I really don't have money for the ship girls.

St. Louise squinted her beautiful eyes and said, "It was clearly the Commander who wanted to touch it, but he hasn't done it for ages. Is it my fault?"

"I'm building up my emotions."

"Hmph, coward, are you all ready now?"

Ying Tian glanced at St. Louis's full, firm breasts. Desire still couldn't overcome his bottom line. Why was he so rational? Just now, St. Louis invited him to a secluded place to experience what love and desire were, and he was still torn between his desires and his conscience for so long that the waiter ruined his plans.

If God gave me another chance...

Ying Tian looked at St. Louis seriously, stretched out his hands, and said, "It's ready."

“Then…” St. Louis lowered his head and whispered in Ying Tian’s ear, “It’s up to you.”

A fragrant breeze blew past, and the mature woman, as light as a rabbit, swept by. At the end of the corridor, she beckoned to the stunned Ying Tian, ​​extending an invitation: "Catch up with me, and I'll grant you whatever you want."

Ying Tian snapped out of his daze: "Within our grasp, how can we escape!"

They immediately gave chase.

Don't ask, the answer is that you're running and I'm chasing, and neither of us can escape.

This five-star hotel building seemed to have become an amusement park full of excitement and risks. Ying Tian and St. Louis were like birds that had strayed into it. Everything seemed so interesting. Under St. Louis's guidance, Ying Tian tasted what it was like to do whatever he wanted for the first time.

In a small conference room, the door was suddenly opened from the outside, and the people in front of the conference table were all dumbfounded when they saw the young man walk in from outside.

"Hello, this is the Winner City Entrepreneurs Association. Who are you?"

Ying Tian scanned the entire room and said, "I'm here to see Fu Hongxue. Is he here?"

The entrepreneurs looked at each other, feeling bewildered.

"Oh, it seems he's not here. If anyone knows him, please tell Ye Kai that he's looking for him. Thank you."

Ying Tian slammed the door shut, leaving everyone in the conference room even more confused.

"So, is it odd or even?"

"Let's slip away first, we'll talk about it later."

Ying Tian held St. Louis's hand and ran all the way to the stairwell and up one floor before stopping.

He took a breath and said, "There are eleven people in the conference room, an odd number. I lost."

"Then you're willing to accept the loss?"

"You have to accept the consequences of your bet."

St. Louis raised his right hand and lightly flicked Ying Tian's forehead, chuckling, "I won again. I'm lucky St. Louis. Commander, are you convinced?"

"I disagree. With a one-in-half probability, it's impossible to be wrong every time."

Then Yingtian got three more flicks on the forehead. Is this the goddess of fortune? I'm impressed.

However, Ying Tian also discovered that these branch venues also offered local specialties and delicacies to the participants. So, Ying Tian and St. Louis then tasted roast suckling pig from Jiangxiang City, crisp persimmons from Zhenyang City, and Tibetan mutton from Lingzhou City...

"Excuse me for not recognizing you, but are you an entrepreneur from Hyde City?"

Faced with the elder's questioning, Ying Tian ate two more bites of fish cake and said, "I am not."

Then he pulled St. Louis away, and before leaving, St. Louis didn't forget to get Ying Tian a big black plum.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

The two walked outside, looked at each other, and laughed.

St. Louis took a bite of the black plum and then stuffed it into Ying Tian's mouth: "Is it sweet?"

Ying Tian took a bite, and juice splattered all over his mouth, flowing onto St. Louis's slender, snow-white hand. He followed the juice down his knuckles, took a delicate white finger into his mouth, and slurped, "Sweet."

Before St. Louis could react, Ying Tian, ​​who had made the move, was stunned. When did he start to be so presumptuous?

This continued until evening, and the two, taking advantage of the situation, managed to get a top-floor room with a view from the waiter. Everything went smoothly, and they didn't even have to register their identities.

St. Louis walked onto the balcony of her room, leaned against the railing, and felt the evening breeze brushing past her ears. An unprecedented joy and fulfillment surrounded her in her mind's eye, and even the little bit of haze in the sky seemed much more endearing.

"Room service can be ordered, looks like I can get one last bargain before I leave. It's so great to get something for free."

Ying Tian walked out of the room and stood beside St. Louis. Looking at the beautiful woman's serene and lovely appearance in the night, he suddenly felt incredibly calm. He lost all interest in ordering food or getting something for free. He just felt that it was good to stand side by side with St. Louis and watch the city's night view, and he could even keep watching forever.

St. Louis seemed to think so too, and the two remained shoulder to shoulder for several minutes.

"commander."

"Well, I'm here."

"I'm so happy today! Are you happy too?"

"I'm very happy."

