dmims Page 1455
Page 1455
It should be true.
Mu Chenglin answered with his eyes.
However... that being said, Lu Lin seems to be quite popular among the ship girls at Haoding Naval Base. Even after becoming the temporary admiral, not a single ship girl has resisted. As for how things will develop in the future... it's really hard to say...
Muna silently sighed with her eyes.
"Um... Sister Naihua? What are you doing?" Xiaobai looked at the three members of the Mu family staring at each other without saying a word, and couldn't help but ask out of curiosity.
"Ah, it's nothing, it's nothing. I was just a little distracted for a moment." Muna smiled slightly at Shiro and patted Shiro's shoulder. "More importantly... Lu Lin, I'm sorry for misunderstanding you earlier. Um... Now that you're alright, could you take us for a walk around the area? I'd like to see what the sea area in Chapter Eight is like."
"Oh! Of course!"
Xiao Bai raised his fist in response.
Chapter 1938, Section Eight: Life
The resources brought by the Mu family were of various types and quantities. In short, Xiaobai first asked Elizabeth and the ship girls of Haoding Naval Base to help sort and move them. Most of the oil, ammunition, steel, and aluminum supplies were generously handled by Xiaobai, who had Elizabeth move them into Haoding Naval Base's resource storage, waiving any charge for the newbie naval base. Faced with Elizabeth's doubts after receiving the instructions, Xiaobai reassured her that the ship girls of the newbie naval base were all highly capable, with excellent standby capabilities and ample resource storage, so there was no need to worry about this for the time being.
The naval base's endurance wasn't something they showed to the Haoding Naval Base on the first day. After Xiaobai explained, Elizabeth didn't have any doubts. After thanking Xiaobai twice, she led the ship girls to sort and move the supplies brought by the Mu family.
Taking advantage of this time, Xiaobai led Munaihua, General Mu, and Mu Chenglin on a walk around the valley, showing them the surrounding terrain and cultivated fields. Afterward, he took them to the beach in Chapter Eight.
On the beach in Chapter 1939, the air was thick with the scent of the deep sea, making it difficult for ordinary people to linger. After General Mu and Mu Chenglin carefully examined the sea for more than ten minutes, they soon began to show signs of discomfort. Xiaobai quickly led them away from the beach and back to a safe area, where their discomfort subsided somewhat.
"Cough cough cough, oh cough cough cough..." General Mu coughed softly, his face dark, covering his mouth. He looked warily at the distant, faintly visible beach and the thick black fog. "I've been there before, but I never imagined the concentration of the deep-sea aura at the beach in Chapter Eight would be so exaggerated..."
"Cough cough cough, cough cough... Uncle, it is said that before the Chapter Sea was fully developed, the concentration of deep-sea energy on the beach was so high that no living person should enter... cough cough cough." Mu Chenglin covered his mouth, coughing as he explained to General Mu.
"I see, cough cough cough..." General Mu took a deep breath, his dark complexion gradually returning to normal, then sighed with a complex expression, "Now I finally know how Admiral Haoding was injured..."
"Honey, come on, have some water to clear your head." Mu Naihua handed a bottle of mineral water with the cap unscrewed to General Mu and asked with concern.
"Thank you, my wife." General Mu accepted the water bottle from Mu Naihua with a grateful expression, tilted his head back and gulped down the mineral water in one go. "Ah... much better."
"It's much better now," Muna said with a faint smile.
Compared to the disheveled state of General Mu and Mu Chenglin, who were coughing incessantly from the deep-sea aura, Muna Hana's reaction was much calmer. Faced with the dense deep-sea aura on the beach, Muna Hana's most frequent reaction was to furrow her brows and gently cover her mouth and nose. After leaving the beach, Muna Hana did not cough once.
Xiaobai silently gazed at the mummy flower, feeling a mix of emotions.
Perhaps... this is the benefit of having a physique closer to that of a ship girl after obtaining the blood of Chairman Er Gou...
Xiao Bai turned around.
Mu Chenglin had just accepted the bottled water handed to him by the ship girl next to him and gulped down two mouthfuls.
"Phew... It seems that with my uncle's and my physical condition, we can't just go near the beach at will..." Mu Chenglin said with some emotion, and then asked Xiaobai who was looking over, "Admiral Lu Lin, may I ask how long Admiral Haoding can usually stay on the beach?"
