Illustrious comforted Azuma, "But don't worry. Even without a Legendary Ship Girl's help, I can still save Unicorn. After all, the Lin Zhentian Naval Base isn't the Lin Zhentian Naval Base of old."
"If they had three Epic Ship Girls like before, I might have some reservations, but now only one Epic Ship Girl remains."
"With only one Epic Ship Girl, I'll have no problem at all."
Illustrious walked out of the Admiral's office and went to the seaside. Her clothes erupted with silver light. Enveloped in the light, her clothes began to decompose and transform under the holy light, changing from a white off-the-shoulder dress to a white high-slit cheongsam.
Bang
Illustrious began to release the countless Silver Prayer Qi within her body. This Silver Prayer Qi enveloped her body like flames. With a kick of her feet, she instantly left the ground and flew into the air. Looking toward the Lin Zhentian Naval Base, Illustrious turned into a stream of light and flew rapidly toward it... Inside the Admiral's office of the Lin Zhentian Naval Base, Lin Zhentian looked at the photo of his son and couldn't help but shed tears. "Son! Don't worry, I will definitely avenge you."
Suddenly, Dorsetshire opened the door and entered the room. She said to her Admiral, "Admiral, Illustrious is already flying toward us."
"Is she alone?" Lin Zhentian became serious. If Illustrious brought the Legendary Ship Girl Taihou, his Naval Base wouldn't be able to sink such an opponent.
"No, she came alone," Dorsetshire said, shaking her head.
Lin Zhentian became happy. "That's great! Deploy all Ship Girls. As soon as Illustrious arrives, make sure she never returns."
"But Admiral, is it worth making an enemy of such an extraordinarily potential opponent? She is the Silver King!"
"So what? Even if she's the Silver King, if she killed my son, she must pay with her life," Lin Zhentian said excitedly.
"I saw the young master's behavior with my own eyes. Those girls were ruined like that; it was truly pitiable." Dorsetshire didn't think Illustrious was wrong, because the young master indeed deserved to die.
Lin Zhentian said dismissively, "So what? My son taking an interest in them is their good fortune. Daring to resist is simply asking for death."
"You are actually speaking for Illustrious, the murderer of my son! Are you even my Ship Girl? You're biting the hand that feeds you!"
"But, Admiral! If we fight a Silver King who is comparable to a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl, our Naval Base will suffer heavy losses!" Dorsetshire didn't want the Ship Girls of the Naval Base to get hurt; they should be fighting the Deep Sea instead.
"If I can kill Illustrious, it's worth whatever price I have to pay," Lin Zhentian said with a firm expression. "Fine, say no more. I don't want to hear anything else. Now, I will tell you the strategy for dealing with Illustrious."
"When Illustrious arrives, the First Main Fleet will be responsible for attacking, the Second Support Fleet for defense and support, and the Third Mobile Fleet for acting as the situation dictates. Once all fleets see Illustrious, don't hold back. Hit her with everything you've got."
"Admiral! Against a Silver King comparable to a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl, ordinary methods used against the Deep Sea are useless." Dorsetshire shook her head. Such a strategy could only be described as a suicide mission, because only a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl could deal with a Silver King.
Lin Zhentian said with a sinister expression, "I know that, of course. They are merely meant to exhaust Illustrious's stamina. Once her stamina is depleted, you, as a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl with ample stamina, will be deployed and will surely be able to eliminate Illustrious."
"Isn't that just sending my sisters to their deaths?" Dorsetshire said with dissatisfaction.
"I will remember their sacrifice." Lin Zhentian was expressionless, as if it weren't his own Ship Girls who were dying.
Dorsetshire did not want the Ship Girls of the Naval Base to be hurt and proposed, "Admiral! I will fight Illustrious directly. That way, casualties can be reduced."
Lin Zhentian shook his head and said, "I don't agree! The reason I devised this strategy is to ensure your chance of winning is higher. The strategy is set. Go and notify the fleets to adopt this strategy!"
"Admiral..."
Dorsetshire wanted to say more, but she was interrupted by Lin Zhentian.
"Go, now! You wouldn't want me to use the soul network to command you, would you?"
Finally, Dorsetshire could only accept the order and leave the Admiral's office.
Lin Zhentian massaged his forehead. He had a great headache over Dorsetshire's kind-heartedness. As expected, Hood and Königsberg were more to his taste.
A girl wearing a white sailor suit suddenly appeared behind Lin Zhentian.
"Admiral Lin Zhentian, I advise you not to provoke that Illustrious, or your life might be at risk."