"Hehe, the commander has completely accepted this title."

St. Louis's reminder made Ying Tian realize, belatedly, that he hadn't really refuted the title in a long time, and that he had subconsciously accepted it after being called that so often.

"seems like it."

St. Louis turned his head and said, "Then I'll ask you a question, and you have to answer me honestly."

"Go ahead and ask. You told me to be more confident before, and I think I have that confidence now."

"Then let me ask you... out of all the people in our naval base, who is the commander's favorite?"

It was a tricky question, but Ying Tian answered truthfully, "The Prince of Wales."

St. Louis blinked in surprise and said, "I thought it would be Glorious or Yi Xian, after all, they are marriage ships... but it doesn't seem so surprising."

“Guanghui Yixian is certainly very good, but the first person I met was the Prince of Wales. She, well, is really good.” Ying Tian didn’t know how to describe it, “Anyway, she’s very good.”

"I really envy her." St. Louis leaned on the railing with her elbow, gently resting her cheek on her hand as she looked at Ying Tian. "Then I'll definitely be her second favorite."

"I'm sorry, it's Shoukaku."

"Commander, I'm getting angry."

"Don't be angry, you're the third favorite."

St. Louis squinted, smiling as if he had gotten his way: "I heard it. The commander said he likes me. It doesn't matter which rank I am, I heard it anyway."

"If you heard it, you heard it. If you didn't hear it, I can say it again."

Ying Tian took a breath and said, "I like you. I don't know if this is love, but I'm happy when I'm with you and I want to spend more time with you. I think this must be love."

St. Louise's heart pounded. She bit her lip, her eyes subtly guiding the gaze of the man she loved most: "Just saying? And then what?"

"And that's it."

Ying Tian stood behind St. Louis, put his arm around the beauty's slender waist, and held her mature and charming body, which was like a ripe fruit, in his arms. The two of them trembled at the same time, their body temperatures mingling as they felt each other's heartbeats.

"And then?" St. Louis grasped Ying Tian's hand, which was wrapped around her lower abdomen, and guided it upwards little by little.

"And then?"

"Of course there's a 'then' part, and then..."

"Then came the kissing, and then the actual sex, right, St. Louis?"

An unexpected voice rang out, instantly snapping the two from their dazed state. St. Louis, in particular, recognized the speaker's face and exclaimed in surprise:

"Ron?!"

Chapter Thirty-Nine: We Came at the Wrong Time

Since the beginning of human history, two ultimate questions have plagued everyone: Who will be the first to step forward when there is an advantage? Who will be the first to run away when there is danger?

In fact, these two questions can be seen as one question, both being choices of priorities to maximize benefits and minimize harms. Although some people have tried to answer such questions, such as the sycophant suggesting that the leader go first, or Comrade Zhang Beihai demonstrating through his actions that he should lead his men to run first, it is truly impossible to please everyone, whether it is an individual or a group.

“We live in a complete information cocoon. The entire naval base is divided into small cells. We are placed in these cells by an invisible hand. The walls of these cells are very solid. Everyone is in their own cognitive prison. In fact, this naval base has erected a pitiful thick barrier.”

"Does he even have a commander? What is his situation? Is his thinking really what we know?"

"I don't know, I have absolutely no idea. It's because someone has controlled the way we can contact the commander, selected the people who can have contact with the commander, and turned their will into the commander's will. This will has become a shackle on us, and we don't even know who the owner of this shackle is."

"Friends! Sisters! I know that the naval base has always operated this way, but is it right just because it has always been this way? In this situation, we should unite, break the shackles that bind us, pull down those who are high and mighty and operate in the shadows, and reclaim the glory that we deserve."

"All rights belong to all ship girls!"

In front of the bulletin board, a blonde girl excitedly raised her hands after delivering a passionate speech. In the eyes of this Sardinian submarine Leonardo da Vinci, even if it wasn't a passionate outburst, it should at least be a warm response and thunderous cheers. Then, with his command, hundreds of ship girls rushed into the office to seize the bird positions. The secretary ship would take turns, and today she would go to my house to have tea and chat with the commander about inspiration, while the others would slowly line up behind her.

To everyone's surprise, the crowd in front of the bulletin board was sparse, and no one responded to Leonardo da Vinci's rallying cry.

This left the blonde girl rubbing her hands awkwardly and saying, "What happened to the saying 'Aren't kings and nobles born with a special destiny'? None of them dare to rebel."

Still, no one paid her any attention. After all, she didn't have Joan of Arc's "freedom to guide the people" or Aurora's "world-changing cannon fire." Moreover, everyone was discussing the three names on the bulletin board in small groups. That was the list of the third batch to go to the Commander's World. After going through the steps of registration, preliminary test, and review, the results were announced but not fully disclosed. Finally, the results were revealed.

