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

"Hehe, the admiral said he was in good spirits this afternoon, but he fell asleep after sitting on the sofa for a while. Little Fei was worried that he might catch a cold if he fell asleep on the sofa."

"Ahem, how was I supposed to know that I would suddenly fall asleep after sitting like this for a while? I wasn't sleepy at all when I was with you guys this afternoon, so you can't blame me for this."

The boy wiped his hands with a towel and stood in the living room. He and Jiajia couldn't wait to sit at the table. The table was already clean and the bowls were all set out. The two ladies were serving rice to everyone while whispering to each other. They looked elegant and mature, with the composure of a proper wife. The little girls were already sitting obediently in their seats, waiting for the meal to begin.

They had hot pot at the naval base at noon. There were over twenty ship girls and the only male among them, making it quite lively. Later, Instructor Junquan and Dean Junquan, having finished their academy duties, joined in. However, because Yixian and the others had prepared so much food beforehand, even with over twenty people eating together, their bellies were round and full, and Jiajia kept complaining that she was turning into a little pig, yet the remaining food was still not used up.

What to do if there's not enough food? Of course, take it to the ship and eat it again! Besides, there were so many of someone's favorite foods among the remaining ingredients. So, Lexington quickly made a few dishes, borrowed a pot and a small gas stove from the restaurant staff, and started making hot pot again.

"Phew, it's so hot today, brother-in-law! Jiajia is even sweating from eating!"

Inside the cabin were six ship girls and one admiral. At first glance, all you could see were the ship girls' long, beautiful legs. Jiajia, nestled beside the boy, complained about the heat of the day while enjoying the breeze from the fan. But seeing that everyone else was sweating a bit from eating, while she was the only one with bare legs, having even changed into cooler clothes, she curiously asked Jiajia, who was being forced to eat a piece of carrot by her older sister, "Jiajia-neechan, you're sweating, why don't you take off those thick socks?"

Because they were having hot pot for dinner, and the weather was quite hot, Marani took off his black pantyhose in his room before they started eating. But it seemed like no one else noticed.

Upon hearing Marani's words, Saratoga closed her eyes and ate the carrot that Lexington had put on her plate as if she had eaten something inedible. Saratoga then glanced at Marani with a sidelong look.

"Take it off, why take it off? Clothes and everything else can be taken off, but Jiajia's white stockings can never be taken off! The black stockings too!"

Temperature doesn't affect ship girls much. Even wearing a cotton-padded coat in the sweltering summer or a t-shirt in the dead of winter is just a matter of perspective for them. However, ship girls also have normal physiological functions. Just like humans, they will turn red and sweat profusely after eating spicy or hot food. Seeing Jiajia's face already flushed from eating spicy food, yet she uttered such words, the girl looked somewhat puzzled.

"Hmm? But why can't we take them off, Jiajia? There's no one else here, it's just us and the Admiral in the room."

The blonde girl glanced at the purple-haired girl, who seemed somewhat bewildered, then looked down at her bare, white legs beneath her hot pants. Why didn't she take off her stockings? Wasn't the reason obvious? You've been at our naval base for so many days, and you didn't even know this? Even the newcomer Belfast knows that my brother-in-law likes legs and stockings. Little sister, what's wrong with you?

"I won't take it off, absolutely not! You'll see if you look closely at our room."

Marani looked around blankly, glancing at Lexington, who was also sweating and wearing black stockings, and then at Little Fee and Unicorn, who were wearing white over-the-knee stockings. Still unable to figure it out, she shook her head again.

Jiajia hesitated for a moment. "I've already reminded you this much, and you still can't see it?" She turned to the side, crossed her round little legs under the table, and put her white-stockinged little feet directly on the thigh of the boy next to her.

Watching Jiajia's actions, and seeing the admiral, who was eating hotpot, suddenly put down his left hand and, unnoticed by anyone, grasp Jiajia's toes under the table, rubbing them affectionately, Marani immediately realized what was happening and his eyes widened.

Marani: "..."

What should I do? Should I make an excuse to go back to my room and then put my socks back on? But wouldn't it feel weird to put them on now? But wouldn't it also be strange if everyone else was wearing socks and I wasn't?

Marani felt a pang of regret, but then she wondered why she should regret it. Was it simply because everyone else was wearing socks except her? Or was it...?

