Elder brother's garrison

Page 678

"Hmm? Thirty years old?"

"At that time, it was basically the time when the ship girls' admirals retired." Shiro smiled at Muna. "Perhaps the ship girls usually realize that the admiral is getting old when he retires, so in order to be able to accompany the admiral forever... or some other person, they choose to give up immortality."

"This choice is no different from suicide."

"There is a difference between giving up immortality and suicide."

"What's the difference?"

"One should be smiling, and the other should be crying."

"..."

"So... I think that something that even ship girls would give up on without prior agreement might not be that attractive to an individual."

This time, Muna didn't say anything. She just looked at Shiro's face, her eyes smiling again and again.

Feeling embarrassed under Muna's gaze, Xiaobai immediately said, "Um... I'm sorry... I'm only a teenager, and I'm saying things like this here... I'm sorry, just pretend I didn't say anything..."

“There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. This is an interesting way of putting it, and I really like it. Besides, I’ve never actually seen a ship girl who’s 500 years old.” Konohana shook her head. “…At most, I only saw a pair of ship girls who were over 100 years old when I was a child at the Konohana’s house. They did choose to dismantle the ship voluntarily.”

"Two people?"

"correct."

What were their reasons for dismantling the ship's equipment?

"They never said that. But after their ship equipment was dismantled, they boarded a train bound for the farthest place and left Linsheng City, never to return."

"..."

"...That doctor married a ship girl during his time as admiral," Konohana said to Shiro. "More than ten years later, he couldn't bear the fact that he was getting older every morning when he woke up and saw himself getting older in the mirror, while the ship girl remained as beautiful as ever. In order not to let his beloved ship girl live a lonely life, and not to let her give up her eternal life for him, he abandoned everything and infiltrated the Konohana family after hearing that they had the technology to achieve immortality."

"Ah? Is that so?"

"I don't know, we didn't ask him about that."

“…What you just said, Sister Naihua…”

"Let's just say that." Konohana smiled at Shiro. "After all, thinking about it this way makes the world seem a little gentler, right?"

Muna Hana reached out and gently touched Shiro's head, watching his white hair sway like willow branches on his forehead.

“…White Sister is really interesting,” Monica exclaimed.

"what?"

"She's still at an age where she should be cherished and pampered, but it seems like she's already experienced the pain of parting from someone in life and death..."

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.

"A chirp!"

In the realm of the mind, the Deep Sea Will, sitting in front of the television, suddenly sneezed, its shoulders twitching.

"A chirp!"

In the kitchen, Missouri, who was stir-frying vegetables, suddenly trembled, sneezed, and almost dropped the wok.

"A chirp!"

Luo Lian, who was next to Missouri, felt a lump in her throat and, for some reason, sneezed along with Missouri.

Chapter 905 I was wrong

After chatting with Xiaobai for a few more minutes, Muna Hana stood up from beside him and walked back to the living room.

Although Muna Hana is nominally retired, Mu Chenglin is currently enjoying himself somewhere, so as the current head of the family, she still has to go to the living room to entertain guests for a while.

Xiaobai finally breathed a sigh of relief after Muna Flower left.

To be honest, although Muna Hana doesn't seem like a bad person, Shiro feels uncomfortable when she's around someone who's too shrewd. It's like her innermost thoughts are being read, which makes her feel a bit uncomfortable.

Ship girls are definitely the best.

As Xiaobai was gazing at the moonlight and marveling at it, he suddenly heard footsteps behind him, the kind that were coming towards him.

...Did we get to queue up today or what? Is there a scenic spot in front of the villa?

"Is it Lianlian or Missouri?" Xiaobai muttered to herself helplessly, turning her head away. "If it's the student council president, I'm not going to drink with you... Huh??"

Xiaobai turned her head, wanting to guess who it was, but when she turned around, she found that there was someone she never expected standing behind her.

The old man of the Mu family, who had been drinking with Chairman Er Gou, was now standing behind him with a dark face and a very serious expression.

