Chapter 189: Failure and Expectation

The quarterfinals finally ended; besides the bye Chen Bo Jun, Qin Ge's Star Sea Grand Fleet had two people who smoothly advanced. One was Zhang Xiaotian, the other was Li Chenming.

Several people in this round were filled with luck; first was Chen Bo Jun's bye, then Zhang Xiaotian drew from the top 15 besides him and Li Chenming another first-year student.

When they last saw the shipgirls together, Zhang Xiaotian also built his second shipgirl, which was named Yangyan. She liked to be called 'we we', looking like a little adult, and her torpedo attack was very strong.

Ordinary destroyer shipgirls need to hit two or more torpedoes to sink a shipgirl, but her powerful torpedo attack only needs to hit one torpedo.

Therefore, combined with his previous shipgirl Foxi's high-speed maneuver and covering attack, anyone daring to taste Yangyan's torpedo would be completely sunk.

In this way they advanced all the way to the quarterfinals; on the other side, Li Chenming, who possessed the two Iron Blood powerhouses, relied on solid training to fight his way here.

Although the heavy cruiser Hipper was often mocked by Ou Gen Qin Wang for her blond hair, flat chest, and tsundere attitude, as a fellow Hipper-class heavy cruiser, even though Hipper was an elite shipgirl, she possessed a terrifying defense that was astonishing, which was especially evident during the exercises.

With a survivability close to that of a battleship, although her attack wasn't outstanding, combined with Z1's offense she directly made it to the top eight.

As for the other few people, they encountered opponents stronger than themselves and successively fell in the process of advancing from the top 15 to the top 8. However, this was also quite impressive, since aside from Chen Bo Jun, everyone else was a first-year student; achieving such a result was already very good.

Sure enough, in the quarterfinals draw the two of them each encountered strong opponents, after all those who could reach this level had no weaklings. Moreover, four matches were held simultaneously, and results came quickly.

At this time Qin Ge had already stepped down from his duties as referee and was now a spectator. Since several matches started simultaneously and the school also had five shipgirls serving as referees, it was natural to prioritize the Anshan group.

So when Zhang Xiaotian and Li Chenming stepped down from the match field, Qin Ge brought his own shipgirl to greet them there.

"You two seem to be in pretty good spirits." Qin Ge watched the two walk down excitedly, showing no sign of having lost the match; instead they looked victorious returning.

"Of course it's good; although we stopped at the quarterfinals, this is the quarterfinals after all—the Commander Academy's quarterfinals." Zhang Xiaotian said excitedly.

"Indeed, in the past there had never been a first-year student in the quarterfinals; this year the two of us taking up two spots is already enough, and since we usually train in team mode during exercises, personal competition is not our specialty." Li Chenming said to Qin Ge.

"Heh, you two seem to have a good mindset; I originally came to comfort you, but I found you already understood your strengths." Qin Ge smiled.

"Right, Qin Ge." Li Chenming said to Qin Ge, "Do we have a chance to win in the team competition?"

"Yes, but it requires effort, coordination, and striving." Qin Ge said to the several people, "Although I don't know how the second-year students will form teams later, absolutely from the shipgirl side we have more than you, and this is the time to demonstrate the cooperation and tactical ability you've trained for a long time."

As long as we maintain our normal performance and let the opponent fall into disarray, we have a high chance of victory.

"Having your words is enough." Li Chenming said with a smile.

"Will we not need you to help us devise tactics then?" Qin Ge said to Li Chenming.

"No need." Li Chenming shook his head, "We have always followed behind you, letting you worry for us. Whether it's training tactics or supplies and so on, we need your help."

But this time we also want to prove ourselves, relying on your help and relying on your resources, we can also achieve good results.

After hearing Li Chenming's words, Qin Ge smiled and said, "If that's what you think, then go ahead; regardless of the outcome, as the commander of the Grand Fleet, I am proud of you."

"Heh, then we won't chat anymore; we're now going to recruit people to form a team." Li Chenming said.

"Good." Qin Ge nodded, watching Li Chenming and Zhang Xiaotian's gradually receding figures, and smiled faintly.

"Everyone is growing." Guanghui said to Qin Ge from the side.

"Yes, everyone is growing and maturing; when they grow into people who can stand on their own, our Grand Fleet will truly set sail, and this team exercise is the time to test them."

Furthermore, as first-year students, being able to reach the quarterfinals in the Exercise League is already very impressive." Qin Ge said.

"Indeed, but the most regrettable thing is that the commander couldn't participate in the Exercise League." Guanghui smiled.

Qin Ge laughed and said, "My goal is no longer about how things are in the Commander Academy; we should set our sights farther, such as how we should be after we obtain a base."

"That's right; we should indeed think about how to arrange things after we leave the Commander Academy in other places." Guanghui nodded and said.

"No matter what, we will always stay by the commander's side, and under his command we will seize victories one by one." Banrenma said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge laughed and placed his hand on Banrenma's head, saying, "Heh, although we shouldn't speak too overconfidently, at this time we also shouldn't say discouraging words, so I will definitely lead you to seize victory after victory."

"Hmm." The several shipgirls nodded together.

And while the few people were speaking, the Exercise League's semifinals were all confirmed; Chen Bo Jun did not disappoint the expectations of the other members of the Grand Fleet, bringing his own shipgirl formally into the semifinals.

However, the three who will emerge victorious next are also very famous second-year commanders, each with four or even five shipgirls under their command, so Chen Bo Jun's upcoming journey in the Exercise League will not be easy at all; each opponent is formidable.

But Qin Ge, looking from afar at his smiling face, understood his belief. Indeed, after the draw ended, both sides once again stepped onto the exercise field.

After a hard-fought battle, Chen Bo Jun successfully advanced, entering the final championship……