At this moment, Lin Lan was following two Manjuus around the base, shouting with a completely bewildered look on his face.
He had walked from the shore to the front gate of the base and passed straight through the fence.
Aside from the large Eagle Union emblem displayed on the buildings and the two Manjuus who chirped and rushed over, abandoning their tasks the moment they saw him, there was no one else around to prove that this was indeed his Eagle Union shipgirls' base.
Led by the two Manjuus, he made his way toward a cluster of four-story buildings inside the base, while taking in his surroundings.
Neatly arranged evergreen trees, lush green lawns, a convenience store marked "Open 24 Hours," a spotless basketball court...
And a stage with several colorful spotlights?
Alright, it really did have the unique flair of an Eagle Union military base.
But the only issue was—he still hadn't seen a single Eagle Union shipgirl along the way.
Seriously, were his Eagle Union shipgirls not even worried about intruders?
What Lin Lan didn't know was that before he encountered the Manjuus upon entering the base, he had already been locked on by several automated defense turrets mounted on the walls.
But after locking onto him for a while, the turrets eventually rotated away to continue scanning other directions.
Saratoga had already registered his appearance from their previous holographic communication during his time at the Ironblood fortress into the Eagle Union's defense system.
Finally, Lin Lan was led by the Manjuus to the open space in front of the buildings. Helplessly, he had no choice but to raise his voice and call out.
"So where the heck is everyone? Don't tell me they're all out on patrol or training? That can't be right?"
After shouting a couple of times and still seeing no one, Lin Lan looked at the two Manjuus on the ground, muttering to himself in confusion.
Of course, the Manjuus clearly hadn't evolved into little Bullins yet and couldn't answer him, so they just chirped at him in response.
He hadn't even looked away from the Manjuus when suddenly he heard the sound of a door opening—followed by a gust of wind rushing toward him.
The next second, he felt as if he'd been hit by a cannon shell. A blur of golden hair slammed into him and knocked him flat onto the ground.
"C-Commander! It's really you! It's really you!"
"I'm not dreaming, am I?!"
Before Lin Lan could react to the sudden "attack," the blonde girl who was now straddling him grabbed his cheeks with both hands...
Large teardrops rolled from her crimson eyes and fell onto his chest.
Lin Lan immediately recognized the slender girl in star-spangled knee socks and a white cape.
Wasn't this his—
Wasn't this Cleveland!
As everyone knows, during the early stages of the game, Cleveland—with her excellent stats, approachable rarity, and powerful team buff skill Assault Order—was one of the top picks for beginner players.
Not to mention, due to Cleveland's powerful anti-air capabilities, she was dubbed "Daddy Cleveland" by carrier players over in the Minsk Shipyard.
That nickname carried over into Azur Lane, and even the big-sis knight of the seas herself would jokingly tell the Commander not to call her "Daddy."
No matter how you looked at it, Cleveland was without a doubt Lin Lan's most dependable shipgirl during the early game, and one of the first to reach max level.
Looking at Cleveland's face, Lin Lan was about to say something.
But seeing the usually confident and strong "Cleveland-daddy" now sitting on top of him, staring into his eyes while gently rubbing his cheeks, her tears dripping onto his chest—
He suddenly couldn't bring himself to say a word.
This was Cleveland, after all!
The lead ship of the Cleveland-class, the ideal model for countless Eagle Union sea knights—the most perfect of them all!
And yet, Cleveland… was crying.
Lin Lan realized that no words he had prepared could do this moment justice.
Just as he opened his mouth to speak, the sleepy face of a little white-haired chibi appeared in his field of vision.
Then came a whole group of Eagle Union shipgirls, their faces full of surprise and joy, surrounding him and gazing down at him from above.
"Laffey, South Dakota, Intrepid, Benson, Montpelier, Independence…"
Lin Lan looked around and instantly recognized them—each one of them teary-eyed.
Cleveland pulled him up from the ground with a tug, while five little chibis of the Benson-class rushed over and hugged him tightly.
"Oof—easy, Laffey, your nose is still running—don't wipe it on my shirt… ah, whatever, go ahead."
