Azur Lane Under the Stars

Page 443

"Hmm, to be honest... I'm still a little scared..." Noshiro's face flushed slightly.

Although he was a brave and skilled warrior, as well as a swordsman of perfect composure, he was still quite afraid of these ghosts and strange creatures.

So her older sister always liked to pretend to be a ghost to scare her.

Ren Shuo looked at Noshiro with some surprise: "But you...aren't you a demon? Why are you afraid of these things?"

Shouldn't these things be your distant relatives?

Noshiro covered her little horn and said, "Actually, we are just ship girls, we just have the characteristics of the Oni race, but we are not actually Oni... Besides, aren't Oni and Oni two species?"

"Really?" Ren Shuo scratched his head, neither confirming nor denying.

"If the commander is interested in these things, he can ask Fusang and the others about them later."

Noshiro said.

"Okay, we'll talk about it later... Hmm? Why does it feel like it's raining?" Ren Shuo felt water droplets on his neck and looked up in surprise.

Looking up, I saw a mask with a bright red face that looked quite ferocious.

The long "tongue" hung down, and the "saliva" dripping onto Ren Shuo's neck was from her mouth.

Ren Shuo stared blankly at the things above his head, even reaching out to touch the soft, long tongue—it seemed to be some kind of soft plastic.

Noshiro was startled and instinctively gripped Ren Shuo's hand, wanting to establish diplomatic relations. However, seeing Ren Shuo's calm expression, Noshiro relaxed instead.

"Commander, what... is this?"

Ren Shuo calmly said, "Will you take off the mask yourself, or should I help you?"

The person behind the mask couldn't see their expression, but a muffled voice came from behind it, sounding somewhat deflated.

"Commander, why are you like this? Why aren't you afraid?"

"Nonsense, I bought this mask for you, why would I be afraid of anything? Besides, I can tell this sticky stuff is hand sanitizer just by touching it. You haven't even gotten rid of the fragrance. Do you think my sense of smell is useless?"

"Tch... I was careless."

The girl above jumped down and removed the hideous mask, revealing a delicate and pretty face behind it—it was Long Island.

"Oh, it's Nagashima." Noshiro breathed a sigh of relief.

"What made you think of coming here to pretend to be a ghost?" Ren Shuo asked.

"I had nothing to do, so Yorktown invited me over to have some fun, just for entertainment," Long Island said righteously.

"Do you think I believe that? You can still go out? And with such a ridiculous reason?" Ren Shuo sneered, indicating that he did not believe it at all.

Long Island scratched his head awkwardly: "Okay, the reward is a brand new game disc..."

"And another thing, aren't you Miss Ghost? Why are you dressed as a ghost?" Ren Shuo said with a look of disgust.

"There's nothing I can do. Even though I claim to be able to float, I can't actually float..." Long Island said dejectedly. "If I could float, I would have made a white bed sheet."

"But you, Commander, even if you knew it was me, I don't think you were afraid at all for that instant. That's not a normal reaction," Long Island said curiously.

Ren Shuo remained remarkably calm: "In my previous world, I went to all the world's top ten haunted houses and didn't scream at all. I calmly completed the game. Do you think I'm scared or not?"

“You’re amazing…” Long Island said sullenly.

"Also, when I used to work summer jobs, I also worked at a haunted house. With that double advantage, this so-called test of courage is a piece of cake."

"So, Noshiro, if you're scared, just hide in my arms. I'm not afraid." Ren Shuo opened his arms to Noshiro and laughed heartily.

"I...I wouldn't..." Noshiro stammered, her face slightly flushed.

"Alright, alright, even though I came here to pretend to be a ghost and work, you guys are still feeding me dog food." Long Island looked disgusted. "Go away, go away."

Noshiro smiled apologetically at Nagashima, then pulled Ren Shuo away.

"How thoughtful, there are even road signs." Ren Shuo looked at the signs by the roadside and sighed, "Back in the day, when I went to those super exciting haunted houses, you could just wander around inside and there were no road signs or anything, it was easy to get lost."

