How do I start a romantic relationship with a ship girl?

Page 164

Although Hu Teng remained silent, he nodded slightly in agreement.

Bismarck turned her gaze to Tirpitz and Z23 on the other side.

After the emotional group, who had a close relationship with Xu Huan, finished expressing their opinions, it was time for the rational group, who could view things 'objectively,' to speak.

Tirpitz remained silent for a long time, clearly recovering from the somewhat shocking news.

She gently clasped her hands together on her lap, her brow furrowing slightly: "Although the fact that the Commander is attracting the Sirens will increase the pressure on the port's coastal defenses, in the long run, the benefits the Commander brings to the port clearly outweigh the pressure on coastal defenses... I just wonder to what extent this so-called attraction of the Sirens will ultimately reach..."

After saying that, she turned her gaze to Frederick across from her.

“The Royal Family did indeed experience the same thing before…” Frederick understood Tirpitz’s meaning and explained, “However, based on my time with the Royal Family, this so-called pressure didn’t seem to have much of an impact on them…”

Chapter 227 Moral Clay

"I spent more time with the Royal Family..."

Hu Teng, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up: "Aside from that very sudden attack at the beginning, the Sirens' activities, while intense, were not particularly difficult to handle."

Hutten and Frederick's words had a very clear and simple purpose: they wanted to prevent Xu Huan from leaving Ironblood because of this inexplicable trait.

With the two of them thinking this way, Tirpitz, sitting opposite them, would naturally take it into consideration as well.

Given their past offenses (referring to disappearing without a trace and lying about the commander), their explanations at this point are hard to believe entirely.

Tirpitz lowered his head, remained silent, and fell into deep thought.

“I know Tirpitz, you seem to think we might be lying…” Hindenburg smiled and said, “But whether it’s true or false isn’t really that important, is it?”

“Unless the Sirens are simply too powerful, and the Royal Family can no longer tolerate it and is voluntarily forcing the contractors to leave the port…” the succubus said, her long, thick eyelashes fluttering, before her beautiful brows arched slightly.

"Do you think that's possible? Elizabeth may not think as much as you do, but she's not stupid either..."

"There's no need to consider that. What Frederick and the others said is probably true."

Bismarck, who had been watching from the side, suddenly interjected, "There's a grudge among those who came this time. One of the Royal Navy's naval legends. If the Royal Navy's coastal defenses are under heavy pressure, they wouldn't allow a top-tier combatant to leave the port headquarters..."

"Then there shouldn't be any problems..."

Upon hearing this, Tirpitz raised his head and revealed a gentle smile, a stark contrast to his previous silence and furrowed brows; his expression changed swiftly.

Upon seeing this, Bismarck suddenly had a flash of insight.

My own sister... Could she be saying that on purpose? Is she trying to test my attitude?

Very well, let's test the waters then...

In any case, her attitude of insisting on keeping Xu Huan in Tiexue has never changed from beginning to end.

The problems that arise can be solved, but if the commander is about to leave again, it will be difficult to bring him back.

Thinking it over, she finally looked at Z23, who was sitting to the side looking rather nervous.

The others also turned their gazes toward the girl.

"Z23... I remember you were in charge of accompanying the Commander on today's trip, weren't you?" Bismarck said. "If you have any thoughts, you can speak to me now..."

Apart from Khindenburg, almost everyone present in Z23, who is diligent, hardworking and eager to learn, has plenty of patience and a good temper.

"Me? I...I don't have any objections..."

Z23 calmed his slightly nervous mood and replied.

This was her first time participating in a meeting of the Ironblood level, so it was perfectly normal for her to be a little nervous.

Bismarck nodded and said, "Since no one has any objections... let's leave the basic direction unchanged..."

The so-called basic direction is self-evident: Ironblood believes that the Commander has the ability to attract Sirens.

"Maintaining the status quo" means that they still insist on keeping Xu Huan.

This decision was expected beforehand; this so-called discussion was merely a formality...

"So the main issue now is... the commander's own perception of his own abilities. It's related to the commander's personality, which is the main reason I called you all here today."

"You must have spent a lot of time with the Commander before, right? You should have a deeper understanding of the Commander's personality than we do... So, how do you think the Commander views this trait of his?"

"Personality...and opinions?"

