Elder brother's garrison

Page 528

"I'm back." Xiaobai said in a low voice, carrying a grilled fish into the house. She closed the door and handed the fish to the tall ship girl. "This is all I could find. Do you want some?"

The tall ship girl stared blankly at Xiaobai.

"Is the grilled fish not to your liking?" Xiaobai asked.

"No... this grilled fish..."

"It's a little burnt."

The tall ship girl shook her head: "I remember that Volta in our naval base used to grill fish for supper every night..."

“Uh…” Xiaobai paused, and her gaze immediately darted away.

Oh no, the ship girl who probably suffered physical amnesia is the Volta that this tall ship girl was talking about.

"...Did she give it to you?" the tall ship girl asked.

“…Yes, that’s right.” Xiaobai closed her eyes and nodded.

"Oh." The tall ship girl looked at the grilled fish and smiled. "I see."

The tall ship girl didn't seem to care about Volta's current situation, probably because she thought that Volta was, after all, a ship girl, while the person in front of her was just a human admiral and wouldn't threaten Volta's life.

"Speaking of which, Volta just came over to see me and said she'd secretly grill a fish for me." The tall ship girl murmured to herself, but still reached out and accepted the grilled fish from Xiaobai. "...Thank you."

"...Um, thank you to that ship girl named Vulta," Xiaobai said somewhat awkwardly.

The tall ship girl wasn't as reserved as she had been in Nia's yard this morning. After accepting the grilled fish from Xiaobai, she took a big bite of the burnt piece.

With a crunching sound, she bit into the burnt fish meat and bones, chewing fiercely as if she were trying to bite someone to death.

"...Let's peel off the burnt fish skin before eating it," Xiaobai suggested.

The tall ship girl shook her head and took another big bite of the grilled salted fish.

She looked really hungry.

Xiaobai looked at the tall ship girl and felt a strange sensation.

If I had to be honest about my impression of ship girls, I actually have a pretty good impression of this tall ship girl. In my eyes, she is sincere, she was quite earnest when she came to apologize, and she is also quite polite. Although I can't say she is a good person, she is a ship girl that is quite interesting.

Just then, a cough interrupted Xiaobai. The tall ship girl seemed to have eaten too fast, swallowing unchewed fish bones mixed with salty meat, which made her cough.

Xiaobai quickly pulled out a handkerchief, walked behind the tall ship girl, and gently patted her back: "Eat slowly, and pick out the fish bones and stuff."

As she spoke, Xiaobai wiped the corner of the ship girl's mouth with a handkerchief.

The tall ship girl, clutching half a salted fish, stared blankly at the little white fish wiping her mouth.

"...Waaah." Tears streamed down the tall ship girl's face as she looked at Xiaobai, sobs escaping her lips.

"Huh??" Xiaobai didn't expect the tall ship girl to cry so suddenly. She looked around, somewhat at a loss. "Yes, it's too salty. Do you want some water?"

"I..." the tall ship girl sobbed softly, looking at Xiaobai, "I..."

"I'll go get you some water!" Xiaobai quickly stood up and was about to go back into the yard.

However, this time, as soon as Xiaobai stood up, the tall ship girl grabbed her arm. Looking at Xiaobai, her pretty face streaked with tears, she said, "I did nothing wrong..."

"what?"

“…I did nothing wrong…” The tall ship girl cried as she dropped the grilled salted fish in her hand, then hugged Xiaobai’s waist and pressed her face against it. Waves of sobs came from Xiaobai’s navel.

Xiaobai was a little confused as the tall ship girl cried on her stomach. She didn't know where to put her hands, so she finally put them on the tall ship girl's head and patted it for a while.

The tall ship girl cried as she confided in Xiaobai.

This story begins last night. The admiral group that the tall ship girl belongs to was formed by a rather mysterious captain. That captain seems to be an admiral with considerable resources. Under his matchmaking, many powerful admirals in the second chapter joined the team, whether voluntarily or involuntarily, and the admiral of the tall ship girl was one of them.

Admittedly, if we only consider material aspects, the treatment of the tall ship girl has indeed improved since joining this team. Since the captain's ship girls will not join, and among the other team members' ship girls, she has the highest training level and decent combat experience, she was given the position of flagship of the large ship team by the captain. Her equipment quality has been significantly improved, and the captain also gave her a rather valuable damage control item as a reward.

The price is that, as a ship girl, she no longer has command authority over her admiral, but is treated like a tool, becoming a public ship girl. Whenever a crew member needs her help, she has to go on expeditions to assist the others. Tall ship girls don't like this.

However, because her own admiral had become the flagship, he had gained considerable respect in the team and often expressed his gratitude to her. Seeing her admiral so happy, the tall ship girl, despite her reluctance, really didn't want to shatter her admiral's grand dream.

Anyway, once her admiral reaches the third chapter, she will be able to leave this team. With that thought in mind, the tall ship girl has been enduring until now.

