"Talking to a smart person really is effortless. That's right! You want me to help you save Atago, and that's fine, but you have to do me a favor in return," Night said, squinting at Illustrious.
"As long as I can save Atago, I am willing to go through fire and water for you," Illustrious said with a firm gaze.
"Rest assured! I won't make things difficult for you; this little favor is very simple for you," Night said calmly. "You just need to help me steal the Treasured Artifact of the City from the four major Governor-Generals Mansions and hand them over to me!"
"What? The Treasured Artifact of the City, and you want me to steal from all four major Governor-Generals Mansions?" Illustrious was furious.
"Is there a problem? Isn't this little favor very simple for you?" Night believed that, given Illustrious's strength, she would certainly be able to accomplish it.
Illustrious retorted seriously, "Good grief! You're asking me if there's a problem? The problem is huge! You're asking me to offend all four major Governor-Generals Mansions right off the bat."
"It is simple, of course! But if I really help you steal the Treasured Artifact of the City from the four major Governor-Generals Mansions and hand them over to you, I will be wanted as a major criminal by all four of them!"
Night shrugged and said, "That is your business, not mine. As the saying goes, for every gain, there is a loss. Do you want Atago to die, or do you want to be wanted by the four major Governor-Generals Mansions?"
Thinking of Atago still in a deep, comatose state, Illustrious finally gritted her teeth and said, "Fine! I agree to help you steal the Treasured Artifact of the City from the four major Governor-Generals Mansions for you, but if you get them and fail to cure Atago, I will kill you."
Looking at the murderous aura radiating from Illustrious, Night remained completely unconcerned. "Whether Atago can be cured is not something you need to worry about; I can definitely save her."
"Then it's settled. In ten days, I will wait here for your good news."
The pitch-black giant sword in the sky flickered a few times and then vanished. Night's body gradually faded until he disappeared from sight.
The next day, Illustrious asked Saratoga and Essex to take good care of Atago while she was away.
Saratoga said angrily, "Where are you running off to fool around again! The Captain doesn't have many days left to live; can't you just stay by her side?"
"That's right! Illustrious, what on earth are you planning to do by leaving Atago behind for these ten days?" Essex asked, confused.
"What am I doing? Obviously, I'm looking for someone to save Atago!" After Illustrious finished this sentence, her Ship Qi surged forth violently, that massive amount of Ship Qi wrapping around her delicate body like flames.
With a light leap, her entire body flew into the sky. Looking toward the direction of the Atlantic Governors Mansion, Illustrious turned into a stream of light and flew toward the South Ocean Governors Mansion.
Watching Illustrious disappear into the air, Saratoga said angrily, "That idiot! She's just doing useless work. Even our repair ship Vestal couldn't cure the Fire of Annihilation; there is simply no one in this world who can save Atago."
"Forget it! She's already run off, and shouting won't help. Perhaps she really might find someone who can save Atago!" Essex patted Saratoga's head, calming her down.
"Can she really find someone?" Saratoga muttered softly.
"Having hope is better than having no hope at all, isn't it?" Essex said with a smile.
After flying for three hours, feeling a bit tired from flying, Illustrious summoned her main body ship.
She boarded the Aircraft Carrier and piloted it, continuing forward across the sea at a speed of thirty knots, with her target being the South Ocean Governors Mansion.
Looking at the sky, Illustrious's plan was to first steal—ahem, borrow, that's right. How could a Ship Girl's affairs be called stealing? That's called borrowing. As for when to return it, hmm! Think of Liu Bei borrowing Jingzhou.
In her plan, Illustrious intended to first borrow from the South Ocean Governors Mansion, followed by the Pacific Governors Mansion, then the South Ocean Governors Mansion, and finally the Atlantic Governors Mansion.
This sequence was planned from far to near. The reason for choosing the far over the near was that Illustrious did not want the nearby Governor-Generals Mansions to have time to recover their energy and time to issue a wanted order to hunt her down after she finished borrowing.
After sailing for a day, in the afternoon, Illustrious arrived at the coastal waters of the South Ocean Governors Mansion.
Illustrious also had some understanding of the South Ocean Governors Mansion.
The former Governor of the South Ocean Governors Mansion was wiped out by the Abyssal Entity ten years ago. The new Governor took office three months after the original Governor's death, which is the current King of Thunder.
The King of Thunder is named Kardan. When Kardan was in college, he was detected to have an S-rank soul network.
The original Ship Girls of the Governor-Generals Mansion found him, and after some "adjustment"—ahem, education—they successfully helped Kardan condense a Lightning Core, making him a supreme Ruler in one fell swoop.