Looking around, she suddenly felt that the hot pot, which had been so delicious, no longer smelled good! She sat in her seat for a while, not knowing what she was thinking, when suddenly she felt Jiajia next to her tremble for some reason.

"!"

Curious, she looked at Jiajia's face, which had suddenly stiffened. Then she looked down at the foot that Jiajia had put on the admiral's leg under the table. She noticed that besides the admiral's hand, there was another hand on Jiajia's foot. However, instead of the admiral's caress, that hand was twisting Jiajia's foot.

She looked up in the direction of the hand, and then she saw Lexington's sister's very kind smile as she looked at Jaja...

Volume 1, Chapter 362: After Dinner

Jiajia was glared at by her sister's incredibly kind gaze again. However, apart from Marani, who was secretly watching all of this, and Saratoga, who was the person involved, the person playing with his sister-in-law's white-stockinged feet under the table was completely unaware. The girl's calf was suddenly pulled away from his leg, and without that soft and cute touch, the boy, who was eating with his free right hand, suddenly felt a little regretful.

However, none of this had any impact. On the first day of their journey, they had their first dinner on the passenger ship. Everyone, including the boy, was more or less excited. During dinner, they discussed all sorts of interesting things or what they would do after arriving in Tianshui. But more important than these things was discussing how to escort this slow-moving, unprotected, and even somewhat old passenger ship starting tomorrow.

When the topic was first discussed, the boy explained his general plan: two ship girls would escort the ship during the day, and two more would take over at night, while the remaining two would rest on the ship. This way, everyone would take turns escorting and resting, ensuring there wouldn't be any gaps in the escort schedule, nor would anyone's escort time be stretched out too long.

If you say that the boy's method wasn't intended to reduce everyone's workload, then I doubt anyone here would believe it. Although this escort method does allow everyone to get enough rest, I wonder if the admiral has considered whether a two-ship escort formation can really intercept all the Abyssal ship girls when encountering an Abyssal attack and prevent them from attacking the passenger ship, which would suffer heavy casualties even from a single hit?

Besides the new sisters, Lexington, Gaja, and Phelps are all battle-hardened ship girls who have participated in many battles to repel deep-sea flagships. They are legendary ship girls with great achievements. Except when facing deep-sea flagships alone, they are capable of repelling almost all types of deep-sea ship girls.

But no matter how strong they are, they can't withstand the sheer number of Abyssal beings. If they encounter a slightly larger Abyssal fleet, although they won't be defeated, they can't guarantee that no Abyssal will slip through the net and get close to the passenger ship. Moreover, this is when a group of girls have just found their admiral and are still extremely sensitive to any Abyssal attacks.

So, when the boy first voiced his immature idea, he was immediately met with opposition from all the ship girls present. Not to mention Lexington, who was already extremely sensitive because she had lost her admiral, even the gentle and weak Unicorn sister, who was always obedient to him, did not stand by his side.

The boy was hurt. He had thought about the method for a long time before coming up with it, but as soon as he said it, he was met with opposition from all sides. They said he was too careless. If he really wasn't, he would have done what he originally thought and only sent one ship girl to escort at a time.

Since the admiral's method was rejected, and he didn't seem willing to give up his idea, the girls present had no choice but to come up with an escort plan themselves. Given that there were three regular carriers, one light carrier, and two destroyers present, after a heated discussion, they decided on a relatively safe and secure escort method: four ship girls would escort the escort at a time, while the remaining two would rest. This would not only ensure sufficient combat power but also prevent everyone from being without any rest time.

Someone wasn't very happy about this method because, no matter what, each time two ship girls would have to escort the ship for two days and two nights before they could rest. However, he seemed to have forgotten that even if the ship girls sailed on the sea for dozens of days without sleep, it would only mean that they missed a nap.

The escort plan was finally settled. They even came up with a plan for how the girls could run away with their admiral and buckets if something really went wrong and the passenger ship couldn't be saved. Although they felt a little sorry for the captain and the passengers, they were outsiders after all, and in terms of importance, they were not even worth mentioning!

After Lexington and Glorious finished dinner, they cleaned up the dishes together. Since it was too early to go to bed, Jiajia and the other girls stayed in the boy's room and played card games with him. At first, they wanted to play Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game), but since Dou Dizhu can only be played by three people, they eventually switched to playing eight cards.

