Elder brother's garrison

Page 1850

"Huh? Bismarck, you're back?" Lexington also saw Bismarck walk into the office. She smiled and said in Bismarck's direction, "How's the aluminum theft going these past three days? Why didn't you even knock on the door when you came back this time? Ah, wait a minute, I still have some finishing work to do. Give me a few minutes."

As Lexington spoke, he held up the document he was working on, which he was only halfway through, and playfully stuck out his tongue at Bismarck.

“… Bismarck.”

"Senior Bismarck, you're back." Missouri walked up with a smile, dragged a chair to the opposite side of Bismarck, and gestured for him to sit down. "Senior Lexington, before you finish your work, let Missouri fill in for you a little. What would you like to drink, senior? Green tea, black tea, or a soft drink? Milk or beer would also be fine."

Bismarck was forced into a seat by Missouri, who then brought over a glass of frothy milk.

Bismarck turned his head to look at Missouri.

"Senior, what's wrong?" Missouri asked with a smile.

"It's nothing." Bismarck picked up the milk and gulped it down in one go.

"If you need anything else, remember to call Missouri. Missouri will go back to work now." Missouri picked up the empty cup that Bismarck had put down, handed Bismarck a full glass of milk, and then left with a smile.

Bismarck, clutching the milk glass in her hand, watched Missouri's departing figure and blinked.

"What are they doing here?" Bismarck asked Little White.

"Is Bismarck referring to Missouri and the others?" Shiro nodded and smiled at Bismarck. "Well... because they're my secretary ships now."

As soon as Xiaobai uttered the words "Secretary Ship," Bismarck's cat ears twitched slightly.

"...Is Lexington leaving?" Bismarck put down her milk glass and asked Little White.

"Huh? Why would you say that?" Xiaobai was stunned.

“When I returned, Sukhbaatar and Frederick the Great told me this,” Bismarck said. “They said you chose a new secretary ship and no longer wanted Lexington.”

"Ah..." Xiaobai smiled wryly upon hearing this, "So that's what it is... I know where your misunderstanding came from. Why did you have to ask those two of them of all people..."

"?"

"Lord Sue and Frederick the Great don't go online, so they're not really aware of what happened during the secretary ship election," Xiaobai said to Bismarck with a wry smile. "If you're talking about the least informed people in our naval base, those two are definitely the worst off. If you just ask anyone on the way, you'll find out what happened..."

“…” Bismarck blinked.

“Lexington will continue to serve as the secretary ship,” Xiaobai explained to Bismarck. “We recently introduced the concept of a secretary team, where one secretary captain leads four rotating secretary ships to work together, sharing the overall workload of the secretary ships. This way, we can…”

As Xiaobai was speaking, she suddenly noticed that Bismarck's gaze was fixed, and wisps of blue smoke were rising from the top of his head.

Bismarck's thinking was overloaded.

"Ahem, to put it simply, Lexington is now the most prestigious of the secretary ships," Xiaobai said to Bismarck. "That's all you need to know."

“Oh, I see, she got a promotion.” Bismarck clenched her left fist and gently patted it onto her right palm.

“That’s not wrong, though…” Xiaobai scratched his cheek.

"Are Missouri and the others now Lexington's assistants?"

"Yes, that's it."

"I see." Bismarck nodded, grabbed the milk glass on the table, and gulped it down. "How's the work progressing?"

"Hmm... At first, I was worried that having so many ship girls taking turns as secretary ships might have some negative effects on the work." Xiaobai rested her chin on her hand, watching the secretary team's bustling work, and said with a smile, "But now it seems... the effect is surprisingly good. The work has been very easy in the first three days of the secretary team system. Although we are a little busy in the morning, the work is completely finished by the afternoon. Lexington can spend a lot of time with Saratoga and participate in various activities of the ship girls. It's really great."

“Hmm…” Bismarck licked the remaining milk in the glass, lost in thought.

"Speaking of which, Bismarck, when you came in just now, I think I heard you say you were going to take Lexington to steal aluminum?" Little White suddenly remembered something and asked Bismarck, "What did that mean?"

"It's nothing, I misspoke." Bismarck put down the clean cup she had licked clean, stood up in front of Little White, and said, "I'm leaving, time to steal the next batch of aluminum."

"Hey? Aren't you going to sit a little longer? You finally managed to come back..." Xiaobai quickly sat up from her seat.