"The newly appointed King of Thunder lacks experience; it seems the upcoming battle won't be too difficult!" Illustrious muttered softly.
Upon arriving in the coastal waters, Illustrious was immediately intercepted by a patrolling Ship Girl squad from the South Ocean Governors Mansion.
This patrolling Ship Girl squad consisted of three ships, one of which was a Gold-Plated Ship Girl named Jinkela. Upon seeing Illustrious about to approach the coastal waters of the Atlantic Governors Mansion, Jinkela immediately issued a warning: "Unknown Ship Girl ahead, listen well. Up ahead is the Atlantic Governors Mansion; Ship Girls who do not belong to this Governor-Generals Mansion are not allowed to enter casually."
The main and secondary guns of the three Ship Girls' main body ships were aimed at Illustrious's Aircraft Carrier. If Illustrious made any move to resist, they would fire their shells and sink her.
"I am determined to break into this Atlantic Governors Mansion today. You small fry are not worth my effort. Be obedient, and I can let you leave; otherwise, don't blame me for being impolite!" As a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl, Illustrious was not intimidated by these three small ships at all.
Being called a small fry, the Gold-Plated Ship Girl Jinkela could not tolerate this. She immediately used the radio to notify the two ships beside her: "Open fire! This Ship Girl is trespassing into our Atlantic Governors Mansion waters. She clearly isn't a good Ship Girl. Don't hold back, sink her directly."
"Bang, bang, bang...!"
Over thirty shells were fired from the main and secondary guns of the three Ship Girls' main body ships, rapidly flying toward the Aircraft Carrier not far away.
These shells had astonishing power. If a Ship Girl lower than a Gold-Plated Ship Girl were hit, even if they weren't heavily damaged, they would be lightly damaged.
Seeing these shells incoming, Illustrious did not take them seriously, because these shells would not cause her any damage at all.
The first shells to arrive struck the Aircraft Carrier's golden Ship Qi Shield, causing a series of explosions on the shield's surface. The sound was like firecrackers, ringing non-stop.
The explosions ended quickly. The Aircraft Carrier had not suffered any damage at all and was still sailing firmly on the sea.
Failing to sink the Aircraft Carrier, Jinkela looked astonished. When she saw the golden Ship Qi Shield on the Aircraft Carrier, she became even more terrified. "Retreat! We can't beat this Aircraft Carrier."
"Jinkela! Why are we retreating! The opponent is just one Aircraft Carrier. We have a Battleship, a Battlecruiser, and your Gold-Plated Light Cruiser here. With such powerful strength, there's no need to retreat in such a panic!" the newly constructed Ship Girl, Little Renown, asked, confused.
To save time to run away, Jinkela couldn't be bothered to explain and immediately controlled her main body ship to leave.
"Newbie! Listen to me, run quickly! If you don't run, you'll be sunk. That enemy ship has deployed a Ship Qi Shield. That's something only an Epic Ship Girl or above has, and this Ship Qi Shield is of a high level—it's something that only a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl can deploy." After saying this, Naganami also controlled her main body ship and ran off.
"Waaah! How scary, the enemy ship is actually a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl. I'm afraid only Akagi and Kaga in the Governor-Generals Mansion could deal with such an opponent." Seeing that Naganami and Jinkela had both run off, Little Renown also hurriedly followed.
Watching the three Ship Girls run away without the slightest hesitation, Illustrious said coldly, "Hmph! You hit me and still want to run? Do you really think I'm easy to bully? All of you, stay here!"
The propellers of six carrier-based aircraft spun continuously. After sliding a distance on the deck, they rushed into the air and flew rapidly toward the three fleeing Ship Girls ahead.
"Oh no, it's carrier-based aircraft! Everyone, hurry up and shoot them down!" Jinkela said anxiously.
Without needing a reminder from Jinkela, Changbo and Little Warspite had already aimed their main guns at the aircraft in the sky. It didn't take long for the aircraft to enter their attack range, and they immediately fired their shells.
"Bang, bang, bang...!"
Over a dozen shells struck out at the aircraft like lightning.
With their powerful maneuverability, the aircraft easily dodged the dozen or so shells.
After dodging the shells, the six aircraft began to release six torpedoes.
The six torpedoes dropped into the water and sped forward, attacking the three Ship Girl main body ships not far away.
The torpedoes quickly struck the three Ship Girls. They screamed, and a light emitted from their bodies. After the light faded, they were each sprawled on the sea surface, their clothes already tattered.
"Damn it! To leave us heavily damaged in a single blow... is this the strength of a Legendary Ship Girl? It is truly terrifying!" After sending an enemy attack alert to the Atlantic Governors Mansion, Jinkela fainted.