"Admiral Haoding... I heard from Elizabeth that he can usually command operations for two or three hours straight."
"It's that long?!" Mu Chenglin exclaimed in surprise.
"Ah... well, while it's partly because Admiral Haoding is quite resistant, there's another reason." Xiaobai turned her back, slightly lifted the hem of her skirt, pulled out a mask from under her skirt, and turned back to the crowd, saying, "This was made by the ship girls of Haoding Naval Base using fragments of their ship equipment. It's a mask that can block the aura of the deep sea to a certain extent, and wearing this can greatly increase the time you can spend on the beach."
"Ah, this..." Mu Chenglin stared blankly at the mask in Xiaobai's hand, "Then why didn't you take it out just now, Admiral Lu Lin?"
"Well, these masks are quite stuffy to wear, you probably won't like them." Xiaobai stuck out her tongue at everyone.
"..." Mu Chenglin gave a bitter smile.
The land portion of Chapter 1940 was mostly barren wilderness. Xiaobai led Munai and General Mu on a tour of the beach and the surrounding valley. After that, there wasn't much left to see. After returning to the valley, Mu Chenglin led the ship girls to find an open space to set up camp. Before long, rows of domed tents appeared neatly in the open space.
The reinforcements brought by the Admiral's Headquarters have finally been officially stationed in Chapter 8.
That afternoon.
After settling the ship girls in, Konohana, General Konohana, and Masahiro Konohana were invited by Shiro to have dinner at the villa in the newbie naval base.
"The dishes are served: steamed grouper, steamed king crab, and crispy fried yellow croaker." Akagi brought plates of seafood dishes to the table and pushed them in front of the three members of the Mu family. "There is also fresh sea urchin sushi and salmon sashimi. The sauces have been prepared in advance and are placed here for now. If you feel that the flavor is not enough, there is also wasabi and soy sauce here. You can add them as you wish."
Akagi left the table with a smile, leaving the three members of the Mu family staring blankly at the delicious dishes on the table.
"Grouper? King crab? Yellow croaker?" Mu Chenglin stared blankly at the dishes on the table. "Where did these ingredients, uh... come from..."
“These are the ingredients Miss Elizabeth brings every day. I heard there are plenty of these things in the sea area of Chapter Eight.” Xiaobai replied with a smile. “Sister Naihua, Admiral Mu, Uncle Mu, you three must have suffered a lot on your way from the human city. These dishes should taste better than the dry rations you had on the road. Please try them.”
"This……"
"These are all seafood dishes more valuable than gold..." Mu Chenglin looked at the dishes on the table, his expression complicated for a moment.
The Mu family is prominent and respected. As a member of the family who has always been the focus of their cultivation, Mu Chenglin doesn't actually find high-end seafood, a rare delicacy for ordinary people, particularly special.
However, when Mu Chenglin set off from the Mu family to the Eighth Chapter, his elders heard that the Eighth Chapter was a territory that humans had never set foot in for five hundred years, and that the living conditions there must be extremely harsh. Therefore, in order not to embarrass Mu Chenglin in front of Xiaobai, his elders gave him a long period of psychological counseling before he set off, urging him to follow the spirit of hard work and perseverance of his ancestors, and to set a good example for others, even if he had to lie on the coldest ground and eat the hardest compressed biscuits in the Eighth Chapter.
Mu Chenglin understood the advice of his elders and mentally prepared himself to endure hardship and eat meager meals before moving on to Chapter Eight.
Originally, Mu Chenglin wanted to show Xiaobai his hard-working spirit, which was different from other young people.
Unexpectedly.
His first meal in Chapter Eight was spent in a spacious villa, enjoying expensive seafood that would be the grand finale in even the most luxurious hotels in human cities...
"Admiral Mu, what's wrong? Is it not to your liking?" Xiao Bai asked, seeing Mu Chenglin holding chopsticks and looking at the dishes with a strange expression.
"Ah...no, no...thank you Admiral Lu Lin..." Mu Chenglin quickly shook his head. He swallowed and, under Xiao Bai's gaze, picked up a piece of fish with complicated feelings, staring at it blankly for a long time.
The aroma of premium seafood lingers in the air.
The experienced Mu Chenglin could tell at a sniff that this was definitely not ordinary seafood.
Too extravagant.
It's so corrupt...