"How do the passengers get out?" Noshiro asked curiously.

"It's all about solving puzzles. There are little props inside, and once you go in, they'll give you a map. Find the props, and you'll know how to get out," Ren Shuo said. "Their main attraction is this free-style haunted house."

"Commander, you really know all this."

"I can only say I'm interested. Let me tell you, putting everything else aside, there are people hiding over there, and I know it all, believe me or not?" Ren Shuo said with great interest.

Noshiro found it quite intriguing: "Then, Commander, why don't you give it a try?"

Ren Shuo nodded, then began to look around: "For example, over there, do you see that bush? There's one hiding in there, just waiting for us to get close enough to jump out."

"Then I'll go take a look..."

Noshiro pulled Ren Shuo closer and peeked out. They saw someone hiding in the grass dressed as a zombie... they couldn't tell who it was.

"I've come to my senses, I can see you."

"Gah?" The little guy in the grass looked up in confusion and saw Ren Shuo and Noshiro's smiling faces.

The zombie makeup didn't make her originally cute face look scary; instead, it gave her a unique kind of cuteness.

“It’s Yuudachi,” Noshiro said, looking at the familiar face.

"How did you know I was here?" Yuudachi asked blankly.

"So we found out. You can keep hiding it. We're leaving now."

Ren Shuo patted Xi Li's little head and said.

"Oh, oh..." Yuudachi remained clueless.

"Isn't the commander amazing?" Ren Shuo winked at Noshiro.

Noshiro snorted, "Maybe it's just a coincidence?"

"Then let me tell you, there's another one on that tree over there, believe it or not?"

Noshiro looked for a long time but still couldn't figure it out. She couldn't very well use the ship girl's radar to scan it, otherwise it would lose all its charm.

"I don't believe it." Noshiro shook her head.

"Then let's wait and see."

As Noshiro arrived in front of the tree, a black figure suddenly landed, baring its fangs and claws...

"Why is it a slime? And it's all claws and fangs?" Ren Shuo couldn't help but complain.

"I wasn't scared at all. That's strange. It was supposed to be scary." Aurora, whose face was the only part of her body visible inside the large slime suit, fell into deep thought.

"Who are you trying to scare? Tell me, who brings out a slime to scare people in the middle of the night? You're not a monster, you're a cute creature." Ren Shuo scolded Aurora.

"Hmm, whatever, this will do." Aurora was too lazy to change her outfit.

"Let's go." Ren Shuo pulled Noshiro along and continued to reveal the secret.

What was supposed to be a test of courage was turned into a mystery-revealing event and a ghost-hunting event by Ren Shuo.

Yorktown, waiting outside for feedback, looked completely bewildered as he held the walkie-talkie in his hand.

Is our commander really that brave? Or is what we've carefully prepared really too childish?

Yorktown whispered to Chapaev beside him, "Should we increase the level of terror?"

Chapaev, having heard the feedback, nodded: "I think it's acceptable..."

Yorktown continued to give orders via walkie-talkie.

In the forest, although the test of courage was quite terrifying, Ren Shuo could still see it at a glance. As for Noshiro, these terrifying costumes didn't scare her. It was the suddenness of being caught off guard that was frightening, but knowing it beforehand made it not scary at all.

"But I feel a bit bored." Noshiro sighed.

"Don't be sad, here, have some candy."

Ren Shuo took out the Big Black Rabbit chocolate, peeled off the outer wrapper, and fed it to Noshiro, deliberately stirring Noshiro's cherry lips.

"Hmm!" Nodo gave Ren Shuo a reproachful look, but still silently ate the chocolate.

Mmm, it's very sweet.

Ren Shuo chuckled and licked his fingers under Noda's slightly shy gaze.

…………

At the forest's exit, a group of ship girls waited to see what would happen, to see if their commander would be frightened and run out.

