After confirming the exact location of the cargo ship's accident with Feng Tao and determining how long it would take for the fleets from the other two counties to arrive, Lin Lan ended the call.
Since Feng Tao had contacted Luo Tao overnight, the fleets from the two counties were expected to arrive at his port around 8 AM.
Lin Lan needed to quickly ask Bismarck whether it was possible to use the Mirror Sea to hide the floating island fortress.
If not, he would have to come up with an explanation for what this half-constructed fortress was for, which would be quite troublesome.
"Hey, wake up, it's time to get up."
Having made his decision, Lin Lan gave the still-sleeping Blücher a slap on the rear.
"Ah~ Commander, just a little more…"
He had to admit, Blücher was a deep sleeper. Even after being slapped, she was still talking in her sleep.
He wondered how Hipper and the others usually managed to wake her up.
But Lin Lan knew exactly how to get Blücher out of bed.
"Little Blucher, if you don't wake up now, I'll have to ask someone else out instead."
"No, Commander!"
As expected, the moment he said that, Blücher instantly woke up, sitting up on the bed and looking at him with a pout.
"Commander, it's so early… Even when we train, we never get up this early. Don't tell me… you still want to continue with me…"
Hearing Blücher's words become more and more outrageous, Lin Lan couldn't help but chuckle.
"Put your clothes on first. We have work to do today."
After quickly explaining the situation to Blücher, the two got dressed and began their morning routine.
As they left the room, Lin Lan didn't forget to stop by the next bedroom to wake up the shipgirl, Sui Qiong.
When Sui Qiong opened the door, Lin Lan finally got a good look at her room. The little Bulins had done an excellent job decorating it the previous day.
The room looked like a piece of the azure sky, with a faint fragrance lingering in the air.
Of course, the bed and all the furniture followed a blue color scheme.
He had no idea how the little Bulins and Manjuu managed to renovate the place so quickly.
Not only was their efficiency incredible, but the aesthetics and quality of the work were first-class.
After asking Blücher to head downstairs first, Lin Lan used the same method as before—shattering a META crystal—to suppress Sui Qiong's META transformation.
After carefully confirming that there were no more black markings appearing on her body, he felt relieved and led Sui Qiong downstairs.
"Blücher, take Sui Qiong to your sister, then go find Akashi together and have that scheming merchant craft the equipment according to Sui Qiong's specifications."
"Huh? Commander, you're not coming with us?"
Hearing the task Lin Lan had assigned her, Blücher widened her eyes in protest.
"I don't know if the commanders from the other two counties will also be coming. If you all come with me, I'm afraid you might scare them."
After sending Sui Qiong off with Blücher, Lin Lan lifted his head and spoke frankly to the energetic Iron Blood heavy cruiser.
"Other commanders only have destroyers, light cruisers, and maybe a light carrier at most. If I bring a heavy cruiser, won't that scare them to death?"
"Ugh… But Commander, didn't you love showing us off before? What's the big deal?"
"That was before. Now that I've shown off enough, I've learned to be humble. What's wrong with that?"
Hearing Blücher's complaint, Lin Lan found it amusing and refuted her.
Back in the game, rare shipgirls could be obtained through gacha, and being a "whale" was enjoyable.
But now, in Orlan, a country overflowing with pseudo-wisdom cubes, if he continued flaunting his ships, he'd probably leave people completely dumbfounded.
So today, he decided to only bring Iron Blood destroyers, light cruisers, and submarines—at most, he might take Elbe or Weser along.
The submarine chibis could easily pass as destroyers. Besides, since they might need to conduct a salvage operation, having the wolfpack around would be much safer.
After all, his top-tier trio of U-boats (U-37, U-81, and U-96) had already returned to his side.
With the combat power of those three chibis, even if he were unlucky enough to run into an Arbiter, they could take out half of its health.
Not to mention, aside from the lone wolf U-47, every member of Iron Blood's wolfpack had the "Wolfpack Tactics" skill.
The more U-boats in battle, the higher their combat attributes.
In the game, he could only deploy up to three submarines in a sortie, but now, after crossing over, his entire wolfpack could fight together.
After finally placating Blücher, Lin Lan took the two of them and left the command building.
Just as they stepped into the courtyard, they saw Z23 walking toward them, carrying breakfast.
Today, his starting ship chibi was wearing her modified Iron Blood military uniform with exposed shoulders, a blue beret adorned with a golden bow, and a serious expression that made her look as if she were trying to appear more mature.
"Ah, Commander, Blücher, good morning. I didn't expect you two to be up this early."
Nimi looked at them with surprise, as it was clear that Blücher was someone who usually enjoyed sleeping in.
"Ahem, Nimi, why are you here so early today?"
Instead of answering her question, Lin Lan asked curiously.
The sky hadn't even fully brightened yet, and he hadn't expected Z23 to arrive this early.
"Commander, I'm the secretary ship today, so of course, I had to come early."
Hearing Nimi's serious response, Lin Lan finally remembered that today was indeed her turn to serve as the secretary ship.
"Perfect. Take me to Bismarck. We have work to do."
After parting ways with Blücher and Sui Qiong, Lin Lan walked down the road while eating the breakfast Nimi had prepared for him, explaining the situation to her along the way.
He also told her about Sui Qiong's identity, and Nimi immediately decided that she would befriend her once they returned.
Before long, with Z23 leading the way, they arrived at the port dormitory area.
Coincidentally, just as they got there, Lin Lan saw Bismarck and Tirpitz, both dressed in military uniforms, walking side by side out of the dormitory area.
"Commander, rest assured. The Mirror Sea system was already deployed yesterday morning, and it can fully cover the floating island fortress and the port area. I can activate it immediately."
After listening to Lin Lan's concerns, Bismarck calmly reassured him.
Hearing that the Mirror Sea system was already in place, Lin Lan finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Iron Blood was truly reliable.
And to set up the Mirror Sea so quickly, they must have had help from that muscle cat.
Though Akashi was always scheming for profit, her contributions to the port's construction were undeniable.
At that moment, the tall, silver-haired Tirpitz also offered a suggestion:
"Since the Commander is deploying in person, you could form a main fleet to follow at a distance, staying hidden."
"If any unexpected situations arise, the main fleet can immediately join the battle."
Lin Lan thought it was a great idea.
However, the accident site wasn't far from his port—only about a five-hour journey.
His shipgirls had just returned from operations in Huaiwu City or the Iron Blood Fortress, and they hadn't had more than two days of rest before being sent out again.
He hesitated and asked:
"There haven't been any large-scale Siren fleets nearby. Wouldn't it be too much trouble for you all to sortie again?"
"Maybe the cargo ship was just ambushed by a few mass-produced Sirens. After all, chess piece shipgirls' combat abilities aren't that great."
He had considered just sending a few Iron Blood shipgirls instead of going himself.
But if the commanders from the two county fleets were coming personally, then it was only right for him to do the same.
However, just as he finished speaking, Z23 looked at him seriously and said:
"Commander, you must never let your guard down. Your safety is the most important thing to all of us, and we cannot afford even the slightest mistake."
Her words made Lin Lan pause. He reached out and gently patted Z23's head.
"You're right, Nimi. Bismarck, I'll leave the preparations to you."
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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