Elder brother's garrison

Page 1297

"Ah."

“…Huh?” Yubari stared wide-eyed at New Jersey, who remained calm.

Yubari tilted his head and looked in the direction where Shiro had disappeared.

For a moment.

Yubari began to feel...

My own admiral might... have matured even more than I expected...

Chapter 1657 The Sea of ​​Time

The ship equipment research center in Kyoto covers a large area and has a complex array of buildings.

Even in a small area, there are several high-rise buildings responsible for various functions and departments, interspersed with various laboratories and large warehouses. Not to mention people outside the ship equipment research center, even the people within the ship equipment research center who want to go to other places suddenly have to check the map for a long time.

but.

Although Xiaobai was also an outsider, he had already memorized the map of the ship equipment research center because he had been there once before, so he didn't need to look up the map on the spot when he went to the archives this time.

Xiao Bai led Changchun away from the artificial lake.

Leaving the artificial lake, passing through several tall buildings, bypassing several warehouses containing experimental equipment, and turning into a slightly old tall building, they went straight up, as if strolling through their own backyard. Xiaobai and Changchun quickly found the archives room of the ship equipment research center that Yubari had mentioned on the top floor.

The archives of the ship equipment research center look much like a regular school library from the outside.

The archives of the ship equipment research center contain many physical documents, but most of the documents available for reading are kept in electronic format, probably for the sake of easy reading and retrieval. The advantage of electronic data is that it greatly saves space, so the archives do not occupy a large area; a large classroom is enough to include it.

Upon entering the archives room, you are greeted by an archives administrator who is working.

At first, the archives administrator, seeing that Xiaobai and Changchun were unfamiliar faces, came up to ask which department they worked for and whether they had authorization to enter the archives. She seemed ready to chase them away with a broom at the slightest provocation. However, after Xiaobai presented the pass that Yubari had given him, the administrator instantly changed her tune. Not only did she not stop Xiaobai, she even warmly handed him the key to a private room in the electronic reading room and said that Xiaobai could consult her anytime if he had any questions.

The researcher wasn't suddenly so enthusiastic just because Xiaobai and Changchun were good-looking.

Xiaobai knew very well that this was all thanks to Yubari.

"It seems like Yubari is really doing very well at the Ship Equipment Research Center..." Xiaobai said with a sigh, holding the room key given to him by the administrator. "Whether or not we find any information about Vestal... we should thank Yubari properly when we get back."

“Sister Yubari was very capable back when she was at the naval base,” Changchun said to Xiaobai with a smile. “Sister Yubari is beautiful and has a good personality. More importantly, she is not only good at fighting, but also very smart. Back then, whenever the naval base needed to introduce some scientific research components or expand high-rise buildings, they would ask Sister Yubari to come and give them advice.”

"Ah... speaking of which, wasn't the design of the building where Yamato-neechan used to live drawn by Yubari?" Xiaobai asked Changchun.

"Yes, Sister Yubari is amazing!" Changchun said, giving Xiaobai a grateful smile. "Before, I was just an ordinary destroyer. If it weren't for Sister Yubari's painstaking efforts in devising the evolution path of a missile destroyer when she was in charge of my ship equipment modification, allowing me to break through the limits of a destroyer and become a guided destroyer... I might have lived an ordinary life like this, and never had the chance to stand by your side, Admiral, like this."

"Oh... I see..." Xiaobai scratched his cheek and smiled with some emotion.

Xiao Bai heard Chuixue mention it.

Before her refit, Changchun was a destroyer named Kogan. At that time, in the naval base full of newbies with amazing abilities, Kogan's combat power was actually quite inconspicuous. However, even Fubuki herself did not expect that Kogan, which she thought would be a simple ship equipment refit, would undergo a complete transformation. Not only did her ship type change and her combat power soar, making her a top-tier ship girl in the naval base, but even her figure and appearance became more shameless.

However, Fubuki also said the same thing.

Although Kokang's appearance and physique have changed, its ship equipment and combat capabilities have been completely transformed, and even its ship name is different from before, this does not mean that Kokang has become a second person.

If there's anything in common between Changchun today and Kokang in the past, besides their shared love of drinking, it's that Changchun still retains its gentle, considerate, and kind nature, always thinking of others.

The reason Xiaobai was attracted to Changchun and eventually gave her a ring was ultimately because of this, not because Changchun had become more beautiful or more powerful.

However, those words are really too embarrassing.

Xiao Bai won't tell Changchun now.

"...Then we'll have to thank Yubari even more when we get back." Xiaobai found the corresponding electronic reading room with the key, opened the door, and smiled at Changchun behind her.

"Yes!" Changchun nodded happily.

Xiaobai and Changchun sat side by side and turned on the computers in the electronic reading room.