But all of that changed last night. After being ambushed by Bismarck, who looted everything and even destroyed their damage control systems, the fleet suffered a significant blow.

The equipment of the twelve large ship girls is not something to be taken lightly. If it were just stolen like that, the admirals in the fleet would have to work hard at sea for more than half a year to make up for the losses. The entire fleet was in an uproar because of this incident. For a time, countless fingers were pointed at the vice-captain who gave the order and at the flagship himself.

They said that as the flagship, she had failed to perform her duties and had not made good judgments about the situation, making her a failed ship girl. The tall ship girl did not refute this, but after experiencing the battle, she knew that Bismarck and the others were even more powerful. She had not done what she should have done as the flagship, but even if she had done it perfectly, the situation would not have improved at all.

She suggested that we stop antagonizing Nia, and even proposed that we go up and apologize, that Nia might forgive the fleet and return the equipment after giving her a good beating.

However, no one paid attention to her, and the entire fleet was still filled with blame and doubts about her abilities.

Having no other choice, and to avoid further escalation of the conflict, she brought a few of her closest comrades to Nia's courtyard to apologize.

For this reason, Xiaobai temporarily refrained from further interfering with the fleet's expedition and returned some of the equipment.

The tall ship girl breathed a sigh of relief. She returned to her naval base with her equipment and told her admiral about what had happened.

However, when her admiral learned of this, he not only failed to understand her, but also angrily pointed at her nose and called her a traitor.

The tall ship girl said she wasn't doing it for the sake of her admiral, her fleet, and her comrades.

However, her admiral didn't care. He said that it was precisely because of the tall ship girl's behavior that the entire fleet lost face and that he, as the admiral, was condemned by everyone.

Many things happened after that, because the apology caused a lot of trouble, and many admirals from the fleet came to this courtyard to ask about the development of the matter.

In the end, the tall ship girl, utterly disappointed in her admiral, simply took all the blame upon herself. Her equipment was confiscated, her resources were ordered to be removed, and she was locked in this room to reflect on her actions until she admitted her mistakes, without being given a drop of water or a grain of rice.

The tall ship girl felt wronged. At this moment, ever since her admiral joined the fleet and handed over her command authority to other admirals, until the very last moment, her admiral had not stood by her side, and the resentment that had been building up inside her was instantly ignited by this incident.

She hates it.

Why is my admiral so unkind? Why isn't my admiral as understanding as Nia and the little white girl in front of me?

If they were her admirals, they would never let her join the fleet, they would treat her well, and they would always stand by her side.

The idea that admirals and ship girls are family is utter nonsense in the eyes of the tall ship girl, and in her heart filled with indignation and anger.

Ship girls only choose those who treat them well. They endured humiliation and worked tirelessly day and night for their admirals, bearing shame and guilt while doing wrong things for them. Yet, until the very end, they did not receive the trust and support they deserved.

Inside the room, Xiaobai stroked the head of the tall ship girl while craning her neck to look at the ceiling.

After listening to the tall ship girl's story, she understood why the girl hadn't called for help the moment she saw her, but instead looked at her with that subtle gaze.

—She was truly disappointed, even desperate, with her admiral, to the point that she no longer saw herself as his ship girl.

"...Oh, by the way, speaking of which, I still don't know your name." Xiaobai paused while touching the tall ship girl's hand, and asked, "Can you tell me?"

The tall ship girl nodded between sobs, crying, "My name is... Royal Oak."

“Royal Oak…what an interesting name.” Little White laughed at the Royal Oak. “Yes, I know the details.”

Little White gently pushed the Royal Oak aside and took a step back.

Several tear streaks remained on the Royal Oak's face, making its pretty features look pitiful.

Little White stretched out his hand to the Royal Oak: "Then come with me."

The Royal Oak's cries paused.

Chapter 719 The Little Girl Grilling Salted Fish

Upon hearing Xiaobai's words, the Royal Oak stopped as if it had been choked.

The sobbing stopped, and the Royal Oak stared blankly at Little White, somewhat at a loss.

"Go with...go with you?" Royal Oak murmured.

"Mm." Xiaobai nodded.

"...Go with you...what does that mean?" Royal Oak swallowed hard. She seemed to understand something, but she wasn't sure.

“You’re coming to my place.” Little White said to Royal Oak with a smile, then seemed to feel that he should be more explicit, “Want to switch jobs? If you are, I have a very well-established process for you.”

"...Jump, switch jobs??" Only after Xiaobai made his words clear did Royal Oak realize that he wasn't overthinking things.

Xiao Bai nodded silently.

The Royal Oak stared at the hand that Little White had extended towards it.

Her hands were clean and white, with shiny nails that looked like pink seashells embedded in her fingertips. Her fingers were clean, slender, and long, making them very pleasing to the eye.

—Changing jobs...

The Royal Oak stared at Little White's hand, lost in confusion.

To be honest, Royal Oak had considered leaving her admiral. Ship girls aren't emotionless beings; on the contrary, they value emotions more than anything else. After repeatedly suffering unfair treatment and feeling the coldness emanating from her admiral, Royal Oak had thought about this issue more than once.

