Missouri was in a daze.
With her usual bold and flamboyant personality, an incident like nearly blowing the Commander to kingdom come with a cannon shot, followed immediately by getting kissed by him, would've normally been something she'd brag about for three days straight.
But now, she had no mood for that.
The Commander had said: after the secretary ship replacement test, he'd switch her back.
I'm the official secretary ship—Missouri!
Just as Missouri quietly clenched her little fist, one of her sharp-eyed companions let out a shout.
"The Commander is back!"
Missouri shot to her feet, pushed aside a few shipgirls in front of her, and squeezed her way to the white, ghostly figure of Hikaru.
"Commander, are you taking me back now?"
Faced with Missouri's hopeful gaze, Hikaru was momentarily speechless.
Clearly, he was going to break his promise.
He quickly gave a brief rundown of recent events and then slipped away from the chaos of the command room.
The girls were all scrambling to become the next secretary ship, head chef, or tactical instructor.
Secretary ship and chef were one thing… but instructor? Weren't there only three shipgirls qualified for that? Why were the others even getting involved?
As soon as Hikaru left, the girls immediately turned their attention elsewhere.
Washington strode forward through the crowd with her axe in hand, stopping in front of Missouri. Her voice was calm, but chilling.
"I'm the big sister of the US Shipgirls."
Missouri instantly understood where this was going and glared back. "The Iowa-class is the strongest!"
Washington, named after the founding father of the United States, was undeniably the eldest of the U-class. But Missouri, as a powerful rising star, had no intention of backing down.
"I'll be the secretary ship," Washington said, twirling her axe. "I'm your big sister!"
"I don't have a sister like you!" Missouri snapped.
Washington's eyes narrowed dangerously. "So you're asking for it, huh?"
Just as it looked like she was about to settle things with brute force, someone cut in.
"Hold on," a proud voice rang out as Enterprise stepped forward in her short naval uniform. "I object. If we're talking about legends and military achievements, I should be the one to be secretary ship."
Historically, Enterprise was the very definition of a legend. At one point, she had been the only U.S. carrier operating in the entire Pacific Theater, practically challenging the entire Japanese navy alone.
Her war record was unmatched: nearly 300 enemy ships sunk or damaged, close to 1,000 planes shot down—no other ship in the history of warfare came close. It was no exaggeration to say she was a fleet unto herself.
Enterprise had every right to challenge Washington for the top spot.
But the base's underworld powers didn't seem to take her seriously.
"No unmodified shipgirls allowed to speak!"
A busty shipgirl wearing a black eyepatch over her right eye placed her palm on Enterprise's face and shoved her backward.
Enterprise bristled, ready to explode—until she got a good look at her attacker and immediately shrank back.
It was Prince of Wales—known as "Aniki" by the Commander—a notorious figure and leader, one of the four great underworld factions in the base.
"Dammit," Enterprise muttered under her breath, full of frustration. "Once I get my retrofit, I'm turning into a Federation starship, a nuclear-powered dreadnought—I'll beat the crap out of all of you!"
Though Enterprise's historical prototype was staggeringly powerful, the base's version of her had yet to be retrofitted. Even among the carrier shipgirls here, her combat strength barely hovered around the bottom of the top ten.
When it came to authority within the base, the undisputed queen was Lexington.
She had seniority that rivaled even Glowworm, practically one of the original ships accompanying the Commander from the beginning.
And Lexington had served as secretary ship longer than anyone else. During her tenure alone, Hikaru had constructed 51 rare shipgirls—a record that still stood unmatched.
Every one of those girls had to call Lexington senpai. No matter the nationality, if being constructed by the Commander was akin to spiritual enlightenment, then the secretary ship was like the celestial guide bringing them into this world.
What's more, Lexington was Hikaru's first marriage ship—his first wife. Every shipgirl had to watch her mood carefully.
Lexington was the true final boss of the base. No doubt about it.
Below her, the shipgirls of the base were divided by nationality into various factions, and among those, the leaders of the four great underworld factions held the most power.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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