"Alright, you're hugging the Commander so tight he can't breathe!"
Bismarck couldn't bear to watch anymore and stepped forward to pull Prince of Wales off.
Smack!
Prince of Wales slapped her hand away.
"Don't touch me!"
Bismarck pulled her hand back, locking eyes with Prince of Wales coldly.
The atmosphere instantly turned tense.
"Big sis Prince~"
Vampire peeked out from behind California, shyly greeting Prince of Wales.
"This little one really wanted to see you, but now that you're here, she's hiding. Kids, huh."
California tried to drag Vampire out, but the tiny destroyer dodged her nimbly.
Still, Vampire's greeting broke through the previously hostile mood.
"Useless Vampire. Prince, are you happy to see me?"
Glowworm grinned sweetly and ran up to hug Prince of Wales's leg.
It actually looked like she was more familiar with Prince of Wales than Vampire, who had once served alongside her in Force Z.
Hikaru let out a quiet sigh of relief.
Partly because he'd been smothered by Prince of Wales's hug… but mostly because of the gunpowder-like tension between her and Bismarck.
As their Commander, he absolutely couldn't show favoritism here—it was best to pretend he hadn't noticed a thing.
No matter how fair he thought he was being, reality was obvious: Bismarck's rigging was better than Prince of Wales's. And she was a marriage ship.
That kind of favoritism was practically naked.
Thankfully, the ever-perfect Lady Lexington came to his rescue.
"It's morning now, Commander. You've summoned three shipgirls in a row—you must be exhausted. Please rest."
Hikaru could've kissed Lexington on the spot. She really understood him.
He was truly at his limit. Summoning three shipgirls in succession was like mentally reliving the most intense and nerve-wracking periods of each ship's wartime service.
The screams of thousands of sailors, the tension of life-or-death combat, the endless, reality-shredding streams of tracer fire and shell bursts…
It was mentally draining. Even Hikaru couldn't take it, especially since he'd used Mind's Eye to capture every detail as vividly as possible.
While other commanders might have sketched stick figures, Hikaru had recorded everything in ultra-HD, 360 frames per second, panoramic footage.
He was fried.
At a time like this, he definitely didn't have the energy to dig into the history between Prince of Wales and Bismarck. He got up and walked over to Tirpitz, who was slumped asleep on the table, and nudged her.
"Who…? No, let me sleep a little longer… Sister, just a little more…"
He nudged harder.
Even Tirpitz couldn't sleep through that. She groggily sat up, half-opening her eyes and mumbling weakly.
"Oh, it's you, Commander~"
Hikaru's voice was weak too. "Tirpitz… let's go sleep."
Then he promptly closed his eyes, slumped against her, and started breathing evenly.
He was out cold.
Tirpitz let out a soft "oh," then wrapped her arms around him. Without even opening her eyes, she staggered out of the construction room with him in her arms.
Yamato stared, utterly baffled.
What was this? Performance art?
Prince of Wales also looked toward Bismarck with a confused expression, but Bismarck, who had only been at the base for less than a day, was equally clueless.
Glowworm leapt in to explain, "It's bed duty! The Commander has his marriage ship sleep with him every night—one per day!"
Prince of Wales's face turned dark. She snorted, "Lewd and shameless!"
Bismarck felt the same way in her heart—but since the "partner" was her little sister, she couldn't bring herself to say it aloud.
Even if it were Lexington in bed, Bismarck still wouldn't dare use words like "lewd and shameless." In her eyes, she was the Commander's right hand—his loyal retainer. And a retainer had no right to criticize her lord.
Only Lexington smiled without saying a word, hiding both her wisdom and her strength.
Hikaru didn't wake until afternoon. Through Tirpitz's bedroom window, he could see the sky dark with clouds.
That often meant an Abyssal flagship was amassing forces.
Tirpitz lay sprawled across his chest, fast asleep like a piglet, her drool soaking through his shirt.
"No wonder I was having nightmares—this is your fault!"
Mischievously, Hikaru pinched her nose shut.
Tirpitz opened her little mouth in protest, warm breaths escaping.
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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