Elder brother's garrison

Page 1861

When Xiaobai and his group arrived, the beach was densely packed with admirals dressed in white. For some reason, these men and women were all sitting on the beach, biting pencils and erasers and scratching their heads at the paper in their hands, creating an atmosphere resembling a large-scale exam square.

"Good heavens, this question is way too hard..."

"Is it possible to solve this problem simply by substituting the second-order data and then using the invincible L'Hôpital formula...?"

"Does anyone have an eraser? I'll pay 50 merit points to buy it! I feel like I'm about to solve this problem!"

"..."

At a glance, Xiaobai saw that the admirals on the beach were sitting, standing, lying down, doing yoga, sticking their butts out, and even biting a pencil while doing a handstand. In short, they were in all sorts of poses.

"Nia, what's going on?" Xiaobai asked Nia curiously, "Why are all these admirals acting like this?"

"Them..." Faced with Xiaobai's question, Nia just smiled helplessly and said to Xiaobai, "These admirals are trying to acquire research ship girls."

"Research ship girls?"

"Yes, Xiaobai, have you heard of it? The three grand prizes of Shengjian Day."

"Oh, I know!"

"The research ship girl construction machine is in area 8-1." Nia stood on tiptoe on the beach to take a look, then pointed in a direction, "Look, Little White."

Xiao Bai followed Nia's finger and looked in that direction.

really.

In the direction Nia pointed, a black dot the size of a fist was floating on the sea not far from the beach, and the dot was bobbing up and down with the waves.

"Little White, do you see that black thing? That's the construction machine for the research ship girls," Nia explained to Little White.

"Huh? Floating on the sea?" Little White exclaimed in surprise. "Has no one moved it here?"

“No, that special construction machine can’t be moved.” Nia shook her head regretfully, then said to Xiaobai, “The reason why everyone here is lying on the beach doing their homework is because of that construction machine.”

"Doing math problems..." Xiaobai murmured Nia's words, "So, when Mu Yu was talking about research capabilities, he meant doing math problems..."

"Mu Yu...you mean Governor Mu Yu from the Admiral's Guild?" Nia asked curiously as she listened to Xiao Bai's words. "Xiao Bai, are you very familiar with Governor Mu Yu?"

"Uh... it's alright." Xiaobai smiled and quickly changed the subject, "Nia, I see that the admirals here all have a test paper. Where can we find the test paper?"

"Just let the ship girl take you to the construction machine... Oh, right, speaking of which... Little White, wait a moment." Nia said, as if she remembered something. She closed her eyes and stood still for a short while.

suddenly.

Xiao Bai could clearly sense a fluctuation of spiritual power emanating from Nia's body.

—They must be trying to contact Cleveland, which is still at sea?

Xiao Bai looked at Nia's serious expression with her eyes closed and thought to herself.

A few seconds later, Nia withdrew from the Admiral Network. She breathed a sigh of relief and smiled somewhat embarrassedly at Xiaobai.

"Um... I'm sorry to have kept you waiting, Xiaobai."

"It's nothing. Did you just go to call Cleveland?" Xiaobai smiled.

“Yes!” Nia nodded, her gaze fixed on the sea. “Cleveland is nearby, so I had her come aboard.”

really.

Just after Nia finished speaking, a slender figure draped in a cloak appeared in Xiaobai's field of vision from the other side of the sea like a nimble fish.

Wow!

It's been over a year since we last met, and Cleveland is now a max-level ship girl.

Although her appearance and clothing remain largely unchanged, she exudes a more resolute and composed demeanor, radiating a reassuring and reliable aura in every gesture.

"Kid—" Cleveland, who had just come ashore, nimbly dodged the admirals lying on the beach and waved to Nia as he rushed over.

“Cleveland—look who I brought!” Nia called out to Cleveland as soon as she saw her, as if showing off.

Cleveland, who was on her way, was stunned when she saw Little White and the ship girls behind her.

Cleveland opened his mouth, then a look of joy appeared on his face, and he quickly walked over to Xiaobai and his group.

