"No way, Intrepid, why is your bomber still the SB2C Helldiver?"
When Lin Lan crouched on the deck of the mass-produced destroyer and saw the bomber parked in front of him was still transitional equipment, he blurted out almost reflexively.
He clearly remembered that all of his carrier shipgirls' bombers—even in the worst case—should've at least been the finalized, mass-produced bombers derived from the SB2C Helldiver: the experimental XSB3C-1.
But before he could even finish speaking, Intrepid—still floating on the sea—immediately pouted in protest.
"Commander, you've got to be fair here."
"Back when I had just joined the port and you were sending me on sorties, you were the one who kept saying that the SB2C Helldiver was the strongest bomber!"
"And even after the XSB3C became common in the port, and I upgraded to Mental Unit II and got reassigned from your fleet, you still never gave me an XSB3C."
"And now you're complaining that I'm using the SB2C Helldiver?"
Intrepid's string of grievances left Lin Lan momentarily stunned.
After a two-second pause, he remembered: back when Intrepid was built and joined his port as an event shipgirl, the equipment research system hadn't even been released yet while he was training her.
At that time, the SB2C Helldiver was still considered an endgame bomber.
But after the game updated and introduced features like Mental Unit II upgrades, equipment research, and fourth-phase development, the SB2C Helldiver gradually fell out of favor as merely transitional gear.
He had trained Intrepid from level 120 to the max at 125, but completely forgot to upgrade her poor SB2C Helldiver into the XSB3C-1.
And once she hit max level, Intrepid—like many other shipgirls with unimpressive skillsets—ended up relegated to storage duty in the port, hardly ever deployed again…
"I was wrong, Intrepid. Once I return to the New Ocean artificial island HQ, I promise I'll upgrade your bomber to the XSB3C-1."
Even though Lin Lan could tell that Intrepid wasn't genuinely angry—just venting—he knew full well he was in the wrong.
He quickly tried to soothe her while simultaneously biting his finger to begin drawing a sealing sigil on the Helldiver's wing.
"Tss!"
Honestly, Lin Lan had only ever seen people bite their fingers to draw blood sigils in anime, and at the time, it had looked cool and effortless.
But now that he had actually bitten through his own finger and felt the searing pain, he finally realized those anime characters made it look way too easy—it was definitely artistic embellishment.
It really hurt like hell.
And because of his hero class's passive healing skill, his finger kept trying to close the wound and stop the bleeding.
So he had to bite his finger multiple times, repeating the pain over and over.
Watching this, South Dakota, Intrepid, and Laffey felt deeply distressed.
Several times, they almost stepped forward to stop him but restrained themselves out of fear they'd interfere.
Finally, after two long minutes, Lin Lan completed a blood-red fixed-point teleportation sigil on the wing of the SB2C Helldiver, composed of ancient Liaozhou glyphs and arcane diagrams.
By now, the long stretch of micro-layered compound fog blockade lay visibly ahead of them.
If they advanced any farther, it wouldn't take long before the Siren fleet hidden within the micro-layered compound would unleash a barrage.
Meanwhile, Cleveland, Benson, and the others had followed his orders and returned to the waters near the mass-produced destroyer.
But they were still engaged in combat—continuously firing shells and launching torpedoes to suppress the Explorers and Tracker Mark III units pursuing from behind.
The two new flanking Strategist fleets were putting them under considerable pressure.
"Intrepid, have another bomber follow this one. Fly them both over the micro-layered compound ahead—fly as far as you can!"
"Catch me!"
After finishing the sigil, Lin Lan shouted out the orders to Intrepid, then immediately leapt off the edge of the deck into the sea.
Intrepid instantly surged forward in her rigging to catch him tightly in her arms.
Held close in Intrepid's embrace, Lin Lan felt the electromagnetic field from her rigging buzz all around him, making his hair stand on end.
He couldn't help it—his vision-sharing skill required physical contact. This wasn't about showing off.
But when Lin Lan noticed the blue-gray strands of Intrepid's hair still swaying gently, completely unaffected by the surrounding current, he could only sigh inwardly.
Clearly, human and shipgirl physiologies were fundamentally different.
"Commander, will my rigging interfere with you? Also, what exactly are you planning…"
Holding Lin Lan tightly, Intrepid asked in confusion. Although she knew she should trust him, she really had no idea what he was up to.
"Your rigging's awesome… but no, it won't affect me.
Intrepid, take me to the very front of the mass-produced destroyer—I'm going to open a portal and send everyone through to the furthest range your bombers can reach!"
Hearing Lin Lan's shocking declaration, even the highly knowledgeable and experienced aircraft carrier girl couldn't help but be stunned.
But looking at his serious expression, she immediately understood that her commander wasn't joking. If he said it, he must really have that ability.
So all she could do now was trust and cooperate.
With careful control, Intrepid launched both SB2C Helldiver bombers in tandem.
In the midst of the roaring gunfire, they soared into the night sky above the micro-layered compound ahead.
"Laffey, slow the destroyer down."
"Intrepid, I'll be linking our vision next. Sync your sight with the second Helldiver and stick to the first one like glue."
"Whether we make it out depends on you now."
Lin Lan issued orders to Laffey over the comms, then grasped Intrepid's hand with his left and closed his eyes, whispering beside her ear.
The intimacy of the gesture made Intrepid blush.
But knowing how critical this moment was—that her commander and the lives of all their comrades rested on her shoulders—she pushed aside her embarrassment, took a deep breath, and began following his instructions.
Soon, in Lin Lan's previously darkened vision, dynamic images began to form.
A deep blue night sky, dazzling stars, and fast-receding clouds.
And that one SB2C Helldiver marked with his teleportation sigil.
When he sensed that his teleportation ability—previously unusable after the aircraft left his sight—was now once again at his command, Lin Lan nearly shouted with excitement.
It had actually worked!
But he quickly composed himself, focusing all his attention on viewing the world through the aircraft's eyes.
Because the most critical part of the plan was still to come.
Remember, the seemingly empty sea below was still riddled with transparent micro-layered compounds concealing an entire Siren fleet!
That final ten percent of uncertainty in his ninety percent confidence—it all rested here.
If the hidden Siren fleet suddenly opened fire with anti-aircraft guns or launched interceptors, he would be forced to open the portal within the micro-layered compound.
Even then, it would still be better than getting pincered by the Arbiter's forces here.
But based on his understanding of the Sirens, Lin Lan believed they wouldn't attack the two bombers.
He was gambling.
He was betting that the Sirens, relying on their upgraded compound being undetectable to aircraft, would choose to remain hidden and ignore the bombers.
He was betting that the Arbiter's orders to this concealed Siren fleet were to remain passive until the enemy entered their bombardment range.
And more than anything, he was betting that the Siren Strategists and mass-produced units would carry out the Arbiter's orders with absolute precision.
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50 advanced chapters on p@t re on (.) com/SenatusTheta
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