Chapter 1017: Calm Before the Storm

"So did you end up telling Hai Lun Na or not?" Song Qingge turned their head with a smile and asked Qin Ge.

Qin Ge rolled their eyes. "For something this confidential, I basically would never speak of it, especially since what Hai Lun Na represented at the time was more of a Siren cooperation trial; for a secret weapon like this, I would be even less likely to speak."

However, following Hai Lun Na's intuition, plus she herself is skilled at radar searches and such, for any unknown thing she would definitely have a strong curiosity. The experimental site is located at the most important facility in the port area; if Hai Lun Na weren't interested, that would be impossible.

"Haha, that really fits her personality." Song Qingge said solemnly.

Qin Ge stared for a moment. "Logically, the existence of the Remnants should be unique, but considering that you previously only met them once, does this world have two Hai Lun Nas?"

"Hehe, as expected of Commander Qin Ge, you thought of this so quickly." Akagi beside them nodded in praise; regarding this person whom their commander often mentioned, after learning about them she still highly approved.

Qin Ge couldn't help but chuckle. "If that's the case, then that Hai Lun Na would be a formidable rival for Miss Akagi, right?"

"Hehe, although they're rivals, it's not that strong, don't you think, Commander?" Akagi laughed while looking at Song Qingge, eyes full of inquiry.

"Cough, Akagi naturally is someone I like."

Looking at Song Qingge's helpless expression, Qin Ge smiled and reached out to hold Guanghui's hand beside them; in their mutual gaze, everything was conveyed without words.

"Tsk, what a warm scene, Commander—I want that too!"

It seemed Akagi had witnessed this scene and immediately said to Song Qingge,

"Okay~"

While the two were here flirting, everyone had already gathered and began advancing toward the deeper sea. There, the signals emitted and the countless enemy fleets were clearly visible on everyone's radar.

However, as they sailed through the sea, they had expected the waters to be teeming with enemies, yet the surface was unusually calm.

"Why is it so calm here? Even though there should be many ambushes hidden in the mist," Cleveland said, looking at the tranquil sea, puzzled.

"I don't know." Blücher, Denver, and the others with them shook their heads.

Obviously they also didn't know why the sea surface was so calm, given that they had previously gone to great trouble to deal with them, yet now, as the battle neared its end, it was so quiet.

"Maybe they think it's ineffective?" Baltimore said.

"No effect?" Cleveland wondered doubtfully, "Even if it had no effect, they could still use those mass-produced fleets to pin down our steps and waste our ammunition supplies."

Not far away, Prince Ou Gen turned his head and smiled at Cleveland, saying, "If we don't need them but require supplies, we could just annihilate those mass-produced fleets, right?"

"Ah?" Everyone exclaimed in surprise.

Prince Ou Gen looked at the Remnants marching ahead of everyone and asked, "What do you consider the toughest battle to be?"

"The toughest battle?" Baltimore pondered and said, "No support, no companions, no supplies, everywhere filled with despair and death—I think that would be the toughest battle."

Prince Ou Gen nodded. "Those battles you described—perhaps they have all experienced them."

"Them?" Blücher said, following Prince Ou Gen's gaze, looking at the Remnants up front.

"But when they fought us, they didn't show how strong they were, did they?" Hipper beside them turned their head and asked.

Prince Ou Gen chuckled. "I didn't expect that, as a sister, you would not only have that place be extremely barren, but your thinking would be barren as well."

"Ou Gen!" Hipper bared their teeth and grinned; as sisters, they totally understood what Prince Ou Gen was referring to.

"Miss Ou Gen, are you saying that during our previous battles, those Remnants didn't use their full strength?" Cleveland quickly reacted, saying somewhat surprised.

"Isn't that pretty obvious?" Prince Ou Gen placed their finger to their lips and lightly bit it, saying, "The reason they can become meta‑modified warships is that they all went through the so‑called awakening stage."

"And the so‑called awakening is the effect of stimulation; I previously asked Gneisenau about this—her world had only her left. Her faction, her friends, her sisters, her leader all perished in battle."

"Amidst that despair, she completed meta‑fication. Do you think a warrior like that would have only a little attack power?"

"Furthermore, she explicitly said that among all the Remnants, her strength doesn't even rank in the middle tier. So what do you think the strength of the other Remnants would be?"

"So they indeed hadn't revealed their true strength before—could it be to let us adapt to fighting the Arbiters?" Blücher asked.

"Suddenly I feel this might be possible." Denver said, "I know we've fought the Arbiters before, but we've never faced Arbiters with their overload modules activated; if we went in completely unaware, we would definitely suffer losses."

"But with them present to hold the line, we could completely control such losses and quickly adapt to the rhythm of fighting the Arbiters."

"Hiss… feels so amazing…" everyone exclaimed in awe.

Prince Ou Gen narrowed their eyes, looking into the distance and said, "Moreover, there's something I don't know if you've noticed: besides their own ship equipment, each of the Remnants also possesses a weapon external to their ship equipment."

"The longswords of Feilong and Qinglong, the greatswords of Counterattack and Prestige, the chains of Scharnhorst and Gneisenau—even Fu Sang and Tiancheng have dismantled their own ship equipment independently, turning it into a heavy hammer held in hand."

"Perhaps this is precisely proof that they have already grown accustomed to such harsh combat; even when they have no aid, no companions, no supplies, no ammunition, they can still unleash their own power."

"I see—so precisely because of this, the Sirens felt that even sending mass‑produced fleets would pose no threat to them, so they simply didn't dispatch any?" Cleveland realized.

"But why, when we passed through the misty sea, were there so many ambushes?" Blücher asked Prince Ou Gen.

"Hehe, because back then we were the main force, but now we aren't, so you understand now?" Prince Ou Gen explained.

"This… really is the case?" Cleveland gaped, "Could it be that our movements have all been under Siren surveillance?"

"Hehe, isn't that pretty obvious?" Prince Ou Gen stretched their waist, saying, "So enjoy this calm before the storm for now—later it won't be nearly as comfortable."