"If I can go to the Mercury Memorial, why can't I?"

"Including Ayanami, Sakura Empire already has two people who have gone there. This is unfair. Are they taking advantage of the fact that we Iris have no one left?"

"Let's forget about everything else, but Ron... are you sure he won't run into any problems?"

"If something is out of the ordinary, it must be a conspiracy. There is definitely a conspiracy."

Some people are unhappy with this way of putting it.

"Of course, one's life depends on one's own efforts, but one must also consider the course of history. Ayanami-chan is just right, so what?"

“That’s right, Mikasa-senpai is right. What’s wrong with Ron? She has the qualifications and the ability. She’s the pride of our German Patrol.” Magdeburg was also puzzled as to why Ron was chosen, but he would definitely speak up for his own people when he was out in public.

"There are plenty of capable and qualified people out there. This task isn't that difficult. It's just playing games and giving reports."

“Exactly, there must be some shady dealings involved, otherwise why don’t Donghuang and Iris have any, and why don’t we Sardinia have any either?” The energetic young girl Leonardo da Vinci quickly chimed in. She looked around and spotted a tall, slender figure in green, so she called out loudly, “Say something, Littorio!”

"Who said none of our Sardinians went to the commander's side?"

Littorio dropped a bombshell right off the bat, leaving many stunned. Could there really be some shady dealings involved, with another list besides the people on the surface?

"It's just that we haven't set off yet."

A moment of silence

"cut--"

"Well, as expected of you."

"Littorio, can you please stop taking such long breaths when you speak?"

Littorio stroked her chin. She was qualified to participate in the meeting to decide the final list, and of course she knew how many compromises and clashes had taken place in the process. Especially Ron, if it weren't for the Prince of Wales' vote at the crucial moment, she would never have been on the list. After all, as the only ship girl in the naval base who had seen the commander, the Prince of Wales' words carried a lot of weight.

Many people also have questions about this list.

When people saw the names Mercury Memorial and Rei Ayanami, many thought, "If they can do it, I can definitely do it too." But when they saw Ron's name, many were shocked, then exclaimed, "If she can do it, I can do it even better!"

It's not that Ron is ordinary; in fact, she's a very powerful heavy cruiser, one of the top fighters in the naval base, with outstanding achievements, and she can even cook. It's just that she's really the kind of... the kind of person who's very rare...

So even as they were about to set off, Hood still couldn't understand it. She tugged at the Prince of Wales' sleeve and whispered, "These past few days, the naval base has been spreading rumors that you have some kind of deal with Ironblood. What's going on?"

"What deal? There was no deal." The Prince of Wales remained outwardly calm, but inwardly he was thinking, "I'm sorry, Hood. Although you are my friend, there are some things I really didn't mean to hide from you. Blame the Commander; we just fell in love with the same man."

"Then why would you support sending Ron there?"

"Of course it's because she's a good fit. She's excellent at both focusing on her work and summarizing and reporting data."

"Of course I know she's very capable, but Ron's personality..."

“Personality isn’t a problem, anyway, it won’t hurt the Commander.” The Prince of Wales had also thought for a long time about why Frederick the Great would support Ron. She felt she had guessed part of the reason. Out of guilt, she whispered to Hood, “Ron is just the beginning. If she can go and have no problems, does that mean there’s no one unsuitable to go to the naval base?”

Hood blinked, then immediately understood. Yes, even Ron could do it, so no one would object if he went himself. Was this part of your calculations? Prince of Wales, you're quite something.

On the other side, their companions were seeing off the three who were about to depart.

Shigure and Yukikaze kept stuffing candy and snacks into Ayanami's pockets until they were full.

"Ayanami, remember, the stuff in this pocket is for you to eat, it's all delicious flavors. The stuff in the other pocket is for the Commander, it's a mix of wasabi and herring flavor. When the Commander eats it, remember to take a picture and send it to me."

The silent Ayanami blinked, which was taken as an agreement to Shigure.

Mercury Memorial, unlike her usual weak and listless self who would rather sit than stand or lie down, stood upright and was surrounded by the Northern Alliance ship girls.

Soviet Russia: "What is your mission?"

Gone is the usual lightheartedness; Mercury's tribute: "To help the Commander share the burden, to build a stronger naval base, and for the future of every sister."

Kirov: "What is our objective?"

Mercury Memorial: "We must treat our comrades-in-arms with both the warmth of spring and the ruthlessness of autumn winds sweeping away fallen leaves."

Soviet Belaros: "Are you confident you can do it?"

Mercury Memorial: "Yes!"