Although Prinz Eugen's actions made Admiral Hipper's teeth itch with hatred, Eugen was still her younger sister.
In the end, she could only swallow her frustration, admitting defeat and retracting her rigging.
"Alright, alright, Hipper, just let it go. You've set an unprecedented record in the port, after all."
Seeing Hipper return with a face full of anger, Lin Lan teased her with a grin.
"Hah? This is all thanks to you!"
Hipper glared at him fiercely, crossing her arms in frustration, refusing to speak further.
Seeing that she was still fuming, Lin Lan chuckled, shook his head, and took out his phone to check the time.
It was only 3:30 PM—not quite time for dinner yet.
Putting his phone back into his pocket, Lin Lan suddenly recalled the extremist who had ambushed him in the Mirror Sea yesterday.
He had planned to spar with the shipgirls daily from now on to improve his combat experience.
Right now, U-556 and the four sisters of the Hipper-class were all present, and the open space in front of Akashi's shop was quite spacious.
Wasn't this the perfect time to bring up a sparring session?
"Hipper, can you do me a favor?"
Lin Lan walked up to Hipper, smiling.
"Hah? You still have the nerve to ask me for a favor? Do you know how much I want to beat you up right now?"
As expected.
"Eh? How did you know that was exactly what I was thinking?"
Lin Lan deliberately followed up on Hipper's words.
This time, not only did she widen her eyes in surprise, but even Prinz Eugen, who had just returned, as well as Blücher and Weser, froze in place, thinking they had misheard.
"Commander, were you brainwashed by the Sirens in the Mirror Sea yesterday and had your preferences altered in some unspeakable way?"
"Exactly! Commander, did the Sirens brainwash you? How could you say something like that?"
Hearing both Prinz Eugen and Blücher express concern at the same time, Lin Lan finally smiled and explained his reasoning:
"Ai, what are you all thinking?"
"I just want to spar with you all to improve my combat experience. That way, when I encounter danger in the future, at least I'll be able to hold out until you come to rescue me."
As soon as he finished speaking, the cold voice of Iron Blood battleship Ulrich von Hutten came from the side:
"No. Commander, you're human. How can you spar with us shipgirls? The power of rigging is not something to be taken lightly, and no one knows this better than you."
Before Lin Lan could respond, Weser, who had just finished retrieving her carrier aircraft, also approached with a worried expression:
"Commander, Lord Ulrich is absolutely right. Even if we don't use our rigging, our normal attacks aren't something an ordinary person can withstand."
Hipper was even more furious:
"You idiot, what do you mean by this? Do you think we Iron Blood girls can't protect you?"
Seeing that his explanation had instead caused outrage, Lin Lan quickly added:
"How could I think that? I never said I would fight you all with rigging. You're all misunderstanding me."
After clearing his throat, Lin Lan continued:
"What I meant was that I wanted to spar using melee weapons, with you all not using your rigging."
"Besides, I already told you during the last meeting—I'm not an ordinary person anymore. I do have some combat capabilities."
After saying that, Lin Lan raised his right hand, and a pure white elemental blade, formed from light energy, materialized in his grasp.
"As the commander, I can't possibly have no combat skills at all, right? Just consider this as training me."
Seeing their commander casually summon a blade like magic, all the shipgirls—except for Z46, who was still munching on biscuits with a blank expression—felt a strong sense of dissonance.
After all, until now, their commander had always seemed like an ordinary human.
And yet now, he had somehow gained such an extraordinary ability. It was difficult for them to adjust.
Even so, could the commander really spar with them without getting hurt?
Shipgirls, no matter what, possessed physical attributes far beyond those of normal humans, even when not using rigging.
When they ran out of ammunition during sorties, they would engage in close-quarters combat against the Sirens.
Every shipgirl in the port had extensive experience in tearing Sirens apart with their bare hands.
Could their commander's fragile body really withstand the combat stance of a shipgirl?
Just as Hipper was about to refuse after glaring at Lin Lan, Ulrich's calm voice sounded:
"In that case, Hipper, spar with the commander for a few rounds."
"Hah? Ulrich, have you lost your mind?"
Hipper looked at Ulrich in shock, thinking she had misheard.
"Without using rigging, control your strength properly. With me watching over it, there shouldn't be any accidents."
After finishing, Ulrich turned to look at a green-haired little merchant who stood beside Z46, munching on a bag of biscuits.
"Akashi, does your store have armor?"
"Of course, nyan! I even have enchanted magical armor, nyan~"
Akashi's cat ears perked up in excitement at the prospect of a new business opportunity.
"Good. Go and fetch a few sets of the sturdiest magic armor for the commander."
"Leave it to me, nyan~"
Akashi stuffed her unfinished biscuit into the hands of the blank-faced Z46 and ran back into the store to fetch the armor.
Seeing this, Lin Lan immediately understood that Ulrich wanted him to wear protective armor before sparring with Hipper.
As expected of Ulrich—so meticulous. He hadn't even considered this method of increasing his defense.
"Commander, if you get injured while sparring with Hipper, then from now on, just focus on physical training and stop attempting such dangerous things."
However, Ulrich's tone suddenly shifted as she looked at him seriously.
"Uh… alright."
Under the gaze of her dark golden eyes, Lin Lan could only agree.
He knew that if he got injured, his shipgirls would be wracked with guilt.
And if that happened, his plan to improve his combat experience through sparring would become much harder to continue.
Before long, Akashi returned, carrying a wooden crate that was wider than her small frame.
Inside the crate, pieces of armor made from dark silver metal were neatly arranged.
Seeing Akashi casually drop the heavy crate onto the ground with a deep thud, Lin Lan's mouth twitched slightly.
Even Akashi, the tiny repair ship, could effortlessly lift such a heavy crate.
Then as an Iron Blood heavy cruiser with extensive combat experience, Hipper's strength must be even more terrifying.
Back in Lihu County, he still vividly remembered how the dragon girl Ruprecht could move as if teleporting using sheer physical power alone.
Shipgirls were already incredibly strong.
Not to mention, in the game, he had constantly sent them on sorties and fed them combat data, leveling them up to their maximum stats.
Even his most common 1-star shipgirls had all been trained to their limit.
Taking on seven or eight mass-produced Sirens with a single ship was an easy feat.
Don't ask why—it was all for unlocking fleet tech.
With that in mind, Lin Lan glanced at Hipper again.
Hopefully, the passive skills he had maxed out in his hero's skill tree would boost his body enough that he wouldn't be knocked out in one hit.
Speaking of enchanted armor...
Lin Lan shifted his gaze to the crate of metal armor Akashi had brought.
The dark silver metal plating was unmistakably styled after the Training Nation's knightly order.
It was thick, primarily silver, and adorned with ornate engravings.
There was no doubt that these engravings were magic inscriptions for enchantments.
He stepped forward, picked up a metal bracer, and found it lighter than expected.
With the help of Prinz Eugen and Blücher, Lin Lan quickly donned a full suit of armor, including a helmet that completely enclosed his head.
"Commander, you actually look pretty dashing like this—very much like a knight from the Iris Orthodoxy. We should take a group photo later~"
Hearing Prinz Eugen's comment as he adjusted to the armor, Lin Lan thought that was actually a good idea. He was curious to see how he looked in full plate armor.
But for now, he just hoped the armor lived up to its name and wasn't all show and no substance.
"Akashi, bring me a Wisdom Cube. I want to activate the enchantments on this armor and see what it can do."
Since he could use a Wisdom Cube to power the magic inscriptions on the Holy Teaching Nation's weapons, surely he could do the same for enchanted armor.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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