Azur Lane Under the Stars

Page 448

So it ended in just one minute?

Tallinn, ever the helpful commentator, said, "There's nothing we can do. York just went all out and started bombarding us relentlessly. If someone had known their limits, they would have at least made the other side feel the intensity of the exercise, perhaps even making them realize their own weaknesses, before finally defeating them..."

Who told York to choose York? He's got a case of chuunibyou (middle school syndrome), he doesn't know his own limitations.

“Your port is really impressive. You probably don’t need those super powerful ship girls anymore, right? You can just come in and retire.” Lüzoff asked tentatively.

Tallinn smiled, pretending not to understand Lützow's probing, and replied, "Yeah, but you can't call it retirement. You can slack off if you want, the commander doesn't mind. Anyway, there are plenty of workaholics and combat fanatics in the port. If it weren't for the fear that everyone would grow mushrooms from staying at home all the time, the secretary ship wouldn't have arranged a monthly sortie quota. Of course, the quota is also very low. It's basically equivalent to taking a vacation in other ports."

"It's really not bad," Lützow remarked.

…………

"What? Does it feel unreal?"

King George V, who was waiting in the rest area, was leaning against the wall with two drinks in his hand. When he saw York coming over, he handed her one of the drinks and said in a friendly manner.

"Thank you... Was that York just now that powerful? He must be one of your port's aces, right?" York asked.

“Her… in a sense, yes.” King George V thought seriously and said solemnly.

"I knew it... such a bizarre weapon..." York was interrupted by King George V before he could finish speaking.

"She's one of the best at making a fool of herself, but honestly, she's not even close to being a top performer," King George V said, speaking the truth.

Although York underwent a complete overhaul and a minor modification with Siren Technology, she is still in the weakest tier, or even weaker.

The main reason is that she pursues good looks, while others who are similar to her pursue practicality.

The gap then widened.

"Huh?" York was stunned. What kind of port is this? Such a powerful vanguard ship girl is not even ranked?

York felt a sense of disbelief when he recalled the Duke of York's words, which he had taken as a joke.

"In our port, my strength is only enough to serve as a crutch," the Duke of York once said.

You wiped out an 80-level mass-produced humanoid siren with one shot, and you're telling me you're a cheat? York took it as a joke at the time, but now it seems there might actually be some truth to it.

"Cool, cool, cool, can you feel the power that was sealed from me?" York and Exeter also came to the lounge.

Exeter apologized, "I'm so sorry, my sister has caused you trouble..."

They're guests, and not even hostile ones. You didn't give them any face at all, and then you acted so arrogantly. It's only because they have a good temper that you're treated this way. If it were someone else, they would probably have written this down in their notebook.

"Hurry up and apologize!" Exeter glared at York.

"Huh? She's the one who failed my trial, so why should I apologize?" York was very unwilling.

"Hurry up, or you won't get any food today!"

“Gurgle…” York suddenly felt conflicted.

The other York quickly waved his hand, saying, "No need, no need, there's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm just not as skilled as others."

"However, could you reveal some details about your strange shells and the powerful secrets of the port? Of course, you don't have to, since each port has its own secrets, which I understand."

York was still a little curious and couldn't help but ask.

With King George V's approval, Exeter pulled York down to sit as well, saying, "There's nothing wrong with saying this. After all, our sisters in the port area often go out to do commissions, exchange ideas, and provide guidance for exercises and such, and we don't hide these things..."

Exeter gave York a brief introduction to their port's research and development team, basically telling her who made these things, but not what they invented or how many they invented.

"I feel that your research team in the port area is even more impressive than the R&D team at the Maritime Safety Administration headquarters in Ironblood," York said sincerely.

"It's alright, it just so happens that a few ship girls who like research and development are doing research together," King George V said.

The port area is now gradually starting to flex its muscles.

This was the result of a meeting between the secretary ship and the flagships of each faction, which was jointly discussed and agreed upon.

Previously, in order not to reveal too much, I would politely decline invitations to exercises and guidance from the Maritime Safety Administration. But now it's different. After screening, I will still go.

Putting aside everything else, at least the Royal Maritime Bureau headquarters knew some information about the Sirens and the port area.

However, given what has been revealed about their own port area, it is estimated that even if all the major maritime bureaus joined forces, they would not be able to take it down. In addition, the Purifiers and Observers have indeed been causing less trouble recently.

