The silver-haired Iron Blood Z-class destroyer leader, Lord Z1, wearing an Iron Blood military cap, was leading seven or eight of her Z-class destroyer sisters, each carrying various food ingredients, as they happened to pass by.
And just in time, they caught the wolf pack that had been tracking Lin Lan red-handed.
"You all seem pretty free, huh? Yesterday, big sister Bismarck said you should come help out in the cafeteria too. Come on, let's go together!"
Hearing Z1's words and seeing the unfriendly gazes of the Z-class destroyers, the little wolf pack chibis were momentarily stunned.
"Oh no, run!"
As U-37 was the first to react, all the little wolf pack chibis immediately burst out of the bushes and scattered in all directions.
"Hmph, trying to escape? Drop all the food, everyone, let's catch them!"
With free labor right in front of her, how could Lord Z1 just let these little troublemakers get away?
"Leave it to us!" "Hehehe, I'm great at fishing!"
The Z-class destroyer chibis happily put down the food ingredients they were carrying. After locking onto their respective targets, they began the "fishing" operation.
And so, a game of cat and mouse began in the port area.
Of course, Lin Lan, who had already walked away, was completely unaware of the commotion happening behind him.
Soon, they arrived at the familiar Akashi Shop, which looked more like a warehouse.
Coincidentally, the little schemer Akashi happened to be walking out of the shop with Ulrich, as if they were discussing something.
Seeing Lin Lan and the others arriving, Akashi happily pounced on him, rubbing her cheek against him like an affectionate kitten.
"Commander, you're finally here, nya!"
However, Lin Lan had long since built up an immunity to Akashi's cutesy act.
He grabbed the back of Akashi's clothes and lifted her up.
"What were you doing yesterday in the Mirror Sea, sneaking into someone else's mecha? Akashi, explain yourself right now."
Thinking about what happened yesterday annoyed Lin Lan. With a smile that was anything but kind, he looked at the green-haired kitten in his hand, who appeared completely harmless.
"Nya… It was my first time seeing a manned mecha that could be used in battle, I just wanted to check out its internal structure, nya..."
The little schemer's adorable round face was full of innocence, and she even squeezed out two pitiful tears at the corners of her eyes as she explained to Lin Lan and the others.
But Lin Lan knew that you could only believe half of what this little black-hearted merchant said—taking her words at face value would be foolish.
"If you're interested in something, just tell me. I or someone else can get it for you. Do you know how much you scared us?"
He held the green-haired little schemer in his arms, letting her sit on his left arm.
Lin Lan then helplessly rubbed the soft cat ears of the feline girl.
Afterward, he turned his gaze to the approaching Iron Blood battleship, Ulrich.
"I heard you were looking for me this morning. I assume it's about that silver-haired girl?"
Ulrich gave him a faint smile and replied, "That's right, Commander. It's about that girl, but this isn't the best place to discuss it. Everyone, please follow me inside."
Hearing this, Lin Lan understood that Suiqiong was likely being kept hidden in the Iron Blood workshop behind Akashi's shop.
Following Ulrich's lead, the group entered Akashi's shop.
Upon stepping inside, Lin Lan noticed that the store had reverted to its usual Sakura Empire-style interior.
However, despite the change in decor, all the usual products were still there, including the magical artifacts and weapons from the Holy See Nation.
Lin Lan sighed in relief. He had been worried that Akashi would pull some stunt like a limited-time sale on magical items, which would force him to act aggressively.
Besides those items, the shop mainly sold daily necessities and snacks.
Ever since the Tianou Group had joined their side, the variety of miscellaneous goods had noticeably increased.
"Take whatever you want, I'll pay for it when we leave."
Lin Lan was now a wealthy man. With a generous wave of his hand, he let Prinz Eugen and the others freely pick out whatever they liked from the store.
After the naval base's communication network was established, Lin Lan had checked his Oran electronic account opened by the Navy Department.
The balance was already at an amount he could never spend in his lifetime.
