Chapter 304: Arch-enemies Gather

Qin Ge smiled, "Alright."

"By the way, Qin Ge, which factions are you grouped with?" A Furore asked Qin Ge.

Qin Ge shook his head. "I just came out of the first event not long ago, so I'm not sure; has it been posted already?"

The Prince of Wales beside him nodded. "It's out. You're grouped with the Vichy Tribunal and the Sakura Empire."

"The Vichy Tribunal and the Sakura Empire?" Qin Ge blinked.

"That's right. Since there are nine of you, you can only be split this way: White Eagle, Iron Blood, and the Northern Union are in one group; the Royal, Iris, and Sardinian Empire are together." said the Prince of Wales.

"Wow, this is a gathering of arch-enemies." Qin Ge smiled.

"Cough, we're all from Azure Lane, so we can't call them arch-enemies." Mikasa coughed, saying to Qin Ge.

"Alright, that just means we have many opponents to compete for together." Qin Ge smiled.

"But it's about to start soon; get ready. In a while, three matches will be held simultaneously, after all we need to decide the winner within today." said the Prince of Wales to Qin Ge.

"Okay." Qin Ge nodded.

As the Prince of Wales said, after a break of less than five minutes, the second match began.

Just like the drills held at the Azure Lane Academy, this match also uses practice shells, communication devices, and smoke devices.

The match referees are rotated among the nine major factions, but referees from the same faction cannot be assigned to the third group.

Thus, the White Eagle, Iron Blood, and Northern Union personnel referee Qin Ge's match, while the Donghuang, Sakura Empire, and Vichy Tribunal personnel referee the drills of the Royal, Iris, and Sardinian Empire.

The first match pits Qin Ge, representing Donghuang, against the Vichy Tribunal commander Carlos.

Although Carlos is a first-year commander, if placed at the Commander Academy he'd definitely be considered a top-tier ace, since he has five shipgirls.

You should know that the Donghuang Commander Academy's graduation ceremony just ended recently; as outstanding second-year students, they only have about five shipgirls each, and some even have fewer than five, so that's the essential difference.

Once both were ready, upon the whistle of White Eagle referee Cleveland, their shipgirls leapt from different piers into the sea and headed to the designated area.

Shortly after, both sides' shipgirls reached their positions, and as Cleveland announced the start of battle over the communications device, Qin Ge and Carlos simultaneously felt their shipgirls issue orders.

Carlos adopted a defensive stance, because his fleet includes a battleship, two light cruisers, and two destroyers. For Qin Ge's combined fleet of over twenty to charge head-on is like an egg striking a stone.

Thus he had the destroyers release smoke, shrouding his fleet in it so Qin Ge's fleet couldn't detect their hidden position.

However, for such petty tricks, especially during drills, Qin Ge simply didn't let his shipgirls move at all; instead he issued this order to the fleet:

"Carrier shipgirls launch all aircraft; carpet-bomb the smoke position, while the rest prepare defenses."

In an instant, Guanghui, Banrenma, Bumblebee, Listekendun, Du Jiao Shou, and Xinong—the six carrier shipgirls—each launched their aircraft.

Although Bumblebee, Listekendun, Du Jiao Shou, and Xinong hadn't undergone breakthrough, each launch only yields about four aircraft, but their numbers make up for it.

Especially when Xinong launches aircraft, there's also a blue butterfly circling the aircraft, just as when we fought the Purifiers earlier, that blue butterfly shrouding their vision had the same effect.

Thus, the six carrier shipgirls simultaneously released thirty aircraft sorties; seeing these aircraft form a squadron, roaring with engine noise, they swooped toward the smoke‑shrouded area.

White Eagle's Cleveland stood far off at the referee's spot, watching this scene and couldn't help but grin; ever since she learned of Qin Ge's shipgirls, she had anticipated this moment.

After all, she is of the White Eagle, which possesses the most aircraft carriers; their favored tactic is to form a carrier‑launched aircraft swarm and bomb straight through.

Although the aircraft launched from Qin Ge's fleet aren't many to her, you should know his opponent is merely a first‑year student with only five shipgirls, and his two light cruisers' anti‑air fire isn't strong either.

"It's over," said Aljiliya from the shore, resigned. "This guy lives up to his reputation as a tactical master—he unleashed his perfect strategy and crushed Carlos."

Dunkeerk beside her chuckled. "Isn't this completely normal? Don't you think anyone among the other seven factions could rival Qin Ge?"

"Yeah, we Vichy Tribunal just had bad luck; if we'd been placed in another group we could still have competed." said Aljiliya.

"Heh, actually the other factions probably think the same way we do," Dunkeerk laughed.

While the two Vichy Tribunal higher‑ups were speaking, over thirty aircraft descended into the misty sky, and in an instant the aerial bombs fell like rain.

On the surface, towering water columns erupted; thanks to the blast energy, the smoke was completely blown away in a moment, revealing Carlos's five shipgirls.

Their bodies were already stained with the practice shells' color, showing they'd been hit in the bombardment; now they despairingly watched the sky as the thirty‑strong aircraft formation flew past.

With no means left to preserve themselves, they could only charge the enemy head‑on; yet, as Qin Ge executed this tactic, they were doomed to lose.

After the aircraft performed a neat turn in mid‑air and the thirty vanished, another wave was simultaneously launched by the six shipgirls, sweeping skyward to rush at those five advancing shipgirls.

When the aircraft squadron descended again, countless practice aerial bombs fell on the path of the five charging shipgirls. White Eagle's Cleveland sighed and then said over the communicator:

"The Vichy Tribunal‑affiliated Commander Carlos's five shipgirls are heavily damaged; the practice match ends, the victor is Donghuang's Commander Qin Ge."

In the distance, Carlos on the shore drew a deep breath and slowly exhaled. Turning his head to see Qin Ge standing calmly on the opposite pier, his feelings flooded with mixed emotions.

He was a prodigy of the Vichy Tribunal Commander Academy, but this trip to the Sakura Empire made him realize there are always greater heights and greater people.

But now the match is over; it's time to comfort his shipgirls—at least they were brave, falling on the charge's path.

He then raised the communicator, gazing at the five dejected shipgirls drifting toward him on the sea, and said, "Everyone, you've worked hard..."