Elder brother's garrison

Page 208

Pachina sensed that Xiaobai had woken up and shook its body as it moved toward Xiaobai.

Xiaobai initially refused.

Xiao Bai was hesitant to sleep in the same bed with a deep-sea dean who was in heat in her own bed and had a history of trying to rape her.

But feeling the shivering touch coming from Pachina, thinking about Pachina's pitiful background, and recalling her pitiful crying earlier, Xiaobai finally sighed.

Xiao Bai still softened her heart.

She acted as if nothing had happened, snuggled back into Empire's embrace, reached out and hugged him, snuggling closer to him.

Pachina understood perfectly and climbed up behind Xiaobai, lifted the blanket and put her body inside, gently pressing her head against Xiaobai's back, maintaining that position.

— Surprisingly, I spent the night very well.

The next day, when Veneto woke up Pachina, Pachina was already back in her bed.

"Admiral." Veneto shook Xiaobai awake.

"Huh?" Xiaobai woke up from her dream. She felt as if she had been flying on the soft mattress all night.

"Hmm." Little White heard the voice of the Empire.

She then realized that last night, out of fear that Pachina might do something strange, she had subconsciously clung to Empire, and after a night of changing sleeping positions, she was now using Empire as a cushion, lying on top of her.

That soft, limp feeling last night was exactly what the Empire was conveying.

The Empire had awakened, and she looked at Little White with a hint of discomfort on her face.

"I'm so sorry!" Little White quickly withdrew from the Empire.

Empire slowly sat up, clutching her chest. She showed no displeasure at becoming Little White's cushion. She simply let out a soft sigh and said in a slightly regretful voice, "It's not as comfortable as yesterday morning."

Xiao Bai sat on the bed and awkwardly rubbed his legs.

"I'll give you the network leadership when we go to the node to launch our expedition. I didn't sleep very well last night," Xiaobai said.

Now that Pachina has gone back, there's no need for Xiaobai to reveal that Pachina actually came at night.

"Yes." Empire nodded. After yesterday's treatment and a night's sleep, she was able to stay awake for a short while.

This was just a minor incident during waking up.

After everyone else, including Sukhbaatar and the Fubuki sisters, finished getting ready, they headed towards the Admiral's Guild.

Nia and Cleveland had been waiting there for a long time.

After specifically instructing Veneto not to attack the extinct deep-sea species within the node again, Xiaobai followed Nia and the others towards the third node.

This time, when Xiaobai and Nia were waiting for Veneto on the beach, there was no situation like the large number of ship girls returning empty-handed by noon.

Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief.

The third stage passed peacefully and uneventfully that day.

Cleveland's harvest today was much smaller, with less than ten deep-sea metals.

When Nia heard Cleveland say that the harvest was less than ten pieces of deep-sea metal, she finally smiled with relief.

Thus, because Veneto deliberately slowed down the process, it took Xiaobai and Nia four or five days to complete the third node.

Over the next four or five days, Xiaobai maintained a monotonous yet fulfilling life.

In the morning, I treated the Empire; at noon, I returned to the Admiral's Guild; in the afternoon, I accompanied the destroyer shopping; and in the evening, I had to tacitly communicate with Pachina, who secretly slipped into my bed.

In some ways, this routine of life is somewhat like life in a naval base.

After reaching the end of the third node, Veneto did not activate his Musou mode, but instead obediently returned to the beach with Cleveland.

Nia breathed a sigh of relief after hearing that Cleveland had cleared the third node's endpoint.

This means that Nia has finally become an admiral who can conquer the fourth node.

The fourth node is the sea area that needs to be conquered in the last node of the first chapter.

That was the end of the first chapter. It was also the starting point for the new admirals to truly embark on their journey.

In the city in the first chapter of the sea, Nia finally made it to the front echelon with the help of Little White.

Bonus chapter progress (3/32)

Chapter 263 has four nodes in the sea area. The fourth node is the most special. It is the place with the strongest deep-sea aura in the entire first chapter of the sea area, and the strength of the deep-sea ships is also the highest.

At the same time, the rewards given to the admiral are also the most generous.

That day, Xiaobai got up and brought the ship girls to the entrance of the Admiral's Guild.

Nia and Cleveland arrived early as usual.

"Good morning, Xiaobai." Nia greeted Xiaobai.

"Hello, Nia." Xiaobai nodded.

Nia looked a little tired, probably because she hadn't slept well.

"Today we're going to take on the fourth node, Nia, are you ready?"

“Yes.” Nia nodded emphatically.

Nia had already mentally prepared herself by the third node; she had been waiting for this day for a long time.

The group left the Admiral's Guild.

The admirals who were still waiting for teammates or looking for a team cast envious glances at this group.

The admirals all knew about Nia's ordeal; her dismissal caused quite a stir at the time.

Xiao Bai's existence gradually spread throughout the city after some time.

Now, most of the admirals here know that a wealthy, powerful, and capable admiral has inexplicably appeared by Nia's side.

Nia's situation gradually changed from a weak admiral who couldn't even conquer the first node and was ostracized and neglected by all the admirals, to someone who had already taken steps toward the fourth node.

Once Nia has conquered the fourth node and is using the opportunity to recover and recharge before heading towards the second chapter of the sea, the admirals here will find it much harder to catch up with her.