“…No need.” Bismarck glanced at Lexington and Hood not far away, then said to Little White, “As long as I live, I’ll keep stealing aluminum. I’m leaving.”

"what……"

Under Xiaobai's watchful gaze, Bismarck shook his arm and left the admiral's office.

　Bismarck had just left when Lexington, having finished his work, arrived late.

"Oh dear... Bismarck's already gone?" Lexington picked up Bismarck's milk glass with some regret, looked at the empty seat, and sighed, "I was thinking of asking her if she'd like to try being a secretary ship... Why did she leave so suddenly..."

“Bismarck seems to care about you a lot,” Little White said to Lexington with a smile. “She’s been asking me a lot of questions about you.”

"Hmm? Is that so?" Lexington looked at Little White.

"Yes," Xiaobai remarked.

“That Bismarck… so he does care about people other than Little White and Tirpitz.” Lexington brought the milk glass to his nose and sniffed it, then smiled faintly. “To be remembered by Bismarck even a little… it seems my life hasn’t been in vain.”

"If only Bismarck could have stayed a little longer," Xiaobai said regretfully.

"Maybe she really does like stealing aluminum," Lexington smiled at Xiaobai.

……

After leaving his office, Bismarck made his way to the prison building of the rookie naval base.

Outside prison.

Yi Xian sat in a rocking chair, fanning herself with a round fan while looking up at the dappled shadows between the tree branches.

Hearing Bismarck's approaching footsteps, Yixian stopped fanning herself and looked over.

The moment she saw Bismarck, a rare look of surprise appeared on Yixian's serene and beautiful face.

"Bismarck?" Yi Xian stood up, pressing his fan, and bowed slightly to Bismarck. "I never expected to meet you here. What brings you here?"

"Hello." Bismarck stopped in front of Yixian, silently scrutinizing her cheongsam before asking, "Have you come back to be a prison guard?"

“Yes, I was bored a few days ago, so I asked the Admiral for a job to pass the time.” Yi Xian smiled slightly and explained to Bismarck, “Lady Leigh knows that I am physically weak and not good at ordinary ship girl battles. Expeditions are tiring and arduous, so they are not suitable for me. She remembered that I used to guard Yamato here, so after thinking about it for a while, she discussed it with the Admiral and gave me back the guard job.”

Bismarck nodded and pointed to the door behind Yixian.

"Is this the home of Frederick the Great?"

“That’s right.” Yi Xian nodded.

"Did she just get back?"

"Just finished a walk."

"Let me in."

"Is Bismarck going to visit Frederick the Great?"

"Ah."

"May I ask what you need it for?"

"It's a personal matter." Bismarck nodded, then asked, "Is that alright?"

“Of course.” Yi Xian smiled, reached into her chest, pulled out a glittering key from behind the deep cleavage, and handed the key, still warm and fragrant with her body heat, to Bismarck.

"Thank you." Bismarck took the key, opened the door behind Yixian, and went inside.

The layout inside the prison building is exactly the same as the layout where Yamato Shinkai once lived.

Following her memories, Bismarck arrived at Frederick the Great's private suite. She blinked at the closed door, then raised her hand and began to knock in a fairly regular rhythm.

Dong dong dong dong dong dong…

The slow, deliberate knocking echoed in the hallway.

After the knocking continued for a while, the door was opened.

The person who opened the door was Frederick the Great, who had removed his blindfold, taken off his shackles, and changed into a clean set of pajamas.

When Frederick the Great saw Bismarck, his expression faltered slightly, as if he was somewhat surprised by Bismarck's appearance.

With her blindfold and shackles removed, Frederick the Great exuded an even stronger aura of the deep sea. Even without speaking, her cold and ruthless, sharp eyes, her majestic and beautiful features, and her tall figure that seemed to cast a huge shadow combined with her cartoon pajamas, still released an invisible pressure with every breath, assailing Bismarck's body.

“Frederick.” However, facing Frederick the Great’s gaze, Bismarck showed no fear. She simply looked straight ahead and said, “I need to talk to you.”

"...What is it?" Frederick the Great asked Bismarck.

“Lexington didn’t retire,” Bismarck said.

"...?"

“I’ve confirmed it, Lexington hasn’t retired,” Bismarck repeated.

"..." Frederick the Great looked at Bismarck's serious expression and slowly nodded, "Hmm."

