Ye's unique ability as a Five-Star Legendary Ship Girl, "Causal Judgment," began to activate, and a surge of causal power enveloped Atago.
"Atago, the injury you suffered is a lie!"
As soon as Ye's words fell, Atago's body erupted with a golden light.
Under this light, Atago's body began to be repaired by the causal power. In a short while, the repair was complete, and she returned to a healthy state.
Atago slowly opened her eyes. Seeing the person in front of her, she felt unfamiliar; not only that, she felt unfamiliar with everything around her. "Who are you? And where is this?"
"My name is Ye, and this is the seabed," Ye said calmly. "So, what is your name?"
"I... my name is, that's right! What was it? My head hurts..." Atago clutched her head with a pained expression.
"Your name is Atago, the seventh saint under the Deep Sea Cult, and I am the Sovereign of the Deep Sea Cult," Ye said in a soft, gentle voice.
Hearing the name Atago, Atago felt that her name was indeed Atago. "My name is Atago! Then what is a Saint? And what is a Sovereign?"
Putting the mask back on and pulling the hood of the black robe over her head again, Ye took a few steps and then stopped. A black hole suddenly appeared in front of her. Ye turned her head to Atago and said, "If you want to know the details, come with me..."
Gazing around blankly, the helpless Atago felt that Ye's appearance was very familiar. Finally, she stepped forward and walked towards Ye.
After the two entered the black hole, it gradually shrank and finally disappeared into the seabed... "Atago, don't die, don't leave me!" Illustrious suddenly woke up on the bed with a start. After opening her eyes and looking around to see that she was in the Admiral's room at the Naval Base, she realized she had been having a nightmare.
As the stinging morning sunlight shone on her face, Illustrious shielded it with her hand. "How terrible! I didn't expect to dream of the scene where Atago died five years ago."
Lowering her head and clenching her fingers into a fist, Illustrious said with a firm tone, "Atago! Wait for me. Once I finish collecting the remaining Silver Heart Authority, no one will be able to stop me, and we can be together again."
Getting out of bed, she took off her pajamas and changed into a white off-the-shoulder dress, then walked out of the room.
Coming to the living room, Illustrious saw Azuma making breakfast in the kitchen. She quietly approached Azuma and hugged her slender waist. "Azuma! Good morning!"
"Waa! It's the Admiral! Phew! You startled me," Azuma said, a bit shocked.
"Azuma! Thank you for always being by my side," Illustrious said in a soft, gentle voice.
"Isn't that only natural? I am your Ship Girl, Admiral," Azuma said with a light chuckle.
"Can you let me hold you for a while? Just for a moment," Illustrious pleaded.
"Mhm! Okay!" Azuma nodded.
Having received permission, Illustrious held Azuma tightly, as if Azuma might suddenly leave her like Atago did five years ago.
"Ngh~ Admiral, you're holding, holding too tight!" Azuma said with a slightly pained expression.
"Ah! Uh! Sorry, sorry! I'll loosen up right away," Illustrious said, coming to her senses.
Azuma turned around, pulled Illustrious's head into her chest, and began to stroke her head, saying softly, "Admiral! Although I don't know why you feel uneasy, please rest assured. No matter when, I will be by your side to face it together."
"That's great. Then it's a promise: you can't just leave me, you have to stay by my side forever," Illustrious said, looking up with a serious face.
"Okay! I promise you!" Azuma smiled.
Azuma's smile made Illustrious's heart flutter. As expected of the Azuma she fell in love with at first sight—so gentle and beautiful!
Gazing at Azuma's moist, lustrous cherry lips, Illustrious couldn't help but swallow. Her face gradually moved closer to Azuma's.
Seeing that Illustrious wanted to kiss her, Azuma's face instantly flushed. Yesterday, Azuma was still worried that Illustrious only had Atago in her heart, but now it seemed she was overthinking. The Admiral taking the initiative to kiss her meant the Admiral loved her. This was wonderful; it seemed she was destined to become the Admiral's Wife Ship!
Azuma's face also gradually approached Illustrious's, and soon, their cherry lips drew close together.
The two kissed passionately. After three minutes, Illustrious finally left Azuma's cherry lips with a satisfied look. "Thank you for the treat!"
"Admiral! You can't do this kind of thing with other Ship Girls! It's fine with me, though," Azuma said, stroking Illustrious's face.
"What would happen if I did?" Illustrious asked tentatively.
"If you dare to do that, I'll cut you into seven or eight pieces," Azuma said with a dark, expressionless face.
"Scary!" Illustrious trembled with fear.
"Just kidding! I wouldn't do something like that to such an important Admiral... probably!" Azuma comforted her.