Hearing the voice behind him, Lin Zhentian was somewhat surprised. He immediately spoke respectfully to the person behind him, "Heavens! Isn't this Saint Atago, the seventh saint of the Deep Sea Cult? What wind blew you here?"
Seeing Lin Zhentian playing dumb, Atago immediately grabbed his collar and lifted him up.
"Don't you have any idea why I'm here? Tell me! When are you going to hand over the map of the gold-rank Azure Island?"
"Saint Atago must be joking. How could I have such a thing? As a mid-level Deep Sea Cultist, if I had it, I would have handed it over long ago!"
Lin Zhentian, though lifted up, remained calm on the surface, but inside he was panicking like a dog. How did she know he had the map of the gold-rank Azure Island? He hadn't even told his three Epic Ship Girls about it!
The map of the gold-rank Azure Island was something he had accidentally picked up on a luxury cruise ship three months ago. The map in that box had shocked him because its value was astronomical!
Lin Zhentian had already planned to give it to the Vice Governor of the Pacific, Hilita. Hilita was very pleased and intended to promote him. Soon, Hilita would send someone to collect it. If he gave it to Atago now, and Hilita blamed him later, his career would be over!
Atago's killing intent was fully revealed as she threatened, "Still playing dumb? Aren't you afraid I'll kill you?"
"If I don't have it, I don't have it. Saint Atago, even if you kill me, the result will be the same!"
Atago's threat couldn't intimidate him. He was, after all, one of the three major Admirals of the East Pacific. If he were so easily threatened, he wouldn't be called Lin Zhentian.
Seeing Lin Zhentian's stubbornness, Atago couldn't help but smile meaningfully. She put Lin Zhentian down and gently patted his collar.
"Won't hand it over, eh? Fine. In a moment, you'll be begging to give it to me."
"Sigh! What has the world come to? No one believes the truth. It seems in today's society, public morals are declining and ethics are corrupted!"
Lin Zhentian sat in his chair, pretending he really didn't have it.
"Hehehe! Old fox, still pretending. When Illustrious comes killing her way to your door, I'll see what you do then," Atago thought to herself, squinting... In the underground prison of the Lin Zhentian Naval Base, two guard Ship Girls were playing chess. In one of the prison cells, Unicorn was being held. A plate of yellowed steel bars was placed on the floor, but Unicorn had no appetite to eat.
Unicorn, her body covered in scars, trembled and curled up in a corner, tears streaming from her eyes. "Big sister! It's so scary here, please come save me..."
The wounds on Unicorn's body were from Lin Zhentian ordering the guard Ship Girls to whip her. The beating had been so severe that the entire underground prison could hear it... In the waters of the Lin Zhentian Naval Base, the Ship Girls of Lin Zhentian's three fleets were waiting in the sea for Illustrious's arrival.
"I heard the person who killed our young master is a Gold-Plated Ship Girl named Illustrious. How pitiable! With only that much strength, she dares to offend our Admiral. She truly must be tired of living."
"Isn't that right? Our Admiral is the Admiral of one of the three major Naval Bases in the East Pacific. He now has one Epic Ship Girl, twenty-one Gold-Plated Ship Girls, and fifty-four Purple-rated Ship Girls under him."
"This Illustrious actually dares to charge into our Naval Base. How reckless. As Ship Girls of the Lin Zhentian Naval Base, we must ensure she never returns and sink her completely."
Knowing that Illustrious was coming to her death, the Ship Girls were all talking at once.
A white light flashed in the sky. One Ship Girl, seeing the figure was Illustrious, immediately shouted, "That Illustrious is here!"
The flagship Aircraft Carrier of the three fleets shouted to the other Ship Girls.
"Everyone, prepare to engage! Once that Illustrious enters our attack range, sink her completely!"
Illustrious was flying rapidly. Seeing the three fleets ahead, she didn't panic but charged straight at them.
"Illustrious has entered attack range. Everyone, begin the attack!"
The flagship Aircraft Carrier swung her blade, giving the order to attack.
The Destroyers, cruisers, and Battleships aligned their main and secondary guns. The guns glowed with destructive light. With a bang, countless shells streaked toward Illustrious like lightning.
On the decks of the six Aircraft Carrier Ship Girls, planes with spinning propellers took off one after another.
Vroom, vroom...!
Over three hundred carrier-based aircraft flew into the sky, directly blotting out the entire sky.
The fighters constantly fired bullets, streaking toward Illustrious like lightning.
Rat-tat-tat...!
Against such a dense barrage of shells, Illustrious, flying in the sky, constantly dodged.
Illustrious manifested her rigging, and carrier-based aircraft appeared on the flight deck of her rigging.
