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

Page 8

It's the sound of a little octopus.

Although it still sounds full of energy, it seems to lack a bit of confidence.

Slightly lowering his guard, Xu Huan did not choose to answer, but instead opened the door directly.

The wooden door creaked open, and a slightly unnatural-looking girl stood outside, her small tentacles peeking out from her hair drooping listlessly.

"I was just about to go to sleep, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing... the captain just came to check on how the crew is doing~~" As soon as Royal Wealth saw Xu Huan, their expression immediately turned into a beaming smile, and the awkwardness on their face just now was completely wiped away.

No wonder people say that a woman's ability to change her face is a gift; at this speed, even a mimicry insect can't keep up.

"...Is there really nothing else?"

Xu Huan bluntly exposed his lie.

"I've never seen you so kind before..."

"Uh..." A slight embarrassment flashed across Royal Wealth's face. She walked closer to the door and sat down casually on the bed. "Nothing much, just came to return your crystal pendant and discuss our goal—"

Xu Huan frowned slightly as he watched the girl's bouncy, peach-like body press down the cotton wadding on the bed.

He wasn't a germaphobe; he just felt the girl's behavior was a bit too bold...

"What's wrong? What are you looking at? Why are you frowning? This is my boat, you know!" The girl realized the problem and, although she said that, she also moved her bottom slightly outward.

"It's nothing, I just feel like you've suddenly become much more cheerful..."

"Ahem, this is a problem—" The ship girl knew that her initial use of "human, human" always made people a little uncomfortable.

But there was nothing he could do; Xu Huan hadn't even heard of him back then, and the disappointment of not getting his expectations met was always a bit frustrating.

"Let's put this issue aside for now and return the crystal pendant to you first."

Royal Fortune took the pendant out of his pocket and said.

What the heck is Chapter Eleven?

A dim blue light slowly shone, reflecting in the room and on the faces of the two people.

"Huh? What's going on—"

Xu Huan was surprised to find that the spiritual energy stored in the pendant was much greater than when he had given it away.

Upon closer inspection, although there weren't many changes overall, it seemed that a lot of different spiritual energy, not belonging to oneself, had been mixed in.

After a brief encounter with Hu Teng and the return of the crystal pendant from Royal Fortune, he finally confirmed that the race known as ship girls possessed psionic abilities, and that the primary function of the crystal he had sent out was to store this energy.

Xu Huan looked toward the royal wealth.

Royal Wealth was also somewhat surprised. Why was the crystal's radiance much brighter than before? And why was its mental energy so much more concentrated?

"Could it be that it has the potential to grow?" the girl asked curiously. "Compared to before, I feel that the mental energy inside is much more abundant..."

Mental energy?

That must be what the people here call psychic energy.

"Instead of growth, it's more accurate to say storage... and the reason for this is that your excess spiritual energy—mental energy—is stored inside." To make communication easier, Xu Huan also used the other person's term for spiritual energy.

In his opinion, these two things are pretty much the same, and changing the name won't affect their essence.

"I was in a bit of a rush earlier and didn't have time to explain how to use it to you." Xu Huan took the pendant, which still retained a little warmth, probably due to the girl's body temperature.

"When calling up mental energy, there will usually be some loss due to various reasons. The waste caused by the loss will be directly absorbed by it. Then, when there is a lack of mental energy, the previously accumulated part can be taken out from it."

"In critical moments, it could be considered a lifesaver... but we shouldn't overestimate its value, as it also has a storage limit."

After Xu Huan finished speaking, he slightly tightened his grip on the pendant, and then the surging mental energy within his body rushed directly into the crystal in an instant.

The original bluish-green color was instantly tinged with a light pink, and then turned into a deep red like a red crystal.

"Look, this is what it looks like when it reaches its limit."

Royal Wealth watched the process, his eyes gradually widening.

If the mental energy she felt in the pendant before could be described as intense, then the pendant now felt like a snow-capped peak that could collapse at any moment; just looking at it was suffocating.

"However, I don't recommend actively inputting mental energy into it. First, it's not cost-effective, since there's nowhere to collect the losses caused when you actively input it. Second, it's not very stable. Don't follow my example."

Xu Huan flicked his finger lightly above, and the originally deep red crystal returned to its previous dark blue color in a short time.

"I understand—oh?"

The girl nodded, only to find that the pendant had been thrown back to her by the young man.

"This... the advance payment, but I previously—"

Xu Huan shook his head: "It's a small stone pendant, I'll give it to you. Just make sure you get good food these next few days, and I'll give you a new one as payment later."

