Chapter 423: On Cooperation Methods

Facing the hand extended by North Carolina, Qin Ge smiled and said, "I am Qin Ge, fleet commander of the Star Sea Grand Fleet. From now on we will be comrades fighting side by side; please give me your guidance."

Then he reached out and shook hands with North Carolina; the two smiled and nodded, getting along fairly well.

Li Chengyin, standing aside, said to North Carolina, "Qin Ge, the fleet commander, is an exceptionally outstanding commander. Didn't I give you several tactical manuals before? Those manuals were written by Commander Qin Ge, and during last year's Siren Tide, he was also the overall commander directing the battle in the Shenhua City waters."

North Carolina lightly covered her mouth and said, "Oh, I didn't expect Commander Qin Ge to be this capable; it seems our future cooperation will be easy."

Hearing that, Qin Ge involuntarily felt a bit embarrassed and said, "Perhaps our cooperation won't be easy; it might even be more burdensome than previous missions."

"Huh? Why do you say that?" North Carolina asked.

Qin Ge glanced at the smiling Li Chengyin, then said to North Carolina, "Our grand fleet is currently somewhat unbalanced. My fleet alone has forty shipgirls, but aside from my fleet, the other fleet members each have at most six or seven shipgirls."

Most of them are commanders who have just graduated from the Commander Academy or graduated a year ago; this situation arose because our Star Sea Grand Fleet was founded within the Commander Academy.

So although the leading force is relatively strong, the overall integrated strength is somewhat weaker. But I can guarantee this: these commanders were all personally trained by me, and their grasp of tactical application and battlefield observation is stronger than that of regular commanders who have served for several years.

Moreover, because I have a mission from the Donghuang General Headquarters, I cannot be with them all the time, so I must rely on your cooperation.

North Carolina listened to Qin Ge's explanation, then involuntarily looked toward Li Chenming; the rank of private on Li Chenming's uniform confirmed Qin Ge's statement.

North Carolina chuckled lightly and said, "I think I understand what Commander Qin Ge means—namely, you want us free shipgirls to form deeper cooperation with the other members of your grand fleet, including but not limited to daily patrols and mission delegations, etc."

Qin Ge nodded and said, "Indeed, that is what I mean."

North Carolina smiled and said, "Then I'd like to know one thing: what is the high-end combat power in Commander Qin Ge's fleet? Since we will face the Siren Tide in three months, I want a definite answer."

Qin Ge nodded and said to North Carolina, "My fleet currently has one awakened aircraft carrier shipgirl; to be precise, there are three, but because the other two cannot participate in combat for certain reasons, they are temporarily unable to fight."

However, if the situation becomes urgent, all three awakened shipgirls can engage in battle, and depending on the intensity, there are also fourteen awakened shipgirls available as reinforcements.

"Hiss…" North Carolina widened her eyes, "Commander Qin Ge, are you sure you didn't misspeak? You mean awakened shipgirls, not ordinary fully trained shipgirls?"

Qin Ge chuckled and said, "I don't think I would lie to you about this, after all we'll be living together from now on—seeing each other every day. Even if I deceived you now, you'd easily find out later, so there's no need for me to do so."

North Carolina nodded and said, "I now understand why the Donghuang General Headquarters and the Maritime Affairs Bureau sent you here—it turns out the terrifying thing isn't your grand fleet, but you yourself."

Seventeen awakened shipgirls—is that the number of awakened shipgirls for a faction?'

Qin Ge laughed and shook his head, "Our grand fleet lacks nothing but time; as long as we have enough time, I believe our fleet members will certainly not be inferior to anyone else."

Even though they have just graduated from the Commander Academy, they have already experienced too many battles with me. What they currently lack is only shipgirls; I believe that with sufficient shipgirls, their performance will not be worse than anyone's.

North Carolina nodded and said, "I also believe that the grand fleet members trained by you, the tactical master, will surely inherit your strengths. Therefore, on behalf of all free shipgirls, I agree with Commander Qin Ge's proposal."

Qin Ge smiled and nodded, saying, "As for the specific matters, I will arrange my vice commander to discuss with you; from the moment we officially begin stationing here, our cooperation will start."

North Carolina glanced at Li Chenming beside her, nodded, and said, "No problem."

Qin Ge turned his head to Li Chenming and said, "Then this is left to you—quickly communicate with them to work out a concrete implementation plan, and once the communication is finished, begin execution."

"Yes, sir." Li Chenming's reply was crisp and clean; he then walked straight forward to communicate and discuss with North Carolina and the other shipgirls.

Qin Ge then nodded at Li Chengyin, and the two walked toward the outside of the free shipgirls' building.

Having arrived outside the building, Li Chengyin looked at Qin Ge with a complex expression and said, "Do you really have that many awakened shipgirls? It's said that commanders' shipgirls basically never awaken, and to date I haven't heard of any commander's fully trained shipgirl undergoing awakening."

Qin Ge chuckled and said, "The awakening of my shipgirls is not an exception; the Donghuang General Headquarters is jointly researching shipgirl awakening with the science teams of the other eight major factions, and they have already produced results—my shipgirls' awakening is due to this research."

However, because this research is currently classified, I cannot reveal the specific name and details to you, but I believe that in the not-too-distant future, your fully trained shipgirls may also be able to undergo awakening.

Qin Ge's statement was partly true and partly false, but he indeed answered Li Chengyin's doubt; as a matter of fact, just as he said, naval drill data has now achieved a breakthrough, entering mass production, so we can believe that the mental units will also enter mass production in the near future.

At that time, not only Li Chengyin but other commanders will also be capable of having awakened shipgirls, though only differing in strength.

Li Chengyin suddenly understood and said, "I see now; I understand. I will not tell anyone about our conversation today."

Qin Ge laughed and nodded, saying, "So let's continue with the handover; once the handover is complete, I believe Li Chenming will have worked out the specific plan, and then you can return to the Donghuang continent while we begin the standby phase."

"Alright, then we'll continue." Li Chengyin nodded.