take the clothes and wrap themselves up tightly, the tense boy finally breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily, Radiance had dragged him to buy these things that afternoon; otherwise, if others saw this scene, he'd be at a huge disadvantage… But no matter how you look at it, Radiance's… well, that part is really big, and… ugh, what are you thinking? Su Yuchen!

Blushing, the boy turned his head away. He looked up at the rain, which seemed unlikely to stop anytime soon, and at the clouds in the sky that seemed like they would never dissipate. The novice admiral knew that he had relaxed too soon.

Keep in mind that this place is a safe haven more than ten miles away from the academy. Even if they wait for the rain to stop, without any trams available, it will probably be nine or ten o'clock at night by the time they walk back to the academy. Moreover, Radiant and Unicorn's clothes are already soaked, and they will definitely catch a cold if they don't change into dry clothes quickly.

Completely forgetting that ship girls are unlikely to get sick over such trivial matters, the boy, after thinking it over for a long time and having no other good ideas, still felt that it would be better to find a hotel in the safe harbor to stay for the night.

After sighing slightly and discussing it with his ship girl, the boy, who was complaining about why there wasn't a convenient taxi service at a time like this, dragged his family to a hotel.

"Excuse me, are there any rooms available?" The young man asked the receptionist who was tidying up at the front desk as he entered the nicely decorated hotel. He quickly received a less-than-good answer.

"Oh, I'm sorry, sir. Due to the heavy rain, there are no rooms available right now."

"Oh? What should we do then..." The boy immediately felt a headache coming on. He hadn't expected that even the hotel was fully booked. He should have come earlier. But, he heard that this hotel was the only one in the harbor. If there were no rooms left here, then all that would be left was...

Scratching his head helplessly, he was about to ask if there were any other places to stay for the night when the receptionist suddenly said to the young man, "However, there is currently a guest who has taken a double room. The lady said that if anyone is willing, they can stay with her, but the expenses will need to be split. If you don't mind, the two ladies next to you can stay with her."

"Yes! There's such a way!" Hearing the receptionist's words, which seemed like a lifeline, the boy nodded vigorously as if he had been saved. As long as he could find a safe place for Glorious and Unicorn to rest, that would be fine. After all, he was a grown man, and he could stay in any entertainment hall all night without any problem.

He turned his head, wanting Glorious to take Unicorn and follow the receptionist to see the room, but before he could even speak, his two ship girls frowned at him with their delicate and cute brows.

"No, Admiral! If we stay here, what will happen to you?"

“Yeah, brother, how about... how about we switch places with Sister Guanghui?”

Looking at the worried eyes of his girls, the young man smiled wryly, feeling a little helpless but also warm inside. If he could, he would like to stay somewhere else, but... He gently reached out and stroked the unicorn's head, then, as if to reassure them, he slowly said to the two beautiful women, one big and one small, "Don't worry, it's just for one night. I remember there's an entertainment hall next to the mall. If all else fails, I can go there and have some fun."

However, Su Yuchen had barely finished speaking when, as if remembering something, Guanghui suddenly pointed to the pocket on his shirt. "By the way, Admiral. What about the prize we won at lunch in the restaurant?..."

………………

Volume 1, Chapter 65: Those Who Expose Others Will Eventually Be Exposed Themselves

Under the unsettling gaze of the receptionist, Su Yuchen awkwardly pulled out the coupon he never wanted to see again from his pocket. Watching the receptionist carefully check it after receiving it, and then, with a blushing face and a slightly embarrassed expression, he walked up to the second floor of the hotel, an atmosphere permeated with ambiguity.

This is the love hotel that is rumored to be a haven for couples. Because the gentle and considerate Glorious and the lovely unicorn sister absolutely refused to let the boy "sleep out in the wind and rain" alone, under Glorious's strong insistence that he could not refuse, he had no choice but to bite the bullet and bring them here.

But seeing the pink patterns covering the stairwell and corridors, the boy, who was prepared to go all out to ensure his ship girl could rest, couldn't help but blush and feel hot-headed. He swallowed hard, listening to the sound of Hikari's high-heeled sandals clicking on the corridor floor behind him, and following the receptionist's instructions, the stiff boy finally arrived at a white door.

Looking up at the number 203 on the door, confirming that it was indeed his room, the boy, who had already placed his hand on the cold doorknob, dared not open it no matter what. He hesitated and turned around to secretly peek at the two ship girls beside him, until the radiant glow on her pretty face, which was also covered with a thin layer of blush, asked him in confusion.

