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

Page 49

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Meanwhile, in the middle of the cold, snowy landscape, inside a bluish-white building.

The ship girl with long, blue-gray hair sat in front of the monitor and was somewhat surprised to see the signal source above suddenly disappear.

"Huh? We've been discovered?"

Chapter Sixty-Seven: Enemies?

After patrolling several more sea areas, and with information reported from other ship girls on missions, as expected, the Royal Navy's detection radar was completely infiltrated in a near-total collapse.

After returning to the port area, Xu Huan and his group did not even have time to eat or rest before launching a large-scale inspection and cleanup operation targeting the Royal Port area.

All the Royal Navy ship girls were mobilized, carrying various detection instruments and moving around the port area, checking almost all the information instruments in the port that could be infiltrated. This continued until evening before it was finally completed.

As the inspection activities progressed, Xu Huan's identity as a commander became known to more and more ship girls. However, everyone seemed to have a tacit understanding in this regard, and no one loudly announced the news. Instead, they maintained a collective silence.

This time, without Belfast and Warspite specifically emphasizing it, the thoughts of almost all Royal Navy ship girls were unintentionally unified to a basic degree—

How could the Commander casually let outsiders know about such a 'treasure' that benefits his own port faction?

Just like the old saying in Donghuang, "Keep quiet and make a fortune."

Moreover, the risk of information equipment infiltration within the port area has not been completely eliminated, and making a big commotion could easily attract the attention of ship girls from other factions.

Xu Huan was sitting in his office at the port command center. After working for almost half a day, he was using his watch to analyze and review the inspection reports submitted by the ship girls, while constantly picking at the food he had just packed from the canteen.

The Royal Barbarian Chef's cooking skills were quite average, and the food didn't taste very good, but hunger is the best food to eat, especially since the young man hadn't eaten much all day.

This is also the first time Xu Huan has been stationed in the command center as a commander since he entered the royal family.

His identity has been revealed, which can be interpreted as the beginning of his formal appointment as commander.

At a table and chairs beside the young man, the royal silver-haired head maid accompanied the secretary, also responsible for checking the constantly submitted documents. However, as she watched Xu Huan eating and working at the same time, a hint of pity flashed across her face.

"Master...why don't you rest for a while? It's not good for your health if you stay like this."

“I’m used to it…and there’s no need to worry about that. People with stomach problems in our area are basically all dead.” After checking one report again and confirming there were no problems, Xu Huan put it aside and began analyzing the next one.

“I can help you, Master…”

"help me?"

The young man glanced at Belfast with some confusion, then at the pile of documents in front of her: "Weren't you already helping me? Without you, my workload would likely have increased even further..."

"Master...Yes."

Belfast glanced at the food in Xu Huan's hands and the tableware placed above him, hesitated for a while, and finally nodded in agreement.

She had meant to say that the help she was referring to wasn't actually about this matter, but seeing Xu Huan's response, she had no choice but to give up.

At this moment, the door to the command center was gently opened again, and Warspite walked in, carrying documents that were almost as tall as herself. She finally managed to place them on the open ground in front of her, sweating profusely.

"Commander, this should be the last batch. If everything is fine, it means the enemy hasn't infiltrated our port yet..."

After saying that, Warspite quickly divided up a small pile and took it to his new seat to start inspecting it.

Upon hearing that all the frontline radar information of their own camp had been stolen, the war-weary brain in the port, which was usually in charge of overall command, went completely malfunction.

While the Royal Navy's overall technological level isn't particularly strong, the superior layout and performance of its Mind Radar Detection Station are among the few advantages that the Royal Navy can boast of compared to other factions, and even be proud of.

But today, this very advantage that we were so proud of has been completely eroded without us even realizing it.

The Royal Navy has a self-testing system for instruments. When it detects something wrong or an unauthorized external instrument intrusion, it will automatically send a warning message to the port area. However, it is unknown what methods the other party used to bypass the self-testing system.

This has led to situations where tasks that are usually done by computer now need to be manually checked again just in case.

Xu Huan nodded, said nothing more, finished the rest of his rice in a couple of bites, and then threw himself back into the inspection work.

It wasn't until the clock struck around eleven that the mountain of data was finally conquered by the three people in the command center working together.

"That unknown force seems to be only interested in our maritime detection equipment, or rather, in the information contained within it..."

After tossing away the last document, Xu Huan clapped his hands, sighed wearily, and looked at the two ship girls in the office who looked apologetic, asking:

"Do you think this might be a Siren tactic?"

"It shouldn't be..."

Warspite spoke first, replying, "Neither side has ever had a precedent of being infiltrated by Sirens on critical equipment, and they prefer physical 'infiltration' to technological means..."

"So it means it was done by other factions... But then again, does our royal family really have that many enemies?"

Xu Huan fell into deep thought.

Both Elizabeth and Warspite ruled out the possibility of it being a Siren at the first moment, so I should also give more consideration to the opinions of these ship girls who know the Sirens inside and out.

