Chapter 216: All of this is fate's choice

Under the gaze of Qin Ge, the Prince of Wales, and Yixian, the vibrating Construction Device came to a halt, and the hatch slowly opened.

In an instant, thick mist burst forth, and a golden light poured out from the Construction Device, shining in the eyes of those present.

"Super Rare Shipgirl!" Yixian and the Prince of Wales exchanged a shocked glance. "How is this possible? How could the construction time yield a Super Rare Shipgirl?"

"Could it be that this is the construction time for a shipgirl hidden by another faction?" Qin Ge asked the two.

"No, absolutely impossible." Yixian shook his head. "Although the construction times of high-ranking officials from other factions are hidden from ordinary commanders, among the high-ranking officials of our Nine Major Factions they are circulated."

Therefore, there is absolutely no such thing as a hidden construction time; the appearance of this situation can only mean one thing!

The Prince of Wales drew a sharp breath, "If that's really the case, then it's simply unbelievable!"

"What situation?" Qin Ge wondered.

Yixian shook his head. "We'll talk about this later; the smoke will clear soon, and your shipgirl will appear. So let's first see who it is, then we can talk."

Qin Ge turned his head, watching the smoke gradually dissipate, and lightly nodded. "Alright."

Under the gaze of the three, the smoke gradually faded, the golden light slowly retracted, and a beautiful figure appeared before everyone.

She had a chestnut-colored long hair, with two fox ears lightly twitching on her head, wore a black kimono, draped with a red cape, and had nine chestnut-colored tails behind her.

Standing there, she seemed like a secluded orchid in an empty valley, pitiful to behold.

At that moment, the figure opened her eyes, saw the three people before her. Her gaze lingered on Yixian and the Prince of Wales for a moment, then turned directly to Qin Ge.

"I am Tiancheng, the lead ship of the Tiancheng-class battlecruiser. I was originally scheduled to undergo conversion together with my sister Akagi to become an aircraft carrier… unfortunately I collapsed in that earthquake… cough… as you can see, my health is not good, but please don't worry about it."

The Tiancheng-class battlecruiser Tiancheng—at that moment, Yixian and the Prince of Wales had already confirmed it. This Tiancheng is absolutely the first shipgirl to appear in this world; even the Sakura Empire does not have her yet!

While Yixian and the Prince of Wales were stunned, Qin Ge instead recalled the story of this Tiancheng in his world.

The Tiancheng battlecruiser was the fifth ship in the Eight-Eight Fleet Construction Plan, the lead ship of the Tiancheng-class battlecruiser. Although called a battlecruiser, it is actually a high-speed battleship with relatively thin armor; strictly speaking, it belongs to the Tosa-class lineage.

In fact, it corresponds to the White Eagle's Lexington-class, but due to the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty, like the Lexington-class, it was destined to be converted into an aircraft carrier.

However, during the early stages of conversion, the Yokosuka Naval Arsenal suffered the impact of an earthquake; the Tiancheng's keel was damaged in this quake, and after inspection it was deemed beyond repair, so it was scrapped.

Thus she is a battleship that perished before even being born; afterward, the conversion of the Tiancheng into an aircraft carrier was taken over by Kaga, which later led to the world-famous First Carrier Division.

These facts flashed through Qin Ge's mind in an instant; looking at the frail beauty before him, he immediately understood that it might be the aftereffects of that earthquake, causing Tiancheng to appear so weak.

Then Qin Ge extended his right hand toward her and said, "Hello, Tiancheng. I am Qin Ge; from today onward I will be your commander. I hope that in both life and work, you will guide me as much as possible."

Tiancheng looked at Qin Ge's outstretched right hand, smiled, and took it, saying, "Tiancheng comes to pay respects. It seems this place will allow me to exert my abilities a little. Then, my lord, could you introduce our enemies to me?"

"My lord?" Qin Ge was somewhat surprised by this archaic form of address.

"That's right… cough… Tiancheng is a strategist; those who are loyal naturally serve my lord, so addressing the lord as 'my lord' is the most proper etiquette." Tiancheng smiled and explained to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge suddenly understood, and couldn't help but laugh. "I see; if you like it, then we'll use that form of address. But now is not the time to introduce our enemies, because the fleet members haven't yet introduced themselves to you."

"It was Tiancheng's abruptness; companions come first." Tiancheng apologized.

"No problem, but before I introduce our companions, I will first introduce you to two important figures." Qin Ge said, and then proceeded to introduce Yixian and the Prince of Wales beside him.

"This is the Donghuang faction's supreme commander Yixian, and this one is the dean of the Donghuang Commander Academy, the Prince of Wales."

A flash of light passed through Tiancheng's eyes as she bowed to the two, saying, "Tiancheng has met you both."

"Hello." Yixian and the Prince of Wales also smiled and greeted Tiancheng.

"Supreme commander and dean, can we now speak of those earlier matters?" Qin Ge asked the Prince of Wales and Yixian.

Yixian looked at Tiancheng's figure, let out an exclamation of astonishment, and said, "In this world, from the emergence of shipgirls to the present, the lead ships of all similar types have awakened and been born from the sea themselves, and at the time of their birth they were within the waters of their own faction."

What I can confirm is that the Sakura Empire faction currently has no shipgirl named Tiancheng. Therefore, your shipgirl Tiancheng should be the first Tiancheng, and moreover she was born in your Donghuang construction; this is truly astonishing.

"Huh?" Qin Ge opened his mouth wide, and Tiancheng's eyes also shone with brilliance.

"Yes, I must say, Qin Ge, you are truly the incarnation of a miracle. Perhaps you came to this world bearing a mission; you have built two flagship vessels of the Nine Major Factions, which is already an astonishing miracle.

Now you have even constructed a shipgirl that has never appeared before; this can no longer be explained by mere miracle—it seems like fate itself." Yixian said to Qin Ge.

All I can say is that I look forward to seeing what future you will bring to this world.

"This, I'm just a bit luckier, not as extravagant as you, Supreme Commander, claim." Qin Ge said somewhat embarrassedly, after all being called fate's chosen still makes him a little shy.

"No, what Yixian said is correct." The Prince of Wales said solemnly, "If you could summon a Super Rare Shipgirl each time, or even an Elite Shipgirl, that could be chalked up to good luck."

But now, with two faction flagships and a shipgirl that has never appeared, this cannot be explained by good luck alone; all of this is the arrangement of fate.

"I certainly wasn't mistaken at first; Qin Ge, the future of Donghuang, or perhaps the future of Azure Lane, will undergo change in your hands." (To be continued)