The Tianou Group had even upgraded his account to the highest VIP level, granting him massive discounts at Zhu Hai Commerce Guild's chain stores.
However, Lin Lan didn't really care about these perks.
Having worked as a civil engineer for over ten years, he was long accustomed to a life detached from urban comforts.
In fact, he had even handed over his account to Akashi for safekeeping—if he ever needed something, he would just ask her for it.
With food and clothing taken care of and shipgirls as his companions every day, this was already the happy life Lin Lan had always dreamed of.
"Since the Commander insists, then I won't be polite, hohoho~"
Prinz Eugen naturally wouldn't hold back when it came to the Commander's generosity.
Meanwhile, Blücher sweetly turned to Lin Lan and asked, "Yahallo~ Commander, what would you like? I'll get it for you!"
Being pampered like this by the sweet Blücher, Lin Lan felt like he could stay away from the city forever.
This was pure bliss.
And so, when they entered the workshop, everyone was carrying an armful of snacks and drinks.
"Commander, you're here! Wow, you even brought so many treats for me. That's too kind!"
As soon as they stepped into the workshop, Lin Lan saw Suiqiong still slumbering inside a blue crystal, surrounded by Magdeburg and a few Little Bris.
Noticing all the snacks in Lin Lan's group's hands, Magdeburg, now dressed in a mechanic's yellow vest, shamelessly ran over.
The lively black-haired light cruiser girl grinned as she grabbed a bag of chips from Lin Lan's armful of snacks, pulled off her gloves, and ripped open the packaging.
But just as she was about to eat, a small hand swiftly snatched the chips away.
"I picked those out just for the Commander! If you want some, go grab your own!"
Blücher pouted, frowning as she placed the chips back into Lin Lan's arms.
"Eh, there's so much, I won't be able to finish them all anyway. Blücher, just let her have some."
Lin Lan chuckled as he set the snacks and drinks down on a nearby table.
"Since the Commander says so, then there's no problem!"
Blücher beamed once again, picking up the opened bag of chips and handing it back to Magdeburg.
"Heh, I knew the Commander was good to us."
Magdeburg grinned as she grabbed the chips, munching on them while pointing toward a bulging bag on the ground behind Suiqiong.
"Lady Ulrich, the META Crystals you asked for are all there. If that's not enough, I can go get more from the warehouse."
Ulrich, sipping an orange soda, nodded approvingly at Magdeburg before turning to Lin Lan.
"Commander, to use these META Crystals, it has to be done by you personally."
At the same time, Akashi walked over to the bag, opened its seal, and took out a flat, deep blue cubic crystal.
Inside this deep blue crystal, a small, interwoven pattern of black and red could be seen.
"So this is a META Crystal? But I remember META Crystals looking different. Weren't all the previous ones already…?"
Lin Lan stepped closer to Akashi, holding the deep blue crystal in his hand and examining it carefully.
In the game, META Crystals were used to enhance META shipgirls, and their quantity was strictly limited.
As far as he knew, he had already maxed out all the META shipgirls in his port, so these crystals should have been used up.
It was only now that he realized he had completely forgotten to ask Helena META about it yesterday.
"Commander, these aren't the same META Crystals that were used to enhance META shipgirls."
"These were developed through joint research by all major factions in the port, specifically for storing META shipgirls' energy for further study. It's normal that you haven't seen them before."
Ulrich, along with Hipper and the others, approached as Ulrich explained in detail:
"After all, figuring out how to reverse the META transformation has always been a top priority for every faction, including the META shipgirls themselves."
"Because of this, the META shipgirls in the port were all very willing to help us create these crystals."
Hearing this, Lin Lan finally understood where these META Crystals had come from.
Still, up until now, none of the factions in his port had likely found a way to completely reverse the META transformation.
While the power that came with META transformation was undeniably strong, its effect on a shipgirl's mind was irreversible.
If possible, Lin Lan hoped he could one day help his port's META shipgirls break free from their META state.
"So how exactly do I use this thing? And why does it have to be me personally?"
Lin Lan asked Ulrich curiously.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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