"Admiral Lu Lin! It's been a long time!" Cleveland bowed deeply to Xiaobai. "It's a pleasure to see you again!"

"Long time no see, Cleveland." Little White smiled at Cleveland. "You look much better than before."

"Thank you for the compliment!" Cleveland blushed slightly and lowered her head. She glanced at the ship girls behind Xiaobai, then asked Xiaobai curiously, "Excuse me—Veneto and Roma—"

"Ah, I didn't bring them this time," Xiaobai explained with a wry smile.

"I see..." Cleveland said with some regret.

Veneto, who played a pivotal role in Cleveland's development, is someone Cleveland would love to see again.

Seeing Cleveland's somewhat disappointed expression, Xiaobai scratched his cheek awkwardly.

Oh no... Cleveland and Nia seem really eager to see Veneto, and I'm starting to regret not bringing Veneto along.

"Let's talk about something happy!" Nia said quickly when she noticed the atmosphere was a bit awkward. She turned to Cleveland and said, "Cleveland, could you please take Shiro to see the construction machine for the research ship girls? Shiro said she's interested in that construction machine."

"Oh! Sure." Cleveland quickly straightened her expression and asked Xiaobai curiously, "Is Admiral Lu Lin also going to participate in the competition for research ship girls?"

"Well..." Xiaobai smiled noncommittally, "Just consider it joining in the fun."

“Okay, leave it to me.” Cleveland reached out to Little White.

"Hmm? You mean I'm entrusting it to you..."

"Little White, just hold Cleveland's hand," Nia whispered in Little White's ear.

"Oh...is that so?" Xiaobai looked at Cleveland's outstretched slender hand and carefully pinched her four fingers.

“Yes, that’s right,” Nia replied.

then.

next second.

The wind then howled.

Xiaobai felt the scene suddenly change, and the next moment, she was lifted up in a princess carry by Cleveland.

Chapter 2581 Who is right and who is wrong?

Cleveland is incredibly fast!

Before Xiaobai even realized what was happening around her, the next instant she was being carried by Cleveland across a large stretch of beach to the water.

Xiao Bai subconsciously turned to look at the beach.

The beach in view is shrinking at an extremely rapid pace, which means that Cleveland is moving away from the beach at an extremely rapid pace.

"So fast!" Xiaobai turned his gaze back to Cleveland, which was only inches away from him, and exclaimed in amazement.

“…” Cleveland, who was running at full speed, heard Xiaobai’s exclamation. She looked down at Xiaobai and smiled, “Thank you for the compliment!”

With a gust of wind, Cleveland carried Little White to the construction machine for the research ship girls.

This research ship girl construction machine was only about the size of a fist when it was on the sea, but when Cleveland and Xiaobai got closer, Xiaobai realized that it was a ship girl construction device that was more than a person tall.

This ship-mounted device is completely black, and its appearance is not much different from ordinary construction devices. Although it looks like it is made of heavy metal, it can inexplicably float on the water.

"Admiral Lu Lin, we've arrived," Cleveland reminded Xiaobai.

"Thank you, Cleveland..." Little White smiled gratefully at Cleveland, then leaned on Cleveland's shoulders to straighten her upper body slightly and looked around the construction device. "Hmm... there doesn't seem to be anyone else around this construction device?"

“Most people go home after getting the test papers,” Cleveland said. “There are also people selling replica test papers on the beach, so very few people come here.”

"Eh... then why did you bring me here?"

“Because Zai said you were interested in this place.” Cleveland looked at Xiaobai with an innocent expression.

"Uh...that's true." Little White smiled, looking expectantly at the construction device in front of her, and said to Cleveland, "Can you take me there?"

“Hmm.” Cleveland nodded, picked up Little White, and walked to the construction device.

Once Xiaobai got close enough to the construction device, he noticed that it had three combination locks. These locks were positioned right on the "start construction" screen, seemingly implying that construction could not proceed without removing them.

There are three combination locks; the bottom two are gray, while the top one shines with a strange light.

Xiaobai reached out and touched the combination lock at the top.

The moment Xiaobai's finger touched the combination lock, a screen of light was projected in front of him.