After the three Ship Girls were heavily damaged and unconscious, Illustrious did not use a final blow to finish them off. She had come this time only to borrow the Treasured Artifact of the City, not to sink Ship Girls.
On the sea, with only a few nautical miles left to reach her destination, Illustrious continued to advance toward the Atlantic Governors Mansion.
...
By a swimming pool at the Atlantic Governors Mansion, a handsome man with pink short hair, who appeared to be only in his twenties, was lying on a chair sunbathing.
This pink-haired man was Kardan, the Atlantic Governor. Feeling a bit thirsty, he immediately reached out to grab the juice on the table next to him, but just as he reached out, it was taken by his own Ship Girl, Akagi. "Akagi! Why are you here?"
Taking a sip of the juice, Akagi looked down at Kardan and said, "Governor! You have the nerve to say that? You left me alone in the Governor-Generals Mansion to review documents, while you are here enjoying yourself."
"Ahahaha... The weather is so nice today!" Kardan tried to change the subject.
"Stop playing these tricks. If you don't compensate me properly today, I won't let you off." Akagi caressed Kardan's face as she said this.
"Yes, yes, yes! My capable Secretary Ship, you have worked hard. How about I give you a massage?" Kardan immediately stood up, pulled Akagi onto the lounge chair, and had her lie down.
Kneeling down, he grabbed Akagi's right foot with both hands, and Kardan began his foot massage routine.
As a former top student at a medical university, even after becoming the Atlantic Governor, Kardan was still very familiar with the acupoints on the soles of the feet. Before long, he had Akagi moaning in comfort.
"Mmm-hmm~ That feels so good. Use more strength." Akagi said, her voice trembling slightly.
"Alright! Watch my Tyrant Dragon Emerging from the Sea!" Kardan bent his middle finger and jabbed hard at an acupoint on the sole of Akagi's foot.
"Ah~" Akagi, her face flushed, shuddered and finally went limp on the lounge chair. "Governor! Your technique is truly addictive!"
"As long as you feel comfortable, it makes all my hard work massaging worth it." Standing up slowly, Kardan wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead and said.
Looking at the exhausted-looking Kardan, Akagi wrapped her legs around him and pulled hard.
"Hey! What are you doing?" Kardan fell onto Akagi, confused.
"Governor! You worked hard just now, and now it is my turn to reward you." Akagi's cherry lips reached out toward Kardan.
Seeing such a great beauty as Akagi being so proactive, how could Kardan refuse? He immediately leaned his mouth toward Akagi.
Just as their lips were about to meet, they were interrupted by an alarm sound.
Kardan, failing to kiss Akagi, looked angry. "Which bastard is it, interrupting me while I'm doing important business?"
"Governor! Get up quickly! This is the highest-level enemy attack alert, meaning that whoever is attacking our Atlantic Governors Mansion is at least a Calamity Abyssal Entity or a Legendary Ship Girl." Akagi said seriously.
"How about we kiss before going to intercept them!" Kardan continued to stretch his mouth toward Akagi.
"Kiss? What kiss?! The intruder's strength is terrifying, and only we can suppress them. If we are a step late, the casualties among the Ship Girls of the Atlantic Governors Mansion will be heavy." Akagi pushed Kardan away, stood up, reached out, grabbed Kardan, flew into mid-air, and finally flew toward the sensed battle location.
...
Hundreds of heavily damaged Ship Girls were floating on the sea surface in various poses. Seeing these Ship Girls, Illustrious shook her head: "Sigh! I said I had no malicious intent, but you wouldn't listen. Even knowing I am a Legendary Ship Girl, you still launched an attack on me. You can't blame me for ending up in such a heavily damaged state!"
Looking at the Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl barrier of the Atlantic Governors Mansion not far away, Illustrious smiled slightly: "If I don't break this barrier, it might be a bit difficult to enter the Atlantic Governors Mansion!"
Controlling over sixty bombers, Illustrious ordered them to drop bombs on the Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl barrier. But just as they were about to drop the bombs, a short silver-haired nine-tailed fox girl appeared.
The silver-haired fox girl waved her right hand, and a terrifying wave of energy spread out. Then, a blue flame like a monstrous sea wave appeared in this world. As soon as this blue flame appeared, the surrounding air instantly became scorching hot.
The raging blue flames swept toward the sixty-plus aircraft like a torrent, and in an instant, all the aircraft were completely devoured by the blue flames.
Looking at the suddenly appeared silver-haired fox girl, Illustrious began to analyze calmly. Destroying all her aircraft in one blow—this level of strength could likely only be achieved by a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl.
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