Lin Lan had already experienced being surrounded by chibis back in Ironblood, but the Eagle Union's chibis were clearly even more enthusiastic.
And the Benson-class was the very embodiment of the Eagle Union's cute bunny chibi archetype.
They clung to him with tearful sniffles, unwilling to let go.
The other sea knight shipgirls, though equally tearful, stared at him unblinking—as if afraid he would vanish in the next moment.
"Commander, weren't you captured by the Observer? How are you here now?"
His dear "South Fatty"—South Dakota—though clearly overjoyed, managed to keep herself calm, being a battleship and mentally more mature than the others.
Trying her best to stay composed, she asked, though Lin Lan could still hear the barely concealed sobs of joy in her voice.
Just as Lin Lan was about to answer, he froze for a moment.
Wait—they already knew he'd been captured by the Sirens?
But thinking about it, that made sense. After all, back in Yunhai City, Friedrich der Große and the others had already arrived.
Considering the time it took to get from Yunhai City back to Lihu County's port, Ironblood probably shared the news of his capture with the other factions within the last couple of days.
"Well, it's a long story. Basically, I 'escaped' from the Siren stronghold…"
While gently patting the bunny chibis clinging to him, Lin Lan briefly explained how he woke up from the dream with Shinano's help and escaped from the Siren base.
Even though he described it simply, his Eagle Union shipgirls clearly saw it as an extraordinary feat.
"As expected of the Commander—he even escaped from a Siren stronghold! Isn't that just like a superhero from a comic book?"
After hearing his "prison break" story, Denver was the first to laugh and cheer.
"Haha, that's our Commander! There's nothing he can't do!"
Cleveland had already wiped away her tears and was now wearing that familiar confident smile Lin Lan knew so well.
Hearing all their praise, Lin Lan's face flushed slightly.
In truth, his escape from the Siren base had been surprisingly smooth, and hardly the stuff of superhero legends.
"Alright, enough talking out here—let's go inside! Montpelier, help me and the Manjuus grab some drinks and snacks from the convenience store.
We have to throw a party tonight to celebrate the Commander's heroic return!"
Columbia laughed mischievously, and everyone agreed wholeheartedly.
A surprise like the Commander suddenly returning—of course they had to party hard!
This moment highlighted the difference between the Eagle Union and Ironblood shipgirls.
Unlike the usually stern and serious Ironblood girls, the Eagle Union girls were cheerful, lively, and straightforward about their feelings.
Take cute little Laffey, for instance—she spread her arms wide, looked up at him with serious eyes, and said:
"Commander, hug."
Faced with such an adorable white-haired chibi's request, how could Lin Lan say no? He bent down and hugged Laffey's petite body in his arms.
This kind of healthy, affectionate habit—perhaps Nimi should take a few pointers from Laffey.
With Laffey in his arms and the rest of the bunny chibis happily clinging to him, Lin Lan followed the Eagle Union sea knights, Intrepid, and South Dakota into the base's lounge.
Once inside, Lin Lan saw the various forms of entertainment the shipgirls had set up in the base.
"Whoa, your lounge is pretty sweet—you've even got game consoles!"
With Laffey still hanging around his neck, Lin Lan stared in surprise at the comics, soda bottles, tabletop games, and controllers connected to the big screen.
"The computer doesn't have internet though… I've already played all the offline games to death…"
Columbia muttered beside him, while Cleveland laughed brightly:
"Now that the Commander's back, we don't have to stay stationed here anymore. Once we return to the port, you'll have plenty of people to play games with again!"
"That's right! With the Commander back, we can finally go back to the port!"
Columbia's face lit up as she realized what Cleveland meant.
Lin Lan, of course, heard them and felt even more uplifted.
He had originally planned to visit the Eagle Union in the Eastern Continent before the end of the year—now he'd arrived early by accident.
And Cleveland was right—Goilia was a resource extraction conglomerate based in the Eastern Continent.
There was no way the Eagle Union was short on oil.
It wouldn't be long before he could lead the Eagle Union shipgirls back to his old port base.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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