Chapter 173: Do You Have Time?

"Commander, do you have time today?"

A gentle voice sounded from behind Qin Ge, and he quickly turned his head to look, seeing Guanghui standing by his door, smiling at him.

"Guanghui? Why are you here?" Qin Ge asked, somewhat puzzled, but immediately he answered his own question: "Oh, I remember, you're off today."

"Well, it's because today is my day off, and you, Commander, also have no class, so I wanted to ask if you have anything else to do today. If not, could we go out together for a walk?" Guanghui asked Qin Ge.

"I don't have anything planned today." Qin Ge said to Guanghui, "But are you intending to stroll around the school or go outside?"

"If your schedule permits, Commander, it's naturally better to go outside for a stroll, after all we've been cooped up at school all the time and there's nothing new to see." Guanghui smiled.

"That works." Qin Ge nodded.

"By the way, is Biyu on duty as the Secretary Ship today? Where is she?" Guanghui asked.

Qin Ge said, "Biyu went to deliver documents and materials to Li Chenming and the others. Earlier they asked me how anti-ship warfare is conducted, so I looked up relevant anti-ship warfare data as well as some information from my own world, organized it all, and sent it over to them."

"I see. Then should we leave now, or wait for Biyu to return before deciding?" Guanghui said.

"Biyu left earlier; why don't we wait a bit? We can go after she returns—it should be soon." Qin Ge told Guanghui.

"All right, then I'll go change clothes first. After all, going out in this naval uniform would still be a bit too eye‑catching." Guanghui said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge chuckled. "Of course."

"Then see you later, Commander." After saying that, Guanghui gently closed Qin Ge's door and turned back to his own room.

Not long after, Biyu indeed returned to the reception house as Qin Ge had said, and upon hearing the door's sound, Guanghui also came out, now wearing his changed clothes.

When Guanghui arrived at Qin Ge's room door, he happened to hear Biyu reporting something to Qin Ge.

"Commander, that's all. Also, Commander Li Chenming asked me to convey his thanks to you."

Upon hearing that, Qin Ge smiled and said, "If he wants to thank me, he should come himself next time and thank me in person, rather than having his shipgirl express gratitude on his behalf—what does that even mean?"

"Hehe, their training's been intense lately, and after practicing with us, their level has risen quickly. The newly summoned shipgirls are now generally around level 20, while their earlier shipgirls are mostly around level 50 or so." Biyu smiled.

"That's fine, after all I hope that when the time comes to go to the front line, it will be the entire grand fleet going together, not just me alone—otherwise it would seem to lose its original purpose." Qin Ge smiled.

"Then, Commander, is there anything else you need?" Biyu asked.

"Oh, it's like this: I might need to go out for a bit later, so you can rest today or go train with them." Qin Ge told Biyu.

"Huh? Commander, are you going out to the academy?" Biyu wondered.

"Yes." Qin Ge nodded.

"Then you don't need me to accompany you?" Biyu asked strangely.

Just as Qin Ge was hesitating how to answer, a knocking sounded at the door and Guanghui's voice came from outside: "Commander, are you ready?"

Biyu immediately understood: "Oh, so the Commander is going out on a date with Miss Guanghui."

"Well, it's not really a date, after all Guanghui said she had something to do and needed to go out, then asked if I had time, so I agreed." Qin Ge said to Biyu.

"Hehe, then I won't bother the Commander, but if you're free tomorrow with nothing to do, could we go out together for a bit?" Biyu smiled.

"Oh, what's the matter?" Qin Ge wondered.

"Nothing much, I just wanted to go outside with the Commander for a stroll. After all, I've been here a long time and still haven't gone out alone with the Commander." Biyu said.

"No problem, then let's meet tomorrow afternoon; I have class in the morning." Qin Ge said.

"All right." Biyu nodded.

At this moment, after Qin Ge tidied his attire and stood up, he opened the door and saw Guanghui standing at the doorway, smiling faintly.

"Oh, Miss Guanghui, that outfit looks really lovely on you." Biyu said, looking at Guanghui's clothes.

"This was specially tailored, after all regular human clothing simply wouldn't fit." Guanghui said somewhat helplessly.

Qin Ge's eyes involuntarily glanced at Guanghui's upper body, and he nodded in approval.

"Well then, I'm sorry for today—I'll first take the Commander out to handle something." Guanghui said to Biyu with a slight apology.

"No problem. For me, raising my level is the most important thing. As for going out to play or dating, that can be done at other times." Biyu laughed.

Immediately after, the two bade farewell, and Qin Ge led Guanghui, now in casual wear, toward the reception house's stairs, arriving outside the school.

"Are we heading to the urban area or somewhere else?" Qin Ge asked Guanghui beside him.

"It's up to you, Commander—actually, just being with you is enough." Guanghui said to Qin Ge.

"Otherwise, let's skip the urban area—after all you've been here many times, you must have seen the city already. How about we go to the suburbs instead? Let's see what the outskirts are like." Qin Ge said to Guanghui.

"Sure, actually spending a while playing in nature is also nice." Guanghui readily agreed.

"Then shall we take a car? If we walked, it would be too far." Qin Ge said to Guanghui.

"Hmm." Guanghui nodded.

At the gate of the Commander Academy, there was actually a fair amount of foot traffic, so a vehicle was soon found. The driver, upon seeing Qin Ge and Guanghui, naturally knew their identities.

He then cordially greeted them and asked where they wanted to go; Qin Ge said to him at that moment, "Go to the suburbs and find a place with nice scenery."

"Is it a date?" the driver asked with a laugh.

"I suppose so." Qin Ge nodded, which made Guanghui beside him smile faintly.

"I actually know a place where the environment is quite good, especially suitable for a man and a woman to go together." The driver said to the two of them.

"Then let's go to the place you mentioned." Qin Ge told the driver.

As for whether the driver might deceive us or have other ideas, that's out of the question. Because the men and women who come out of the Commander Academy are basically shipgirls and commanders; a human driver would absolutely never dare to scheme against a shipgirl and a commander—unless he wanted to get himself killed.