However, these are just thoughts. In reality, whenever this negative emotion is about to overflow, the Royal Oak will find a reason to stay.

I need to give myself a chance. Maybe one day the admiral will realize that I've already been here for so long, so what's one more day or two, or even ten or fifteen days? Once I get through the second chapter, or maybe the third chapter, I'll leave the team and be a free agent again.

People grow and mature; perhaps one day the admiral will realize his mistakes…

However, no matter what reasons Royal Oak gave itself, reality remained as cold as the sea, leaving no room for compromise.

She really couldn't wait any longer. She had given her admiral far too much time and opportunity, yet her admiral still hadn't realized it.

Royal Oak doesn't consider herself a saint. She can forgive the Admiral for the hurt he caused her, but the wounds that heal will never disappear and will remain forever in her heart. As time goes by, the wounds in her heart increase day by day, and they throb with each beat of Royal Oak's heart. Finally, these wounds, along with the resentment that has been hidden in her heart for a long time, erupted with the events of this morning.

Just as she had just realized, she was utterly disappointed in her admiral.

At this time, an admiral extended an olive branch to her.

I have seen where that admiral lived and I have also dealt with that admiral.

There was a temperature in that naval base that I couldn't experience.

The place he found himself in was not a garrison, but a prison, and the one extending an olive branch to him was light.

The Royal Oak reached out its hand, somewhat bewildered, and extended a portion of it towards Little White's hand before stopping, looking rather hesitant.

"If I become your ship girl..." Royal Oak looked at Little White and murmured, "Wouldn't I really be a traitor then?"

"Hmm...you can come and stay at our naval base for a while, just like running away from home, how about that? We can think about the future later." Little White smiled at the Royal Oak. "Speaking of which, the money you paid this morning is enough to eat at Nia's for a long time."

Royal Oak stared silently at Little White's face. A look of struggle flashed across her eyes, then she bit down hard, a resolute look appearing in her eyes. A trickle of blood flowed down her lower lip between her teeth. Royal Oak reached out and gripped Little White's hand tightly.

To hell with contracts, to hell with the debt of raising me! Everyone has their moments of capriciousness! Everyone wants to be a fairy princess! Everyone wants to be a tool! I'm done!

Royal Oak looked at Little White: "It's a bit difficult for me to address you as Admiral right now, please..."

"Just call me Xiaobai, that's what many of my friends call me." Xiaobai smiled at her, feeling the warmth from the Royal Oak's palm.

"...I will remember it."

"That means the contract is successful, Dad." Little White squeezed the Royal Oak's hand and smiled at her.

"Hmm!" Royal Oak had a carefree, "what's the use" attitude.

"But speaking of which, I need to clarify something," Xiaobai said to Royal Oak. "Um... I'm usually very busy (playing games with destroyers), and I don't really like talking (a great listener). Lately, I've been subtly feeling like I'm not very good at interpersonal relationships (I always feel like someone's doing things behind my back), so I might not spend much time with the ship girls (I often go into my mental world to play with Taihou). If you stay with me, there's a possibility that I won't actively contact you. (After all, there are too many ship girls.)"

Xiaobai felt it was important to clarify these matters with Royal Oak as soon as possible, as these were matters of principle.

After all, you can't give the other side too much hope by talking nonsense or giving them too much expectation. In the end, once you've lured them to your side, they'll find that the treatment they receive is far from what they imagined.

Xiaobai felt that the treatment of the ship girls in her family's naval base was just barely acceptable.

"Do you work long hours?" Royal Oak asked.

"Uh, there's no overtime."

"Do you have weekends off?"

"...It's hard to say about weekends...but even if it's not a weekend, there's basically nothing to do on weekdays," Xiaobai said.

That's the truth. Before the amusement park opened, most of the ship girls in the newbie naval base didn't have much to do. After all, there were more people than tasks. After the newbie amusement park opened, most of the ship girls had their own small shops and started to get busy. But I think they seemed to enjoy it. Maybe it was a different kind of vacation.

After watching Little White finish speaking, the Royal Oak was so moved that it almost cried.

She pounced on Xiaobai and hugged him tightly.

No overtime, plenty of rest, excellent benefits, and the admiral is a cute girl—it seems unlikely that she'd assign herself any inhumane work.

Although Xiaobai has stated that as the admiral he may not have much interaction with her, it is already a fantastic place to live for Royal Oak.

To hell with that traitor! With such a huge disparity in treatment, I, Royal Oak, am determined to be that double agent!

After eating half a grilled fish, Royal Oak's stomach stopped rumbling like a eunuch's. After grabbing Little White's hand and agreeing to run away from home, Royal Oak's overall demeanor changed from that of a sorrowful young lady to that of a free-spirited young woman.

Xiaobai could only attribute this strange change in temperament to a temporary letting loose.

After that, Little White turned off the lights in the Royal Oak House and then walked into the yard.