Early the next morning, before dawn had even broken, Lin Lan was already awake.
Apart from the habit he had formed of waking early to help suppress Sui Qiong's meta transformation, the noise made by the Eagle Union shipgirls getting up to pack the supplies they were taking from the base also played a significant role in waking him.
To be honest, taking care of so many shipgirls—especially considering he still had years of debts to repay—had completely drained him.
The sea knights, in particular, had taken turns wearing him out, being even more enthusiastic than the Iron Blood girls.
After a quick wash, accompanied by South Dakota and the late-rising Laffey, Lin Lan stepped outside from the building to find that the shipgirls had already packed everything into their rigging storage spaces.
Two Manjuus were still doing final prep work, transporting food from a nearby convenience store, which Independence then loaded into her rigging.
The rest of the Benson-class little chibis and Cleveland's group had finished packing and were laughing and chatting about last night's intense battles.
Upon seeing Lin Lan, they all gathered around and sweetly greeted him.
The distant horizon had just begun to lighten, and the cool morning sea breeze brushing Lin Lan's face felt especially refreshing.
Once Intrepid arrived from the meeting room, the group left the now-empty military base, which only had buildings and the basketball court left behind.
"For breakfast, let's eat on the mass-produced ships. Independence, I'll leave everyone's meals for the next two days to you."
Intrepid said to Independence, and the light carrier girl nodded slightly.
Upon reaching the dock within the seaside military base's lockdown area, several mass-produced blue-and-white destroyers bearing the Eagle Union flag appeared before Lin Lan and the others as Benson stepped forward and deployed her rigging.
After boarding the Eagle Union's mass-produced destroyers and with the ships accelerating, Lin Lan looked at the receding base from the stern, holding Laffey's hand. He asked South Dakota and Intrepid, who were standing behind him:
"By the way, your Eagle Union's mass-produced ships look different from Iron Blood's, but their performance should be about the same, right?"
"That's right. The mass-produced ships of all factions in the port are generally equal in performance, benchmarked against the Sirens' mass-produced Type II.
Of course, sometimes modifications are made for special environments."
Intrepid's response didn't surprise Lin Lan. He had already guessed that every faction must have their own version of mass-produced warships, and the differences wouldn't be huge.
As for modified ships tailored to specific environments, he recalled the Northern Parliament faction often operated in polar regions in the game, so they probably used such variants more frequently.
However, hearing from Intrepid that the shipgirls in his port were still only using mass-produced ships benchmarked against the Sirens' Type II made Lin Lan somewhat dissatisfied.
Back in Yunhai City and at the Siren stronghold, he had seen the Sirens deploy massive numbers of black-and-purple Type III mass-produced ships—and in the game, he'd even encountered the eerie green Type IVs.
This wasn't a game anymore. When shipgirls were sunk here, it wasn't just about losing morale.
Getting sunk could mean death.
To prevent his shipgirls from getting hurt in the future, Lin Lan felt it was essential to think about how to improve the performance of mass-produced warships for all factions in his port.
And as the faction with the most advanced technology in his port, perhaps the Eagle Union might have a solution.
He would have to wait until they arrived at the New Ocean artificial island and discuss it with Saratoga and the others.
"Let's go eat breakfast. Hopefully, the journey over the next two days goes smoothly."
As the military base slowly vanished from view, the rising sun on the distant sea began to dye the horizon a soft orange.
Lin Lan turned and walked back into the cabin with his shipgirls.
The Eagle Union-style breakfast wasn't much different from Iron Blood's.
In addition to the familiar oatmeal and sandwiches, there were egg burgers, sweet donuts, and classic Eagle Union coffee.
The dining atmosphere was also far more relaxed than in Iron Blood, where food was always consumed efficiently and quickly.
After finishing the sandwich Independence had made for him, Lin Lan took a sip of hot coffee from the plastic cup Denver had fetched for him.
"Hmm? This tastes a bit lighter than Iron Blood's black coffee. And Denver, how much sugar did you put in this?"
Having gotten used to Mainz's black coffee in Iron Blood, Lin Lan instantly noticed the difference and looked at Denver with curiosity.
"Hehe, brewing black coffee like Iron Blood's is way too much trouble!
Nothing beats the instant coffee machine. And seriously, what's so great about such bitter coffee anyway? So, Commander, does this taste okay to you?"
Cleveland understood that after staying with the Iron Blood faction for a while, Lin Lan's tastes had started shifting in that direction.
"Well, I'd say it brings back the taste of home. Before I went to Iron Blood, I think this was the kind of coffee I always drank. Not bad."
Lin Lan said with a smile. Back on Blue Star, he'd only ever had instant coffee—he wasn't some black coffee enthusiast.
And clearly, this Eagle Union coffee tasted way better than any instant coffee he'd had on Blue Star.
"Commander, if it's not sweet enough, I can add more sugar for you!"
As Denver spoke, she reached across the table and grabbed an entire box of sugar cubes.
"No, no, this is just the right amount."
After pushing the sugar box back to Denver, Lin Lan heard the cabin's intercom playing a lively pop song.
From the voice, it sounded like Saratoga was the lead singer.
"Is this song sung by Saratoga?"
After listening for a while, Lin Lan curiously asked Cleveland.
"Yep, that's definitely Sara singing, but she's not the only performer on this track."
Just as Cleveland finished speaking, the bunny-eared girl Benson excitedly jumped in:
"That's right! This song was performed by us Benson-class sisters and the great idol Sara! Commander, praise us!"
With Benson's sudden burst of energy, Bailey, Hobby, and Kalk also rushed over, all looking at Lin Lan with eager, expectant eyes.
"Alright, alright. One headpat for each of you."
As he patted the little bunny-eared girls, Lin Lan remembered that the Eagle Union really was big on idol culture.
He had even seen a stage at the military base yesterday—clearly, Benson and the others practiced often.
Speaking of idols, aside from little Sara, there was one other Eagle Union shipgirl who couldn't be left out.
The one who was once considered a nightmare by all early players. The port's intelligence ceiling. The founder of the no-fly zone.
King Cola—the light cruiser San Diego.
Lin Lan remembered that San Diego was so committed to becoming an idol that even her retrofit gear was a microphone.
The devs even made a special stage furniture item and gave it to players for free.
And her brain-meltingly catchy idol song was affectionately called "intellect-reducing" by players—something Lin Lan could never forget.
If you placed San Diego on the stage furniture in the dorm, she would endlessly sing that maddeningly catchy song on loop.
Lin Lan silently vowed that once he returned to the New Ocean artificial island, he must get King Cola to perform that song for him in person.
He wanted to see for himself—would that song really lower his IQ?
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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