"Probably? I feel even less at ease now!" Illustrious said with a fearful look.
"Don't worry, Admiral! As long as you don't do anything to betray me, then everything will be fine, right?" Azuma said gently.
"T-True," Illustrious said, taking out a handkerchief to wipe away her cold sweat.
Zuikaku came to the living room and shouted, "Azuma! When will breakfast be ready!"
Seeing a Ship Girl arrive in the living room, Azuma immediately spoke up, "Very soon! Just wait a bit longer."
Seeing Azuma and Illustrious in the kitchen together so early in the morning, Zuikaku squinted and said, "You two didn't do anything shameless in the kitchen, did you?"
Illustrious immediately became flustered. How did this Zuikaku know? She couldn't have been hiding in a corner peeking just now, right!
Seeing Zuikaku asking, Azuma said very frankly, "That's right! The Admiral was just kissing me! And it was the Admiral who took the initiative to kiss me."
"Azuma! Why didn't you keep it a secret!" Illustrious complained.
"Why keep it a secret? How can I not share such a heart-pleasing thing with everyone!" Azuma said, puffing out her dazzling chest.
"What? The Admiral kissed you, and even took the initiative. Hmph! Yesterday she was sad because her lover Atago was the seventh saint of the Deep Sea Cult, and the next day she's fooling around with another Ship Girl. An Admiral who two-times like you really is scum!" Zuikaku scolded harshly.
Being scolded like a dog, Illustrious immediately got angry and said, "I'm not scum! I just want to give all the Ship Girls a gentle home!"
"Talk is cheap!" Zuikaku said disdainfully.
"You...!" Illustrious was beyond furious. She just couldn't understand why Zuikaku was always against her.
"Alright, alright! Admiral, Zuikaku is clearly just jealous," Azuma said, covering her mouth.
"Eh! Is that so? If she's jealous, doesn't that mean Zuikaku likes me?" Illustrious found it hard to believe.
"You're the one who's jealous! Your whole family is jealous!" Zuikaku said, flying into a rage from shame.
A dazed Laffey suddenly appeared beside Zuikaku. She pulled on Zuikaku's clothes and said, "Zuikaku, why are you jealous? Vinegar doesn't taste good! Compared to vinegar, 1982 lafite is much tastier! How about I treat you to some 1982 lafite? After drinking it, you'll definitely like Laffey."
Laffey took out a bottle of 1982 lafite and handed it to Zuikaku, but Zuikaku didn't take it. She explained, "The 'jealousy' I'm talking about is different from the 'vinegar' you're talking about. Besides, I don't like 1982 lafite, I prefer sake."
"Different? How is it different?" Seeing that Zuikaku didn't like drinking 1982 lafite, Laffey opened it and started drinking it herself.
"The jealousy I'm talking about is... sigh! Why am I telling a child like you this? Laffey, you don't need to understand now. You'll know when you grow up," Zuikaku said, scratching her head.
"Oh! Adult things are so complicated!" Laffey hated complicated things the most. Forget it, whatever, just drink 1982 lafite!
Seeing that Laffey didn't press further, Zuikaku breathed a sigh of relief. Glancing at Illustrious, Zuikaku left the living room sullenly.
"Hey! You haven't eaten breakfast yet!" Azuma shouted.
"Not eating! Not in the mood," Zuikaku said coldly.
Seeing Zuikaku leave without looking back, Illustrious said angrily, "Leave her alone. If she doesn't want to eat, she doesn't have to. It's not like she'll die from missing one meal."
A while later, all the Ship Girls except Zuikaku had come to eat breakfast. Seeing Illustrious regain her spirits, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. It was great that the Admiral had returned to her usual state.
After eating breakfast, Illustrious went to the Admiral's office to process documents. Since there were many documents, Azuma also sat aside to help.
While processing the documents, Illustrious suddenly said, "Azuma! Have we received the resources and supplies sent by the Governor this month?"
"They were received yesterday. Do you want to use the resources and supplies, Admiral?" Azuma replied.
"That's great. I'm going to do a Mass Construction today," Illustrious said, hands on her hips.
Illustrious hadn't forgotten her goal, which was to establish a harem at this Naval Base. As a harem, the number of Ship Girls must reach over 300; otherwise, how could she show off her prestige as the King of Harems?
However, even though she was building a harem, she still loved Azuma and Atago the most in her heart. These two Ship Girls were irreplaceable by any others.
Currently, she planned to marry Azuma first, since she couldn't marry Atago for the time being. When she finished collecting all the Silver Heart Authority and became the strongest Ruler, she would marry the remaining Ship Girls.