"Then—I'll accept it? Hehe~~"

As a pirate, the Royal Treasure was not pretentious. It was happily hung on the slender neck, and the crystals slid down the fair skin and were half-buried in the large, soft fruit in front of the chest.

"How about it? It looks pretty good as an accessory, doesn't it?"

"It looks pretty good." Xu Huan nodded in agreement.

Her fair and smooth skin, the sizable chest armor, the faint blue glow of the crystals, the girl's charming smile, and especially her red eyes made her a truly pleasing sight.

However, because the area was too sensitive, it was not convenient to look at it for long. He only glanced at it twice and then looked away.

"Then, the question is about our destination."

Royal Wealth seemed oblivious to Xu Huan's averted gaze. They simply took the previously rolled-up map from their pocket, smoothed it out on the table, and pointed to a small corner, saying, "Look, we're roughly in this location now—"

The general outline of this planet is very similar to Xu Huan's home planet, with oceans covering most of it, and only a few places are slightly different.

Xu Huan seemed to be deep in thought, then looked at the spot where the ship girl was pointing.

Their current location is not far from the nearest land, but if centered on the interior of the largest continent, it is, strictly speaking, in a relatively remote position.

“Most of the humans you’re looking for have retreated into this area—” Royal Wealth took out a pencil and drew some lines deep inside the largest continent, then drew similar lines on the other continents as well:

"There are also scattered human settlements in other places, but they are generally not located very close to the ocean. Of course, there are a few exceptions, which I will tell you about later. If you want to go to the interior, I can take you to the nearest port, but you will have to walk the rest of the way on your own."

"Yes, I understand." Xu Huan nodded, memorizing all the areas marked with royal treasures.

"And these places are the major port areas and their strongholds—"

Compared to places where humans gather, many port areas or strongholds are located on the coastline, and many are even built directly in the middle of the ocean.

"These are just the most basic locations. I don't know much about the more detailed areas; they're all confidential information for each port area."

Xu Huan asked, "From a certain perspective, each established port and stronghold, when combined, can basically cover most of the oceans on this planet... Is this for the purpose of fighting the Sirens?"

"Yes, Sirens are present in almost every sea area. They appear at regular intervals, just like locusts, so we have to conduct regular sweeps in almost every place..."

Royal Wealth cleared his throat and continued:

"The closest place to us right now is the Ironblood Port District here, which is also the port district where Miss Hutten is located."

"Are there human cities around here?" Xu Huan asked, puzzled, noticing that the girl had drawn similar lines earlier.

“This is the exception I mentioned earlier... Strong factions are generally capable of protecting an entire city from the Sirens,” Royal Fortune explained. “However, for the sake of countering the enemy and avoiding being caught in the crossfire, the port areas where the ship girls are located are usually established about several dozen miles outside the city.”

"The daily resources and food needed for the port's operation are basically purchased and exchanged by sending yellow chickens to the city..."

"Yellow chicken?"

Xu Huan frowned.

"What is that thing?"

Chapter Twelve: To the Royal Family?

"Yellow Chicken... or you could say Manjiu, simply put, it's a kind of intelligent mechanical creature, mainly used to maintain all aspects of the port's operation and production activities, etc..."

Royal Ark took out a new sheet of white paper and, with a few strokes, drew a rather cute-looking, pointed-beaked creature:

"Since the ship girls are mainly responsible for combat, they are generally assigned all the other odd jobs in the port... such as cooking and cleaning."

"Machine servant?"

Xu Huan was no stranger to this kind of character setting.

"Huh? What's a machine servant?"

"It's nothing... It's just a relatively new concept, no need to pay too much attention to it."

Royal Wealth didn't dwell on it and continued, "The nearby human cities have been marked, so is there anywhere you'd like to go next?"

"You just said that Ironblood is Miss Hu Teng's port district, right? And it's the closest to us." Xu Huan was somewhat tempted.

“Yes…” The girl nodded, then suddenly realized something and quickly added, “Although the distance is very close, many of the ship girls in Ironblood Harbor aren’t so easy to get along with. Xu Huan, you’re not very familiar with ship girls, so my personal suggestion is… uh…”

Royal Fortune's eyes darted across the map, and in a moment of panic, he chose another target location that was closer.

"I personally recommend going this way."

"Where is this—?" Xu Huan turned his gaze to the location indicated by the Royal Wealth.

It is a relatively large island, separated from the mainland by only a strait, and also has the port area sign on it.