Belfast stood up and poured a cup of hot coffee for Xu Huan and Warspite respectively: "The word 'enemy' is a little inappropriate. Master... it would be more reasonable to say 'competitor'."

Although all factions are essentially ship girls, even those of the same kind will compete with each other in various ways. The most obvious of these is the competition for commanders, followed by other aspects such as resources.

Although they all share a common enemy, the Sirens, without unification and integration, there will be considerable friction and conflict between the various factions due to the historical prototype ships.

This is what is commonly referred to as a disorganized mess.

"Thanks....."

Xu Huan took the coffee and took a small sip: "Before the reverse analysis results from Kimbri come out, let's share your thoughts."

Chapter Sixty-Eight: Where is my crown?

The signal transmitter has been handed over to Kimblee for analysis, but it will take quite some time to find out the source of the signal.

When Xu Huan asked the ship girls to give their opinions, that is, the potential allies they knew, Belfast and Warspite hesitated for a moment.

The two exchanged a glance, and after a brief exchange of looks, Belfast spoke first: "Master, we think it's most likely Iris and Vichy's side..."

"Iris and Vichy?"

Xu Huan recalled what he had learned from the data collection and was somewhat surprised: "I remember they didn't have any researchers in this field, right? They shouldn't be able to break through the self-checking system set up by Bri. Besides... your relationship should be alright, right? After all, you both have an even more formidable opponent like Ironblood."

“No, actually, Iris and Vichy are, in a practical sense, our dubious allies, Commander.” Warspite shook his head.

"Currently, our relationship is still acceptable... but over the past few centuries, the Iris they represent has clashed countless times with the royal family we represent. Therefore, we must be very wary of them..."

The struggle between the ship girl faction is largely related to the previous struggle between the human faction.

Xu Huan had learned a little about this history when he was studying, and it was nothing more than a century-old feud on Earth, so he wasn't too surprised to hear it.

It's likely that if anything happens on Iris Vichy's side, they'll prioritize guarding against the Royal Family.

“Iris and Vichy… I understand. I did ask your Majesty for his opinion on this matter before, but his thoughts seem to be somewhat different.” The young man, recalling Elizabeth’s extremely annoyed tone and affirmative expression, said:

"Elizabeth seems to think that the Ironbloods are more likely to be involved... no, she should say she is quite certain that it was the Ironbloods who did it."

"In this case..."

Warspite and Belfast exchanged another glance, a hint of understanding in their eyes.

“Master, Her Majesty has some issues with Miss Bismarck, or rather—” Belfast was explaining when Warspite suddenly stood up and walked toward the door.

"Excuse me, I have something to attend to, so I'll be leaving now."

It was as if they were running away from something.

Xu Huan found it a little strange, but didn't think too much about it. Seeing this, he nodded and said, "Yeah, you've worked hard today too... Belfast, what did you say? Let's continue..."

Belfast watched Warspite leave before lowering her voice and whispering in Xu Huan's ear, "You said earlier that Her Majesty has some issues with Bismarck... but actually Her Majesty has issues with many ship girls, which may affect her making very subjective judgments, Master."

"What holiday? Doesn't she usually stay home? She said that Bismarck didn't give her a friendly look when she signed the armistice agreement with the Ironbloods... What happened back then?"

Xu Huan was somewhat curious.

“Well…” Belfast hesitated for a moment, but finally explained in an even softer voice:

"The last time His Majesty met Bismarck, because of the height difference, His Majesty always felt that Miss Bismarck was somewhat disrespectful to him..."

"Uh..."

The young man understood, recalling the girl's slender and somewhat thin figure.

"Furthermore, Miss Bismarck is rather 'voluptuous,' and His Majesty has never been particularly fond of ship girls with that kind of figure..."

Xu Huan glanced casually at the large, white, fatty mounds on the ship girl's chest.

If we follow this standard, then Belfast seems to fit the bill perfectly.

"With both reasons combined, His Majesty naturally developed some opinions about Miss Bismarck, and would occasionally say a few words about her."

"It seems Elizabeth holds a grudge quite a bit..."

“Yes, His Majesty has always been like this... so I will have to trouble you to take good care of him in the future,” Belfast said with a gentle smile.

Xu Huan spoke again: "Then I noticed that Warspite's expression was a bit strange just now. Did she know what we were going to talk about and so she avoided suspicion beforehand?"

After all, Warspite was Elizabeth's bodyguard and most trusted person in the port, so it seemed reasonable for him to avoid any appearance of impropriety when Elizabeth was being discussed.

"Yes, but as for avoiding suspicion... things aren't as complicated as you think, Master."

"Oh?"

"If you observe her closely, you'll see that War-Disillusioned... is basically no different from His Majesty, so whenever this topic comes up, she'll find an excuse to withdraw..."

As two battleships, Elizabeth and Warspite, especially in the context of the Royal Navy, ended up performing almost like destroyers, which is truly hard to understand.