Shipgirl operations consumed resources, and since Hikaru and the others had fled in a hurry, they hadn't brought any with them.
Even if they had, it wouldn't have been much. During the final battle in the South Seas, Lexington alone had burned through over a hundred thousand units of aluminum just from her bombing runs on the outskirts.
Lexington was arguably the strongest firepower asset they had right now, but without aluminum to resupply her carrier-based aircraft, her combat strength would drop by more than tenfold.
Where were they supposed to find that many resources?
One problem at a time. Rubbing his temples, Hikaru gave the order:
"Dear, go scout the core of the Abyssal forces to the north. Find out which flagship is rallying the army and monitor their movements closely."
Lexington nodded. In fact, even without his instructions, she had already dispatched over a dozen F9F Panther jets to track the Abyssal forces.
She wasn't called the Perfect Wife for nothing. As the shipgirl who had served the longest as secretary, she handled both administration and warfare with impeccable organization.
After assigning her the task, Hikaru turned toward Tirpitz.
"What a pain," she grumbled. Seeing Hikaru still staring at her, she rolled her eyes. "Fine, fine. I get it. Nothing will go wrong with me here."
Hikaru nodded. As lazy as she was, Tirpitz's strength was beyond question.
Tirpitz continued to mumble under her breath, "Ugh, and I was planning to pull an all-nighter gaming."
Hikaru was used to her lazy attitude, but Bismarck—despite living with Tirpitz for so long—had never gotten used to it.
She thumped Tirpitz on the head and scolded her, "Be serious!"
Tirpitz winced and rubbed her head, mumbling quietly in protest.
Bismarck, unable to win a war of words against her sister, resorted to physical reasoning—her fists.
To outsiders, it might seem like Bismarck was being too harsh. But Hikaru knew better.
If anything, he wished Bismarck would be even stricter.
And as someone with a system interface, he took a peek at Tirpitz's stats:
[Current Mood: Blissful]
He could see a shipgirl's mood, and right now, Tirpitz's mood color was gold—shimmering, no less, with rippling waves of golden light.
Every time Bismarck's fist came down, that golden glow brightened. Her happiness index was rising.
Tsk. On the outside, she looked pitiful and wronged, but deep down, she was clearly enjoying it. The more her sister hit her, the happier she got.
Tirpitz might just be a closet masochist after all!
Hikaru then turned to the one seated beside him—Yat Sen.
"Yat Sen, you know this already, but if war breaks out, I might have to replace our cook with a more combat-capable shipgirl."
The role of Cook, like that of Secretary Ship, could technically be filled by anyone.
But only a handful of shipgirls had truly mastered culinary skills, and for the sake of Hikaru's health, Lexington and the others had all agreed that the cook position should rotate as little as possible.
Yat Sen was undoubtedly the culinary goddess of the base.
Still, when war came, food had to take a back seat.
And who you could redeploy from the kitchen might become a critical factor in combat.
Yat Sen's smile dimmed just a bit, but her gentle expression didn't falter. She nodded and said softly:
"It can't be helped. I know my strength isn't enough. But, Commander—promise to bring me back when you can, okay?"
That gentle smile was a weapon of mass destruction—Hikaru had no defense against it.
Especially since they'd just had such a sweet moment earlier, with poolside cuddles and a head massage. Hikaru couldn't possibly bring himself to be cold toward her now.
Not to mention… he absolutely adored Yat Sen. How could he ever let her feel unappreciated?
"I'm not switching you out just yet," Hikaru replied with a smile. "Just gathering an army takes time for the Abyssals. Besides, your strength isn't bad—just not quite top-tier."
As a light cruiser, Yat Sen was already level 96—a respectable rank.
The base had several shipgirls at level 110, mostly large vessels like carriers and battleships, or small ones like destroyers and submarines.
Light cruisers were in a tricky spot—less cost-effective and less flexible than destroyers. Among them, only Leipzig and Helena had hit max level, with Sirius trailing behind at 108.
Helena had reached that rank simply by being assigned early on, back when the base was still in its infancy. Leipzig, on the other hand, had a training support skill that boosted experience for fellow German class shipgirls—she'd leveled to max just by helping others grind.
[End of Chapter]
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