The diesel vehicle, spewing exhaust, chugged and rattled into the distance. Wang Yu rubbed his lower back, which had become sore from sitting; the journey was too rough, even his strengthened body was struggling.
However, Akagi's method was to find a direct bus, which was good. He had indeed asked for directions earlier, so it counted as achieving a strategic goal, no problem.
From afar, he saw Pennsylvania waiting at the main gate of the base.
"We meet again, Commander Wang Yu, and Miss Akagi and Miss York. Oh, did Miss Gascogne not come?" After speaking, Pennsylvania looked around with a hint of expectation, as if hoping Gascogne would suddenly appear before them the next second.
"Gascogne isn't here," Wang Yu tried to press down on little York, who was looking up with a proud, slightly upturned face: "She didn't come this time. Gascogne stayed in the port to help me with Commander's duties."
York was clearly enchanted by the phrase 'Miss York' at this moment, utterly smitten. Children always dream of becoming adults, yet they don't realize how much joy they will lose when they grow up...
Wang Yu had already noticed that York would only reveal her mischievous nature as a naughty child in front of familiar people; in front of strangers, she would still be mindful of her manners and usually wouldn't play pranks or be naughty.
But Pennsylvania, who had met them several times and had chatted happily with him, was clearly in the category of 'familiar people' in York's eyes.
"Alright," Pennsylvania withdrew her gaze, a little disappointed: "I see..."
It was perfectly reasonable for a Secretary Ship to help manage port affairs after the Commander left the port. Miss Gascogne was flawless, and her strength was so great, she would definitely serve as a Secretary Ship. Pennsylvania quickly accepted this explanation.
Then she thought of something else and added, "Then Wang Yu, after you've finished everything, remember to go back early. Commander's duties are so numerous; you can't just leave everything to the Secretary Ship. What if Miss Gascogne gets overworked?"
"As a Commander, while striving for progress, you also need to be considerate of your subordinates. You absolutely cannot be a hands-off boss!"
She spoke with righteous indignation.
What do you want to do to my Gascogne?
Wang Yu looked at this Pennsylvania, who had become somewhat incomprehensible, with a speechless expression.
Last time at his port, Pennsylvania had frequently hinted at Gascogne, but Gascogne hadn't responded.
At the time, it was fine; he couldn't see any problems and simply took it as gratitude for saving her life.
But now that Gascogne wasn't around, this person's talkative nature couldn't be held back. Caring so much about my Ship Girls in front of me, their Commander, what exactly are you trying to do?
It's a good thing you're not a Commander, otherwise I'd be summoning my fists to show aggression...
Pennsylvania apparently didn't notice what Wang Yu was thinking, or rather, her good mood for the day ended after not seeing Gascogne...
She led Wang Yu and the others through the heavily guarded base gates. The thick steel main gate closed behind them, accompanied by a dull thud. They passed through a sealed tunnel and arrived at the incredibly vast parade ground inside the base.
A group of armed and armored soldier guards were conducting drills.
After bypassing the parade ground and walking for a long time, they finally saw some shadows of Ship Girls.
Ship Girls who were not on sortie missions seemed much livelier. In casual clothes, they lost some of their heroic demeanor and gained a bit more youthful charm.
A group of beautiful, sixteen or seventeen-year-old girls, adorned in various colorful dresses, with lovely long hair, slender figures, charming waists, light red lips, and rosy cheeks, exuded youthful vitality, like budding flowers, full of life.
They cheerfully greeted Wang Yu and York, but while they knew Wang Yu, Wang Yu didn't know them. Wang Yu could only scramble to respond to each one, which elicited a burst of laughter.
Fortunately, these enthusiastic girls only gathered around briefly and made no other moves, which made Wang Yu breathe a sigh of relief.
He just wondered if it was his imagination, but Wang Yu felt Akagi's gaze seemed a bit unfriendly. He didn't know if it was his imagination.
The Ship Girls who had gathered around suddenly felt a chill in their hearts, then giggled and scattered like birds.
Wang Yu looked back at Akagi, only to see Akagi respond with a gentle, shallow smile, her eyes narrowing into an inverted crescent moon...
It must be an illusion...
After finally dealing with the enthusiastic girls, Wang Yu had time to ask about other things.
He asked Pennsylvania, somewhat surprised, "Are the main guards of your base ordinary people?" It was the first time he had seen soldiers in this world.
He hadn't seen any human navy at the Headquarters before, and he had thought that the human navy had been completely eliminated, and that Azure Lane's naval forces did not include human troops. After all, flesh and blood were too fragile compared to steel behemoths.
"They are mainly some logistics support troops. We Ship Girls can't manage everything. Sea defense work can be left to us, but other matters still need to be handled by humans, as we don't have Commanders. These things still rely on others to handle," Pennsylvania said nonchalantly.
"Moreover, their main job is not to fight the Siren, but more to deal with some ill-intentioned humans. There are always some people who think Ship Girls are kind and easy to bully, or simply fantasize about directly 'fishing' for a ship, and then there are some hooligans who want to take advantage, which is very annoying."
"We Ship Girls are not good at dealing with these people. Some are truly disgusting, but we can't just execute them with cannons, can we? But what's strange is that these people are very well-behaved in front of these troops... Speaking of which, you humans are really strange. Our Ship Girls' firepower is clearly stronger, yet they aren't afraid of us, but they are afraid of these armies composed of ordinary people."
Wang Yu didn't know how to answer. Bullying the weak and fearing the strong was indeed human nature. But human nature was not just one thing; moral blackmail was also a form. Some people thought good people should be held at gunpoint, and they believed that Ship Girls were good people who could be bullied.
But they didn't consider that the Super Siren also had beautiful and lovely maidenly appearances, yet they were still called the 'nightmares of the sea' by everyone. And Ship Girls, in terms of destructive power, were by no means weaker than those sea nightmares.
Ultimately, Ship Girls were born with beautiful hopes and expectations. They would instinctively avoid actively harming humans, but they could also get angry, and their wrath was not something mortals could easily endure.
These troops seemed to be guarding the base, but in reality, they were more about protecting the people outside the base...