Helena's face also showed a look of longing—not because that house was particularly beautiful, but because Fletcher, Glowworm, and the Commander had spent their days there together. That was what made people envious.
Ranger, on the other hand, was more open-minded. "Look on the bright side. This way, we get to see the Commander a little earlier."
Prince of Wales's thoughts had already drifted toward the battlefield. "The base currently has around 250++ resources. For us battleships, there's no need to worry about running out of ammunition. As long as the carriers don't waste bombs, dealing with an Abyssal army of one to two million won't be a problem."
Helena clenched her little fist. "If our base has more companions, then I'll take on expedition missions. We can't just sit here and burn through supplies."
In the past, Helena had always been a regular member of the expedition fleet, responsible for retrieving resources from the Abyss.
Speaking of expeditions, Saratoga sighed regretfully. "If only Tenryuu and Tatsuta were here. Both of them have special skills for resource gathering."
Tenryuu and Tatsuta were a pair of J-class light cruiser sisters. Because their skills made them ideal for expeditions, they were practically the leaders of the expedition fleet.
Helena cast Saratoga a sideways glance. "My level's higher. When it comes to expeditions, I'm not any worse than them."
Clearly, expeditions were tied to level. The stronger a shipgirl, the deeper she could venture into dangerous Abyssal waters. With low levels, there were simply some places you couldn't go.
Those two expedition leaders, Tenryuu and Tatsuta, were actually a step below Helena in terms of training.
Saratoga didn't bother arguing with her and instead frowned, looking behind them.
"Yamato's caught up."
Yamato came panting after them.
Truthfully, if the group didn't want to see her, they could have easily increased their speed and left her behind.
But shipgirls weren't thieves with guilty consciences. Running away in a puff of smoke would have looked bad.
Besides, they weren't completely rejecting communication. It was just that the Shipgirl Division needed to give an explanation for what had happened.
So they were willing to at least hear what Yamato had to say.
"The Abyssal Conquest Development Fund," Yamato said between breaths. "This is the aid we owe you from the last battle."
Ranger looked confused. "What battle?"
Yamato waved her hands, trying to explain. "The one where we joined forces to take down Abyssal Kitakami, Abyssal Akagi, and Abyssal Kaga, and drove Abyssal Yamato into retreat. According to the agreement, together we wiped out just over fifty thousand Abyssal troops and destroyed three Abyssal flagships. From the fund, we're supposed to allocate over four billion in bounties, which the Shipgirl Division converted into 400++ resources and other useful supplies for you. They're already loaded on the warships behind me."
Saratoga's eyes widened. "But we never signed that contract back then!"
Not back then—and not now either. In fact, things had soured between them since.
Yamato, however, was unapologetic. "At that time, I was already the East Continent Director for the Shipgirl Headquarters, and I represented the division in reaching a draft agreement with you. Even if unpleasant things happened later, the account still has to be settled."
Saratoga was dumbfounded. She never imagined someone could come offering money in this way.
She glanced over at Bismarck.
Strictly speaking, Bismarck had sunk around ten thousand Abyssals. Saratoga and Ranger together had accounted for about thirty-five thousand, while Prince of Wales and Helena's combined tally wasn't even five thousand.
So Yamato's calculation of "just over fifty thousand" was clearly off. But of course, there were other ways to frame it.
Everyone knew that battlefield results included not only kills but also serious injuries. Victory came from not just beheading strikes, but routs and forced retreats as well.
If you lumped together the wounded and the routed Abyssals, then reporting "just over fifty thousand" was perfectly reasonable.
On the other hand, the Shipgirl Division had also strictly followed the draft agreement Yamato had brought back, without inflating the numbers per Warspite's later proposal. If they had gone with her version, this four billion bounty would have multiplied several times over.
And the conversion rate into resources was set at the public market price—1++ resource for one million—rather than the internal rate of five hundred thousand. In other words, while they were making nice, they wanted it understood that it was dignified generosity.
Of course, this was really just self-deception. Resources were under strict strategic control. Buying 400++ all at once, and even having warships escort them through dangerous Abyssal waters? Even ten billion wouldn't be enough to make that happen.
And yet here Yamato was, buzzing in Bismarck's ear, practically begging her to accept the resources.
If she refused, it would be seen as a betrayal of Hikaru's proposed "Abyssal Conquest Development Fund."
Bismarck felt… a little trapped.
[End of Chapter]
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