The computers in the electronic reading room were a bit slow to respond; after hesitating and groaning for a while, the screens finally lit up.

The computers in the electronic reading room are connected to a local area network, so the desktops are empty except for two icons: one for viewing electronic files and the other for searching electronic files.

"Let me find... Honorary employees of the Ship Equipment Research Center throughout history..." Xiao Bai skillfully opened the search function, entered the words "honorary employee" in the input box, and clicked search. Sure enough, he found a folder that was several hundred megabytes in size. "Ah, found it!"

Xiaobai clicks into the document.

The document is open.

The first thing that catches Xiaobai's eye is a photo, and the first thing he sees is someone he knows well.

Red hair, red eyes, wearing a long gown.

It's not Shana.

"Ah, it's Yubari-neechan!" Changchun, who was sitting next to Xiaobai, stared at the computer screen and exclaimed in surprise when he saw the person on the screen.

“Yes…” Xiaobai stared at the computer screen and nodded.

The person who appeared first in the folder happened to be Yubari.

Xiaobai scrolled down under Yubari's photo and found that the text under Yubari's photo was all about Yubari's achievements and experience at the Ship Equipment Research Center.

"Best Honorary Employee of Kyoto Naval Equipment Research Center in [Year]".

"One of the top ten scientific research figures in Kyoto in xxx year".

"Special guest of the 'Touching Ship Girls' program in [year]".

"..."

"Published 12 papers in world-class core journals and 8 papers in the Ship Girl Research Journal. Responsible for a total of 278 ship equipment modifications for ship girls. The paper 'Prospects for the Modification of Ship Equipment for High-Speed ​​Battleships,' published in a world-class core journal in September of XXXX, caused an academic sensation..."

Race: Ship Girl

"Affiliated Garrison: Beginner Garrison"

"..."

Xiaobai looked at the rows of bold red text on the computer screen. Although she couldn't quite understand what was written on Yubari's achievements or what the concepts were... well, in short, it was awesome.

Xiaobai finally understood why everyone in the ship equipment research center, whether researchers or archivists, would put on such a fawning smile upon hearing the name Yubari.

Yubari's achievements over the past few years have been so numerous, he's practically a living Buddha!

makes sense.

Given Yubari's level of scientific research achievement, it would be unreasonable for the ship equipment research center not to include her in the list of honorary employees.

Xiaobai carefully read through Yubari's information before turning to the next page.

The next page featured people Xiaobai wasn't familiar with, and they had become honorary employees about a year earlier than Yubari. Xiaobai flipped through a few more pages, and each person had become an honorary employee a year or two earlier than the previous one—it seemed that the honorary employees in this file folder were sorted by time, with those who became honorary employees later being listed at the top. This also explained why Xiaobai spotted Yubari at a glance.

Sorting by time certainly has its advantages.

Grandpa Ella arranged for the goddess of the hearth to work at the ship equipment research center exactly nineteen years ago. Xiaobai watched the years slide down to twenty years ago before turning back and checking upwards page by page.

Yubari's promotion speed is probably rare even on a global scale. Xiaobai doesn't know how fast Vestal Goddess's promotion speed is, but he imagines that after seven or eight years, she could probably become an honorary employee or something.

Xiao Bai searched with great anticipation.

Xiaobai is looking for it.

Look for it.

Xiao Bai eagerly flipped through the pages to fifteen years ago, ten years ago, five years ago...

Even after Xiaobai flipped back to the first page where Yubari was from twenty years ago, he still couldn't find any information about the goddess of the hearth in the list of honorary employees.

Even more outrageous, Yubari is the only person in the past twenty years to become an honorary employee as a ship girl!

"Huh?" Turning back to the first page where Yubari was, Shiro's eyes widened for a moment, and she suddenly looked blank. "This...the goddess of the hearth...she never served as an honorary employee?"

To explain according to Yubari's words.

If the Vess had stayed at the Ship Equipment Research Center, with her twenty years of experience and a letter of recommendation from Grandpa Ella, even if she were to be promoted and leave, she would still be able to become an honorary employee, and her name would definitely be found in the honorary employee file.

However, Xiaobai could not find any information about the goddess of the hearth among these honorary employees throughout the ages.

—Could it be that…Vestal didn’t stay at the Ship Equipment Research Center the whole time, or did she leave halfway through?

Thinking of this, Xiao Bai suddenly felt all his energy leak out through his pores, causing his head to droop.

Looking at this situation...

It seems the goddess of the hearth really didn't stay at the ship equipment research center. She probably left the research center a long, long time ago... or maybe she left Kyoto altogether and went to some corner of the world, disappearing without a trace.

Chapter 1658 The Thief

If Vestal has left the ship's equipment research center and gone to another corner of the world, it means that Xiaobai's information about Vestal's whereabouts has also been completely cut off.