"Hehe, brother-in-law, take this! Here comes my super invincible four-four combo!"

"Four 4s for a cricket? You think you can stump your brother-in-law? No spirit, start over!"

They sat around the boy's bed, the boy to Jiajia's right, while the unicorn, holding Yu-chan, cheered enthusiastically for her brother. The blonde girl tossed out four 4s, looked up at her sister-in-law who was so excited she had completely forgotten her sister's earlier scolding, "Don't flirt with your brother-in-law while eating!" The boy, equally enjoying himself, pressed down on his own cards and then threw out two 5s and two 6s.

"Hmph, brother-in-law, you underestimate Jiajia! Jiajia already guessed what brother-in-law would play, so... hey! Call! Two 6s! Admit defeat, brother-in-law!"

"What!…………"

Seemingly anticipating what cards the boy would play, the girl revealed a somewhat mischievous smile. Unexpectedly, Jiajia still had cards. Looking at the two trump 6s on the blanket, and then at his own pitifully small hand, the boy coughed and put all the cards he had just played back into his hand.

"Cough, keep it in."

This game works like this: when your cards can't beat the attacker's cards, then all the cards you just played, as well as the cards your opponent played, become your hand. The final winner of this game is whoever plays all their cards first. Obviously, the more cards you have, the more disadvantageous it is. Because the boy was holding back his cards, he lost the opportunity to play a card for his next player, Marani, in this round.

“We’ve returned it to us, Sister Xiaofei. Here, one 5.”

"9"

Counting the cards in his hand, the boy sighed. Marani, to his right, started playing cards against Fei'er. The gentle and virtuous Fei'er, sitting on the soft quilt, finished the game with just a 9. Touching her round knees, she looked at Jiajia's smiling face beside her and frowned slightly.

"Sister Jiajia, if you keep targeting Dad... the Admiral, and give away all your cards, then you won't have any left to play later."

"Hmm? Hehe, it's okay, Xiaofei. With my luck, I'll definitely get a new one right away! Hehe, I'm going to beat my brother-in-law today. We didn't settle our score this afternoon, so I have to make him fulfill his bet from this afternoon!"

"Really? Then, Sister Jiajia, five 10s..."

Volume 1, Chapter 363: The Card War

"Really? Then, Sister Jiajia, five 10s..."

Long, white-stockinged feet lay cross-legged on the soft bedding. Listening to Xiao Fei's sweet voice, glancing at Xiao Fei's slightly smiling face, and then at the neatly arranged five 10s in front of her, Jiajia's composed expression instantly froze. Her mouth gaped open, her eyes widened, and her long finger pointed at Phelps's hand, which only had three cards left. The girl immediately exclaimed, "Waaah! Xiao Fei, you did that on purpose!"

"Huh? How could that be, Jiajia? I already warned you, if you play all your good cards, you won't be able to play any more."

"You only told me after I'd already left! Xiaofei, you must be targeting me on purpose because I bullied my brother-in-law!"

"No, Jiajia. It's just that Jiajia played her cards too fast, I didn't even have a chance to remind her."

"Ugh... My gut tells me this is it, Xiaofei, you're targeting me!"

Touching her lovely flaxen hair, and facing Jiajia's questioning, Fei'er shook her head adorably like a little animal, her innocent eyes so clear that it was hard not to be moved by her.

Looking at his adorable sister-in-law and then at his lovely daughter, the young man waved his hand and acted as a peacemaker: "Alright, Jiajia, it was you who insisted on playing all your cards for me, which gave Fei'er an opportunity. You can't blame Fei'er for this. If you can't beat her, just accept the bet and be more careful next time."

"Waaaaah, brother-in-law~!"

The boy's intervention immediately caused the girl's moist lips to pout in protest. She had clearly seen the fleeting smile on Xiao Fei's face just now! Her brother-in-law was actually favoring Xiao Fei! Xiao Fei must be deliberately targeting her because she was jealous of her bet with her brother-in-law, not wanting her to win!

The girl looked at her cards. After she finished playing her cards, she drew eight more. Her hand wasn't bad, but dealing with five 10s was still a bit of a problem. After carefully considering her options for a while, she took one Jack, two Queens, and two lower-ranking trump cards to beat them.

