Chapter 328: Surging Undercurrents

The Prince of Wales's words eased everyone's gaze and relaxed the tense atmosphere.

Following her invitation, everyone entered the house together; in the living room sat three cups of tea, with some small snacks and biscuits beside them, clearly the three had just been having tea and chatting there.

"It seems our return has disturbed your tea-drinking chat," Mikasa said with a smile.

"It doesn't matter; we're just old friends getting together, nothing important." The Prince of Wales smiled, "Please sit, have some tea, and try Hao's cooking."

"Cooking?" Qin Ge pointed in surprise at the biscuits and snacks on the table, asking Hao, "Did you make these?"

"Hao nodded. 'What's up, Commander Qin Ge?'"

"No, because my first impression of you was that you were a very bold and unrestrained woman; I didn't expect you to also make these delicate snacks." Qin Ge said.

"Heh, Qin Ge, you're underestimating Hao; her pastry skills are praised even by George V, and in our Royal faction she's second only to the Head Maid." The Prince of Wales explained with a smile.

"Oh, only second to Belfast?" Because Qin Ge had Belfast, he knew how skilled she was at making snacks, so looking at Hao he seemed even more surprised.

"Then, Commander Qin Ge, why not try one?" Hao smiled, picked up a biscuit from the table and handed it to Qin Ge, "When I used to carry out missions with George V's older sister, she always gave me biscuits, so I gradually came to like them."

Qin Ge listened to Hao's explanation, unconsciously picked up a biscuit, put it in his mouth, chewed lightly, then nodded, "Mm, it's delicious."

"Heh, Commander Qin Ge, as long as you like it, eating biscuits sometimes can help improve your mood." Hao smiled.

"Alright, let's all sit down and talk." Seeing the atmosphere ease, the Prince of Wales couldn't help smiling as he said this, and everyone promptly sat down.

She also picked up a few cups and poured some water for everyone.

"When did you guys come back?" After finishing that, the Prince of Wales asked Mikasa.

Mikasa smiled, "We just got back; Qin Ge had his shipgirls return to their rooms to tidy up, then we and Akagi and Kaga went to your office to report, but found no one there.

So we guessed you might not have gone to the office today, and thus came straight to your house."

"Alright." The Prince of Wales said, "These past couple of days, with Hao coming over, work has been able to be a bit more relaxed, after all we haven't seen each other in a long time."

"Understandable." Mikasa smiled, "Even though I have to return to the Sakura Empire every year, let alone you, Prince of Wales, you must have been with the Royal faction for decades and never gone back, right?"

The Prince of Wales laughed and nodded, "Yes, sometimes I even think of myself as a Donghuang shipgirl."

Hearing the Prince of Wales's joke, Qin Ge couldn't help but feel reverent; he suddenly recalled a person he had learned about in textbooks—a doctor from Canada named Bai Qiu'en, who came to the then war-torn Donghuang due to communist internationalist spirit.

He subsequently worked in Donghuang, aiding the wounded, participating in the anti-Japanese war, and finally died there due to illness.

The greatest leader at the time praised him thus: Doctor Bai Qiu'en was a noble person, a pure person, a moral person, one who had risen above low tastes, and a person beneficial to the people.

And the Prince of Wales right now—how is he not like that? Because of the cause of fighting the Sirens, he left his original faction and came to Donghuang to become the Dean of the Commander Academy.

For decades, steadfastly, for Donghuang's cause of fighting the Sirens, she has trained many excellent commanders. To this day, just as she said, although her faction is originally Royal, she has now become a Donghuang shipgirl.

"Prince of Wales, I can only say you're foolish, but also adorable." Akagi smiled.

"Heh, being praised by you, Akagi, is truly not easy." The Prince of Wales showed no anger at Akagi's tone, but was instead extremely pleased.

"In an era where every faction values its own interests highly, your existence is inherently an anomaly, thus all the more worthy of respect." Akagi smiled, "Although my stance differs from yours, I also hold sufficient respect for someone like you."

"That said, you're right; previously the conferences were the Nine Major Factions sitting together discussing how to eliminate the Sirens. Now the conferences have changed flavor, becoming the Nine Major Factions sitting together to discuss the optimal choice for their own faction's interests, which is somewhat laughable." The Prince of Wales said.

"Why is that? Isn't it just because they haven't felt the pressure from the Sirens?" Akagi gave a scornful laugh.

"At first, the Sirens completely destroyed humanity's warships and drove humans out of the nearby seas. That was a matter of life and death, so shipgirls and humans jointly resisted the Sirens."

"But after all these years, the Sirens remain the same, and humanity remains the same; it seems they have grown accustomed to this way of interacting, which is why things have gradually changed."

"If it weren't for Commander Qin Ge's appearance causing all this to change, I think our Azure Lane is not far from erupting into civil war."

Akagi's words made everyone present fall into deep thought; naturally, the Prince of Wales saw it most clearly, as he knew many behind-the-scenes details, thus his understanding was deepest.

"You're right; from the moment the Eight Major Factions began letting the Northern Union provide what they had obtained, some things had actually already changed."

"But nobody expected that in this renewed gathering a miraculous person would appear, who used his ability to draw the attention of all Nine Major Factions onto himself, thereby turning the previously latent faction tensions back to normal." The Prince of Wales said.

"Is it really as scary as you say? I think everything's fine. Moreover, the technology the Northern Union brought out this time—wasn't it voluntarily offered by them?" A rebuttal was directed at the Prince of Wales.

The Prince of Wales shook his head, "Not voluntary, but compelled. So don't let your guard down, but there's no need to worry about this now, for Qin Ge's appearance has already broken the deadlock between faction relations, and the Nine Major Factions are unlikely to clash again in the short term."

"So that's how it is? No wonder the last time an envoy was sent to the Sakura Empire, Her Majesty the Queen dispatched George V's elder sister." Hao said in realization.