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

Volume 1, Chapter 4: Unexpected

"Don't be afraid! You can do it, Fubo! Calm down!"

On the sea, a petite girl nervously cheered herself on, clutching a miniature twin-gun turret in her hand. Not far from her, a creature with the appearance of a girl but exuding an ominous resentment stared at her with emotionless eyes.

It was a deep-sea light cruiser, whose firepower and protection were superior to those of a destroyer.

In the old generation of deep-sea fleets, such light cruisers could only be considered low-end combat power, only slightly stronger than destroyers. However, in the present day, they are enough to make a naval base feel extremely troubled.

According to the admiral, this escort mission for the passenger ship should be a very simple task. The passenger ship's route is in coastal waters, and most of the routes are safe waters with naval bases stationed there. However, on the last day of the voyage, they unexpectedly encountered a deep-sea light patrol that is not usually seen.

The girl's palms were covered in sweat from nervousness. She was a novice ship girl who had just completed the destroyer training course. She had only conducted a few limited exercises with other ship girls of the same rank in the academy and had no real combat experience whatsoever. Suddenly facing such a perilous situation, her chances of winning were practically nonexistent.

"What should we do? What should we do? Should we retreat? No... no, that would kill everyone on the passenger ship, but I can't possibly win on my own."

The girl was at a loss, trying to figure out a solution. However, the deep-sea light cruiser opposite her had no intention of giving her time to make a decision. Its purple triple turrets were twisted and pointed in the direction where the girl was. Then, with a loud bang, several shells flew across the sea in parabolic arcs.

……

"Captain! A telegram from Fukubo! It says a deep-sea cruiser has been spotted seven nautical miles ahead!" On the passenger ship, a pale-faced crew member rushed into the captain's private lounge in a panic.

Upon hearing this bad news, the captain of the passenger ship, who was leisurely sipping his coffee, suddenly felt a jolt in his heart. His hand trembled uncontrollably, and the scalding liquid spilled all over his pants.

"What?! Are you sure it's true? Or is it a false alarm?"

He sprang to his feet, his voice filled with disbelief. Seriously? The odds of encountering a deep-sea light cruiser on this route he'd traversed countless times were practically lottery numbers.

"Yes, yes! It has been proven that this telegram was not a false alarm!"

"What are we waiting for! If you don't want to die, quickly send a distress signal to the naval base in the nearby sea and ask them to come to our aid immediately!"

Faced with the possibility of the ship sinking and everyone dying, the captain, who was always mindful of his image, no longer cared about maintaining his composure. Looking at his still stunned subordinates, he slammed his hand on the table and gave the order.

"Yes, sir!" the crew member quickly replied, but before he could run two steps, the captain called him back.

"Inform the passengers on board so they can prepare themselves; we may have to abandon ship at any time."

……

The light cruisers from the deep sea are attacking!

When Su Yuchen heard the news, her first reaction was disbelief and a deep sense of unreality.

He was not from this world, nor had he ever seen the terrifying deep-sea fleets of the old generation, so he simply could not understand the helplessness and fear in the hearts of the people on those ships at this moment.

The deep sea has always been hostile to humans. As long as humans appear within their search range, they will do everything in their power to eliminate them. Perhaps the ship girls are capable of fighting back, but such a huge and unarmed passenger ship can only become a live target under their cannons, powerless to retaliate.

All around were the hysterical curses and cries of some people. After learning of this unfortunate news, people's emotions gradually spiraled out of control.

"Damn it! Why am I so unlucky to have to get on this flight?"

"Where are the ship girls from the nearby naval base? Isn't eliminating Abyssal Fleet members their mission? Call them to rescue us! I don't want to die!"

"Get out of my way! You bunch of idiots! Let me onto the lifeboat! Let me leave! I don't want to die with you!"

Listening to these unpleasant sounds, Su Yuchen finally put down the book titled "Naval Gun Maintenance Manual" with impatience.

It's just a light cruiser from the Deep Sea, not some Deep Sea aircraft carrier or Deep Sea battleship. Why are you all so excited? Thinking back to that Deep Sea light cruiser that wasn't even considered cannon fodder in the old game, he couldn't help but start to despise the owners of those voices.

