Elder brother's garrison

Page 27

"Does he seem very wealthy?"

"Would you like to see my bankbook?" Bismarck asked.

"Ah...no need, thank you..."

Xiao Bai looked around the boat.

Outside the ship, a few girls were standing sparsely on the surface of the sea.

"Are those ship girls?" Xiaobai raised his hand and pointed to the girls standing on the water in the distance.

“The escort ship girls I just mentioned are like this,” Bismarck replied.

"There should only be one garrison here, right?" Xiaobai asked, somewhat puzzled.

If they really wanted to hire ship girls, they would probably hire those from Shiro's own naval base.

Although these ship girls were too far away to see clearly, Xiaobai was still able to confirm that they were not his own ship girls.

“Not all ship girls are for military use. Many civilian organizations also have their own ship girls.” Bismarck glanced at the ship girls in the distance. “Instead of always going to the naval base to request services, it’s more cost-effective to just hire a ship girl directly.”

"Oh...I see."

"However, since most of these ship girls haven't experienced real combat, they don't have any decent combat power," Bismarck added.

Xiao Bai could only respond with a smile.

—It's not arrogance.

When Bismarck spoke of "decent combat power," he was probably referring to something like the capital ships in his own naval base.

Ultimately, using this standard to distinguish between ship girls from civilian organizations is a bit harsh.

The chances of these merchant ships encountering Abyssal Fleet ships are not high. Even if they do, they are nothing more than Abyssal Destroyers, which are just easy targets. Hiring ship girls from the naval base at this time is no different from using a cannon to kill a mosquito.

At this moment, as if sensing the gazes of Shiro and Bismarck, the ship girl in the distance turned around and looked in this direction.

Xiaobai withdrew her finger and bowed deeply to the ship girl from afar.

The ship girl seemed to be used to being watched, and waved to Shiro.

—Speaking of which, being able to see ship girls seems to be one of the selling points of these merchant ships.

"Want to take a picture?" Bismarck asked, pulling out a camera.

"Huh? What are you filming?"

"They say you can take photos with the ship girls here." Bismarck pulled out her ticket.

The ticket does state that you can take photos with the ship girls you hire without disturbing their work.

The people on deck had already started taking pictures of the ship girls on the water in the distance with their phones.

—It's called a group photo, but it's more like taking selfies with the ship girls like visiting a tourist attraction.

“Bismarck and Saratoga are ship girls too.” Xiaobai waved his hand.

"Are you going to film us?"

"what?"

“Take pictures of us.” Bismarck said, holding a camera, then turned to Saratoga beside him, asking for her opinion.

Saratoga squatted next to the luggage, her little hands groping around inside for a long time before finally pulling out a bag of potato chips.

This was a farewell gift that Erbits gave to Saratoga before he left.

“Sure,” Saratoga replied, tearing open the package and pulling out a few chips.

Come to think of it, Xiaobai has never actually taken a picture with the ship girls from the naval base.

"Ah... well... let's take a picture." Xiaobai took the camera.

……

On the sparsely populated deck, there was a peculiar sight.

A girl in a white dress with waist-length hair and a tall, stylish woman lean gently against a petite girl with black hair.

The three of them stood by the railing on the deck, facing the sea breeze.

"Ah... Miss, please look at the camera... Could we put the potato chips down for now...?"

"Miss in the middle, don't look down, look at me, look at me."

"Hey, don't keep that long face, smile, smile..."

The waiter, holding a camera, helplessly corrected the three girls' actions.

The youthful and beautiful scenery drew many people's attention away from the ship girls and towards these three girls, who then smiled knowingly.

"Hey, hey, miss, please look at the camera! Hold onto the lady next to you, stop eating those potato chips! Oh dear, your skirt's going to blow up if you don't cover it with your hand? Just put down the hand holding the chips, okay? Hey, they won't snatch it away, I wouldn't dare! Just put it down for a little while, please just pull on the lady next to you. You should learn from that lady with the short white hair... Okay, okay, okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'll film it, I'll really film it, I don't care how it turns out... Three... Two!"

"eggplant!"

With a click from the camera lens.

The three girls, like flowers, radiated youthful energy as they bloomed against the wind at the bow of the ship.

Chapter 34 After Xiaobai Left (1)

The daily life of the naval base is like the sea, with occasional ripples, but generally calm and peaceful.

There are hundreds of ship girls registered in the regular naval bases, but most of the time, more than half of them are not in the naval bases.

Some were going to other naval bases for exercises, some were traveling far away, and some were on assignment to work elsewhere.

Ship girls who go out to accept commissions usually have to be away for a considerable period of time, and then they will bring back a certain amount of money to enrich the daily operations of the naval base.

Of course, this isn't actually the naval base's main source of income. In fact, the ship girls already receive a certain amount of salary thanks to naval funds. The commissioned missions are more of a way for the naval base to help the ship girls quickly integrate into human society.

The return of ship girls who have been away from home is a common occurrence for naval bases.

Prince Eugen returned to the garrison that day.

Near the naval base gate is the destroyers' small warehouse. Because of the chuunibyou (delusional) spirit hidden within these destroyers, this small warehouse is often privately referred to as their combat base.

At this moment, Fubuki was sitting idly outside the warehouse, feeling rather bored.