"Royal Navy Aircraft Carrier Illustrious is here. All aircraft, launch!"
Vroom, vroom...!
Planes took off from the deck one after another. Over sixty carrier-based aircraft appeared in the sky, and these planes charged toward the three fleets.
Illustrious's fighters began to battle with the fighters of the six Aircraft Carriers. Because Illustrious's fighters were infused with the Silver Prayer Qi of the Silver King, their combat power and defense were much stronger than those of the enemy fighters, which at most belonged to Gold-Plated Ship Girls.
The fighter bullets from the six aircraft carrier Ship Girls did nothing to the hulls of Illustrious's fighters, while the bullets from Illustrious's fighters immediately shattered the hulls of the six aircraft carriers' fighters.
"Bang, bang, bang...!"
The six aircraft carrier Ship Girls' fighters plummeted from the sky one by one, engulfed in flames. In less than a moment, a third of the six aircraft carrier Ship Girls' carrier-based aircraft had been wiped out.
Illustrious's fighters pressed their advantage, and after a while longer, the remaining two-thirds of the six aircraft carrier Ship Girls' carrier-based aircraft were also destroyed.
The sky was filled with Illustrious's carrier-based aircraft; air superiority had been secured by Illustrious, who controlled all the carrier-based aircraft with her divine consciousness.
All the carrier-based aircraft launched an attack on the three fleets below. Since no Epic Ship Girl was seen on the other side and the disparity in strength between the two sides was too great, Illustrious simply crushed them.
The Destroyers, cruisers, and battleships of the three fleets below adjusted their main and secondary guns.
The main and secondary guns emitted destructive light, and with a bang, countless powerful shells flew like lightning toward Illustrious's fighters.
Countless shells struck Illustrious's carrier-based aircraft, yet they failed to destroy a single one.
Illustrious's torpedo bombers continuously dropped torpedoes, and her bombers continuously dropped bombs, as the Destroyer Ship Girls, cruiser Ship Girls, and battleship Ship Girls of the three fleets were sunk one after another.
Illustrious did not feel she was wrong to sink these Ship Girls. These were all Lin Zhentian's Ship Girls, and she and Lin Zhentian were already locked in a mortal feud. If she let any of them go, and one of them were to become an Epic Ship Girl or a Legendary Ship Girl one day, wouldn't that be disastrous?
Although Illustrious was not afraid, she worried that her own Ship Girls would be unable to counter them. After all, if the enemy were to hide in the shadows and ambush her Ship Girls, and if the attack succeeded, there would be nowhere to cry.
"It's bad, Admiral! Our fleet has been completely wiped out." Dorsetshire sent a notification to Lin Zhentian via the soul network.
"How could it be so fast? It's only been ten minutes!" Lin Zhentian looked astonished.
He had originally thought that even if Illustrious were fast, it would take three hours to destroy the three fleets, but he hadn't expected it to be done in ten minutes. Did Illustrious have to be this strong?
Could it be that he was going to fall here today? No, he refused to admit it. He still had Dorsetshire, that Five-Star Epic Ship Girl. What mattered was the Five-Star Epic Ship Girl; as for the other Ship Girls, who cared if they died? As long as he handed the map over to the East Pacific Vice Governor-General Xilita, he could have as many Ship Girls as he wanted.
"Admiral! Why don't we just call it quits? Return Unicorn to Illustrious and apologize. That Illustrious is so strong; if we keep fighting, our Naval Base will be gone!" Dorsetshire sent a message via the soul network.
"Stop nagging! She killed my son, and I will make her pay in blood. You are my Ship Girl; even if you die, you must kill Illustrious."
Lin Zhentian closed the soul network and lay listlessly on his chair.
Atago sat on the sofa, took a sip of black tea, and placed it on the tea table.
"I told you long ago not to provoke that Illustrious, but you wouldn't listen."
"No! I haven't lost yet. I still have Dorsetshire." Lin Zhentian said stubbornly.
Dorsetshire flew to the battlefield. She adjusted her main and secondary guns and continuously fired shells to attack the carrier-based aircraft in the sky.
"Bang, bang, bang!"
Suddenly, one after another, Illustrious's carrier-based aircraft in the sky were destroyed by shells and plunged into the sea.
Watching the Ship Girl flying in mid-air and continuously firing shells with her main and secondary guns, Illustrious could sense the enemy's strength. Her expression immediately became grave; this aura was that of a Five-Star Epic Ship Girl!
Finally, after all the carrier-based aircraft in the sky were gone, the Epic Ship Girl stopped shelling and retracted her rigging. She reached into the void, and a long blue sword appeared in mid-air.
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