Elder brother's garrison

Page 25

After saying that, Xiaobai picked up the torn envelope and shook it.

A yellow invitation fell out.

The name written on it was actually Xiaobai's name, Lu Lin.

"Little White, are you going?" Lexington asked.

"...I don't know them either." Xiaobai shifted in her chair. "They say they're old friends...but it's not me..."

“Since it’s not an official document, it’s naturally written a bit casually. In reality, only a few admirals know each other well,” Lexington said. “The news that Xiaobai has become an admiral has already spread, and part of the reason for holding this banquet is probably to see you.”

"May I take a look?" Lexington asked, placing his hand on the invitation.

"kindness."

Lexington picked up the invitation and examined it for a while.

"It's beautifully written," Lexington said, looking at the two characters "Lu Lin" on the invitation. "Perhaps someone really does want to get to know you."

Should I go?

"It's helpful for admirals to keep in touch with each other," Lexington said. "And it's good to relax a bit after working for so long."

"Oh..." Xiaobai lowered his head.

Xiao Bai herself didn't want to go.

Going to a banquet alone, facing so many strangers, was still too difficult for her.

"You can bring ship girls along."

Lexington seemed to sense the unease in Xiaobai's heart and said...

"Can I bring it?"

“Sure,” Lexington said, looking at the increasingly bright light in White’s eyes, and couldn’t help but smile apologetically, “Ah, I can’t go.”

Lexington was usually responsible for scouting the area and handling the naval base's documents and manpower matters.

Moreover, if Xiaobai goes to the banquet, someone will naturally need to take her place. In the entire naval base, only Lexington has enough experience and ability to handle this.

It's true that Xiaobai can't take Lexington to the banquet.

"Ah, but although I can't go." Lexington looked at the somewhat disappointed Little White, smiled meaningfully, and coughed lightly. "Come out, Jiajia."

"Pfft."

A blonde girl suddenly tumbled into the window of the admiral's office.

Saratoga seemed to have hurt himself a bit from the fall; he rubbed his bottom before standing up.

"elder sister."

“Did you hear that?” Lexington said.

"kindness."

"Want to go?"

"kindness."

“That’s right.” Lexington turned to Little White and said, “Although Jiajia is usually very naughty, she is very reliable when it comes to important moments.”

I've witnessed Saratoga's ability to avoid the main entrance many times in the past two weeks. The first time, I was quite startled, but after seeing it a few times, I got used to it.

As expected, this expressionless ship girl has a free-spirited personality that doesn't match her beautiful and elegant appearance.

When he was out in Lexington and occasionally got annoyed by Saratoga's harassment, he would jokingly call her a crazy girl.

"Xiaobai, don't you like being with Jiajia?" Lexington tapped his chin with his finger and pondered.

"Oh no, no... I'm very happy." Xiaobai quickly waved her hand.

Generally, ship girls that are taken on long trips must be those that possess at least a fully developed individual combat capability, sufficient to handle some unexpected situations.

Although Saratoga's personality is as unpredictable as the wind, she possesses fighting prowess that rivals that of her sister.

Among the hundreds of ship girls in the naval base, there are really very few who can defeat Saratoga.

Of course, from a hardware perspective, there's no reason for a novice to nitpick.

However, Saratoga doesn't seem to like the appearance of the little white thing.

Even if Xiaobai was naive, after spending half a month together, she could sense Saratoga's subtle resistance towards her.

Xiaobai looked at Lexington.

Lexington wore that flawless smile.

"It says we can bring two ship girls," Xiaobai said to Lexington, picking up the letter.

"So, Xiaobai, do you have any good candidates in mind?" Lexington asked.

Xiao Bai thought about it.

Tirpitz, who vowed to stay home forever, probably won't be able to go.

It's also not suitable to bring Fubuki and Nagaharu along. Given the destroyer's activity level, if they cause any trouble with Saratoga, even Shiro herself wouldn't know what to do.

"...Bismarck or Hood, perhaps."

Chapter 31 Miss Hood is not motivated

The second ship girl should be strong, stable, and most importantly, able to give Xiaobai a sense of security.

The best kind of gentle older sister would be one who can keep Saratoga in check.

Hood and Bismarck were the first ship girls that Shiro encountered in the naval base, and they took good care of Shiro, providing her with a sense of security that other ship girls could not match.

Little White put down what he was doing and returned to the Bismarck residence.

As soon as he entered, Xiaobai sensed the strong aura that Tirpitz had developed from staying at home.

It was almost noon, and Tirpitz, who had stayed up all night, had been sleeping on the table in the living room for a while.

Fortunately, Tirpitz is a light sleeper, and she woke up when Little White walked into the living room.

“…Hmm?” Tirpitz and Oscar, who was lying on the table, opened their sleepy eyes and looked at Little White.

"I'm sorry, did I disturb you?" Xiaobai said apologetically.

“If you were afraid of being woken up, you wouldn’t be sleeping in the living room… Ah…” Tirpitz yawned, “You’re back so early today.”

After thinking about it, Xiaobai still felt that he should invite Tirpitz, maybe he would agree.

"Oh, it's like this, I received an invitation to a banquet..."

“I’m not going,” Tirpitz quickly interrupted Little White.

"I knew it..." Xiaobai lowered her head. "And what about Bismarck..."

