In the early morning, under the sunlight, the sea sparkled.
Flocks of seagulls soared freely in the clear blue sky.
On the sea, ships slowly departed from the pier, emitting 'woo woo' whistle sounds, and people swimming in the sea played with each other, as if bathed in happiness.
"Wow, Commander, so many, many people!" York excitedly watched the figures moving back and forth on the pier. Although the passing crowds were all in a hurry and only glanced at their group before paying them no more mind, York still shouted and exclaimed curiously, looking left and right.
It was truly lively; it was her first time seeing so many people gathered together. This was a completely new sight that she had never witnessed before, neither at the Headquarters nor at Wang Yu's port.
The pier of Xianhua City was bustling with people, with an endless stream of cargo movers and passing merchants earning a living there.
Not far away, on the wide road, traffic flowed like a river, with vehicles carrying goods and people in an unending stream.
Adding to that were the crowds of people getting an early start on beachcombing nearby and the city construction teams constantly pushing forward with their progress.
It was indeed exactly as Pennsylvania had said; Xianhua City had already entered a trend of comprehensive development, with the economic center of the surrounding sea shifting towards it. The entire Xianhua City was thriving.
Wang Yu brought York and Amagi to Xianhua City today.
He had long harbored the idea of visiting Xianhua City, wanting to see what the cities of this world looked like.
However, he had been busy with the port's construction, but recently, the port's affairs were finally mostly handled. Most importantly, there were finally more Secretary Ship Misses, so he could openly slack off and fish!
So, he found an opportunity to bring the Ship Girls to scout out Xianhua City... Coincidentally, there were also some matters that required him to personally come to Xianhua City to handle, so he dealt with them all at once, treating it as a collective business trip.
Glorious was routinely stationed at the Command Center, responsible for monitoring the sea. Now that the Command Center had an additional Navigator, TB Miss, Wang Yu didn't want to show his face in the Command Center unless necessary, fearing that after TB monitored him, she would close her eyes and destroy the port. He also didn't dare to let the Ship Girls leave the Command Center, fearing that enemies might sneak into the port without anyone noticing, so he ultimately had to ask Glorious Miss for help.
He had mentioned the Navigator Miss to Glorious after the fact in the evening, of course without being explicit, only hinting at his distrust of TB.
Although Glorious was somewhat puzzled, she still stated that she would pay more attention to TB's behavior, which greatly reassured Wang Yu. After all, the Secretary Ship Miss was always reliable, and he could completely trust Glorious's abilities.
With Glorious keeping an eye on Navigator TB, there should temporarily be no need to worry about TB Miss causing any trouble...
After leaving Gascogne to help handle the daily documents in the office and instructing her not to approach the Command Center unless necessary, Wang Yu happily skipped work. No, it should be considered a business trip. Can a Commander's affairs be called skipping work?
Even if he was truly going out to play, it was still the Commander providing post-battle emotional care for the Ship Girls...
No way, a single screw on my wife's deck is more precious than this pier! I have to pamper her well!
It was a good chance to bring little York along. She had been diligently training at the port recently, as Gascogne's expectations for little York had increased. This was truly a sad story...
So, York had complained to him quite a bit recently, after all, once Instructor Gascogne's training intensity was raised, it would never decrease... Truly, squeezing out every last bit of strength...
And Amagi, who had just arrived at the port not long ago, also came out to enjoy the scenery of this world. No amount of description could be as impressive as seeing it firsthand.
"My Lord, where are we planning to go first now?" Amagi looked around at the bustling crowd and asked.
"Let's go to the Headquarters' temporary maritime operational base first. Let's visit Pennsylvania and them first; having an acquaintance introduce us will make things easier."
Wang Yu thought for a moment and made a decision. Anyway, there weren't many main things to do here, so it was better to visit an acquaintance first.
It had to be said that the cultural customs of Sakura Empire and Eastern Radiance were indeed quite similar; even the point of finding someone first to get things done was much the same. Amagi easily approved of Wang Yu's decision.
"Understood, My Lord." Amagi nodded slightly: "I'll go gather some intelligence first and inquire about the location of the operational base. As a prominent naval military stronghold of the Azure Lane, this shouldn't be difficult to find out."
Wang Yu nodded. This world didn't have satellite navigation.
If there was anything more advanced, it was probably only the maritime charts used by the Ship Girls that served as the most advanced navigation system. Technology trees unrelated to the Wisdom Cube had been completely cut down, and land-based navigation systems were so primitive they were unbearable to look at. If they just blindly searched without inquiring clearly, they would likely end up God knows where.
However, these things should undergo a significant change once Xianhua City's communication network is fully established, even if it's far from as developed as the internet in his previous life, at least it would move beyond the realm of ancient people.
After all, the common communication method between the port and the Headquarters wasn't luxurious enough for constant video calls; most of the time, matters were handled by telegram.
For other places to get online, who knew how many years it would take.
Was this direction of development right or wrong? Was the Wisdom Cube truly the future of everything?
Such confusion flashed through his mind... Never mind these things, they were too far off!
For now, let's not talk about it; it's better to handle the port's affairs first!
I'm still 100 years away from achieving Ship girl dominance!
While Amagi went to gather information, Wang Yu also grew a bit restless. Since he couldn't just wait aimlessly, he simply took the incredibly curious York, and like two curious babies, they strolled around the pier.
The main body of the pier's ground was cast from steel, covered with a layer of specially treated wooden flooring. It looked like it had been there for many years; some parts of the wood were discolored, giving it an overall sense of aged splendor.
Stepping on it was quite comfortable, with no slippery feeling, just like walking on a wooden track.
Occasionally, seabirds flew overhead, but startled by the chaotic crowd below, they dared not linger.
They walked and observed, finding everything curious.
He had already despaired of this world's civilian technology tree, yet he inexplicably felt like he was the country bumpkin visiting the city...
Suddenly, he felt as if he might be seeing things. He rubbed his eyes. Not far away, the figures of several little girls who were moving cargo came into his sight.