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

Hearing what Sister Lexington said, the gentle and lovely girl nodded softly and nestled skillfully next to the boy. Like a cute little animal, she placed her soft little hand into the boy's palm, just like the unicorn on the other side.

"Well then, let's go, Admiral. I'll show you your bedroom first. Sister Lexington, Sister Wisconsin, and Sister Monarch, we'll be going now."

The boy was led away by the lovely Phelps sister. Although he really wanted to help, what could he do when he only had a general understanding of his own naval base?

However, just as the boy was about to be pulled away by the little girl, Lexington suddenly leaned down with her beautiful figure and whispered in the boy's ear in a voice that only he could hear, "Although the Admiral likes Radiant Sister very much, you should also be a little more restrained. Don't ruin your health because of this, or I will be very worried."

Clutching her slightly aching chest, and seeing the boy's stunned expression and flushed cheeks, she gently and helplessly kissed his earlobe. Watching her admiral and her two sisters walk further and further away, she looked away and gave a soft, bitter smile at the distant sea.

"Why... Admiral..."

She murmured softly.

Volume 1, Chapter 165: Panic

"The admiral's dormitory is on the first floor near the entrance, next to the bedrooms of Sister Lexington and Sister Saratoga."

Leaving the bustling dock, Phelps, holding Su Yuchen's hand, led the boy and the unicorn to first visit the most important dormitory area in the naval base. The little girl, speaking in a soft voice to the boy beside her, pointed with her slender finger to a three-story building not far away.

Although Yixian had brought her here the night before last, the small building the girl was pointing to was different from the previous eight-story dormitory building. This dormitory building was set aside separately and was directly opposite the building where Yixian used to live. Between the two was a square with a diameter of one or two hundred meters, and on one side of them was another huge eight-story dormitory building running north-south.

In the girl's words, this rather special little building was specially reserved for the Admiral and his married ship to live in. When the builder came to expand the dormitory building, Sister Lexington said that if it was built this way, it would be more convenient for the Admiral to come to them to discuss anything.

The boy's room was in the center of the first floor, with Lexington's and Saratoga's bedrooms on the left and right sides, respectively. There were ten rooms on the first floor, while Akagi, Iowa, Snow White, and Claxton mostly chose rooms on the second floor and above.

"Because Sister Lexington said that there weren't enough dormitories for the time being, we temporarily arranged Sister Glorious's dormitory next to Sister Lexington's dormitory, while Sister Unicorn will live with our destroyer on the third floor of the building next door."

She explained softly to the boy, walked through the square where everyone's quilts had been carried out and placed on the clothes rack to dry early in the morning by Sister Yixian and Sister Chongqing, and came downstairs to the small building. Phelps pointed to the dormitory with the glorious nameplate hanging in front of the door.

Although Lexington explained that there weren't many empty dormitories left in the naval base, and that the newly arrived Illustrious was temporarily housed in this small building that everyone wanted to move into before the base's repairs and expansion were completed, she, as the first ship girl to discover the box of pills on the table and alert Lexington, clearly knew why Lexington had arranged Illustrious's bedroom here.

Looking back at the boy's thoughtful expression, the young girl frowned slightly, a hint of melancholy in her eyes. She didn't know how she felt after learning all this, but the persistent, aching, and slightly painful feeling in her chest was like ants constantly gnawing at her heart.

She gently bit her glistening lips, squeezed her soft palms hard, and then turned her head away. In the past, she had worked desperately hard, trying to be obedient, striving to become stronger so she could help the Admiral, and also desperately learning to do housework, trying to become the gentle and considerate girl the Admiral liked, just like her sister Lexington.

After countless efforts, she was almost successful. The admiral had fallen in love with her and even said he would prepare a ring for her. But... after finding the admiral again, everything now seemed like a dream. The admiral was still the same admiral, treating her with the same gentle care as before, but his love and promises were gone. All her previous efforts and expectations seemed to have come to nothing once again.

Suppressing the slight stinging in her eyes, Phelps, who had just been happy that her sister Lexington had entrusted her with the task of showing the admiral around the naval base, gently released the boy's hand, stepped forward, and skillfully opened the door to the boy's bedroom.

"I've cleaned the Admiral's bedroom exactly as it was before. I wonder if there's anything I missed? Come in and take a look. If anything's not right, Phelps will fix it for you." Turning around and looking at the boy's face, which had been holding her in a daze, she forced a smile and said to him.