With a mysterious sense of superiority, the boy took his book and left the cabin, heading to the deserted aft deck of the passenger ship, where he couldn't concentrate on reading in the noisy environment.

People always talk about how dangerous and terrifying the deep sea is, but when a girl who is prettier than a game character is pointing a mini cannon that looks like a toy at a passenger ship that is many times larger than her body, can you really seriously think that it is a major crisis for the people on board?

I don't know about others, but this is definitely a true reflection of someone's current state of mind.

As soon as he stepped onto the deck, the cool sea breeze on Su Yuchen's face made him feel refreshed. But when he listened carefully, he seemed to hear a strange sound coming from the air.

"Boom!!!" Karma always comes at the most opportune moment. Before the boy could react, a loud bang suddenly pierced his eardrums.

A white column of waves, several stories high, suddenly rose from the sea dozens of meters away from the passenger ship. Before he could react, his judgment momentarily impaired by the tinnitus, a violent gust of wind blew him up and slammed him heavily against the railing of the passenger ship's deck.

The intense pain shot through his nerves, causing the boy to groan involuntarily. Enduring the sharp pain in his back, the boy, who had almost fainted from the violent impact, felt a warm liquid flowing down his head.

He struggled to open his eyes, only to find that one side of his clothes was almost entirely stained red with blood.

He frantically touched his body, and after confirming that he had no obvious injuries, he breathed a sigh of relief. But where did all this blood come from? He turned around and saw the uncle who had been smoking on the deck earlier lying motionless in a pool of blood.

An iron bar protruding from a railing tore open his chest, and his scarlet internal organs flowed out of the wound. The middle-aged man, who died without understanding why he had died, still had the same leisurely expression on his face as when he was smoking.

It was a shell, and Su Yuchen quickly realized what the culprit was. Looking at the hellish scene before him, his stomach churned, and he leaned to the side, dry heaving.

Only at this moment did he seem to begin to understand the difference between a game and reality. This was a war, not a movie, not a game; it was a real war where blood would flow and people would die…

Book 1, Chapter 5: Thrilling

"Enemy engaged on port! Torpedoes, fire salvo!"

Amidst the towering waves created by the shells, Shikiwa frantically dodged another salvo from the main guns of the deep-sea light cruiser, retaliating with his 12.7cm twin-mounted gun while simultaneously launching torpedoes from his port leg hull towards the enemy.

To be honest, whether a torpedo launched at this distance would hit its target was entirely up to fate. But she had no choice; under the suppression of the enemy's superior firepower, she had no ability to move towards the deep-sea light cruiser and could only react passively.

"Why? Why can't I hit her?"

Once again, the loaded shell was fired from the twin-mounted gun. Watching the shell trace an arc and land far behind the deep-sea light cruiser, the girl's voice involuntarily trembled with a hint of tears.

Real warfare is not like the theoretical exercises in academies. Even with all her courage, her lack of combat experience still prevented her from bridging the gap in firepower and protection between herself and the deep-sea light cruiser.

According to what she learned in the academy, she should use her excellent maneuverability as a destroyer to outmaneuver the deep-sea light cruiser and find an opportunity to get close and launch torpedoes. However, in actual combat, there is no talk of maneuvering. She can only dodge the 150mm high-explosive shells that are quite deadly to her, one after another.

Her shelling was ineffective, and it didn't even hit its target, while the deep-sea light cruiser's shelling became more and more accurate and denser.

The sailor uniform that Shikiba had been wearing was now tattered and torn. Although she hadn't been directly hit, the near miss had still caused her considerable damage. According to the Admiral's Handbook, she was now probably in a moderately damaged state.

Am I going to sink here? Watching the deep-sea light cruiser adjust its turret once again in the distance, a bitter taste rose in the girl's mouth.

I never expected to encounter a light cruiser from the deep sea on my very first sortie. My luck is just too bad. But... I can't give up yet. I have to hold out until everyone on the passenger ship is rescued.

