Elder brother's garrison

Page 2043

"It's nothing, just high blood pressure, I get tired easily..." Admiral Zhao Kuo sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Sigh... Admiral Lu Lin, if you have time, please tell the top ten admirals to take some time to get a comprehensive physical examination. You are the world's number one admiral, they should listen to you."

Chapter 2870 New Mission

Seeing Admiral Zhao Kuo lying on the sickbed, looking exhausted as if his wish had been fulfilled, Xiao Bai couldn't help but smile.

"Admiral Zhao Kuo, since you're already very tired, I won't bother you any longer today," Xiao Bai said to Admiral Zhao Kuo. As she finished speaking, her gaze fell on the snow-white hospital bed. "Well... regarding the selection of the four top ten admirals, I will tell you my answer when we meet again next time."

"Well, Admiral Lu Lin, this is really troublesome..." Admiral Zhao Kuo wiped the sweat from his face and smiled apologetically at Xiao Bai.

Xiaobai waved to Admiral Zhao Kuo, then turned and walked towards the three ship girls: Missouri, Changchun, and Veneto.

Admiral Zhao Kuo's gaze followed Xiao Bai and landed on the three ship girls.

The three ship girls moved almost in unison, putting down their gifts and bowing to Admiral Zhao Kuo.

"Thank you for your trouble," Admiral Zhao Kuo said gratefully.

……

Xiao Bai and the three married ships left Admiral Zhao Kuo's sickroom.

After saying goodbye to the ship girls waiting at the ward door, Xiaobai and the ship girls left the Admiral's Guild's hospital floor and returned to the elevator.

As the elevator doors slowly closed, only Xiaobai and the three ship girls remained in the cramped space.

A buzzing sound of descent came from all around the elevator.

"Phew..." Changchun patted her full chest and let out a long sigh. She muttered to herself with some emotion, "I never imagined... that the matter the world's third-ranked admiral wanted to discuss with our admiral would be so significant..."

"Help train the four top ten admirals who have filled the vacancies..." Veneto pondered for a while before saying to everyone, "Hmm, although it sounds a bit surprising, upon closer inspection, it does make sense for an admiral like us."

"If that's the case, then from now on, four of the top ten admirals in the world will have to call our admiral 'Master'!" Changchun clenched her pink fist, looking quite proud. "That sounds amazing!"

"It's still far from settled..." Xiaobai chuckled helplessly as she listened to the two ship girls' conversation. "I haven't decided yet whether or not to accept Admiral Zhao Kuo's request..."

"Huh? You don't want to be the admiral?" Changchun looked at Xiaobai in surprise.

"It's not that I don't want to do it... it's just... um... this matter..." Xiaobai didn't know how to put it for a moment. She tapped her chin, thought for a while, and then said with a heavy heart, "I'm just not sure if I can do it well..."

Xiao Bai is quite aware of his identity as a self-taught admiral.

Can a commander with his own limited knowledge and skills really train a commander who is among the top ten...?

Perhaps by simply piling on massive amounts of resources, given the current foundation of a new naval base, one could easily develop several naval bases capable of reaching Chapter 8. However, the level of a top ten admiral in the world cannot be simply achieved by piling on resources...

It's impossible to produce that much in the short term.

Xiaobai is actually quite worried about this.

"...Missouri, what do you think?" Xiaobai asked Missouri beside him, thinking to himself.

Missouri hadn't said a word during the discussion; she simply stood aside with a faint smile, watching Xiaobai and Changchun.

When Missouri saw Xiaobai asking her a question, she finally spoke up.

"Missouri has absolute faith in the admiral's abilities."

Missouri immediately showed boundless trust in Xiaobai when she spoke.

Whenever Xiaobai asks Missouri, this is probably the answer he'll get.

Well, that makes sense.

This is very Missouri-style rhetoric.

Seeing Missouri's smile, Xiaobai could only manage a helpless, bitter smile.

The expected comfort couldn't give Xiaobai courage.

