Fortunately, with the power of the Hero, Lin Lan no longer had to worry about blacking out like he did last time in the Ironblood Fortress.
Even so, after several rounds of beer and wine, he was already feeling the effects.
The banquet lasted until late at night. After hugging each of the shipgirls goodnight, he finally made his way back to the office loft, supported by Z23, Sui Qiong, and Blücher.
Even then, Lin Lan could tell that Roon and the others were quite disappointed that he hadn't blacked out.
Luckily, his superior drinking skills had foiled Ironblood's sinister plot.
As the cold evening sea breeze brushed against him, Lin Lan sobered up considerably by the time he reached the courtyard of the loft.
Z23 also took this moment to bid them farewell, slipping a Meta Crystal into his pocket.
"Commander, Lady Hood asked me to give this to you. I'll be heading back now. Blücher, please take good care of the commander tonight."
After saying this, Nimi-sensei cast a puzzled glance at the unfamiliar petite, white-haired girl before her, but without asking any questions, she bid everyone farewell and left.
Watching Z23 depart, Lin Lan turned to Blücher, who was still holding onto him, her eager expression clear as day.
He let out a helpless sigh.
So after the battle of endurance, now it's a nighttime skirmish?
Being a commander isn't easy…
Well then, let's get started.
——
Orlan Federation, Eastern Sea of the Western Continent.
Beneath a sky shrouded in dark clouds, a large cargo ship was navigating the night, heading westward toward Lanjiang City from the Eastern Continent.
Surrounding the ship, six light cruiser-class shipgirl units from the Navy were escorting it across the sea.
Inside the crew's quarters, eight workers from Battleaxe Industries, dressed in black company vests, were drinking and feasting under the dim yellow lighting.
"Hey, Old Ma, have you been keeping up with the forums lately? Word is that something even stronger than Sirens has appeared in Dongyun City."
A burly, bearded man took a swig from a bottle of strong liquor, his face already flushed red, and turned to their captain.
The captain, an aging man in his fifties known as Old Ma, tore off a chunk of chicken, swallowed it, and shot the bearded man an annoyed look.
"And why should I care? Why should you care? If the sky falls, the tall ones will take the hit first. It's got nothing to do with us."
"Come on, Old Ma, you can't say that. Out of all of us, aren't you the tallest?"
A middle-aged crew member, appearing well-fed and satisfied, leaned back in his chair, tilting his head with a drunken grin.
"Hah, and that's exactly why you lot will never make it as captains."
Old Ma sneered, raising his glass and downing his drink in one gulp.
"You all just think about making money and leaving your lives to fate. Have you never wondered why I always spend money hiring cruiser-class shipgirls for protection?"
"What else? You're scared of dying! Hahahaha!"
The drunken crew burst into laughter.
"You lot really need a good beating!"
Old Ma widened his eyes in fury at their ridicule, but despite their words, he wasn't actually offended.
He knew these brothers, who had shared life-and-death moments with him, were just teasing him.
"Alright, alright, we all know Old Ma does it for safety. Everyone knows that Sirens usually don't attack ships escorted by shipgirls."
The bearded man, Old Ma's first mate, waved his hand dismissively after the laughter died down.
"Hah, and who told you Sirens don't attack ships with shipgirl escorts? If that were true, why wouldn't I just hire a destroyer-class girl as a mascot?"
Old Ma rubbed his reddened nose, glancing out the window at the shipgirls escorting them under the night sky.
"The ones in Dongyun City… Those must be real humanoid Sirens. You kids don't know how terrifying they really are."
"I once saw a Siren blast a coastal fortress into rubble with a single shot—artillery fire so dense it was like a torrential downpour."
"They look just like shipgirls, but they're far more terrifying than anything you brats have ever seen."
Hearing this, a younger crew member who had recently joined their ranks was taken aback.
"Old Ma, I didn't know you used to be in the Navy?"
"Hah, how else do you think I got us through that storm last time?"
Old Ma let out a proud snort before continuing in his gruff voice.
"Those monsters can't be stopped by destroyers. Only cruisers give me any sense of security, got it?"
"Think about it—how many captains from our company who started around the same time as me are still around?
Most of them got sent to the depths because they didn't want to spend money hiring shipgirls."
A chubby, bespectacled crew member, still chewing on half a drumstick, suddenly asked,
"Where did the Sirens even come from? When I was in school, there was no mention of them in any history books. It doesn't make sense."
"And the ocean is so vast—surely the Sirens can't be the only apex predators out there? What about the deep-sea monsters from before?"
Before Old Ma could answer, the first mate shot the chubby man a glare.
"You idiot, didn't Old Ma just say those humanoid Sirens can blow apart a concrete fortress with a single shot?"
"You think any sea monster is tougher than reinforced concrete?"
The crew erupted into laughter as the bespectacled man shrank back under their mockery.
"Heh, but believe it or not, before the Sirens appeared, there really were deep-sea monsters. Back when I was in the Navy, we had specific training for dealing with them."
Old Ma set his empty glass down in front of the first mate, who immediately grabbed a bottle and refilled it for him.
"The waters around Orlan are relatively safe, but…"
"In places like the Leviathan trench near the Teachings Nation, the sea demons around Liaozhou's Nine Islands, or the monsters lurking in Natlan Empire's…"
Before Old Ma could finish, the entire ship suddenly shook violently, cutting him off mid-sentence.
It was as if an earthquake had struck. The jolt sent everyone tumbling from their seats, and bottles, dishes, and utensils clattered to the floor.
"What the hell was that?! Sirens? No, there's no cannon fire or torpedo explosions!"
Dazed and disoriented, the crew groaned on the floor, but Old Ma was the first to react. He grabbed onto the nearest table leg for support, his face a mask of confusion.
At that moment, the sound of artillery fire erupted outside.
Ignoring his aching body, Old Ma rushed to the window—and what he saw nearly stopped his heart.
Illuminated by the glow of gunfire, grotesque, massive purple tentacles were rising from the depths.
These writhing appendages, draped with seaweed, lashed at the shipgirls with terrifying force, swatting one of them away in a single strike.
The shipgirls' main guns fired in retaliation, but the shells barely left a mark on the monstrous limbs.
"Aaaaaah! What the hell are those disgusting things?!"
Some of the crew had caught sight of the nightmare outside and screamed in terror.
"No… No way… This can't be happening…"
Old Ma's teeth chattered, his yellowed teeth clicking together from sheer fear. Cold sweat dripped down his forehead.
"Old Ma! While those shipgirls are keeping it busy, let's get to the escape sub! We have to run now!"
Amidst the deafening blasts, the first mate struggled to stay on his feet, shouting at Old Ma.
But in the next instant, he saw something that sent shivers down his spine—their fearless, experienced captain, looking at them with utter despair.
Even when they had been chased by Sirens before, Old Ma had never looked this hopeless.
"It's too late. We're already dead."
His voice rang like a death knell.
"Underwater, we'll die even faster."
"This… this is the Lord of the Sea, the Leviathan—a calamity feared even by the Teachings Nation…"
As if to confirm his words, an ear-piercing metallic screech tore through the ship.
A hideous purple tentacle, carrying immeasurable force, crushed the ship's hull in an instant.
With a thunderous crash, the massive cargo ship was snapped in half like a fragile toy.
Minutes later, the sea was eerily calm, the ship and its escorting shipgirls nowhere to be seen.
Only a few writhing tentacles remained above the water, before slowly retreating into the abyss.
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