Chapter 1: This Is Not My World

He strained to open his dazed eyes; Qin Ge felt a soreness all over his body, and the sunlight that met his gaze told him he was still alive, so he involuntarily let out a long breath.

He struggled to his feet from the ground, but the sight before him left Qin Ge dazed. "I remember being swept into the river while saving someone, but what is this?"

Qin Ge was an outstanding student at the NJ Haijun Zhihui Xueyuan; when he was about to go down to his unit after graduation, he went to sweep his parents' graves, and on his way back, while saving someone, he was swept into the river and ended up here.

Following Qin Ge's gaze, it was clear that his current location was no longer the river surface or riverbank. His past life experience told him this must be a coastline, and moreover, a coastline where a battle was underway.

In his field of vision, a wholly black ship emitting an eerie red light floated on the sea, with several menacing gun barrels protruding from turrets above the deck. Qin Ge, swearing by his identity as a cadet of the Haijun Zhihui Xueyuan, vowed he had never seen such a warship—not even anywhere on Earth, and if he had, it would only be in some sci-fi works.

Just as he was thinking that, the ship's gun barrel slowly turned, seemingly aiming at his direction. "Run!" was the first thought that sprang from Qin Ge's innermost mind, and also the last.

Dragging his already exhausted body, Qin Ge began to run along the coastline. According to his training, the blast radius of artillery shells is limited, especially on a beach.

Boom—

That eerie warship opened fire, and the shells violently exploded at the spot where Qin Ge had just been standing. Amid the flying sparks, even though he had already run several dozen meters away, he was still knocked to the ground by the blast's aftershock. Pain swept through his whole body; Qin Ge felt as if he were being torn apart, and he could no longer stand.

But that eerie warship began slowly adjusting its turrets, pointing its dark gun barrels toward where Qin Ge had fallen.

"I'm doomed!" was Qin Ge's only thought now. He hadn't imagined he would die not from saving someone, but from the gunfire of this warship. Somewhat despairing, he closed his eyes and quietly awaited the incoming shells.

Boom—

A loud boom rang out; Qin Ge, who had already closed his eyes, snapped them open. He felt he hadn't died—perhaps the warship had missed? With the relief of having escaped death, Qin Ge looked toward the warship, but everything that met his eyes utterly overturned his worldview.

He saw a petite woman appear beside the warship, her white hair tied into a single ponytail, making her look like a 12‑ to 13‑year‑old middle school student. But what shocked Qin Ge was not this; it was that he saw the girl skating on water, with something resembling a single‑barrel gun mounted on her left hand, and at her side were restraints like ordinary ship components.

No, Qin Ge dared to affirm that it was not merely an ornament, for as he watched, another burst of flame shot from the single‑barrel gun in the girl's hand, striking the eerie warship and exploding in its turret. He realized that the salvo that had just saved him must have come from that very gun in the girl's hand.

The warship, too, was drawn to the sudden appearance of the girl; even with one turret blown apart, it swiveled its other turrets and secondary gun modules to fire at her.

"Be… careful…" Qin Ge's words hadn't even left his mouth when he saw the girl easily dodge the shells fired by the warship. At the same time, on a plate resembling a torpedo launcher at her side, four torpedoes slid straight into the sea, surging toward the warship with the waves, while the girl's single‑barrel gun never ceased its attack.

Just as Qin Ge saw the torpedoes nearing the warship, the girl shifted sideways, stopping her forward motion and gliding to the side. At that moment, "Boom—" a loud roar rang out; the four torpedoes struck the eerie warship squarely, flames erupting across the sea as the ship's wreckage scattered, illuminating the girl who was just as uncanny as the warship—a scene so thrilling it made the heart pound.

"What the hell is this!" Qin Ge felt numb at the sight. He could tell there was no such warship or such a girl on Earth; this definitely wasn't Earth. But was he dreaming? Yet the pain all over his body told him this was no dream—so where exactly was he?

As Qin Ge pondered, a yacht‑like vessel appeared in his field of view, obviously heading toward his location. Meanwhile, the girl who had just fired the shells was slowly approaching that yacht, gliding together toward where he was. Whether fortune or disaster, misfortune cannot be avoided. Qin Ge adopted that attitude, sat where he was, and waited for the vessel and the girl to arrive.

Soon, the yacht docked in the shallows, and a young man in a white naval uniform stepped out. Qin Ge, sharp‑eyed as he was, noticed that although the youth's naval uniform resembled his own usual attire, many details were markedly different.

First was the rank insignia—the most prominent marking on a uniform. As a cadet, Qin Ge wore only a single horizontal bar, but the other's insignia style was neither that of the People's Navy nor of European‑American forces; it was a rank he had never seen before, and the badge on his cap was actually a dragon!

As he observed, the youth waved at him and asked, "Are you all right?"

Hearing standard Mandarin put Qin Ge at ease; he struggled to his feet and walked toward the vessel, saying, "I'm fine, not blown to bits."

"Heh, you're lucky too—taking a hit from a Siren mass‑produced destroyer and still standing, impressive!" the youth said admiringly. "I am Xu Xin of the You Lan Grand Fleet, and this is my shipgirl Tang Si. What's your name? You're not from around here, are you?"

In fact, Qin Ge was a bit dazed at that moment. The terms "Siren mass‑produced destroyer," "Grand Fleet," and "shipgirl" reminded him of a mobile game his classmates had once recommended—Azure Lane. But because he had been focused on tactical research topics back then, he had brushed off their suggestion, and now he found himself actually in that world?

"What's wrong? Could it be some after‑effects?" Xu Xin asked the somewhat bewildered Qin Ge.

Qin Ge shook his head. "My name is Qin Ge, but I don't know how I got here."

"You don't know?" Xu Xin stroked his chin, pondering. "I get it—you must have suffered after‑effects from the Siren barrage earlier, which is why you forgot how you arrived. Hmm, that's right, I'm really clever."

Tang Si, standing beside the yacht on the sea, said flatly, "Commander, you've had enough."

"Oh, is that not right?" Xu Xin looked at Tang Si and said.

Qin Ge laughed and shook his head. "Probably something like that."

"See, I told you I wasn't wrong—it must be after‑effects." Xu Xin said proudly to the speechless Tang Si beside him, then turned to Qin Ge: "Since that's the case, I can't just ignore it; a commander's duty is to safeguard the coastline, and this area is moreover where our Grand Fleet is stationed. Qin Ge, come aboard—I'll take you out of this zone."

Qin Ge nodded. Rather than stay put and wait for death, it was better to board the yacht of the commander named Xu Xin, so he could properly get to know this unfamiliar world—a world that did not belong to him.