Missouri smiled at Xiaobai when she saw her reaction, and then continued to speak.

"Is the admiral's nervousness due to his fear of defeat?"

“…Yes.” Xiaobai crossed his arms and nodded sincerely, “Training admirals is something that Admiral Zhao Kuo and you all think I can do…but…I’ve never done it even once in my life…”

"Didn't the Admiral used to be a teacher at the Naval Academy?"

"This is different..."

"I see." Missouri smiled. "But even so, Missouri thinks the Admiral doesn't need to worry too much."

“…Why?”

"Although Admiral Zhao Kuo entrusted you with this task, then again, whether this matter succeeds or fails, there will be no reward or punishment for you, Admiral, right?"

"Uh...that's true." Xiaobai paused for a moment, then nodded subconsciously.

“In that case, let’s take it easy,” Missouri smiled. “Since there’s no reward or punishment system, what does success or failure matter?”

“…Hey, that makes sense.” Xiaobai covered her mouth, suddenly enlightened.

“Admiral, you can go all out and treat it as a special little activity to enjoy.” Missouri said to Xiaobai with a smile, “If you succeed, that’s great, but if you don’t succeed, I believe Admiral Zhao Kuo will fully understand your difficulties.”

Hearing Missouri's words, the pressure on Xiaobai decreased significantly.

Yes...

Since success or failure won't affect me, why should I worry?

Anyway, I just need to do it myself...

As for success or failure, who cares?

With just a few words, Missouri easily dispelled the big worry in Xiaobai's heart.

"Missouri, thank you..." Little White breathed a sigh of relief, put his hands together, and smiled at Missouri, saying, "I've thought it through, maybe I can give it a try."

“Missouri didn’t do anything,” Missouri said with a laugh.

“When it comes to counseling the admiral, Missouri, you’re definitely the best ship girl in the naval base.” Veneto shrugged and said to Shiro and Missouri, “You’ve really shown me the power of words.”

"Senior Veneto, you're too kind..."

Missouri was politely deferring to Veneto when suddenly, the steadily descending elevator emitted a crisp "ding" sound.

The elevator has returned to the lobby on the first floor of the Admiral's Guild.

The three ship girls very sensibly closed their mouths.

The elevator doors then slowly opened.

The one who appeared before everyone was the cautious Luo Yingying.

Luo Yingying was standing in front of the elevator door in the lobby on the first floor, waiting loyally for everyone like a little dog waiting for its owner to come home.

"Admiral Lu Lin, you're out so soon?" As soon as Luo Yingying saw Xiao Bai and the other three, she anxiously looked around them, constantly asking questions, "Um... did anything unpleasant happen on that floor just now? Is everything alright?"

Seeing Luo Yingying's nervous expression, everyone immediately realized what was going on.

"Miss Yingying, don't worry, I didn't take any of the ship girls inside," Xiaobai said to Luo Yingying with a smile.

"Uh...uh..." Luo Yingying realized her thoughts had been exposed, and a layer of fine sweat immediately appeared on her forehead. She then smiled awkwardly at Xiaobai, "...My, my apologies..."

Luo Yingying's whimpering tone carried a hint of relief.

Xiao Bai and his three companions stepped out of the elevator and looked around.

At this moment, there wasn't a single admiral in the lobby on the first floor of the Admiral's Guild, apart from the guild's staff.

"Huh? Weren't there quite a few admirals here before?" Xiaobai asked.

"...They're all...cough cough, they're all gone." Luo Yingying covered her mouth with the back of her hand and said awkwardly.

"..." Xiaobai was taken aback, then gave an awkward laugh, "...Okay."

The world's number one admiral is indeed renowned today.

"I saw Admiral Zhao Kuo," Xiao Bai said to Luo Yingying.

"How is Admiral Zhao Kuo's complexion?" Luo Yingying put down her hand and asked, following Xiaobai's words.

"Hmm, not bad." Xiaobai thought for a moment and then asked Luo Yingying, "Speaking of which, Miss Yingying, you should know... that Admiral Zhao Kuo is about to be promoted to Governor-General, right?"