"I'm so sorry, Phelps, for troubling you with this. But I can clean the room myself from now on, right? Phelps has other things to do, doesn't he? There's no need to waste so much time and energy on me."

The girl's gentle words reached the boy's ears, causing Su Yuchen, who was pondering whether to temporarily let the unicorn move in with Glorious, to look up. Facing the girl in front of him who looked exactly like Phelps' sister from Lexington, he smiled at her rather shyly.

If it were a ship girl like Lexington or Illustrious, who are more suited to be wives, that would be fine. But what's the point of having a girl younger than yourself tidy your room? That's just too much! No, even if it's Lexington or the others, it won't work. If you keep doing it, won't you become a lazybones if you don't even have to tidy your room yourself? ...Indeed, it's better to do tidying your room yourself.

The boy thought somewhat awkwardly, but what he didn't expect was that his unintentional words reached the ears of the girl in front of him, causing her delicate body, dressed in clean white stockings and a sailor uniform, to tremble slightly in the comfortable breeze.

"No...no!!"

It's unclear what inappropriate place in her heart was touched, but the little girl suddenly reached out her slender hands and gripped the boy's wrists tightly. Her lowered cheeks swayed unconsciously, making it impossible to see her expression. However, the somewhat hesitant and hoarse voice echoing in the air clearly revealed the girl's deep confusion and helplessness.

If even the Admiral's room won't let me tidy up anymore, if I don't even have the chance to get close to the Admiral, if the Admiral doesn't need me anymore, and I don't have the courage of Sister Potter, how could I possibly compare to a mature and beautiful woman like Sister Radiant?

"Phelps?! What, what's wrong? Is there a problem?"

The boy was also startled by this sudden turn of events. For a moment, he felt as if the wrist being held was no longer his own. All he had done was say that he didn't need Phelps to tidy his room. Why did it feel like she thought he was going to abandon her?

The boy's surprised voice brought the girl back to her senses. Realizing she had been too impulsive, the young girl immediately relaxed her grip, feeling her eyes welling up with tears. With her beautiful eyes wide open and filled with a hint of pleading, she looked up at the boy and whispered a plea.

"No...no trouble at all, Admiral...let me...let Phelps continue to help you tidy up the room...okay?"

Volume 1, Chapter 166: Hesitation and the Notebook

Gently pushing open the door that seemed vaguely familiar, the boy finished speaking with Phelps in the corridor and then walked into the room, which was much larger than the academy's dormitory, with the two adorable ship girl girls behind him.

Upon entering, you'll find yourself in the living room. The morning sunlight streams through the large glass windows at the back, filling the room with golden light and demonstrating the excellent natural lighting.

The room was covered with light gray wallpaper, and a huge crystal chandelier hung from the white ceiling. Perhaps because Phelps was trying so hard to hold the boy's hand again, the white floor was so shiny that you could almost see the bottom of the skirts of the two little girls beside him.

And then there are all those pieces of furniture that look incredibly expensive. Everything in the living room seems to follow a simple yet slightly luxurious style. It's more convincing to call this a luxury suite in a star-rated hotel than a dormitory.

The boy noticed a faint, pleasant fragrance in the air as soon as he entered the room, perhaps due to the use of some special air freshener. He gently touched the large wall-mounted fish tank next to the door and frowned, puzzled, as he looked at the exquisite decor.

Although the room was excessively luxurious, with a huge living room, a kitchen, a bathroom, a study, and a storage room, the boy wasn't particularly surprised when he thought of the savings book Wisconsin had given him the night before.

He wasn't very familiar with the financial situation of his own naval base, but upon closer examination, it couldn't be too bad. Otherwise, Wisconsin, who was in charge of the base's finances, wouldn't have casually given him a savings account with six or seven zeros, saying that it was just his allowance for the month...

Seriously, she spends hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars in one go... She's a rich woman! And a super beautiful one at that, with an amazing figure!

AWSL!

If it weren't for Glorious and Lexington watching over me last night, and I really getting an extra zero, I probably would have pounced on her and hugged her leg after suffering from being broke for over a year!

However, the problem that troubled the boy was obviously not how much the dormitory and the entire dormitory area would cost. Just thinking about Phelps' request to him at the door gave him a headache.

The headache wasn't because Phelps insisted on cleaning his room, but rather because of the pitiful, abandoned look on her face when she asked him to take over the cleaning duties from now on. He simply couldn't get it out of his mind.

