Chapter 36: Siren Tide

Perhaps seeing the centaur's embarrassed state, Nengdai decisively pushed the wine in front of Qin Ge, indicating she couldn't drink.

"Commander, it's so spicy, I feel awful……" With tears in her eyes and a flushed face, the centaur looked at Qin Ge, leaving him momentarily dazed. No girl had ever shown such weakness before him, especially a beautiful girl like the centaur.

Qin Ge suddenly flustered, on one hand refilling the centaur's empty teacup, on the other hand reaching out to pat her back, saying, "Drink some water, rinse your mouth, take it slow……" It seemed this would ease the centaur's discomfort.

Meanwhile, Nengdai, watching Qin Ge's concerned gaze and actions toward the centaur, felt she had missed something. But when she again focused her gaze on the vodka in front of Qin Ge, she quickly shut her eyes, absolutely not!

As for A Furore sitting on the other side, she watched Qin Ge and the three of them with different expressions, intrigued, the corner of her mouth curling slightly, then she picked up the vodka and took another gulp.

Finally, when the centaur had finally recovered, Mikasa also came out of the kitchen carrying the curry she had prepared.

"Huh, you've already started drinking? But is it really okay to drink vodka without any side dishes?" Mikasa said, surprised, looking at everyone, then her gaze fell on the centaur sitting beside Qin Ge, her face slightly flushed, and she turned to A Furore, saying, "A Furore, ordinary shipgirls can't handle your vodka; better not let them drink it."

Hearing Mikasa's words, A Furore hadn't yet replied when the centaur hurriedly said, "It's not Senior A Furore's fault; I just thought the commander's drink looked really stimulating, so I tried a sip, never expecting it to be like this, and it also made the commander worry."

Qin Ge, feeling a bit embarrassed, scratched his head and said, "Um, it's my fault; I shouldn't have urged you to try just because I can drink, otherwise you wouldn't feel so awful."

"It's not the commander's fault; I insisted on it myself," the centaur hurriedly said.

"Alright, alright, no one's at fault. Hurry up and eat; eating something will make you feel better," Mikasa said, smiling at the two.

"Mm." Qin Ge took the curry Mikasa handed over, placing the first portion in front of A Furore, the second in front of the centaur, and the third in front of Nengdai.

Since she could only carry three portions at a time, when Mikasa went back to the kitchen for more food, the centaur, looking at the naval curry before her, said to Qin Ge, "Commander, you eat first; I'm not hungry."

Qin Ge waved his hand, saying, "You should eat; eating will make you feel better. Besides, Senior Mikasa will bring more shortly, so there's no need to keep passing things back and forth."

Seeing Qin Ge's determination, the centaur slightly nodded and began to eat obediently. Meanwhile, Nengdai glanced over with her peripheral vision, said nothing, and also started eating elegantly.

Soon, Mikasa came out again carrying two portions of naval curry, placing them in front of Qin Ge and herself, then sat down to formally greet A Furore.

"A Furore, didn't you say you'd come back early this time? Why are you later than me?" Mikasa asked A Furore.

"That was indeed the plan, because I went to the Northern Union just to replenish some supplies, but unexpectedly a Siren Tide occurred there, so I helped Russia for a while, and only after the situation somewhat stabilized did I set out from there." A Furore said.

"Siren Tide"—the term made Qin Ge lift his head. "According to the records, Siren Tides usually occur between October, right? But when you returned, it should have been July or August; how could it happen so early?"

A Furore shook her head. "I also asked the Soviet Alliance about this; they don't know why a Siren Tide that should have erupted in October instead broke out between July and August."

"The Soviet Alliance doesn't know either? Then it seems the Siren Tide in the Northern Union's territory is indeed suspicious." Mikasa said, frowning.

Qin Ge also furrowed his brow deeply; as his knowledge of Sirens, shipgirls, and naval warfare deepened over this period, he naturally could understand what A Furore meant by Siren Tide.

A Siren Tide refers to the Siren Fleet continuously surging toward the nearshore like a tide, causing the defending Grand Fleet stationed near the coast and the naval base in Gangqu to engage in a large-scale naval battle.

At that time, Naval Headquarters will assign each Grand Fleet to defend the region; those that complete the mission will of course receive generous rewards. As for those that fail to complete the mission, they have only two options: first, to reorganize the Grand Fleet; second, to wait for a new Grand Fleet to replace them.

Because such a large-scale naval battle is not a minor skirmish, a single mistake can cause total collapse. If the defense holds, they naturally earn rewards; if it fails, the Grand Fleet will suffer heavy casualties, so replenishing new combat power and reorganizing, or being replaced by a new, complete Grand Fleet, is the best option.

Reality is like this—often brutal; this is war, not a joke. If you lose, it means death; only the victors can make it to the end, and only victors receive commendation.

This is also why many commanders and shipgirls who don't make it to the end end up falling at sea. Each year's Siren Tide occurs in October, and the graduation time for commanders each year is only three months away from that period. Thus, after graduating from the Azure Lane Commander Academy, that's merely a start; three months later comes the First Hurdle, and if someone cannot pass it, they can only be buried at sea.

War never weeps for the weak; this is fact, this is fate. Having chosen this path, one must press on—either lead one's shipgirls to carve a bloody road, or sink together with them…

"So the commander of the Northern Union this time…" Mikasa couldn't go on.

Suddenly silence fell over the dinner table; the centaur and Nengdai, who were eating, stopped their spoons and looked toward A Furore.

A Furore gave a faint smile. "They're all brave men; even so, not a single one retreated!"

"How many remain?" Mikasa asked.

"Forty-three." A tear trickled from A Furore's eye corner. "Eighty-seven new commanders, after fighting on various fronts, only forty-three survived."

Mikasa nodded and patted A Furore's shoulder. "They are all great warriors!"

Qin Ge, looking at the two sorrowful people, involuntarily gripped the vodka bottle beside him, picked it up, and said to A Furore, "For them, for Azure Lane! For victory!"

A Furore wiped away the tear at her eye corner in one sweep, then boldly lifted the bottle and smashed it against Qin Ge's bottle.

"For Azure Lane!"