Xiaobai didn't know where Vestal had gone, nor did Yubari. And since it was all twenty years ago, the staff at the Ship Equipment Research Center had probably changed several times by now. It was even more difficult to find anyone who knew Vestal's whereabouts, or even anyone who had ever seen her.

The trail went cold.

The investigation could no longer proceed.

Xiao Bai stared blankly at the computer screen for a long time before finally letting out a helpless sigh.

By now.

Xiao Bai could only accept the fact that the information about the whereabouts of the Goddess of the Hearth had disappeared.

"Admiral?" Changchun looked at Xiaobai, who had drooped his head and looked disappointed, and called out to him with some concern.

"Ah... I'm fine." Seeing Changchun's worried expression, Xiaobai quickly straightened her chest, shrugged self-deprecatingly, and said to Changchun with a wry smile, "Changchun, you didn't see any information about the Goddess of the Hearth among those honorary employees, did you?"

"Hmm... I didn't see it." Changchun nodded.

"Sigh... It seems that the information about the goddess of the hearth can only end here." Xiaobai leaned back in his chair with a helpless sigh, tilting his head back. "The goddess of the hearth probably left this place a long time ago, and we don't know where she went."

This was the first time Xiaobai had encountered a setback in trying to find the ship girl he wanted to see.

The feeling of failure is truly bitter.

Xiao Bai stared at the ceiling of the electronic reading room, thinking to himself.

Just thinking about it.

A pair of warm hands grasped Xiaobai's hand.

Xiaobai turned her head.

Changchun held his hands together and brought them to her lips, looking at her intently.

"Admiral, don't be discouraged, don't be disheartened! I believe... you'll find the Goddess of the Hearth sooner or later!" Changchun encouraged Xiaobai with a concerned and earnest expression. "You will!"

The encouraging words spoken in Changchun are rather empty in content.

But Xiaobai could still see the sincerity in Changchun's earnest expression and caring gaze.

“…Um…Thank you, Changchun.” Xiaobai quickly sat up straight and grasped Changchun’s hand in return. “Changchun, you’re right, there will be opportunities in the future!”

Although Changchun's encouragement did not give Xiaobai full confidence in finding the female Stove Goddess, it did improve Xiaobai's depressed mood, which was somewhat frustrated by his inability to find the female Stove Goddess.

makes sense.

Finding the female Kitchen Goddess is inherently a very elusive and luck-dependent matter. Whether you find her or not, it's just a side quest in your life, and there's no need to let it affect your mood.

At last.

Caught in the last glimmer of hope, Xiaobai scanned the list of honorary employees of the Ship Equipment Research Center from top to bottom, and then searched the archives for documents related to Vestal in various ways. As expected, no matter how Xiaobai searched, there was no record of Vestal in the Ship Equipment Research Center's archives.

Xiaobai was not surprised by the final result.

Even newbies these days are a bit more open-minded.

Since we can't find any information about the goddess of the hearth, then so be it.

The relationship between ship girls and admirals is all about fate. Now that I've done everything I can, it's all up to destiny. If I'm truly destined to meet Vestal, I'll meet her sooner or later... If we're not destined to be together, then so be it.

After shutting down the computer, Xiaobai and Changchun left the electronic reading room, returned the key to the librarian, and left the somewhat old building.

When Xiaobai and Changchun returned to the artificial lake, the ship equipment testing for the New Jersey vessel was proceeding smoothly on the artificial lake.

"Is the third phase of speed testing complete? Have the sea obstacles been set up?" On the shore of the artificial lake, Yubari stood in the center of instruments of various sizes flashing with colorful lights. She had one hand on her hip, held up a walkie-talkie, and was giving orders to the other end of the walkie-talkie.

Yubari's eyes remained fixed on the center of the lake.

The lake was no longer as open and clear as before. It was now covered with all sorts of obstacles, and there seemed to be various machines stirring things up beneath the surface, simulating all sorts of sea scenes, including whirlpools and convection currents, turning a calm and wide lake into a dangerous and challenging sea.

On the lake, New Jersey's figure transformed into a golden streak of light. Facing the lake scene that would make any ordinary ship girl frown at a glance, New Jersey was quite calm and composed. She yawned as she ran around, ignoring all the obstacles and tangling currents that blocked her way, and moved freely and easily across the lake.

Shiro returned to Yubari's side and watched as Yubari held a walkie-talkie, constantly exchanging information with the staff on the other end.

Yubari seemed completely absorbed and excited about being able to personally test the data of the New Jersey ship's equipment. Shiro and Nagaharu were standing right behind her, but Yubari didn't even notice them and kept shouting into the walkie-talkie.

"Print out the data on maritime obstacles and send it to me immediately. I need to see it now!"