Even Taihou and Akagi were prepared to offer their broad-mindedness to soothe the psychological trauma their commander had suffered from being frightened by the demons.

That way I can legitimately hug the commander!

To everyone's surprise, Ren Shuo and Nengdai walked out hand in hand, chatting and laughing, showing no fear whatsoever, and instead finding it quite amusing.

This shattered Akagi and the others' expectations.

Could it be that... this event isn't so terrible after all?

Everyone started to have their own ideas.

Chapter 497 The Terrifying Gathering

After Yorktown and her team held an emergency meeting, a new round of tests of courage began.

Perhaps it was because Ren Shuo and Noshiro's reactions were too calm, even treating this test of courage as a date, that made the people of York City seriously doubt whether the things they had arranged were too childish.

Therefore, Yorktown and others increased the level of terror, trying to make this top ten title truly live up to its name.

Next to Ren Shuo and her group went in were several of Maryland's sisters.

They were the kind of people who were easygoing and not very afraid of ghosts or monsters.

So after going in and coming out, I only had a slightly frightened expression, but it was still within an acceptable range.

Yorktown and the others nodded in satisfaction; this was exactly the result they wanted.

However, they seemed to have overlooked the fact that Mary and her group were among the most daring in the port area.

Next, Littorio led the dragoons and the southwest and northwest winds into the area.

As Littorio entered the forest, he proudly proclaimed, "Let me show you the glory of Lord Littorio! Even the eerie, terrifying night in the forest cannot diminish the brilliance of Lord Littorio!"

"What demons and monsters? They're nothing but broken bricks and tiles before Lord Littorio!"

Southwest Wind glanced at the confident Littorio, but said nothing, though he felt a vague sense of unease.

"They should be alright, right?" Veneto asked with some concern.

Perhaps having slept too much during the day, the Empire, standing to the side, seemed quite energetic. In response to Veneto's question, the Empire gave a thumbs-up.

"Don't be shy, Sister Veneto! You know, Sister Littorio is very reliable. These so-called tests of courage are child's play for her, right? Besides, you let Sister Littorio in to take care of Southwest Wind, Northwest Wind, and the Dragoons, aren't you?"

Veneto looked at the Empire strangely: "Are you sure... your sister Littorio is a reliable person?"

The little empire tilted its head: "Isn't that right?"

Veneto didn't speak, but looked at the Empire with affection. She still felt that her little sister was a bit too naive and hadn't seen the utterly unreliable person hidden behind Littorio.

"Honestly, look at you! Button up properly, and you've got them all crooked. And your hair, didn't I fix it for you? You need to learn to fix it yourself... See, isn't it much prettier now?"

Veneto took care of the Empire like a mother, tidying up the Empire's messy hair, covering up the exposed breasts that had been exposed due to the wrong buttoning, and straightening the Empire's clothes.

"Hehe, isn't that because we have Sister Veneto?" It's clear that the Empire relies heavily on Veneto.

As the two women were talking, a scream came from the forest, and it sounded very familiar.

"Oh, oh, oh! It's starting! It's starting!"

The ship girls were extremely excited. How could a test of courage be complete without screams? Screams were essential for a test of courage!

"That voice... it sounds so familiar? Is it Sister Littorio?" the Empire wondered.

Veneto hesitated for a moment: "It shouldn't be, right? Aren't all screams similar? It should be Southwest Wind and the others, right?"

After all, Littorio volunteered to go in and take care of Southwest Wind and the others, so surely he wouldn't be so scared?

“Yes, that’s true…” Empire nodded. “Sister Veneto, I want to eat ice cream.”

"Okay, I'll buy it for you right away... Marco Polo, go ahead," Veneto instructed.

"Why should I go?" Marco Polo was very dissatisfied. "How can I waste my time on such a matter?"

Duke Abruzzi slapped Marco Polo on the back of the head: "Just go when I tell you to! Why all the nonsense? Aren't you just wasting your time here?"