Summoning Helena had taken about an hour and a half—it was now close to midnight.
Hikaru didn't feel much mental strain and nodded. "Yeah. Next is your little sister, Saratoga. She's been nagging me nonstop about wanting to come. Shouldn't you be happy for her?"
"She's not actually that eager," said Lexington with a casual tone. "It's already this late, and summoning wears on your mind. Why not wait until tomorrow?"
Waiting until tomorrow would buy Lexington a whole night to adjust—to cover things up—wait, no, to smooth out the base's harmonious dynamics.
"I don't care if she's not eager—I am," Hikaru shook his head. "Who knows when the Abyssals might attack? Better to summon everyone as soon as possible. I'll be fine."
Now that he'd said that much, Lexington couldn't object anymore.
Saying more would only make her motives look suspicious.
Survival was the base's top priority right now. Pulling an all-nighter to summon more shipgirls made perfect sense.
Lexington fell silent, and Yat Sen stepped forward with a small tray of pastries and a cup of floral tea.
"Commander, have some snacks to recover a bit."
The pastries were white and red, their floral scent pleasantly wafting through the air, and the tea glowed clear and bright in the cup.
Hikaru blinked. "Where did you even get this stuff?"
The base had no rice, no flour—certainly no tea leaves.
Yamato was the first to speak up, practically drooling. "They're made from fish and osmanthus flowers! The tea is just flower petals steeped in water!"
Even though Yat Sen was a shipgirl, the delicacy and care in her snacks clearly took a great deal of effort.
Even the water had been painstakingly purified—each drop distilled from seawater using her supernatural powers.
Hikaru felt a warmth rise in his chest. He picked up a piece of the osmanthus fish cake, took a bite, and washed it down with a sip of tea.
A burst of flavor surged across every taste bud like a current of electricity.
The osmanthus carried the rich fragrance of autumn, while the fish brought a fresh, gentle taste like early spring.
"Absolutely divine," Hikaru sighed, popping a few more pieces into his mouth.
For a chef, there was no greater compliment than someone savoring your food this way.
But Hikaru didn't finish the plate.
Glowworm, California, and Yamato were all eyeing the pastries like hungry puppies, practically drooling.
It must've taken a lot to make them, and Yat Sen probably couldn't bear to let the others have some.
"You guys seriously? You look like you haven't eaten in days!"
Hikaru laughed and shook his head, pointing at the plate. "Go ahead, eat."
Yamato moved the fastest. Before California could even finish cheering, Yamato had already grabbed two pieces.
Glowworm wasn't far behind. Poor California, being the lowest level among them, couldn't compete. She ended up begging Glowworm for a share.
Yamato chomped down on her snacks like a starving wolf. "Compared to Yat Sen's cooking, everything I've ever eaten was pig slop!"
Hikaru rolled his eyes and let them have their moment. He got up to take a short two-minute walk, finished his tea, then sat back down on the mat.
Saratoga's summoning would take nearly four hours—he needed to stretch before that.
Meeting the expectant gazes of the shipgirls, Hikaru smiled and gave them a reassuring look. Then he placed his hand on the second resource crate.
He dove into the steel memory of CV-3 Saratoga, the second ship of the Lexington-class aircraft carriers.
Despite being the second ship, she'd actually beaten her sister in design, construction, and commissioning.
Secretly, she always felt, "I'm actually the real big sister!"
Both Lexington and Saratoga were pioneers of the US carrier fleet. They'd originally been planned as battlecruisers back in 1920, then converted midway through construction into aircraft carriers.
Because of their battlecruiser origins, both ships packed serious firepower and weren't weak in close combat.
Their hull numbers spoke to their legacy—Lexington was CV-2, Saratoga was CV-3.
CV-1 had been USS Langley, a coal carrier converted into a light carrier. She was more of a pathfinder for carrier-based warfare than a frontline asset.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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