But who knew that just as Jiajia was about to play her card and dropped two Queens, Xiaofei on the other side quickly drew another card and threw it onto the blanket.

"Sister Jiajia, call the card, a Queen!"

"!!! Waaaaah... Pocket, pocket."

The already precarious hand of cards suddenly became even more dangerous. After careful calculation, Jiajia realized that continuing like this would be a losing proposition. With her cheeks puffed out like a hamster, she reluctantly and hesitantly took all the cards on the blanket into her hands.

What could she do if she was unwilling? If she hadn't played all her good cards to her brother-in-law, she wouldn't have suffered such a huge loss. Oh well, she'd just play the cards Xiaofei played for her back to her brother-in-law later! After all, her brother-in-law was biased towards Xiaofei!

The girl reluctantly put away the cards, but seeing Jiajia's pouty, unwilling expression, the flaxen-haired girl secretly grinned. Before, Jiajia was the Admiral's married ship, and Fei'er couldn't say anything about what Jiajia did to Daddy. But now that they were both Daddy's married ships, Fei'er certainly couldn't stand by and watch Jiajia bully Daddy like this anymore!

Hmph, anyone who wants to bully Daddy will have to get past me first! Even Sister Jiajia is no exception!

"Alright, now that Jiajia has taken Fei'er's card, it's my turn to play a card for Malani. Be prepared, Malani, watch out for the four 4s Jiajia just played for me!"

"Whoa! Admiral, be gentle, um... hey, one 8 and three 9s."

Duck sat beside the boy, her familiar black stockings now worn again, as she playfully dealt with his attacks. Compared to Jiajia and her brother-in-law, and Xiaofei and her sister Jiajia, the situation here was much more peaceful and tranquil. After the girl finished playing her card, the boy called out "pass," counted his cards, and found he had at least eight, so he didn't need to draw any more. Turning around, the boy glanced at the unicorn behind him, who was holding Yu-chan and watching him play his card with curiosity.

"Unicorn, you've been watching for so long, want to join us for a game? I'll give you my spot in the next round, how about that?"

"Hehe... No need, brother, you just play with Sister Xiaofei and the others."

The little girl immediately shook her head. Although it looked interesting, she didn't really like games that required winning or losing. Moreover, she preferred watching her important older brother's serious and happy expression when he played cards rather than playing herself.

"Really not going to play? It's really fun!"

"Yes! I prefer watching my brother play!"

"Hehe, the Admiral really cares about Unicorns. Well then, Little Fei, it's my turn to play again! Here I go! Heh, a pair of sixes!"

It was Marani's turn to play a card for Xiaofei again, but this time the girl just casually played two cards that weren't very threatening. Perhaps it was because Marani was a gentle and considerate girl, that Xiaofei easily passed the level, and the situation returned to the point where it was Fei'er's turn to play a card for Jiajia.

"Sister Jiajia, one 3."

"Hmph, who told you to play such a strong card for me just now? Now you have no cards to play, huh? Watch this, the 5 of spades."

In the boy's view, the lovely Fei'er smiled and dropped a 3 of spades, and Jiajia immediately responded with a 5 of spades. But after playing all her cards, seeing Fei'er's seemingly effortless demeanor, the blonde girl seemed to realize something and immediately became wary.

"Really? Then Jiajia, I'm going to follow suit, four 3s and one 5."

You even said you weren't targeting me, Xiaofei! You were definitely doing it on purpose! But don't underestimate me, Saratoga! I'm going to win today and make my brother-in-law fulfill his bet to show you!

"Three tens, one king, and another!"

"Following the lead, a pair of kings."

"Xiao Fei! You're targeting me!"

"I didn't, Sister Jiajia!"

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

"Waaah! I lost! I'm not playing anymore! Xiaofei keeps targeting me, even my brother-in-law and the others are bullying me! Jiajia isn't playing anymore! Jiajia is angry!"

About ten minutes later, the blonde girl threw a handful of cards onto the blanket, then lay down on it, draped her long legs over the boy's body, and started shouting loudly.

She had agreed to beat her brother-in-law and make him fulfill the bet. But as the game progressed, everyone's cards dwindled, except for Jiajia, who had more and more cards. Every time she played a card for her brother-in-law, only half a round had passed before Xiaofei would play the card back for her.