He wondered if it was because of the way he spoke, or because he didn't let her clean his room that Phelps thought he disliked or distrusted her, but in the end, he couldn't come to any conclusion.

"Admiral, this is your bedroom. If there is anything you don't like, please let me know. Phelps will never mind tidying up your room for you."

Thinking that he would ask Lexington, who was the secretary ship, about what was going on when he had time, before the boy could come to his senses, he was led by the hand by Phelps, who had finally been comforted by him, into the bedroom that would soon be his. However, as soon as he entered the bedroom and saw everything in front of him, the boy suddenly opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

The first thing that catches the eye is the sea-blue curtain by the window, printed with many chibi anime characters. In the warm sunlight, there are familiar potted plants, a familiar single bed that can barely fit two people, a familiar Kantai Collection calendar, and a familiar swimsuit figurine of a female character on the desk filled with various books, and a cushion with Saratoga's image on the chair.

Familiar things came into the sight of the somewhat stunned boy. Looking at everything that was so familiar yet slightly strange, if it weren't for the unicorn and Phelps still holding his hand, he would have thought he had returned to Earth, to the world where he had lived a peaceful and ordinary life for more than ten years.

He walked into the room in surprise. Under the gaze of the two girls, he looked around in a daze. But whether it was the wardrobe, the bookshelf, the air purifier in the corner, the 1/700 scale ship models on the bookshelf, or even the dent on the desk that he had accidentally bumped into, everything was exactly the same as his bedroom on Earth, except that the place on the desk where his computer used to be had been replaced by a brand new gramophone.

Perhaps to compensate for the difference in time and space, the books that should have been full of teaching materials on the desk were uniformly replaced with information related to ship girls or the deep sea. The boy opened a book with densely printed words and was carefully digesting it all. He patted his head and suddenly remembered that when he was on Earth, he had hidden something unsuitable for children in his bookshelf.

It was a notebook with excellent illustrations that suited a young boy's aesthetic. Because he couldn't bear to throw it away and was afraid his mother would find out, he wrapped it with the cover of a novel and put it in the bookshelf filled with all kinds of books.

Under normal circumstances, it would be perfectly acceptable for a healthy, single man to keep some spellcasting materials in his room for emergencies, but now...

Somewhat nervously, Su Yuchen turned around and looked at the bookshelf behind him. Among the various books, he immediately found the rather unusual "novel." Seeing that it showed no signs of having been touched, the boy secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"By the way, Phelps, have you touched any of the books on these shelves?" However, just to be on the safe side, he still asked Phelps, who had helped him tidy up the room.

"No, Admiral. What's wrong? Is there something wrong?" The little girl shook her head in confusion. Those were the Admiral's personal belongings, and she certainly wouldn't touch them without his permission.

"No, it's nothing, Phelps. Okay, we've seen the dorms, let's go look at other places."

Seeing the boy close the book in front of him, Phelps tilted her head in confusion.

She wanted to tell the admiral that although she hadn't touched anything, Sister Lexington, who had been taking care of things here all along, and Sister Wisconsin, who had suddenly come over that morning, had looked through the books on the bookshelf. But seeing the boy who seemed eager to see other places, she hesitated and didn't say anything.

Volume 1, Chapter 167: The Giant

The dormitory area is located directly north of the dock we just visited. After leaving the dormitory building, you can see a two-story building in the distance, which is used as his office, directly opposite the dormitory area.

Because it was directly hit by the shelling of the deep-sea destroyer, many repair workers could be seen busy cleaning bricks or measuring the dimensions of the house on the second floor, which had a large hole in it, in order to carry out repairs.

However, speaking of his own naval base, the boy had heard Lexington say last night that this was not actually his first naval base. Before becoming a highly regarded naval admiral, he and the others had always lived in Shuiyan, which was further north. It was also an important port city, but its size and population were much smaller than that of Tsugawa, the location of the governor's office.

Their own naval base was located on a natural island at the northern end of the Tsugawa Naval Academy. In terms of size, it was naturally not comparable to the artificial island that the Naval Academy was built on. However, if we only consider the naval bases that are scattered all over the world, then their own naval base, which is half the size of the academy, can truly be called a behemoth.

The island spans several kilometers from north to south and east to west. At the northern end of the main facilities of the naval base, there are several small hills about a hundred meters high. On the top of these hills, which are covered with various trees, you can see several pavilions and a shrine specially built for the Japanese ship girls.