She braced herself, preparing for the next round of shelling from the deep-sea light cruiser, but after a long while, she no longer heard the deadly sound of cannonballs being fired. Curious, she looked up and saw the deep-sea light cruiser strangely turn its cannons around, pointing them at the sea on the other side. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a passenger ship sailing by.

It turned out that while the girl was constantly dodging enemy shells, she unknowingly bumped into the passenger ship's changed course.

"no, do not want!!"

Seeing the deep-sea light cruiser about to fire, the little girl closed her eyes in fear. She subconsciously raised the twin-mounted gun in her hand and fired the remaining ammunition in the chamber. The shell cut across the sea with a shrill sound and then hit the deep-sea light cruiser's right side rigging for the first time.

The deep-sea bombardment lost its accuracy due to the successful hit of the ship, and the shells landed far away from the passenger ship. Before she could even breathe a sigh of relief, the deep-sea light cruiser, which had just been hit and was slightly damaged, fired several more torpedoes in the direction of the passenger ship.

The massive passenger ship is no match for the petite ship girl. A torpedo launched from the deep sea could easily hit it. Coupled with the torpedo's terrifying destructive power, a single hit would probably break it in two and send it sinking to the bottom of the sea.

Why are ship girls called beautiful spirits born of steel by people with a conscience? Why are they praised in poetry as pure angels sent by God to save humanity? In times of crisis, you can truly feel the difference between them and us humans.

Faced with this critical situation, without the slightest hesitation, the girl named Shikibo rushed forward and used her own body to shield herself from the deadly torpedoes.

Multiple torpedoes exploded beneath her feet, the resulting water pressure tearing at her body and destroying her ship's rigging. Even so, one torpedo still managed to pass beneath her feet and hurtle straight towards the slow-moving passenger ship. Witnessing all this, she lay powerless on the sea, helplessly stretching out her hand, watching in despair as the white line disappeared into the distance.

…………

With great effort, the young man, finally paying the price for his actions, slowly returned to the cabin. There, too, was a scene of utter chaos: shards of glass and various debris littered the floor, and several unfortunate people, injured from the swaying, were being treated by the doctor, groaning in pain.

"Hey! Are you alright? Why are you covered in blood?" A crew member who was calming down the chaotic crowd turned around and saw the boy leaning against the wall resting for a while, and asked him with a surprised look.

"I'm fine, this isn't my blood." Su Yuchen waved his hand, his face pale, to indicate that he was alright. After saying that, he leaned on his hands and sat down wearily on the floor. He wasn't seriously injured; the reason he was like this was simply because he couldn't accept such a cruel reality.

However, experiencing such an event may not be without its benefits for him. At least he will gradually immerse himself in his role in this world, instead of approaching reality with a game-like perspective.

"Look, what's that white line on the sea?"

"White lines? Are they dolphins...?"

The conversation of the two people beside him suddenly attracted the attention of the boy who was about to close his eyes to rest. He turned his head and followed their gaze to the porthole. Sure enough, in the sea, he spotted a white streak of water getting closer and closer. Just as he was wondering what it was, a panicked scream sent a chill down his spine.

"Torpedo! That's a torpedo!!"

The fear that had been building up in people's hearts suddenly erupted because of this shout. Some rushed out of the cabin to find a safe place, some collapsed on the floor crying and screaming in vain, and some even jumped into the sea out of fear of being caught in the crossfire. In short, the scene suddenly became chaotic.

Torpedoes, unlike cannons or conventional aerial bombs, primarily damage ships through water pressure, yet their destructive power far exceeds that of the former two.

Since water is essentially incompressible compared to air, the shock wave generated when a torpedo explodes will carry countless bubbles to the bottom of the ship, forming a foam jet. The impact force acts on the bottom of the ship, lifting the hull, while the foam will dilute the buoyancy of the water, causing the hull to sink. Such shock will cause the hull to bend repeatedly and eventually break under its own weight.

Clearly, a passenger ship with a large body and thin skin would not be able to withstand the damage caused by such a weapon that could be called an underwater killer. Thinking of this, the boy was immediately enveloped by a fear of facing death.

He instinctively stood up, pushed aside the crowd blocking his way, and went up to the deck. The passenger ship's maneuverability alone was not enough to avoid a high-speed torpedo. If he didn't want to die, he had to find a way to force the torpedo to change course in the remaining few dozen seconds.

