Chapter 282: Deep-Sea Outpost

At this moment, in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean, inside a mysterious deep-sea outpost.

A completely pallid girl with ears looked at the screen before her, clicking her tongue in amazement.

Although she looked very cute, her mount obviously ruined the impression, for she was sitting on an octopus. Her movements were strangely eerie, and combined with her giggling voice, it made people feel a bit creepy.

Beside the girl was a woman with a very voluptuous appearance, but her face bore a sinister expression, which made her originally beautiful features seem somewhat discordant.

"Hehe, Tester, I recall our plan for this world didn't include this, did I?" the girl said to the woman beside her; obviously the woman's title was "Tester," a rather strange codename.

"Yes, according to our experimental purpose, at most only Super Rare Shipgirls would appear in this world, and according to historical progress, many shipgirls are defective, so they couldn't appear in this world." the Tester said to the girl.

"But what exactly is this situation now?" the girl smiled and looked at the screen.

The image on that screen was, in fact, the view of Sakura Empire's home island; at that moment, a colorful pillar of light shot up from the island, scattering the clouds, looking exceptionally magnificent.

"Something outside the experiment has appeared; do you think we need to report this to the Dream Weaver?" the Tester said, looking at the screen.

"Tell the Dream Weaver, what would that achieve? Would we dispatch the arbitration agency to destroy this test site?" the girl smiled, saying, "We've crossed so many worlds, entered so many temporal nodes—for what? Don't you know?"

Since a variable has appeared here, we must pay closer attention; our purpose is to seek variables, not to strangle them in the cradle.

If this world's variable grows well, she might very well become the key—isn't that our hope?

"No, I'm worried that if a variable appears here, the remnants' people will enter this place." the Tester said, shaking his head.

"Remnants? Those people who refuse to give up? Do they think relying on torch ashes can save that world?" the girl couldn't help laughing, "They can't even escape their own cages—how could they save that world?"

"Then what kind of experimental plan should we make now?" the Tester said, looking at the girl.

"Hehe, haven't the Purifiers been saying they're bored lately? Let her go to Sakura Empire's home island for a round, and tell the people of the Nine Major Factions that we've always been watching what they do." the girl said.

"If they obtain the Sea Legend this time, does it conflict with our test‑ship plan?" the Tester asked.

"No, I think it fits perfectly." the girl smiled, "Don't you feel things have been unusually calm lately? Everything has been following our layout, but now this unknown future—don't you look forward to it, Tester?"

"I'm tired of futures whose outcome is already known; perhaps this time this world will really bring us a surprise." After saying that, the Tester gave the girl a deep look, turned, and left.

The girl then turned her head back to the screen, watching the fading pillar of light, and smiled, saying, "Hehe, another little creature; I really hope the Purifiers go over and don't break them."

Meanwhile, Zhang Men obviously did not want the news of Xinong's appearance to spread too widely. After all, Xinong is now Qin Ge's shipgirl, and if the Sakura Empire's populace learned of this, it would cause some faith to collapse.

The only Sea Legend to appear in the world is a Sakura Empire shipgirl, which would normally be exciting, but now she belongs to a Donghuang commander, which is hard to accept.

And the several major factions tacitly chose to conceal this matter, after all, spreading it would not be advantageous for any of them.

But everyone knows this can only be concealed temporarily, not forever, because the Sea Legend will eventually reveal her grace and lead Azure Lane to victory.

So, after leaving the construction hall beneath the Divine Tree, everyone went back to their respective hotels.

After understanding all this, they felt they could only focus their efforts on Qin Ge this time, for the killer weapon Donghuang had unleashed truly made them feel powerless.

For the five factions, this is a good thing. Iron Blood and the Sardinian Empire are pleased because their fleet flagships were summoned by Qin Ge, thus forming a connection with him.

As for the Royal faction, it's even simpler: the Prince of Wales was originally Qin Ge's dean; seeing Qin Ge's demeanor, one still has great faith in the Prince of Wales, so their relationship is easy to speak of.

Furthermore, regarding the Royal faction's this-time observers, George V and Hood both look favorably upon Qin Ge, so naturally there will be no worries.

Moreover, for the Sakura Empire faction, the Sea Legend summoned this time is their own shipgirl, so they are even less likely to have a bad relationship with Qin Ge.

To them, Qin Ge is not merely a Donghuang commander; more importantly, they value his identity as the commander of Azure Lane.

Because Qin Ge is the commander of Azure Lane, as a member of Azure Lane, Sakura Empire's support for him is naturally a matter of course.

Thus, with these connections in effect, Qin Ge had just brought his shipgirl back to the hotel and hadn't even settled when Iron Blood's Prince Ou Gen arrived again.

However, this time she did not come with the Iron Blood crowd; she came alone.

When Qin Ge saw her, he also showed great surprise, for he had not expected Prince Ou Gen's arrival.

"It seems you're quite surprised by my arrival, Commander Qin Ge." Iron Blood's Prince Ou Gen said to Qin Ge.

"There is some surprise, after all we just parted under the Divine Tree not long ago; could it be that Prince Ou Gen, sir, has some business here?" Qin Ge asked doubtfully, yet his words still conveyed a hint of respect, for Prince Ou Gen is Iron Blood's second-in-command.

"I previously promised that if you could summon a shipgirl, then her growth materials and equipment would be handled by Iron Blood, so I'm here to fulfill that promise." Prince Ou Gen smiled, said that, and then took out four aircraft and two launch devices from his ship‑equipment space…