It's a pretty frustrating experience to be overtaken by someone you once looked down on, only to find yourself completely out of sight.

"Is Nia about to conquer the fourth node?"

"Yeah, I heard from someone the other day that she finished the third node walkthrough."

"Sigh, this speed is unmatched."

"Nia has taken to the skies!"

"Don't be so optimistic. There's a lot of people gathered at the fourth node too. It won't be so easy for Nia to get along there."

"What's so difficult about it? I think you're just being jealous."

"No matter how far Nia charges, she's still not an admiral..."

Someone coldly uttered a remark.

The admirals shook their heads with deep feeling.

"Ultimately, without that person by her side, Nia would just be an ordinary admiral with only a light cruiser ship girl." Then someone else coldly added, "Can that person protect her forever?"

Everyone fell into silence.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

There were far fewer people heading to the fourth node compared to the other three nodes, and Xiaobai and Nia boarded the train to the fourth node.

The train was filled with spirited young men and women.

This is the essence of the first chapter's sea area. After these young men and women have recuperated and recharged at the fourth node, they will step into the next chapter's sea area, graduate from the title of novice admiral, and become a true admiral.

Years later, some of the admirals in this car may become figures who can roam the seas in Chapter 7 or even further.

Xiaobai and Nia boarded the train, attracting the attention of many passengers.

Xiao Bai has seen most of the people here before; they usually sit in the Admiral's Guild's dining area.

Xiao Bai found two empty seats and sat down with Nia.

Their ship girls took their seats next to Shiro and Nia.

The rustling of conversations came from the boys and girls in the back of the car.

Having been with Xiaobai for so long, Nia was used to being talked about, and she sat quietly as if she hadn't heard anything.

The entire journey was speechless.

The train has reached the fourth node.

Xiao Bai got out of the car and looked at the beach in front of him.

The fourth node looked much the same as the first three nodes. It was still an ordinary beach, with service establishments lined up behind the beach like a banquet, and admirals standing at the edge of the beach.

The ship girls surrounded Shiro and Nia and headed towards a secluded spot.

“Cleveland,” Veneto called out to Cleveland at that moment.

"I'm here."

“At the fourth node, Fubuki and I will try our best to maintain our combat strength at the level of the ship girls in the first chapter. This is the end of the first chapter, and we will give you most of the training opportunities.” Veneto said, glancing at Roma beside her, “And you too.”

"Huh? Me too?" Rome pointed to himself and said with some surprise.

Rome has been under special scrutiny from Veneto these past few days, and while enduring immense physical and mental strain, their training level has also improved rapidly.

Combat and damage are always the fastest way for ship girls to level up. Now, Rome's level is approaching level 50 under Veneto's insane Spartan training.

Although the price was that she spent hundreds of buckets of in-game currency.

Cleveland, who was previously around level 30, has only reached around level 45 after these past few days of training as the flagship owner.

“Yes,” Veneto said. “This is the result I discussed with the admiral yesterday.”

Cleveland acknowledged the situation.

After all, Veneto and Fubuki can't protect Cleveland forever. It's one thing from the first node to the third node, but if they continue to play like that when they reach the end, it will only do Cleveland more harm than good.

She'll be turned into a useless person sooner or later.

Rome is similar. Although Rome's training level has been rising very well, she has never changed her mindset from seeing herself as bait.

With her status as a Roman battleship and her level 50 training strength, she might just be the strongest new ship girl in this first chapter's sea area.

Unfortunately, Rome has been following max-level, fully-equipped ship girls like Veneto and Fubuki since the start of the battle, and compared to them, Rome still feels incredibly weak.

While Veneto enjoys... cough, I mean, enjoys training Roma, it doesn't mean she wants to turn Roma into a useless ship girl.

Veneto would only add a few minor challenges that could improve Rome, within the framework of what could be a training ground for them.

Now is almost the perfect time to change Rome's mindset.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

While Xiaobai and Nia were discussing strategies with the ship girls on this side of the beach, the admirals on the other side of the beach gradually noticed them.

“Luo Yin, look.” A commander nudged the man next to him.

"Stop joking, I saw it a long time ago." Luo Yin gave a wry smile.

"What's wrong? Still have a lingering trauma?" the admiral teased.

Luo Yin smiled helplessly.

His hand unconsciously touched the admiral's badge in his pocket: "To be honest, I used to have it, but I was so angry back then, I felt like the whole world was against me. I almost lost hope in the world. I don't have it now."

"Oh?" The admiral waited with some curiosity for Luo Yin to continue.

Luo Yin rolled his eyes at the admiral beside him in exasperation.

This friend always wants to understand things clearly, so it seems I have to explain it to him.

"Haven't you been asking me why I recently upgraded the equipment for my ship girls?"

"Hmm, I asked. Are you being kept by some high-ranking, wealthy female admiral?"

“I made a deal with the white-haired admiral who works next to Nia,” Luo Yin said. “She emptied my credit card and exchanged it for medals.”

"Huh?" The admiral was taken aback. "They've all been replaced?"

Luo Yin's identity is extraordinary. His family are well-known merchants in human society and have a lot of money. Although his family did not give him much money after he became the admiral, it was still considered quite a lot by the people here.

The admiral who was able to associate with Luo Yin would certainly know the amount on Luo Yin's credit card.