Chapter 17: Centaur

Actually, speaking objectively, the Prince of Wales hadn't really hoped for success in this construction; after all, getting a soul in one try is already quite absurd, and if another double-yolk egg appeared, those commanders who had previously advance-paid Wisdom Cubes and supplies to the school just to get a shipgirl would probably cry to death.

But when that time, so familiar to her it couldn't be more familiar, appeared on the construction device, even though she usually remained calm in the face of change, she felt a dreamlike sensation. When did shipgirls become as common as cabbage, where you say something and it appears?

"A Centaur-class light carrier… Qin Ge, fortunately only I am here; if any other commander were standing here, they might just run you through with a spear…" The Prince of Wales came to her senses, looking at the excited Qin Ge, and said with a very strange tone.

"Ah…? Why would they want to stab me?" Qin Ge asked the Prince of Wales, puzzled. Because even when he was on Earth he rarely played games; normally his time was either spent studying or looking up various materials or training himself, and his knowledge of the Azure Lane game came only from a classmate's recommendation. So regarding some game memes, or the debates between Europeans and Africans, he really doesn't understand, or at most has only heard of them.

"You really don't want to know about this matter, and if you leave here today, you must absolutely not tell anyone that you've succeeded in getting a soul in one try twice in a row, otherwise I truly can't guarantee whether you'll still be alive…" The Prince of Wales said to Qin Ge with a smile; from her somewhat solemn words, Qin Ge also sensed the seriousness of the situation.

"Well… I won't tell anyone, and instead of broadcasting this, I'd rather research how to defeat the enemy." Qin Ge said to the Prince of Wales.

"Hmm." The Prince of Wales nodded at Qin Ge, "Go greet your own shipgirl; she must be waiting anxiously."

"Yes!" Qin Ge nodded, turned around, placed the rapid construction tool into the slot beneath the construction device, and pressed the accelerate construction button. At that moment, the time numbers on the construction device's screen instantly cleared to zero, the whole construction device let out a rumbling sound, its hatch gradually opened, and a shaft of golden light streamed out from the hatch, accompanied by that drifting smoke, making it seem somewhat dreamlike.

After the smoke cleared, the three saw a golden-haired, blue-eyed girl with pointed ears, like an elf, appear before them. She had a blue butterfly hairpin on her head, and a single upstanding ahoge that looked very cute; she wore a white gauze dress, and her white stockings were uneven—one long, one short—yet gave a very harmonious impression.

The girl smiled at Qin Ge and asked, "Is this the place where the veterans of the great war gather? … Hello, Commander, I am Centaur; please give me your guidance."

Qin Ge hurriedly smiled and replied, "Hello, Centaur, I am Qin Ge; from now on I will be your commander, let's learn from each other and help each other." As he spoke, he extended his right hand toward Centaur, gesturing with a smile.

Centaur unhesitatingly grasped Qin Ge's hand, "Hmm, I will definitely do my best!"

"Hehe, we should work hard together!" Qin Ge smiled, then pointed at Centaur's ears and said, "These are elf ears, right?"

"Yes, perhaps because my name is full of mythic fantasy flair, so my clothes, including my appearance, are somewhat different from others." Centaur said, her cheeks flushed.

"I see." Qin Ge nodded, lowered his hand, and told Centaur, "Then let me introduce you to a companion; she arrived a bit earlier than you, but we don't need to fuss over that."

"Yes, thank you, Commander!" Centaur happily said; she had originally wanted to suggest that Qin Ge help her introduce those seniors, but she hadn't expected Qin Ge to volunteer to introduce her herself, which made her very happy.

Qin Ge and Centaur walked over to Nengdai nearby, and Qin Ge introduced them to each other: "Centaur, this is Nengdai; from now on your safety will be entrusted to her protection. Nengdai, this is Centaur; from now on the aircraft on your head will be handled by her."

After Qin Ge's introduction, Centaur happily extended her hand to Nengdai, "Nengdai senior, I will earnestly learn from you from now on."

Looking at the elf-like girl before her, Nengdai slightly shook her head, reached out and grasped Centaur's hand, "I'm not really a senior, but we should just work together from now on."

"I was born after the war, so I've enjoyed a period of peace; therefore, to me, everyone in the fleet is a senior, a role model worth learning from, so please continue to guide me." Centaur said to Nengdai with a smile.

"Hmm, please continue to guide me." Nengdai nodded at Centaur.

Seeing that the two shipgirls had already gotten to know each other, Qin Ge smiled, pointed to the Prince of Wales nearby, and said to Centaur, "This is my dean, and also your Royal Prince of Wales; your appearance today is still largely thanks to the dean's sponsorship of my Wisdom Cubes and supplies."

Centaur quickly nodded to the Prince of Wales, "Dean, thank you very much for your sponsorship of the commander."

The Prince of Wales smiled, "It's nothing; those two Wisdom Cubes and those supplies are just a drop in the bucket for me, but today I witnessed the emergence of a miracle, and I'm quite pleased. Centaur, as a Royal shipgirl, you must keep in mind the Royal fleet's code and strive for greater victory for your commander."

"Yes, thank you, Prince of Wales senior, for your guidance." Centaur thanked again.

The Prince of Wales looked at the obedient, eager-to-learn Centaur before him, nodded with a smile, turned his head to Qin Ge, and said, "You've now produced two Super Rare Shipgirls in a row with two consecutive one‑try souls; why not try again?"

Qin Ge rolled his eyes, waved his hand to refuse the Prince of Wales's urging, "One should be content; besides, my two shipgirls are still just in their initial state, forming coordination and rapport between them takes a long time, and furthermore, prioritizing the improvement of their combat power is the better choice. As for the other shipgirls, for now they are not important to me."

Seeing that Qin Ge was already firmly unwilling to summon more shipgirls, the Prince of Wales chuckled, "All right, what you say makes sense; then let's go with your plan. By the way, with about a week left before school starts, do you have any plans for this period?"

Qin Ge smiled, looked back at his shipgirls, and said to the Prince of Wales, "Naturally, I'll first settle them in, then go to the library to borrow some books to finish my lesson preparations. After that, on the training field, I want to witness their true abilities, then combine their abilities with tactics; doing practice and research together will yield very ideal results."

"Hmm, if that's the case, then you should do your best." The Prince of Wales smiled at Qin Ge…