Chapter 419: Welfare of All Commanders

Yixian stood up from her seat, walked to the center of the stage, and spoke under everyone's gaze.

「Hello, commanders. I am Donghuang's Commander-in-Chief Yixian. On this special day, it is my honor to celebrate the graduation ceremony together with you at the Commander Academy。」

Donghuang has come this far over many years, having weathered wind and rain, yet the coastal defense line continues to advance steadily. While inland and coastal cities enjoy peace and tranquility, it is because batches of commanders like you have been fighting bravely on the front lines.

Fearless, unafraid of sacrifice, moving forward bravely — this is why our Donghuang faction has grown day by day. May you uphold the excellent qualities of the senior commanders and create your own glorious chapter.

In recognition of the Commander Academy's outstanding contributions to Donghuang in recent years, the Donghuang Headquarters has decided to invest funds for updating and expanding the academy's teaching facilities, and to strengthen publicity for commanders, seeking to recruit more commanders in coastal and inland areas to join this battle protecting humanity and the world.

When Yixian said this, the audience burst into warm applause, and Qin Ge also joined in clapping enthusiastically.

Perhaps for him, the updating of teaching facilities and the expansion plan are not very useful, since he will graduate this year. But for future commanders, such changes would greatly enhance their learning ability and speed of integration into the commander system.

Furthermore, Yixian mentioned levying commanders from inland areas — information never before disclosed — indicating that Donghuang is preparing to make a push.

Indeed, after Yixian said that, the envoys of the eight major factions showed a hint of surprise on their faces. Donghuang is vast and resource-rich with a large population; previously, it remained silent among the nine major factions because its commander recruitment plan was limited to coastal areas and had not reached inland regions.

Now that recruitment is extending into inland areas, it is imaginable that the number of applicants for commander positions in the second half of this year will surely surge. Consequently, Donghuang's reserve of commanders will be greatly strengthened, which will be a significant boost to its naval power in a few years.

But they cannot stop Donghuang from doing this, because it is their freedom and their resources.

When the applause gradually subsided, Yixian continued, saying, "Furthermore, taking into account the logistics supply issue and the initial shortage of resources for cadet commanders,

「Specially approved by the Donghuang Headquarters, each month an additional four thousand units of oil will be issued to all commanders, with subsequent consideration of adding naval drill materials and shipgirl teaching materials, etc., as supplies。」

This caused the applause and cheers to instantly lift the hall's roof, and even Qin Ge was stunned.

Although four thousand units of oil per month is not much, it is continuous. Whether for cadet commanders or other commanders, it is a very substantial asset.

The key point is that Yixian said they are considering adding naval drill materials, which indicates that the Donghuang Research Institute has already fully analyzed the naval drill data Qin Ge obtained from the Sakura Empire and has entered mass production.

This is a major development; if naval drill materials can indeed be added, it would save a great deal of time, even allowing newly graduated commanders to possess relatively strong combat capabilities.

When Qin Ge looked toward the shipgirls of the other eight major factions, she found they showed no surprise. Evidently, Donghuang had already consulted with the eight major factions beforehand; they all understand, or perhaps this year the measure will be implemented not only in Donghuang but also in the other eight major factions.

As the applause gradually faded, Yixian spoke a few more formal remarks before returning to her seat.

Watching Yixian return to her seat, Qin Ge wondered whether it was because the shipgirls sent by the other eight major factions were present at the Commander Academy, so Yixian came to the Commander Academy to make this announcement at the graduation ceremony.

However, whether or not this is something he needs to worry about, the graduation ceremony is quickly reaching its final item: taking a group photo with fellow graduating commanders or with teachers.

Last time, because Qin Ge left early and did not stay for a group photo, many already-graduated commanders have held a grudge over this.

Therefore, as soon as this graduation ceremony ended, many commanders rushed to shout at Qin Ge. This scene even startled Mikasa and Koln, who were sitting beside Qin Ge.

The two looked at Qin Ge with strange expressions, wondering if he had done something outrageous at school. But obviously they were joking, since they know Qin Ge's fame at the Commander Academy, so he is sure not to escape this time.

The photo session lasted a very long time, so long that Qin Ge felt his smile turning stiff, and even several instructors' smiles became equally stiff.

In previous years, most group photos consisted of a few commanders and a few close instructors taking a picture, basically completed within an hour.

But this year they discovered that, ever since Qin Ge stood here, every commander wanted a photo with Qin Ge. Naturally this required queuing, so while waiting in line, those commanders set their sights on them.

As the saying goes, photographing one is the same as photographing two, so having all the instructors take turns taking pictures should be no problem.

Therefore, after taking a group photo with all the graduating commanders, they then stood together and took a photo of the instructors, and then another group photo of everyone together.

After all this, the graduation ceremony, which should have ended before noon, dragged on until it barely concluded in the afternoon.

Finally, when Qin Ge and a few instructors left the hall, their faces all bore stiff smiles. Even when the instructors oddly looked at Qin Ge, their faces were stiff-smiled.

「Qin Ge, I have truly witnessed your popularity," the female commander said with some complaint.

Qin Ge spread his hands helplessly, saying, "Me too, after all you are awakened shipgirls, while I am merely a human; being tossed around by them feels more exhausting than attacking the Sirens with commander strikes."

「Hehe, right, Qin Ge, you probably still have a camera, right? Let's go to your place and take a photo together, calling all your shipgirls; it can serve as a keepsake, so when we meet again we won't know what time it will be." Mikasa said to Qin Ge.

「Sure, I was just about to tell you that, after all I am also a graduate today." Qin Ge said with a smile.

「Well, taking advantage of today's somewhat stiff expression, let's linger a bit." Maryland said to Qin Ge.

「Hehe……