The light screen shimmered with a faint gold hue, upon which a dense cluster of strokes gathered. Xiao Bai stared intently, and what appeared on the screen was a multitude of symbols: lim, ln, tan, f(x), addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, parentheses, semicolons, and so on. Along with these symbols emerged a large number of Roman numerals, as well as various marked cylinders, spheres, triangles, ellipses, and irregular shapes…

It's so confusing.

It really is a math problem...

Xiao Bai looked at the light screen and gave a wry smile.

Xiao Bai picked up the glowing combination lock and looked at the input end—the input port on this combination lock was not the traditional 0-9999 type, but a palm-sized electronic screen that could be clicked and dragged, with handwriting function.

It seems I'll have to write all the answers from the exam paper in there...

"This is only the first combination lock..." Xiaobai's gaze moved from the gleaming combination lock to the other two dull ones, and she couldn't help but smile wryly, "I can't even imagine what the remaining two combination locks will reveal..."

"The other two combination lock puzzles seem to only appear after the first one is solved," Cleveland asked, holding Little White. "Does Admiral Lu Lin know how to solve these puzzles?"

“...How could that be?” Xiaobai shook her head regretfully.

The moment Xiaobai saw the question in the first combination lock, he completely gave up on trying to solve it.

joke.

Let alone solving the problems, she couldn't even understand them if she were asked to read them aloud.

Xiao Bai's educational background is just that he dropped out of high school!

How could a complete novice possibly solve such a complex math problem?

"Judging from how hard those admirals on the beach are racking their brains, these math problems don't seem to be something that can be solved simply with high school knowledge..." Xiaobai said regretfully.

“Someone on the beach said that these problems are so difficult that solving them would win an award in the mathematics community,” Cleveland said to Xiaobai, as if he had just remembered something.

"Then there's even less chance I can solve it..."

As Xiaobai spoke, her gaze was fixed on the combination lock, lost in thought.

Xiao Bai thought for a while, then reached out and fiddled with the combination lock a couple of times.

The combination lock made a crisp sound on the construction machine.

"..." Xiaobai gripped the combination lock, tugged at it, and tried to pull it off the construction machine.

The connection between the combination lock and the construction machine remained completely still.

“This can’t be removed.” Cleveland understood what Xiaobai meant and advised, “Many ship girls have tried, this is very tough. No matter if you use brute force or attack methods such as cannons and torpedoes, you can’t break it.”

"is that so……"

"Yes, the Admiral's Guild also said that this combination lock is integrated with the construction machine, and if the lock is forcibly broken, the construction machine will also be damaged," Cleveland added.

"Sigh, what a pity." Xiaobai sighed regretfully upon hearing this.

Xiao Bai was planning to sneak over at night and summon the indestructible deep-sea killer to slash the three locks, but since destroying the locks is equivalent to destroying the construction device... this method is clearly not going to work.

"Speaking of which, can't this construction device be taken to the beach?" Xiaobai asked Cleveland, putting his arm around her neck. "The construction device is floating on the sea, isn't it?"

"No way."

Cleveland shook his head, then, as if to prove himself, reached out and pushed the construction device in front of him.

As Cleveland's hand touched the construction device, a faint light suddenly shone from it, and a very obvious air wall separated Cleveland's palm. In order to demonstrate the hardness of this wall to Xiaobai, Cleveland even tried to break through it, but no matter how hard she tried, even when she summoned the ship girl and used all her strength to push, the air wall in front of her remained unmoved and seemed indestructible.

Just then, the waves began to rise.

The gentle waves lifted and lowered the heavy construction equipment, as if mocking Cleveland's efforts.

“…Ship girls can’t touch this construction device.” Cleveland put down his hand, took a few breaths, and then slowly said, “It seems that only normal humans can touch this thing.”

“I see…” Xiaobai smiled at Cleveland. “Cleveland, thank you for your hard work. Let’s go back.”

"Won't you watch it a little longer?"

"I've seen enough."

"Oh……"

Cleveland blinked, then picked up Little White and hurried back the way they came.

A few minutes later, Cleveland and Little White returned to Nia and the ship girls.