Chapter 4: Being a Commander Is Bullshit!

"Nothing…" He set the book in his hands on the table, Qin Ge stared at the thick stack of books before him and sighed. He had been in this world for over a month, relying on Xu Xin's support back then, he had gotten through the toughest period at the start. After his health recovered, he began working part‑time jobs around the city while searching for a way home, and the library became the place he visited most.

He had quickly skimmed through all the books related to space, time, ocean currents, rivers, history, and so on, but from his expression one could tell that after searching so long he still hadn't found a way home.

But it wasn't completely without gain; as he read more books, Qin Ge's understanding of this world's situation grew. Moreover, the longer he lived here, the stronger an inexplicable sense of familiarity became.

This world's history is basically the same as Earth's, but unlike Earth the planet is called Lanxing, and the country—or faction—he's in is called Donghuang, a familiar yet unfamiliar term. Besides Donghuang, Lanxing also hosts several major powers: the Northern Union, White Eagle, Royal, Sakura Empire, Iron Blood, free Iris, the Maintaining Tribunal, and the Sardinian Empire. After Qin Song tried comparing them to a few major countries from his original world, he found everything was surprisingly similar.

However, because Sirens exist in this world, infighting between factions is almost nonexistent; humanity shares a common enemy—the Sirens. As Xu Xin had said before, after generations of effort, commanders together with the shipgirls drove the Sirens out of coastal waters, yet Sirens still occasionally breach the defense net formed by the various port districts and lie in wait to attack humanity.

"What a cruel world…" Qin Ge sighed like that when he learned all this. Unlike ordinary civilians, he studies war and battles, and he understands what lies behind war. It is not glory, nor victory—it is piles of white bones stacked up.

Who says war can be bloodless? Who says war is filled with cheers and laughter? As the saying often heard in his own country goes, there is no such thing as peaceful times—only people shouldering burdens and moving forward.

In the history he has learned, few commanders meet a good end; most commanders and their shipgirls either die in the charge or die while protecting the retreat of civilians along the coast. They never cling to life; they only sacrifice themselves for their ideals, so by the moment they become commanders they have already prepared to merge with the sea.

Afterwards, he turned his gaze back to the desk, where a relatively small booklet appeared before him—its title was *Shipgirl Miscellany*. Qin Ge quickly flipped through it, hoping to find something useful. Finally, on one page he saw a familiar phrase and also noticed something that had long seemed strange.

"These shipgirls seem not to be from this world; each has its own system affiliation and shares the same battles—for example, the Denmark Strait, and the Mariana." Exactly, how could I have kept forgetting what's right in front of me! These shipgirls are clearly the incarnations of the World War I and II battleships I know well, but this world has no World War I or II—perhaps…

He let out a long sigh and turned his gaze to the letter beside the stack of books. Seeing the neat handwriting on the envelope, Qin Ge's mind once again conjured Xu Xin's proud smile. He stared at it for a long time, then murmured, "Commanders? What a bunch of lunatics… what a bunch of lovable people!"

Qin Ge suddenly sprang to his feet, no longer wearing his earlier bewildered look, just as he had been energetic and lively in the academy before. He picked up the envelope from the desk, slipped it into his inner jacket pocket, quickly tidied the books on the desk, then carried them to the library counter.

"Hello, returning books!" Qin Ge said with a smile to the librarian.

"Oh, it's you." Because Qin Ge had been coming by frequently these days, the librarian already remembered him, "What's up? Why are you leaving so early today?"

Qin Ge smiled and said, "I've already found what I was looking for, so there's no need to waste more time here."

"Oh, then congratulations." The librarian gave a small smile, sensing from Qin Ge's words that things were different from when he arrived today, "Since you've found what you were looking for, you must absolutely not lose it; otherwise, if you ever try to find it again, who knows how much time it would take."

"Sure, see you later." Qin Ge nodded and gave the librarian a faint smile.

"See you later."

After leaving the library, Qin Ge walked toward his temporary residence—a breakfast shop run by an elderly couple. Since the shop only operates until around 11 or 12 noon, he can spend the rest of the day at the library looking up information, so during this period he works there part‑time.

He pushed open the somewhat heavy door; an old man was lounging in a rocking chair, fanning himself lazily. Qin Ge saw this and chuckled lightly, "Old Wan, slacking off again? Watch out—if the old lady sees you like that, she'll chase you down the street with a rolling pin."

"She dares!" The old man whom Qin Ge called Wan Lao put down his fan, jumped up, turned his head to see Qin Ge, and rolled his eyes, "It's you, brat—I was just saying who dares to mess with an old man for no reason. And Xiao Qin, I've told you over and over: call me Lao Wan, not Wan Lao; if you keep calling me Wan Lao all day, you'll make me feel old."

"Heh, habit—can't change it." Qin Ge laughed and said, "Old Wan, where's the old lady?"

"Lao Wan!" Old Wan glared at Qin Ge and said, "Your old lady went to visit her daughter; she won't be back until tonight."

"I said you're unusually leisurely today—turns out the old lady isn't here," Qin Ge teased.

"Even if she were here, it'd be the same—this household still bears the Wan surname; she can't overturn heaven!" Old Wan's face flushed red as he shouted at Qin Ge.

"Oh, I see, got it—I'll tell the old lady when she comes back tonight." Qin Ge said that and headed toward his room.

"I said, you brat, it's rare for you to come home early today, yet as soon as you're back you're teasing an old man—did something happy happen today? Tell me so I can cheer up too." Although he and Qin Ge had just exchanged words, Old Li Wan showed no anger at all; instead he cheerfully caught up with Qin Ge to ask the reason.

"Old Wan, I'm probably going to leave this place." Qin Ge said while opening his bedroom door.

"Lao Wan!" Old Wan once again corrected Qin Ge's way of addressing him, then asked, "What's up? Are you just up and leaving? Did some bastard on this street provoke you? Tell me—I'll go teach him a lesson! Nobody dares to bully anyone under my watch."

Seeing Old Wan hopping about, Qin Ge shook his head. "Nobody's bullying me; I'm just preparing to go to Shenhua City."

"Shenhua City? Why are you running that far?" Old Wan stopped what he was doing and asked Qin Ge strangely.

"To become a commander." Qin Ge pushed the door open, turned sideways, and said to Old Wan.

Who would have thought that the formerly smiling Old Wan would instantly change expression, redness spreading across his cheeks, "Say it again—what are you going to do?!"

Hearing Old Wan's angry tone, Qin Ge felt puzzled, "To become a commander?"

"I'll beat you to death, you little brat—being a commander is bullshit!" Old Wan snatched up his fan and swung it at Qin Ge's face from head to toe, holding nothing back…