"The more you pull back a fist, the harder it hits when you swing,"
Bismarck shook her head, her face heavy with worry.
As the secretary ship, she was deeply concerned whether the Naval District could withstand the relentless chain of Abyssal offensives.
Just then, Helena's expression suddenly changed. "There's something under the sea!"
At her words, every shipgirl grew tense.
For most shipgirls, the three most devastating threats were clear:
the carpet-bombing of carrier shipgirls, the bombardment of battleship shipgirls, and the torpedo strikes of submarines.
Among these, submarine torpedoes were the hardest to guard against and packed the greatest punch. Even someone like Bismarck could suffer heavy damage if struck squarely.
Could it be an Abyssal submarine pack?
That thought had barely flashed across Bismarck's mind when she saw Helena readying to drop depth charges into the water.
"Wait!"
Catching a glimpse of blue, Bismarck called out sharply.
Helena held back, but the presence below did not relent.
Yamato looked around warily—then, without warning, a tug at her feet yanked her down into the sea.
Never before had a submarine managed to approach her so silently, so close!
"Help! I'm going to die! A submarine's attacking me!"
Yamato nearly lost her soul, screaming in panic as she was dragged under.
In the blink of an eye, she vanished beneath the waves, leaving only a few bubbles on the dark surface to mark her struggle.
Helena pulled back her depth charges, scowling. "Come out! Stop playing tricks, or I'll tan your backside when we get back!"
A head of blue hair floated up, followed by a dripping little head poking out of the water.
"Don't be so fierce. I was just joking," U-47 grinned, waving toward Bismarck above. "Cat-sis!"
Bismarck gave a soft nod in return.
Many shipgirls of other factions thought of Bismarck as a strict soldier, but in truth, she didn't mind being leaned on or spoiled a little.
Like how U-47 and the others loved calling her "Cat-sis" without any sense of rank or propriety—Prinz Eugen scolded them countless times to no avail, but deep down, Bismarck actually found it endearing.
Helena, however, had none of Bismarck's indulgence for U-47. As the Naval District's unofficial "grade-school supervisor," she glared. "And where's Yamato? She's our guest—how could you treat her like that?"
"She just scared herself. So boring," U-47 wrinkled her nose, then ducked back underwater. Moments later, she dragged out a limp, waterlogged Yamato.
"She drowned," U-47 pried open Yamato's mouth in fascination. "Wow, this is my first time seeing a shipgirl actually drown."
Prince of Wales scoffed, turning up her nose. "She'll come around. U-47, how did you get here?"
Since Bismarck was still present, it meant the Commander hadn't replaced his secretary ship.
Did he swap out the cook instead? But if it was cooking, the submarines' "lovely chef" Albacore should've been the first choice.
"Summoned, of course." U-47 held Yamato by the ankle with one hand, smug as could be. "My luck's the best—I was the first one summoned here."
"The first?" Saratoga's ears perked immediately. "So there are more of you? Who else?"
"Two more, both from the German line. One's stingy little Leipzig, and the last one's still in the summoning process." U-47 scratched her head, looking a little disappointed. "I was waiting to see who it would be, but when I found you all, Lexington-sis told me to come meet you."
She tilted her head back to stare at the massive warship flying in the sky, her little mouth forming a perfect O.
"Such a big ship! Is it carrying weapons?"
"Something like that," Bismarck answered vaguely, then pressed, "Did the Commander say who the last one would be?"
"It'll be one of our big sisters, but I don't know exactly who. I hope it's Instructor Graf Zeppelin."
Carrier shipgirl Graf Zeppelin was the German line's exclusive instructor. She couldn't really teach submarines much, but the little ones all liked her.
Hindenburg was crazy, Hutten were repressed, Spee was an airhead, Moltke aloof and the Scharnhorst sisters drunkards.
By that count, Graf Zeppelin was the only one who acted like an adult.
"Since it's a German sister, I'll head back first."
With that, Bismarck tossed the warship over to Prince of Wales, who nearly fumbled in a panic as she caught it.
[End of Chapter]
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