The three exchanged a smile, and Frederick shook his head: "That child's personality is hard to summarize in one or a few words... If I had to describe it, I'd say he's rather easygoing..."

"Instead of talking about that, what are you worried about, Bismarck?"

Frederick asked curiously, "I understand you asking me about the child's personality, but as for your opinion... it doesn't seem to have much to do with what we're discussing, does it?"

“Yes, does that mean if someone has a bad personality, they don’t want to keep the contractor?” Hindenburg asked as well.

“I’m a little worried that the commander might leave on his own accord... because he’s afraid of dragging us down. You know, humans are prone to moral dilemmas, which force them to make certain choices.”

"..."

As soon as Bismarck finished speaking, the room fell silent.

Seeing that Frederick and the other two were silent, Z23 and Tirpitz, who were not aware of what was going on, thought that Bismarck had guessed correctly, and for a moment they did not know what to say.

After a while, about half a minute, a very untimely sound suddenly rang out in the room.

"Achoo—"

As if unable to suppress a laugh, Hindenburg covered his mouth with his hand, trying his best to stop himself from making a sound.

Frederick's lips curled up, while Hutten turned his head away.

"....What's wrong?"

Seeing the different reactions from the crowd, Bismarck asked in confusion.

Hindenburg, unable to contain his laughter any longer, burst out laughing as well.

"Ha ha ha ha...."

She moved her hand away, revealing a somewhat unrestrained smile, then shook her head and said, "If the contractor knew what Bismarck was worried about, he'd probably feel quite honored..."

".....oh?"

“There’s absolutely no need to worry…that child wouldn’t have such thoughts.” Frederick’s lips curled into a gentle smile.

"During a previous conversation, he once said something that left a deep impression on me—that the specific context defines what morality is. If one has the ability to define the context, ethics and morality are nothing more than clay in one's hands, which can be manipulated at will."

"In short, it has a flexible moral bottom line... it might be too low, but there's no need to worry about it being too high..."

The Bismarck sisters and Z23 were slightly surprised to hear this.

"The clay in your hands...are you just going to manipulate it however you want?"

Tirpitz repeated to himself.

It's time to update my views on the Commander...

People who say things like that are either very dangerous or very... shameless.

Tirpitz's guess was half right.

Although Xu Huan did not face any moral dilemma, he still had some sense of shame most of the time.

On the other hand, he is indeed very dangerous.

Compared to the Sirens.

Chapter 228 I'm waiting!

"Actually... I think we don't need to worry about this too much..."

While everyone was expressing their views on the moral dilemmas faced by humans and commanders, Z23, after a brief moment of reflection, quietly shared his own perspective.

Seeing everyone's gaze, the girl swallowed lightly, then continued:

"It seems like... no one has read what I wrote in my journal yet..."

As Z23 said, Bismarck and the other ship girls were all focused on the first page of the log, which contained Xu Huan's deduction about his ability to attract Sirens, and had no intention of reading any further.

However, we can't blame them for this. After all, they came up with a trump card right away, and it would be difficult for anyone to notice anything else.

After Z23 said that, Bismarck was also a little surprised, and then followed the girl's advice and flipped down a few pages of the log on the projector.

Then, they all saw the report that Xu Huan had the ability to directly treat and repair ship girls' equipment, and that he planned to be stationed in the infirmary permanently.

Silence fell in the room once again. Everyone stared at the description of the ship girl's ship equipment repair capabilities on the projector, remaining completely silent in unison.

Not only were Bismarck and Tirpitz shocked by this fact, but even the three who had been to the Royal Court were initially somewhat confused about the situation.

However, when she recalled the young man's battle trials with the formidable warrior in the training ground, a look of understanding appeared in the ship girl's eyes.

Judging from this, it seems that Xu Huan probably learned some medical-related abilities from the Royal Navy's medical ship girls and then brought them directly to Ironblood.

"Xu Huan once asked me about the skills that Ironblood lacked most when he was in the royal family... It seems that he had already made relevant plans."

Hu Teng spoke in a low voice, providing further perfect evidence for everyone's already confident guesses.

"That child is quite thoughtful..."

"I really need to find a contractor and experience that feeling when I have time... I've been thinking about it for a long time..."

Unlike the Royal Trio's reaction, Tirpitz and Bismarck were initially taken aback, but their hearts were quickly filled with joy.