What to do? What should we do? Is there anything on the ship that could be used? No, calm down, Su Yuchen, think carefully, you're sure you can come up with a solution. Su Yuchen glanced around at the things on the deck, and in a moment of inspiration, he suddenly spotted a high-pressure water gun used for firefighting in the cabin passageway.

Without hesitation, he rushed over, grabbed something, smashed the glass window, pulled out the water pipe, turned on the valve, and aimed the jet of water at the approaching torpedo.

The water gun had great pressure. When it first started spraying, Su Yuchen was almost thrown off because he couldn't hold onto the hose. However, thanks to the powerful thrust, he successfully changed the direction of the deep-sea torpedo, which was much smaller than a regular torpedo, and let it glide past the stern of the passenger ship.

"Ha...ha..." With the danger over, Su Yuchen collapsed onto the deck, panting heavily, his back soaked with cold sweat.

"Boom!!" Before he could even catch his breath, another loud bang came from behind him. He saw several ship girls with huge turrets speeding towards him. Accompanied by a shocking muzzle blast and a tremendous roar, shell after shell flew over his head...

…………

Was she about to sink? Lying on the sea, the girl, her ship's rigging tattered, slowly sank. Looking at the still-bright sun, her eyes gradually became misty. She wondered how everyone on the passenger ship was doing; had they been rescued? It was all Shiki's fault for being too weak; she couldn't protect them…

I'm sorry, Admiral. I've done my best. I'm sorry that I may never be able to complete the tasks you assign me again, and I'm truly sorry that I can't meet your expectations.

The girl's body sank into the water. She reached out, trying to grasp the last glimmer of light, but failed. The fading light made her close her eyes in frustration.

"The seawater...it's so cold...Admiral, I'm thinking of your warm embrace again..."

"...Don't give up, just hold on a little longer!..." In a daze, she seemed to feel the warmth she used to feel in the admiral's arms again, and a glimmer of light seemed to appear in her dark eyes.

"You did a great job, leave the rest to us." These were the last words she heard before losing consciousness...

Book 1, Chapter 6: After Arrival

Tsugawa, as an important city where the Naval Academy is located, has been developing at an extremely rapid pace since the end of the old era. This is not only because the city is surrounded by numerous naval bases, making it safer, but also because the city is showing signs of transforming into a political center. Countless merchants and wealthy businessmen have flocked here, turning it into a megacity full of opportunities.

Due to encountering deep sea en route, Su Yuchen's passenger ship did not arrive at its destination until the evening of the following day, the originally scheduled arrival time. In order not to affect his registration for the naval academy exam the next day, he had no choice but to find a small hotel near the dock to stay in.

What he complained about most was that the hotel was in terrible condition, yet the price was outrageously high, almost three times that of the hotels he had stayed in before. This made him lament the exorbitant prices in big cities and also made him worry about his wallet.

But what good was complaining? He didn't want to sleep on the streets, so in the end, he could only weep and vow never to stay here again before reluctantly paying the exorbitant price. He took a rusty key from the front desk, and after barely sleeping for two days, he washed up and went to bed without even eating dinner. He left the place while it was still barely dawn the next day.

Everything about the Admiral selection exam is extremely strict; even registration only lasts two days. If you don't want to miss out on registration or have to queue until late at night, it's best to go early to secure a spot. Someone had originally planned to find a part-time job outside the academy before the exam to supplement their increasingly thin wallet, but judging from the current situation, they probably won't have much time left.

As soon as dawn broke, Su Yuchen took the tram to the location of the main gate of the Tsugawa Naval Academy. Looking at the magnificent gate in front of him, he was quite surprised and muttered to himself, "Truly worthy of being the most famous world-class university in the world. Even just the gate can make people feel such an extraordinary aura."

Speaking of Tsugawa Naval Academy, it is located on an island outside Tsugawa City, covering an area of ​​about 50 square kilometers. It is divided into several different colleges, plus a huge school building area and a training ground that occupies about half of the campus area.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world gather here, hoping to become admirals, but only a handful of a few thousand are ultimately accepted. This shows just how rigorous the selection process for admirals is.