"Huh? Is that so?!" Luo Yingying's eyes widened instantly upon hearing Xiaobai's words.

"Oh...he didn't tell you?"

“Uh… I don’t usually see him… so I have absolutely no idea…” Luo Ying replied in a daze, then quickly asked, “Wait a minute, after Zhao Kuo is promoted to governor-general, will the garrison be disbanded?”

"He said it would be disbanded."

Where are the ship girls?

"Admiral Zhao Kuo said he would go to his post with him."

"……oh……"

"...Hmm? Miss Yingying, you look a little disappointed?"

"No, no!" Luo Yingying immediately shook her head quickly.

Xiao Bai smiled as she looked at Luo Yingying in front of her.

The scene before me felt strangely familiar...

It took Luo Yingying a few seconds to process the information she had just received. After she came to her senses, she stared blankly at Xiaobai, her gaze momentarily unfocused.

"...The world's third naval base is going to be disbanded..."

Luo Yingying murmured softly.

Even someone as composed as Luo Yingying couldn't maintain her composure and lost her composure like this after learning of Zhao Kuo's resignation. This shows just how shocking the sudden departure of a top-ten admiral is for ordinary admirals in today's admiral circle...

If I were to also mention that Admiral Zhao Kuo entrusted me with training a new top ten admiral in the world, Miss Luo Yingying would probably be scared to death on the spot.

Seeing Luo Yingying's pitiful and bullied appearance, Xiaobai gave up on her next plan.

Xiaobai sighed, walked over, and patted Luo Yingying's arm.

"Miss Yingying, remember to keep what happened just now a secret for now. I'm going home now."

“…Eh? Oh, oh oh…”

Luo responded in a silly, mumbled voice.

By the time Luo Yingying came to her senses, Xiaobai had already led her ship girls away from the Admiral's Guild and disappeared from Luo Yingying's sight.

Chapter 2871 Nia and Everyone

Xiao Bai and the three married ships returned to the temporary naval base.

If it weren't for what just happened, the three married ships originally wanted to go with Xiaobai to visit Akagi, who had just become Xiaobai's new wife. However, seeing that Xiaobai looked like she had something important to discuss with someone, the three married ships wisely chose to say goodbye to Xiaobai for the time being and returned to their respective residences after returning to the temporary naval base.

Xiao Bai stood alone at the entrance of the dormitory building, watching the three wedding ships leave together.

"Admiral, we'll come visit Sister Akagi again tonight!" Changchun turned around, waving to Xiaobai as he called out.

"Although Akagi listens to you very much, Admiral, please remember not to bully her too much." Veneto also waved lightly at Shiro and said, "Remember to let her rest more."

"You should get along well with Akagi-senpai," Missouri said with a smile.

"Yes, I know..."

Xiao Bai waved awkwardly to the three wedding ships, feeling quite embarrassed, and finally watched them disappear into the spacious square.

Only after the three wedding ships were no longer in sight did Xiaobai scratch his cheek sheepishly and turn to enter the dormitory building.

We returned.

Xiao Bai didn't go back to his own dormitory, but went back to Nia's dormitory first.

"Nia, are you there?" Xiaobai leaned against the door of Nia's dormitory, poked her head in, and called out to the room.

"Huh? Little White?"

Nia's surprised voice quickly rang out.

A snow-white figure that had been hunched over the desk suddenly sat up.

Nia looked in surprise at the little white cat peeking into the doorway.

"Xiaobai, you're back so soon? Have you finished what you needed to do?"

"Hmm...yes, it's pretty much finished...right?" Xiaobai smiled at Nia, then walked into Nia's room and carefully examined Nia's desk. "Nia, are you still working?"

The files on Nia's desk were still piled high, showing no signs of decreasing despite the passage of several hours.

"Hmm... I've accumulated quite a bit more work these past few days than I expected..." Nia turned to Xiaobai from her chair, shyly smoothing her hair. "I'll probably be working on this until dinner."