"What's wrong, Admiral?"

"No, nothing!" Radiant words reached the boy's ears, causing the already nervous Su Yuchen to involuntarily shrug. Although he knew he and the others were just staying here for one ordinary night, the thought of this being a legendary lovers' paradise still made him instinctively uneasy. And… this was that kind of place, after all; could there be anything inappropriate for children in the rooms…?

Squeezing all the air out of his chest, as if to bolster his courage, the boy, knowing there was no way to retreat, gritted his teeth and shouted to the radiance and unicorn behind him, "Then I'm going in." He then used the key in his hand to unlock the door.

Fortunately, everything in the room seemed normal, except that the lighting was a bit dim and the bed was a bit big. It seemed no different from a regular hotel room.

Looking at the normal scene and confirming that there was nothing in the room that would corrupt the children, Su Yuchen, who had been on edge, finally breathed a sigh of relief. He went into the room first, carefully observed his surroundings, and then put the bag in his hand on the table, slapping it weakly on the sofa, which was not as luxurious as the school building.

"Ugh, I'm exhausted." Letting out a long sigh, the boy, having suffered both mental and physical torment from being soaked in the rain and experiencing such a fright, was too tired to even lift a finger. Squinting at Glorious, who had put down his shopping bags, as he helped Unicorn remove her wet coat, the boy, suddenly remembering he still had some things to do, reluctantly straightened up.

"Radiance, you should take the unicorn to take a bath. It just got rained on, and it wouldn't be good if it caught a cold." Pointing to the frosted glass door next to the entrance, the boy struggled to stand up from the sofa.

She also put her wet coat aside, revealing her shapely figure. Hearing the boy's words, Radiant smiled and smoothed the strands of hair clinging to her face. She wanted to tell the boy that ship girls don't get sick so easily, but feeling the concern in her admiral's eyes, Radiant's heart fluttered. She simply nodded gently to him, "Yes, I understand, Admiral. After you shower, let Radiant give you a shoulder massage. You must be very tired."

The boy, flustered by the heavy rain, couldn't possibly refuse the chance to enjoy a massage from Radiant. He happily agreed to her suggestion and went to the wardrobe to find a bathrobe for Radiant and the unicorn sister to change into.

However, the careless man seemed to have forgotten that this was the legendary love hotel. When he opened the wardrobe, it was too late.

Looking at the wardrobe overflowing with all sorts of sexy lingerie and the couple's toys tucked away in the corner, the boy, who had initially remembered looking for something, suddenly went completely blank. He stood there dumbfounded for a long time, then unconsciously tugged at a rather revealing maid outfit. Finally realizing what he had done, his face flushed crimson.

Under the embarrassed gaze of the radiant figure beside him, the panting, still shaken boy quickly covered the eyes of the unicorn next to him, causing the unicorn, who hadn't yet understood what had happened, to awkwardly ask, "Brother...brother?! What happened?"

"No! It's nothing!" someone shouted back. He pulled out one hand and slammed the wardrobe door shut. Hearing the wardrobe make a loud "bang," he released the unicorn and leaned against the wardrobe, which was, after all, a dangerous item, with a bit of lingering fear.

Wiping away the cold sweat from his fright, the boy ignored the gleaming gaze of Illustrious and the still bewildered Unicorn, grabbed the umbrella he had just bought, and rushed out of the room. Watching his hurried departure, the two startled ship girls finally heard him call out, "I'm going out to buy dinner! Illustrious, you should take Unicorn to take a bath!"

………………

Rushing out of the hotel, the young man, still feeling hot despite holding an umbrella, walked onto the street where it was already dark. Listening to the pattering of large raindrops hitting the umbrella, Su Yuchen, walking alone by the roadside, touched his forehead in utter dejection.

What should have been a nice vacation has been ruined by my own actions. Stranded in a stormy area, unable to find a hotel, and even forced to make Glorious and Unicorn share a place with me – why couldn't I have checked the weather forecast before I left? Clearly, I'm still a long way from becoming a truly excellent admiral…

Somewhat doubting whether he was having bad luck lately, the boy, who had been sighing more and more often since creating Brilliance, entered a restaurant that was quite full of customers. He ordered a few dishes that looked decent from the waiter and asked for them to be packed up. After waiting for a while, the boy came out carrying a large package.

"Sigh, that car belongs to our naval base, right? Looks like Lexington is here to pick us up!"