When Shiro was around, Fubuki, who seemed to have picked up bad habits from a certain supply ship, was always thinking about conquering the world. When she had nothing to do, she would go to the admiral's office to play with Shiro. Shiro, after finishing her work, would also spend some free time playing with Fubuki.

Don't let Admiral Shiro's seemingly weak demeanor fool you; he knows a surprising amount of things. During their conversations, Fubuki always learns interesting things from Shiro as if listening to a story.

For example, when O'Bannon came here last time, Xiaobai helped O'Bannon learn about the history of potatoes.

Being with Xiaobai is like being with an encyclopedia; I'm always happy.

This lifestyle isn't necessarily bad, but once Shiro is gone, Fubuki will feel extremely bored.

Today is the first day since Xiaobai left.

This shortcoming became apparent when Fubuki, full of energy, rushed to the admiral's office only to find an empty bench.

—Nothing to do.

Suddenly feeling lost, Fubuki could only sit in front of the warehouse door, staring blankly, somewhat at a loss.

Fubuki thus became the first ship girl to see Prinz Eugen return.

"Ah ...

"Huh? Isn't this Fubuki?" Prince Eugen waved and walked over, flashing a friendly smile. "Hello~"

"It's been so long, Eugen!" Fubuki happily sidled up to Eugen, rubbing against her like a chick.

"Long time no see." Princess Eugen smiled and pulled a large bag of snacks from under her skirt, handing it to Fubuki.

Princess Eugen is a well-known workaholic in the naval base. It seems that she has a kind of dedication that is innate in her bones. Princess Eugen always accepts some relatively heavy tasks, so she is rarely seen in the naval base.

When she occasionally returns, she prepares a considerable number of souvenirs for the ship girls in the naval base in her ship equipment space.

Prince Eugen spent most of his savings here.

"Wow! Thank you, Eugen-neechan!" Fubuki hugged the snack bag that was almost as tall as her and happily spun around on the ground. "Cookies! Potato chips! Jelly! Shrimp crackers! Hehehe!"

"Remember to share with your friends," Eugen reminded her with a smile.

"Mmm!" Fubuki's little face beamed with joy, though it was unclear whether she had actually heard him.

"Did anything happen while I was away from the naval base?"

"Hmm! The new admiral has arrived!"

"A new admiral?" Eugen was taken aback. "How could Lexington-senpai be..."

Over the years, there have been many people who have come to inherit the naval base, but no one has ever called such a person a new admiral.

Even just one day.

The person whom Fubuki called the new admiral was naturally the one who had been accepted by Lexington to become the admiral of the naval base.

Prinz Eugen is a heavy cruiser ship girl from the naval base. During the time when the naval base was still embroiled in war, she served as Bismarck's escort ship and was one of the heavy cruisers who had the longest contact with the admiral.

Ship girls are inherently simple people who naturally develop feelings for each other simply by spending time together day and night. Therefore, even though Prinz Eugen is not a married ship, after spending a long time together, her feelings for the admiral cannot be replaced by any random stranger.

Thinking of this, even the good-tempered Eugen became inexplicably angry.

“She’s the Admiral’s sister,” Fubuki explained, noticing Eugen’s confusion.

"Huh? Is that Xiaobai?" Suddenly, the anger in my heart was extinguished in an instant.

Ah, is she the admiral's sister?

The admiral and the ship girls are family.

The admiral and his sister are family.

So the admiral, his sister, and the ship girls are also family.

Oh, that's fine then, they're one of us.

A strange equation flashed through Eugen's mind.

Suddenly, Eugen's heart also started pounding.

I really want to meet the new admiral.

The fact that a large number of job seekers were turned away does not mean that the ship girls in the naval base no longer need the position of admiral.

In fact, the importance of the admiral to the ship girls is almost like spiritual nourishment. The ship girls are powerful, but also sensitive and delicate. Their female capacity for tolerance allows them to wield powerful ship equipment, but they also have fragile hearts.

They crave love and family affection. Any act that warms their hearts becomes part of their daily routine.

Therefore, ship girls are used to close contact.

Therefore, they longed for the admiral.

All they really need is a reason for them to accept the new admiral, no matter how childish the reason, or even something as simple as the new admiral being the admiral's sister.

This simple reason was enough to make them put aside their reservations and dedicate themselves wholeheartedly.

"What kind of person is Admiral Xiaobai?" Eugen asked.

"Admiral Shiro is amazing! He knows so much!" Fubuki replied, holding a large bag. "He often plays with us!"

After that, Fubuki went on and on about Shiro.

It seems that because Shiro has an aura of majesty in front of the destroyer, Shiro is portrayed from Fubuki's perspective as a gentle and considerate but omnipotent and omniscient sage.

All that's missing is giving Xiaobai a pair of wings so she can fly.

As they were talking, Fubuki brought up the fact that she couldn't find Shiro today.

"Eh? Isn't he here?" Prince Eugen asked.

"Well, Sister Lexington said the Admiral went to a banquet and won't be back for about a week."

“Ah…” Prince Eugen fiddled with his fingers with some disappointment.

“Bismarck and Saratoga also went with the admiral.”

"Ah... I'm so envious... Wait a minute." Prince Eugen suddenly looked up. "Who went with the Admiral?"

"Huh?" Fubuki was startled by Prince Eugen. "Bismarck and..."

"Big sister, ahh ...

Before Fubuki could finish speaking, Prince Eugen ran crying towards the admiral's office as if he had lost something he cherished.