Tirpitz propped his chin on his hand and looked at Little White, then opened the soda can next to him, inserted a straw, and started drinking.

"Let's ask my sister when she gets back," Tirpitz said after thinking for a moment. "Anyway, as long as we ask my sister in the name of an order, she'll agree to any reason."

"really?"

"Yeah, I remember last time your brother asked your sister to wear Dr. Strangelove's cosplay outfit for the battle, and then your sister wore it for a month."

"What kind of cosplay outfit is it?"

“It’s a rather interesting outfit.” Tirpitz frowned as she thought for a moment. “But after she took it off, my sister hid it. When people asked, she said she burned it.”

Making the serious and earnest Bismarck wear a cosplay outfit and go to sea to fight is really a perverse thing for my brother...

"Would Bismarck enjoy events like banquets?" Xiaobai asked.

"It's alright, I guess. I wouldn't say I like it or dislike it," Tirpitz said.

"Oh..." Xiaobai looked up at his watch. There was still about an hour before Bismarck would go home for lunch.

“Then I’ll go ask Hood first…” Xiaobai said, standing up.

“Oh, speaking of which, Hood is quite good at this kind of thing,” Tirpitz said. “If you ask her, she might agree.”

"That's good." Little White had obtained important information from Tirpitz. "I'll go ask her."

"...Have a safe journey." Tirpitz weakly raised her hand and waved, then buried her head in the soft body of the black cat Oscar and continued her great sleep.

Open and close the door gently.

The Hood family lived right next to the Bismarck family; Little White picked up his shoes and walked a few steps to get there.

After feeling around on his person, Xiaobai pulled out the key to Hude's house.

This was given to Shiro by Hood on their first day at the naval base, saying that he could come anytime.

After giving Xiaobai the key, Hude never opened the door for her again, saying that he was forcing Xiaobai to develop the habit of opening the door with the key herself.

Otherwise, given Xiaobai's thin skin, he might never need to use a key.

"Excuse me..." Xiaobai opened the door, held it steady, and gently called out to the inside.

"..."

No sound came from it.

Based on past experience, Hood usually goes out in the afternoon.

In the mornings, Hu De usually cleans the house and watches TV for a while.

With some doubt, Xiaobai went inside.

As Xiaobai approached the living room, she heard intermittent sobs.

Is Hood crying?

Xiao Bai quickened his pace and opened the living room door.

"Waaaaah..." In the living room, Hu De was watching TV while biting a handkerchief, crying his eyes out.

The TV was showing a romantic drama for lunchtime.

"Waaaaah... Don't go, don't go..." Hood was so engrossed in watching that he didn't even notice Little White's appearance. "Nobles and all that stuff can go to hell! Arranged marriages are all meaningless! Your love is the most important thing! Waaaaah..."

"...Afraid of getting a sore throat? Drink authentic herbal tea. Authentic good herbal tea. Authentic good stories. Welcome to watch Jia Shao Bao Herbal Tea x Good Stories, sponsored by Jia Shao Bao, the leading brand of herbal tea..." Suddenly, the plot on the TV paused, seemingly coming to an end, as an advertisement was inserted.

"Ahhhhhh—" Hood knelt down and scurried to the TV, hugging it tightly and patting it repeatedly with both hands as if she were being affectionate. "Ahhhhhh... I haven't watched the next episode yet..."

Hu De picked up the program schedule and read it carefully, then lowered his head as if he had lost his soul.

"The next episode won't be until tomorrow..."

Without the allure of television programs, Hood finally discovered the existence of Little White.

"Huh? Commander..." Hood blushed instantly, as if he had seen something incredible.

"Good afternoon..." Xiaobai greeted Hude, "Hude, are you watching TV?"

"Ah, well, it's nothing... Actually, this is... Ah... Ah..." Hood stretched out his hand and waved it haphazardly, his eyes darting between Xiaobai and the TV, unconsciously uttering meaningless monosyllables. Finally, as if he couldn't find a good reason to explain, he lowered his head as if resigned to his fate, "...Hmm."

“It looks really good.” Xiaobai sat down in front of Hu De.

"Yeah, yeah, it's really good!" Hood looked up as if something exciting had been touched. "Wow, this TV series is about a noble lady and a knight falling in love, blah blah blah..."

Little White listened quietly as Hu De rattled off the plot of the soap opera.

She looked with a smile at Hood's cheeks, which were slightly flushed with excitement.

Speaking of which, Xiaobai also had a female classmate in high school who was obsessed with a certain movie or TV series. Every day after class, she would happily discuss the plot with her classmates. Once she started talking, she would go on and on, and while her eyes were sparkling, she would say things like, "This movie star is so handsome, I want to marry him."

—Speaking of which.

—I wonder how they are doing.

—Even though one's information was forcibly erased, one's memory can never be erased.

—Will you miss me?

"Commander?" Hood seemed to notice that Little White was a little distracted and reminded him with some curiosity.

Although the newly appointed admiral never interrupted when people were speaking, he rarely lost focus.

"Hmm, what's wrong?" Xiaobai realized.

"Oh, it's nothing." Hood thought for a moment, then decided it must have been her imagination. "Oh, speaking of which, did the Commander want to see me about something? Is it still working hours?"

"..." Xiaobai pondered for a moment, "Does Hu De have time these few days?"