As the troubled boy reflected on his bad habit of not thinking things through and hurried back to the hotel along the street, Su Yuchen suddenly heard a somewhat familiar voice. He quickly looked up, and the two ship girls with brown hair that he had seen in the mall that afternoon came into his view.

As a fairly new-looking car slowly pulled up in front of them, the curious boy stood under the eaves of a nearby convenience store and observed for a while. It seemed they, like him, were stranded here by the heavy rain. But with gasoline prices skyrocketing, the fact that a car had come to pick them up suggested their admiral must be quite something.

The car door slowly opened, and a somewhat familiar figure emerged from the car through the rain. The boy, who had not expected this at all, widened his eyes in disbelief, because the figure that could attract everyone's attention in an instant was none other than Lexington, Mrs. Lexington, whom he had met once before at the academy and who was known as the "perfect wife" by the admirals.

The boy blinked in surprise, but the white naval uniform, the flowing flaxen hair, and the iconic blue headdress could not deceive him.

However, what was truly surprising was yet to come. When the two ship girls with brown hair who looked like sisters took off their sunglasses in front of Lexington, Su Yuchen finally understood why she always felt a faint sense of familiarity when she saw them.

Their brown hair, star-shaped earrings, and butterfly-shaped headdress clearly identified them as the third and fourth ships of the formidable Iowa-class battleships, the Missouri and Wisconsin, the most formidable of all capital ships, both in reality and in the game.

It's worth noting, however, that perhaps no one could have imagined that there were even more elusive six-star ship girls than five-star ship girls. The ship girl encyclopedia issued by the Governor's Office not only lacked the six-star category, but their very existence was not recorded. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, the boy would have thought that these two ship girls, who had never been squeezed out of their own artillery squadron, did not exist in this world at all.

Imagine that unknown admiral not only possessed the two Lexington sisters, whom he loved most in the game, but now also had two Iowa-class sisters who were no less powerful than them, and whose strength was even top-notch. The person who was previously proud of being able to build Radiance and Unicorn has now finally experienced what it feels like to have Yuan Ye in front of him.

Faced with such a scene, even a teenager who was not usually very sensitive to the so-called European and African (European and African) situations felt that his young heart had been deeply hurt. It was like there was a lake in front of you, and the real big shots could stand firmly in the middle with their hard work and money, while you could only drink water to your heart's content.

After silently cursing that despicable white monkey, Lexington and Missouri, who had been talking incoherently, finally made a move.

The boy noticed that Wisconsin, with a serious expression, took a photo out of her pocket and handed it to Lexington. He saw the latter cover her mouth, somewhat moved. However, before he could think about what they were talking about, he suddenly realized that Missouri, who was holding Lexington's shoulders, was looking in his direction for some reason.

The boy hurriedly hid behind a billboard, feeling like a peeping tom. He patted his chest nervously, cautiously peeked out, and made sure they hadn't noticed him. Embarrassed, he scratched his head, then realized the food in his hands was getting cold. He quickly opened his umbrella and continued running towards the hotel.

Even though I was very curious about what they were talking about, it wasn't my family's business after all. But... looking at that photo from afar, I wondered why it looked so familiar.

………………

Volume 1, Chapter 66: Good Night

He ran all the way back to the inn, and the boy stood in front of his room and gently knocked on the door. He heard a somewhat hesitant "Coming!" from inside. A moment later, a small head with pretty light purple hair peeked out from the crack in the door.

"Ah! It's my brother... Welcome back!" Seeing that it was her own brother standing at the door, the unicorn, who had been a little worried that he might be a stranger, immediately smiled with relief. She gently removed the chain from the door, then opened it, making way for the boy.

"Okay! I've already bought dinner for you. By the way, where's Radiance?" The boy looked at the girl with a loving expression and habitually patted her still-steaming head after her shower. He looked at the unicorn in front of him, who was wearing a sailor uniform that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and carrying a large bag as she walked into the room, but he didn't see Radiance anywhere.

Hearing the boy's question, and wondering what had happened while he was gone, the unicorn's pretty face quickly flushed with a bright blush. She gently pointed towards the bedroom and then said shyly to the boy, "Radiant...Radiant Sister is in the bedroom... She told me to come out and see if Brother is back... She'll only come out if he is..."

"Hmm?" Confused by the unicorn's words and not quite understanding what his two ship girls were doing, Su Yuchen hung his umbrella on the shelf next to the door. He wanted to ask the girl again, but the door creaked open.