“I’ve finished speaking.” Bismarck turned and left.

Frederick the Great watched Bismarck's figure disappear down the corridor and fell silent for a moment.

Chapter 2557 New Mission

Life on the sea remained as calm and peaceful as ever.

Before we knew it, three months had passed since the newbie naval base implemented the secretariat system.

The ship girls inside the naval base gradually got used to the existence of the secretariat team within these short three months.

Most of the ship girls in the newbie naval base initially harbored some concerns and resistance regarding this special secretary ship system.

After all, in the hearts of most ship girls, the secretary ship is always a special position—a supreme honor that only one person can hold in each naval base. Behind this special honor is not just hard work and heavy workload; it also represents the supreme power of the naval base and a special status second only to the admiral. It means that the ship girl sitting in this position will be respected and loved by all the ship girls in the naval base, and will also receive the admiral's unlimited trust and favor.

Just like every ship girl has ever fantasized about wearing a pure white wedding dress and being carried into the wedding hall by the admiral.

It's practically impossible for a ship girl not to have secretly fantasized about being a secretary ship!

When the ship girls learned that Lexington no longer held such a special position in the naval base, but instead had become five... ten, twenty, or even forty or fifty ship girls, most of them felt a sense of absurdity, as if they had watched a farce.

what?

The position of secretary in the naval base is no longer the only one, but has become a position shared by dozens of people?

Are these dozens of people to share the admiral's trust and favor?

Just kidding!

This is just too strange!

The term "secretary ship" is used because there can only be one!

The ship girls were initially very resistant to this, and many even secretly worried that distributing such a large amount of power to dozens of ship girls in the newbie naval base might cause a power struggle like in a palace drama, leading to the newbie naval base splitting into dozens of factions of varying sizes under the leadership of dozens of secretary ships. From then on, the ship girls of each faction would begin to fight openly and secretly for the admiral's favor, and the atmosphere of the entire newbie naval base would be turbulent, eventually leading to the slow destruction of the prosperous naval base.

The ship girls' concerns are indeed valid.

After all, this is not the first time such an example has occurred in the history books of human society. Even today, in various types of film and television works, when it comes to palace intrigue, palace dramas, or themes such as concubines and empresses vying for favor, it is always portrayed in this way.

However, the ship girls overlooked a very crucial issue.

That is to say, ship girls are actually much kinder and purer than humans.

One month passed quickly.

The naval base remains peaceful and serene.

The situation that the ship girls were worried about did not happen.

According to reports from some ship girls who secretly went to the office to observe the situation, the atmosphere in the admiral's office is now very good. The secretary ships not only get along without any friction, but are even quite harmonious. The heavy workload that used to be distributed among the five people becomes incredibly easy. The ship girls in the office just drink tea and chat. Each person only needs to do something occasionally to easily finish their work.

Seeing this, the ship girls felt a little relieved of their worries.

Two months have passed.

According to reports from some ship girls who secretly went to the office to observe the situation, the admiral's office is now often filled with the laughter of ship girls. If you occasionally go in for a look in the afternoon, you can often see several secretary ships drinking sweet tea while being served by Renown, and hugging the admiral in their arms. They chat and laugh to their hearts' content, and the table is full of snacks. The atmosphere is as happy as camping in the office.

Seeing this scene, the ship girls who had once worried about the future of the naval base fell silent.

Being able to spend every day with the Admiral... seems pretty good...

With more members on the secretary ship, will my chances of becoming a secretary ship also increase?

Upon realizing this, the ship girls couldn't help but feel a strange emotion welling up inside them.

Three months have passed.

Before they knew it, none of the ship girls in the naval base were complaining about the secretariat system anymore.

Even the ship girls who had previously worried about the secretary group system have mostly submitted new interview applications to Shiro, expressing their desire to join the secretary group and become a member of the rotating secretary ship.

Whether or not you can get along with the admiral is not important; what matters is having a high level of ideological awareness and wanting to contribute to the naval base.

Xiaobai's inbox has been overflowing with interview application emails from ship girls for several days in a row.

The secretariat system is probably the most innovative and successful special system that the Naval Base has implemented since welcoming the new admiral, Shiro, as its successor.

"So... is this why you increased the number of rotating secretary ships by thirty again, Lexington?" Xiaobai asked Lexington, sitting in his seat.