The most common enemies harassing the coastline are mass-produced humanoid Sirens or deep-sea ship girls. In addition, Yubari recently published an anonymous article with sound reasoning, indicating that the creation of mass-produced and deep-sea ship girls is not closely related to those intelligent Sirens.

Therefore, the Maritime Safety Administration is currently in a state of being unable to manage Ren Shuo, and therefore too lazy to manage him.

As long as you don't act too high-profile or openly defect to the enemy, the Maritime Safety Administration won't bother you.

"By the way, if you'd like to try out this cannon barrel, you can apply for it, and we can lend it to you for testing in the port area," Exeter said.

"Huh? Really?" York was overjoyed.

Exeter said meaningfully, "Of course."

I'm afraid you'll get used to it and then won't want to leave.

—

Chapter 502 Little Eugen? Little Devil!

"Time really flies. In the blink of an eye, it's been almost two weeks since Eugen went to that big demon king's port..."

Inside the Maritime Bureau, a blonde ship girl held an adorable cat-paw-shaped teacup in her hands and sighed like an old man.

"To be precise, it's 13 days, 20 hours, and 32 minutes." Another pink-haired ship girl struck a pose like an elderly person living alone.

"That's enough, isn't it? Why are you acting like you've lost your backbone just because Eugen isn't here? Are you so listless?"

Pennsylvania, who was passing by, launched into a serious critique.

However, the ship girls under his command remained unmoved, and the bolder ones even teased him: "Director, how dare you say that? I heard you saying things like, 'Why is there so much work?' and 'Ah, so tiring, I'm going to die if I don't have Eugen to rub my cheeks against,' when you were almost off work yesterday afternoon."

"You, you, you! What are you saying?!" Pennsylvania was extremely flustered after her embarrassing situation was exposed.

"Alright, we all like small and cute little guys, so let's not talk about each other." The pink-haired ship girl waved her hand with a look of disdain. "By the way, Director, when are you going to visit Commander Ren Shuo's port and bring our little one back?"

"Um, um... I'll do it when I have time, I have a lot of work." Pennsylvania's momentum instantly weakened.

That place is a den of demons; I really don't want to go there.

Every time I go there, I feel like I'm doing something wrong, because I can't run into any ship girls other than Hood and George V... They're just too scary.

"Ah, I'm going to die without Eugen!" one of the ship girls wailed.

"Little Eugen! How can I live without you, little Eugen!" Another ship girl cried with snot and tears streaming down her face, making it seem like she had been dumped.

"Alright, alright! I'll go, I'll go, okay?" Seeing the girls under her command putting on airs, acting as if they wouldn't work unless she went, Pennsylvania had no choice but to give in.

"Yay!" the crowd cheered.

Pennsylvania felt numb at the thought of having to go to their door again, and this time he would need to bring people with him, and he would definitely have to greet the commander.

I quit this bureau chief job, believe it or not. Or how about you transfer me to another position? I don't want to stay in this city anymore...

In Renshuo Port, King George V and his entourage of secretaries were really exploiting the young woman to the point of exhaustion.

…………

"So, this is why you've come?"

Ren Shuo nestled comfortably in his executive chair, with Dido and Sirius, the two sisters, watching him like hawks from Pennsylvania's perspective... I didn't come here to fight, what are you two doing taking out such huge ship-slaying swords!

As for his surroundings, whether intentionally or unintentionally, several secret service ships slowly surrounded him, seemingly blocking his escape route.

“Yes, Commander Ren Shuo, well, you see, Eugen is, after all, one of our Maritime Bureau’s people, right? So, right?” Pennsylvania stammered for a long time, unable to utter a complete sentence.

“I understand. Our port area has no intention of forcing anyone to stay. You can just go find her directly... Do you want me to go with you?” Ren Shuo smiled.

"Ahem... This? No need for that, I can go by myself." Pennsylvania forced a smile, but inwardly she was cursing.

Who would want to go with you, you great demon king?

“But there are many classified areas in the port area, so you can’t just wander around. Besides, you don’t know where Eugen is, do you?” Ren Shuo said with a smile.

"That seems to make sense." Pennsylvania was speechless; he really didn't know where Eugen was.

And what if I accidentally stumble into this so-called "classified" place? Will the port authorities silence me?!

The thought of this made Pennsylvania shiver and feel cold all over, not from anger, but from fear.

In the end, he couldn't refuse Ren Shuo's request and let Ren Shuo take him there.