According to Phelps, at the foot of the mountain behind, besides a small lake filled with lotus flowers, there is also a huge hot spring bath. He had it dug out by someone specifically to provide a good resting environment for his ship girls. Since he didn't know if it would even be possible to dig it out, it took a lot of effort. Fortunately, he actually managed to dig out the hot spring in the end.

However, while living in a town hall with ample entertainment and leisure options, and the option to soak in hot springs for free, is certainly comfortable, its massive size naturally leads to ever-increasing construction and maintenance costs.

Wisconsin said that if the Governor's Office hadn't contributed half the money to ensure the absolute safety of the waters near Tsugawa when she moved there, she probably would have had to tighten her belt to make ends meet given the financial situation of the Naval Base at the time of her move. Not to mention the later expansion project that was carried out because the number of sisters in the Naval Base kept increasing and there were not enough beds in the dormitory.

Of course, the financial situation was just a minor problem, and it was no longer an issue after the naval base was completed and living conditions stabilized.

Aside from the daily missions and expeditions issued by the Governor's Office, countless merchants and entrepreneurs from Tsugawa City, an international metropolis, come to the naval base every day seeking help. They want to hire the ship girls to provide security for their cargo ships on important shipping lanes.

As is well known, hiring a ship girl with the combat capabilities of a full warship to escort merchant ships is not something that can be solved with just a few zeros. And this is just for ordinary destroyers or light cruisers, not to mention the more powerful heavy cruisers, or even battlecruisers and battleships.

Thus, thanks to the combined efforts of hundreds of ship girl sisters who were enough to make them stand out from the crowd, all the debts and expenses incurred in building the naval base were paid off in less than two months.

Now, to put it simply, the wealth that everyone has accumulated for the naval base has unknowingly made the boy one of the richest people in the world. Otherwise, Wisconsin wouldn't have casually given him a savings account with over a million dollars, saying it was just a month's allowance.

After touring the dormitory area and some of the facilities that are usually found in naval bases, and seeing that it wasn't too late, Phelps took the boy and the unicorn to the training ground further north.

The training ground is roughly the size of the entire dormitory area plus the dock. Compared to the academy's simple and crude method of directly designating the sea area near the academy as the training ground, this place uses a safer and more refined method of creating an artificial lake.

With the numerous obstacles and targets placed on the water, even without instructors, their own ship girls can complete their daily training on their own. Not to mention that their own ship girls are far more than one; they can team up with each other and conduct real-world combat exercises.

This is why Phelps tells himself that whenever a new ship girl arrives, they don't need to go to the naval academy like other admirals do after acquiring a new ship girl.

The roar of engines filled the air. Not far away, several imposing B-25s flew swiftly overhead, then quickly dropped training bombs on targets that had randomly risen from the water's surface. Narrowing his eyes slightly, the boy saw Illusion diligently conducting bombing training in the training field, and Saratoga, who had been asked by Lexington to instruct Illusion, with a hint of reluctance on her face.

"Ms. Sarah, can we increase the speed even further?"

"Huh?... Ah, let's leave it like this, and next time we'll increase the height a bit."

He walked over slowly, took the hands of the two little girls beside him, and chatted with them for a while. After asking Guanghui how she felt about training here, he glanced at Guanghui's two big breasts and her lips that seemed so luscious for some reason with a slightly flushed face. The boy then reluctantly looked away from Jiajia's heartbreaking gaze, which seemed as if she had been abandoned by her beloved brother-in-law.

It wasn't that Su Yuchen didn't want to accompany his lovely sister-in-law or bring Jiajia along; it was because Lexington had repeatedly instructed Jiajia the previous night to properly teach Guanghui, and said that he would check the results every day after the training. No matter how unwilling Jiajia was or how much she tried to please her sister, Lexington, who usually doted on her, simply wouldn't budge this time.

After learning a little about how his ship girls usually trained, the boy continued along the road under Phelps's guidance. He passed by the warehouse area where equipment and various resources were stored, and greeted Missouri, Portland, and Princeton, who were counting the supplies and helping him. Then the boy came to a building whose purpose could not be guessed from its appearance.

Volume 1, Chapter 168: Scientific Research

After touring the dormitory area and seeing the huge training ground in the naval base, and listening to little Phelps enthusiastically telling her some interesting stories about her past, Su Yuchen, holding that soft little hand, unknowingly walked quite a distance before arriving in front of a somewhat suspicious-looking building.

