Was there really a Commander who didn't bother improving his shipgirls' strength?
Yamato shook her head, setting aside the suspicion that Hikaru's brain wasn't working properly, and pressed eagerly:
"Then what other tactics do you teach? Which ones could I learn?"
"Defensive tactics—I can teach you Overpenetration Guard and Anti-Surface Patrol, each of which reduces damage from battleships and destroyers by about ten percent."
Yamato sucked in a sharp breath.
"For offensive tactics, you could learn Interception Fire from me. It increases your shelling damage against destroyers by ten percent."
Yamato's pupils widened.
"Honestly, my tactics aren't all that impressive. Victorious can teach Effective Fire, which boosts damage against battleships, and also Fleet Cover, which raises all battlecruisers' armor by ten points. She and Aurora are far stronger instructors than me."
Yamato nearly drooled, on the verge of throwing herself to the ground in a formal bow before Ella.
The skills Ella could teach already sounded insane. And those team-wide buff tactics? They shook Yamato to her very core.
Take Fleet Cover for instance—what did raising every battlecruiser's armor by ten points mean? A purple piece of equipment like Additional Armor (Large) only added nine armor points—and even then, it reduced evasion by three.
But this buff had no drawbacks at all. Ten armor points straight, better even than some gold-tier equipment.
Wiping her mouth, Yamato clasped Ella's hands. "Ella, let us swear sisterhood!"
Clinging to Ella, she entered the dining hall.
Hikaru, watching with surprise, leaned over to Changchun. "What's going on? Why is Yamato sticking so close to Ella?"
It wasn't that he was being unfair to Yamato—this woman was genuinely arrogant and aloof. For her to cozy up to a powerless shipgirl like Ella was completely unexpected.
"I don't know either. She's been glued to Ella all afternoon, asking her question after question." Changchun picked up a shrimp between her fingers. "Here, Commander—open your mouth. I peeled this one for you."
Hikaru wasn't shy. He opened up and ate the shrimp right from her hand, chewing with a grin. "Changchun, your shrimp peeling is top-notch!"
Yat Sen, smiling sweetly, set down a platter of assorted fried rice on the table nearby, feigning a scolding tone. "And my cooking isn't top-notch?"
"If you feed me a shrimp too, I'll be able to tell you for sure."
Yat Sen's cheeks flushed red. But before she could pick one up, Leipzig plopped down an entire plate of boiled shrimp drenched in sauce, her eyes full of expectation.
"Commander, if I feed you shrimp, will you pay me?"
Yat Sen's smile froze, while Hikaru winced, groaning through clenched teeth.
"Leipzig… put the shrimp down."
"Tch. Just as fierce as Big Sis."
Muttering, Leipzig shoved a shrimp into her own mouth, chewing furiously as though biting not seafood, but Hikaru himself.
Then U-47 crawled onto Hikaru's lap and held out a spicy strip.
"Commander, eat spicy stick."
In an instant, Hikaru's expression brightened. He chomped it down gratefully, swallowing with emotion. "U-47, you're the one who really loves me! Come here, let the Commander pinch your cheeks."
"No waaah!"
Terrified, U-47 tried to scramble away but toppled straight into his arms, where his big hands seized her little face, scrunching it tight while his stubble pricked her until she squealed.
She laughed and cried at once, squirming helplessly in his grasp.
Around the round table, the shipgirls' laughter was warm and full of life.
Yamato sniffed in disdain. Shamelessly indecent!
Still, she sat beside Ella, glancing between the dishes on the table and the heaping spread on another table behind them, frowning in puzzlement.
"Hikaru, why is that other table piled with so many dishes? Are you going to invite the Abyssals to dinner?" She chuckled at her own supposed joke.
Hikaru thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, it's for the Abyssals."
"Tch, as if! You expect me to believe that?"
Yamato pouted and turned, reaching for an apple pie from the back table.
"That's not for you," Hikaru quickly stopped her. "It won't do you any good."
"No good?"
Yamato stared at the pie—golden, fragrant, steaming sweet—and saliva flooded her mouth. She couldn't understand Hikaru's words and bristled with defiance.
"What do you mean 'no good'? Food doesn't even do anything for shipgirls—it's just for fun!"
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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