"...Uh, oh...sorry, I thought..." Xiaobai was rather afraid of serious old men like this, so she jumped up from the steps, patting her bottom as she apologized to Grandpa Mu, "Um...so you really can't just sit here..."

"...It's alright, sit down." Old Master Mu, his face dark, looked at Xiaobai and spoke.

At this moment, Xiaobai suddenly wanted to go back to the living room, but Grandpa Mu kept staring at him, so Xiaobai had no choice but to sit back on the steps under Grandpa Mu's gaze.

Grandpa Mu sat down cross-legged on the floor some distance from the steps.

"……"noob.

"..." Old Master Mu.

The cool night wind howled, making Xiaobai's forehead feel chilly.

"...Um...excuse me, over in the living room...is the student council president there...?"

"That shameful thing, all flashy and fancy. He'd be knocked out after three bottles of liquor," Old Master Mu said with utter disdain.

—If President Er Gou were to use the power of his ship's equipment even slightly, he could easily drink a thousand cups without getting drunk. It seems that President Er Gou is also an honest person.

Xiao Bai smiled to himself, then admired Old Master Mu's still vigorous drinking capacity despite his advanced age.

Xiao Bai wasn't quite sure how old Grandpa Mu was, but judging from the ages of Chairman Er Gou and Mu Naihua, Grandpa Mu was probably around eighty years old this year.

Grandpa Mu was thin and looked rather short and ordinary. Apart from not being hunchbacked and having bright, sharp eyes, he seemed to have nothing special about him.

"Was it your Admiral's network that scanned my body yesterday?" Old Master Mu suddenly asked.

"Uh..." Xiaobai was covered in sweat. "...Yes, I'm sorry."

So, it turns out that Old Master Mu was also a member of the underworld...

"It's nothing. I was about to go yesterday when I felt someone suddenly scan me with the Admiral's Network while I was half asleep. A splash of cold water woke me up." Old Master Mu shook his head, but he wasn't angry. "Although it was my fate not to die, thank you anyway, young lady."

"..." Xiaobai lowered his head and didn't dare to speak.

"...Are you Lu Yun's sister?" Old Master Mu asked again when Xiao Bai didn't respond.

“…Yes…” Xiaobai replied cautiously.

Grandpa Mu's eyes instantly darkened.

Xiao Bai's heart skipped a beat.

—Speaking of which, it seems that President Er Gou once said that her brother and she had a grudge against the family.

Xiao Bai thought the Mu family was actually quite warm and welcoming, and seemed to have no distance between them, so she didn't really take Chairman Er Gou's words to heart. But now, looking at it this way...

Could it be that my brother... offended Grandpa Mu back then...?

Oh my god...

Xiao Bai was terrified by Grandpa Mu's gaze.

"Um... may I ask what your brother... did to you..."

Grandpa Mu crossed his arms, thought for a while, and then took a deep breath.

"I didn't do anything," said Grandpa Mu.

Xiao Bai breathed a sigh of relief.

"It was just that he slapped me twice in front of my family."

Little White was so scared he was about to cry.

My brother, what have you done...?

No wonder Grandpa Mu had such a dark expression since he was discharged from the hospital... Anyone in his shoes would be furious in this situation...

Grandpa Mu seemed to be quite reasonable and didn't hold Xiaobai's brother's debt against him. He simply took a few deep breaths before speaking.

"...Osmanthus."

"Huh?" Upon hearing the key words, Xiaobai instantly perked up.

"Muxi has already been escorted back to prison by Muyu, so don't worry."

"Ah...uh...um." Xiaobai nodded, her brows furrowing slightly. "The guild leader said that her admiral network is run by Muxi."

"Yes." Old Master Mu nodded.

"...Who exactly is Muxi?"

"We don't know either," Grandpa Mu replied.

"Oh? Isn't she your granddaughter?"

"I know nothing about her except that she is my granddaughter." Grandpa Mu looked at Xiaobai, as if he wanted to tell Xiaobai something, but didn't know where to start. After thinking for a while, Grandpa Mu slowly opened his mouth.