Which ancestor told me before that life in Chapter Eight would be tough...? Now that I see it, this period of expedition to Chapter Eight has clearly been like a high-class agritourism retreat...
Mountain delicacies... seafood...
Thinking of this, Mu Chenglin closed his eyes, put the fish into his mouth, and chewed it carefully twice.
"Huh?!" Mu Chenglin's eyes widened, and he slapped his thigh. "Great skill!"
Chapter 1941 Simple Life
Mu Chenglin chewed the fish with relish while shoveling large mouthfuls of rice into his mouth.
The words of the elders in the family echoed faintly in my ears with each swallow.
"Cheng Lin, this journey will be arduous. As the youngest patriarch in the history of the Mu family, you must not embarrass the family in front of your colleagues."
"What's so hard about eating in the wind and sleeping in the open? Which of our ancestors didn't endure hardship?"
"Remembering the bitter past to appreciate the sweet present, remembering the bitter past to appreciate the sweet present..."
"..."
In Mu Chenglin's mind, the image of his relatives playing mahjong and eating roasted duck legs in the meeting room at home before he left gradually resurfaced.
Fourth Uncle, Third Uncle, Second Aunt...
Chenglin has remembered your entrustment. During this trip, I, Mu Chenglin, will carry forward the spirit of hard work and perseverance, keep the development of the sea area in my heart as the top priority, endure the most hardship, do the most work, and live in the simplest accommodations. I will never be extravagant, never embarrass myself, never...
"Admiral Mu, would you like another bowl of rice?" Xiao Bai asked Mu Chenglin enthusiastically, holding up a large ladle for scooping rice.
"Yes! Thank you very much! I'm sorry to trouble you, Admiral Lu Lin!" Mu Chenglin handed the clean rice bowl to Xiaobai.
"No trouble at all, no trouble at all." Xiao Bai took Mu Chenglin's rice bowl, filled it with rice using a large ladle, and handed it back. "By the way... what does Admiral Mu think of the food here?"
"Delicious! Absolutely delicious!" Mu Chenglin took the rice bowl from Xiaobai with both hands and couldn't wait to take a big bite. "Although these are just simple cooking methods, each seemingly ordinary dish has details that are hard for ordinary people to notice. It is these cooking details that perfectly bring out the quality of the ingredients and make the already delicious dishes even better!"
"As expected of someone from the Mu family, they really know how to eat!" Xiaobai exclaimed, looking at Mu Chenglin in amazement.
"I know a little, just a little..." Mu Chenglin stammered as he ate his rice.
"Delicious, delicious!" General Mu happily held up his empty bowl, grabbed his chopsticks, and laughed heartily at Xiaobai. "Admiral Lu Lin, can I have another bowl too?"
“No problem.” Xiaobai got up and took the rice bowl from General Mu. While adding rice, she smiled relaxedly at General Mu. “Actually, before I brought you back, I was worried that you might not be used to the food here because you were used to living in human society. It’s so great to see that you like it.”
"Haha, Admiral Lu Lin is too kind. The dishes here, whether in terms of craftsmanship or ingredients, would be the center of attention even in a high-end hotel in a human city!" General Mu carefully accepted the full bowl of rice with both hands and said with emotion, "And to be honest, even if we are picky eaters, after eating mineral water and meal replacement biscuits for almost half a month on the way from the human city to Chapter Eight, there's no room for being fussy anymore."
"Well... we really have to thank the ship girls of Admiral Haoding for their logistical support..." Xiaobai said with a smile, then shifted her gaze to Muna Hana and said apologetically, "Well... speaking of which, it must have been a bit difficult for Muna Hana-neechan."
"Hmm? What's wrong with me?" Muna looked at Shiro curiously.
"Sister Nohana must be here for a vacation in Chapter 8, right? As you can see, the environment here isn't very good... It's not a great experience for a vacation area..."
"This experience is hundreds of times better than most resorts in human society," Muna replied with a smile. "Although I did come along with the intention of just looking at the scenery, thanks to your hospitality, little sister Lu Lin, I am very satisfied with my decision to join you on this expedition... and I am also very glad."
"Sister Nonoka..." Shiro looked at Nonoka with emotion.
"Another bowl, please!" Mu Chenglin, holding an empty rice bowl in both hands, barged into Xiaobai and Munaihua's line of sight.