She wasn't going to let a single Ship Girl at this Naval Base go; everyone would become her wings. After marrying all the Ship Girls, she wanted to recreate the 'Pond of Wine and Forest of Meat'.
The so-called 'Pond of Wine and Forest of Meat' involved filling a huge pool with fine wine and hanging pieces of fresh meat above it. Illustrious would then play naked with a crowd of equally naked, peerlessly beautiful Ship Girls, enjoying celestial pleasures.
Tsk tsk tsk! Just thinking about it, Illustrious couldn't help but get a little excited.
This 'Pond of Wine and Forest of Meat' was Illustrious's dream. In her past life, she was a virgin who died at the age of 20 without ever having touched a woman. It was truly pitiful.
Recreating the 'Pond of Wine and Forest of Meat' was impossible in her past life, but as the reincarnated Illustrious, the possibility was very high. No, it wasn't just high—it was 100% achievable!
Hehehe! Transmigration really is great. No wonder so many people want to transmigrate.
"Admiral! Mass Construction is risky. It doesn't guarantee a Ship Girl; there's a high probability of getting torpedoes and other items. Plus, we're a bit tight on funds this month, so I suggest you don't do Mass Construction this month," Azuma advised.
"Azuma, as my excellent and capable Secretary Ship, how can you dampen my spirits?" Illustrious said calmly.
Excellent and capable—Azuma's heart leaped with joy: So in the Admiral's heart, I'm already an excellent and capable Secretary Ship? How happy! Since the Admiral said she's an excellent and capable Secretary Ship, how could she dampen the Admiral's spirits?
"Admiral, if you want to do two rounds, that's okay~"
Looking at the blushing Azuma, Illustrious smirked. Oho, Azuma is unexpectedly easy to handle! "How can just two rounds be enough? We need at least ten rounds!"
"Ten rounds? No way!" Azuma refused.
"Fine, fine! Two rounds it is." Although she couldn't do ten, two rounds were fine. Illustrious could only accept it.
Illustrious and Azuma went into a room. This room was the construction room, and inside was a Construction Machine specifically for building Ship Girls.
Construction Machines used to be massive, requiring a hundred cubic meters to build a Ship Girl. But now, with technological improvements, they had been reduced to three cubic meters, easily fitting into an ordinary room.
"Azuma! I'm ready, let's begin!" Illustrious took a deep breath and said.
"Understood, Admiral!" Azuma took out a Wisdom Cube, resources, and supplies from her rigging space and put them into the Construction Machine.
Seeing the Construction Machine's display show 'Advanced Construction X2', Illustrious couldn't help but swallow. God bless, don't let it be torpedoes or other junk; it must be a Ship Girl!
Compared to the first time, Illustrious was so lacking in confidence for a reason: because a certain Yukikaze had become her Ship Girl. Who knew if the Goddess of Luck was still by her side?
With hands trembling slightly, she pressed the 'Advanced Construction' button, then the'Start' button. Finally, the Construction Machine began building a Ship Girl!
"Clang—!" The door of the Construction Machine opened, and a golden light illuminated the entire room.
To avoid hurting her eyes, Illustrious immediately closed them, but a smile couldn't help but spread across her face. "Hehehe! Great, it seems Yukikaze's luck-stabilizing ring really works. My good luck hasn't been taken away; I'm still a European Ship!"
The light came and went quickly, and a Silver-Haired Girl wearing a Maid Outfit walked out very elegantly.
"Hello! Admiral, I am the Royal Navy cruiser Belfast, very pleased to meet you." Belfast held both sides of her skirt and performed an aristocratic salute to Illustrious and the others.
Looking at Belfast's graceful figure, willow-thin waist, and voluptuous body, Illustrious was extremely excited. That's great! Not only is she a Gold-Plated Ship Girl, but she is also a great beauty.
"Hello! I am your Admiral, please take care of me in the future." Stretching out her lecherous hand, Illustrious grabbed Belfast's hand and rubbed it.
"Eh! You are the Admiral?" Being taken advantage of by Illustrious, Belfast didn't mind; she was now concerned about why Illustrious was the Admiral.
Illustrious replied nonchalantly: "Although you might not believe it, I am indeed your Admiral. My soul network is connected to you, and this is the proof."
Connecting to the soul network and discovering that the source was indeed Illustrious, Belfast had no choice but to believe it. "I didn't even recognize the Admiral; this is truly rude. I ask for the Admiral's forgiveness."
"It's okay! I'm used to it. After all, if I were to see an Admiral who was a Ship Girl, I would probably mistake them too." Illustrious smiled and said nonchalantly.
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