Chapter 207: Above Ultra-Rare

After knowing this, Qin Ge did not ask further, because asking further would mean he would touch upon classified information.

For his current position, he only needs to know why this competition is being held; as for what he will obtain later, that is not something he can worry about now.

Anything that simultaneously draws the attention of the nine major factions is certainly not something ordinary. From the Northern Union's reaction, it can be seen that, although the nine major factions all belong to Azure Lane, the Northern Union still worries that the value of that thing will provoke some factions to take risks.

After all, there will also be opposing viewpoints among the shipgirls—for example, Donghuang's faction policy is relatively conservative, while Sakura Empire's faction policy is relatively aggressive.

"Understood, I will definitely strive for the championship for Donghuang!" Qin Ge said to Yixian.

"Actually, you don't need to bear too much psychological pressure, because your strength already far surpasses that of your fellow commanders; barring any unexpected events, there is no suspense about you winning this championship." Yixian smiled.

Qin Ge shook his head. "I think it's better to be cautious. Although I am stronger than the fellow commanders of our academy, it's undeniable that other factions' commander academies might produce someone like me, so it's better to stay calm and strive hard."

"Commander Qin Ge seems very steady, so I don't need to tell you anything else. I believe you will achieve good results in this competition." Yixian smiled.

"By the way, Qin Ge, the summoning time for your shipgirls has been quite long, right? I think you're not someone who lacks resources now, but why haven't you summoned any shipgirls this semester?" Prince of Wales asked.

Qin Ge rubbed his nose and explained the experiment he had originally conceived to the Prince of Wales, but the result made the Prince of Wales laugh.

"I'm saying you might have fallen into a misconception," the Prince of Wales said. "Actually, this experiment lacks focus, because whether it's training or carrying out missions, both are meant to improve the shipgirls' proficiency."

"Go where it's needed; that is the normal way to cultivate a shipgirl. For example, if you eventually obtain a result, training yields far more proficiency gain than sortie missions—do you really intend to keep the shipgirls in training all the time?"

"Even though training may cause a shipgirl's combat power to be relatively weak, are you still insisting on it?"

Qin Ge stared blankly for a moment. "Actually, I just wanted to conduct an experiment to obtain a solid, effective conclusion."

"So your conclusion is unnecessary, because many people have previously conducted such experiments, discovered some drawbacks, and thus gradually abandoned them."

"Although we do not reject some wild ideas, the greatest possibility is still to act pragmatically." The Prince of Wales said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge helplessly scratched his head. "Dean, you have messed up all my plans."

Beside the Prince of Wales, Yixian chuckled. "Commander Qin Ge, this is what they call 'cleverness backfiring,' but knowing your mistake and correcting it is fine. By the way, I've heard that whenever Commander Qin Ge summons a shipgirl, it succeeds on the first try. Could I observe that?"

"Ah? Now?" Qin Ge exclaimed in surprise. "Moreover, my construction of shipgirls is not as the Chief Commander said—always successful; I have also failed once."

"If you were to say that in the General Staff, I believe many lieutenant generals or generals would jump up and strike you." Yixian smiled.

"Hehe." The Prince of Wales couldn't help but chuckle. "This kid doesn't realize how lucky he is. Moreover, the time he previously failed, on his second attempt he summoned the Sardinian Empire's flagship, Weineituo."

"Saying that makes me eager to see it." Yixian looked at the Prince of Wales, then turned her gaze to Qin Ge, and asked, "Does Commander Qin Ge have any plan to summon a shipgirl today?"

"Um, well, I had originally planned to summon tomorrow, but since the Commander-in-Chief wants to see it so badly, let's set it for today." Qin Ge said to Yixian.

"That's wonderful." Yixian nodded with a smile.

"Hehe, ever since the beginning, after seeing you summon a shipgirl, I haven't seen you summon one again; it looks like this time there will be a good show to watch." The Prince of Wales laughed at Qin Ge.

"Dean, you're not hoping to see me make a fool of myself, are you?" Qin Ge said helplessly.

"How could that be? I'm wondering whether you might be able to summon a faction leader again this time, or perhaps summon that legendary existence." The Prince of Wales said solemnly.

"A legendary existence?" Qin Ge said, somewhat puzzled.

Beside him, Yixian nodded. "You should know that each shipgirl has a specific rank—for example, common, rare, elite, ultra-rare."

"Yeah, that's introduced in the shipgirl manual. They correspond respectively to white, blue, purple, and gold."

"Actually, after these four colors there is yet another color, meaning that after these four ranks of shipgirls there is still a legendary rank." The Prince of Wales said to Qin Ge.

"A legendary rank?" Not only Qin Ge, but even his shipgirls couldn't help but widen their eyes.

"Yes, this is the information we received after awakening, and it is known only among the high echelons of each faction; ordinary people are unaware of it." Yixian said to Qin Ge.

"What rank of shipgirl is that?" Qin Ge asked Yixian and the Prince of Wales.

"With a sense of longing and anticipation, the Prince of Wales said to Qin Ge, 'That rank of shipgirl is called a Sea Legend; she is a shipgirl of a color beyond those four—a color-tier shipgirl.'"

"'Sea Legend? Color-tier?' Qin Ge suddenly thought of something and said to the Prince of Wales, 'I recall that during my adaptability test, the last color was color-tier, right? Although it was only for an instant.'"

"'Yes, indeed. If we go by the adaptability test, you could at most summon a color-tier shipgirl, but in this world there has never been a color-tier Sea Legend shipgirl.'"

"So initially, to prevent you from being distracted and from harboring overly grand dreams, I did not tell you."

"But now, within a single academic year, you have already summoned so many ultra-rare shipgirls, and the number of personnel in your fleet is also increasing, so I believe you may have a chance in the future to summon a Sea Legend shipgirl." The Prince of Wales said to Qin Ge.

"'Is that so?' Qin Ge nodded. 'I understand; rather than treating the Sea Legend as a wish, it's better to regard her as something optional—if you can summon her, that's luck; if you cannot, that's fate.'"

"'That's the reasoning.'"