The good news is that Ren Shuo only had Sirius accompany him, but the bad news is that for some reason, this girl was always staring at him with a predatory gaze, and would occasionally take out his ship-slaying sword to examine it.

Pennsylvania was terrified on the way.

"Little Eugen!"

Pennsylvania's face lit up when she saw Prince Eugen picking flowers in the flowerbed. Ah, it's been so long since I've seen our little Eugen. She's still so soothing.

"Hmm?" Hearing someone call her, little Eugen looked up in confusion. After seeing that it was Pennsylvania, she put on a sweet smile and walked over. "Big sister Pennsylvania, it's been a long time."

"Hmm, have you been good? Have you been eating and sleeping well?" Pennsylvania squatted down and asked softly.

“Yes, everyone in the port area takes good care of me. They're all so nice to talk to and fun to be around. I love it here,” Little Eugen said.

Pennsylvania was relieved to see that Eugen hadn't been bullied or anything: "Really? That's good... I'm here to take you home. We were so worried about you while you were away."

"Go home? Commander, isn't this little Eugen's home? Does this mean the Commander doesn't want me anymore? Waaah." Little Eugen pretended to cry.

Ren Shuo immediately stepped forward and picked up the little girl, comforting her gently: "How could the Commander not want little Eugen? Don't worry, the Commander will never abandon little Eugen. Come on, smile."

The old man and the young boy worked together perfectly, their back-and-forth banter leaving the Pennsylvanians dumbfounded.

Pennsylvania was completely taken aback by the word "Commander." She pointed a trembling finger at Ren Shuo and asked, "She called you Commander?"

Ren Shuo raised his head: "Hmm~"

"You made her a ship girl?" Pennsylvania felt like a clown.

"Hmm~" Little Eugen also raised his head.

"When did this happen?" Pennsylvania doesn't smoke, but at this moment, she felt a slight tremor in her hand holding the cigarette.

"It was a dark and stormy night when little Eugen came to my room," Ren Shuo began his story.

“Let me tell you, just based on that sentence, I can get you directly to the military police…” Pennsylvania sneered.

But before he could finish speaking, he heard a colossal roar. He instinctively looked over and saw a waist-high stone pillar that Sirius had cleaved in two with a single stroke. This stroke also shattered Pennsylvania's courage.

"I'm sorry, Master. There was a spider here, and I got scared, so I hit it a little too hard." Sirius said apologetically, bowing deeply, and the ship-slaying sword in his hand gleamed coldly in the sunlight.

"It's alright, it's alright, I'll just be more careful next time." Ren Shuo chuckled. "Director Pennsylvania, what did you just say? I just invited a bunch of kids over to listen to my stories, and then it was only natural that I got the ship. It's a bit much for you to drag me to the military police station."

Pennsylvania immediately changed her tune: "Commander Ren Shuo, you misunderstood. I wasn't finished. I wanted to invite you to our military police unit to help us see what shortcomings we need to improve. Look at what you're saying."

"Oh, that's easy. I'll have Bellaros and Kronstadt make the trip later. It's no big deal," Ren Shuo said.

"Haha...then I look forward to your visit..." Pennsylvania's smile was almost impossible to keep up.

"By the way, is there anything else?" Ren Shuo asked.

Pennsylvania took a few deep breaths before saying, "It's alright, it's alright. I have work to do, so I'll be going now."

"Okay, okay, take your time, Sirius, see them off." Ren Shuo held little Eugen without moving an inch.

Pennsylvania quickly said, "No, no, that's too much trouble. I can do it myself. Please wait."

After saying that, he quickly slipped away.

Are you kidding me? Sirius is actually sending me off? That maid's eyes really look like she wants to stab me.

Watching Pennsylvania's hasty departure, Eugen giggled, "Commander, look at her."

"You know, they've taken care of you for so long, can't you be a little more considerate of them?" Ren Shuo pinched Xiao Eugen's nose.

“You’re so understanding~” Little Eugen revealed a mischievous smile, “Those older sisters used to love rubbing their faces against mine, I’ll remember that!”

This little guy is quite vengeful.

Ren Shuo put Little Eugen down: "Alright, things have been done as you planned. Are you satisfied?"

"Hmm, very satisfied. Commander, I'm going to find Little Akagi now." Little Eugen waved to Ren Shuo and ran off.

“Let’s go back too. Our vacation is over, time to get back to work,” Ren Shuo said to Sirius, stretching.

"I obey your will, my proud master."

People leave and the tea grows cold; only a stone block, split in two, remains in its place.

…………