Azure Lane World, Sakura Empire Port.
Buzz!
A flash of white light appeared.
Jack emerged, bringing six Shipgirls with him.
For this world, he had been gone for only a few seconds.
But for him and the other Shipgirls, half a month had already passed.
"Commander… Laffey's parfait~"
"It's been ready for a while!"
As soon as he appeared, Laffey spread her small hands and pounced over.
Jack took out a small refrigerator with a built-in power supply from his backpack and transferred the entire thing directly into Laffey's small maid backpack.
That was the same type of happy mini-fridge as Klee and the others had, containing numerous desserts and sodas.
"Commander spoils Laffey so much, won't she get fat?" Atago looked at little Laffey with maternal eyes, wanting to rub the ears on her head, but Laffey easily dodged her.
"It's fine; those are just ordinary foods. They won't cause nutritional excess."
Human food cannot supplement Shipgirls' nutrition, but it can be used as snacks to satisfy cravings.
Moreover, if we're talking about nutritional excess, the plant essence Jack gave everyone was truly excessive, yet no one got fat from it.
...
Shoukaku curiously looked around, then walked out to the center of the dojo, observing the ground that Zuikaku had filled in.
"It's still brand new, as expected…"
Zuikaku walked over: "Shoukaku-nee, what are you doing?"
"I think she's testing whether the time we spent in the other world truly flowed in a different dimension than here."
"Uh… what's that?"
A question mark appeared above Zuikaku's head. The battle-idiot expressed that she understood the words separately but not when they were put together.
"Is it that hard to understand? Senior, you should know."
Atago then looked at Mikasa.
Mikasa pinched her chin: "Don't bother me, I'm thinking."
Oh dear! Our Sakura Empire Shipgirls are truly amazing!
No wonder they were beaten so badly by Eagle Union; did no one ever allocate points to intelligence as an attribute?
Atago's mouth twitched, and she could only distance herself from the "I'm thinking" trio, moving closer to Shoukaku, lest she catch the idiot virus.
Just then, Jack walked out, holding Laffey, who was eating parfait.
"Next, I plan to go to Nagato's office, the Flagship's office. Do you want to come along?"
Nagato?!
Hearing that name, everyone almost uniformly trembled.
An image of a small yet immensely dignified Flagship appeared in their minds.
"You Shipgirls! Not only did you find the Commander and keep it a secret, but you also ran off on your own!"
"This is a serious crime in the Shipgirl world! A serious crime!"
"Your punishment is to clean the Port streets for half a month! You are not allowed to see the Commander during work hours!"
"Hiss! That's terrifying, Shoukaku-nee, how about you go and I don't!"
"What nonsense are you talking about! I… I just happened to be passing by and was dragged along by you, so I didn't have time to report, alright!"
Even the Fifth Carrier Division, who joined the battle midway, reacted this way.
Takao, Atago, and Ibuki were already completely drenched in sweat.
"Hey, I say, is Nagato really that scary?"
Mikasa looked at Shoukaku and the others in confusion.
Shoukaku sighed.
"Senior, you don't know, but Nagato is known as the 'Sakura Empire Demon' among the Destroyer and Submarine sisters!"
"Sakura Empire Demon? But Nagato is a fox?"
Mikasa became even more confused.
Jack, on the other hand, understood clearly.
As the first Flagship, the junior Nagato surely held Mikasa in high esteem and did not show her strict side.
But other Sakura Empire Shipgirls were different.
According to Azure Lane's setting, they were increasingly problematic children with each generation.
Nagato, this little fox, had to live like a demon to keep these monsters in check.
It truly made one feel pity, wanting to hold her in his arms and comfort her well.
"Commander…"
"Hmm? What is it, Laffey."
"You're smiling so lewdly~"
"Cough, cough, am I?"
"Yes! That night, during my first time with Commander, Commander smiled just like that! So… is Commander thinking about another petite sister again?"
Can't you be less sensitive at a time like this!
Jack rubbed Laffey's head.
"Eat your parfait properly!"
╭(╯^╰)╮
Laffey pouted, appearing to be jealous of nothing.
But what she was actually thinking was: It's so good that Commander is a lolicon!
...
After a rigorous discussion.
Ultimately, Mikasa, Shoukaku, and Zuikaku accompanied Jack to the Flagship's office.
The former was a Senior, so Nagato wouldn't easily lecture her.
The latter, the Fifth Carrier Division, was already on a mission to investigate the fallen sky object. This meeting would simply be a work report, and Nagato wouldn't do anything to them.
Finally, under the gaze of Takao and the others, the group of four set off.
Ibuki looked at Laffey beside her and asked.
"Laffey, aren't you going along?"
"Commander… is going to work, right… Laffey wants to be a good girl… won't bother Commander."
Actually, she was scared by the words "Sakura Empire Demon" from Shoukaku's mouth.
In Sakura Empire territory, it felt wrong for her, an Eagle Union Shipgirl, to accompany the Commander to meet their Flagship, no matter how she thought about it.
"Alright, then is there anywhere Laffey wants to go? Commander asked us to look after you."
"Ayanami… can you take Laffey to find Ayanami?"
"Ayanami, if I recall, is…"
...
On the cobblestone streets of Sakura Empire Port, three Shipgirls surrounded Jack as they walked forward.
They looked like the General Commander inspecting the Port.
"It's so quiet, and there aren't many Sakura Empire Shipgirl pedestrians on the streets."
"Because the distance from Azure Lane Port to Sakura Empire Port is quite far. Without a Commander present, encountering a Siren fleet could very likely result in casualties."
Shipgirls can be a spear, or they can be a shield.
But only the Commander is their eyes and brain.
Lacking the crucial Commander's mental network, facing Sirens that outnumber them several times, those low-level Destroyers and Cruisers would be very dangerous.
"Then why did you go to such great lengths to relocate back here?"
As soon as Jack asked, the three Shipgirls simultaneously looked at him.
The answer was obvious.
"I apologize, I think I know the answer… I promise, the last unannounced departure will be the last one in this life. From now on, Commander will accompany you to eternity."
Mikasa smiled: "If everyone could hear that, Commander might not be able to get out of bed for a whole month~"
Jack imagined the scene and laughed wryly: "Even if I can't get out of bed for a whole year, I will convey it to you."
"Add that sentence, and it's at least five years," Shoukaku also began to joke.
"Shoukaku-nee underestimated our combat power. Ten years, at least ten years!" Zuikaku also showed no weakness.
"You're super doubling it here, aren't you! Alright, even if it's 100 years, I'll give my all to accompany you!!"
Such heroic spirit made the four Shipgirls giggle.
Wait! Four?
"Ara, without the need for other sisters, Taihou alone can play with Commander-sama for a full hundred years~"
Around the street corner, the figure of a girl with a smile that could stretch to the corners of her mouth slowly emerged.
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