To be honest, it wouldn't be that suspicious. It's just that, compared to the buildings whose uses were roughly guessable, the boy really couldn't figure out what the purpose of this square building in front of him was.

Half of the sturdy and thick walls were buried underground, and what should have been windows were all fitted with one-way glass curtain walls. Standing on the outside of the building, it was impossible to tell what important things were inside. The boy followed Phelps, who had taken out a key, to the door that looked like it was made of steel.

"This is our naval base's research lab, Admiral. Normally, Yubari and the others research new equipment or ship rigging modification plans here. Because it stores a lot of important data, no one else is allowed to enter or leave without permission except the Admiral and Yubari."

The key was inserted into the keyhole and turned gently. With a sound of gears turning, the steel gate slowly rose up in the boy's somewhat amazed gaze.

A sky-blue ribbon lay peacefully atop her head, which shared a similar hair color with Lexington's. Holding the important key that Lexington's sister had given her that morning, the girl gave the boy a brief introduction, then turned around and handed him the key. Watching the boy gently accept it, she smiled reservedly and adorably at the admiral before her.

"This is also the archives of our naval base, which contains important events that have occurred since the establishment of our naval base. If the admiral wants to know, he can come and take a look at it when he has nothing to do."

"Okay, I understand, Phelps, thank you."

Hearing the girl's soft voice, the smiling boy reached out and touched the soft hair on the head of the girl, who was not yet a teenager. Feeling the warmth from the top of her head that made the girl feel at ease, and feeling a little excited because she could help her admiral, Phelps gently rubbed his beautiful legs, which were clad in white over-the-knee stockings.

Although a small accident happened in the dormitory just now, the fact that I can get along so warmly and harmoniously with the Admiral means that things are definitely moving in a positive direction. As long as I can help the Admiral more like this, and as long as the Admiral knows that I can be as gentle and virtuous to him as Sister Lexington, then one day, the Admiral will surely be able to become the Admiral he used to be again.

Gently touching her chest, which was faintly filled with anticipation for the future, the young girl reached out and turned on the indoor light switch. Countless incandescent bulbs hanging from the ceiling lit up at once, instantly making the originally dim room incredibly bright.

It's not visible from the outside, but once you go inside, you'll find that the space inside this research lab, which is half underground, is actually quite huge.

The incandescent light illuminated every corner of the room, revealing countless sophisticated instruments and tools to the boy. The walls were covered with diagrams of various equipment, and on the huge experimental table were numerous parts that looked like disassembled equipment.

Among the countless items scattered on the table, he saw a number of strangely modified pieces of equipment. After examining them carefully, the boy scratched his head in confusion. Although he didn't know much about equipment, these oddly shaped pieces of equipment didn't seem very reliable. For example, the operation of installing a rocket engine on the Italian small plane—was this an unfinished, rudimentary cruise missile?

Regardless of the boy's doubts, when it comes to equipment, you'll naturally learn what's truly useful after taking many detours. Putting down the TALIEDO STIPA, which had been modified beyond recognition, the boy curiously continued walking inside. As he was looking at a project proposal that looked like some kind of modification blueprint, Su Yuchen suddenly heard Phelps, who was with the unicorn behind her, talking to someone behind her.

"Good afternoon, my dear sister, the Admiral, the new Unicorn sister, and I have come to see you."

Is someone coming? But why can't I hear any footsteps?

When Phelps' voice reached his ears, the boy turned around in confusion. But when he turned around, all he saw was Phelps holding the unicorn's hand and facing an unknown machine, and the pretty unicorn standing beside her. He didn't see a single person.

"Yes! We've found the Admiral! I was so happy yesterday that I forgot to tell you, I'm so sorry, Azuma-neechan."

"???"

What's going on? Staring blankly at Phelps, who was smiling at a machine whose purpose he couldn't quite decipher, the boy was bewildered. Why was Phelps's sister talking to a machine? Was he seeing a ghost?

The surprised boy wanted to ask Phelps what was going on, but before he could speak, Phelps, perhaps noticing his surprise, came over and took his hand again, and began to explain.

"As Lexington said, this is the research system made by the Governor's Office, Admiral... Before you disappeared, because it was useless, the people of the Governor's Office gave it to our naval base. Just like Monarch, who has become the Dean of the Naval Academy, Azuma, who is still inside, is also a rare research ship."

"So that's how it is."

With the girl's explanation, and combined with the information that Yi Xian and Lexington had told him before, the boy digested the information from the girl's mouth for a while and then understood why the girl could talk to the machine.