They were playing cards and agreed that no one should take sides, but her brother-in-law and Marani kept helping Jiajia bully her!

"No! I didn't! How did I bully you? Jiajia, you always give me so many cards, and I didn't say anything."

"Hmph! I don't care! Jiajia is angry! She needs her brother-in-law to sleep with her tonight to calm down!"

"Dream on. I've already told you, Jiajia, you're sleeping with me tonight, and neither of us will bother your brother-in-law. Alright, we've had dinner, and you've played cards. It's getting late, everyone should go back to their rooms and rest. Jiajia, you too, don't crawl into your brother-in-law's bed, come back to the room with me and let your brother-in-law get some rest."

Volume 1, Chapter 364: Something's Wrong

Even though she clung to her brother-in-law's waist and tried to crawl into his bed, unwilling to leave, in the end, the girl, who was reluctant because she couldn't sleep with her brother-in-law, was still dragged back to their own room by her sister.

Along the way, you could still hear Jiajia shouting in the corridor, "I want to sleep with my brother-in-law!" After everyone left, his cabin suddenly became quiet. The boy, who was not used to the quiet, hummed a song, sat up and drank a cup of tea.

The sea outside the porthole was deep and calm, and in the distance, one could see fishing lights rising from the coastline. The bright moonlight reflected on the sea, indicating that tomorrow would still be a calm and peaceful day. In a rare moment of high spirits, after taking another bite of the dessert that Lexington had just placed on his bedside table, the boy got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower.

Water supply on the ship wasn't very convenient because freshwater resources were limited. So even though there was a bathtub, you couldn't take a bath every day. He casually took out the pajamas he always wore at the naval base from the wardrobe, along with a brand new bath towel, and then turned on the tap to start rinsing.

About twenty minutes later, after showering and changing into her pajamas, the girl lay down on her bed, patiently waiting for what would happen later, after everyone had fallen asleep. She could still hear Malani and Xiaofei's occasional giggles from across the way; she didn't know what they were saying, but to prevent any complications, she turned off the cabin lights, pretending she was asleep. She knew Guanghui was just faking it; the door wasn't closed, and she could easily get in with a simple turn of the handle.

"So you're going back to Tianshui already? I wonder how Xiaorou is doing at home all by herself."

In the darkness, she thought of her younger sister waiting for her in Tianshui. The girl squinted and muttered to herself, "To be honest, if this passenger ship wasn't so fast, even if we didn't stop to resupply along the way, it would still take ten days to arrive. I wish I could fly to Tianshui immediately and let Xiaorou meet her future sisters-in-law!"

With so many beautiful, charming, gentle, and virtuous sisters-in-law, he could already imagine the surprised and delighted look on Xiao Rou's face when she met them. Having so many angelic sisters-in-law was a source of pride, not to mention that Madam and Guanghui had prepared so many gifts for Xiao Rou!

Hehe, and there's also that girl Yuelin. The madam and the others prepared quite a few thank-you gifts for her. After all, in terms of helping me, besides Xiaorou who has been with me for over a year, she's the one who has helped the most. Miss Zhuo is indeed a young lady from a wealthy family, but Tianshui isn't an economic center like Jinchuan. You can't necessarily buy those things in Tianshui that can only be found in Jinchuan.

After excitedly chattering for a while, the boy, who was increasingly looking forward to the life ahead, suddenly felt sleepy. He squinted his heavy eyelids, and before he knew it, he could no longer open his eyes.

Half-asleep, wondering why the light hadn't come yet in the pitch black, just a second before his consciousness was about to return to darkness, he suddenly felt a soft body gently press against him. Before he could struggle to open his leaden eyelids, a warm, soft hand slipped under the covers through the thin blanket and then rustled into his pajama bottoms.

The thing beneath him reacted instantly. Hearing the radiant light finally arriving, breathing softly in his ear and smelling the slightly fragrant breath, the boy turned his head and buried his face in the delicate neck beside him, taking a breath. His raised paws skillfully pressed against the round and soft peaks of the saintess, feeling the softness that probed between his fingers and listening to the slightly reproachful panting. But suddenly, the boy sensed something was wrong.