"Damn, how come Cheng Lin eats faster than me... How can a man lose to his junior in terms of appetite? No way, give me another bowl!" General Mu hurriedly shoveled the leftover rice into his mouth in one gulp, then puffed out his cheeks and shouted while holding up the empty bowl.
Xiao Bai and Mu Naihua looked at Mu Chenglin and General Mu, and smiled at each other.
The wind and the remaining clouds.
They had plenty of water and a full stomach.
Two thuds.
Mu Chenglin and General Mu, heavily pregnant, collapsed onto the villa floor, letting out burps as the breeze drifted in from outside.
"Ah...so wonderful..." General Mu patted his belly, which had swelled up more than a circle, and exclaimed, "Is this life in Chapter Eight...it's too beautiful."
"Uncle... is right." Mu Chenglin stared at the ceiling of the villa and murmured in agreement.
Mu Chenglin was enjoying a moment of tranquility after a hearty meal, his mind filled with the words of his elders before their departure, a strange mix of satisfaction and guilt coexisting within him.
This dish is delicious.
This villa is quite beautiful.
Is it really okay for me to be enjoying myself like this right from the start of Chapter 8...?
Why are the resources for Chapter 8 so plentiful?
Who am I? Where am I? Why do I always feel like I've forgotten something very important...?
Mu Chenglin entered a state of sage-like tranquility after a hearty meal and drinks.
"Sister Naihua, Admiral Mu and Uncle Mu..." Xiaobai looked at Mu Chenglin and General Mu in a relaxed and carefree state, and couldn't help but look at Mu Naihua with some concern.
"They're just wasting their time. We can leave them alone for now." Muna Hana stacked the clean plates on the table together and smiled at Shiro. "Once they've rested and digested what they've eaten, they'll naturally recover."
"Oh..." Xiaobai.
"Admiral, let Missouri handle the plates."
Missouri stepped forward from behind, bent down to pick up the stacked plates on the table, smiled slightly at Monica, bowed slightly, and then turned around and walked out of the villa.
Muna rested her chin on her hand, watching Missouri's departing figure with great interest.
"I remember the last time you came to the Mu family, little sister Lu Lin, you brought this ship girl with you."
"Yes, Sister Nonoka still remembers?"
"I remember it very well. This ship girl's ability to read people and her mannerisms are quite remarkable." Konohana smiled gently.
"Well, that's right..."
"Compared to this, little sister Lu Lin."
"Ok?"
"You've given us a tour today, and we've had our rest. Now that we've finished dinner and our ship girls have settled in, can we perhaps discuss our next mission?" Konohana asked Shiro with a smile.
"A mission? Oh, okay..."
"Ah!! I remember now!" Before Xiaobai could even finish her reply, Mu Chenglin, who had been lying on the floor with his belly sticking out just a second ago, suddenly sat up. He opened his eyes wide with sudden realization and looked at Xiaobai and Munaihua. He quickly straightened his posture and said seriously to Xiaobai, "I remember what I forgot!!"
Xiao Bai blinked, looking at Mu Chenglin who suddenly sat up in surprise.
"Admiral Lu Lin!" Mu Chenglin bowed deeply to Xiaobai in gratitude, "Thank you for your hospitality, Lu Lin. I will remember it forever!"
"Admiral Mu, please get straight to the point," Xiaobai said with a smile to Mu Chenglin. "Admiral Mu also wants to discuss the upcoming mission arrangements for the ship girls you brought with you in Chapter Eight, right?"
"Ah... that's right." Mu Chenglin lowered his head awkwardly and cupped his hands to Xiaobai, saying, "The ship girl forces used to support Chapter 8 will be temporarily led by me due to ownership issues... However, if Admiral Lu Lin wants to issue any orders, she can give them directly to me."
"I see." Xiaobai nodded.
"Admiral Lu Lin, may I ask, of the ship girl forces we brought from Chapter 8, what's next...?" Mu Chenglin asked, looking earnestly at Xiaobai.
"Hmm... indeed, the missions for those ship girls are a problem..."
"Admiral Lu Lin, if you don't mind, I can first explain the intelligence data of these ship girls to you, and then you can give them some instructions based on their situation. Admiral Lu Lin, you can rest assured that although these ship girls do not belong to the naval base, they are experienced in combat. Even if you ask them to go out to sea to explore and fight the enemy in the depths of the abyss right now, it would be no problem at all!"