Chapter 113: Small Merchant Ship Escort

When the sun rose the next day, Qin Ge brought Nengdai and Banrenma, together with Guanghui, reappearing at Ninghai in the warehouse.

Since today's arrivals were a bit earlier than yesterday's, many people had gathered in the warehouse. Most of them were second-year students, and Qin Ge, a private, stood out conspicuously among them.

Yet these people dared not slight him in the slightest; upon seeing Qin Ge they politely called him "Instructor," and a few familiar faces came over to greet him.

"Instructor Qin Ge, are you also here to accept a commission?" Wu Hao said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge nodded. "That's right; I've been accepting commission missions since yesterday."

"I heard you recently obtained permission to take missions from the Dean, but you came rather late yesterday, so I didn't see you," Wu Hao said with a smile.

"Huh? Instructor Qin Ge, are you now taking on commission missions too?" Zhang Shaocheng, who was fairly acquainted with Qin Ge, asked.

"Yeah, I just started yesterday," Qin Ge replied with a smile.

"Impressive!" Zhang Shaocheng said admiringly, "But Wu Hao, how did you find out?"

"Hah, is there anything in this Academy you're trying to hide from me?" Wu Hao said smugly, "Besides, I've also heard that Instructor Qin Ge wants to build his own grand fleet?"

"Huh? Really?" Zhang Shaocheng exclaimed in surprise.

"It's definitely true, because I have a reliable source for this information," Wu Hao said, looking at Qin Ge.

"That's right, I really do intend to build a grand fleet myself," Qin Ge nodded, confirming Wu Hao's information.

"However, Instructor Qin Ge, building a grand fleet requires consideration of many factors—funding, connections, even strength, and so on—only after all those are settled can it be done," Zhang Shaocheng said to Qin Ge.

"You're overthinking it; don't you think Instructor Qin Ge's connections are already substantial?" Wu Hao said to Zhang Shaocheng, "The people from the Commander Academy, the Frontline Command, and the Maritime Affairs Bureau—have you forgotten all of them?"

"Hss, I usually only thought Instructor Qin Ge's Strategy and Tactics Course was well taught, but I really overlooked these aspects," Zhang Shaocheng sighed.

"Heh, are you two interested?" Qin Ge chuckled.

"What is the goal of Instructor Qin Ge's grand fleet?" Zhang Shaocheng asked.

"The front line," Qin Ge told him.

"Indeed, it's a real shame for someone like you not to go to the front line," Wu Hao said.

"However, I'm a bit undecided now—I want to go to the front line, yet also stay close to the shore, which is rather contradictory," Zhang Shaocheng said.

Qin Ge chuckled, "No problem; for now it's just the recruitment stage. If you're mentally prepared, you can go sign up with Li Chenming to give it a try."

"Hmm, I need to think about it carefully," Zhang Shaocheng said, while Wu Haoze beside him nodded.

Qin Ge nodded, "Then I'll go turn in the mission first."

"All right."

After bidding farewell to the two, Qin Ge, together with Banrenma, walked toward Ninghai nearby.

"Ninghai, could you handle this for me? Hand in the mission," Qin Ge said, pulling out yesterday's mission commission slip from his pocket.

"Oh, it's Qin Ge; let me have a look," Ninghai said, reaching out to take the mission commission slip Qin Ge handed over.

"Mission accomplished with flying colors? An S‑rank rating?" Ninghai raised his head slightly in surprise, "I thought just completing a mission with a B‑ or A‑rank would already be great, but you actually pulled off an S‑rank—amazing!"

"Heh, it's all thanks to my efforts with the shipgirls; I actually didn't do anything," Qin Ge laughed.

"Don't be modest," Ninghai chuckled, "I'll give you the mission reward first: 450 units of supplies and a random blue‑quality textbook."

"Sure, please do," Qin Ge nodded, speaking to Ninghai.

"No problem, this is what we should do," Ninghai shook his head, turned, pulled a blue‑quality textbook from the shelf behind him, handed it to Qin Ge, and also gave him 450 units of supplies.

"All right, I've given you everything. Just like yesterday, you can pick a mission over there and then register it with me."

"No problem," Qin Ge nodded, said goodbye to Ninghai, and walked into the room where he had selected missions the day before.

Today there was no emergency support mission like yesterday's, so Qin Ge chose a small merchant‑ship escort mission, registered it with Ninghai, and received the mission commission slip.

Since it was a small merchant‑ship escort commission, Qin Ge didn't go back to call anyone else; instead he brought Banrenma, Nengdai, and Guanghui together to Koln.

Because there was no rush this time, the vessel used became an ordinary command ship.

The small merchant‑ship escort mission differs from a support mission; Qin Ge took the command ship ahead to the civilian port, where he located the merchant ship he was to protect.

The captain was a middle‑aged man in his fifties, with plenty of commanders coming and going under observation; when he saw Qin Ge's private rank, he was genuinely taken aback.

But he quickly recovered, since if the Commander Academy approved Qin Ge taking the commission, then he must have the capability to do so. After all, many people are just that exceptional; perhaps this private‑rank commander standing before him is exactly that sort of exceptional person.

"Hello, I'm Zhou Wei; please take care of the voyage ahead," said Captain Zhou Wei, after receiving the mission commission slip Qin Ge handed over, addressing Qin Ge.

"Hello, I'm Qin Ge; rest assured, since I've accepted your commission I will surely escort your merchant ship safely to port," Qin Ge told Zhou Wei.

"Thank you very much; I'll hold onto this commission slip for now, and once your ship reaches its destination I'll affix my personal seal to it, so you can then turn it in to complete the mission," Zhou Wei said politely.

"Just a quick question—where is this merchant ship headed?" Qin Ge asked Zhou Wei.

"It departs from Shenhua City and heads for Hezhou City, taking roughly ten‑plus hours," Zhou Wei said, "So please, Commander Qin Ge, make sure to stock up on supplies beforehand so you don't go hungry on the way."

"Understood; then I and my shipgirls will go stock up on supplies. I've set the communication device's channel to number ten, so when we set off I can just call out on the walkie‑talkie," Qin Ge told Zhou Wei.

"Got it; the cargo loading should be finished in about an hour, so Commander Qin Ge can replenish supplies at his leisure—no need to rush—and we'll stay in touch via communication when the time comes," Zhou Wei said.

"All right," Qin Ge nodded, then led his shipgirls toward the outside of the port.

This sort of merchant‑ship escort task is favored by most second‑year students because its danger level is relatively low. However, it has a downside: it takes a comparatively long time.

So Qin Ge, like now, needs to go resupply supplies; otherwise, out on the vast ocean, ten‑plus hours would make eating a major problem.