"...Xi, she learned to speak just a few days after she was born." Grandpa Mu uttered her first words.

"!!!" Xiaobai's eyes widened in surprise.

“At first, we thought she was exceptionally talented and that the Mu family had found a treasure. So, just three months after she was born, we sent a teacher to Naihua’s side to specifically teach Muxi.” Grandpa Mu said, “Three years later, Muxi had learned all the knowledge and skills of the teacher who taught her.”

At this point, Grandpa Mu stretched out his hand and gestured a height of less than one meter.

"This little girl is so young, yet she's learned everything. Her big eyes are quiet, but there's a hint of mischief in them. At first, I thought it was just a case of something unusual about ordinary people. I didn't pay much attention to it and instead hired a few psychologists who specialize in adolescent mental health to counsel her. That's when I stopped noticing."

"..." Xiaobai paused for a moment, "And then?"

"Later, she got into trouble. At Naige's eighteenth birthday celebration, Muxi said that to celebrate her aunt's coming of age, she wanted to give her a gift."

"...What gift?"

"She secretly dripped her blood into Naige's wine glass, tricked her into drinking it, and activated the Admiral Network for her."

Xiaobai was stunned for a moment.

Oh……

Ok……

The Admiral Network has been launched.

Isn't that you?

Xiaobai obtained the Admiral Network opened by Muxi, and then used that obviously special Admiral Network to recruit Abyssal Ship Equipment, thus becoming what it is now.

To be honest... it seems like a good thing, right?

Xiao Bai was a little confused: "The Admiral Network has been launched... shouldn't that be a good thing?"

Grandpa Mu gave Xiaobai a complicated look: "If it succeeds smoothly, it will indeed be a good thing."

"...Did something go wrong in the middle?"

"Hmm." Old Master Mu nodded.

“Naige suffered severe brain trauma and fainted during her coming-of-age ceremony, bleeding from all seven orifices. She was later taken to the hospital,” Grandpa Mu said. “Although she survived the surgery and the Admiral Network was temporarily activated, her body suffered a severe infection. She had a persistent high fever and was blinded by the fever. The entire hospital was helpless.”

"Later, Muxi took the ship equipment of a retired ship girl from my home in my name. I don't know how she used it, but she managed to connect the ship equipment to Naoka's admiral network. With the help of the ship equipment, Naoka was out of danger, and her blind eyes returned to normal under the ship equipment's regenerative power, but they turned into golden snake eyes."

“After Naige went through that ordeal, her personality changed drastically. She no longer trusts anyone. Apart from a very few elders, even I can’t talk to her. She’s withdrawn all the time.”

After saying all this, Grandpa Mu slowly said to Xiaobai, "Mu Xi's ability to give normal people ship equipment gave her a very special status in the family as Naige recovered. Later, as she grew up, we gradually discovered that her values ​​were different from those of normal humans. She had no empathy for humans and seemed to possess a very special power that could corrupt the minds of those she came into contact with, making others obedient to her. Therefore, in order to prevent her from making a big mistake, we imprisoned her two years ago, with her younger brother Mu Yu guarding her."

"Uh..." Xiaobai felt like she had received a lot of information. She thought for a long time and wanted to ask a lot of questions, but after thinking for a long time, she looked at Grandpa Mu blankly and stammered, "...Won't Mu Xi harm Mu Yu?"

"In Muxi's eyes, perhaps only Naige, Muyu, and her mother have any value. That's why she would escape from prison to warn us every time the deep sea gathers, and then obediently surrender and be captured by us."

"..." Xiao Bai felt a little uneasy.

Osmanthus...is she...a good person or a bad person?

This question became even more difficult to explain after Old Master Mu's confession...

In the old man's words, Muxi was clearly not a good person. But if you were to say Muxi was a bad person... at least Muxi gave Er Gou the power of immortality... although the price was turning a perfectly good young woman into a withdrawn person...

Ok?

and many more?