The campus is huge, which sounds great, but actually walking around isn't so pleasant. At least, Su Yuchen, who had no idea there were trams on campus, walked for over half an hour before finally arriving at the designated registration point. He couldn't be happy at all. What if he had to walk that far every day after getting accepted?

Even though he got up before dawn, Su Yuchen still found a large group of people who had arrived even earlier than him. Dozens of temporary registration points had been set up in the open square, and a long queue had already formed in front of each one. Listening to the noisy sounds mixed with the shouts of various vendors, he reluctantly chose the shortest-looking queue and joined it, and then began the long and tedious wait.

"Ah! Thief!!" Perhaps God couldn't bear to see him so bored, just as the boy was getting impatient, a young woman's scream suddenly rang out from the crowd.

He subconsciously turned around and saw a strange man wearing a mask and sunglasses shoving his way through the crowd and running straight toward him. Upon closer inspection, he noticed that the man seemed to be carrying a very delicate and beautiful women's handbag.

The people queuing around him scattered in a panic, as most ordinary people didn't want to be caught in the crossfire in such a situation. However, this conveniently suited the young man. He timed his move perfectly, throwing his luggage on the ground just as the thief was about to pass by. Seeing the thief nearly fall flat on his face, he didn't hesitate to chase after him.

It's no wonder Su Yuchen encountered such a situation while queuing. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people gather here during the two days of registration for the Admiral Selection Examination. Because the Naval Academy is open to the public during these two days, it directly leads to all sorts of people treating this place as an annual goldmine. Although there are many guards in the academy, it is still difficult to prevent similar incidents from happening.

The thief in front seemed to be a repeat offender. He kept changing his direction of escape in an attempt to shake off Su Yuchen behind him. However, the boy, who always paid attention to physical training, was not much slower than him in pursuit. In addition, because there were almost no obstacles, he not only failed to shake off Su Yuchen, but the distance between the two became shorter and shorter.

Seeing that he had already alerted the academy's guards, and that clingy little brat was still behind him, the thief gritted his teeth and threw the handbag he had managed to snatch at Su Yuchen's face. When the boy stopped because he was hit, the thief who had sped away glared at him hatefully.

Now that the handbag had been retrieved, Su Yuchen no longer needed to relentlessly chase after the thief. He stood there rubbing his nose, which was red from being hit by the handbag, and grimaced, complaining about why the damn thief had used so much force.

After waiting for a while, the boy, who had finally stopped crying, picked up his handbag that had fallen to the ground and returned the way he came. When he got back to the registration point, he saw a very beautiful young woman standing to the side, watching over the luggage he had just carelessly thrown away.

She was a very beautiful woman with a pair of deep blue eyes like the ocean and long, flowing black hair. Her long, shapely legs, visible beneath her white dress, seemed to testify to just how stunning her figure was.

Seeing the boy return, his head covered in a fine sheen of sweat, she gave Su Yuchen a very gentle smile.

"Why did you do that? Don't you know how dangerous that is, student! What if that thief had a knife? You could get hurt!"

He had expected the beautiful woman to express her gratitude, but seeing her furrowed brows the next second, the boy, still in a daze, froze. "I'm sorry..." he blurted out instinctively.

"I'm not blaming you." Perhaps because the boy apologized so readily, her expression quickly softened. Looking at the boy who had helped her, who seemed a little reserved after her words, she smiled and sighed. "It's certainly a good thing to be helpful, but before doing so, you should think carefully about whether you might encounter any danger. Being so reckless is not advisable. Anyway, thank you, thank you for helping me get my wallet back."

After being given a stern scolding, the boy, thinking he had done something wrong to upset her, awkwardly scratched his head. He had chased after her because he was confident he could win; after all, he had seen several guards running towards them, and he had also learned some Sanda (Chinese kickboxing) from Uncle Zhang next door. Although he might not be able to beat the thief, he was sure he could hold out until the guards arrived.

"By the way, you're here to register for the admiral selection exam too, right? If you don't mind, could you come with me for a bit?"

"Oh? Okay, okay."