Bismarck didn't recognize Yamato, but her gaze wasn't fixed on Yamato herself—it was on the waters beyond the port, sharp and wary.
"Who are you, and what did you bring with you?"
Yamato shot a puzzled look at Hikaru. Who was this shipgirl with such a strong military aura?
"Bismarck. She's one of my shipgirls," Hikaru replied, then added, "my wife."
Yamato immediately straightened her posture out of respect.
Not because Bismarck was a wife-tier shipgirl, but because of her name.
Bismarck—of course she'd heard of her. The lead ship of the Bismarck-class battleships.
More importantly, she was Tirpitz's sister.
Tirpitz—unmatched, terrifying, peerless.
If the younger sister was that powerful, could the older sister be anything less?
Yamato extended a hand. "I'm Yamato."
Bismarck didn't shake it. She simply pointed at the sea. "What's that down there?"
Hikaru had also noticed the shadow beneath the surface, but what concerned him more was something else.
He spoke up. "Yamato, what are you doing here? Did you come alone?"
Yamato's reason for coming was very important to Hikaru. Even though Bismarck said she didn't sense any hostility—and even now, Yamato hadn't activated her rigging—they couldn't afford to let their guard down.
For all he knew, Yamato could have come leading a task force to "eliminate pirates."
"I'm here on behalf of the shipgirl headquarters, to congratulate you," Yamato said with a smile, glancing past Hikaru toward the naval district behind him. "To congratulate you on officially claiming your own naval base and bringing peace to this sector of the sea."
Her smile seemed warm on the outside, but Yamato was utterly stunned inside.
It hadn't even been that long—where had Hikaru found such an island? And the base was already fully constructed?
How did he pull this off?
Even more bizarre, Yamato had noticed earlier that the island seemed to be floating in the sea—a fantastical sight. And the layout of the naval district was clearly different from those found elsewhere.
Typical naval bases were crammed with defensive emplacements, artillery, watchtowers, magical gear—you name it.
For a commander, a naval base was like a castle in the Middle Ages: the top priority was always safety, never comfort.
But in Hikaru's naval base, Yamato couldn't see a single defensive structure. Who in their right mind would build a base so carelessly?
Then again…
She looked at the pouting Tirpitz, then at the cold, sharp-eyed Bismarck.
With shipgirls like Tirpitz around… maybe fortifications really weren't necessary?
"Since you're here to congratulate me," Hikaru said, rubbing his hands together and grinning, "you must've brought a gift, right?"
"Of course," Yamato clapped her hands. From the sea behind her, a large object suddenly broke through the surface and landed with a heavy thud on the dock.
Boom.
The dull clang of metal striking land.
Hikaru stared in awe.
It was a metal shipping container—about ten meters long, five meters high, and five meters wide.
Yamato had carried that thing across the ocean?
He had a hunch about what was inside.
"It's resources," Yamato said, patting the container. "I brought 250++ units as a gift."
She added apologetically, "It's not that I couldn't bring more—but it would've been a burden, and the journey was dangerous. So this gift might seem a little light."
Hikaru's grin stretched to the back of his neck. "Not light! Not light at all!"
His base was newly established, and with a war on the horizon, resources were exactly what they lacked.
Yamato's gift was like fuel in the middle of winter. And despite how casually she phrased it, 250++ wasn't a small number. At market value, this shipment was worth around 250 million.
A gift worth over 200 million, just like that… Truly worthy of the shipgirl headquarters. What a display of wealth!
And Yamato's claim that she couldn't bring more? Not just an excuse.
When a shipgirl unleashed her full rigging, even a low-level one—like California, who was currently opening the container nearby—could wield power comparable to her historical warship counterpart.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
[Check out my Patreon to read 20+ chapters ahead]
[[email protected]/BellAshelia]
[Thanks for your support!]